Category Archives: Chapter 9

p. 190 – Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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Colgate Years: “It might almost be said we were being swept along by a restless current and that we dragged our oars once in a while to keep from being carried too fast or too far.”

Madison University experienced no serious conflicts between science and religion. ;President Dodge, though primarily a theologian, kept up with the broad outlines of current scientific trends. His attitude profoundly affected the intellectual climate of the campus making it hospitable to :new data and theories.

The senior science professor, Lucien M. Osborn, who at various times taught; physics, astronomy, and chemistry, was a profoundly religious man. He saw science as revealing the Creator’s hand and inspired his students with his own reverential but undogmatic approach. His course in astronomy, taught with a rather simple telescope, met with their enthusiastic approbation.

The appointment of Professor McGregory to the new chemistry chair in 1883 and the construction of a building for his department mark a major; advance in science teaching. An Amherst graduate in the Class of 1880, he proved to be an ideal man for the position which he was to hold for 46 years. His qualifications included, in addition to membership in the Baptist church, a thorough grounding in science at Amherst, two years experience as a chemistry instructor at his Alma Mater, and study at Gottingen and Heidelberg where his professors included H. Huebner and Victor Meyer. He had an aptness for teaching, and an understanding and affection for students. When he met his classes in the fall of 1884, after an additional year of graduate work in Germany, he at once won their admiration. Though the laboratory facilities of the new building were not to be available for nearly six months, the students found that their new professor enlivened a subject they had expected would be dull and soon it became one of the most highly regarded in the curriculum. In discussing the role of his department in 1893, Professor McGregory stated that all branches of science should be viewed as parts of a liberal education. He had no desire, he said, to make the college in any way a scientific school but stressed thorough instruction and a broad foundation as preparation for graduate study elsewhere. Many of his students were to prove the soundness of this approach as they moved on into eminence in chemistry and related fields.

For Dr. Walter R. Brooks, former pastor of the First Baptist Church

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Introduction of electives (p. 189)

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fervent and healthful piety is directly encouraged.”

Dean Andrews maintained in 1872 that every teacher, no matter what his subject or how great his erudition, should communicate to his class morality and ethical judgments. At the Convocation of the University of the State of New York in 1886, President Dodge, in defending the philosophy of liberal education versus the utilitarian approach, held that the true test of a college subject was not whether it would help one make money but whether it would develop manhood. Especially valuable were the languages, literature, and civilization of the Greeks and Romans. He would not exclude other subjects,however, and stressed the importance of cross-fertilization for increasing knowledge. Fearful perhaps of a drift from the old moorings, James B. Colgate, in 1889, at the cornerstone-laying for the Library, took occasion to reiterate his view that “When intellectual distinction and not Christian character becomes the highest object to be obtained, Universities become, by their stimulus to worldly ambition, centers of pride and error.”

To give flexibility to the curriculum, the faculty had from time to time arranged for abridged courses of study for older students who wanted to begin their preaching careers with the minimum preparation. In the 1850’s a shorter “Scientific Course”-from which Greek and Latin were omitted-was instituted. Relatively few students availed themselves of this short-cut for which a Bachelor of Philosophy degree was granted and it was eliminated in 1885.

The revolutionary curriculum change was, of course, the introduction of electives. Stimulated by President Eliot’s innovations at Harvard which caught the imagination of the younger faculty and students, it encountered vigorous opposition, especially from the professors of the classics and mathematics. Slowly, however, the wave of the future engulfed them and in 1885 a radically revised curriculum emerged which provided, in addition to the old Classical Course, three different Scientific Courses, one which included only Greek; a second, only Latin; and a third which omitted both Greek and Latin. Students in the Classical Course were candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree and those in the other three for the Bachelor of Science. Within each course, electives were offered to juniors and seniors. Professor William S. Crawshaw, who as a young instructor had attended the heated discussions, commented years later in his autobiography, My

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p. 188 – Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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and Seminary faculty was only $1,300 to $2,200 and, for teachers in the Academy, $800 to $2000. President Dodge and one or two others had independent means but most faculty members managed by rigid economies to subsist on their salaries. Several had vegetable gardens and kept chickens and a cow or two; Professor Osborn had a farm a few miles north of the village.

Faculty social life seems to have been quite limited when compared with that of the 1840’s. The Dodges seldom entertained at their large yellow, pillared President’s House except at commencement but Professor and Mrs. Lewis and Dr. Walter R. Brooks, who joined the faculty in 1874, and his wife occasionally had guests. All faculty members and their families were members of the village Baptist Church which served as a social outlet and brought them into contact with the local community. Several were very active as church officers and from time to time preached from its pulpit.

The tone and coloration of the University’s purpose for the next two decades were quite well established at President Dodge’s inauguration in 1868. On this occasion James B. Colgate recalled that the University had its origin in the need for educating young men for the Baptist ministry and maintained “It were better that it should cease to exist than that its future should prove false to its origin.” In his response, the President stressed the necessity for the best possible faculty who should be able not only to impart knowledge but also to inspire students to the highest ideals in an atmosphere of faith and freedom. For him, the University as representing the Baptist viewpoint was an amalgam of culture and religion.

Within the denomination a new interest in higher education had been developing in the late 1860’s which stressed the need for an educated laity as well as a trained clergy. Unless opportunities for laymen were available in Baptist institutions it was feared they would be lost to other denominations which held education in greater esteem and were in step with the times. The faculty and trustees could not help but endorse these views. As early as 1866, the Catalogue had stated “The College aims to impart the largest discipline and power to the mental faculties, and thus in the best manner to prepare the student for professional studies, or for other pursuits of life.” From 1871 to 1874, the Catalogue read “By personal contact and influence, discipline of heart is sought, as well as discipline of the mind. A

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p. 187 – Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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Prof. John J. Lewis, Bio File, p187Dr. Walter R. Brooks, '47, Bio File, p187
Dr. James M. Taylor, ’67
Picture of Taylor

 

represented the University; among them were funerals of the older faculty members and village worthies at which he delivered appropriate sermons of sympathy and appreciation. His handling many details relating to student behavior, which had hitherto taken great amounts of time at faculty meetings as well as the energies of the President, was a distinct advantage to Dr. Dodge.

The faculty of the entire University which numbered 13 in 1869 grew to 22 in 1890, primarily to keep pace with the rising enrollment in the preparatory and theological departments. Six of the earlier group and eight of the later group were ministers. Five professors on the staff at the beginning of the period were still active at its conclusion-Beebee, Osborn, Andrews, Harvey, and Taylor; all were graduates. Their long tenure may be explained to some degree, at least, by their devotion to the University and its purposes: of training young men for the ministry, and of Christian education. Like their colleagues elsewhere, they, too, accepted low incomes to enable the institution to sustain itself. In 1869 the professors’ salaries at Madison were $1,500; by the mid-’70’s substantial increases were possible, thanks in part to a matching gift from James B. Colgate, but by 1890 the scale for College

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James B. Colgate library (p. 186)

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Dean Newton Lloyd Andrews, '62, Bio Files, p186Prof. Lucien M. Osborn, '47, Bio File, p186

 

 

he called “Romanesque-American,” in which he related the solidity and heaviness of the Romanesque to American climate and construction materials. The foundations were stone from local quarries, the walls of blue stone from the Genesee Valley, and the trim of brown stone from East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The building, which had cost $140,000, was in use by January, 1891, and in June James C. Colgate, acting for his father, formally presented it to the University. It served its original purpose until 1958 when the Everett Needham Case Library superseded it and the Romance Languages Department took occupancy. In 1964 it was remodeled for the administrative offices which had been displaced the year previous when fire destroyed the Administration Building, formerly Colgate Academy.

In 1880, at Dr. Dodge’s request, the Board appointed Professor Newton Lloyd Andrews as Dean of the Faculty to be associated with the President “in the government and discipline of the College.” It is possible that Dodge’s poor health indicated that he have this assistance. Andrews, Professor of Greek since 1868, was an effective teacher and became an outstanding dean. Not only on campus was he helpful to the President but also at various public occasions where he

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p. 185 – Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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Perhaps the most imposing, and certainly the most durable structure of the Dodge period was that erected last, the James B. Colgate Library. By the early 1880’s the need for book space and an adequate reading room had become readily apparent and James B. Colgate offered to provide a fireproof building. Difficulties in selecting a site held up ground-breaking until April, 1889, a delay Mr. Colgate found embarrassing but powerless to overcome. The spot ultimately chosen had been the farm of Daniel Hascall, who will be remembered as one of the Thirteen Men and the first teacher. Edwin A. Quick, Mr. Colgate’s Yonkers neighbor, was the architect, who, with the donor, consulted librarians and visited many libraries before achieving final plans. Mr. Quick wrote: “The building has been carefully adapted to  surroundings; designed in all its details in accordance with true artistic feeling, with a due regard for harmony with the purposes for which it is to be used, and as long as it exists will undoubtedly give pleasure and satisfaction to those who contemplate it.” The architectural style

Old Library Reading Room, A1000-13 Folder 2, p185

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Eaton Hall dedicated (p. 184)

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a campaign for a building fund of $50,000, with Samuel Colgate, its President, taking an active part. By commencement of 1884 the goal had been reached and a “Congratulatory Meeting,” addressed by graduates from the 1820’s and ’30’s, was held on the hillside where the structure was to be located. The widow of President Eaton, who died in 1872, had sold her house and lot to the Society for the site and was delighted to learn that the new building would be named for her husband. Dedicated in 1886, it provided commodious classrooms, a chapel, and two dormitory floors, It was constructed of stone from the campus quarry, trimmed with limestone and red pressed brick and had three stories, a mansard roof and a clock tower. With the removal of the Seminary to Rochester in 1928, Eaton Hall, or the “Angel Factory,” as the students called it, provided dormitory space for the College and classrooms and offices for the Departments of Philosophy and Religion and Music. In 1956 it was razed to make way for Dodge, Eaton and Kendrick Houses.

Old Library (Administration Building after 1963), A1000-10 Folder 5, p184

 

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p. 183 – Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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Eaton Hall c1925, A1000-40 Folder 12, p183
Chemistry (Biology) Building, A1000-41, Folder 4, p183

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p. 182 – Administration, Faculty and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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41-year old structure, but a dwelling, incorporating some of its thick stone walls, was soon erected and survived until 1924 when the site was taken over for the Huntington Gymnasium.

The Dodge era saw the construction of four new buildings. The first, to house the Preparatory Department, or Grammar School, was completed in 1874. Heretofore, the Grammar School had operated in the same facilities as the College and Seminary in East, West, and Alumni Halls. A gift of James B. Colgate, the new structure was dedicated to the memory of his parents and designated as William Colgate Memorial Hall. In appreciation of Mr. Colgate’s generosity the Trustees in 1873 named the school itself Colgate Academy. The building and site had cost $60,000. With walls of locally manufactured brick, it was three stories high in the center and two on each side, and had a mansard roof. After Colgate Academy was discontinued in 1912 the structure was used as the Administration Building until its destruction by fire in 1963.

The second edifice of the Dodge period is the Chemistry Building. That an entire structure should be devoted to one department, though it housed physics for a few years, showed that the President and Trustees were responding to a strong and growing interest in science. Dr. Dodge, himself, contributed $2,500 to the building fund and three Trustees, Samumel Colgate, Thomson Kingsford, and Col. Morgan L. Smith, made up the balance of the $10,000 which it cost. Joseph F. McGregory, recently appointed as the first Professor of Chemistry, assisted in the planning though he was not to take up his duties until the fall of 18,84. A two-story structure, designed in the “Queen Anne style,” its walls were of local stone trimmed with red brick. There were two large classrooms, one for chemistry and one for physics, on the first floor and a quantitative analysis laboratory on the second. No formal dedication seems to have been held though work in the laboratory had begun by February, 1885. In recognition of Dr. Dodge’s generosity the Junior Class placed over the front entrance a stained glass window showing his portrait and quoting his statement “The amplest knowledge has the largest faith,” a declaration of confidence that Christian doctrine would not suffer at the hands of those who used the building.

Professor Hezekiah Harvey of the Theological Seminary in 1881 strongly urged a building for the exclusive use of that division of the University. Two years later the Education Society vigorously launched

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p. 181 – Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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tion he indeed earned and proudly bore. He, his brother, Dennis, and some of their associates were campus figures of song and story and many of them faithfully served the University until their well-earned retirement many years later.

The new wind of change brought various improvements to the buildings as well as the grounds. Exteriors were repainted, ventilators installed in classrooms after more than a decade of complaints by students and faculty, and bathrooms, a gift of James B. Colgate, were fitted up in East Hall. As a kind of finishing touch to his efforts, Professor Taylor, in the spring of 1887, planted ivy around Alumni, East and West Halls to hide their bare stones and mortar.

The Boarding Hall, a prominent feature of the old campus, was converted in 1874 into apartments for married theological students and their families since meals were no longer served there because most students now ate in “clubs”, i.e., fraternity or private groups, or boarded themselves in their rooms. Five years later fire destroyed the

Colgate Academy (Administration Building 1912-63), A1000-8 Folder 4, p181

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