University of the South - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Sewanee, TN)

Page 9 text:

taught. The school was to be patterned after Oxford, but was to be created complete. Johns Hopkins and Stanford Universities were developed along these lines decades later. The cornerstone was laid on October 10, 1860; and by that date the site had been received, a large endowment raised, a constitution written, and the Founders were ready to build. The Civil War broke out; and because most people thought that it would be of short duration, plans for the school were only temporarily suspended. Polk served as a lieutenant general along with W. J. Hardee under General Braxton Bragg in the Army of Tennessee. In a march south, Federal troops pursued the retreating Confeder- ates across the Domain of the new University, destroyed the cornerstone with a powder charge, and burned the buildings. By the end of the struggle, Polk and Otey were dead and Elliott was to live but another year. The Diocese of Tennessee elected the young Reverend Charles T. Quintard as its second bishop in 1865. As a chaplain in the Confederate Army, Quintard had promised Bishop Elliott, then Presiding Bishop of the Confederacy, to assume personal responsi- bility for the University of the South. Along with his collaborator, Major General Fair- banks, Quintard returned to Sewanee in 1866 to find the school completely destroyed. The Bishop and Fairbanks gathered around them working men and clergy and held a ceremony during which a rude wooden cross was erected, formally re-establishing the University of the South. Immediate moves were made to begin rebuilding. As an ex- ample of Quintard ' s resolution and firmness of intent, he designated Sewanee as the Episcopal theological training center for the Church in Tennessee, put up Otey Hall, built his own house on the Mountain, as did Major Fairbanks, and operated his diocese from this location. Following Quintard ' s example, other dioceses gave their support. Although interest was revived, fund-raising was slow. When the Archbishop of Canterbury called a Pan- Anglican Council to meet at Lambeth Palace in London in the fall of 1867, Bishop Quintard went to England in the hope that he might gain support abroad. He was able to solicit 2,500 pounds from sympathizers with the Southern cause. The amount was not especially large; but because very influential individuals had contributed, his mission §.64 S.FU. SAB LechO SA2 AA -V5 •f ' h cuth ij{8 oise Brown Xanier wfeins Uillem-Russel Copp 5.1 X.5.U Si S.l 63.S vS.l Juka. rv Cheape Taulkinbm-y Williams M-mlev. was brought to light. Using the English gifts, Quintard opened the University in Sep- tember, 1868, with nine students and four professors. In spite of the South ' s poverty and ruin, the advocates of the University were deter- mined to make the school thrive. The trustees elected General Robert E. Lee to be the first Vice-Chancellor, but he respectfully declined because of other commitments. Mat- thew Fontaine Maury, the former Confederate commodore who had charted the ocean ' s currents, also could not accept the post. Bishop Quintard served as Vice-Chancellor on a temporary basis until 1872, when conditions were secure and General Josiah Gorgas became second Vice-Chancellor. Gorgas served for several years, going to the University of Alabama in 1878, after disagreement arose here. The University ' s athletes were genuine champions in the early days of inter- collegiate athletics in the South.

Page 8 text:

BISHOP LEONIDAS POLK President William Howard Taft ' s visit to Sewanee. Military training came to during the First World War. the Mountain 1 Sewanee began in 1856 when Leonidas Polk, writing letters to ■h fellow bishops in the Episcopal Church in the South, invited ' g I -them to join in an effort to establish a university. He characterized ■ his dream by saying it would be our common property, under J our joint control, of a clear and distinctly recognized Church • character, upon a scale of such breadth and comprehensiveness, ' I as shall be equal in the liberality of its provisions for intellectual cultivation to those of the highest class at home or abroad. To establish such an insti- tution had been Bishop Polk ' s dream for a number of years. Having studied institutions both in America and in Europe, he thought the time right for his Church to support such a regional project. On July 4, 1857, twenty-two trustees met on Lookout Mountain; and in three days, the principles were set upon which Sewanee was to be developed. The University of the South was the first modern university planned in America. It was to have thirty-two departments whose nature would allow any known subject in general education to be

Page 10 text:

met Charlotte grant, about Vice-Chancellor- 879 to mpson ' s exist were introduced. Sewanee men were [known for their good graces throughout the South, and they prided themselves on {being well-dressed with a coat and tie. The first chaplain, the Rev. William DuBose, gencouraged excellence in studies by organizing the Order of Gownsmen, a unique group in American education. In 1890, the Reverend Thomas F. Gailor, later Bishop of Tennessee and first president of the National Council, succeeded the Reverend Telfair Hodgson, after the latter resigned. During Gailor ' s administration medical, dental, nursing and law studies were instituted. Construction of Walsh Hall, the library, Breslin Tower, and All Saints Chapel was begun during the first golden age, lasting from 1879-1909. In this period the faculty contributed to the major scholarly endeavors of the day, having their works printed in the leading publications, and making a name for the school on both the regional and national levels. The Sewanee Review was founded in 1892. One hundred fourteen degrees were given in 1900, a record not equalled until 1950. Benjamin Lawton Wiggins, succeeding Gailor as Vice-Chancellor in 1893, was the first alumnus to fill the post. During this period Sewanee excelled in sports, with undefeated football teams in 1898 and 1899. They were followed by fine teams in the ensuing years. This was climaxed by winning the championship of the South in 1909. However, the high spirit of the time masked the troubles which lay ahead. Wiggins died in 1909, and soon after his death the University ' s momentum declined sharply. Lacking the dynamic leadership of Wiggins, the Trustees voted to abandon the College of Medicine and Law and concentrate on the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Theology, and the military preparatory school. Dean William B. Hall carried on as Vice-Chancellor for five years. The succeeding Vice-Chancellors Knight and Finney, though distinguished gentlemen, were not able to provide effective adminis- tration. World War I hurt the University so badly that it was unable to capitalize on the prosperity of the 1920 ' s. The depression cast the school into virtual poverty, but the high standards that had been originally instituted survived during the nadir of the University ' s material progress. The year 1938 marked a period of revival and rebirth for the University under the brilliant and effective leadership of Dr. Alexander Guerry, an alumnus of Sewanee. By his untimely death in 1948, Dr. Guerry had so organized and revitalized the ad-