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

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LLIiil ' 0 A SoulU CoiWfifi, Old South College in 1867 The College had acquired a 132,000.00 deficit. The House voted that the State assume the deficit but that the Trustees be responsible for any further deficits and that the Governor examine the College and give a report for its continuance or discontinuance with the provision that its finances would be separated from the Commonwealth Treasury. Governor Talbot recommended that the Co llege be incorporated into Amherst College since the College ' s need for more money had not been appropriated by the State. This idea was rejected by both colleges and M.A.C. survived. There was a dire need of saving money. The Trustees elected Charles L. Flint to serve as President without pay. Flint resigned in 1880 and Stockbridge became President only to resign from that position in 1882. That very year the College rejoiced at the return of Paul Ansel Chadbourne, Doctor of Medicine, Law and Divinity. Under Chadbourne ' s administration. Governor Long Provided $4,999.00 for repairs and $5,000.00 for a drill hall and created the Mass. Agricultural Experiment Station. Tragedy struck in February 1883, when President Chadbourne passed away. The INDEX said of him, We will not break the stillness of thy sleep. Thou spirit rare; Dreamless and blest after restless years, Seeking to kindle souls with Heaven ' s light. Lover of all things fair. In 1883 Governor Butler aided the late Chadbourne ' s bill for a building to contain a library and a chapel for the purpose of providing intellectual training along with practical training. James Carruthers Greenough, succeeding Chadbourne as President, went to work fulfilling Chadbourne ' s plan to liberalize the course of study so that freshmen could elect a scientific-agricultural course or a scientific-literary course. Greenough also received funds to finish the President ' s house, to build the chapel-library, and to renovate North College. Henry Hill Goodell became acting-President and succeeded Greenough in 1886. In 1894, he witnessed the largest graduating class to date. ..33-

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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.

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Mass. 6 Mass. 6 Mass. 6 Mass. 18 Mass . 10 Mass. 5 The Legislature, in the same year, combined the Mass. State Agricultural Experiment Stat ion and the Hatch Experiment Station. The College magazine carried the name AGGIE LIFE. Undergraduates received the innovations of senior electives and exemptions from final exams for high ranking students. In the 1896 graduation, President Goodell awarded advanced degrees for the first time in the College ' s history. This graduating class was also under a new system whereby students in Boston University and M.A.C. could simultaneously receive bachelor ' s degrees from both institutions— a practice which lasted until 1911. Another important advancement in Goodell ' s term was the offering of graduate work. He remained as President until 1905 and presided over a period which witnessed the first Inter-Fraternity Conference, the establishment of the Student Senate, the replacement of terms by semesters, the introduction of varsity basketball, the establishment of junior electives , the beginning of Phi Kappa Phi, and on the darker side, the death of the great Levi Stockbridge— that influential Connecticut Valley farmer who had done so much for this institution with which he had been associated for 42 years. An interesting sidelight to note is the rise in importance and popularity of football on the college scene. Especially interesting was the M.A.C. football record in 1901: The Aggies lost one game to Williams, The other eight games resulted in the following scores: Pittsfield W esleyan Tufts W.P.I. 12 Springfield Q Amherst Mass. 11 Boston College The year 1906 ushered in President Kenyon L. Butterfield, a man great in agriculture, to relieve Dr. William Penn Brooks who was acting President. President Butterfield was to preside until 1924, except for certain periods in which Dr. James B. Paige and Edward Morgan Lewis took the duties of President. President Butterfield went all out for organization and set up many projects which he fulfilled before the end of his term. Butterfield reorganized th e Student Senate, giving it authority over undergraduate relations; he submitted an organized program for hazing; he engaged George F. Mills to serve as Dean and as head of the division of Humanities; he brought such men as Lewis, Hicks, and Machmer to the M.A.C. roster; he saw his $250,000.00 maintenance bill passed over the veto of Governor Foss; he worked on an Extension Service Program to extend agricultural education to farmers; he presided over the construction Alumni Field. By 1916, there were 668 students, 72 instructors, a total staff of 175 and 275 courses of study. M.A.C. was the only college in the country concerned with agriculture exclusively. As its scholastic outlets grew, so too did its social outlets. Theta Nu Epsilon, Kappa Gamma Phi, Theta Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Lambda Chi Alpha, Kappa Epsilon, Alpha Sigma Phi and Delta Phi Gamma were added to the fraternity roster. Butterfield ' s reign was marked by the introduction of High School Day, the formation of the debating team, the founding of the Roister Doisters, the change in name of the newspaper to the COLLEGIAN, the establishment of Adelphia and a sadder note — the passing away of the famous Goessman. The same black cloud that hung over the rest of the world spread its billows over the United States in 1916 as we entered the first World War; 1304 Aggie boys donned uniforms. A Student Army Training Corps was established on campus. Some of the buildings were converted to barracks. In 1921, passersby stopped in front of the newly-constructed Memorial Hall and read, WE WILL KEEP FAITH WITH YOU WHO LIE ASLEEP And if they were to go inside they could see a plaque with the names of 51 Aggie men who never returned from that war. As the face of the campus was continually changing, so was the speci es of its inhabitants. A law in 1894 had given the President authority to establish courses for women students. This law proved to be very useful, for after the war years there was a terrific rise in women ' s enrollment. In 1919 Miss Edna Skinner became head of the Home Economics Department and Adviser to Women, and the first women ' s dormitory, Abigail Adams House, was erected. Another important innovation during Butterfield ' s administration was the establishment of a two-year course in practical agriculture, the Stockbridge School of Agriculture.