Clarkson University - Clarksonian Yearbook (Potsdam, NY)

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John Pascal Brooks Director 1911-1913 President 1913-1928, 1932-1933 At the commencement exercise in June 1911, John R. Brooks was announced as the new Director of the school, as Director Aldrich was retiring after ten years of dedicated service. In the spring of 1912, the gymna- sium was completed at a cost of $20,000 and physical education became required of students in the fall. The curriculum required 18 credit hours each term with three semesters of French or German and shops in woodworking, forging, machine work and surveying. All degrees up to this time were designated as a B.S. from the State University of the State of New York. On September 25, 1913, the school charter was amended changing the name from School to College, and authorizing the college to grant its own degrees. Mr. Brooks' title was also changed from that of Director to President. In March, the Trustees adapted a new school seal which is used up to this day. In 1916, Clarkson awarded its first Master of Science degree. With the advent of World War I, students as well as alumni were joining the armed forces. Clarkson promptly responded to the call for vocational training for enlisted men, setting up two month courses for auto mechanics, electricians, carpenters, blacksmiths, machinists and gas engineers. Each contingent num- bered up to 200. The soldiers were fed at the Arling- ton Hotel and used the college gymnasium and two floors of the Arlington for barracks. In 1919, construc- tion of the Normal School, (which would later become Clarkson's Snell Hall,) was completed, and the first is- sue of the Integrator was printed though it was not named until early in 1920 after a name contest. In the fall of 1919, the school's enrollment totaled 148 and tuition was increased from $100 to $150. Be- hind the main building, a new structure was completed which served as a foundry. In October, Lambda Iota Fraternity was founded, and on December 2, the Clarkson Tech Alumni Association was incorporated. In addition to the tank and cane rush, tugs of war were held across the Racquette. Some bouts lasted up to 54 minutes. In the fall a skating rink was built by some of the Clarkson men. The January 1921 In- tegrator reported, There is contemplation of a hockey team at Tech. Nineteen-twenty-one was the scene of much excitement about buying the entire Clarkson es- tate and moving the entire campus up on the hill and selling the town buildings to the State Normal. At one point it was even considered to move Old Main up on the hill. At the 1922 Alumni dinner, a new athletic field was proposed and was later brought into actuality when Miss Annie Clarkson donated the land West of Hol- croft for this purpose. In 1923, Joe E. Bushey was heard from in the pages of The Integrator. He appeared to be an astute, illiterate, rambling wreck from Canada in the class of 1926. In the fall, the students petitioned the Trustees for a week off to work on grading the new athletic field. It was granted, and in a week's work they moved 3300 8

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Pictured are the interior and exterior of the Qark- son Gymnasium. The idea of a gym was first con- ceived in October of 1906, and construction was completed in the spring of 1912, at a cost of $20,000, one fourth of which was donated by Miss Lavinia Clarkson. With the completion of the new Alumni Gym on the hill, the downtown gym was converted into the Harriet Call Burnap Library in the spring of 1956. 7

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cubic yards of soil, but the field would not be com- pleted for four more years. In 1924 the department of Business Administration and a course in General Science was initiated and the Clarksonian, the college yearbook, made its first ap- pearance. The fall of this year included another week of work on the athletic field. Four-thousand cubic yards of soil was moved while grading and installing drainage ditches under the supervision of the Civil En- gineers. Everyone was involved or else! The spring of 1925 saw the formation of the Cum Laude Society with the hope of eventually securing a national honorary like Tau Beta Pi, and another week in the fall was set aside for work on the athletic field. The Football schedule showed games with Alfred, Col- gate, Vermont, Buffalo, Hobart, RPI, Rochester, and St. Lawrence. It was a big day indeed when Clarkson's slide rule eleven met the tea sippers of St. Lawrence. Dreams of building the new Clarkson on the hill were made possible when in June of 1927, Miss Annie Clarkson donated to the college the entire Clarkson es- tate of 600 acres. In addition, a gift of $40,000 was re- ceived from Mr. and Mrs. Bertrand H. Snell to com- plete the athletic field and build the grandstand and dressing rooms. The athletic field was finished and dedicated as Snell Field at a game in which Clarkson beat RPI by a score of 7-0. In 1928, Clarkson granted its first degree in Business Administration, and it was that year that the Green Griffon, Clarkson's humor magazine, was born. It con- tinued to be published until 1937. EMINENT ALUMNI Scattered throughout the remainder of this section are pictures of Clarkson graduates who made their way to the top in their field. They were selected at random from a list of hundreds of eligibles and represent visual proof of Clarkson's success in edu- cating those who have a desire to aid themselves. ■H. HARRY K. COLLINS Class of '26 Real Estate and Property Manager of Parker, Towle Thompson Co. of Pasadena, California (re- tired) BERT1L A. LYBECK Class of '25, B.Sc., C.E. Presently President of B.A. Ly- beck, Inc. of New York City. This is a plan of the proposed athletic field as it appeared in the 1926-27 Clarksonian. The idea of an athletic field was first proposed in 1922 and it became feasible when Miss Annie Clarkson later donated the land west of Holcroft for this purpose. For the next four years Clarkson students donated one week of their academic year to manually grade and install drainage on the field. To the far right, a main ditch is being dug into which fourteen lateral pipes dump from either side. Below, boulders from surrounding stone walls are being used to fill low portions of the field. 9