Tag Archives: Colgate Academy

p. 273 – The Bryan Period, 1908-1922

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dent to enable it to give greater attention to teacher training courses.

The Seminary failed to keep pace with the College in growth or performance. A major reason seems to have been the practice of admitting many poorly prepared students, several of whom enrolled in the abbreviated English course as an easy academic short cut to the ministry. In 1918 provision was made for such students by establishing a four-year course for non-college graduates to be taught by both Seminary and College faculties which would lead to the Bachelor of Theology degree. Further accommodation came in 1919 when the requirements for the Bachelor of Divinity degree, hitherto totaling seven years of college and theological work, were reduced to six and non-college men were admitted to the program.

Changes in the Seminary included the resignation of Dr. Sylvester Burnham as Dean in 1910 and the appointment of William H. Allison, A.B., Harvard, ’93, and a Chicago Ph.D., as his successor and Professor of Ecclesiastical History. Dr. Allison was followed in 1915 by John F. Vichert, a former student at MacMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, and Chicago, who taught Theology. Dr. Hinton S. Lloyd, for thirty-eight years Corresponding Secretary of the Baptist Education Society and, in effect, its chief officer, resigned in 1915 to be succeeded by Dean Vichert. Frank A. Starratt, A.B., Acadia, ’92, was Professor of Theology from 1909 to 1919 and Dr. William M. Lawrence, ’70, former President of the University Board of Trustees, in 1912 became Lecturer in Christian Ethics.

Though the Library did not play as vital a part in the educational process as later, this resource of the University nearly doubled its holdings in the Bryan period, growing from about 50,000 volumes to more than 90,000. Dr. David F. Estes, who had retired from the Seminary in 1920 as Professor of New Testament, retired as Librarian the next year. His successor was Charles W. Spencer, the former Professor of History who had resigned in 1905 and now returned after teaching at Princeton and the University of Nevada and receiving his  Ph.D. from Columbia. He was the first full-time University Librarian.  Perhaps best known on the staff were Miss Alice A. Guller, Circulation  Librarian, who came in 1914 and Miss Lida C. Vasbinder, Reference  Librarian, who came a year later; both will be remembered for their  generous assistance to generations of students and faculty.

` After several years of decline Colgate Academy closed its doors in

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p. 196 – Administration, Faculty, and Instruction in the Dodge Era

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Society, apparently anticipating possible criticism, appointed a standing committee in 1888 to examine classes and departments and to report to the Board.

Dr. Dodge’s liberality as Professor of Christian Theology undoubtedly encouraged his Seminary faculty colleagues to venture in new directions. His theology was always open to revision, Dr. Maynard recalled..Yet, he had a strong conservative strain and was no iconoclast. Dr. William Newton Clarke, his friend and successor, saw him as “swift in spirit, and cautious in step.” He permitted wide freedom in class discussion and had consideration and patience for students, no matter how extreme their views.

Professor Hezekiah Harvey, who had resigned from the faculty in 1864 returned in 1869 as Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Pastoral Theology. A saintly man who suffered from chronic ill health, he held a moderate position, emphasizing an evangelical creed. He had no quarrel with Biblical scholarship as such but rejected radical interpretations; his real concern was to teach in terms of the “practical necessities of the pastorate.”

The third division of the University, the Grammar School, or Colgate Academy, developed its own organization and policies independently of the College and Seminary with the completion of its building in 1874. The University Trustees, of course, maintained a general oversight. Mr. James B. Colgate was especially interested in its fortunes and liked to visit the school and address the students. He felt that the faculty should stress instruction in morals and stated “If any teacher dare to teach . . . sentiments subversive to the teachings of God’s word, let him be dismissed.” The school’s major purpose continued to be preparation for college but it did offer an “English and Scientific Course” for those not planning to go on. A large percentage of the graduates entered the College. Francis W. Towle, ’62, was principal 1873-82, and James W. Ford, ’73, followed him from 1883 to 1888. Outstanding among the faculty was Eugene P. Sisson, a graduate of Oswego Normal School, who joined the staff in 1873 after five years as principal of the Hamilton High School. He was sometimes acting principal and taught in the Academy until its closing in 1912 when he became Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the College. A natural teacher, “Daddy” Sisson won and held the affection of his students who prized his fatherly oversight and timely encouragement.

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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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