Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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which had already launched its industrial career. As Mr. Boynton was deter¬ mined to erect the school in Worcester County, the city of Worcester, with a well established diversified industry, naturally received first and most favorable con¬ sideration by the advisory board as the location of the proposed educational insti¬ tution. Mr. Boynton finally acquiesced, with the understanding that the citizens of Worcester were to raise the money necessary for the purchase of the site and the erection of an adequate building. Mr. Stephen Salisbury, 2nd, donated five and one-half acres for this purpose, this tract having been augmented from time to time by subsequent gifts and purchases. Sufficient funds were soon raised by the citizenry of Worcester to permit the construction of Boynton Hall, the precursor of our campus buildings, which was dedicated on November 11, 1868. This building, which housed the more theoreti¬ cal departments of the Institute curriculum, was soon supplemented by the Wash¬ burn Shops, contributed by Mr. Washburn, and containing the apparatus utilized in giving the students instruction in the courses of greater practical value, prin¬ cipally in shop practice. Dr. Charles 0. Thompson was chosen the first President of the Institute, and the responsibility for planning the courses and selecting a corps of competent pro¬ fessors and instructors, which was his, and which he carried out so successfully, entitles him to a place in Tech history with the founders of the college. The pioneer work performed by Dr. Thompson in his official capacity was in a large measure responsible for the rapid advance toward renown that Tech gained as an institution of higher learning. Dr. Thompson, who served from 1868 to 1882, was succeeded by Dr. Homer T. Fuller, who held office until 1894. The Institute experienced an era of extensive expansion under Dr. Fuller, the Salisbury Laboratories being erected, as well as the Mechanical Engineering build¬ ing. The latter building was constructed with part of a fund granted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts amounting to one hundred thousand dollars. The remainder of this sum was used for the construction of the president’s house and the Power Laboratory. The Testing Plant and land at Chaffins were also acquired during Dr. Fuller’s regime, and an addition was made to the Washburn Shops. During Dr. Fuller’s administration the course in Electrical Engineering was added to the curriculum and the name of the school was changed to the pres¬ ent title of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Near the Boynton Street entrance of the campus a small stone building was constructed in 1889 to he used as a magnetic laboratory and served that purpose until the Boynton Street car line was electrified. This structure is now used as a meeting-place by Skull, the senior honorary society at the Institute. Tech history shows us, as early as in 1884, the high quality of ingenuity de¬ veloped by the instruction given on the Hill, when an extraordinary engineering feat was performed by certain members of the undergraduate body. In this year it was, on a particularly dark night, that “Buckskin,” a horse owned by Milton P. Higgins, superintendent of the Washburn Shops, was mysteriously transported, or translated, from his stall to a temporary abode in the chapel on the top floor, of Boynton Hall. Records left by one who must have taken an active part in the affair show that “Buckskin” was extremely loath to start the journey up the Page thirteen

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1928 PEDDLER 1868— ' WORCESTER POLYTECH—1928 X X ;rE generally concede to John Boynton the distinction of having given the ’ first impetus to the ball of circumstances which was destined to roll and grow until the climax of its cumulative career was marked by the founding of the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science. If one studies the life of the man who was chiefly instrumental in the founding of this Institute, one finds nothing in the least startling or extraordinary. Born in Mason, New Hampshire, in 1791, the son of typical New England country folk, he spent his early life on his father’s farm. In 1821 he went to New Ipswich, where he entered into the manufacture and sale of tinware. Later he removed to Templeton, apparently without enhancing his business, which, under a careful and conservative management, was yielding considerable returns. Although himself a man of limited education and of sparse literary taste, Mr. Boynton was extremely interested in the cause of education, as was attested by his donation of ten thousand dollars to the public schools of Mason, New Hampshire. In the year 1864 Mr. Boynton sought out his cousin, David Whitcomb, of Wor¬ cester, and confided to him his desire to establish a school which should be some¬ what in advance of the public schools as to the subjects of its curriculum, and which should be, to some degree, instrumental in teaching young men the theories of mechanics as well as the use of tools, instruments and machinery. Toward this end Mr. Boynton was prepared to donate a sum of one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Whitcomb called on the Reverend Seth Sweetser and informed him of Mr. Boynton’s plans and his offer to finance the new school. Reverend Sweetser, who is sometimes called “The Father of the Institute,” introduced Mr. Ichabod Wash¬ burn into the group of confidences, and these four men laid the early plans for the Institute. Mr. Boynton’s original intention had been that the school should be erected in Templeton. His three colleagues endeavored to dissuade him from this opinion, however, pointing out the advantages offered by the facilities of a larger city,

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three tortuous flights of stairs, but once on his way he mounted the steps with a rapid clatter. The following morning the faculty was amazed when neighs instead of prayers greeted them at the chapel door. For a brief period of time in 1894 Professor George I. Alden served as Presi¬ dent of the Institute, prior to the assumption of that office by Dr. Thomas C. Men¬ denhall, who remained at the head of the college until 1901. Under Dr. Menden¬ hall’s supervision the Mechanical Engineering course was considerably altered and enlarged. Harold B. Smith was named the first professor to fill the chair in the Electrical Engineering department, which was established under Dr. Fuller’s administration, which position Professor Smith still retains. After a period of two years of supervision which the Institute enjoyed under Dr. Levi L. Conant, Professor of Mathematics, in the capacity of Acting President, Dr. Ira N. Hollis was chosen President of Tech, a position that he held until 1925. The gymnasium was added to the campus buildings under his guidance and the Department of Physical Education was inaugurated. The Institute, pass¬ ing through the unstable period of the World War under the direction of Dr. Hollis, played a worthy part in the world-wide struggle, through the concerted efforts of the faculty and students. During Dr. Hollis’ presidency the student body at Tech was considerably enlarged and a number of additions were made to the teaching staff. Captain Ralph Earle, U. S. N., retired, became Tech’s sixth President in the fall of 1925. Born in Worcester and a former student at the Institute, he was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1896. He rose to the height of his distinguished naval career when, in 1916, he was made Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance in the Navy Department, with the rank of Rear Admiral. He dis¬ played exceptional initiative and zeal in his naval service, and several outstanding wartime achievements of the Navy were made possible by his ingenuity. Captain Earle entered into his duties at Tech with the same energy and undying spirit which had made him famous in the Navy, with the result that the Institute began a new era of expansion and development. The Fuller Swimming Pool in the gymnasium and the new Freshman dormitory, Sanford Riley Hall, are among outstanding evidence of Captain Earle’s activities. The library on the top floor of Boynton Hall has been remodeled and named Sinclair Hall. Under the present administration, classes from four o’clock to five have been practically eliminated, allowing the entire student body a free exercise per iod. The aus¬ picious progress made by the Institute during the brief period of time since Cap¬ tain Earle became its President bodes well for further betterment of existing de¬ partments and future development of new units in connection with the college.