Hamline University - Liner Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

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as a corporation, and when, in 1880, Minnesota entered upon an era of wonderful prosperity and commercial progress, Hamline University was reopened as a col- legiate institution. The property at Red Wing sold for enough to pay off the indebtedness of the university, and the task of securing a new siteiand means of erecting a.college building began. Money and land were contributed by friends of the -university who were desirous of having it removed to the vicinity of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and as soon as possible, building operations were begun upon a tract of ground comprising about forty acres, midway between the Twin Cities. Hamline University was reopened with Dr. John as president, in 1880. Uni- versity Hall had been built at a cost of 350,000 It contained all the recitation rooms used by the college, the chapel, library, dormitories, and boarding depart- ment, and was the only building belonging to the institution. The theological and law' courses of the university were discontinued, -but a medical college was attached. Two years after the reopening of the university, a boarding hall was built for the accommodation of young women, and was called Ladies' Hall for many years, until in 1910 the name Goheen Hall was adopted in honor of Mrs. Anna Harrison Goheen of Minneapolis, who contributed a large sum toward its cost. February 17, 1883, was one of the memorable dates in the history of Hamline, for on that day the original building was burned. The pathetic sight, of Dr. john and the students trying to save what they could, lingers in many recollections. Thea next day schoolwas convened in Goheen Hall and plans for rebuilding were ma e. Part II T an meeting of the trustees in june, 1883, the resignation of Dr. D. C. john as president was accepted. It was a fortunate day for Hamline University when its Board of Trustees elected Rev. George H. Bridgman, D. D., LL. D., then president .of Lima Seminary in New York, to fill the vacancy made by Dr. John's resignation, and Loren H. Batchelder, A. M., LL. D., formerly of the faculty of Haclgettstown Collegiate Institute, N. J. to be professor of Physical Science. , 1 . I age 1 nt 'flf-- i - 111. f..wif-ii...q,.-w,'4-'.,. W1 . . ,.. ,X t K

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N: lb Y li. N 96 .iw lip 'A 'A ss -5 . mx. U P . 1 4 'va , , m,, gi 1 ,Nr iv. 1 F43 'Y me 'Q u .Y 9. :Sr '4 fa' 'Ib' P . -.-'.'f'. i 1. Mi . . L , w . 4',1' gp ZVL.-f'-af W' l' fi ,,x Q ,' V Rl VX 9- x .1 5 . K X , - .- 'AQ 'I V 1 U Ll .P--C. Lli' time il l:..'..: 1 iL...i1 li 'iii' i.'1fv.riwfr... Mr. A. J. Meacham, one of the earliest students, entering in 1857, has some de- l i gh t ful observations on the old days. In 1858 Hamline boasted of a chapel and three recitation rooms on the first floor. One of these, the music room, was also used as a li- brary. A ' At that time the tuition did not exceed ten dollars a term. There was no ground for argument concerning incidentals. The freshmen did not carry a check sewed up in his inside coat pocket, but calmly walked up to the receiving ofiicial and donated a few hams, some flour and a little pork and beans. This is what supported the faculty. ' ' - The main building consisted of class rooms on the first floor and a dormitory on thesecond. The girls were supreme at one end of the structure, while the boys held the other. The masculine element was as always, full of fun. There were three literary societies-the Philologian, the Adelphian, and the Segournian. The journalistic ambitions of the students were satisiied by a paper published weekly by each society in turn. It was not printed but read in chapel. Last Commencement HE year 1869 was another period filled with incidents. The liabilities of the university were such that a majority of the trustees favored a discontinuance of instruction and the school closed, Dr. Brooks having resigned. This decision was made quietly by the trustees and the students were not aware of it until commencement. It was the tenth -graduating class which went out of Hamline on March 4, 1869, and the last commencement at Red Wing. In the meantime, the Minnesota State University, Carleton College and other institutions of learning had been organized, and the need of this college in the state was less imperative, though the project of reopening Hamline University was still one of the first interests of the Methodist Church. During the eleven years fol- lowing the closing of the institution, the Board of Trustees continued its existence W .N ...grisly 1 s 1 .ss r ' rs: . .- .g-wi.: ya. -gs .f iXSQSswt:ySQSx n. tr. .'Fwf5' ' -ixXhX1i.Q3AXQ.i3Q.QX tx Q3 Page Nineteen at 13 , :..71,y..1,'f, 1:41-.zz ,igff-' - 1

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Dr. Bridgman had already mastered difficult educational problems at Lima and history has amply demonstrated the wisdom of his selection to be the head of Ham- line University. Equally wise was the selection of Dean Batchelder. These men found an institution in its infancy, both laboring for years, with the aid of other devoted men and women, produced a physical plant and an educational routine of the highest order. The labor of supplying the ways and means for the educa- tiogal lprogram fell upon 'President Bridgman, ably assisted by Dean- Batchelder an ot ers. . f The institution of that day consisted of a College of Liberal arts and a College Preparatory Department. The former was made up of iiive seniors, six juniors, thirteen sophomores and fourteen freshmen, in contrast with this enrollment there was a preparatory department of one hundred and twenty-eight. It was the task of President Bridgman to develop the College of Liberal Arts out of these beginnings. His first achievement was the enlargement of the Ladies' Hall by an addition at the south end whereby its capacity was doubled. 2 In 1887 Science Hall was erected to afford space needed for the scientific laboratories and for class rooms. In the same year the Department of Biology was founded and Henry L. Osborn, Ph. D. was elected totake charge of it. In 1889 the Department of History was added to the curriculum. George S. Innis, Ph. D. was .made professor of History. He had formerly been the head of the Latin Department and the place thus vacated has been filled from that time to this by William E. Thompson, A. M. These additions to the faculty and curriculum improved the institution sufficiently to permit growth of the collegiate work and the results were shown by the increased attendance in the College of Liberal Arts. Up to 1898 the work in English had been carried by various other departments, in that year a professorship of English was founded. The Qchief work of its early development was done by Richard Watson Cooper, A. B., who was elected in 1899. In those days the college library occupied the rooms on the second floor of University Hall, now occupied by the Greek Department and the Y. W. C. A. The library was in charge of Dr. Innis and was open at a few stated hours for draw- ing books, but there were no facilities for using it as a place for reading or library Page Twentyfone '