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Page 15 text:
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SWARTHMORE COLLEGE Campus projection made in 1910 — buildings were finished within the decade. 1864-1964 11
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Page 16 text:
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1864 President Edward ParrisK I RR e E irst International was founded m I UU i f London. Russia settled Vladisvostok on the Pacific. Lincoln had just delivered his Gettysburg Address and was now watching Sher- man march through Georgia. And Swarthmore College was founded far above Crum ' s waters. It is perhaps sacrilegious in this, the Centen- nial Year, to note that in 1864 Swarthmore Col- lege was nothing but a corporate charter and a tract of land. But in keeping with the Swarth- more tradition of the Search after Truth, we must present events as they actually occurred. There was talk among Philadelphia Quakers in the 1850 s concerning the need to give their children a proper and guided ' education beyond that offered in the public schools. In 1861 the Philadelphia and Baltimore Meetings jointly re- solved to establish such an institution, to be the equal of any college in the land. Various com- mittees were formed to plan and to execute, and leadership soon centered around Edward Par- rish and Benjamin Hallowell. In 1864, a 250-acre tract was purchased in the wilderness eleven miles west of Philadelphia, a charter was obtained by act of the Pennsylvania legislature, and the name Swarthmore College was decided upon. In 1865 a Board of Managers was elected, who immediately appointed Parrish the first President of the College, at a salary of $2,000. Unfortunately, our Quaker forefathers were more adept at meditation than at action. By this time, not a shovelful of dirt had been moved, and the Collection Committee had raised only $90,- 000 in pledges, instead of the necessary $200,000. Parrish took matters in his own hands, and travelled hither and yon over the Pennsylvania countryside on horseback to raise funds. Meanwhile, plans for the College building were revised so it might be built in sections over a period of years. In the Spring of 1866 a corner- stone was laid, and construction proceeded slow- ly for three years. It was a building designed to stand for centuries, plain but sound in plan, and with a careful eye for economy. ' (It burned to the ground in 1881.) At last in 1869 Swarthmore opened its doors to applicants, of either sex, at $350 per year in- cluding room, board, and tuition. Children of stockholders were given first preference, and then children of Friends. Hallowell had sagely predicted in 1861, Perhaps for some years scholars in preparatory classes will have to be admitted. Of the 199 scholars admitted in 1869, 173 flunked the Collegiate placement examina- tion, and were assigned to the Swarthmore Prep- aratory School (which lasted until 1893). Parrish, a graduate of the Philadelphia Col- lege of Pharmacy, added to his duties the title Professor of Ethics, Chemistry, and the Physical Sciences. He was ably assisted by Miss Anna Hallowell. Professor of Rhetoric, Literature, and History; and by Clement L. Smith. Professor of 12
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