University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

Page 21 text:

growth. The work ot ' construction began; so too did those financial movements which resulted indisasterand ruin not onlyto the enterprise soanspiciouslybegnn, bnt to the fortunes and prospects ot some of the Regents themselves and many steadfast friends of the University. In the wild and unreasonable effort of distress to place blame at some resijonsible door, the Kegents were charged not only with lack of judgment but even with a criminal misappro])riation of ]iul)lic funds. An investigation was demanded and made. Its result was the full exoneration ol the Board. In all these troublous times the Regents never lost sight of the purposes ot the Ihiiversity. In the spring of 1858 a second attempt to open the institution was made. Mr. Barber, a competent instrtictor, was employed to take charge of the preparatory department. At the expiration of six months the school was discontinued because the attendance was so small that tuitions would not half meet the expenses. In 1860 the institution by legislative enactment was entirely reorganized and placed tmder a new Board of Regents — Alexander Ramsey, President; William K. Marshall, Edward D. Neill, Jared Benson, John M. Berry, Edward O. Hamilton, Uriah Thomas and William M. Kimball. But the state was not readj ' to take up educational woi ' k; the War of the Rebellion and the Sioux Indian outbreak held in abe3 ' ance all considerations beyond those of immediate necessity. A heavy debt had accumulated; the rate ot interest in those days was from 12 to 24- per cent ; with no resoui ' ces save lands which could not be sold, the situation was daily more alarming. Itwas more than seven years before Minnesota, which meanwhilchad becomea state, felt ready again to resume the work of developing higher education. In the stress of events incident to the financial crash of 1857 followed by the War of the Rebellion and the Indian outbreak, the endowment of land made to the territory had been swept avi ' ay and the a])propriation due to Minnesota under the Morrill Act of 1862 was in jeopardy. In 1864 a commission was created by the Legislature. This enactment was an act of salvation. John S. Pillsbury, John M. Nicols and Orlando C. Merriman were appointed to sell lands and pav debts until the last dollar had been met. Their work was not accomplished before 1867, in which year the situation was so promising that the Legislature appropriated money for the renovation of the long unused building. Something had been saved, and on March 9, 1867, the Legislature voted its first cash appropriation for higher education — $15,000, to repair and furnish the University building, which since the 50 ' s had stood unoccupied and crumbling. In October of that year Principal W. V. Washburn and two assistants began teaching. These assistants were Gabriel Campbell and Ira Moore. A goodlv number of students, chicflyfrom the families in the neighborhood of the Thiiversitv, enrolled themselves in the new school. The work of this preparatory department was carried on for two years with such eminent siicccss and satisfaction that it was felt by the Regents that the time had come to enlarge the field of instruction and correspondingly to increase the teaching force. Among the perplexities of the Regents in early days some of the most annoy- ing were associated with their efforts to maintain their charge as an educational institution. For instance, it was through the shrewd movenients and decisive vote of one man that the state was once spared the conversion of the institution into an asylum for the insane. — 13 — The University of Minnesota

Page 20 text:

The University of Minnesota Saint Anthony was gi-o ving; hence it shoiikl be secured at once. Accordingly-, with money that had been obtained from the sale of certain lands, they purchased twcnt3 ' -seven acres of the present campus. This selection of a site was in 1854. The sum of $6,000 was paid for the same, an amount which was large at that time. Until 185G the new territory was ])rosperous even beyond the expectation of the most sanguine settlers, who had come here from New England to establish their homes in a territory declared by the government ' s exploring officers of the ' 30s to be uninhabitable, save for Indiansand herds,and to be unproductive except for a few of the hardiest cereal cro])S. The Ori iiutl riiivcn ity Iliiildiil us It Exists Today. Accordingly, in 1856, there was begun upon the camijus the erection of the University building. The plans for this building, as outlined by the architect duly appointed by the Regents, would do credit to the most sanguine millionaire in founding the University of today. The structure was to consist of a main part of four stories over a high basement, and two wings, each of three stories, over a high basement, the whole to be 277 feet in length. Deciding at fii ' st to erect only a part of the magnificent structure proposed, the Regents, with the few thousand dollars then on hand, entered upon their work. They were urged to do it both b - their own large views of what the temtory was to become and by the clamors of people who were not disposed to see ftmds lying in the territorial treasury unused at a time full of such large needs for expenditure and grand opportunities for

Page 22 text:

1 116 t « University of Minnesota Another question had to be answered at this point in the history of the insti- tution, viz., whether co-education should be allowed. The Faculty brought the traditions of American colleges to bear. The Regents representing the Common- wealth voted the spirit of the Constitution into the University, and since that date the question of sex has never been raised except in the debating societies. The decision, which appears to have been reached before President Folwell ' s arrival, was ably supported by him in the following inaugural words : The Uni- versity . . . exists for the benefit of society, not mei ' ely for that of individuals. Whether male or female, . . . the doors of its auditoria, its laboratories, its library stand open to all worthy comers; that is, to all persons of good fame, who prove themselves competent to hear and receive its lessons. Both before and some time after this point in its history the University had been hampered by political influences; these influences grew up because there was money to be exjiended. Everywhere that such a condition exists, the politician is on hand and the early days in the historj ' of the University of Minnesota are no ex- ception to universal experience. But the Regents stood firm in their convictions thateducation should not be hampered by political orselfish desires. The constitu- tion had already declaimed it free of sectarianism or other religious interference, and it remained with the Board further to insist upon perfect freedom from ]5olitical intrigue. In this position they were supported by the educated men of the state and those were, for a young commonwealth, many and strong. So well did the Regents succeed in maintaining their position that no influence of this kind has for years been seen. A proposition practiced by Governor Pillsbury that no man should be appointed to an oifice of responsibility and trust in the State ' s affairs who had not proved his fitness therefor by the successful management of his own personal affairs, has been felt in the Capitol since Governor Pillsbnry ' s six years ' service as chief executive. A serious difficulty conti-onting the Regents was that of starting aright in entering upon their work of founding a university. The first necessity of such an enterprise was the selection for the presidency of a man of courage, persistency, caution, bright scholarship and a large view of the future. It was essential that such a man be found to serve as pilot and guide in holding the institution to a steady policy of intellectual progress. The first duty of a president thus chosen is to mark out a reasonable and fair policy, and direct the energies of the administra- tion to its proper and legitimate enforcement. In viewing the history of educational movements it is seen that all i-eforms have begxm in the higher fields — those of knowledge and research — and thence, like rays of light, have penetrated down- wards through the great mass of human society, until the plane of theevery-day in- terests of life has become illumined. The condition recpiisite of success in an educational movement is that it be ada])ted to the conceptions and judgment of the people tf) be educated. Another is that it be pushed only at such speed that the community may keep pace miderstandingly, without chafing and im- rest. The man for such a work was found in President Folwcll, and the policy upon which he settled after months of careful study and consultation with some of the foremost educators in the country, was published in its general features as the action of the Regents in the early reports of the Board.