Lowell Technological Institute - Pickout Yearbook (Lowell, MA)

Page 12 text:

fyijftif, tyealA, fyauncf, On this, the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Lowell Textile Institute, it is well to pause for a while and con- sider more than the concrete fact that the Institute exists. Behind its existence is a story which is little known and less told. It is a story of dreams and ideas of many men which eventually came to life and which today are being con- stantly improved and expanded. Lowell, The Mother Textile City of America, gave birth to the ideas through some of her citizens. Mr. James T. Smith fathered and nour- ished many of these ideas and for his successful efforts in promoting them has come to be known as the Father of the Lowell Textile School. The background of the founding is best explained by Mr. Smith in his address at the dedication of the present buildings of the school. . . .The school did not originate in local pride but local need. . . Primar- ily, it was a business enterprise in which local manufacturers shared in hopes that training and education of their workers would give them a better chance of competing with cheaper Southern and Asiatic products. ...But such a school as was re- quired must necessarily embrace all textile fibers and processes and thor- ough instruction in the arts and sciences applied in textile manufacture. . . Mr. Smith failed to receive the desired cooperation from the Middlesex Me- chanics Association or the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology, so in the Fall of 1894, he invited representatives of local mills to meet with him to hear his findings on the various aspects of founding a textile school. ... From the first the proposition was received fav- orably, almost with enthusiasm... In 1895, the Massachusetts legisla- ture authorized a corporation to be known as the Trustees of the Lowell Textile School, for the purpose of estab- lishing and maintaining a textile school for instruction in the theory and prac- tical art of textile and kindred branches of industry. . . The textile education idea was not new. In 1835, tne Middlesex Mechanics Association amended its charter to pro- vide for means of technical education, but nothing else was done about it. About 1870, Mr. Charles L. Hildreth of the Lowell Machine Shop, as chairman of the City Council Committee on lands and buildings in the construction of the Green grammar school, made pro- visions for a hall for mechanical draw- ing and a basement for textile machin- ery. Professor Channing Whitaker of his engineering staff developed an evening drawing school which became the fore- runner of the Evening Textile School. The original plant was begun on a modest scale in rented quarters on Middle Street in down-town Lowell. The twenty-seven Trustees represented Merrimack Valley mills valued at a total of $25,000, 000. Christopher P. Brooks was the first director of the school. He was chosen because of his large experience in Eng- lish schools and in both American and foreign mill installations. [8]

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9m Mem iiam Ensign Donald M. Adie ' 41 Lieutenant Joseph H. Berkowitz ' 44 Lieutenant Thomas W. Broderick ' 44 Lieutenant Thomas F. Cryan ' 42 Lieutenant H. Russell Cunningham ' 40 Lieutenant Philip C. Evans ' 42 Staff Sergeant Burgess C. Harpoot ' 38 Lieutenant Roger H. Kane ' 38 Lieutenant Edwin J. Kozera ' 46 Lieutenant Martin P. Murray ' 43 Private Walter H. Paige, Jr. ' 38 Private Richard I. Parthum ' 46 Lieutenant Samuel Pearsall ' 42 Private Kilburn G. Pease ' 38 Private Ernest M. Stromvall ' 44 Ensign Frederick L. Webster ' 43

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The object of the school was to give instruction in practical knowledge nec- essary in cotton, woolen, worsted and other textile industries. . . It was not intended to compete with regular col- leges, but rather to train mill personnel in better mill methods. Entrance requirements varied greatly from those of today. A candidate was required to be over 14, of either sex, and any nationality. Graduates of grammar schools or high schools were admitted directly, while others were required to take an entrance examina- tion to show their proficiency. The school was taught in three dis- tinct branches: day school, evening school, and in a popular lecture series. A student could combine any or all of these branches. The formal opening was presided over by Governor Wolcott on January 30, 1897 and classes were commenced on February 1, 1897. In the Fall of that year, a fourth branch was instituted; a women ' s de- partment which specialized in design and art courses. From the beginning women have attended both day and evening school. The valuation of the school already had risen from an original $50,000 to S75, 000. This is in marked contrast to Mr. Smith ' s personal estimate of $1,000,000 as necessary to open the school. The school had 257 students that year, of whom 72 were day students. One foreign country and several South- ern states were represented at that early date, a practice which has in- creased as years went by. In 1899, the General Court of Massa- chusetts voted a grant of $35,000 with the condition that an equal amount be raised by outside sources. Mr. Frederick Fanning Ayer, a leading textile manu- facturer and a native of Lowell, con- tributed the required amount and made the State grant immediately available. In all, Mr. Ayer contributed a total of $100,000 to the school. Southwick Hall has been named in honor of his maternal grandfather, an early textile manufacturer in this vicinity. Large donations were also made by the cities of Lowell and Lawrence. Kitson Hall was donated by the daughters of Richard Kitson, and by the Kitson Machine Company, manu- facturers of textile machinery, which he had founded. Construction of the present campus was begun on a site acquired partly from the Ayer funds and partly from a grant of four acres by the Locks and Canals. Besides Southwick Hall and Kitson Hall, the Falmouth Street Building was also built. The total valua- tion of the lands, buildings, and ma- chinery was $425,000. At the same time that all this activity was going on, the three-year-old textile school was out gathering laurels in far places. In 1900, the Lowell Textile School was awarded the Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition for general excellence. The same year, an award was received from the Merchants and Manufacturers Exhibition. In 1901, another Gold Medal was awarded at the Pan American Exposition. The new campus was occupied for classes on January 12, 1903. The formal dedication was made on February 12, 1903, by Governor Bates. The main addresses were given by the President of M.I. T., the chairman of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, and Mr. James T. Smith for the trus- tees. The total enrollment at this time was 545, of whom 116 were day students. The level of entering students had im- proved to the extent that the courses in chemistry and mechanics were made [9]