University of California Los Angeles - Bruin Life / Southern Campus Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

Page 31 text:

7 - ?N University j ?:-n •M« ii r -.- rA rf f.«-r-nc»- ai «« ' r,r:» jL B M inwwftnr Mat ' f tSKiKaa » ' c ' 3g BJv?y.-v- «K ar S ink Dtti ' iil L. (tntitrs ll ' Uliiim ir. Camphill The University Looking back over the fifty years since the foundation of the University of California, it seems almost impossible that so great an institution with so strong a foundation should have been built up in so short a time. The University has reflected the growth and development of the state of which it is a part. The University of California was established in 1868 as a direct result of three movements — private action, state action, federal action. It was an out- growth of the thoughts and the ideals of men who had labored, since even before ±l lbil:iS iL Tweniy-five

Page 30 text:

n Charles 11. Bcihcr. Ph.D.. Dean of Junior College Merrill L. 7)arsir, M. A., Dean of Teachers ' College Dean of Womi n Helen Mathcw.ion Laughlui, II ijl M m Twenty-four Z . M -

Page 32 text:

the granting of the state eharaeter for a great sys- tem belonging to tlie state whieh would provide the citizens with higher education. Among these individuals who strove for a Uni- versity, Keverend Henry Durant is conspicuous. Reverend Durant in 1853 opened in Oakland the Contra Costa Academy under the auspices of the Presbytery of San Francisco and of the Congre- gational Association of Oakland. In order to signify that his undertaking was simply prepara- tory to a dreamed college, he soon changed the name to that of College School. In 1855, it was incorporateil as the College of California. The college was formally opened in 1860 and classes were gradiiated from 1864 to 1869. The instruc- lli ((imptiinlc iJq, ygg given in a group of buildings in Oakland. In 1856, a tract of land five miles to the north was obtained, the buildings were begun and the townsite around the campus was given the name of Berkeley. State action began in the Constitutional Convention in 1849, which includ- ed a section in the constitution recognizing and providing for a state university. After that there was a constant agitation until in 1868, the citizens were given means to making the provisions effective. Federal acion was marked b.y the granting of 46,000 acres of land for a seminary of learning. In 1862, the Morrill Act, which provcided for the establishment of an Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College, passed same end, combined their efforts. The private institution, known as the College of California, contributed its buildings and four blocks of land in Oakland and its 160 acres of land in Berkeley ; the Federal government granted a Con- gressional gift of 150,000 acres of public lands ; and the State gave the property already accumulated for that purpose and added legislative appropriations. The act creating the University of California was signed liy the Governor March 23, 1868, and the newly created institution opened its doors September, 1869. 7 ' hc Stuilrnt I ' tiinn Buihlinq Ticoity-slx