University of Chicago - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Rainey Harper an exceptional young man whom everyone felt could do exceptional things with one million dollars. He refused! He held out for two million dollars, the money necessary to found a school with facilv ities adequate not only for undergraduate teaching, but also the pursuit of advanced studies and research. Mr. Rockefeller, convinced of the soundness of Mr. Harper 3 idea, wholeheartedly contributed the additional one million dollars, and William Raine; Harper became the first president of the University of Chicago. President Harper immediately became the driving force behind the u11iversity.His dynamic personality galvanized individuals and legis- latures mto action,a11d the enthusiasm that had made him a great teacher made him as great a college president. At the same time that he raised millions of dollars among the people of Chicago, he won their personal interest in the school.h1en were intuitively convinced of the soundness of his ideas. Eight college presidents were so impressed with his sincerity, that thev left their high positions to come and teach at this progresswe institution. So,ever1 before the university opened its doors, its educa- tional superiority was insured. Not only was President Harper interested in the curriCulum of his school, but he also became the inspiration behind its beautiful buildings and grounds. Even before a brick was laid; he and the architects had planned the compact campus, that would run along Chicagois Midway, a wide green plaisance made famous the next year when Little Egypt danced the hootchy-cooch there before raucous Woriclis Fair crowds. The architecture, an unobtrusive blend of Indiana limestone and. Gothic design, was to be consistent throughout, and each buiiding with 1ts especial function was complete 111 itself and yet an integral part of the whole design. The initial building, Cobb Hall, was built the first year on land donated by Marshall Field. From this beginning spread the eighty-flve buildings that compose the campus today. On October first, 1892, the University of Chicago welcomed its first class of Eve hundred ninety-four students. From then 011 the doors never closed, for academic work continued throughout the summer, a plan unique among universities. At the end of two years study, the title of associate was awarded to the students, and thus accentuated the division between the Junior and Senior College. Worthy aeaw demic material that would have been refused by proht- making publishing houses was printed by the Uni- versity Press and thus reached an audience that

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STORY OF FIFTY YEARS 1891-1941 Vivid in the memories of many men living today is the founding of the University of Chicago. In the fifty short years since 1891, it has become one of the greatest educational centers in the world. Since a venerable old age can hardly account for this high reputation, it must be due to the vibrating enthusiasm of youth, for the University of Chicago is a young institution that has grown With the twentieth Century and risen with the prairie middle-west. Stephen Douglas, who believed in the possibilities of the great Mis- sissippi Valley, foresaw a brilliant future for the growing city of Chicago and gave it its first institution of higher learning. At 33rd and Cottage Grove Avenue, he established the hrst University of Chicago. It was a bold venture, and finally in 1886 had to close due to fmancial diHiculties. But the spark that had been kindled was not to die, for just three years later the American Baptist Educational Society revived the idea of a great mid-western university and, undaunted by Mr. Douglas failure, made plans foi- the present University of Chicago. They appealed to John D. Rockefeller for the original contribution with which to found the school. He, being a shrewd business man, promised them six hundred thousand dollars if they could obtain four hundred thousand dollars from other sources. Thomas A. Goodspeed and Frederick T. Gates, encouraged by this challenge, collected the necessary money within a year, and on September tenth, 1890, the University of Chicago was incorporated. But one million dollars does not make a uni- ver31ty; the creating was yet to be done. Elected to head this new-born institution was William

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COBB HALL