University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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THE UMASS STORY Massachusetts Agricultural College in Its Sixth Year 186 THE RICH HERITAGE of a UNIVERSITY WHICH IS ■Serving the citizens of Massachusetts ■ Dedicating its energy to fulfilling its responsibilities to the community, the state, the country, and the world -Looking constantly to the future

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The story of this college is after all simply a story of men and women; audacious, imaginative, persistent in purpose, seeking a light. Their days have been great in themselves, but greater in promise. Their works have come down to us — a heritage, yes, but a challenge. Their story is ours. Frank Prentice Rand Ense petit placidam sub libertate q uiten. The end of a dream and the beginning of a project occurred simultaneously on April 29 in the year 1863. This day witnessed the appointment of 15 officials, including such men as Col. William S. Clark, Charles L. Flint, Levi Stockbridge, Henry L. French, and Nathan Durfee, selected to find a location for an agricultural college. The idea of an agricultural college was not new. In 1792 The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture had been established. In 1814 the Commonwealth had appropriated an annual one-thousand dollars for experimental work and extension work. In 1825 The New England Farmer had demanded a Massachusetts Agricultural College and Boston launched a campaign for funds. The dream almost became a reality in 1848 when a bill to establish an agricultural college passed the Senate but failed to get through the House. In 1856 the Legislature created the Massachusetts School of Agriculture only to have the charter lost during the Civil War However, the creation of the Morrill Act of 1862 brought the situation to a head, allotting 360,000 acres to Massachusetts, one-tenth of which was to be used for an agricultural college, and two-thirds of the income from the other nine-tenths were to be used for the school. Now the actual work was ready to begin. Lexington, Springfield, Northampton, and Amherst were ready to invest $75,000.00 each in competition in the enterprise. The site was to go to the community which put up the $75,000.00. Incited by the late Edward Hitchcock, former President of Amherst College, President Stearns, Colonel Clark and Edward Dickinson of Amherst College convinced the Trustees that Amherst was the best location. By 1865 Amherst voted $50,000.00 to add to the $25,000.00 already raised by Amherst College Trustees. Henry Flagg French was elected President and the campus farm was purchased; within a year French resigned. In his place the Trustees elected Paul Ansel Chadbourne under whose administration the first three buildings were erected. President Chadbourne, however, was stricken with tuberculosis and resigned in 1867. With still no enrollment, the Trustees met on August 7,1867, and elected Prof. William S. Clark of Amherst College as President of Massachusetts Agricultural College. Along with Clark came Henry Hill Goodell as Professor of Gymnastics, Military Tactics, and French. In 1867 examinations were given in the five buildings which comprised the campus, and the first group of students was admitted at $36.00 tuition. By the time the first commencement rolled around on July 18,1871, Clark had witnessed the enrollment of 166 students; the establishment of Q.T.V. and D.K.G. fraternities, the Washington Irving Literary Society, and the INDEX; a glee club, an orchestra, and a debating society; a raise in tuition to $54.00 and a $15,000.00 expenditure by the Trustees.. As an extra present to Clark and company, the M.A.C. boat crew won a regatta against Harvard and Brown three days after commencement. Signs of progress were noticeable in the next few years; the noted Charles Anthony Goessman became the instructor of chemistry; Levi Stockbridge won recognition in both instruction and research in agriculture; an experiment station was established; and to the fraternity roster was added Phi Sigma Kappa. Yet in 1879, the year of Clark ' s resignation, near disaster befell the College when the Massachusetts government took on a policy of retrenchment-lowering of expenses.