Bradley University - Anaga Yearbook (Peoria, IL)

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continuing his study of the Ancient Languages and Hebrew, he entered Yale and at the end of two years received the Doctor's degree. After a few years of teaching he became instructor in .Hebrew at the Theological Seminary at Morgan Park, lllinois. Here, and later at Yale, he did more than any single person has ever done to extend and popularize the study of Hebrew, and in these years also he displayed the qualities which caused him to be chosen President ofthe new University at the age ofthirty-five. What he accomplished in this position is befbre the eyes of all. Never before in the history of education has an institution been brought so quickly from nothing to a position in the first rank as a world University, never was a large institution so fully the work of a single man. He had the vision of great things and the will and ability to bring them to pass. By common acknowledgement his was the greatest executive ability connected with education in our country in this generation. The presidency of a great University in these days requires qualities of the very highest order. The successful administrator of this high oflice must possess business capacity and power of organization which might place him at the head of any of our largest business enterprises 3 he must be a man of culture, must have expert knowledge covering the whole field of education and be himself at least to some extent a scholar g he must possess the highest type of christ- ian character. He must be able to present his ideas in cogent and attractive form. All of these requisites Dr. Harper possessed in high degree. To the duties of his office, so exacting and varied, he brought a marvelous capacity for work and no less remarkable quickness and precision of judgment. What to others would seem a matter fbr long deliberation with protracted uncertainity, met with almost instant decision, but only after careful con- sideration. He was then ready to take up some new problem. It is as the magician who by his spells created a great University that he is re- membered in the popular mind. But contrary to general belief his executive duties were distasteful to him, undertaken only as the necessary means to his end. Scholarship seemed to him a higher interest and as a scholar he wished to be known and remembered. As he held in his hand his latest work on the Minor Prophets ofthe Old Testament a few days before his death he exclaimed to a friend, I would rather be the author of that work than to hold the Presidency for forty years. Much of his time and energy was devoted to the efforts to popularize the study of the Bible. This he accomplished through the Institute of Sacred Literature, the Religious Educational Association, and through books written or inspired by himself The work which he had inaugurated will be carried on by others. The importance of what he did can not be over- estimated.

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WILLIAM AINEY HARPER By Tmaonons C. Buimizss, Director of Bradley Polytechnic Institute EXT to the great University of which he was the head, Bradley Institute has reason to feel most keenly the loss of William Rainey Harper. Many members ofits faculty were bound to him by ties of intimate friendship, rendered strong by years of pleasant and helpful association. The Institution as a whole owes him a debt which can never be forgotten, never even fully realized. Bradley Institute stood next to the University of Chicago, I believe, in Dr. Harper's esteem and affection. It is a type of school which he wished to see established in many towns. He had a large share in shaping its early years. The conditions were such as naturally would call forth a strong and permanent interest even aside from his ofiicial connection as Trustee and President of the Faculty. In the Fall of 1896 Dr. Harper was called upon by Mrs. Bradley to assist her in maturing plans for a school which she had already well out- lined in her own mind. It was Mrs. Bradley's intention to found the school at her death. Dr. Harper urged her to start it during her life time. His suggestion was at once adopted and the Institute was equipped and opened for work almost within a year. In the multitude of questions which arose, far more numerous and perplexing in a school of a type widely different from other institutions, Dr. Harper's opinion was freely sought as that of an educational expert. He took pride in its buildings, its extensive equipment, its faculty, its students. In my last interview with him, less than two months before his death, tho he could scarcely speak above a whisper, he said, 'fwrite me everything about Bradley, you know I am always interested. Those of us who have been connected with the Institute since its foundation know full well the intensity of that interest and how unselfishly he gave of his time and ability to assist in making the Institute what it now is. From the beginning he was a frequent visitor. Seldom did Founder's Day or Convocation pass with- out his presence. Frequently was his voice heard by our faculty and student body. His words were always valuable and inspiring. President Harper was a man of limitless energy. The extent and variety of his activities were amazing. Nothing which pertained to education, nothing which tended to the betterment of mankind lay outside his concern. He possessed astonishing capacity for work. His conception of rest was to change the character of his work. Difficulties, problems, were a delight. Seldom has a man taken from his activities before his goth year achieved so much that is notable and enduring. At fourteen he graduated from Muskingum College, after three years in business, but at the same time

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The vast number as well as the importance of his activities and the promise of future accomplishment render his untimely fate full of tragic pathos. Seldom has the sure coming of a lingering and painful death been met so manfully. The record of the past year has deepened our admiration and given new grounds for our esteem. When he found that he had but a year at most to live he did not yield to weak repining or even devote him- self to special preparation for death. He earnestly asked of himself and others How can I most profitably spend the time allotted to me? Shall I complete so far as I can the scholarly researches which I have under Way or shall I devote my energies to the problems of the University and its future? Tho in the grasp of mortal disease, he set himself calmly at the tasks which each day brought. His last days are an eloquent testimony to his strength of character, his simple faith in God. Bradley Institute in common with multitudes in this and foreign lands will mourn his loss and cherish his memory, but with deeper feeling than others, inasmuch as he was one of our very number.