Lehigh University - Epitome Yearbook (Bethlehem, PA)

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MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE CAMPUS nearby Bethlehem appealed strongly to the lounder of Lehigh. On July 27. 1865 the first meeting of the Board of Trustees for the rapidly forming institution of learning was held at the Sun Inn. Bethlehem, Pa., with Bishop Stevens as president. Plans were made for building on the tract of fifty-seven acres which the founder had donated to the school and much attention was given to the selec- tion of a man who would take over the admin- istrative reins of the embryo university and would guide it through the difficult first years. Thus it was that on November 4, 1865, Henry Coppee, LL.D.. was elected the president of Lehigh Uni- versity. At about the same time the original facult ' was elected and, according to the first register, consisted of Henry Coppee, President and Professor of History and English Literature; the Reverend Eliphalet Nott Potter, Professor of Moral and Mental Philosophy and of Christian Evidences; Charles Mayer Wetherhill, Professor of Chemistry; Edwin Wright Morgan, Professor of Mathematics and Mechanics; Alfred Marshall Mayer, Professor-elect of Physics and Astron- omy; William Theodore Roepper, Professor of Mineralogy and Curator of the Museum (there was no museum) ; George Thomas Graham, Instructor in Latin and Greek; and Mr. George Washington Smith, Janitor. The University Seal was adopted by the Board on September 4, 1863 and is described by the minutes of that meeting as follows: In the upper part is a Sun; below is an open Bible; on the Bible lies a heart, thus bringing in the Three Persons of the Godhead, the Ever Blessed Trin- ity: the God of Love, Christ as the Light of tlie World, and the Holy Spirit as the Inspira- tion of the Word and the Spirit of Truth. . . .

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THE LEHIGH STORY LEHIGH UNIVERSITY. Bethleliem. Pa.- Founded by Asa Packer in 1865— Homo min- ister et interpres naturae — Brown and White— Cnristmas-Saucon. Any one of these phrases may serve to conjure up in the mind of the reader hi s own particular picture of a personality- — for a university has a personality -which has ex- erted its force upon his own life. Mothers, fathers, students, professors, administrators, industrialists, townspeople, educators, and a host of others who have come into contact with Lehigh through one medium or another will react with mixed feel- ings—some favorable and some unfavorable. Parents may think in terms of dollars and sac- rifices: students of long assignments, social life, maturity, or potential earning power; still others may regard the university as a life s career, a source of trained personnel, or business income. The history and background of the university determine to a large extent the way in which it will conduct itself and the manner in which it will make itself felt with respect to individuals, communities, and even larger groups. Lehigh University is certainly no exception to the rule. Lehigh as an entity was conceived when a Lehigh Valley industrialist, Asa Packer, felt the desire to do something for the community that had given him an opportunity to raise himself from a mule driver on the Lehigh Canal to the highly respected position of industrialist, poli- tician, and jurist. Coupled with this desire to repay was the realization that this nation which had just completed a destructive civil war was embarking upon an entirely new ()hase ol its growth — that of a tremendous industrial expan- sion. Because of his intimate contact with in- dustry find as a rosnil of his own experience in pulling himself up by his bootstraps , Asa Packer was able to foresee the need for tech- nologically trained young men to enter into and to foster this new growth. With this idea in mind and a sum of $500,000 to back it up, Mr. Packer, who was not college-trained, paid a call on the Right Reverend William Bacon Stevens, D.D., Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, to ask him for his advice on the establishment of a curriculum for the insti- tution of learning he had decided to found. Bishop Stevens drew out Mr. Packer s vision of a school which would provide a polytechnic education in theoretical and applied science for the young men of the valley, state, and nation. With this as a basis Bishop Stevens made ex- tensive inquiries into the systems and philoso- phies of higher education and derived a plan for the yet unborn school which would combine the classics and a School of General Literature with the original purely scientific concept of Mr. Packer. Bishop Stevens scheme was accepted by Mr. Packer and the first step in the creation of the new personality was considered taken. Where, however, was the institution to be located? At first Asa Packer considered his home town of Mauch Chunk at the upf)er end of the Lehigh Valley but found that it lacked the general en- vironment in which he wished this venture to be situated. His next move was to I ' .aston and La- fayette College where he suggested the possi- bility of attaching his idea to the small (Lafayette then numbered 50 students) denominational arts college. No clear reason for his rejection of this f)ossibilily is recorded, but it is known that the industrial, social, and fjhysical environment of I ' ACKI-.U MI-MORIM. CIlM ' fiL

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Around the upper margin of the Seal are the words of Lord Bacon: HOMO MINISTER ET INTERPRES NATURAE. Around the lower corner margin, the words: LEHIGH LNI ER- SITY. Below the Bible, the words: FOUNDED BY ASA PACKER. 1865 . Lehighs motto is taken from Francis Bacon s Novum Organum and may be translated: Man, the servant and interpreter of nature. Having been chartered by the state legislature of Pennsylvania February 9, 1866, The Lehigh University opened its doors to forty members of the first two classes on September first of the same year. The dream of Asa Packer and the hard, careful labor of Bishop Stevens had finally created a reality! The Lehigh Man of eighty-six years ago cer- tainly saw his college in a much different light than many of those who were to follow in his footsteps. A Moravian church which had been bought with the property and renamed Christ- mas Hall was the sole building on the campus and, as such, served as chapel, dormitory ' , reci- tation and lecture hall, and as the administra- tive offices. These hrst students, who were at least sixteen years of age and possessed good moral character, were required to pass rigorous prelimina n,- examinations to enable them to be- gin the first two years of general background studies vhich were thought to be necessary re- gardless of their eventual aim. Rooms were free but the cost of instruction was set at $90 per year for the Hrst and second classes and SI 00 per year for students in the Schools of Special In- struction. To aid deserving men who were un- able to afford the cost of attending Lehigh, three Foundation scholarships were established by Mr. Packer and two Competition scholarships per class were also set up. Of course. Holders of scholarships must be models of excellence and were required, as were all students, to re- frain from smoking, gambling, intoxication, or indecent language. On September 1 , 1867, the new University had gotten its wobbly legs under itself and began taking the first steps in expanding its under- graduate membership and in revising its aca- demic curriculum. The second college year PHYSICS BVILD1SG