New York University - Violet Yearbook (New York, NY)

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come the home of NYU, was begun. The structure, of which a contemporary made the ambiguous remark, I have seen nothing abroad to equal it, was opened in 1835 simultaneously with the creation of the Law School. Although the exterior of the build- ing was impressive, many complaints were fini. ',,,,- Physical Training Department Chairman-Professor Howard G. Cann: 1l'l'A, New York University, B.S. 1920. soon made by its occupants. Samuel F. B. Morse, one of the University's first illustrious faculty members, constantly grumbled about his office, which he claimed was a perfect shower bath with wet walls and smoky chimney. This condition in his quarters, however, did not prevent Professor Morse from developing the telegraph and experi- menting in photography with his colleague, Professor John C. Draper. O Draper, who won his reputation as one of the first scien- tists in the United States by his experiments in radiant energy, also enhanced the repu- tation of NYU, and was a brilliant defender of scientific thought and rationalism. Other members of the faculty included men noted for their achievements in other directions, such as Professor Cyrus Mason, who fre- quently had to lock the doors of his class- room to prevent interruptions by bill collec- tors, the aftermath of his faulty speculations. O In the years following Mathews' ad- ministration, the University followed a seem- ingly placid life disturbed only by minor academic storms, until financial problems came forward once again about 1850. The Q we . fi +P' 1 Mechanical Engineering Department Chairman-Frm fessor of Mechanical Engineering Austin Harris Church: IE, ll'l'l, 'l'lilC, Cornell, M.E. 1928, New York University, M.S. 1934.

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situation was aggravated by the withdrawal of the annual state subsidy and the resig- nation of two outstanding professors, one of whom was Professor Mason, who insisted on taking with him much of the endowment he had contributed. Under this strain Chan- cellor Frelinghuysen resigned to become president of Rutgers College. 0 The next three years were filled with disappointment and melancholy, as the University Council searched in vain for a replacement. ln the deepest condition of financial disrepute as Henry Young threatened to foreclose the mortgage on the building at Washington Square, leaderless and abandoned by most of the Council, the University survived this critical time almost solely through the efforts of Myndert Van Schaick, one of the original founders and a shareholder in the school. He suggested that professors forego their salaries for a short time and that those parts of the building not being used should be rented to obtain money to pay off the in- terest on the debt. With a few loyal sup- porters and the help of the new chancellor, Dr. Isaac Ferris, he organized a campaign to raise funds. By June, 1853, enough money had been accumulated to liquidate financial obligations, with the final S2500 being con- .4 Engineering Mechanics Department Chairman-Pro- fessor of Hydraulics and Mechanics Glen N. Cox: EE, TBII, 'l'A, KIIK, Iowa, B.E. 1925, M.S. 1926, Wisconsin, Ph.D. 1928. Speech and Dramatics Department Chairman-Prm fessor Ormond John Drake: '-DISK, CTIKA, CIIMA, Per- stare et Praestare, Michigan, A.B. 1930, M.A. 1931. tributed by Van Schaick himself. When Chancellor Ferris' administration ended in 1870, the school had an endowment of S175,000. O In the reminiscences of Pro- fessor John Stephenson, delivered in an address at the commencement exercises in 1894, the original idea of a school for the study of practical science was mentioned as being set aside for the more accepted curriculum of classical study. However, be- cause of its renowned faculty, the University occupied a position of prominence in the scientific fields. Outside of the classics and sciences, one man, Professor Martin, kept himself busy teaching philosophy, ethics, economics, logic, and history, and supervised essay writing and declamations in his spare time. An illustration of its scholastic emi- nence was the establishment at NYU in 1858 of the second Phi Beta Kappa chapter in New York State. O Operations of the Law School also began in 1858, although it was officially inaugurated in 1835. The reason for the late success of the branch was the pre- vailing practice of apprenticeship to a law- yer to learn the profession. A distinguished faculty of recognized lawyers and iudges were hired to teach the one-year course, while textbooks and regular lecture methods were supplemented with mock trials and