University of New Hampshire - Granite Yearbook (Durham, NH)

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fxjl927 K fi--mf S m ':.11:'.: ,z'Y V r Y ' N' ff QL lc nl je l. if PL if li ll 'K ii 7. C K K li at In 1877, the Hon. George W. Nesmith of Franklin, for whom Nesmith Hall was named, became President of the Board of Trustees and the Rev. Samuel Col- cord Bartlett, D.D., became a trustee and President of Dartmouth College and New Hampshire College, which position he retained until 1892. The Rev. Mr. Bartlett was born the twenty-fifth day of November, 1817, in Salisbury, N. H. He received his degree from Dartmouth in 1836. In 1882, a step forward was taken in the matter of admission. All candidates who presented a properly certi- fied diploma from an approved high school or academy were to be admitted without taking the entrance examination. The following year the college course was extended to four years, the first year to consist of two terms, the last three years, of three full terms. . Hon. Lyman Dewey Stevens of Concord, N. H., was elected President of thc Board of Trustees in 1890. During the college year of 1892-93, he was President of New Hampshire College. He was a native of Piermont, N. H., and a graduate of Dartmouth, class of 34-3. Here the curtain falls on the first act of the drama of the history of the Uni- versity of New Hampshire. The scene of action changes from Hanover to Durham. The story of the growth of New Hampshire College since its installation at Durham involves the story of the life of Benjamin Thompson, an enterprising farmer of Durham throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century. Were it not for the public-spiritedness of Benjamin Thompson and his truly Christian ideal of service to humanity, there would be no University of' New Hampshire at Durham today! He thought to perpetuate interest in agriculture in New Hampshire by establish- ing an institution of learning for that purpose, but Death called him before he could witness the culmination of his dreams. He departed from this world on the thirtieth of January, 1890. just three years before New Hampshire College was transferred from Hanover to Durham. At the session of the Legislature of New Hampshire in 1891, acts were passed severing connections with Dartmouth College and removing the State College from Hanover to Durhamg accepting the Benjamin Thompson estate, which was then of the value of about SIi400,000, and accumulating at MZ, compound interest which would be available as an endowment in 1910, and providing ?B100,000 to be used with certain other sums in the erection of buildings. The Legislature, in 1893, passed an act appropriating 335,000 for completing and furnishing the buildings. Shortly before the state accepted this gift of Benjamin Thompson's, the Legislature further provided for the college by accepting the provisions of an act of Congress known as the Morrill Bill, passed i11 1887. This legislation made available federal appropriations for instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural and economic science, with special reference to their applications in the industries of life, and to the facilities for such instruetionf' Dr. Scott 2-gi42c3c'2iDC1Q-35-C'DCDCb4DQDCJCbCIj ' 29

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i 1 X . - v f GIQANITXEX fl 'r in r X ' l l l A t ...... lg ll i i rl l lf 1 ll ll : lasting from the fourth of September to the last Thursday of November, the second Y lasting from the eighth day of January until April twenty-second. The simple I 1 requisites were that candidates should be at least sixteen years of age, must present l X testimonials of good moral character, and pass satisfactory examinations in Arith- ll x metic Cincluding the metric system of weights and measuresj, English Grammar, xl A Geography, and the following year History was added. There were three classes: Junior, Nliddle, Senior. All students pursued the same studies the first' year. Upon graduation the Degree of Bachelor of Philosophy was conferred. X Asa Dodge Smith, D.D., LL.D., as President of Dartmouth College. was the first President of New Q . gf Hampshire College. He was born in Amherst, N. H., on l September twenty-first. 1807. He graduated from X fl Dartmouth in 1830. Dr. Smith was President and a K trustee of Dartmouth College from 1863 to 1877. X 1 In 1876 Charles Holmes Pettee, now Dean of the it Faculty, was appointed Professor of Mathematics. He X X graduated from Dartmouth in 1874 as salutatorian of l his class. Besides teaching, he was appointed Dean of X X the Faculty in 1888, which position he still retains. . ll n,.,,5,,,,,i,, 'rp,.,,,,,,,.,,, Along with Dean Pettee came Clarence W. Scott, ll also of the class of '74, as an instructor in mathematics. He was given the Professor- ! ship of the English Language in 1878, and in 1894! his title was changed to Pro- ll I fessor of History and Political Science. He is the senior member of our faculty gf in age and second only to Dean Pettee in length of service. l X 'l l l I , . c . D , :f-Q bg EC bc X -Qc 54 bc X PC DCCI - 28

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, ' ' N-. x ' ' ' f . . xi- '7 ' N' . . ,...- ,,,,, .,. ,.,, - ,,..... .. ,.. , A .. ,, ' fi fi Q' ' ff, f. 1 .. , ,, ,cs-.., W,-7-'r :....f '-'-+.cy' ' if .7 ff ' - ln lhe fall ol' 1893, New llampsliire College began its aetivities at Durham with twenty-seven slxudenls and a faculty composed of thirteen members. Rev. Charles Sumner lVlurkland, a Congregational minister of Manchester, was elected president. He was born on May twentieth, 1856, at Lowell, Massachusetts, and received his A.l3. degree from Middlebury College in 1881. He established a college to supplant the school of Mechanic Arts: to him is due the honor for organizing the two-year course in agriculture: a basis for the present summer school was founded by him when a Summer School of Biology was inaugurated in 1894-. During the ten years that he was mentor of the college, the number of students increased from 27 to 121. M lill' MII-'Im KXAI He was succeeded in 1903 by William David Gibbs, who was born in 1Vinchester, Illinois, in 1869. He graduated from the University of Illinois in the class of 1893. Under his guidance entrance requirements and scholarship standards were raised, and the courses of study were revised and strengthened. This able and vigorous man did much to start New Hampshire College on the road to improvement and future expansion. Under President Gibbs the student body increased from 121 to 315. He remained as head of the administration until 1912.- Dr. Edward 'l'hompson Fairchild was our next president, eoming to us from the Kansas State Agricultural College. He was a native of Doylestown. Ohio, and a graduate of Ohio Wlesleyan and VVooster University. Under his skillful leadership, New HampshireCollege progressed far in expansion and improvement of equipment. He divided the college into three divisions: Agriculture, Arts and Science, and Engineering, with a dean at the head of l eachdivision. During his administration, the student enrollmentincreased from 315 to 666. Fairchild Hall. which was completed in 1915, was dedicated to Dr. Fairchild. Because of ill health he was forced to resign in 1917, and a few months later he died. A man of liberal and progressive views, he did much to make New Hampshire a growing and prominent college. Now we come to the man who is guiding the destiny of the University of New Hampshire, today. Ralph Dorn Hetzel first saw the light of day on December thirty-first, 1882, at Merrill, VVisconsin. After graduating from the local high school of that town, heat- tended the University of Wisconsin where, between working his way through college and studying for his A.B. degree, Mrs. DeMerritl., Dean of Women K - Hs- N F , rr .evff-'f..gj,. '- ,. ' ' ,.- X, 1'--,,5 30