Washington and Jefferson College - Pandora Yearbook (Washington, PA)

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m ,, lm, 5 y s '4' .'A' .V,A til A 5 Recollections of Some Former Professors of Washington and Jefferson College Br .IOSEPI-I H. BAUSMAN. The editor of the Pcuzdora has asked me to give to his readers some reminiscences of the College and of its professors, at the period when my own connection with it as a student began. That period was a critical one in the history ol' Washington and Jefferson. The union of the two colleges, Washington College and Jef- ferson College, had then, in 1869, just been finally consummated, and even we of the .Iunior Preparatory Class of that year-J'soulless preps though we were called by the students ot' the college proper-felt some- thing of the storm and stress that were then agitating the minds oi' all who were connected with the institution, and ol' the citizens of the rival towns of Washington and Canonsburg. It was not long thereafter, either, until the whole world was agitated by the still greater strife of the Franco-Prussian VVar. I remelnber how we preps lay in the grass of the campus and listened with becoming modesty to discussions ol' its issues carried on in groups of upper elassmen, juniors and seniors principally,- g1'ave and reverend seniors in the patter of the day. Everybody was then pro-German: we extolled the grand Protestant nation, whose soldiers marched to battle singing Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott, and contrasted their solemn earnestness of spirit with the red I ool-fury of the Seine. But our enthusiasm for the Teutons was chilled when the end came, and Bismark piled his billion dollar war tribute on France. Forty-six years ago that was! VVhat else can I recall from that dark backward and abysm of time? There come back to me names still heard then as houeshold words, names of presidents and professors who had been identified with the college for longer or shorter periodsg of presidents: Dr. .lohn W. Scott, Shanghai Scottg Edwards--Jonaj than, but l10t he ol' New England and The Freedom of the Willg and of professors: Dr. William P. Alrieh, Billy Pieklef' Jacobson, a name- sake of Terrence, the Latin poet, he, but he taught English, not Lating Dr. George Fraser--- Pinkie Fraserg Dr. James Black, kindhearted, but 25

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MlI.'I'tJN ALLEN DICKlIi, A. M., A T A Assistant Prol'essor of French and Gerinang A. li., Washington and .Iel't'erson, '09, A. M., '10, Instructor in Washington and Jefferson Academy, '08-'10, Asst. Prof. at Washington and .Iel'l'erson, '09-'llg Instructor in Greek and German, '09-'12g Asst. Prof. of Greek, I.atin and Ger- man, 'I2-'l3g Asst. Prof. of French and German, '14-. Cnvmc S1-lIiPHIiltD A'1'cmsoN, Ph. D. Professor of Mathematics: A. Ii., AVCSUIIIIISICP, '03, Graduate Student. in Math., .lohns Hopkins Univ., '03-'07g Ilniversity School in Nath., '05-'tllig University Fellow in Math., '06-'07g Ph. D., .Iohns Hopkins Univ., '07: ln- structor and Asst. Professor in AIiltI'lCllllltlL!S, NVilliams College, '07-'12, Professor at Washington and .Iel't'er- son, '12-. .litmus Crvms Mc:Gmauon, Ph. D., K E Suhstitute Professor of History and Political Science: A. li., Washington and .Iell'erson, '05: Teacher ol' History in Wheeling High School, '05-'llg Instructor of I-listory at Univ. of Pennsylvania, '11g Post-graduate I'niversity of Pennsylvania, 'll-'13, Ph. IJ., Univ. of Pennsylvania, 'l3g Professor at Washington and .lell'er- son, 'I3-. O'r'ro Flllilllillltlli HEHMAN BIili'l', A. M. I.eMoyne Professor of Applied Mathematics: B. S., Geneva College, '95g Instructor in Mathematics and Physics' at Washington and .Iell'erson Academy, '01-'03g A. AI.. Geneva College, '03g Professor of IAItltIl0Ill1ltICS at Geneva. '03-'07g Professor of Mathematics at Thiel Col- lege, '07-'I 1: Professor at XVashington and .Ietl'erson, 'I4-. 24

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gat ' A I E m ,W M ..... It .. ,.N,.,..,.,..., , . ..,..,... , .,... Un 33531335 .45 -.lf-wad 4 .,I,::f'1 -.,v. L tts e f f ! f .A nn an im '--V -'AJ f' t- -'-W., -V t.Q,F.l,.l.f,7 'F . f 3,3 j '- .,.. l ,,.M, tiff ' i f I ' , W f ,, Al t as l . mttumtmm... J,,, ,, , , alia, irascibleg I recall that at a public meeting in the old Court House he made a dive into a crowd ot' disorderly students and caught an un- otifending youngster and nearly pitched him down stairs,--these and others were in oiticc just before our day, or for a briet' period after- wards. When I come to the men who taught our class, how many a11d what kind ot' tales dare I tell out of school? A member ot' Congress who once had to make in the House a memorial address for a deceased fellow- member who had not had one ot' the most savory ot' reputations, came in great perturbation to Tom Reed, and asked, Heed, what on earth can I say about that man? Oh, answered Heed, say anything but the truthg it's customary! I, on the contrary, want to tell the truth about those venerable old-tilne teachers, for venerable they were, in character, though not always in years. It astonishes us now, old as they seemed to us then to lea1'n how young, in some cases, they really wereg Dr. Hays, for example, was but thirty-two when he became president, and only fifty-nine when he died. I do not want to record here such memories ot' those men as would be suitable to serious biography, but rather such as most endear them to the hearts ot' us who knew them, and who, though we sometimes bedeviled them, still loved them. Frown as you may, sirs, upon student pranks, let the gravest ol' you come to- gether and recall the old days, and these, not your academic 'honors' and achievements, will be the things you will most eagerly talk about. After all it is the touch ot' nature that makes the whole world kin,--student- world or boy-world. 'l'he'humanest touch in that wonderful human document, the Confessions ot' St. Augustine, is that which the saint gives in the story ol' how he, with his boy companions, used to rob the orchards in his native town ot' Hippo. As theologian, he tries to make these pranks support his favorite dogma ol' total depravity, but he tails: across the space ol' nearly two thousand years we hear the laughter ot' those jolly youngsters as in the white African moonlight they climb the walls and eat the juicy oranges and grapes, and we laugh with them. The boy's will is the wind's will, and the thoughts ot' youth are long, long thoughtsg but they are not evil continually, good Bishop. Dr. George P. Hays, who was elected President ot' the College. August 3, 1870, and served until June, 1881, was born and reared near 26