Syracuse University - Onondagan Yearbook (Syracuse, NY)

Page 22 text:

Awaiting the completion of the Hall of Languages a city block did duty as a university building, and on September 1st, 187.1, forty-one students assembled m the chapel, the top floor of the Myers block, while five professors sat upon the platform. These men were Daniel Steele, president of the college, and Professors French, Coddington, Brown and Bennett, who had been formally inaugurated the previous day in Shakspere hall. It was the beginning in Syracuse of an en- terprise destined to be in a comparatively brief time the largest and leading in- dustry of the city. The dedication of the first building, May 8th, 1873, was the beginning of the occupation of the campus. Bishop Peck, one of the greatest of the founders, presided. Those dedicatory services were impressive and his- torical. The principal speakers were Presidents Barnard of Columbia university and White of Cornell, Bishop Janes and Chief Justice Church. President White was eloquent, as always. He uttered unconsciously a prophecy. He said: You ought to have a chime of bells to scatter melody over these hills and through these verdant vales. John Grouse later fulfilled the prophecy. The Hall of Languages was the center of activity. In this ' commodious building for twenty-five years practically all the college work, except that of medicine, was done. In 1898 the Steele hall gave more adequate quarters and facilities to the departments of physics and biology as in 1889 the John Crouse college had accommodated the College of Fine Arts. No additional buildings were erected during the administrations of Chancellors Winchell (1873-4) and Haven (1874-80). Dr. Winchell could not easily be beguiled from his beloved studies to the thankless work of the executive. Dr. Haven, rich in every virtue, ' 4

Page 21 text:

A SftBtnri} of grants? ImuFrsttg BY DEAN FRANK SMALLEY IT was a happy inspiration that suggested to friends of Genesee college, located at Lima, that such an institution could be of more service and of wider useful- ness if transplanted to a great and populous urban center, than could possibly be the case in a small village, remote from a city and with indifferent transpor- tation facilities. It is undoubtedly true that a rural location has some advantages. It is also true that much is claimed for the small college found in such an environ- ment. But after all the pros and cons have been duly considered it will be found that a university destined to cover a wide field and include all or most of the departments of educational work must seek a site of large population, where great business enterprises are carried on, where students of sociology and poli- tical economy can best work out their problems, where the numerous clinics of the hospitals afford indispensable instruction to future M.D. ' s, where budding lawyers may study the courts in operation, where engineers may easily see the practical operation of the principles they are studying, where musical concerts and art collections afford large opportunities for culture, where many school rooms are open for the study of pedagogy put in practice, where libraries, general and professional abound, largely increasing the educational facilities of the uni- versity. A great university must be in a city; whose supplementary advantages are almost equivalent to doubling the endowment. As the founders of Syracuse university projected large things for the insti- tution and sought the largest possible development they seem to have been in- spired with the true spirit of prophecy when they laid the foundations in a grow- ing city destined to a great future. In February 1870 a provisional board of trustees was appointed and on the 13th of September following the present beautiful location was selected. July 19th, 1871, the contract for building the Hall of Languages was let for $136,000. H. N. White was architect. The writer well remembers the laying of the cor- nerstone of the Hall of Languages August 31st, 1871. Among the distinguished gentlemen present were Chief Justice Sanford E. Church, Andrew D. White, president of Cornell university, the Rev. Dr. Richmond Fisk, president of St. Lawrence university, the Rev. Dr. Cummings, president of Wesleyan university and the Rev. Dr. E. 0. Haven, president of the Northwestern university, Judges Andrews and Comstock and W. H. Bogart. 13

Page 23 text:

wisely guided the young college but the time for material development had not yet come. The Rev. E. C. Curtis did heroic service in a financial way in those days, as Dr. Phelps is doing in these days. The era of building began under Chancellor Sims (1881-93). The Holden observatory was completed in 1887, the Library building in 1889, the John Grouse college, the same year, and the gymnasium in 1892. Growing pains had possessed the institution which had, however, the utmost difficulty in satisfying an appetite which increased as it was fed. The beginning of the Sims administration was a time of doubt and fear. The trustees and faculty had become conscious as never before of the insatiate demands of a growing university, while the times were not propitious for securing the generous financial aid so imperatively called for. It certainly seemed at one time as if the very necessities for continuing existence would fail. The indomi- FINE ARTS COLLEGE table perseverance of Chancellor Sims, his tireless industry, his undying faith in the college and its future saved the plant, and an upward progress was slowly begun. Four buildings, one of them the John Crouse college, among the very finest in America, stand as a monument to immortalize this noble man. The era of hitherto unexperienced prosperity came with the administration of Chancellor Day (1894), although at its inauguration the country was suffering serious financial depression. A large portion of the funds of the university was invested in western securities which were just then unproductive. Mortgages were foreclosed and the university found itself in the possession of much undesired property. But by careful management losses were arrested and the endowment recovered. The upward progress was not only not hindered but accelerated. It has often been said of late that the university during the last fifteen years has been in the material stage of progress. That is true, unless it be meant to limit the 15