Tulane University - Jambalaya Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

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Brandt Van Blarcom Dixon. RANDT VAN BLARCOM DIXON was born February 27, 1S50. in Paterson, New Jersey, of good old Dutch stock. His parents removed to St. Louis, however, when he was only seven years old, and that citj ' was his home until his removal to New Orleans in 18S7. His early education was ohtained largely in the pub- lic schools of his adopted home. The character of the man was here foreshadowed by the boy. Dr. Wil- liam T. Harris, the United States Commissioner of Education, says: In taking charge of my first class in the public schools of St. Louis, my attention was at once attracted to one boy. He was one of the smallest boys in the class, but he had more brains than any of the others. That was Brandt Dixon. After passing through the High School, he went, in 1866, to Amherst College, Massachusetts, in which institu- tion he remained for two years, after which he entered Cornell University, then newly established, from which he graduated in the Class of 1870. By subsequent study he obtained the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma Mater. Having decided to adopt the profession of teaching as his life-work, his first position was in Caledonia, Missouri, but here he remained only a short time. He taught continuously from 1871 to 1887 in the public schools of St. Louis, occupy- ing almost every possible position from the bottom to the top of the system. Out- side of his routine duties, his special interest was directed to scientific studies, particularly Chemistry and Geology, in etich of which he became an expert. In the prosecution of the latter subject he spent much time in the mining regions of the far West, so that his knowledge of practical mining became accurate and extensive. His interests in this formative period of his intellect were, however, not lim- ited to his scientific studies, but under the inspiration of the remarkable group of philosophers that at that time made St. Louis a center of philosophic thought — Dr. Harris, Judge Brockmeyer and others — his interest was aroused in philosophic questions, and he became a firm adherent of the modernized Hegelian system that later found its expression in the famous Concord School. As a practical teacher and as a scholar of great breadth of interest and attainment, he made steady advance during this period, and in 1884 he was elected principal of the Central High School of St. Louis, a school of the highest character of its class, having more than a thousand students and in which the principle of co-education was fully car- 11

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INTRODUCTORY. HE Jambalaya, 1902, is launched with a feeling of relief. If there is a measure of excellence to be found within its covers, it is attributable to those students of Tulane who have worked so unselfishly for its success, and to them the editors and every lover of the University ex- tend their heartiest thanks. The work has been hard and the obstacles many, but the result justifies the efiforts of those who have concentrated their energy and best thoughts in its consummation. We trust that in the future it may serve to remind you of the many incidents of the session of 1901-02 at Tulane which made univer- sity life pleasant. 10

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riEcl out. H. ' s long experience as a teacher of both sexes peculiarly fitted him tor the Important position to which he was destined to be called — the presidency of the Newcomb College. When, in 1S87. he was invited by the Board of Administrators of the Tulaue University of Louisiana to take up the task of the organization of the colle.ee fo;- young women that was to be established on the Newcomb foundation. Pi-ofessor Dixon was loath to leave his v. ' ork in St. Louis, where his interest had become cen- tered in the building up of his High School to an even higher grade, and whore he had drawn up the plans for the magnificent high-school building which has since been erected. The work to be done in New Orleans appealed to those high ideals which characterize the man, however, and with an ambition to give to the South something which it did not then possess — a real woman ' s college — he reluc- tantly gave up the home of his boyhood and young manhood and cast his lot with the men and women of the Crescent City. He came among us a stranger — nov.- few men in cur city are better known. Mr. Dixcn s ability as an organizer and executive were conspicuous from the very beginning of his work here. With that infinite capacity for taking pains which has been defined as genius, he elaborated the details of his plan as rapidly as means and time would allow. His clear-sighted vision of what the Newcomb should become doubtless did much to give to Mrs. Newcomb a fuller and larger conception of the possibilities of her memorial than she would otherwise have reached, and gave her the restful assurance that her college was in the right hands. With such confidence, she did not hesitate to richly endow it. thus earning the lasting gratitude of every true friend of education in our section. Mr. Dixon ' s activity has, however, not been limited to the Newcomb College, important as his work there, has been. In the church, in the service of the city on the Civil Service Commission, as Professor of Philosophy in the University, as well as in the various scientific, philosophical, and social organizations of which he has teen a leading member, he has demonstrated the all-around character of his ability nnd culture. He is a clear and forceful speaker, and has done much good work at educational and other meetings. He is an exceptionally fine chess-player and an intelligent amateur in art and music. His social qualities and uniform courtesy and kindness of heart have endeared him to all with whom his relations have been at all close. Seme years since the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by the Southwestern Presbyterian University in recognition of his distinguished services to the cause of Southern education. What has already been accomplished by Doctor Dixon, however, is but an earn- est of what we are to expect in the future. With the perfect confidence in his judgment and fidelity shown throughout the years of their acquaintanceship, Mrs. Newcomb made him one of the executors of her estate. When the finaJ settlement of this is completed and his mind is free to return to his educational problems, we may expect to see in the Newcomb a most splendid development. He is not satis- fied to claim it as the best in the South, but aspires to have it take front rank among the great women ' s colleges of the world. As such, it will help mightily in the making of the Greater Tulane.