Earlham College - Sargasso Yearbook (Richmond, IN)

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3ltt iE mnrtain HODGIN I kiifw him well. Ami ever at his task Carving ideas out of life and story. And walking close to them himself, lie wore the teacher ' s crown of glory — Xot noisy fame that blows about the world The bubble of some great perfection — r.ut the crown that daily service won ( )f students ' trust and students ' deep affection. I knew him well. And ever at its need He laid his life on Friendship ' s glowing altar; . thousand knew his read - help And no one ever knew him falter. A kindly, gentle life was his. That beamed on all the life around him. As true and steadfast as a star To every soul that found him. I knew him well. A carver at the block That held his one imprisoned beauty. For forty years and more — the last stroke. Like the first, armed with zeal and duty ; But the angels, looking, said — It is enough. And sent the fairest one of all the blest To hold his hand back from the stroke. And now he is at rest. Wii. N ' . TRUEr.Loor). t I $ T,itcn from the Earlhamll.

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I ' liNsics and Chemistry have been separated into two, with a professor at the head of each ; the departments of English and r.iologv liave each been given regularly appointed assistants; a physical director has been appointed for the college year. ' I ' liongh lUindy Mall has been occu]jied only one year previous tip this, the applications for rooms have exceeded the supply of tluni and there has been a waiting list all year. The college dining ball, also, has reached its present capacity. The Indiana Public Lil)rar Oimniission ilecifled, one year ago, to establish its library school here because of the various ad- vantages offered by Earlbam. L ' nder the new educational law of Indiana, the college has been accredited by the State Teachers ' Training Board and this has led to extensive expansion in the department of I ' hilosophy and Educatifin. The Summer School has had a steadily increasing atten lance and reached the highest enrollment on record in l ' l()8. Tlie total attendance of the college for the present year is estimated at aliout six himdred students. nuring the Jiast three years, the endowment funds of the college have been increased by eighty-five thousand dollars, which brings the total endowment up to three hundred and forty thou- sand dollars. . n additional gift is estimated at ten thousand and the working plant at three hundred and fifty thousand. Earlbam is a ty])ieal college as contrasted with a university. Its requirements for the Uachelor ' s Degree are equivalent to those in the leading universities in America but its work is concentrated upon undergraduate courses. It is able, therefore, to oflfer college training of an exceptionally high grade, under conditions more favorable than are found in overcrowded in.stitutions of complex organization. I ' jjon the coni])letion of the college course. Earl- ham consistently encourages its graduates to prosecute their work for advanced or professional degrees in such universities as oflfer the best advantages in their chosen lines. liy this method an ex- ceptionally high degree of efficiency is secured in both undergrad- uate and graduate study. The wisdom of this policy is abundant- ly justified by the large number of Earlham graduates who, from ear to ear, pursue advanced work in the leading universities of tliis countrx with distinction to themselves and their . Ima Mater. H. RLow Lixiii.Ev, ' 97.

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Prof. Cyrus W. Modgin lUUGUArmCAI, SKliTCII Prof. Cyrus W. Iludnin was born Ft-bruary 12, 184J, and bfgaii teacbiiig in ly ' jl. in lladlcy ' s i ' rivate Academy in Rich- mond, Ind. ' Ibis was followed b ' a year in tbo puljlic schools in Randolph County, after which be taught for tliree ' ears in the public schools in Henry County. He graduated from the Illinois State Normal L ' niversity in 1867. The year 1868-69 was spent as principal of the Richmond High School. He was pro- fessor of history in the Indiana State Xornial School 1872-1881. He was superintendent of the Rushville (Ind.) City Schools 1882-1883. He came to Richmond, Indiana, as principal of the Richmond Normal School in 1883 and continued until 1887, when he accepted the position of professor of history and political economy in Earlham College, Richmond, Ind., which position he has held to the present year. He was on a leave of absence 1892-1893 pursuing graduate work in the University of Chicago. He has lectured a great deal on educational topics, temperance, peace and arbitration. He has done a great deal of work in teachers ' county institutes, and during the years 1896-98 be was in charge of the history work of the Chautauqua Correspondence School. . s an antbiir, in 1880, he published . n ( )utline of a Course of .Study in Inited .States History ; in 18 ' )I, as a supplement to Dole ' s . nierican Citizen, Outline of Civil Government in Indi- ana : 1893, Indiana and the Nation ; 1893, A Study of the .- merican Commonwealth , joint editor with Prof. Woodburn ; 1897. Sketch of the History of Indiana , for the Indiana edition of Lossing ' s F,ncycIo|).-edia of United States History: and about two years ago a ketcll of the History of Indiana for the Indiana edition of Redway ' s Lnited States History. AN Al ' PkECIATION c think of him first as a teacher. Teaching was his chief work, and his first regret when he healized that death was near, was that be was not to be permitted to fill out a half century in the school room. He was himself a conscientious scholar who at- tained knowledge by painstaking labor ; and was not tempted to that impatience with plodding minds which often unfits brilliant men to lead others to knowledge. He bad an unfailing enthusi- asm in his work. He did not shrink from the drudgery of ad- ministrative details: a schedule of recitations or examinations wlieii it came from him was a work of art, and the routine ex- amination of theses and quizzes was done with unfailing thor- oughness. When he read Blessed be drudger to us in chapel, it fell on our ears as a ])hilosophy of life. He had a quiet cheer- fulness and enthusiasm that was medicine to the sold. To him a truth never lost value because it was old, nor did be change his courses of study or forsake his friends for the sake of novelty. 1 le took a personal interest in his .students and felt an unfailing joy when he led one to see the meaning- and laws of human historx ' and to catch a glimpse of its divine goal. If he erred in his deal- ings with his students, it was through over-confidence in their sin- cerity and integrity ; but I feel sure none ever took advantage of his faith, who did not feel the nieannos of baying betrayed a sacred trust. I do not now recall a single scholar of national eminence that he trained, but in nearly every community where I go I find men and W ' men who speak with enthusiasm of the love of truth and the transfiguration of life ' s common tasks that came to them when Cyrus Plodgin was their teacher. Prof. Hodgin was in all things a practical idealist. He called