Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

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History of Purdue University aft of congress, passed July 2, 1SC2, Purdue ty was organized. This act provided land liurpose of aidlns in the maintenance of col- the several States, for the purpose of in- 1 in Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, with- ut excluding scientific or classical branches, and in- hiding Military Science. By an act, approved March 6, ISGo, the State of under obligation to the United States by accepting and claiming the benefits of the above mentioned act of July 2, 1S62, and agreed to comply with all conditions and provisions named therein. John Purdue and other prominent citizens of Tippecanoe county as- sured the location of the University at Lafayette by their liberal offers of land and money. John Purdue gave $150,000 and 100 acres of land, while 130 acres of land and $80,000 more were subscribed by others. Through the provisions of the Hatch, Morrill, Adams and Nelson acts, Purdue receives annually $09,000 besides the legislative appropriations from the general government, and has non-productive property in land, buildings and equipment to the amount of $1,253,000. Instruction was first begun at Purdue in 1874, and the first class, con- sisting of one man, was graduated in 1S75, Since that time the develop- ment of the institution has been remarkably great and the stu- dent enrollment has increased from one to nearly 2,000, while the instructional corps has increased from six to nearly 200. Since its foundation the following presidents have directed the affairs of the university in a careful and conscientious manner: Richard Owen 1872-1874 Abraham C. Shortridge . .1874-1875 Emerson K. White 1875-1883 Richard Owen guided the university very carefully through its first two years. At this time there were only three courses — Science, Engineer- ing and Agriculture, the engineering course being a general one at that time and all work was done in what is now the Pharmacy building. During the next year under the direction of Abraham Shortridge, six buildings were finished on the campus, two members added to the institutional corps and the enrollment increased front one to sixty-four. During the following eight years, under the leadership of Emerson E. White, the university developed quite rapidly, due possibly to the introduction of military science. The courses were systematized, University hall and the Agricultural building were completed. The faculty numbered twenty and the enrollment 254. For the seventeen years following 1SS3 James H. Smart occupied the presidency and great things were accomplished. At this time the Pharmacy course was added and the Junior Preparatory course abolished, shops were erected, schools of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering were established and the Experiment Station was built with an annual ap- propriation of $15,000, besides a general appropriation by the legislature. It was during this period that the new Mechanical building, which had just been completed, was burned and the present one erected. During the past ten years President Stone has guided the university successfully and has seen the completion of the new Experiment Station, Fowler Hall, Control Power Plant, Physics building. Civil building, Me- morial Gymnasium, and last, but not least, the new and extensive shops which will still further increase the efficiency of the university as an edu- cational institution.

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History of the Past Year Ml-: man of philosophical mind has said that history should be the statement of the effect of events upon a Iieople. rather than a mere record of those events. In siuh a combination of past performances and present londitions affording a basis for future predictions, it ould seem that the desired result had been attained. And so. in our own chronology for the past year we see past influences involved in the present, which will ill turn mold into form what is yet history unmade. For the last time returning in the autumn to Old Purdue and her fa- miliar scenes, we could not but note the obvious changes which have taken place in our brief career of four years. We could not but note, mentally, our first impressions of the campus, the buildings, the faces which are now so familiar, and the absence of the faces of some who have since passed from within our midst. We have seen the completion of more than one new building and the addition of much new equipment, all of which is toward the ever rising standard of the institution and the men which she turns out. We have seen on the athletic field seasons of varying suc- cess. We have contributed from our ranlcs to all the activities of a college life. So ends a brief retrospection. September of 19n9 dawned upon the Class of 19in as Seniors. The for- malities of registi ' ation over, and hav- ing become well initiated into the rou- tine of school W ' Orli, attention was cen- tered upon the prospects of the football field. But only disappointment was to be our lot for another and our hist year. The absence of former stars of the gridiron, together with other causes, seemingly unknown and irreme- diable, brought us no semblance of the old-time success of which we might well be proud. In mid-season Coach Speik ' s resignation was requested by the Athletic Board, and Coach Jones 17 vas put in control. The results were no mere gratifying, and at the end of the season the Athletic Association voted to grant no football insignia for the year. The night of September 17 saw the sixteenth annual contest between the two lower classes. The usual and ever strenuous melee being over, three hundred-odd painted and bedraggled Freshies were led in chains to Stuart Field where the customary antics were performed. The Tank Scrap, time-honored and unique, will ever hold its place as preeminent among college class scraps. Although now pulled off under a new system which is obviously the better, nevertheless in the minds of older classes the contest has lost some of its strong features by being under the regula- tion of a fixed set of rules. But may the Tank Scrap ever remain a fea- ture of the annual history of Purdue, and may lack of spirit on the part of no class ever let it die. Chief among the material changes about the campus has been the addition of four new buildings, viz.: Farm Mechanics. Stock, Judging Pavilion, and the New Shops. During the summer of 1909 the large stack of the power plant was torn down and replaced by a new structure, and a new Custodis met our eyes as we re- turned. In the faculty organization a few- changes have been made. The depart- ment of Applied Mechanics has been separated from the Mechanical Engi- neering department, and Professor Dnke.s. of Case School of Applied Sci- ence, placed in charge. Professor Han- cock left us early in the year to accept a professorship in another college. Dr. Herman Babson has been made head of the German department, while several other new names have been added to the instructional corps. The football season and Thanks- giving over, now came a lull in athlet- ics and other activities, and all awaited with pleasant anticipations the holi