Texas A and M University - Aggieland Yearbook (College Station, TX)

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BY RUSSELL C. WATKINS. 6 f ADST thou beneath the cloudless skies J Of old historic ages, Poured forth thy valued legacies Alike to youths and sages. Unnumbered tongues had sung to thee Triumphant strains of jubilee. But we will vote to thee a crown, A “laurel chaplet” green, And hail thee in thy blest renown Our great triumphant queen; And try to make thee in all ways The idol of our country’s gaze. To those who are interested in the improvement of our present system of education, this subject can never be destitute of attraction or utility. The whole process by which our minds are cultivated, including - all the methods by which an education may be built up, is, in itself, well deserving - attention. In the history of institutions of learning - the chapter relating - to the foundation of that class known as Agricul¬ tural and Mechanical Colleges, is by far the most important. These institutions should engage the atten¬ tion of the citizens of our country more than any others. I do not claim that these colleges are, on account either of their character or of their actual achievements, the most interesting ; but in their accidental position they most unquestionably are. If I thought, as many do, that they had already completed their grand experiment in education and scholastic regeneration, I would scarcely, 23

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Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.

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perhaps, say this, but regarding ' them as I do, as still on their trial before the world, and in the midst of their voyage onward and upward to a mighty fulfillment, or a still mightier failure, I cannot but feel that they are placed as no other colleg ' es are for drawing to them the ga e of a liberal and philosophical curiosity. The subject of the hopes and fears that may be felt with regard to them is, in its general scope, too wide for me, even, to enter upon ; so I shall then confine myself to the history of one out of the many. THE A. AND M. COLLEGE OE TEXAS. To understand this subject properly, a brief reference to the history and origin of the “ Land-grant Colleges ” may be necessary. Prior to Congressional legislation for their establish¬ ment, the first school of a high grade in which classical gave place to scientific instruction, was the Military Academy at West Point ; this school was, however, established for a specific and exceptional purpose. Conspicuous among the early attempts to provide for scientific and practical education were the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, established in 1824; the Sheffield Scientific School, an adjunct of Yale College, which had its beginning in 1846 ; the Lawrence Scientific School, in connection with Harvard University, established in 1847, and the Chandler Scientific School, in connection with Dartmouth College, established in 1851. The more earnest and practical educators, however, demanded a still more radical system, the ideal of which, combined the co-education of the mind, the hand and the heart, as a trinity in unity, with the purpose of investing labor with the broader culture that would not only render it more effective, but raise it in rank and dignity com¬ mensurate with its acknowledged importance.