Kalamazoo College - Boiling Pot Yearbook (Kalamazoo, MI)

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KALAMAZQG COLLEGE. N the pioneer days of the early thirties,wheu the wolf and the stag were still familiar sights in our woods, when the smoke of a single log cabin coiled upward from the valley of the boiling pot, Thomas W. Merrill pushed westward from Ann Arbor, following the old Indian trail, in search of a favorable location for The Michigan and Huron Institute, for which he had obtained a charter. After a few transient settlements he transferred his school permanently to Kalamazoo, when in 1837, the name was changed to The Kalamazoo Literary Institute. A considerable piece of ground was purchased to the west of the village and a two story frame building erected as the school edifice. This early structure stood upon what is now known as Walnut Street. In the absence of other equivalent institutions in the state, provisions were made for an academic or preparatory department in connection with the Institute. The fact that there was at that time no other such school reveals the fact, now indisput- able that Kalamazoo was the first institution of classical instruction in our state, the university not excepted. The first period of marked prosperity enjoyed by the institute, began with the accession of Dr. J. A. B. Stone to the presidency. President Stone was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. L. H. Stone, who became principal of the Female Department. The classes of this department met in a small two storv frame structure, standing in a classic grove of burr-oaks upon Academy Square, now occupied by the Court House and the Jail. The accommodations 19

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Zin Zffemorg of professor S. 3. Gxtell who bieb march twentg-thirb 1902 7

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rapidly becoming too small, plans were laid for the erection of a four story building upon a commanding site which had been purchased in the western side of the village. The plans provided for the use of the irst floor for class rooms and chapel, leaving the remainder to be used as dormitories for the students, and such indeed was the first use to which the present dormitory was put. In 1854-55 we find matters looking bright for the Institute. The enrollment entire numbering some 250 students, additions to the curriculum being made, and such names among the faculty as those of the President, Dr. Stone, Edward Olney, later professor of Mathematics in the University of Michigan, Daniel Putnam and Mrs. L. H. Stone. In 1855 the corporate name was changed to its present title Kalamazoo College. It should not be forgotten that during these years the struggle for the admission of women to equal standing with men, in our institutions of higher learning, was at its height. The wornan's department of the earlier Institute bears testi- mony to the fact that Kalamazoo College stood even then with open doors to the women of our state. The Kalamazoo Theological Seminary started shortly after this time, and was more or less closely allied, unofiicially, to the College for many years. Kalamazoo Hall, originally intended for the woman's department was dedicated in 1859. The funds from which the hall was erected were donated by the citizens of Kalamazoo with the exception of one thousand dollars given by Caleb Van Husen and some few lesser subscriptions. In 1863 President and Mrs. Stone resigned the positions which they had held for twenty years at a considerable pecuniary sacrifice. Those who record the story of this period pay highest tribute to them for the work which they accomplished. Six years later Dr. Samuel Brooks became professor in Latin, and so today holds the oldest faculty relationship of any of our professors. It would be interesting to pursue in detail the trials and fortunes of the ensuing years. The College like all 90