Chatham College - Cornerstone Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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Biography of Mr. McClintock OLIVER McCLINTOCK was born October 20, 1839, on Pitt (now Fifth) Street, near Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh. Graduating from Yale College in 1861, he chose to follow in the business founded by his maternal grandfather, Samuel Thompson in 1807, and was taken into partnership by his father in 1 862. He continued in the ancestral business fifty-two years, until his retirement in 1914. Speaking of his education he said: I graduated from Yale in 1861, a year of stirring national events and profound impressions. I received the degree of B.A., which, as now, was ' thrown in ' along with my diploma. Following the collegiate custom of those days, in 1864 I took the degree of M.A. ' in course. That is, it was automatically given to a graduate, conditional upon his having behaved himself for three years and paid a fee of five dollars to the college treasurer. I invested my five dollars with the satisfaction of feeling that an M.A. was the only thing I knew of which had not advanced to double or triple its former price, because of the Civil War. An M.A. seemed very cheap at the price. But that method of handling degrees has passed. An M.A. is now given, only as an honorary award for post-graduate work of a specified quanity, or quality, or in recognition of some notable achievement in art, literature, or science. It is therefore now prized as a certificate of achievement, or attainment, and a valuable adjunct to one ' s name. My M.A., at five dollars, was not a successful investment, for, having chosen a mercantile life, I never found any advanage in it, other than the enrichment of the college treasury to the extent of five dollars. It was not even transferable for a consideration. But, joking aside, and speaking seriously, gratitude for my college education, combined with a sense of Christian obligation for service to my fellow men, made me a warm friend of education. I felt it to be my Christian duty to give of my best efforts for its promotion. Associated with my brother-in-law, Mr. Albert H. Childs, and prompted, perhaps, by a somewhat selfish purpose of securing for our sons a home preparation for college, we took the initial steps in 1883 which founded the Shady Side Academy. I was elected a trustee of the Western Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in 1867 and have not been discharged. In 1872 I was elected a trustee of the Pennsylvania College for Women, and have had the honor of being continued in that capacity to the present time. I was made president of its Board of Trustees in 1905. During that period of forty-three years, which covers almost its entire history, the college has passed through many vicissitudes and difficulties, but our courage and faith were stimulated to over- come them, and we have the satisfaction of feeling that the college is today at the highest point of success in its history. There is no activity of my life of which I am so proud as my connection with the Pennsylvania College for Women. I thoroughly believe there is no field of human effort that is nobler, or contributes a more permanent and valuable usefulness to society, than that of promoting a sound and Christian education for young women and young men. I am therefore proud of the past history and achievement of the Pennsylvania College for Women and of the wide recogni- tion and appreciation its work is now receiving. I have also strong confidence that we are on the threshold of still greater achievements in the future, to which every friend and loyal daughter of the college should stand ready to lend a hand, as the developments of God ' s Providence may indicate. THE PENNSYLV.ANI.AN PACE FIVE

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THE PENNSYLVANIAN PAGE FOUR

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THE PENNSYLVANIAN PACE SIX John Carey Acheson, LL.D. President