West Chester University - Serpentine Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

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1914 SERPENTIN E Page 7 England, France, Cierniany, Switzerland. Italy, all ciMUriliiitcd tu the depth of the iiiipressinn. i ' .iit (Jreece. sunny, beautiful Greece, with its roots of human progress, was the country that fascinated him most. To one so sensitive to the past of man, the finest flower of his development, painting, sculpture, architecture, ap- pealed in strongest fashion. To his deiiartment in the school. Professor Burnhani brought back the triple treasure of a well-stored mind, an enlarged library of history and art, and a set of tilms that still develops into lantern slides which enrich and clarify his teaching. The great teacher is never quite satisfied that his debt to society is paiil until he has put the best of himself into a book. This crown has been added to Professor Burnham ' s work. It is most natural that one possessed of his civic ideals should feel impelled to stimulate PennsyUania boys and girls to a deeper love for, and admiration of, their own State. Professor Burnham ' s History of Pennsylvania is full of vivid, clear, gripping pictures of the glory of the Keystone State. Many a future citizen will owe his first and real appreciatinu nf the greatness of his State tu this convincing book. Of all the cpialities that make Professor Burnhani a successful teacher of history, it is here almost su|)erfluous to speak. The life of a people grows out of the stock from which it descends and the surroundings in which it is placed. History with Professor Burriham is no chrouDlogical table of events. It is a coordinated whole, linked to the soil from v hich it sprung, and fm-nishing in each period the seeds which are to sprout into later activity, h ' illed as he is with an intense admiration for Iniman strength and endeavor, the dramatic li -es of the leaders of history are always intensely at- tractive to Professor Burnhani, and he makes the great characters of the past live before his classes. He holds his history to the earth by constantly teaching from the map, to show the conditions under which human activity has worked itself out. A teacher may bless his pui)ils from three entirely different directions. In the first jilace he may be a fountain of in- formation, a reservoir of knowledge from which his students may drink their fill, . gain, he may himself be so eager and delighted a student that he infects his pupils with a longing for, and is to them a stimulus to, the actpiisition of sch(jl- arship for themselves. Lastly, and most important of all, he may be a man of such commanding integrity of life, such earnest uprightness of purpose, such vigorous reaction with the trend of life around him. that he is to his pupils a con- stant example of, and unending stimulus to, nobility of life and earnestness of citizenship. It is hard to tell in which of these directions Professor Burnhanrs influence is strongest. His acquaintance with history seems to be unemling; his ability to stimulate his pupils to thoughtful study is remarkable. But. after all, his strongest trait is undoubtedly the wholesome power of his vigorous manhood. The courage of his si)irit, the reverence of his mind, and his devotion to the service of his fellows, make him the fit guide of growing youth. The absolute sanity and the unremitting helpfulness of Professor Burnham ' s life are amongst the most -aluable and valued influences with which the young people who are growing into manhood and womanhood at West Chester come in contact. S. C. Schmucker.

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Page 6 SERPENTINE 1914 ities, the great university must always offer him the more im|iortant field. To a boy whose scholastic lite has been re- stricted, the intimate contact that the professor in the small college has with his pupils tar more than counterbalances the defects of the narrower equipment. In such a situation, young Burnham now found himself. The strongest person- ality with which he came in contact was with a teacher of history, and not unnaturally the bent (if Burnham ' s mind was distinctly set in the lines of history and constitutional development. The family resources were not sufficient to make young Burnham ' s ccnn-se an easy one, and he was obliged to inter- mit his studies for a while and teach in the high school. This prox ' ed more of an advantage than a disadvantage, for it gave him time to think over what he was learning, and find out his deficiencies. When he returns to Albion to finish his course, he is ready to do such work as he had never done before. Those of us who delight in the way Prof. Burnhain throws himself into the athletic life of the school will have lit- tle difficult}- in understanding that in liis own college days he was an enthusiastic athlete. Twice only has the foot-ball team of the University of Michigan been defeated by one from the same State. In 1891, Albion gave Michigan the first of her defeats. Of that team Smitli Burnham was captain, coach, and star quarter-back. When the victors came home that night, the whole student l)odv met them with a hay wagon and a l)and, and escorted them to the campus, where a great bonfire was kindled. By the glow of the fire. Captain Burnham told his fellow-students Hmv it had been done. That defeat remained the only defeat by a State team for the University of Michigan up to the fall of 1913. In 1892 he graduated from his college, and was immediately oft ' ered the position of assistant in history. .Shortly thereafter he took his own first and present chief assistant in the person of Ella L. Caster, his clas.smate, to whom he was married in August, 1893. Young Burnham was now ready for the facilities of a great university, and he made for himself the opportunity for advanced study, first at Harvard, and later at Chicago University. P rom here he went l)ack to .■ lbion to take the place of their professor of history, who had gone to Michigan University. M Albion he remained a full professor of history until West Chester summoned him in 98. At West Chester Professor Burnham followed a series of teachers of history who had given that department high standing in this institution. But, high as was the standing of his department, it at once started to grow until it reached its present commanding position. To the teacher of history there is one source of culture beside which all others pale. This lies in actual, intelligent contact with the board on which the game of history- has liecn played. Impelled by this conviction, Professor Burnham prepared himself, first of all, by studying and planning so as to have his mind in thorough readiness to absorb all that is best worth while. Then he obtained a year ' s leave of absence and spent it in European travel and study.

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Pages SERPENTINE 1914