Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Technique Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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THE INSTITUTE BATTALION Back Bay region, the Rogers Building was erected. Within its walls the entire Institute lived for eighteen years. In 1870, President Rogers, because of his ill health, was relieved of his duties by John D. Runkle who served until 1878 when Rogers again undertook to guide the school. He was soon to die, however, at his post in the very act of performing his duty, for he was stricken upon the platform of Huntington Hall, while he was addressing the graduating class of '82. His part was done - well done. He had founded his school and thereby had established a lasting monument to his memory. Fortune again smiled upon this project for there then appeared upon the stage Francis Amasa Walker, a man well fitted to assume the role of his predecessor. The action so well begun under Rogers was ably carried on by Walker and under his sure guidance and enthusiasm took on new life and marvelously developed. Many new buildings were provided and augmented equipment. There was, at the time of Walker's death in 1897, a staff of one hundred and thirty, and twelve hundred students. Technology had grown from a struggling technical school to a great scientific university. The little drama begun on Summer Street had attained the proportions of a great pageant. But Walker had done more than this, for, because of his great faith in youth, he had devoted much of his untiring energy to the moulding and enrichment of the character and attitude of the school. The spirit of Technology today is in a large measure the spirit of President Walker. Until 1900 Professor James M. Crafts acted as l president. He was succeeded by Dr. Henry S. Pritchett. During his administration no fundamen- tal changes were introduced, although many inno- vations appeared. Pormer policies were extended and the undergraduates were aided to develop an athletic and social life. A gymnasium, a Union and a playing held were created to fill long felt needs. Greater opportunities for research were found in the establishment of graduate schools. o c In 1905 and again in 1908, crucial points in this Affighialiaiiagiifliiielfzi-P1873 drama occurred for the question of affiliation with p,e,f,ie,,,1gg1-1397 15 FRANCIS A. WALKER

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PROLOGUE HE present is not isolated from the past but grows and is evolved from it. The events of this year at Technology are affected by the happenings of previous years and are the result of that which has gone before. It is as if the activities recorded in this present vol- ume of TECHNIQUE were merely scenes in just one act of a long drama that has been unfold- ing for years. It is obvious that a synopsis of the past history of Technology is essential for a better understanding of the present action. For this reason, a brief prologue is here pre- sented, giving the first acts of this drama and some account of the great men who strode upon this stage. This drama had its inception in the mind of one man, William Barton Rogers. Rogers was the greatest of an eminent family of scientists, nurtured in natural philosophy, a teacher and propagandist of science all his days. Rogers recognized the great discrepancy between the traditional classical training that was given young men in that time and Preridefzt1865-70,1878-81 the demands that the theater of life made upon them, for the world had already become industrialized. He realized that those who toiled for science, pure or applied, were few, and that those who saw its needs and one nation's need for it, were fewer. Rogers saw the great opportunity for an institution, not only for research but for the application of exact knowledge to invention and industry. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the deliberate design for the satisfaction of these needs, and thus it was that the drama began. Rogers' vision was clear and direct and in the ensuing years, it has never been necessary to deviate from the line of action laid down by him in 1846 in his Plan for a Polytechnic School in Boston' '-the foundation ofa great engineering School. In the fall of 1860, his dreams began to be realized by the incorporation of the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology. The Civil War then intervened and the opening was de- layed. February of 1865, however, saw Rogers as the head of the new school, with fifteen students pursuing their studies in a few rooms on Summer Street, Boston. During its first years, the new school lived precariously, and its financial backing was meagre for it was at a time when the whole country was in serious economic difficulty. In 1866, however, on land granted by the government in the new WILLIAM BARTON ROGERS HUNTINGTON HALL IN THE EARLY '70s 1 4

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Harvard University was raised. The matter of consolidation came up be- I cause of the McKay fund which was donated for the establishment of a technical school at Harvard, and which it was thought might be used to pay Harvard professors at Technology. The Supreme Court finally decided that any such plan would be a violation of the McKay trust. Consequently, it was by the result of this decision and the efforts of President Pritchett that the autonomy of the Institute was preserved. Dr. Pritchett resigned in 1907 and the chair was admirably held for two years by Doctor Noyes. With the inauguration of Richard C. Maclaurin of Columbia, our drama I entered upon a larger, though not radically different phase of life. To P,,,,,,,,,, 189711900 President Maclaurin and his great ability and tireless effort, we owe the new Technology, this magnificent setting for the activities of our collegiate years. Por it was by this time that the Institute had outgrown its quarters in Back Bay. The num- ber of its courses had increased from six to fifteen, the instructing staff, originally ten, was now three hundred, and there were nineteen hundred students. The buildings were outgrown, crowded and inconvenient. It was neither possible nor desirable to expand upon the old site in the heart of the city. Everyone realized that the time had come for a change. There must be provided a place for greater laboratories and shops as well as dormitories for the students, coming from all corners of the globe and needing a unified student life. It was a great task requiring resources which at that time were entirely lacking. But President Maclaurin proved himself able to cope with the dimculties. In securing financial backing for the Institute lay his peculiar genius and he worked unceasingly raising funds. He was not five years in office when, on new land across the Charles on the Cambridge bank, the great New Technology was already under construction. Plans provided for expansion far into the future. The first dormitory group was constructed, and, to house student activities, amusements, a dining hall and a gym- nasium, Walker Memorial was built. In June 1916 the new Technology was dedicated and, appropriately enough, this new phase in the action of our Prefidefztl900-1907 JAMES M. CRAFTS HENRY S. PRITCHET1' ROGERS BUILDING IN 1875 16