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Page 24 text:
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It became evident that the property at Fifteenth and H Streets was too valuable a piece of land to be utilized economically for college purposes, and it was sold to S, W, Woodward for $450,000. The Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Mechanic Arts, and the Teachers College were removed to a row of six buildings on I Street between Fifteenth and Sixteenth Streets, occupied by ihe University, and the Division of Architecture was dropped, I he money from the sale of the University property was applied to the indebtedness of the institution with such results that the University was soon freed from debt and steps were taken to restore the endowment to its former figure. Under the wise and eco- nomical management of President Charles Herbert Stockton, Rear Admiral U. S. N., retired, the expenses of the University have been reduced to a minimum, and it is due to his efforts that the University is now on its feet. The University is now free from debt, and its income for the next five years has been fully assured. Formal notice was served on the first of February, 1912, by the Arlington Hotel Company that the I Street building would be torn down to make room for a larger hotel, and must be vacated by May first. Shortly afterward the University leased the former home of the St, Rose Industrial School at 2023 G Street, N, W. That the University is on the progressive path is evident from the steadily increasing registration and the interesting changes reported this year. Approximately 1,500 students are enrolled with a faculty of 200. The building on G Street is now adequately meeting the requirements of the Department of Arts and Sciences, 1 he mortgage debt upon this building is being gradually liquidated. An addition of a new and well-equipped laboratory to and the amalgamation of the Division of Architecture with the College of Engineering are vital factors in promoting the efficiency of this College, Increase in service rendered by the Hospital made it advisable to secure a Home for the Nurses, A suitable building was purchased for that purpose at I 3th and L Streets for the consideration of $8,000. Under the Department oT Arts and Sciences are now conducted, the Columbian College, the College of Engineering, the Teachers College, and courses leading to the Master’s Degrees, the Engineering Degrees and the Degrees of Doctor of Jurisprudence and Doctor of Philosophy, The other departments comprising the University are the Law School, the Medical School, the Dental School, and the two associated colleges, the National College of Pharmacy and the College of Veterinary Medicine, The spirit which should permeate all college life has perhaps lacked expression at George Washington. An urban university rarely has the conditions favorable to the growth of academic traditions. These generally cluster around some particular building or spot on the campus, and are commemorated by observances which the privacy of the campus gives free opportunity for development. The college located in the city, and especially in the heart of the city, must be prepared to surrender many of its customs and traditions, from ihe very necessities of the situation. The freedom of a campus in the business section of a city is out of the question. So George Washington has from its situation lost much of its student life, and much of the tradition and custom that serves to commemorate the history of an institution. 20
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Page 23 text:
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Columbian College owed its life and prosperity to the continued and unremitting efforts of Luther Rice who before his death in 1 836 secured for it nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars by subscriptions from practically every State in the Union, Later John Withers of Virginia contributing from time to time gave a total of nearly seventy thousand dollars. Congress during the first administration of President Jackson appropriated lots worth twenty-five thousand dollars to Columbian and a like amount to Georgetown, This was the only money that the institution has ever received from the Government, As was the case in so many institutions, particularly in the South, the Civil War prac- tically suspended classes in Columbian College, A large proportion of the students South- ern Baptists went to fight in the Army of the Confederacy and many fought in the Armies of the Union, I he College buildings were used by the Government for hospital services. In this period of its fortunes Columbian College owed a deep debt of gratitude to the benefactions of Mr, W. W. Corcoran who contributed liberally to the work of the institution. By Act of Congress the name of the College was changed in 1873 to the Columbian University and the Board of Trustees was made self-perpetuating. Begin- ning with 1879 the transformation of the institution from a suburban college to a city university began. The Trustees came to the conclusion that Columbian must be removed to the center of the city in order to hold the students, and the piece- meal sale of the College Hill property was commenced, Mr, Corcoran offered the University the lot on which the Arlington Hotel was situated but as the land in question was considered too small Mr, Corcoran was induced to permit the sale of his gifts and the reinvestment in cheaper lands. The Harris property at Fifteenth and H Streets previously the site of the Club House, was purchased and a building, considered at the time one of the most up-to-date college buildings was begun in 1 883. During the following school year the removal to the heart of the city was effected. In the Fifteenth Street building were located the classical and law departments and the newly-founded Corcoran Scientific School, In I 898 the Baptist denomination assumed control of the University by an Act of Congress which provided that two-thirds of the Board of Trustees should be members of that denomination. The non-sectarian character of the institution was restored however, by an Act of Congress in 1 904. By an Act of Congress and with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and the United States Commissioner of Education the name of the Institution was changed to The George Washington University. This name was assumed on the promise of an endowment of half a million a promise which has never as yet been realized, A period of rapid expansion of the University followed. The temporary failure of the University ' s petition for the benefits of the Morrill Fund helps to increase our financial difficulties. The Morrill Act provides for the dis- tribution of revenue from public lands among the States to institutions offering courses in agriculture and the mechanic arts. The District of Columbia has never had its share of the benefits of this fund and George Washington as the only non-sectarian University in the District made its petition for the endowment. In spite of bitter opposition both open and secret from interested parties the bill granting George Washington the benefits of the Morrill Act was favorably reported by the Committees of both Houses but in the absorbing political developments of that year the measure was lost sight of. li
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