Armour Institute of Technology - Cycle Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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HERE is a pretty story told about the inception of the Armour Institute of Tech- Armour Institute of Technology, was pastor of Plymouth Church, he moved all Chicago with his oratory. A young giant physically, with an unequaled power of poetic expression, he threw himself into the affairs of the Lake City and accomplished a world of good. In the six years of his service at Plymouth Church he raised something over $6,000,000 for institutions which he chose to aid or found. The most interesting thing to be related of him is that he preached a rousing sermon one Sunday at Plymouth in which he set forth, in his finest manner, the things that ought to be done for the boys and girls of our great generation. When he was through, a member of his congregation, Philip D. Armour, the great pork packer, came forward and taking him by the hand, said: “ Do you believe in those ideas you just now expressed?” “ I certainly do,” said Dr. Gunsaulus. “And you’d carry them out if you had the means?” “ Most assuredly.” “Well then,” said Mr. Armour, “ If you will give me five years of your time, I will give you the money.” The result was that Armour Institute was founded, with Dr. Gunsaulus as its president. That Sabbath address is going down to history under the title of the $2,800,000 sermon.” For the third time in the history of the Institute, Mr. Armour has enriched it with a munificent gift by adding $750,000 more to its wealth, making a total of $3,000,000. Part of this gift was in real estate, and part in securities, which will swell the annual income of the Institute from $75,000 to $100,000. The original endowment provided for an income of $50,000 from the hand- some block of apartment buildings lying directly south of Armour Mission. The expenses of the Institute steadily increased, and early last year reached $100,000 or $25,000 in excess of the revenue from the endowment and tuition fees. Mr. Armour then made another addition to the endowment fund of $500,000, and this provided for any further deficits. It is the purpose of Dr. Gunsaulus to gradually direct the use of part of the funds into the developing of the Technical College. A course of Civil Engineering will be added to that of Mechanical and Electrical; a building devoted entirely to the foundry and work-shops of our Engineering Departments will be erected and our course in Architecture will also be rounded out by new opportunities. Laboratories and class rooms will also be arranged for. nology by Mr. Armour, that is both pleasing and true, and for the sake of those who do not know it, we now repeat it. “When the Rev. Frank W. Gunsaulus, D. D., now president of the 14

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• The History of the Armour Institute of Technology dates back only to Sept. 14, 1893, when its doors were first opened to students. For several years preceding, however, Mr. Armour had been planning in his mind an institution of its character which would be within the reach of Western boys and girls, and give them the means of acquiring a practical education. Mr. Armour is believed to have gained his inspi- ration from the mission which his brother, Joseph F. Armour, endowed in 1881 with a bequest of $100,000. This bequest was given in charge of Mr. Armour, and the work, which be- gan in a building at 31st and State streets, in 1874, was at once enlarged with the erection of the handsome Armour Mission, and an invitation given to the Plymouth Mission Sunday School to make its home therein. The effect of the Mission upon the neighborhood of Armour Avenue and 33rd streets was so marked that Mr. Armour was led to erect the buildings knwon as the Armour Flats. These apartments drew a better class of people to the vicinity of the Mission, and a school was planned which would give to boys and girls a practical industrial training at a nominal cost. The original plan, which partook more of the manual training school idea, soon developed into the Technological Institute as it stands today. Preparatory to the working out of the scheme, Rev. F. W. Gunsaulus, then pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, was made President of the Institute in December, 1892. Dr. Gunsaulus drew about him the original faculty who elaborated the first years work. The original plan of the Institute included some higher technical training, but its scope was not at first precisely defined. The importance to the community of this branch of education was strenuously urged by persons whose opinions were worth considering, and whose opinions were re-enforced by many applications for extended courses in engineering, which were received as soon as the purposes of the Institute became known. Mr. Armour and Dr. Gunsaulus made a trip to Eastern schools to see for themselves the workings of the most prominent technicals chools, and found in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology its model. Accordingly, full four year courses were planned, and in 1895, after the Insti- tute had been in successful operation for two years, its corporate name was changed by an act of the legislature, from Armour Institute to Armour Institute of Tech- nology, in harmony with the advanced ideas of its founder. Early in 1893 a union was effected with the Art Institute of Chicago, for the purpose of developing the course in architecture, which that Institute had successfully maintained since 1889. The result was the establishment of the Chicago School of Architecture which also constitutes the Department of Architecture of the Armour Institute of Technology. 16