Northeastern University - Cauldron Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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H t H s c re Oi

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:v ' i l ' J48 ' i sm - THE HOME OF NORTHEASTERN COLLEGE 1953, the Law School was phased out for 17 years because it seemed to duplicate unnecessarily the efforts of many local law schools which had been established during the first half of the twentieth century. This philosophy of unique opportunities without du- plication of effort sprang from the fact that the Evening Institute course offerings were entirely dependent on community interest for their success or failure. To be- come just one more in a large number of institutes offer- ing duplicate programs would have spread the public too thin. The Evening Institute thus offered unique opportu- nities, thereby procuring the entire segment of the com- munity interested in its particular programs. The favor- able response to the Law courses offered in 1897, encouraged the YMCA directors to approve Speare ' s plans for more advanced law courses to be offered begin- ning in 1898. This more formal program was to become the first school of Northeastern, and thus its inauguration is considered the birth of the university. With Speare ' s perseverance and initiative, the Evening Institute grew from an eraser and two sticks of chalk into a viable organization. Early success was achieved through the teamwork of its organizers and the enthusi- asm of its students. In the early years of the Evening In- stitute, Speare inaugurated many courses, some of which populated, others of which died for lack of interest. The unsuccessful course is exemplified by one called Knots and Splices which Speare initiated simply because he knew a retired sea captain available to teach it and be- cause he thought it would be useful and intriguing. No one shared his interest enough to enroll, and the course was never taught. The process of experimental offerings and the resulting expansion of the courses was carried on in a very infor- mal and spontaneous fashion in the early years of the Evening Institute. As the twentieth century began to as- sert itself in the fields of automobiles, business adminis- tration, and engi neering technology, programs became more formalized, giving the Institute substance enough to become a chartered college by 1916. In 1903, the YMCA ' s Education Division opened the world ' s first Automobile School, offering three courses: a general coarse in motor transport; a course for those in- terested in the industry of automobiles; and a course in maintenance. In many ways, the Automobile School is in- dicative of future Northeastern philosophies. The estab- lishment of the school reflected a community need: that of absorbing the new phenomenon of the automobile into existing social patterns. The school offered garage work, carried on in the Vocational Building (now known as the Botolph Building), which placed a value on practical ex- perience later reflected in the philosophy of Co-operative Education. Some of the automotive courses were opened to women, thus setting a precedent for the later adoption of co-education.

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In 1907, in response to the relatively new idea of aca- demic training for businessmen, the Evening Institute formed a School of Commerce and Finance. Some of the earliest courses offered by the YMCA since the 1860 ' s were typing and bookkeeping for the training of clerks. By the turn of the century business had become more complex and it became desirable to educate businessmen to more modern techniques of administration as well as to more contemporary business ethics. The School of Commerce and Finance offered courses in finance, administration, business law, and languages. Later, more specialized courses were introduced in- cluding banking, finance and bond salesmanship, and accounting. In 1910, the School of Commerce and Finance was in- corporated and in 1911, it was granted the power to con- fer bachelors and masters degrees in commercial science. The name of the school became the School of Business in the undergraduate Evening Division, in 1928, with Carl D. Smith serving as dean. It became the largest school in the Evening Division, with graduate work added to the pro- gram in 1950.