High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 22 text:
“
1 ' I -c . 5. Aa, tfy-e t-t u t j d-e-txt. i, t Lt.. j t- ■ t.i . i t CtUJ Vt tv. tcW ' tf- J r -O-A tW - Cli-C-cy - ' a - C-t- -J - ' iA c l.f-( ?L r - c-J -- A ' . --)«. tjji -1- -IjcSAjt-t. (Hk . The University Charter Page 1 of the original draft, first introduced June 14, 1848 (Settion I was omitted in the first draft.)
”
Page 23 text:
“
STORY OF A CENTURY The hill was there in 1849, towering over Madison, just as it does today, hut there were cows and horses instead of mighty Bascoin Hall. The University commenced complete operations with its freshman class in the autumn of 1850. Actually its be- ginnings go back to a preparatory class on February 5, 1849, which is the official Founders ' Day. In 1848, when Wisconsin became a slate, the constitution provided for the establishment of a state university. The government of the University w ' as vested in a board of regents to be elected by the legislature. This board decided to establish a preparatory school which would open in 1849, and appointed John W. Sterling to take charge of it. The first classes were held in a room of the Madi- son Female .Academy. The first Chancellor of the University was John H. Lathrop, who came to Madison trom the presidency of the University of Missouri. His inauguration on January 16, 1850, was attended by much pomp and ceremony. TTie original plans of the University included a main edi- fice where Bascom Hall now stands, and four dormitories on the side of the hill, two on each side. Of these five contemplated buildings, only three were built. North Hall was the first to be anil the school opened at the Madison Female .4cade[iiy. In 1854 the first college class, Levi Booth and Charles Wakely, were graduated. completed, in 1851, South Hall in 1855, and Main Hall (now Bascom) in 1860. Under Lathrop the University was a small classical academy and college of the old-fashioned New England type. When the first college class, consisting of Levi Booth and Charles T. Wakely, graduated in 1854, there were 41 students in attend- ance and 15 in the preparatory course. Student life in those days was not comparable to the com- fortable existence of today. Imagine yourself in 1851 getting up from a straw mattress in North Hall (the only building on campus) and going ofT to classes in the same building. Between 50 and 56 students were accommodated, and they paid a meager $5.00 a term for their room, with a tuition of $10.00 for a sch ool year. When a student arrived, his first step was to seek out Pro- fessor Sterling and make arrangements for his classes and his room. It took but a few minutes to secure a room and register, as compared to hours under the present conditions of 1949. Of course, a student had to buy his own furniture, but the University ' s second hand store helped in this. Eight dollars would buy a bed, a plain pine table, a bookstand, a few chairs, and two lamps, one for reading and one for cooking. No car- pets were furnished or needed. The plain wooden beds were not too comfortable, so the boys would go to near-by farms to get straw or corn husks to fill their mattresses. Maid service would hardly have been prof)er, so the boys cleaned their own rooms, or they did not get cleaned at all. Water was drawn from the University well, and getting it was hardly an enjoyable task in mid- winter. These rooms were inadequately heated by a hot air furnace until 1865 when stoves were put into each room. Then the boys had to get their own fuel. At the time of I nthrop ' s administration, hostility was felt toward the preparatory department; and it was also contended that the University was not rendering the pragmatic service to education which the state expected. A reorganization in 1858 led to Lathrop ' s resignation, and the election of Henry Barnard in his place. Chancellor Barnard, a graduate of Yale, was an educator, but because of illness, he spent little time in Wisconsin, and thus did not have as conspicuous a place in the history of the University as he had. in the history of . merican education. However, he did present to the Board of Regents a number of recommendations which they chose to ignore. With the resignation and departure of Chancellor Barnard in 1860, the immediate government of the University lapsed John Hiram Lathrop, the first chancellor. Sute Street in the latter half of the Nineteenth century. 17
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
