City College of New York - Microcosm Yearbook (New York, NY)

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1STOR Y npHE HISTORY of the Microcosm is the history of the College. Had there been no Microcosm, the records of the College history would have been sadly incomplete. The accession of academic presidents and deans, the enact- ment of higher educational ordinances by the legislature, the passing of honored professors and instructors,—such events are only the shell of the past life of the College of the City of New York. Presidents have come and gone, the name of the institution has been varied, and even the location has been changed; but running through- out all of the long story there has been one constant thread, one theme, representing the college itself—the student. Whether the name be Free Academy, or College of the City of New York, whether the president be Webb or Webster, the life of the college has continued. Classes have been held, clubs and teams have been organized, debates have been arranged, discussions have been held, and work has continued on all of the thousand and one details which go into the pattern of the life of the college student. It is this story, the story of student activity, that has been preserved in the pages of the Microcosms. And so it is that in the annals of the Microcosm since its incep- tion in 1858 we find the history, the true history, of the College of the City of New York. The annual was first conceived by five ambitious sophomores, of whom our benefactor alumnus, Henry E. Tremaine, was one, and ap- peared in January, 1858, as the Free Academy Microcosm. It was a four page sheet, the size of the Campus of today, pub- lished by the sophomore class, and the aim of the editors was to make the Microcosm a complete record of all organized soci- eties. A survey of the contents of the first “Mike” reveals an editorial on the organization of the student-aid fund by the alumni, a fund which the editors commended for its nobility of purpose. Another feature of the issue was the —I 5