University of Missouri - Savitar Yearbook (Columbia, MO)

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O The jire in 1892 left in its wake ,8'250,o0o, of damages, only hah' of which was covered by insurance. Things looked dark indeed for the U nioersity of Missouri. The Board of Curators, however, immediately took up plans for rebuilding. Boone county citizens again showed their loyalty by subscribing ,3'50,000, to smother an agitation to wrest the school away from Columbia and plant it in Sedalia. Then began an intensive building campaign which saw thezmajor part:of the present red campus take form in but three short years. deprived oi the joy of seeing his long and unselfish work come to fruition. His successor, Daniel Read, led the University through a period of steady ex- pansion, not only in enrollment but in number of schools and physical property. It was during his administration that the institution changed from college to genuine university. The College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was formally established on the campus in 1870, and schools of law -and medicine appeared in 1872 and 1873, Page 16

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ceased entirely, large debts had accumu- lated, past salaries were due to teachers, most of the students were at war or at home, and Federal militia held all build- ings. During their four-year occupation the soldiers burned the president's man- sion, practically levelled the natural park which comprised the campus, and com- mitted various other vandalisms. From the spring to November of 1862 the in- stitution was officially closed and even after being reopened could scarcely subsist for the next three years. The post war period from 1865 to 1892 furnishes the next logical division of Uni- versity history. Much before the end of the war, however, in 1862, the federal gov- ernment granted Missouri, under the au- thorization of the Morrill Act, 33o,ooo, acres of land for the endowment of a col- lege of agriculture and mechanic arts. It was, in fact, the hope of the Curators in I862 of securing this grant which had impelled them to reopen the University. Page 15 The Curators in desperation called upon ex-President Lathrop to return, and he willingly and bravely led the University through its second crisis as chairman of the faculty from 1862 to 1865. It is of inci- dental interest that another old friend of the University, Major J. S. Rollins, was very instrumental in securing the Morrill grant for the University at Columbia. In 1865 the University was reorganized and formally reopened with Lathrop as president for the second time. All seemed in readiness for a time of genuine pros- perity and unhalting advancement, but Lathrop, living but one more year, was I For many years a University rule prohibited the bearing of Jirearms in classrooms, later, students were expressly barred from carrying firearms at all times. - . - 1. - . 1. 'ii i ..-.. 1 1.

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' e, .ii 1 I This picture if an architectlf visu- alization of the proposed reconstruction, 1 looking youth. It if evident that hi: dream: were largely realized. On the respectively. The elective system was in- troduced, and requirements veered sharply away from the stringently classical. The value of modern languages and laboratory work became apparent. Reorganization and reform plans of Cornell and Harvard Page 17 ' left of the column: we :ee structure: which .fubrequently became the B. E5 P. A., cherniftry, and geology build- ingf, and the presidenth' horneg on the right are Switzler hall Cthen Jtandingj, the engineering building, mechanic arty building Cburned in IQIID, and the original power plant. The entablature was .rhortly after removed from the col- uninf. The conytruction of feffe Hall had not been proposed. were carefully studied and considered in shaping general policy. In 1872 a step more drastic than any ,Was taken: Women were admitted to the University with the same standing as men. This was done only after a probationary period, for