University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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In 1845, on the lotli day of April, the city of Pittsburgh was visited by a terrible disaster. Along with other buildings the University was burned to the ground. Unfortunately the records were also destroyed. From 1849 to 1857 there were no buildings, but the money of the University was accumulating, and in 1857, a new building was erected at Ross and Diamond Streets. In 1858 l)r. George Woods was made chancellor of the University. The school advanced with rapid strides in the acquisition of material resources. Mr. Thaw gave one hundred thousand dollars while the people raised twice that amount, and a large endowment fund was placed in its possession. Dr. W oods aided the school immensely by his untiring efforts, and in 1880 he was succeeded by Dr. Henry M. McCracken. During his administration the University was changed to another location. In 1884, Dr. Milton B. Goff was made chancellor. During his administration new buildings were added to the University in its Allegheny site. Not until 1885 were-the untiring efforts of the University rewarded in the founding of the Law School. About the same time the Engineering School was established under Dean Carhart. In 1895 the Western Pennsylvania Medical College was absorbed by the University, becoming its Medical Department. The Pittsburgh College of Pharmacy became a part of the University shortly afterwards. A school of Dental Surgery was founded. The School of Mining Engineering was established by the State in 1897. Post-graduate courses in various branches were established. Dr. Holland held the chancellorship wisely from 1890 to 1900. Dr. Brashear became chancellor from 1900 to 1902 in the period before the election of a new man. In 1908 the name of the University was changed to that of the University of Pittsburgh. During the administration of Chancellor McCormick, from 1902. great things have been done. A new campus has been acquired and a number of fine buildings already erected. The institution has taken on new life, and although we are surrounded by the roar of machinery, we are determined that the amenities of literature and the graces of good style shall not fail to be cultivated. And as the Legislature of Pennsylvania intended that it should stand as the exponent of University principles and methods in the western half of the Commonwealth, ministering to the needs of the three and one-half, millions of people living within reach of this metropolis at the head waters of the Ohio, we trust, in as far as this publication can express, that its name shall go on and that its light shall shine out forever. 12

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The first meeting of the Trustees was held on March the 18th, 1788. at which time an organization was affected. The first Secretary of the Board was Robert Galbraith. The first principal chosen was George Welch. From then until 1819 there were a number of principals whose names are too numerous to mention, but for whom it may be said that they were men elected to the position for their noble Christian characters. Among the first class were Morgan Neville, William Robinson, William O'Hara and Charles Wilkins. Wilson McCandless, a student of the Academy, speaking in the University in 1856 said, “The nucleus of this institution was the old Pittsburgh Academy, whence emanated many men who have illustrated the genius of our government and people. Such was the prosperity of the Academy at the close of the second decade of the last century. The manifest necessity for the establishment in this community of an institution of higher learning gave rise to a movement to re-incorporate the Academy as “The W estern University of Pennsylvania. ’ This was approved on February 18th, 1819. The formal inauguration of the University by the beginning of college classes did not take place till 1822. The interim was a transition period utilized in preparation. The installation of the faculty occurred in the audience room of the First Church. An eyewitness says of it, “There was a procession with music, banners, and badges, in which the city fathers, the judiciary, gentlemen of different learned professions, the Trustees, and students, marched to the old First Presbyterian Church, where the venerable and accomplished Dr. George Stevenson, the President of the Board, delivered the inaugural address to the faculty, which was happily responded to in the massive eloquence of Rev. Dr. Bruce.” The Academy was continued as a preparatory school to the University. Subscriptions were sent in to the trustees, and the finest building in the city was erected at the corner of Third Avenue and Cherry Alley. The institution prospered for 27 years, and among the alumni of that period were one U. S. senator, four congressmen, three chief justices, two governors, one ambassador, ten judges of United States and Commonwealth courts, eighteen as trustees of colleges, five college presidents, thirteen professors, three moderators of general assemblies, five editors and two authors of wide reputation, and of everyone who lived long enough to test the worth of the training he received it can be said, that he was an eminently useful member of society. 11

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