Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

Page 21 text:

History of the Past Year The history of the past year has been one of steady growth, and general better- ment of the university and university life. Great material progress has been made in advancing Purdue to a rank of the best engineering school in America. Though younger than her great rival institutions, she has outclassed all but two of them, advancing with long and rapid strides, to the latest of which the past year and the graduating class have been generous pa- trons. This uplift of the past year has been evidenced not only in a material way. but in even a greater degree in a moral, intellectual and social way as well. The benefits of life at the university for our successors have been greatly augmented by a year of hard work, successful enter- prise and good fortune, and it is the purpose of this history to record to future generations of proud graduates what the year 1906- ' 07 has contributed to Purdue ' s great name and prestige. It is with great satisfaction that the class of Nineteen Hundred and Seven reviews this, the latest cycle of progress of their greatest love, their Alma Mater. In a confusion as to just what particular thing the honor of having contributed the most to the greatness of Purdue be- longs, we favor tangible things, and, without doubt, the most important addition to the material equipment of the university during the year has been the new Chemistry Building. This new laboratory for the department of Chemistry is rapidly near- ing completion on the west line of the campus. It is one of the largest and most imposing structures on the grounds, and consists of three working floors and an attic. It was erected in accordance with an act of the General Assembly in January. 1905. which appropriated $60,000 for the purpose. The edifice is a compliment to the genius and skill of the designer. The lowest floor includes a very large general chemistry laboratory with windows on three sides, accommodating one hundred and forty students at a time. There is also an equally large laboratory for qualitative analysis, a class room, a supply room and two store rooms on this floor. The first floor contains lecture rooms, organic laboratories, and departmental offices. The second floor provides labora- tories for quantitative analysis and physical chemistry. No expense has been spared through the building in making the equipment perfect and complete, in apparatus, heating, lighting and ventilation. With the completion of the wing of the Electrical Building the work of that department was greatly facilitated and in- creased in import. The addition supplied a new lecture room and extensive additions to the laboratory floor space. This laboratory has been equipped with a Whiting crane, extensive switchboards and various machinery. The test car Louisi-

Page 20 text:

latter course was then of a very general nature, but was the be- ginning of the school ' s three great engineering departments. The second president, Abraham C. Shortridge, directed the university for only one year, from 1874 to 1875. It was an eventful year however, and saw the completion of the first six buildings and an addition of two members to the faculty, while the Students increased from one to .sixty-four. Emerson E. White was the next president during whose superintendence of eight years great progress in the systcmiza- tion of courses was realized, possibly because of the introduction (if Military Science the first year of his presidency. This man saw the completion of the main building, extensive additions to library and laboratories, and the building of the Agricultural Hall, now known as the Experiment Station. His faculty in- creased from eight to twenty and the students reached the alarming total of 254. From 1883 to 1900 Purdue was fortunate enough to have one of the strongest men of the age as president, James H. Smart. The growth of the university under the leadership of this man was nothing short of phenomenal. It was during these seventeen years that the school of Pharmacy was estab- lished, the junior preparatory class abolished, shops erected and equipped, schools of Civil and Electrical Engineering estab- lished, the Experiment Station founded with an annual appro- priation of $15,000, and a general permanent appropriation by the Legislature obtained. During this period, too, the first Mechanical Engineering Building and Shops were completed only to be burned to the ground on the eve of dedication. When, at chapel next day, Dr. Smart announced that the building would be immediatelv rebuilt on exactly the same plans as be- fore, people wondered and began to realize that an exceptional man was guiding the destinies of the proud university. Most ably is the work of Dr. Smart being carried on by our president of today. Winthrop E. Stone. Under his direction the strength of the University is growing not only materially and in quantity of students, but, what is more important, in the quality of the graduates. Dr. Stone has seen the erection of the Agricultural Building, Eliza Fowler Hall, the Central Heat- ing Station, the Physics Building, the Civil Building and the latest Chemistry Building. One building, dear to the hearts of us all, is being carefully planned for the best needs of our students and it is voicing the general opinion that no man will work harder for the best possible Memorial Gymnasium than Dr. Stone.

Page 22 text:

ana has been deposited with the university by the American Street and [nterurban Railway Association, and will l e mounted for test work in litis laboratory. I hi January 22 a lire broke out in the west telephone labora- tory, and considerable damage was done to the interior of the building by tire and water. The damage has been repaired, howevi r, and the work of the department has been affected but slightly by the disaster. At the beginning of the school year the department of Civil Engineering, with their occupation of the new Civil Building, came into possession of a home worthy of its importance. Dr. W. K. Hatt. the bead of that school, and also the head of the timber testing station of the Bureau of Forestry, United States Department of Agriculture, has quickly placed the civil engin- eering school in the front rank of similar schools throughout the country. The Strength of Materials course at the univer- sity has been assimilated bv that school. of progress, has been the creation of the Alumni Department. Miss Ethel Spalding, of the class of 1905, has been employed by the university to act as Alumni secretary and has been at work at her desk in the Registrar ' s office since the first of Sep- tember. Her appointment came in response to a need that has been felt for some time by the alumni and faculty for a central employment bureau and an organization which should look after the interests of the graduates of the university. The con- stant growth of both the university and the alumni has reached a point where the whole time of the secretary can be given to this work, and it will probably increase largely in the future. The first task of the new secretary is to make accurate and accessible records concerning university graduates in order to be able to give information concerning them and to assist them in keeping in touch with the university and with themselves. A post-card canvass for addresses has met with a general re- sponse, although the addresses of some of the graduates are still unknown. It is proposed to publish an Alumni Catalog for dis- tribution as soon as the list can be made fairly complete. With the gift b George Ade to the Memorial Building on last commencement day, the erection of a suitable monument to those members of the football team who lost their lives near Indianapolis, October 31, 1903, was assured. The subscription of $50,000 was complete, and the gift of $25,000 additional, pledged by the trustees of the university, was secured. During the past year the exact nature of the Memorial has been decided upon. It is to be a building suitable for physical, social and moral recreation. Plans and suggestions have been submitted, and finall) Messrs. Wing McHouren, of Fort Wayne, have been selected as architects. Whether a $75,000 or a $150,000 Memorial is chosen depends upon the philanthropy of the friends of old Purdue. Among the events less, perhaps, in material increase, but for a powerful good in advancing the university along the road A calendar of the year would not be complete without the chronology of the year ' s progress along the lines of journalism. The Exponent, for five years a monthly, and for twelve years a weekly, was changed at the beginning of the school year to a daily, through the energies of the ' 07 class and the co-operation of the faculty and the student body. It now appears regularly six days of the week. The first paper came out on the morning of October second. In tone, aggressiveness and business enter- prise the paper has been a surprise to everyone. It ranks easily among the best college dailies of the West and this in the first year of its existence. To F. E. Lister. Editor-in-Chief, and A. A. Keith. Business Manager, is due the honor of making the Exponent a live factor in the university and intercollegiate life. The six issues a week are bandied by three editors who arc responsible for two issues each. The paper has its own offices in the city, and while the press-work is handled under a con-