University of Wisconsin Madison - Badger Yearbook (Madison, WI)

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4-.f pm .1 '95 Xu 095 Q CQ A G 0 1 Exif' O xr 3 C V im C' Glu 4.2 1 The Progress of Half a Century N the fifth of February, 1849, some twenty young men were assembled in a Madison schoolroom to receive the first instruction given by the University of Wisconsin. The class was a preparatory one, the lack of schools being such that up to 1880 the University was obliged to maintain a Fitting school. The teacher was a Mr. J. W. Sterling, who now began his thirty-tive years of faithful service. It has been said that all institutions are the shadows of men cast xcross history. From Sterling and from other devoted teachers of the early time it is not a shadow that rests on W'isconsin, rather a light that shines in it. May it constantly be kin- dled anew and blaze larger through the years. Soon after the preparatory school was opened the faculty of one was doubled by the arrival of the Chancellor, Dr. 1. H. Lathrop, who had been Chancellor of the University of Missouri, and then trebled by the appointment of a tutor-O. M. Conover, afterward Pro- fessor of Ancient Languages. On january 16, 1850, the formal inauguration of Dr. Lathrop took place. The legisla- ture adjourned, the students marched in procession, the town gathered to hear the address. At this day it would not easily draw or hold the attention of any but the painful reader. The Orb of Day - the rising generation - bowing the hoary head in dust - that germ of vegetable existence which ages ago was quickened into life on the genial lap of earth: - the conservatory of a sophomore oratorical contest has been pillaged of everything except the upas tree. The good Doctor's style is the highly decorated commonplace. lt took many words, and those high-sounding ones, for college presidents to say simple things in Wisconsin in 1850. But in the light of later history some passages of the address have a poignant --' 434:7- Qi,-J 4 , ,l,..,- . - -.-f-ini, -,....S, interest to those who feel an af- fection forthe University. Atthe time of its delivery, the sale of the University lands had just f l , ,V 4 begun, and no buildings were -L-EZ, yet standing onthe Hill. Says 7 ,gals -gg-vi? eral! Dr. Lathrop : It is the sacred ' V X, E iff' dutyof Wisconsin, as theguard- 4, '51 , I-tJLg! ',5gE E ian of this great interest fthe I-,iii E V E 3, 522. 5 trust for an institution of higher G-T4- gi, - In learningj so to preserve and fr an. '5 'f- administer these landsfthe forty rp ' CCC q C Y V thousand orfifty thousand acres lllil ll given for the University by the I I ,ff I 3,511-:Q VI W :2':i lilizfgggw. THE FIRST HOME OF TI-In UNIVERSITY

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Afernaofz E 116722-77 g .- Marfzing .- AfZE77Z007Z Evenzbzg .' Jllorffzing .- Evening .' Address by Professor Frederick Jackson Turner on behalf of the Faculty of the University. . Address for the students of the University, E. R. Minahan representing. ' A Address by the State Superintendent on behalf of the public school system of the State. Inaugural address by President C. R. Van I-Iise. Music. Luncheon on the terrace of the State Historical Library Building. Inspection of the buildings and the grounds of the University. Reception by President and Mrs. C. R. Van Hise. Water fete on Lake Mendota. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8 Jubilee ceremonies. Presentation of addresses by the visiting delegates. Addresses by presidents of other universities. Music. Inspection of the buildings and grounds of the University. University dinner. I Class and society reunions. THURSDAY, JUNE 9 Commencement exercises. Short addresses by distinguished visitors. Conferring of degrees. Music. Alumni reception. IO

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general governmentj, that at the earliest prac- ticable period their em'z're 'value may be real- ized. Every act of waste committed on these lands, every sale of an acre for less than its full value, under whatever guise it may take place, is in fraud of the general government, the don- or of the land, in fraud of the substantial inter- ests of the young mind of the commonwealth and what is more than all, in fraud of that pro- gressive civilization which alone can realize the hope and accomplish the destiny of man in the world. It is the sacred duty of VVisconsin to preserve the przhczjale of this fund z'n71z'0!az'e I ylllln I ya -Q7-P ,- w -.M f ,4,?XXHltl:Su,s 1-61111 f ' up IIH 2 at f r ttlffh w ll fi-- Tl ll I . .-V. i f fff:11 177'i7g A vu 'LQ gfffifffxf Is., -11' fl! I ,,. F. ll lllmfl .lt 1- I . - 15 - - I ,I Xt f.1llM,Il ll fr.-f!,,,t . . -- 1 ,I U . -1 ' , f. -' 'tif' ,, ,i-i-5 NU 1 uw ,Y i7!- I i .mn L.il ! if . -X ,fir-gi-rf! f 5 ,:.h-Y lf ', fi , '1 ,-Q OLD MAIN HALL forever, and so to invest it that it may yield the largest increase compatible with safety, and with ease and economy in collection. 'lt if Not only as to this point did Dr. Lathrop perceive the dangers which threatened the University. To mistake, as many literary incorporations in our land have done, and as the superficial observer is prone to do, the edifice for the University-the shell for the kernel, to erect costly structures, to incur a debt which shall eat up the income of years, leaving little for the machinery of education and still less for the living instructor, would be as far in us, as it has been in others, from realizing any just conception of a sound and discriminating econ- omy. X tl' 'lt E Are the following words expressive of a foolishly exalted ambition? In any case, they show that a proper estimate of the relative importance of the library was present in the mind of the Chancellor from the very first. Having provided those buildings and those only which may be needful to the earlier uses of the University, leaving subsequent structures, to the occasions and the periods which may demand them, it is our business to proceed with resources unexhausted to the foundation of a library in which the accumulations of this and subsequent generations shall aim to embody zz!! that is worth preserving of the literature of every country and of every age. Q VVithin Dr. Lathrop's own period of administration everything that he feared had been done, and practically nothing had been accomplished of what he had hoped for. The story has often been told, but it cannot be too familiar to Wisconsin students. The original land grant of 46,080 acres, obtained from the United States government in 1838 by the solicitation of the territorial legislature, was so undervalued that it sold for about S150,000, avowedly to encourage settlement, but in effect forthe benefit of speculators. A second grant of the same amount was obtained by similar solicitation from the general government, and was sold in the same way, bringing in only S130,000. A fair comparison as to the value of the lands may be made with the original Michigan grant, of the size of one only of the grants to Vtfisconsin, which sold for less than might have been made of it, and brought in S500,000. To make the chapter complete, it may be observed that the grant made in 1862 of 240,000 acres for a college of agriculture and industrial arts, and other purposes, was treated in the same way, producing a fund of only about S300,000, where two or three millions would have been OLD NORTH HALL I,