University of Iowa - Hawkeye Yearbook (Iowa City, IA)

Page 14 text:

as a , . .sa i an The first faculty and President Dean fcenterj When the lylechanics' Academy was leased to the University in the spring of 1855, five teachers were employed: Alexander Johnston, math, Abel Beach, languages, E. M. GuH'in, prep school, James Hall, geology, Zoology and nat- ural history, and Josiah D. Whit- ney, mineralogy and chemistry. The attendance Was 124 C83 were men and fl-l Womenj. The term Was to extend lo Weeks. Tuition Was four dollars a term. Page 10 i A rf if is arg Recognizing the school's impoverished condition, Dean, in l858, recommended that Work be suspended in order to gather funds for operation of all departments, erect buildings, and to give students a chance to become qualified in other prep schools for University study. During his term, provision was made for the first building constructed by the State, Old South Hall, and e Board of Trustees excluding Women from attending any classes except in the normal department. Here the age requirement Was set at l7 years for men and l5 for Women, and students Were required to sign a pledge to become teachers in order to obtain free instruction. The Board de- manded that When instruction was re- sumed, Dean must become a resident of Iowa City. His interests, however, re- mained in the east, and in l859 President Dean resigned. Z The campus in the early Fifties, during Il Johnson county fair

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aff-1 wi 9 In july, 1855, Amos Dean became the first President of the University of Iowa. He made only three short visits to Iowa 6 VX R 1-t 'py w ,Y Avi FV 'ga' ?+ 'Q City during his four years in oiiice, pre- ferring to retain his position as chancel- lor of the Albany law school. Neverthe- less, he organized the work of instruction for the new institution, outlined its poli- cies ind applied to Congress for a fur- ther giant of lands. He is also credited with devising the scheme of nine depart- ments at the I niversity of Iowa. lv View of Old Capitol Qahowel and Mechanics' 1' lidemy Crightl, housing the first elassrooms of the iversity. Built in 1842, it stood on the present site of ,t Hall. Page 9

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ia? vat?- When school started again in the fall of l860, Silas Totten was President of a University that now had an enrollment of l72. Before ascending to the presidency, Totten had been rector of Trinity parish of Iowa City, and he had many years of experience as a member of the faculties of Trinity college in Connecticut, where for ll years he was president, and at William and hlaryls in Virginia. At once the new President named department heads and reorganized the collegiate de- partment. He also suggested a preparatory school for I entrants l3 years old. The hlechanics' Academy now held the normal department, and when University classes convened in September, both sexes were admit- ted on equal terms. Wlhen Totten resigned in 1862, 25+ students were enrolled, 136 of them women. Page ll 'K Clinton Street in 185+ Cabovej, and a typical l'nive-rsity of Iowa coed of the early sixties Qrightj