University of Denver - Kynewisbok Yearbook (Denver, CO)

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II Alma Mater The creation of a man . . . Rendezvous of minds . . Walls encompass events HE VERY existence of the University of Denver re- sulted from the fact that one of President Lincoln's Cabinet members desired the governor- ship of the Territory of Ne- braska for his son-in-law. Far-fetched as this appears, we are not play- ing on the gullibility of our readers but rather on the flexibility of fact which editorial exag- geration permits us.- Actually, however, there are many interesting as well as little known sidelights which make the history of the Uni- versity of Denver sparkle in its richness of human interest. Among these is the novel turn of events by which Dr. Iohn Evans acquired the governor- ship of the territory which became the State of Colorado. Held in high esteem by his friend, President Lincoln, Iohn Evans was at an early date offered the governorship of the Territory of Washington, which he found impossible to accept. President Lincoln then offered Dr. Evans the governorship of the Territory of Ne- braska, which he accepted, only to step aside when President Lincoln explained that a Cab- inet member had specifically requested this position for his son-in-law. Dr. Iohn Evans, seeing the advantages, richness, and beauty of Colorado, took the governorship of this terri- tory instead. Perhaps without this fall of the cards of fate, the institution which is now the University of Denver might never have been brought into existence. 5 OVERNOR IOHN EVANS, see- ing the need for higher institutions of learning in this part of the country, secured the charter for the establishment of the Colorado Seminary March 5, 1864, which, under his care- ful supervision, has grown into the Univer- sity of Denver. In the fall of 1863, a building was erected at Fourteenth and Arapahoe Streets near the center of the business section, across the street from the Iohn Evans home. This was the first building of the Colorado Semi- nary, which opened as a school in 1864. Year by year progress was made until the fall of 1880, when the institution was reorgan- ized under the name of the University of Den- ver with Dr. D. H. Moore as the first Chancel- lor. As the years hurried on, and conditions permitted, additional schools were added. The profits from the sale of barbed wire fences contributed to the progress of the Uni- versity during this period. It was by this unique means that Mr. Iacob Haish of DeKalb, Illi- nois, made his donation to the University. In 1885, Mr. Haish, interested in the University by Bishop Henry W. Warren, offered to give the University one-half of his receipts from the sale of barbed wire in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah, until the amount reached 350,000

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UNIVERSITY OF DENVER CAMPUS

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30 1935 KYNEWISBOK I Evidently the spirit of the pio- ,- neers was not manifest in the sale of barbed wire fences, for the sale of this commodity was not sulli- cient to raise anything near this amount. Mr. Haish, nevertheless, gave some 840,000 at the time which was used to build the Haish Manual Training School, the sec- ond building of the University of Denver. In Iune of 1889, carrie another change in the history of the Uni- versity. Dr. Moore resigned as Chancellor and was followed by Dr. Ammi B. Hyde, who was act- ing Chancellor until Dr. William F. McDowell was elected to the new oilice. HE UNIVERSITY, now attended by students digging deeply in the fields of knowledge, rests upon ground given by Potato Clark, who found it impossible to dig potatoes from the land. It was in 1892 that the first building on the campus, University Hall, still in active use, was constructed and belcamethe College of Liberal Arts, while the professional schools remained at the - corner of Fourteenth and Arapahoe. With an increasing demand for legal training in the community, the University organized the School of Law on October 23, 1892, and a year later the Iliff School of Theology. l Ti I FILES ANDIACCOUNTING ADMINISTRATION HALL After a term notable in progress, Chancellor McDowell resigned in 1899, and Dr. Henry A. Buchtel was elected to fill the office. The next twenty-one years saw a marked expansion and development of the University of Denver. All debts were paid, and the endowment increased in size yearly. To meet the demands of the growing college, the gymnasium, library, Sci- ence Hall, the observatory, and Memorial Chapel, a gift from the Methodist churches of Colorado, were built. Shortly afterward, four blocks of land north of the campus were bought as grounds for fraternity houses. This fs. ,W , Q 9 Q' Ati 'fe I if fi? 7 1 1 gf V. xi? V 1 f, 1 A llfiii ' 1 .' I n , I xcv ' U: It gels.. f t n x-1. lu- . :gig NE- , TQ E '-' rs 1, Ari' . T ' 9 . -fjfg ft! ii :.,:'.i I: I vying' V . 'lv I fi yfyf jti w.: if HA' ,J ,A . fs? ., 11,41 ':'2 14? -...r 'Q' A It -if ...i i7'i...,J 'gl ... il' W ff' ' ---if f il . . .Y an ,U 'H f..f-v-- -V .-C. ,Y : -.-..af , v.'1-auf:-M