University of Wisconsin Oshkosh - Quiver Yearbook (Oshkosh, WI)

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REGENT A. E. THOMPSON. 8

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PRESIDENT HALSEY. UKUS H. HALSEY was born in Blooming1 Grove, New York. His early education was received in the public schools of Brooklyn. Two decades or more ago the public schools did not prepare for college, and Mr. Halsey fitted himself at Adelphi Academy. In 1873, at the age of seventeen, he entered Williams College, a college permeated with the high ideals of its famous president Mark Hopkins. When we listen to the excellent selections read at morning exercises, it is interesting to recall that English literature was the favorite study of our young collegian. It is also worth recalling that in those days most college men played athletic games ; there were many amateurs, no professionals. It goes without saying that Harry Halsey was an active participant in the various games. In the fall, after his graduation in 1877. he began, near Albany, New York, his first year of school teaching. The following five years he was instructor in the Brooklyn Polytechnic. In 1883 Oshkosh first knew Mr. Halsey. In this year he became principal of theOshkosh High School, and in 18 11 superintendent of the public schools of the city. After thirteen years of hard yet encouraging work here, he was induced to take charge of the schools of Binghamton, New York. But Wisconsin again wanted hisscrviccs, and the Board of Kegents elected him to the presidency of the Oshkosh Normal School in December, 1ST). lie began his work January 31, 1899. That Mr. Halsey should have been asked to succeed the revered President Albee was a fine tribute to the work he had done, especially in the Oshkosh schools where he had established the kindergarten, strengthened his teaching force, and by his liberal methods made the schools a greater power in the community. A year and a half in the Normal School as administrator, has confirmed the impression of his ability to direct a broad system of education. One of the forceful elements that make for his success is his cordial intercourse not only with the faculty but with the students. It is as in the days of Longfellow at Harvard. The ice-bclt separating faculty and students is melting away. A helpful intimacy is being fostered. One of the means by which this is being done is the plan of each member of the faculty acting in the capacity not only of adviser but as friend to a group of twenty or more students. Still further has his policy that the class-room does not bound the teacher’s parish been engrafted, A careful inquiry is made into the environment of students while at the Normal that each may have the best possible conditions for his growth in every direction. Mr. Halsey is an optimist. He is not an optimist because he does not feel the heavy burden of the presidency of a large normal school, nor recognize that the normal school has educational problems waiting to be solved. He is the optimist who sees both the serious and the hopeful. The school shares his optimism. With the new building and increased facilities it is looking forward to long years of successful work with Mr. Halsey as president. 7

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MR. ALBERT E. THOMPSON. R. ALBERT E. THOMPSON, our worthy regent, has served in this capacity since February, 1895, at which time he was appointed by Governor Upham for a term of three years. He was reappointed by Governor Schofield in February, 1898. In February, 1896, he was elected vice president of the Board, and in July of the following year, president. Mr. Thompson has ever devoted himself most faithfully to the interests of the Normal Schools, and the state at large, as well as the local school, have much to congratulate themselves in the appointment of such a man to the position. During his term of office there has been a steady growth in the schools, due to the generous appropriations for increased facilities, for the enlargement of the faculty, and for their in- creased salaries. During Mr. Thompson’s administration, the Superior Normal school has been opened, the River Falls school has been rebuilt since its destruction by fire, a $26,500 addition has been made to the Whitewater Normal, all of the schools have been equipped with steam heating plants, and lastly a contract has been let to build additions to this school and the one at Stevens Point this summer. The Faculty of our school has been increased by a head of the department of Psychology and Pedagogy, an assistant of Pedagogy, a special teacher of German, a director of Observation and Method, and an assistant in Drawing. A new department has been added to the model school, a special trained librarian, an assistant librarian, and a clerk to aid the President in office work. Mr. Thompson is a native of Wisconsin, having been born in Pleasant Valley, Green Lake county. He entered Ripon College when fourteen years of age, and remained there until nineteen, when he entered upon the study of law in the office of J. M. Fish of Princeton. He early showed remarkable ability in this field, and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the bar and became a partner of the firm in which he had been a student. He came to Oshkosh in the spring of 1879, and has since practiced law in this city. In 1889 he was appointed special assistant United States attorney, and for five years had charge of the litigation growing out of the improvements on the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. He has distinguished himself as an attorney in some of the most important cases the state has known, cases in which large interests have been involved. Being a native of Wisconsin, and so widely known as a skillful lawyer and a citizen of most progressive ideas, Mr. Thompson’s influence on Normal school problems has been most potent for the growth of the schools. He knows the resources of the state; he knows the leading citizens and they know him. With his appreciation of the needs of the schools, his devotion to their cause, his legal skill, his polished manners, and his generous heart, he is able to bring about whatever he sees is for their best interest. 9