Northeastern University - Cauldron Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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The school most closely related to its present-day counterpart, the Cooperative Engineering School, was also started in 1909, the second institute in the United States to operate on the cooperative plan. The first co-op engineering courses were begun in 1906, at the University of Cincinnati, by Herman Schneider, the originator of the plan. The Evening Institute ' s Cooperative Engineering School opened in 1909 with an enrollment of eight. The following year courses in civil and mechanical engineer- ing were offered to the burgeoning enrollment of 30 students. The 1912-13 Catalog of the Evening Institute delineates the rapid growth of the Co- operative Engineering School: Faculty: 18 Enrollment: 70 School expenses: (in- cluding YMCA mem- bership) $100 per year Rooms at the YMCA: $1.50 per week and up Board at the YMCA: $3.50-$5.00 per week From 70 students in 1912, enrollment reached 235 by 1918, and more than doubled to 592 by 1920, when tuition had climbed to $175 per year (with $10 student activities fee). Obviously the Engi- neering School, with the added attraction of Co-op employment was something the public needed and wanted. Until 1909, the Chauncey Hall School gave day classes in the same YMCA facilities used by the Evening Insti- tute at night, located at the corner of Boylston and Berke- ley Streets. When the Chauncey School relocated, leaving the YMCA vacant during the day, Speare suggested that the space be used by the Evening Institute to conduct day classes. Speare envisioned a new type of college prepara- tory school, providing individual supervision of students; programs of sports and activities; and college preparatory education at a cost between that of private boarding school and evening school. Therefore, in 1909, the College Preparatory program which had been part of the Evening Institute since its in- ception, was reorganized and established as a day pro- gram. The initial enrollment of 100 in 1909, grew to 250 in a year later. In 1913, this Association Day School became the Huntington School for Boys. After the incorporation of Northeastern in 1916, the Huntington School became 12 FRANK PALMER SPEARE President of Northeastern College one of the group of Northeastern schools. However, in 1950, the decision was made to make Northeastern strictly a college-level institution. Thus the Huntington School resumed its ties with the Boston YMCA and con- tinues its work today at 290 Huntington avenue. Until 1910, the Evening Education Division operated in the Boylston Street YMCA. In that year the building burned down and for months classes were held in rooms provided by the City of Boston, the Boston YMCU, Bos- ton University, MIT, and after that, in various buildings on Huntington and Massachusetts Avenues. The YMCA decided to rebuild, not on Arlington Street as originally planned, but on Huntington Avenue. The section of Huntington Avenue which appealed to the YMCA directors in 1910, was an open field which lay beyond Symphony Hall and had been the site of the first World Series games in 1903, when the Boston Americans had defeated the Pittsburgh Nationals. This area was at- tractive because of the ath- letic field, and because of the rapid development tak- ing place in the Back Bay area. Symphony Hall had been erected in 1900; the New England Conservatory completed in 1901; Isabella Gardner had transplanted her palace in 1902; the first section of the Museum of Fine Arts had been com- pleted in 1907; and the Bos- ton Opera House had opened in 1908. Ground-breaking ceremo- nies for the new YMCA Main Building were held in November, 1911. But the Vocational Building had been completed in October of that year, and was already occu- pied by the Automobile School and the Electrical School. The Main Building was completed in 1913. The Catalog of the Evening Division for that year boasted the facilities provided in the new building, including a fine gymna- sium, bowling alleys, swimming pool, cafe, dormitories, shops and laboratories, library and reading room, camera club rooms, social and recreative rooms, and auditorium. The new facilities and the coagulating curricula gave a new lease on life to the Education Division. With bright outlook, the 1913 Catalog stressed that any man with abil- ity and good character should be able to succeed in any of the programs.

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23 iff 33 aa miHii ' THE VOCATIONAL BUILDING THE POOL In describing its new facilities, the Catalog emphasized the importance of the location, surroundings, and physi- cal appointments of a school: The location ought to be healthful, accessible and attractive. Its build- ings ought to be properly heated, lighted and venti- lated and above all con- ducive to the health and progress of students at all seasons of the years. Having sweltered for an hour in a room in Robin- son Hall, in the middle of January, incapable of opening the windows, one can see that the above is one of the ideals towards which Northeastern con- tinues to strive even now. PROF. JOSEPH SPEAR THE HUNTINGTON BLOCK The new YMCA Facilities also boasted one of the coun- try ' s largest indoor salt water swimming pools, heated to a comfortable warmth by an elaborate pipe system. The Education Division sponsored various monthly so- cials and entertainments for the exclusive enjoyment of its students, including an outdoor field meet, held an- nually in May. While educating a good lawyer or engineer, the Educa- tion Division retained its desire to concurrently build men of good character. The 1913 Catalog thus exhorts students to avoid excessive social and athletic activities. Furthermore it is assumed that ... Students come to the school for a serious purpose, and that they will cheer- fully conform to such regulations as may from time to time be made . . . Students are expected to behave with decorum . . . and to pay due respect to (the School ' s) officers. For students commuting to school, the Catalog points out that the facilities are easily accessible by various rail- roads and electric trolley cars.