University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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islature added 84,000 to S8,ooo which had accumulated from the interest on the University endowment, and allowed the Regents to erect a chemical building, the Department of Chemistry at that time occupying a portion of Fraser Hall and greatly endangering from fire the safety of that structure. In 1886, the natural history collections having increased to such an extent as to encroach upon the space in Fraser Hall, already needed for instruction, the Snow Hall of Xi tural History was erected by in appropriation of 850,000, although the appropriation bill passed the Committee of the Whole by a majority of only one vote, and there was considerable opposition to the bill upon the {ground that 850,000 was too large a sum to be expended for a bug house. During the same year, by an appropriation of Si 6,000, a building for the power and heating plant was erected, Fraser Hall having on several occasions narrowly escaped destruction by fire from spontaneous combustion of the coal stored in the basement. In 1893-04 the Spooner Library and the Chancellor ' s residence were erected at a cost of $75,000 and 812,000, respectively, these two buildings and the land upon which they were erected having been bequeathed to the University of Kansas by William B. Spooner, of Boston, an uncle of Chancellor F. H. Snow. The eighth building was the Physics Building, or Blake Hall, erected in 1895 by an appropriation of $60,000. This is the only building upon the campus which was not constructed under the direction of the Regents of the University, it having been constructed by the State Board of Public Works. The ninth building was the Fowler Shops, erected in 1899 for the depart- ments of electrical and civil engineering. This building was the gift of Mr. Geo. H. Fowler, and was the direct outcome of the friendship of that gentleman for Professor Lucien I. Blake. The tenth building was the new Chemistry Building, erected in 1900 by an appropriation of $55,000 for the Department of Chemistry and the School of ii

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ENROLLMENT IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS. The increase in the number of students from year to year has been slow and steady. At the end of the first ten years (in 1876-77) the total enrollment was 359; at the end of the second decade (1886-87), 4 8 9J at the end of the third decade (1896-97), 1004; during the present academic year (1903-04), 1,325. No attempt has been made at any time to increase the attendance by lowering the standard of admission; on the other hand, the entrance requirements have been continually advanced and impartially enforced. GRADUATES OF THE UNIVERSITY. The course of study leading to the degree of A.B. originally occupied seven years, including three years of preparatory work, so that the first class to grad- uate from the University of Kansas was the class of 1873, which consisted of four members. The number of graduates of an institution furnishes a better basis for esti- mating its efficiency than the aggregate number of students without reference to the length of time covered by their enrollment. The University of Kansas has enrolled a total of 16,000 students; of this number 2,500 have completed their courses of study and received the degrees appropriate thereto. During the past six years the number of graduates has averaged more than 200 annually. ADDITIONAL BUILDINGS. The most distinguished service rendered by General Fraser was the suc- cessful execution of his own plan for the erection of the main building of the University, now denominated Fraser Hall. On the 3d of February, 1870, the citizens of Lawrence, by almost a unanimous vote, authorized bonds to the amount of $100,000 for the purpose of erecting this building. The Legislature of 1872 added $50,000 to the amount realized from the Lawrence bonds, and on Decembei 2 of the same year the north wing of the building was first occupied by university classes. Eleven years went by before another Jbuilding was erected. In 1883 the Leg- 10

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Main Building with Museum in the Back Ground. Pharmacy. The old chemistry buildin was repaired and refitted, and is now known as Medical Hall. The eleventh building was the Natural History Museum, erected in 1901-02 by an appropriation of $75,000, necessitated bv the constant danger to the col- lections from fire and by the urgent need of the entire space in Snow Hall for purposes of instruction. An appropriation of $50,000 for a Law Building was made by the Legislature of 1903, and the erection of this, the twelfth, building in 1904-05 will meet an urgent demand for an enlargement of instructional facilities. INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF INSTRUCTORS. Beginning with three members in 1866-67, the Faculty at the end of the first ten years (1876-77) contained 13 members; at the end of the second decade (1886-87), 27 members; at the end of the third decade (1896-97), 56 members; at the end of the present year (1903-04), 103 members. The classification of the present Faculty is as follows : The Chancellor, 25 full Professors, 14 Associate Professors, 29 Assistant Professors, 17 Instructors, 5 Lecturers, and 12 Teaching Fellows. ENLARGEMENT OF THE SCOPE OF THE UNIVERSITY. For the first nine years the work of the University was confined to the Col- legiate Department, or School of Arts. In 1875 a Normal School was added, only to be abolished in 1885 by act of the Legisalture. In 1878 the Law School was established, and has continued under the uninterrupted deanship of Prof. J. W. Green to the present time. In 1877 the Music School was inaugurated, and in 1891 was merged with the School of Art (established in 1885) into the present School of Fine Arts. In 1885 the School of Pharmacy was ooened and has continued under the uninterrupted deanship of Prof. L. E. Sayre to the present time. In 1891 also the Department of Engineering was separated from the School of Arts and made a distinct school under the deanship of Prof. F. O. Marvin, whose administration remains unbroken to the present time. In 1896 the Graduate School was organized with Prof. F. W. Blackmar as dean, and in 1899 the School of Medicine, with Dr. S. W. Williston as dean, thus making a 12