SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY BOOK The University of Nebraska 1869-1919 BY THE UNIVERSITY LINCOLN 1919 EXCHANGE ' ' CH/NG'ftKCG'R 4k'MUEL AVER Y Absent from the University, 1918. Major in Chemical Warfare Service, U. S. A. SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY BOOK The University of Nebraska 1869-1919 BY THE UNIVERSITY LINCOLN 1919 : ' PREFATORY NOTE Nineteen hundred and nineteen is the semi-centennial anniversary of the founding of the University of Nebraska. It is therefore appropriate that some record be published, sketching the history of the institution in the first fifty years of its existence. The articles contained in this anni- versary book are the product of no long period of prepara- tion. Most of them were written within a few weeks after the book was planned. Doubtless they omit much that might well have been included, and here and there they may exhibit inaccuracies; and there is probably overlapping of material, as always when a work is the product of collabora- tion. It was not possible in the time available to secure all the contributions wished or to secure contributions from all the persons approached; and it is to make good the defect thereby occasioned that certain articles are supplied by the editor. Nevertheless, for the most part, the sketches come from the pens of those best fitted to write them; and it is hoped that the book in some fair measure reflects the growth of the University since its foundation half a cen- tury ago. 608&&S CONTENTS Charter-Day Poem, (Quarter- Centennial Anniversary) HERBERT BATES Historical Sketches of the University of Nebraska : The Background LoulgE pQUND The Founding of the University J Admission and Curricula L. A. SHERMAN Early Faculty and Equipment GEORGE E. HOWARD Development of Schools and Colleges HOWARD W. CALDWELL Buildings and Grounds EDNA D. BULLOCK Undergraduate Life WILL OWEN JONES The Library NELLIE J. COMPTON The Military Department GUERNSEY JONES Organizations LOUISE POUND The Alumni , ANNIS S. CHAIKIN The University and the Community HATTIE P. WILLIAMS The Regents ALBERT WATKINS Publications OLIVIA POUND Athletics GUY E. REED The University and the War ANNIS S. CHAIKIN The University Today SHERLOCK B. GASS The Future H. B. ALEXANDER Founders' Hymn .L. A. SHERMAN Personal Sketches: Chancellor A. R. Benton HENRY H. WILSON Chancellor E. B. Fairfield CLEMENT CHASE Chancellor J. Irving Manatt GROVE E. BARBER Chancellor James Hulme Canfield W. F. DANN Chancellor E. Benjamin Andrews. EDGAR L. HINMAN Dean A. H. Edgren LAURENCE FOSSLER Dean C. E. Bessey RAYMOND J. POOL Poem: Academe... ...H. B. A. ILLUSTRATIONS Chancellor Samuel Avery Frontispiece Chancellor J. Irving Manatt, facing page 123 Chancellor J. H. Canfield 127 Chancellor E. B. Andrews 131 Dean A. H. Edgren 135 Dean Charles E. Bessey 139 CHARTER-DAY POEM QUARTER-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY UNIVERSITY OP NEBRASKA The hunter shook from his brown pipe the spark That flashed into the dark Of the knotted grass-roots, and grew strong and sprang Into crackling flame, and it heard the wind that sang Its keen dry wail o'er the prairies, and strengthened and grew Till it flared to a league-long flame, and the scared birds flew, Smoke-blinded before it, and the blundering buffalo fled, And the coyote quacked in his covert, and the Indian said : "Tonight the God of the fire has raised his head I" From the fire of ancient worlds a little spark, chance- shaken, Fell on our alien plains, and spread alone, And strengthened till it shone World-wide; and nations said: When did it waken? We saw not its birth, but today we see afar, A flame that darkens the low sunset star, And drives the huddled night Cowering before the lances of its light. For a voice cried in the ear Of the West: Awake, for the future calls thee! Hear, Child of the plain, today your limbs are strong, Your eyes are radiant! Wake, for you sleep too long! Wake, for the east hills quicken into day, And the gray wind of morning calls to song! Wake, for within your heart there glows The prompting of the new-born soul, Strenuous and tireless, quickening as it knows, Far off, the destined goal ! 7 8 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA The golden sunflowers, myriad-blossoming, blaze, From hill to golden hill; And melt at last into the golden haze Of the great distance. All the land is still With solitude, and only the quick bird Chirps in the grass ; no other sound is heard To praise God's golden gift. The white clouds sail and sift The mottled moonlight over the wide land, The slow streams flow; the narrow forests stand Huddled and timorous for loneliness. Has God not given gifts enough to bless Our singers from their silence? Has our ear Grown all too dull to hear The still, sweet voice of Nature's tenderness? Has she no whisper to awake The soul that dreams, the song that sleeps, Until its thrilling chords shall shake To the gray hearts of older lands, To where the ocean's iron deeps Complain upon their endless sands? To love, to know, to sing, these three Are God's most precious gifts to men, To know what has been, and to see The ripening of what shall be, Far off beyond the present's ken. To read life's book, and understand ; To tell the treasury of stars, And through Death's unrelenting bars To spy the bounds of spirit-land. To love, to know life fair, to see Earth beautiful, till each gray tree Shall tell its message, each star shine Some consolation, and the line Of the last hills shall speak of peace ; Till war and hate and envy cease, And over all the smiling land shall chime The petalled joy-bells of God's blossoming time. CHARTER-DA Y POEM 9 To sing, to tell it all, As the glad birds that call The green spring up the land, till each With happier heart shall learn and teach Such new accord of life as sings attune Through the dense leaves of June. To know, to love, to sing and then, To spread the gathered wealth abroad To every dwelling-place of men, As, with the ancient dragon-hoard, Siegfried, the slayer, southward rode With the red serpent gold that glowed, All glorious, at his saddle-bow. Ride on, conqueror, with thy spoil Of error and thy gifts of might! Ride on, that every heart may know The sudden sun of wisdom's light, That through the loneliest prairie ways, Where the least sod-built shanty stands, Or where the city's million hands Toil grimy through the grudging days, The blessing of thy gifts may go, That our new land may rise and know, As the old peoples of the past, The joys that do not pale, the hopes that last Against the hour of death, and make of life More than a barren strife, And of life's end no mere f orgetf ulness. So shall thy mission be to bless, To raise, to brighten, and to lead us on Till the last fight is won, The utmost end accomplished, and we see Far up above us, white and marvellous, The peaks long-sought, and hear acclaiming us The voices of old victors gloriously Triumphing up the slopes of victory. HERBERT BATES. February 15, 1894. HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA THE BACKGROUND From the first, the pioneer plainsmen of Nebraska were not content to be absorbed only in the activities of the pres- ent. They were not only adventurers and workers; they were dreamers. They fixed their eyes upon the future; and they planned with a constructive capacity which in these days when Indian questions are no more, when ter- ritorial and statehood aspirations have so long been realized, when innumerable cities have replaced the cabins and dugouts of earlier generations we should hold in grateful memory. For the most part, the minds and energies of the contemporary generation are occupied with the manifold interests of the present. It is rare that we pause to give thought to the pioneers who laid so strongly and so surely the foundations of our life today, and made possible its successes. Only an occasional chronicler of early institutions looks back over their struggles, and realizes, with reverent attention, the ideals and efforts of generations long in their graves. When we think at all of those who obeyed the dictum "Go West" and made their pioneer homes in the region which was to be the territory and afterwards the state of Nebraska, we picture them as men passing their lives in isolated districts, far from the centers of population, and preoccupied with the tireless work attendant upon the breaking in of a new country. We picture them as engaged in useful labors but as leading humble and routine lives, en- grossed in pioneer tasks. We are likely to forget that they were a special breed of men, especially rich in ambitions and ideals, richer in these, it may well be, than many of us who are their descendants. Like the colonists of New England, they had much to leave behind when they made their way to new regions and established new homes; but they were 11 12 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA of the fiber to hold to their purpose. They surrendered many things when they came to these plains. Ties of kin- ship, of friendship, and endearing associations bound them to older localities. It is only men of strong individuality who break such bonds, and face undaunted the self-denials and privations of frontier life. New regions are not sought by the weak or the timid or the dependent, but by those of stern make men of unusual self-reliance, endowed with enthusiasm and with zealous ambition. For those who read the stirring narrative of life in Ne- braska in the early days, an outstanding feature is the wish, so soon defining itself, to care for the mental as well as the material welfare of its citizens the aspiration to provide as early as possible for their higher education. This is apparent in the expression of pioneer ideals in speeches and in newspapers and in a review of the bills formulated by early legislatures. The region had hardly been pene- trated and institutions of civilization had hardly been estab- lished when the wish to build for the future found definite voice, and the foundations of a system of higher educa- tion were laid on broad and liberal lines. To particularize, the decade which saw the inception and establishment of the State University was the decade of the 1860's, when Nebraska had but just reached statehood, for Nebraska became a state only in 1867. In the preceding decade the route of the Overland Mail service had passed through the Nebraska prairies, and that interesting and pic- turesque mode of transportation, the Pony Express, from St. Joseph to Sacramento, routed through Kearney, was given up only in 1861. There was much freighting by oxen in the 1860's, and in the next decades, and many im- migrants were still coming in "prairie schooners," or pass- ing through to regions farther west. The only parts of the state at all well settled were the southeastern and the eastern, and some of the chief centers of population were Omaha, Nebraska City, Plattsmouth, Falls City, and Brownville. The total population of the state could hardly have outnumbered 100,000. There were still many thou- sands of Indians on Nebraska reservations, Sioux, Winne- THE BACKGROUND 13 bago, Omaha, Otoe, Missouri, and Sacs and Foxes. The government had assumed control of them sometime before, for the protection of the immigrants. As for national affairs, at the close of the decade Andrew Johnson was in the president's chair, to be succeeded by General Grant. The University was established in the fifteenth year after the admission of Nebraska to territorial government, in the second year after its admission to statehood, four years after the close of the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln, and seven years before the centen- nial of the foundation of the republic of the United States. The city of Lincoln, at which the University was located, had been fixed upon as the state capital hardly two years before. It had few more than a thousand inhabitants, no water except well water, few or no sidewalks; a gas plant was not yet begun, and the campus where the univer- sity building was to be built was raw prairie, far out of town. Legislatures had hardly begun to meet at Lincoln, as state legislatures, when the first bills for the establish- ment of a normal school and for a university were passed. Already in the territorial period many bills of this nature had been introduced but owing to the outbreak of the Civil War they had not borne fruit in tangible results. It is good to see in retrospect early conditions, for the state and for the city of Lincoln, if we are to realize the expansions of fifty years. In the first moment of its self- consciousness, the state planned for its sons and daughters an institution which, within a half-century, more than realizes the dreams of the pioneers who founded it, and is a monument to their courage and prevision. LOUISE POUND. 14 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITY The University of Nebraska was chartered by act of the Nebraska legislature in 1869. The bill providing for its charter, known as S. F. No. 86, "an act to establish the University of Nebraska," was introduced into the sen- ate on February 11, by E. E. Cunningham of Richardson County. It was referred back, on the day of its introduc- tion, to the committee on education, the chairman of which was Charles H. Gere, to be for many years the editor of the Nebraska State Jouriwl, and a future regent of the Univer- sity. The bill was returned to the senate on February 12 with amendments and on the next day it was passed and sent to the house. It was read in the house a first and second time under suspension of rules, and referred to the committee on schools. The bill was read for the third time two days later, February 15, passed, and signed by Gov- ernor David Butler. On the last day of the legislative ses- sion of 1869, two years and six days from the date of the admission of Nebraska to statehood, the bill chartering the University became a law. As recorded in The Statutes of Nebraska for 1869, the law enacted That there shall be established in this state an institution under the name and style of "The University of Nebraska." The object of such institution shall be to afford to the inhabitants of the state the means of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the various branches of literature, science, and the arts. The charter of 1869 provided for six departments or col- leges: A college of ancient and modern literature, mathe- matics, and the natural sciences, i. e., a college of literature, the sciences, the arts; of agriculture; of law; of medicine; of the practical sciences, surveying and mechanics ; and of the fine arts. The college of fine arts was to be established when the annual income of the University reached $100,000. Six years later, by an amendment passed in 1875, the col- lege of agriculture was united with the practical sciences, reducing the six colleges to five. THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITY 15 The government of the University of Nebraska was placed by the original charter in the hands of a board of twelve regents, nine of them to be chosen by the Legisla- ture in joint session, three from each judicial district. The nine regents were divided into three classes by lot, one person from each district to belong in each class. The term of office for the first class was two years, for the second, four years, for the third six years. The remaining three regents, the chancellor, the superintendent of public in- struction, and the governor, were members ex officio. The first members of the first board were appointed by the governor. The present organization of the University was adopted in 1877, after the formation of a new state constitution in 1875. It placed the University under the control of six regents, to be elected, and made provision for its organiza- tion and administration. Section 10 of article 8, entitled "Education," in the constitution of 1875 reads as follows, remodeling in several sections the act of 1869. The general government of the University of Nebraska shall, under direction of the legislature, be vested in a board of six regents, to be styled the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, who shall be elected by the electors of the state at large, and their terms of office, except those chosen at the first election as hereinafter provided, shall be six years. Their duties and powers shall be prescribed by law, and they shall receive no compensation, but may be reimbursed their actual expenses in- curred in discharge of their duties. The funds of the University are derived from various sources. An act of the United States Congress of July 22, 1862, provided an endowment of land for the several states for the maintenance in each state of at least one college where branches relating to agriculture and the mechanic arts should be the main subjects of instruction. By the terms of this grant, instruction in military science must be given in these colleges. Nebraska's share in this land endow- ment amounted to 90,000 acres. These were selected in An- telope, Cedar, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, L'Eau Qui Court (afterwards Knox), Pierce, and Wayne counties. The en- abling act of April 19, 1864, providing for the admission of 16 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA the state into the union, set apart and reserved for the use and support of a state university seventy-two sections of land, thus making a total of 136,080 acres of endowment lands. The proceeds of land sales, under the acts of Con- gress just named, constitute the permanent endowment fund of the University. Legal provision was made for the leasing of these lands, along with the common school lands, by the state board of public lands and buildings. Under an act of the legislature of 1897, no further sales of uni- versity lands can be made. The principal arising from former sales is paid into the permanent endowment fund, to be invested in securities, only the interest of which can be used for expenses. Unfortunately, before the legislature took action, in 1897, nearly all the endowment lands had been sold, or were under contract of sale. Income is also derived by the University from the money-grant act of Congress, known as the Morrill-Nelson act of August, 1890, in aid of the original land grant fund and to be used in the same way, and from the Hatch-Adams act of 1887, for the establishment of experiment stations. The other revenues of the University are derived from appropriations made by the legislature and from taxation. By an amendment, passed in 1899, of the original act estab- lishing the University, a tax of one mill per dollar on the grand assessment roll of the state is now provided, to be levied annually for the support of the University. The act establishing the University provided for a model farm. The governor was instructed to set apart two sec- tions of any agricultural college land or saline land belong- ing to the state, and to notify the state land commissioner of such reservation for laying out a model farm. Land so set apart was not to be used for any other purpose. In his message of 1871, Governor Butler recommended that as there were no such lands in an eligible situation, a sec- tion of state lands should be sold and the proceeds applied to the purchase of a farm of not more than 320 acres as near the University campus as possible. Selection was made, and the land so selected was purchased, and con- verted into the present University experiment station farm. THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITY 17 The record narrates that on June 25, 1874, Moses M. Culver and his wife in consideration of $6,050 in cash and $11,550 payable in four years, deeded to the regents the farm of 320 acres which is known as the University farm, distant about two and one-half miles from the main campus. When provision was made for the erection of Univer- sity Hall, the first university building, through an act "pro- viding for the sale of unused lots and blocks on the town site of Lincoln and for the erection of a State University and Agricultural College," it was stipulated that the build- ing was not to exceed in cost $100,000. An account by Pro- fessor H. W. Caldwell, in a paper read before the State His- torical Society in 1889, of the building of University Hall and of its early history is so interesting as to deserve quota- tion at length: On June 5, 1869, the sale of lots began and the first day 105 lots were sold for about $30,000. The next day The Commonwealth [the predecessor of The State Journal] remarked that 'now the completion of the State University and Agricultural College is assured.' Eleven days later the paper announced the arrival of Mr. R. D. Silver, who would immediately put in a large plant for manufacturing brick for the university the capacity of the plant to be 12,000 brick a day. The plans of Mr. J. M. McBird, of Logansport, Indiana, were accepted on June 2, and on August 14, The Cmnmomvealth contained an editorial description of the plans for the new building, classing the style of architecture as Franco- Italian. The same issue of the paper announced that the excava- tion for the basement of the university was completed. On August 18, 1869, the contract for the erection of the build- ing was let to Silver and Son for $128,480; soon afterward the troubles which followed the university for so many years began. Even the Brownville Advertiser, a good friend of the university, thought the policy of letting a contract for $28,480 more than the appropriation unwise. The State Journal came to the defense of the regents, arguing that it was better policy to begin the erection of a building of sufficient size and well suited to its uses, even if it were necessary to have an additional appropriation, than to spend $100,000 upon a building that would soon have to be torn down because unsuited to the needs of the future. The cornerstone was laid on September 23, 1869; two days after a glowing account ap- peared in the columns of The State Journal. The exercises were in the hands of the Masons with Major D. H. Wheeler as master of ceremonies. A brass band from Omaha, imported for the occa- 18 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA sion, headed the procession. In the evening a grand banquet was given. Governor Butler made a few remarks and Mr. Wheeler a short speech. Then Attorney General Seth Robinson gave an ad- dress on 'Popular Education,' but as most of it concerned Greece and Rome, and very little of it related to Nebraska, any farther reference to it may be omitted here. The banquet thanks to the good people of Lincoln was enjoyed by fully a thousand people, dancing being indulged in from 10:00 until 4:00 o'clock. This was the beginning, but the end was not yet, as Lincoln people well knew. The regents visited the building and after inspection, approved the plans of construction on January 6, 1871, but before a student had ever entered its doors, the cry was raised that it was insecure. On June 13, 1871, three professional architects were employed to examine the building thoroughly. Their report was made June 23 and pronounced the building safe for the present and probably for years to come. The probability, they thought, could be made a certainty by a few repairs that would not be very expensive. These repairs, were made and September 6 the uni- versity was opened with an enrollment of about ninety students the first week. However, the rumor of the insecurity of the build- ing would not down; so March 18, 1873, a special meeting of the regents was called to consider further repairs. After a report from another set of architects, a new foundation was ordered to be put under the chapel. The foundation walls, as they were torn out, were to be examined by an architect under the direction of the attorney-general, J. R. Webster, who reported that the foundation had not been in accordance with the contract. The Chancellor in his report of June 26, 1877, again called the attention of the board to the condition of the building. Four architects were now em- ployed, one from Omaha, one from Nebraska City, and two from Lincoln. On the strength of their report, the regents resolved, July 6, 1877, to tear down the building and to erect a new one at the cost of $60,000, $40,000 of this amount to be raised in Lincoln. Work was to commence immediately at securing the above amount. The citizens of Lincoln, however, were not satisfied, so they sent to Chicago and Dubuque for architects who examined the building and pronounced it easily repaired. A committee of Lincoln citizens met the regents on August 15. A new foundation with some other repair was ordered, and the bill of $6,012 was paid by Lincoln. Various attempts to secure an appropriation to reimburse the city have been made, but all have ended in failure. At the same time the roof was repaired at an expense of $1,625, but the water still found its way through, till finally in 1883 a slate roof was put on and the 'leak' was stopped. Just after the reconsideration of the resolution to tear down the building, a committee came from Nebraska City to present a bid for the re-location of the University at that point. This was THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITY 19 the last public scare, although several thousand dollars have since been spent in replacing the inner foundation walls and in making other necessary repairs. Undoubtedly the faulty construction of the building delayed the growth of the University considerably; certainly it used up much of its funds that were greatly needed elsewhere. A complete history of the University on its academic side, till 1900, by Professor Caldwell, is published in the Circulars of Information of the United States Educational Bureau for 1902, as part of his article on "Higher Educa- tion in Nebraska." The University opened with the single college of litera- ture, science, and the arts. It offered courses in Latin, Greek, and the sciences. The first faculty consisted of Allen R. Benton, A. M., LL. D., chancellor and professor of intellectual and moral science; A. H. Manley, professor of ancient languages and literature; Henry E. Hitchcock, A. M., professor of mathematics; 0. C. Dake, professor of rhetoric and English literature; Samuel Aughey, A. M., professor of chemistry and natural science; George E. Church, A. M., principal of the Latin school ; S. R. Thomp- son, professor in the department of agriculture. The first duty of the professor of agriculture is said to have been to plant trees and to arrange walks on the campus. The first students to attend the University were the following: Freshmen, Frank Hurd, Tecumseh ; Uriah M. Malick, Cam- den; H. Kanaga Metcalf, Rock Creek; W. H. Sheldon, Per- cival, Iowa; Mary W. Sessions, Lincoln; sophomores, Wal- lace M. Stephens, Nebraska City ; William H. Snell, Lincoln ; junior, J. Stuart Dales, East Rochester, Ohio. Mr. Dales and Mr. Snell were the first students to receive degrees, granted them in 1873. In addition to the regular students already named, there were twelve irregular students and 110 students in the preparatory school, making a total of 130 students in attendance during the first year. Fifty years later, the University has students not only from Nebraska and from every state in the union, but from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and from many countries of the European continent. 20 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA University Hall, the original home of the University, of late years held together, to ensure its safety from fall- ing, by steel uprights, is still the home of the Arts College, the oldest of the colleges. Its recitation rooms and offices, which house classes in history, language, literature, and rhetoric, look time-stained and battered, in comparison with the new and attractive quarters of the natural sciences, the technical sciences, the social sciences, and the vocational and agricultural schools. But those who teach in the old building are glad to do so ; indeed they take pride in doing so. They feel a deep love for it, for University Hall is the historic building, among those on the campus, and the classes reciting in it are those first desired by the founders of the institution. The University of Nebraska reflects, in the stages of its development, the shifting conceptions of the province of a state university that characterize the decades since its foundation. The primary purpose of the founders of the University was to provide a liberal or cultural education for the youth of the state, in order to make of them as it has made of them more rounded and valuable citizens. With the growth of the institution in scholarship, and the development of its graduate school, came a consciousness of the historic mission of a university, namely to preserve and if possible to add to the learning of the world, that asset of civilization. This may be called the function of the university proper, as distinguished from the secondary school and from the college. Last to be reflected in its de- velopment is the present-day conception of a state univer- sity as an institution of public usefulness, where training may be had in all lines, cultural, aesthetic, scientific, voca- tional, commercial, which the people of the state, who are its supporters, may desire. LOUISE POUND. ADMISSION AND CURRICULA 21 ADMISSION AND CURRICULA The way to begin is to begin/ This doubtless means that what one does to set about a beginning often breaks inertia and becomes peculiarly and vitally the beginning itself. It is hesitancy over the first step that has kept many a chapter of potential history unwritten. When a college is opened in a community where there are no students asking or waiting to be admitted, there are evidently other forces than evolutional in control. The great universities were severally the result of need, and not an effort to create it. In 1871 the University of Nebraska was emphatically the seeker and not the sought. Some of its first alumni came to be students through the advice, and indeed, in a sense, the solicitation, of its head. Thus was the higher education precipitated in Nebraska. There being no secondary education to serve for prepara- tion, the University was forced to administer it to itself. For years in consequence its chief enrollment was in its Latin School. Until the middle eighties the University of Nebraska was spoken of in legislative debates as the Lin- coln High School. There was little knowledge of it in the State at large until Chancellor Canfield, in 1891-1895, car- ried the evangel of opportunity to every considerable town and village. College classes were now filled to repletion, and preparatory courses were discontinued. Amusing stories of the period thus closed indicate that some of the early students were but feebly 'fitted/ Pro- fessor Woodberry, acting as examiner, is said to have astonished an applicant by asking merely, 'Can you read/ and by reporting to him, after proof of that accomplish- ment, 'You pass/ This admission was, of course, to the Latin School. There is evidence that Professor Woodberry found little fault with the quality of the students that reached him eventually in the college. Nowhere was great- er promise discovered or developed than under his exacting standards. 22 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA Professor Woodberry's designated subjects were Rhetor- ic and Anglo-Saxon. Old English was at that time taught as a college subject as far west as Grinnell, then known as Iowa College. In his earlier connection with the University, Professor Woodberry had offered a course in Ancient Law. A graduate of those days was heard of trying to pass along his acquaintance with Sir Henry Maine's text on that sub- ject to a group of farmers at a country schoolhouse. He did not finish his course of lectures or his term of teach- ing. The same student before graduation sought on a cer- tain occasion to explain a specific function of sight as un- doubtedly a survival from the time when there were eyes over the whole surface of the body. He was evidently try- ing to work Spencer's formula of evolution from homogene- ity to heterogeneity backwards as well as forwards. But it was not often that the wine of knowledge went to the head that way. With sounder and more deliberate preparation came a clearer notion of the values derivable from college training. The University Calendar for 1885- 1886, under the subject of "Admissions," included this sug- gestive sentence: Candidates from the High Schools of Beatrice, Hastings, Lin- coln, Nebraska City, and Plattsmouth will be admitted to the Fresh- man class without examination. Ten years later this list had grown to an exhibit of sixty-four names. Chancellor Canfield's success in filling the halls of instruction with college students was due to the plan of accrediting secondary schools, which had been put into effect in 1884. This delay of a dozen years in get- ting the University into relations with the public school system, of which it was theoretically a part, was not a lit- tle fostered from within the faculty. One of its prominent members, who had served previously as State Superintend- ent of Public Instruction, opposed use of the high school, "the people's college," as means of preparation for the University. His successor, not at all of the same mind, came enthusiastically to the support of Chancellor Manatt, who, on arrival, had proposed the scheme. Chancellor Can- field following set the whole State agog, as we have seen, ADMISSION AND CURRICULA 23 for higher education. Chancellor Canfield's rival interest, which was to make the lawmakers of Nebraska know~the worth of its chief institution, cost him the hardest joke of his four years' incumbency. At a luncheon given in his honor at the Commercial Club, on his leaving for Ohio, he spoke reminiscently of his work, and mentioned incidentally that he had traveled for the University not less than 200,000 miles. The moderator thanked him for furnishing, on the eve of his departure, a definite report on the mileage of his visits to the Capitol during legislative sessions. The specific requirements for admission to the Fresh- man class were, at this time, except that Virgil was not included for Latin or Xenophon for Greek, essentially the same as now. Two semesters' further study in each of these languages was soon after added. Greek was taught in a considerable number of high schools, Latin in all. Latin through six semesters was prerequisite for all the scientific groups, including the Engineering and the Agri- cultural. Present standard requirements in science date from the same years. Preparation in French and German was accepted in part fulfillment of language conditions as early as 1900, and allowed in full substitution after 1911. Other optional subjects were later added, finally raising the number of necessary points to thirty. Research studies were introduced at about the same time in Botany, Chemistry, and Physics, and what was called "original work" in languages and History. A new member of the teaching force had offered courses, with mistaken perspective, in Sanskrit and Gothic in the Calen- dar of 1883 an anticipation realized by classes in each subject under another instructor five years later. The first fruits of academic expansion were given to the public in the opening number of University Studies, issued in the summer of 1888. This included an article on "The Eighth Verb-Class in Sanskrit," and a mathematical discussion concerning "The Transparency of the Ether." The latter was reproduced, in an abridged form, in the Annalen der Physik und Chemie of the following year. L. A. SHERMAN. 24 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA EARLY FACULTY AND EQUIPMENT The imagination is sometimes kindled by contrasts in the bigness of human achievements. Assuredly the strug- gling infant of 1871-2 and the bouncing youngster of 1919 offer a sufficiently striking contrast. Then and for fifteen years thereafter the "plant" consisted of a single building. Now the city campus has twenty-one buildings ; while at the "Farm" where during the first decade a small frame cot- tage and a rude barn served to "house" the college of agri- culture there are at present, big and little, thirty-two structures. Then the full faculty list comprised seven names. Now the pay-roll of the University numbers 800 persons, 313 of whom are professors, instructors, and others with "fixed stipends." During the first year were regis- tered 130 students, all but 20 of whom were in the two sub- freshman years, called the Latin School. The total sank to 123 in the second year and to 100 in the third. At the close of a decade, in 1882, the entire student body, including 67 pupils in the Latin School, numbered but 284 souls ; where- as in 1916-17, at the end of the forty-fifth year of active work, the roster of the University, including "schools" and "extension" students, enrolls a grand total of 5,405 men and women. A like contrast is revealed by the expanding bud- get. During the first year the total expenditure for all activities of the institution, including repairs and the "beautifying" of grounds, was $26,840.69 ; in the eight years (1879-1880) it had fallen to $25,197; while during the pres- ent biennium, including building, the University is costing the sum of $4,000,000. Huge as this figure seems, it should be speedily increased to $6,000,000 per biennium, if salaries and equipment are to be raised to their just level. Still bigness is not everything. "Mark Hopkins on a log" may not accurately express the modern ideal of a uni- versity. The epigram does, however, contain a precious kernel of truth. It exalts the vital quality of the teacher's personality. A very humble habitation in which lives a great soul may mean much for the spiritual life of a com- EARLY FACULTY AND EQ UIPMENT 25 monwealth. For fifteen years until 1886 when the first chemical laboratory was ready for use the old central building on the city campus in recent years known as "University Hall" was the sole domicile of the University of Nebraska. In popular phrase it was "The University." Of a truth that modest structure deserves the respect, the reverence, of the people of the state, as it has the honor and love of the men and women many builders of the common- wealth who caught inspiration within its walls. What those two ancient Halls at her campus gate are to Harvard, the venerable University Hall should be to our own institu- tion. Let it not be touched by any destroying hand. Let it stand as long as nature may suffer it to endure as a monument to the courageous souls who with slender means during lean years and perilous crises laid the spiritual foundations of Nebraska's chief temple of learning. In the little rooms of that old structure were fostered into vigorous life many of the "departments" which now find their homes each in a separate building or even in sev- eral buildings; while some of those departments have ex- panded into "schools" and "colleges." Thus, for a decade and a half, chemistry found a home in 104, the little north- east room on the first floor. Physics, under Professor Col- lier, was housed in 102 and 103 just opposite. At a later time rooms 103 and 104 became the cradle of the college of Engineering; for there, in the eighties, Professor C. N. Little developed a vigorous department of Civil Engineer- ing, one of whose early products was Dean Stout, now head of the college. History, the first of the social sciences to be organized, got its start in 204, the northeast corner room on the second floor; while in 205, the adjacent room, the office and the collections of the State Historical Society were sheltered for six years, 1885-1891. In that same tiny, ill-lighted cubicle, in 1889-1891, Dr. Amos G. Warner, Pro- fessor Howard W. Caldwell, and the writer organized a joint seminar of history and economics; the first graduate seminar to be founded in the University of Nebraska. The genesis of the department of philosophy took place in room 112 on the first floor; and this same room, for many years 26 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA the Chancellor's office for a long time the only "office" was the embryo of Administration Hall. The beginnings of the University library were sufficiently humble. Its germ-cell was room 202 on the second floor. For fifteen years that cramped space served as stack-room and read- ing-room combined. The annual expenditure for books was not lavish. According to the report of the librarian for the year ending June 8, 1881, seventy-two bound volumes had been added during the period ; while the entire library then consisted of 2,781 bound volumes and 700 pamphlets : about two-thirds the size of the present "Howard Reference Library" for the department of Political Science and Sociology. Such were the scanty materials with which the first faculty undertook the hard and delicate task of building a university on the Nebraska plains. They were not men of wide national repute. Several had had experience in small denominational colleges. Not one was of transcend- ant ability. Most of them were persons of strong character and high ideals. The dominant conservatism of the group was a real safeguard in undertaking the then bold experi- ment of determining the methods, planning the curriculum, and starting the traditions of a secular, a public, Univer- sity for a pioneer society. One naturally turns first to the man at the helm. It was fortunate for the state that Dr. A. R. Benton was called to the high task of organizing and first administer- ing the Chancellor's office. In 1871, when he took charge of the work, public sentiment was not clearly in favor of the state support and control of college education. Many feared that harm would follow from the secularization of higher education. The state university as an institution was still on trial in the United States. Furthermore, as yet, public opinion strongly favored broad cultural courses of instruction. True, there was already a demand for more generous recognition of the sciences as a necessary founda- tion for the world's work ; but the enormous differentiation of the department-subjects which now fill the register was then hardly dreamed of. The traditional belief that higher EARLY FACULTY AND EQUIPMENT 27 education should be religiously, even ecclesiastically^di- rected was still strong; but it was in process of transition to the ideal of its entire secularization. Chancellor Benton had just the qualities of heart and mind, the breadth of hu- manism, needed in the transition stage. While he was an enlightened and faithful representative of orthodox Chris- tianity, he was able firmly to grasp the new ideal of public education as the safeguard of society. He was tolerant in his daily walk and conversation. He was a refined gentle- man ; a scholar accomplished in the humanities of his day. Furthermore, he was a good teacher ; for he was both chan- cellor and professor of "intellectual and moral science," be- sides finding time on the side to teach classes in Latin, Greek, and history. He was able to co-operate with his colleagues in their great task. As a result, during his term of service (1871-1876), the University of Nebraska was solidly planted. It passed rapidly through the first and critical stage of institutional growth. It struck its roots deeply in the affections of the people. As a faithful and efficient social servant, as a conscientious and prudent in- stitution-builder, the name of A. R. Benton is enrolled among the most honored and the most beloved makers of the commonwealth. It is with feelings of intense pleasure that I recall the personalities of the little group of teachers constituting the first faculty of the University. The "professor of ancient languages and literature" was A. H. Manley, a refined, gently-speaking scholar of the old regime. S. R. Thompson, "professor of theoretical and practical agriculture," and after 1873, "dean of the college of agriculture," did the best he could at a time when in the United States the col- lege of agriculture as an institution had not yet discovered its right functions nor its proper methods. Samuel Aughey, graduated at Pennsylvania College in 1856 and recently (1867-1871) in the employ of the Smithsonian Institution, was placed in charge of a veritable settee of subjects. His professorship of "chemistry and natural sciences" was suf- ficiently broad, even for pioneer days, embracing all the instruction given in botany, zoology, geology, and chemis- 28 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA try. In addition, for several years, he taught the classes in German and devoted his remaining spare time to the col- lection of an herbarium of the flora of the state. Professor Aughey was a lovable personality. He possessed a vast amount of miscellaneous knowledge ; but the enormous bur- den laid upon his shoulders by the University did not tend to foster scientific precision. H. E. Hitchcock, "professor of mathematics," was for his time an accomplished scholar. He was called from the same chair at Knox College where he graduated in 1846. He was a devoted teacher, a good citizen, a generous neighbor, a strong moral force in the community. "Professor Hitch- cock," writes H. W. Caldwell in his excellent history, "was accurate, systematic, and always at his post;" surely a tribute of which a teacher may well be proud. Perhaps the most interesting, not to say picturesque and eccentric, character in that little band of institution- builders was the Rev. Orsamus C. Dake, the first "professor of rhetoric and English literature" and the first dean of the Arts College. He possessed the scholarly tastes and the refined manners of a typical clergyman of the Protest- ant Episcopal Church. He represented the aesthetic ele- ment in the teaching force. He loved literature as a fine art; and his lofty ideals, keen sensibilities, and poetic im- agination are revealed in his two volumes of verse, the Nebraska Legends and Poems (1871) and the Midland Poems (1873). These little books are the first contribution of the University to genuine literature ; and they constitute a worthy monument to the great soiiled humanist who shed a refining influence on the academic life during his brief term of service; for he died in 1875. A remarkable personality of a quite different type was George E. Church, "principal of the Latin School" and, after 1874, first "professor of Latin language and litera- ture." A man of powerful intellect and commanding pres- ence, Professor Church was easily the most "modern" scholar and the best trained teacher in the University. Under his hand the foundation of the Latin department was solidly laid. After his return from Germany in 1878, EARLY FACULTY AND EQUIPMENT 29 the most efficient methods were introduced. In his academic- career Professor Church displayed the great native ability which for many years has made him the brilliant judge of the superior court in Fresno, California, where he is still leader of the bar. It remains to offer a tribute of honor and affection to the noble woman who was first of her sex to hold a teach- ing position in the University of Nebraska. Miss Ellen Smith entered the faculty in the spring of 1877. In vari- ous capacities as "instructor in Latin and Greek," "prin- cipal of the Latin School," "custodian of the library," and "registrar" she served the University for twenty-four years zealously and efficiently (1877-1901). Her toilsome life was consecrated to the conscientious performance of duty. She was the very type of womanly faithfulness and humanism. She was loved by the students, even by those whom she rebuked for their shortcomings ; and she was re- spected by her colleagues, even by those whom as registrar she frankly scolded for laxity in rendering their official reports. Her staunch personality was the very symbol of probity and moral courage. Her example was a precious influence in the academic life. Let us honor the work of Ellen Smith as a rich earnest of the equal share which women shall have in building the future university when the sex-line shall not be drawn in determining either the choice or the rewards of its servants. GEORGE ELLIOTT HOWARD. 30 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES To the honor of Nebraska, at the very beginning of its life, its citizens were ready to act in full harmony with the rising tide of higher education. The Hon. Augustus F. Harvey, who drafted the University Charter, was inter- ested in a university rather than a college, and with a chan- cellor rather than a president as its head. His aim was to combine in one organization all lines of higher education, and he planned to include in the University of Nebraska, located at Lincoln, advanced work in the fields of language and literature, law, medicine, art, science, manual training, and agriculture. By this unity he hoped that the educa- tional expenses of the state would be lessened, and that the opportunity for all students to find the fields in which they had the greatest interest and ability would be increased. The act as it was passed in 1869 provided for six col- leges, which indicated the fields of education in mind at that time: "first, a college of ancient and modern litera- ture, mathematics, and the natural sciences; second, a col- lege of agriculture ; third, a college of law ; fourth, a college of medicine ; fifth, a college of practical science, civil engin- eering, and mechanics; and sixth, a college of fine arts." Naturally it took many years to work out the very exten- sive and complex plans of the charter of 1869. One smiles now as he looks back on the simplicity of the first years of the new institution, but he soon sees in those simple beginnings the promise of greater things. University Hall, the first building erected, and the only one on the campus until 1886, was practically completed by September, 1871. On Thursday, September 7th, of that year, the University and its preparatory or "Latin" school held their inaugural meetings, and the life of the University of Nebraska began. Only one college not six was opened, "the college of ancient and modern literature, mathematics, and the natural sciences." The Chancellor and six pro- fessors had been selected, but only five of the seven were present during the year 1871-72. The courses of study of- DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 31 f ered were as follows : "moral science" by Chancellor A. R. Benton; "ancient languages" by Professor A. H. Manly~ "English literature and rhetoric" by Professor 0. C. Dake, "physics and natural science" by Professor S. Aughey. The above professors, and Principal G. E. Church, taught what- ever mathematics and modern languages were given in that year. It is interesting to notice that there were only twenty college students in attendance this first year: one junior, two sophomores, five freshmen, and twelve irregulars. In the following years the growth was very slight; yet the figures given indicate that on the whole the life of the University was slowly improving. The students enrolled for the years from 1871 to 1877 were 20, 46, 43, 48, 66, and 67 respectively, while those present in the Latin school were 110, 77, 57, 69, 198, 161. The agricultural college, the second college to be or- ganized, was started in 1872 with S. R. Thompson as dean and professor of theoretical and practical agriculture. In 1874 the present agricultural farm was acquired, and dur- ing the year 1874-75 its first student body, fifteen in num- ber, entered the University. Again it is interesting to notice that years passed before any significant growth took place. In fact, the number of students in the new college decreased until in later years a reorganization took place. The students in the college of agriculture from 1875 to 1881 numbered as follows: 15, 13, 16, 9, 9, 12 thus showing that a purely agricultural state did not as yet afford popular support to a purely agricultural school. Nebraska formed a new state constitution in 1875. Under its provisions a new board of regents was elected by the people. They had power to make changes in uni- versity organization, and this gave to the institution an adaptability that it had not before possessed. Theij action in 1877 changed the titles of the colleges and reduced the number to five, as follows: "first, a college of literature, science, and the arts; second, an industrial college embrac- ing architecture, practical science, civil engineering, and the mechanic arts ; third, a college of law ; fourth, a college of medicine ; fifth, a college of fine arts." The main purpose 32 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA of the industrial college was to connect the agricultural work with science, engineering, and mechanics, in order to save, and thus develop, agricultural work. It was as dean of this college that Dr. Charles E. Bessey gave to the Uni- versity the best years of his life; and though he outlived the college itself, he did so only to step into still higher rank, and into a still higher place in the regard of the University of the state. Had the union of agriculture with science and mechanics not taken place when it did it is almost certain that the agricultural college would have been removed to some other section of the state. Even after the growth of the indus- trial college, demands were made for the establishment of an agricultural college away from Lincoln and the Univer- sity. In 1885 an attempt was made to divide the industrial college and remove the agricultural section. This move- ment was repeated in 1889, and the plan probably failed of realization in the legislature only from lack of time. The first important increase in the number of profes- sors took place in 1877 when the total rose to fifteen. Later, with the establishment of the various colleges, and with the growth of the student body, a rapid development took place. By 1890 there were nineteen on the academic facul- ty, twenty-two on the industrial faculty, eight in the Latin school, three in fine arts, and nine on the working staff of the agricultural experiment station. There was a good deal of overlapping, indeed, for there were altogether only thirty-two teachers in the University. By 1912 the faculty had increased to 238 professors and assistants, with ninety others in the pay of the University in various capacities. The plan adopted in 1877 for reorganizing the colleges of the University remained the legal form until 1908-09. During the years 1877 to 1908 all the colleges provided for in the act of 1877 except that of fine arts were founded. In the earlier part of this period the development of the University was mainly in the arts college. After 1883 new departments were organized, and development began to spread to other fields. But it was not until the '90's that any remarkably rapid growth began to take place. DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 33 Doubtless the foundation had been laid for real progress, but the word university can hardly be used for the institu- tion before that date, and it was not until after 1908 that the full organization of all colleges was made. Though the largest attendance during these years 1877-1908 was in the college of literature, science and the arts, yet the enrollment in the industrial college was rela- tively large. All the teaching, however, except in certain phases of agriculture, took place on the city campus and not at the Farm; and as a rule a large proportion of the students of the two colleges were in the same classes. These facts led many to hold that the real attendance in the col- lege of agriculture was very slight, and hence that a re- organization ought to be made. This was effected, and since 1909 a remarkable growth and development in the agricultural departments have taken place. The agricul- tural college was clearly defined, and its students were taught at the Farm by professors and instructors of agri- culture. The field was made very broad and included full four-year courses in many branches, all calculated to give preparation for practicing or teaching in matters connected with farm work or home industrial life. The college now had as its head a dean of agriculture, A. E. Burnett, an able man of exceptional merit and great organizing capa- city. The medical college was opened in 1883, and remained an organized college until 1888, when it was closed, in part on account of expense and in part on account of state criti- cism. In 1902 the medical college was revived under the deanship of Professor H. B. Ward. Under the new arrange- ment the first two years of the medical course were pursued in the laboratories at Lincoln and the last two in the clinical courses of the Omaha Medical College. In 1913 the whole medical college was removed to Omaha to take advantage of the better hospital facilities of the larger city. At this move, the Omaha Medical College was absorbed and re- organized by the University itself. The medical course at present involves a six-years' curriculum of which the first two, or pre-medical years, are pursued at Lincoln. 34 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA In 1908, with R. A. Lyman as head, a school of pharmacy was established as an adjunct of the medical college. After- wards, in 1915, the legislature erected this school into an independent college. It is now about to enter a permanent home in the remodeled building which the chemistry de- partment has recently vacated. The college of law was founded in 1892, and has re- mained unchanged in form and name to the present time. It attained its effective organization under Dean Roscoe Pound, who served it from 1903 to 1907, and was then called successively to the law colleges at Northwestern, Chicago, and Harvard. He is now dean of Harvard Law School. The present dean, Judge W. G. Hastings, acted as Chancellor of the University during 1918. At America's entry into the war practically all the students of the law college, and at least one of the faculty, entered the military service. With their return the college is again taking up its work with a normally large attendance. Important changes were made by the state legislature under the advice of the Chancellor and the regents of the University in 1909. By one such change the old "college of literature, science, and the arts" received the title "col- lege of arts and sciences." The province of this college included the ancient and modern languages, history, econ- omics, political science and sociology, rhetoric and English, mathematics, philosophy, and the physical sciences. It will thus be seen that its field was more clearly defined. The college of engineering was provided for at the same time, and was so constituted as to include all the depart- ments of engineering, drawing, certain phases of mathe- matics and natural science. It was organized first under Dean C. R. Richards, now of the University of Illinois, and since 1912 has been in charge of Dean 0. V. P. Stout. In 1908 provision was made for a teacher's college, thus adding a new field for the work of the University. A college high school was created, and senior college students were trained as teachers under the principal of the school and his assistants. The registration has been large, and the DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 35 work has been of such a grade that those who have-re- ceived a state teacher's certificate as a result of their work there are recognized in most states as prepared teachers. From 1914 to 1918 a graduate college of education was con- ducted and a provision was made for a dean and a commit- tee to plan work for the degrees of master of arts and doctor of philosophy. In correlation with all the undergraduate colleges, there was established in 1893 a graduate college under the dean- ship of Professor A. H. Edgren. Thus the structure of the real university was rounded out before the close of the first quarter century. Since Professor Edgren's departure in 1900 the graduate college has been developed under Dr. L. A. Sherman, head of the department of English. This brief outline brings out the growth of the Univer- sity, both in clearness of organization and in development of lines of work. The colleges of its fiftieth year are well arranged, and all are in distinct life, and well attended. It is still true, however, that the college of arts and sciences stands first in numbers both of faculty and of students. The word school as it has been used in connection with branches of work in the University has varied, and still varies, in meaning. At first, from 1871 to 1895, it was ap- plied to the "Latin school" for preparatory work. In early days perhaps until 1885 the number of students in the Latin school was greater than in all the colleges of the University proper. In later years the word school has been used to designate collegiate as well as preparatory organi- zations. A "sugar school" existed from 1896 to 1900, but the failure of the beet sugar work in the eastern part of the state, together with the request of the agricultural col- lege, led to its elimination. A "school of mechanic arts," formed in 1896, became a part of the engineering college in 1909 ; and a "school of domestic science" created in 1898 was transferred to the state farm in 1906 and included in the agricultural college. Other schools that have been formed are still in exist- ence, and in process of development. The school of fine arts, established in 1898, is now, under Professor Paul 36 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA Grummann as director, an important section of the work of the 'University. Art and music are taught in their his- tory, theory, and practice, with a regular four years' course, so that degrees are granted to its students on the same basis as to the students of the colleges. The work in commerce and accounting developed under Professor J. E. LeRossignol was given definite standing as a school in 1913, with Professor LeRossignol as its director. Under the new social and educational conditions its work promises to develop and become more and more important, as the years go on. The school of commerce has just been elevated by the regents to a college, as this anniversary book goes to press. There are, under the control of the board of regents, two schools of preparatory rank, one at the Farm and one at Curtis, both devoted to the teaching of agricultural subjects. H. W. CALDWELL. BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS The commissioners who located and laid out the capital city and set aside four blocks for the University campus, must have selected the location of these four blocks when blindfolded. No good angel whispered to them of seats of learning set upon the hills. The gentle slopes of the Ante- lope valley were ignored, and a site bordering on Salt Creek valley and inevitably in the path of railroads, then immin- ent, was chosen. Next, with money derived from the sale of lots in the new capital city, the commission proceeded to erect a building. The methods of contractors and of- ficial boards were genuinely American, however. The legis- lature had appropriated $100,000 for the erection of a build- ing. In June, 1869, seemingly in anticipation of a contract, R. D. Silver arrived in Lincoln to establish a brickyard, and on August 18, following, his foresight was justified by the award of the contract for the University building for $128,480. Troubles arose very soon afterwards, and their BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS 37 ramifications contributed to the pioneer history of the state, involving finally the governor, who as president of the board of regents, had approved the expenditure of a sum in excess of the appropriation. Charges to this effect formed one of the items in a subsequent impeachment trial. In his first report, made in June, 1872, Chancellor Ben- ton said, "Some difficulty has been experienced in making the roof impervious to rain." It may be added in this con- nection that this difficulty in achieving imperviousness has persisted down to date, and was a matter of common knowl- edge and comment in the student body through all the earlier college generations. In his first report, the chancellor also called the attention of the regents to the furnaces which failed to heat the building and were costly to operate. In his second report in June, 1873, he stated that class rooms had been heated by stoves during the past winter, and ad- vocated the introduction of stoves in the chapel also. Early generations of students remember the ugly and insatiable stoves that made winter use of the old chapel possible, but never comfortable. The old chapel, in the north wing of what is now known as University Hall, occupied the second and third floors, the rostrum being at the north end, with a gallery across the south end. The seats were the traditional pews. With its wealth of bleak walls, its stained and peril- ous ceiling, a more uninspiring room cannot well be im- agined; but pioneer spirit was not so easily daunted. Until the installation of a steam-heated plant in the east side of the north wing of the basement in 1885, the janitor service was performed by students who were remunerated very modestly, one, at least, being permitted to sleep in the building. The care of from twenty-five to thirty hard-coal base burners constituted the most laborious part of the janitor work. Huge ash-heaps accumulated in the angle west of the north wing. Pioneer children mounted these ash heaps in order to view the skeletons in the museum on the first floor, underneath the chapel. With the coming of the steam plant, John Green entered the service of the university as head janitor and engineer. Until the removal of the heating plant to the new boiler 38 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA house in 1888, the policing of the campus brought student life in close touch with the head janitor. If the students chanted some appropriate air when John appeared to turn out the lights, the chances were that the lights would not go out too abruptly. If they invited John to their Thanks- giving "feed," they usually were privileged to wash their dishes in the steam down in the boiler room. When they graduated, they hunted for John when adieus to the campus were in order, and heard something like this: "Well, I don't see what the university is going to do for students next year. When your class is gone, there won't be any- body worth while around any more." Old "U Hall" has withstood the vicissitudes and calum- nies of time, and still is doing good service to the state. Condemned as physically unfit from its beginning, the build- ing has undergone, from time to time, extensive repairs. The original foundation, chiefly of soft brown sandstone, was removed and a limestone foundation substituted. For months the building stood on jack-screws and, be it not for- gotten, also on its complete system of inside cross walls, which extend from the basement to the roof. Three years ago its front walls were found to be bulging a few inches. The regents, with a retinue) of architects and engineers, filed solemnly through the building, and the result is a series of steel uprights riveted through the building from south to north by steel cables, making it indubitably safe, and giving the exterior what Chancellor Avery describes as a "corduroy effect." Inside it is much the same as of yore, except that the chapel, after being once remodelled was finally divided into two floors and further remodelled for class room purposes. The same old bell that summoned the first students to morn- ing prayers a bell now cracked and scarcely audible on the outskirts of the old campus summons the younger, gayer, better dressed and housed students to convocation, or announces football victories. During the war it tolled the eleven o'clock angelus up to November li, 1918. The original campus covered four city blocks. Until 1886 University Hall was the sole edifice. The campus BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS 39 differed little in appearance from the prairie about it for a number of years. Citizens tethered their family cows on it, children picked violets and buffalo beans there. Chan- cellor Benton's first report describes plans for walks, drives and tree planting, and mentions consultations with land- scape artists in Chicago, and the final selection of home talent for the purpose. It was planned to experiment with a variety of species of trees. A hedge of red cedar and osage orange was placed about the campus, and hundreds of trees were planted, only to perish. In the Chancellor's report in June, 1875, it is stated that the professor and stu- dents of the agricultural college had planted trees all around the campus with great care and that the janitor had ad- mirably tended the grounds, though the floral part had several times been cut down by locusts. Gravelled walks led from the streets to the building, and the grounds were partially enclosed at one time, by a board fence. As years went on board walks consisting of two parallel planks about a foot apart were laid a contribution to the gaiety of the campus literature, as examination of the Hesperian files, on the subject of "coeducational sidewalks," will attest. During the administration of Chancellor Canfield the legislature made a special appropriation for the iron fence which now surrounds the original campus. The old University building was filled to overflowing with faculty, students, and equipment, when the chemistry building was first occupied by the natural science depart- ments in 1886. The University then entered on a period of rapid expansion, and every legislature since that of 1885, with the exception of those of 1893 and 1901, has made special appropriations for University buildings to the total amount of over three million dollars. The difficulty of securing the building appropriations was so great in the earlier period that success was the signal for student demon- strations on the campus and around the town. A bon fire, some soap-box oratory, a march to the chancellor's house, or to the capitol were in order. The cornerstone of Nebraska Hall was laid on Com- mencement Day of 1888 and impressive ceremonies were 40 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA conducted there by the scientific members of the class of 1888, after the dignitaries had placed the cornerstone and departed. The next building to be constructed was the armory, known as Grant Memorial Hall. Then in rapid succession came the following: boiler house, library, elec- trical laboratory, Mechanic Arts Hall, Memorial Hall an- nex, Brace laboratory, Administration Hall, Museum, the Temple, engineering building, law college building, Bessey Hall, Chemistry Hall and many minor buildings, and new buildings now under construction. The farm campus of 320 acres was purchased from Moses Culver and his wife on June 25, 1874, as the original lands located nearer the main campus were found to be unsuitable. Until 1918 the old home of the Culvers was in use as a dwelling, but the march of building-progress called for its removal. Many of the beautiful old trees planted by Mr. Culver still adorn the farm campus. In the early days the farm was separated from the town by an almost unbroken stretch of prairie, so that it was regarded as being at a great distance. Agricultural college students, living at the farm, rode to the campus in a wagon. These students were supposed to work for their board, and to absorb agricultural wisdom while they worked. A cartoon in the first edition of the Sombrero in 1884 represents them as engaging in mumble-ty-peg behind the barn. The development at the University farm was greatly retarded, and the farm campus received little attention until about 1899. It has become the most attractive place in the city which reaches out to, and surrounds it. It is connected with the city campus by an eighteen-minute car service and may be reached over paved streets. It has buildings and improvements to the value of over half a million dollars. Hundreds of students attend classes at the farm. The original 320 acres have long been inadequate for the purposes of the college and school of agriculture and the experiment station. Considerable additional land is rented, and some additional acres, most of which are at some distance from the farm, have been purchased. The students of the college of agriculture pursue most of their BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS 41 subjects at the farm campus, but many of them also have classes at the city campus. Chancellor Benton must be regarded as a prophet, for he said in his first Commencement address in June, 1872: "In view of what may be developed within the next ten years, with new and commodious buildings for law and medical schools, and with a building for engineering and the mechanic arts, I have sometimes feared that our plans have not been sufficiently enlarged, and especially that our grounds may become too contracted for our growth." While the march of events was not quite as rapid as the Chancellor's prediction suggested, it came to pass that even the state legislature was convinced that the downtown campus was too small. A growing agitation for the removal of the entire institution to the farm campus was the sub- ject of much fierce debate in two sessions of the legislature. The decision in the matter was put to a vote of the people in 1915, and the proposed removal was defeated. The legis- lature of 1913 made a levy of three-fourths of a mill on the grand assessment roll of the state for campus extension and for buildings on the two campuses. This levy has been made for the past six years and has resulted in the addition of more than six blocks to the city campus, and in the erec- tion of six or more new buildings. One of the large resi- dences on the new campus has recently been set aside as a woman's building, to be used for social purposes a wel- come recognition of the needs of University women. An- other residence was converted into an infirmary as a mili- tary necessity for the S. A. T. C. The Temple building was erected on ground immediately adjacent to the city campus in 1906-7 with money given by John D. Rockefeller, and by citizens of Nebraska. It is devoted to religious and social purposes. In addition to the city and farm campuses, the Univer- sity has a medical college at Omaha with a well located campus and splendid new buildings, an agricultural school at Curtis in Frontier county, and experiment sub-stations at North Platte, Scottsbluff , and Valentine. 42 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA Envoi: Old U. Hall in spite of your Franco-Italian- Hoosier architecture, plus the "corduroy effect," in spite of all the disadvantages of primitive building which no amount of repairing and altering can entirely mitigate, the alumni and students, 1871-1919, salute you! Every brick, every stone, every worn step and threshold, the old cracked bell, the red roof, the useless old tower, with the flag of our country flying against the incomparable blueness of Nebraska sky all these are inseparable from our intellect- ual and spiritual inheritance. The storied past speaks to us from your walls, the lingering memories of youth's brightness cluster about you ! EDNA D. BULLOCK. UNDERGRADUATE LIFE IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES When I entered the University in 1880, the preparatory school was still in existence and it was no uncommon thing for students to spend six years on the campus. My parti- cipation in undergraduate life lasted until 1886. At the first date, the official registration in all departments was 348. Six years later, the Latin school having been sloughed off, the annual enrollment reached 381. I saw the University in its first raw stages. While it had been in operation eight years when I arrived, the facul- ty numbered only seven or eight, and the one red brick building in the center of the prairie-grassed campus was so much too large for the needs of the classes that parts of the third floor and attic were still used as a men's dormitory. My introduction to student life was effected at Mrs. Swish- er's boarding house just north of the campus, where twelve boys were well cared for at $3.50 and $4.00 a week. This was about the standard cost of good board during the six years. Any number of students cut it in half by board- ing in groups or by "batching." A few paid a little more. In my day Clem Chase and Dan Wheeler were wide- UNDERGRAD UATE LIFE 43 ly advertised as gilded youths because they boarded at the Clifton House down town and must have paid as much as five or even six dollars. After a student had provided for his basic living, had scraped together a few books, and had turned over his matriculation fee of five dollars, which had to be paid only once, he did not feel uncomfortable if he had nothing left. Life in the University was so simple and poverty was so common that it seemed a perfectly normal condition. Social distractions in the early part of my experience were found mostly in the Friday meetings of the literary societies; in an occasional play at the old Centennial Opera House and in a perfect orgy of church attendance on Sunday. I can name student after student who went to two preaching services, two Sunday schools, a Y. M. C. A. session, and the Red Ribbon club every Sunday, from September till June. The young people of the little city were bubbling over with social gaiety all the time, but aside from the small "town set", the students had no time for frivolity. We indeed were a serious bunch of youngsters. We studied mathematics, the classics, history, and a little science, and then read solid magazine articles for relaxation. I remem- ber that I cut my first debating teeth over an article by a British writer who undertook to show that morality has no scientific basis. At Mrs. Swisher's and later at Mrs. Park's on Q street, we curried civilization up one side and down another at the dinner table every day, and then gave it a few extra wipes on Sunday. Society was so simple that George McLane, who received fifty dollars a month for jani- toring the University building, was treated as an equal by the professors and as a little more than equal by the stu- dents. He had more money than the rest of us and wore bet- ter clothes, and the fact that he was making himself round shouldered carrying hods of coal to fill the base burners that stood in each recitation room did not interfere at all with his social eligibility. Athletics had not appeared on the campus in the early eighties. The only all-university interest was the college paper, The Hesperian Student, which was the center of 44 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA many a brilliant contest. Outside of that, we devoted our time to our studies, to any outside work that we may have had, and to the interests of the literary societies, with an intensity of concentration that I am sure would make a present-day professor's eyes stand out in amazement. We were everlastingly discussing questions like the tariff, the Nicaraguan canal and the immortality of the soul. When the suffrage question came to a vote in 1882, we lined up on opposite sides and not only said everything that had been put forward on the question, but after the amendment was beaten got up a respectable riot when the antis started to bury a coffin said to contain the remains of Susan B. Anthony, only to lose it to the beefier suff s. That near riot was on the whole a very satisfactory affair. We had the band out, and made a big fire on the dirt road at Eleventh and streets and rowed around so much like real students that we all felt very much encouraged about our rising col- lege spirit. If we could only get a football team and some fraternities started we might at last put the University on the map ! The elective system had not been established in 1880. One could not hop from course to course or from class to class. As a freshman, I recited at 9 : 00 o'clock every morn- ing except Saturday in mathematics, at 10 :00 in history and at 11 :00 in languages. No afternoon classes were scheduled. With three hours of recitation, we were expected to give six hours in preparation. That meant nine hours of steady work every day for five days each week. Usually the study- ing was done at specified hours. The result was that stu- dents systematized their work in a way that is not possible in the modern hit or miss elective system. This orderly arrangement of time made it possible to do the outside work that was regularly done among the more prominent students. A man who did not have a horse to curry or a church to sweep out, or a newspaper route to carry, felt that he could take an extra study or two and thus shorten up his course and perhaps spend a term now and then in teaching school, in order to acquire a little ready cash. UNDERGRAD UATE LIFE 45 A glance at my old student scrap book shows that a steady development took place during the entire six years, but that the University was still a small and provincial and old fashioned college at the end of this period. Public affairs consisted almost exclusively of literary society rreet- ings, oratorical and debating contests and commencement exercises and "exhibitions." Two or three fraternities were finally established, leading to the famous fight which cul- minated in the fall of 1884 in the action denying member- ship in the literary societies to the Greek letter brethren. In the forty years in which I have watched the University no student battle was fought with greater bitterness or with more public spirit or ability than this effort to stem the tide of modernity in the social life of the college. It resulted in the retirement of the Greeks from the Palladian and Union societies and their organization of the Philo- docean, where they made good the "barbarian" charge that fraternities and literary societies could not flourish with an identical membership. For a few years after this battle the old fashioned socie- ties held their own. During this era the state was growing fast. Boys with spending money above their bare necessi- ties were no longer rare on the campus. We managed to organize a baseball team, to acquire a college yell, to take on the elective system of studies, and to start a second building, the old chemical laboratory. While everything in the state had a forward look in those years, the change to modern state university conditions did not begin to come in earnest until the close of the decade. In niy days we were still poor but honest. Our clothes may have been patched but they were scrupulously clean. We prided our- selves on having true hearts, even if our manners must have been frightfully crude. The number of successful marriages growing out of the simple social customs of the early times is worthy of remark. The "slate" may have had something to do with this condition. In each literary society a list of the young lady members was made out weekly and every man was given an opportunity to sign his initials after the one of his choice. This "scratching of 46 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA the slate" not only insured the young ladies regular escorts but broke the youths at an early period to the systematic attendance upon the fair sex that naturally leads to life- long constancy. No formal balls were held by the students at this time and only a little semi-clandestine dancing was indulged in at class meetings and other affairs held in private houses. Romantic talk was stimulated by the moon- light, of course, and yet as the couples moved to and from the campus for classes and for the society meetings, an im- mense amount of converse on deep and high and earnest themes was common. I cannot recall one scandal or the suggestion of a scandal in the six years. The sons and daughters of the pioneers, some of them fresh from the sod houses on the homesteads, were catching their first glimpses of the glories of the ancient and the modern world. It was an enchanting and inspiring time. There wasn't a foot of pavement in two hundred miles and the automobile was not even a dream. But the old red brick main building was as beautiful as the Parthenon, and street, though built of wood and sun-dried bricks, could not have been surpassed in attractiveness by the marble palaces of Rome. No college can be too young to be infected by student mischief and lawlessness. It began here in the revolt against military drill and in The Hesperian Student type- stealing riots for several years before and after 1880. These were political affairs, undertaken with solemn and deadly earnestness. This cannot be said of the countless orthodox student escapades that marked the whole period, most of them silly, but quite devoid of malice. It was in the interests of the college paper that we collected a fee at the door of the chapel one memorable night and then slid down a rope and decamped, leaving an expectant audience to fry in its own indignation. The sort of cameraderie existing between students and faculty was shown by the fact that Chancellor Manatt received a hint not to be pres- ent while Professor L. A. Sherman, the ambassador in the business, came early to enjoy the anger of the audience, and Professor Nicholson, also in the secret, did his laughing outside as the members of the troupe swarmed down the UNDERGRADUATE LIFE 47 rope and oozed away. In the meantime the orchestra faith- fully continued to grind out "Many Are the Friends Who Are Waiting Tonight" until it was discovered that the stage was empty. Happy days, happy days! They didn't catch the actors that night and in a day or two it was safe to reappear on the campus. It is interesting to recall what the boys looked forward to after leaving the University in the early eighties pro- fessional life, mainly, it seems to me. School teaching was still considered a worthy and attractive profession. The very pinnacle of success was a college professorship. Law invited many of the more vigorous, and a few of the boys were thinking of medicine, business, newspapering, or the new occupation of writing life insurance. The ministry called a few. Nobody wanted to go back to the farm. Farm products were almost given away at this time, and land was so cheap and abundant that even in eastern Nebraska it sold at from five to ten dollars an acre. So the beginnings of the agricultural college were held in contempt. We could not see that Nebraska was to become a great horn of plenty, smothering the next generation with wealth. A few of the boys had begun to pioneer in the sciences, but we had no hint of the great prizes that were to come to men like Bion J. Arnold, who was then breaking into engineering, or to J. G. White, who soon went from an instructorship in the University to an electrical business encircling the globe. What we were getting then seemed the most beautiful and the most desirable things in the world. The habits of in- dustry we formed, the affections we nourished," the visions we enjoyed, and the memories we cherish, make the pioneers of the early eighties refuse to be pitied by students who enjoy the splendid facilities of the University at the close of the first half century of its history. WILL OWEN JONES. 48 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA THE LIBRARY The statute passed by the Nebraska legislature February 15, 1869, which provided for the founding of the University of Nebraska, contained a clause providing for the establish- ment of a library, through the appropriation for that pur- pose of certain regularly received University fees. While the amount in the beginning was small it was constant, and growing with the growth of the school it has been the chief source of library income, though for many years added ap- propriations from the general University funds have been made by the regents. The successive catalogs of the University refer to the carefully selected collection of books which constitute the library, and show its growth. In 1878 there were 2,000 volumes, in 1882, 4,000, in 1886, 7,000, and by 1890, 12,000 volumes. The growth from this time onward has been in- creasingly rapid. By 1901, 50,000 volumes were recorded, in 1907, 75,000, and the accessioning of the 100,000th book in 1912 was made a ceremony. Since then the growth has averaged over 6,000 volumes a year, so that at the end of 1918, the library numbers 140,000 volumes. The original small library was housed first in one room, then in two, in the southeast corner of the second floor of University Hall. In 1888 it was moved to the first floor of the north wing of the same building, the rooms now occu- pied by the department of rhetoric. In the fall of 1895 the library moved into its present location, the second floor of the then new library building. It had been planned that the remainder of this building should be turned over to the library as it was needed, but there has been absolutely no expansion of space for library use since that time. In fact the space for readers has been much decreased, as the tables which were originally placed in the alcoves in the book room had to be withdrawn in order to make space for the new stacks demanded by the increasing number of books. For several years students have constantly been turned away from the reading room by lack of space to seat them THE LIBRARY 49 and the last possible addition has been made to the stacks. It is frequently necessary to shift many shelves of books in order to place a few newly-acquired volumes, and tem- porary shelving outside of the building is already being resorted to. The administration of the library divides itself into two distinct periods, that preceding and that following 1892. In the early days, the direction and management of the library was in the hands of a library committee whose chair- man performed to some extent the duties of a librarian. For the first ten years no regular hours of opening were observed and very little use of the library was made by students. In the fall of 1878, Dr. George E. Howard re- turned to the University as an instructor. The professor who was chairman of the library committee was absent on leave and Dr. Howard was asked to assume some of his duties, among them to take charge of the library. He im- mediately opened the library from two to six each after- noon. This was very popular with the students. January 1, 1879, Dr. Howard was made instructor in English and history and librarian, with full power of administration over the library, though there was still a library committee of the faculty. Later the power was again vested in the committee, but with Dr. Howard always a member, fre- quently as chairman. From 1888 to 1891 Miss Ellen Smith was "Registrar and Custodian of the Library," and for 1891-92 Professor George MacMillan was "Custodian of the Library." During this early period all members of the faculty carried keys to the library, and Dr. Bessey has told, in the Cornhusker for 1908, how it was impossible to secure their consent to give up this privilege until Chancellor Can- field, after presenting the matter in faculty meeting and setting forth the reasons why all keys should be turned in, added the information that the lock on the library door had just been changed by the University carpenter so the keys would be of no further use; and as Dr. Bessey adds, "The keys were turned in." There was no catalog of the library during these years except a sort of accessions list of the books as they were received, and such classification 50 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA of the books as had been attempted was exceedingly ele- mentary. In 1892 Chancellor Canfield realizing the part which the library should be taking in the development of the Univer- sity, and the importance of having it carefully organized before its increasing growth should make reorganization more difficult, appointed as librarian Miss Mary L. Jones, of the class of 1885, who had just completed the two-years' course of training in the New York State Library School. Miss Jones found the task before her no light one. The library was already so large that a classification of the books by subject and by some form of a catalog was im- perative if the constantly increasing use of the library was to be made satisfactory. During the summer of 1892 Miss Jones reclassified roughly by the Dewey decimal system a large proportion of the books, rearranged them on the shelves, and made plans for the card catalog which was to follow. During the five years that she remained at the head of the library she personally classified and supervised the cataloging of nearly all the books she found here upon her arrival, in addition to all those purchased during the period. She gave several short courses in cataloging in order to train assistants who could help in carrying on the work, and she started the organization of the library upon the lines which it has since followed. The University has been very fortunate in its librarians. Miss Jones has been followed by three other graduates of the New York State Library School who, except for short intervals, have been continuously in charge of the library. Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr., and Dr. Walter K. Jewett, each held the position of librarian for approximately seven years, and Mr. Malcolm G. Wyer has been librarian since 1913. Each has brought to the library special gifts of organiza- tion, and special knowledge of books that, with the con- tinuity of standards provided by the New York State Library School as a background, has meant much in its development. Miss Jones has since been librarian of the Los Angeles public library, of the Bryn Mawr College li- brary, and is now assistant librarian of the Los Angeles THE LIBRARY 51 county library. Mr. J. I. Wyer, Jr., is director of the New York State Library. Dr. Jewett's term of service was ended by his death in 1913. From the first the University library has been primarily a reference library. Most of the books have been bought on the recommendation of professors who were interested in securing the best material in print in their own fields. Occasionally this has resulted in an extreme specialization, the forming of a valuable collection of books on a single line while the library might be comparatively weak in the other lines and in the more general works of the same sub- ject. But these special collections are so extremely valu- able, and particularly for research work, that it has been felt to be the wisest thing, often, to allow the library to develop somewhat unevenly in places, trusting that in the future the weaker places may be strengthened. Generally, with several professors in a department working on various subdivisions of their subject, the library receives requests for most books of value in the different lines of work and so is building a well-rounded collection of the best material on many subjects. To the librarian belongs the p'art of choosing the books that do not fall to any department and the general works that are used by all. Often, too, as book catalogs and announcements are received by the librarian, future requests from professors are foreseen and books are ordered to be ready when wanted. While the library is, as has been said, primarily a refer- ence library built up for the use of the faculty and stu- dents of the University in their university work, this state- ment must not be taken to mean that there are no books to interest the general reader or to tempt him to browse among the shelves. Most of the best literature of all the world in all ages is here, poetry, drama, fiction and essays ; large collections of biography and history; travel and ex- ploration ; books on all the sociologic and economic problems of the day. Students are prone to confine their college reading to the work assigned by their professors, and pro- fessors often find little time for books not on their own particular subject, so that a certain type of excursive read- 52 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA ing in the University library has been .largely missing, greatly to the regret of those who know its wealth of books. On the other hand the use of the library as a working and reference collection of books has always been most gratifying. Many departments make a real laboratory of the library. The main part of the students' work in many courses in history, philosophy, education, literature, econ- omics and sociology is done in the library. In the scientific and technical courses large use is also made of the litera- ture of these subjects as it is found in the collections of books which, in most cases, are placed in departmental libraries. The engineering and mathematics books, in the Mechanic Arts library, the books on agriculture and all its allied subjects, with those on home economics, in the Uni- versity Farm library, and the smaller collections on botany and zoology, shelved together in Bessey Hall, on chemistry, physics, and entomology in small departmental libraries, are all extremely valuable and most of them are constantly used. The Law library is also separate, occupying the whole of the third floor of the law building, and a valuable medical collection is being formed at the College of Medi- cine in Omaha. In addition to assigned and required read- ing, there is a very large use of the library by students in preparing papers and debates and in looking up all sorts of subjects of momentary or permanent interest, while from outside the University come many requests for in- formation and assistance. Probably few people even in the University itself realize the worth of this library to the University and to the state. It is the largest and by far the most valuable collection of books in Nebraska. The books have been most carefully chosen for their value as a working collection, and there are few subjects upon which it does not contain good ma- terial. The library serves the whole University as does no other single department, coming in touch at some point with every student and every professor. Much more of service that it would like to give, must be withheld in its present inadequate quarters and with its small staff of THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT 53 workers, but the foundations have been well laid, the growth has been carefully guided, and when the opportunity comes, the larger service will be given. NELLIE JANE COMPTON. THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT The outstanding feature in the history of the Military Department of the University is, it need hardly be said, General Pershing's four years' service as commanding of- ficer of the battalion. The personality of the young lieuten- ant, then fresh from the Indian wars, found immediate expression in a stricter discipline and an infectious profes- sional enthusiasm. It cannot be averred that discipline was then, nor is it now, a conspicuous quality of Nebraska life. Lieutenant Dudley, our first commandant, had provoked a downright mutiny by an "arbitrary and unreasonable" in- sistence upon the wearing of uniforms at drill! Upon the advent of Lieutenant Pershing in 1891, the young men found that the nameless tyrannies of his predecessors, Lieutenants Dudley, Webster, Townley and Griffith, were but faint adumbrations of what they were now facing. But there was no mutiny. On the contrary, it was the beginning of whatever spontaneous enthusiasm the students have since shown in military studies. In 1893, Pershing received his bachelor's degree from the University in the College of Law. In the same year, the Pershing Rifles were organized for voluntary additional drill. They are still in existence, destined apparently to remain a permanent part of our military organization. It may be said in general that this period of Pershing's life, with its profound impression upon the student body, foreshadowed upon a small stage his later achievements in the great field of the world's history. His name became a legendary one among successive generations of undergraduates, whose memories are usually so short. No one has ever been heard to express surprise at the prom- 54 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA inence of his later career. The continued residence of his family in Lincoln has tended to preserve the affection of the community for him and pride in his growing fame to a greater degree than is usually possible in so migratory a profession as that of arms. It would be impossible to mention all the cadet officers of Pershing's time who have since attained distinction, and it would be invidious to attempt a selected list ; but it may perhaps be permitted to record in meagre chronicle what has recently happened to a very few who are for the mo- ment in the public eye. Col. W. H. Hayward, '97, in command of the 15th N. Y. Infantry (coloured), has received the American D. S. 0., the French croix de guerre, and has been nominated a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. His regiment was under fire for one hundred ninety-one days and suffered possibly more casualties than any other American regiment. He himself was wounded in action. One hundred and fifty of his officers and men were awarded the croix de guerre and his regimental colours were similarly decorated, being one of six American regimental colours thus honoured. Professor W. L. Westermann, '94, is in Paris with the President's party as member of Col. House's Inquiry and expert adviser on Turkey. General Pershing recognized him after twenty-three years. Lieutenant Colonel L. V. Patch, '98, recently commanded an American regiment in action and in addition two batteries of heavy French artil- lery. Lest we be accused of favoritism in selecting these few from among so many, let us hasten to explain that they are merely specimens, as it were, of a greater glory ! Even so the worthy citizens of Worms said deprecatingly when the old Kaiser praised their proffered wines, "We have bet- ter ones." While General Pershing's name is the most famous one to be connected with the Department, it is but one of many to be recalled with pride. Captain Guilfoyle, his successor, will long be remembered for a delightful retort, which in its combination of chivalry and defiance one likes to think might have fallen from the lips of Sir Walter Raleigh in THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT 55 more spacious times. Challenged angrily as to whether he had really uttered a derogatory remark as reported by a lady, though he could not for the moment fully recall the incident, Captain Guilfoyle replied quickly, "Whatever the lady said I said I said." The bewildered challenger retired in confusion to think it over, and never returned. The story of Col. Stotsenburg, who came in 1897, is more tragic. Before his first year had passed, the Spanish War was upon us and he was in command of the First Nebraska regiment. Then occurred a shabby incident over which it were better to allow ever kind Oblivion to cast her veil, were it not that it involves a lesson of too great value to be lost. Loud and shrill outcries were raised by the political and bolshevik element in the regiment at Col. Stotsenburg's exacting standards of discipline. Outrage- ous letters of complaint were written to the newspapers in war time ! There were mutterings in the legislature leading to an investigation from Washington and to Col. Stotsenburg's complete exoneration. Meanwhile the regi- ment went into action in the Philippines. The value of discipline at once became apparent. Complaints suddenly ceased, and the Colonel found himself transformed into a hero overnight. In 1899, he fell in action at the head of his regiment, leaving a name precious in the military annals not only of the University but of the State. Few of our commandants are remembered with deeper affection than Captain (afterwards Major) Workizer, who was in charge from 1905 to 1909. He had an almost boyish directness and alertness of manner, and a capacity for en- joyment that were most winning. The Workizer Rifles at the Farm are a lasting testimony to his activity and popu- larity. After leaving the University he was invalided for injuries received in the performance of his duty. He was utterly devoid of fear. At one time alone he entered the hold of a Pacific transport to quell a mutiny among the prisoners under his charge, and received a blow from which he never fully recovered. He died in 1918, partly of his injuries and partly of a broken heart at not being able to serve his country in the great crisis for which he had spent 56 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA his heart in preparing. Sans peur et sans reproche, a more fearless and gallant officer never lived, barring none. What is West Point's secret, one is impelled to ask, in producing such men ? Does it produce them, or does it merely attract them? It is curious now to recall that almost exactly two years ago, in the days immediately preceding our plunge into the maelstrom of the Great War, there was a formidable move- ment in the legislature to abolish military instruction in the University. So belligerent and influential were the pacifists of that day that the outcome of the agitation could not be foretold. Notwithstanding the loss of Federal revenue the abolition would have involved, they seemed to have an even chance. The agitation was short-lived, but it was not without disagreeable echoes on the campus. Undisciplined youths, many of whom doubtless have since died gloriously for their country, conceived it to be their duty to revile the Military Department and to undermine its morale. It was a bad quarter of an hour for Captain Parker, whose three years' period of service was approaching its close. Never were trials less deserved. In truth, they did not last long, nor would they be worth recording were it not to chronicle a moral victory of discipline and self-control which, to those who care for such things, will remain undimmed even in the presence of imperishable deeds on the fields of France. Not once was Captain Parker betrayed by impatience under extreme provocation into saying or doing anything un- worthy of his profession which he would afterwards have wished unsaid or undone. He was the soul of courtesy and of honor. He set the men an example of single-minded devotion to duty that was much appreciated, not the least because it was wholly unconscious and unintended. In 1817, Captain Parker was transferred to Fort Snelling, and he is now at Stanford University. His successor was Col. Roberts, who has since died. The roll of West Pointers who have been among us is an imperishable one. They have left behind the delightful memories, and, let us hope, something of the best traditions ORGANIZATIONS 57 of the Service. We have not dishonored them in the Great War. Of the former members of the battalion who have distinguished themselves, I am not permitted to speak. Their deeds will be found in another article. But our list of commandants would be incomplete without the names of Captain Frank Eager, '93, afterwards Colonel of the First Nebraska Regiment, U. S. Volunteers, and Captain Charles Weeks, '98, now Colonel and chief of the historical section of the General Staff. And lastly, we cannot forbear a tribute to Major (Dean) 0. V. P. Stout, who has a special place in our affections. He has shown that his long interest in the battalion was not a mere academic one, and that the students' confidence in him for many years was not mis- placed. GUERNSEY JONES. ORGANIZATIONS In the early days of the University, the "literary socie- ties" were the chief centers of life outside the class-rooms. Their weekly meetings on Friday night had no rival save a rare "show" at the old Centennial theatre, or later at the old Oliver. The manifold attractions which now compete for the presence of the student on a Friday evening were non-existent. The literary societies have never lost their vitality and they still fill definite niches in college life; but neither they nor any other organizations of a single type could again have anything like their old-time monopoly. The earliest literary society to be organized on the campus was the Palladian, founded in the autumn of 1871, soon after the University opened. Its purpose, in the quaint phraseology of the preamble of its first constitution, was "to help build up and perfect the moral and intellectual capacities and in like manner the social qualities." Only the first and part of the second story of University Hall were in use for a time, and the Palladians held their meet- 58 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA ings on the first floor. The second literary society to be established was the Adelphian, which was formed in 1873 by the secession of some of its members from the Palladian. A moving spirit in the secession was George E. Howard, now one of the University's most honored professors, and a recent president of the American Sociological Associa- tion. It is of interest to recall that Professor Howard was not only a political and literary leader of his period but also a leading athlete, holding various college records in the types of athletics then in vogue. On the occasion of the quarter-centennial anniversary of the founding of the Uni- versity, Professor Howard was called back from Leland Stanford university, where he was professor of history, to deliver the Charter Day address. Both the Palladian and the Adelphian societies were at first men's organizations, but in the autumn of 1873 the Adelphians admitted women to membership, and the Palla- dians followed their example during the next term, with "consequent gain," says their chronicler, "in decorum and in spirit." The meetings of the Adelphians were held on the third floor, which was to be for so many years, until the erection of the Temple building, the home of the literary societies. The Adelphian society went out of existence in 1876. In that year it was reorganized, joined by a second element seceding from the Palladian, under the name of the "University Union." Among those who helped to draft the charter organizing the new society was Charles E. Magoon, Governor of the Canal Zone, 1905-1906, and Pro- visional Governor of Cuba, 1906-1909. At first the new society restricted its membership to regular college stu- dents, excluding students of the "Prep" (Preparatory) school. The eligible members of the Palladian and most members of the Adelphian made up its first membership. Since few students attended the University who did not en- ter by way of the preparatory school, this restriction handi- capped the new society and was soon given up. It became the custom to buttonhole new students, almost as soon as they entered the institution, and to ask them to join one or the other literary society. When the stage was reached ORGANIZATIONS 59 where both societies had a membership roll of about eighty, a third society, with a membership limitation of fifty, the Delian, was launched, in the autumn of 1889. The opening sentences of its constitution ran: "We, students of the University of Nebraska, believing that the membership of the existing literary societies is too large for the best liter- ary and social culture, and that the formation of a new society is desirable, do hereby organize ourselves into a literary society." The Palladian and the Union societies occupied at this time the long rooms, since remodeled, at the east and west ends respectively of the third floor of University Hall. These rooms they furnished themselves, buying carpets, chairs, curtains, and rugs, from society dues and from voluntary subscriptions. The new Delian society, since no room for its sole use was available in the building, met at first in the "music room" on the first floor, now used by the department of elocution. In 1890, it was granted the use of the chapel for its meetings, in those days a large hall on the north wing of the second floor, but now parti- tioned off into class-rooms for the departments of rhetoric and of education. Here the Delian society continued to meet until it went out of existence about 1905. It was re- established in 1916-17, or rather a new literary society was instituted, adopting the same name. The programs of the literary societies consisted of varied features. Staple were the "essay", the "oration", the "recitation", with such musical numbers as were avail- able interspersed, and the program closed normally with a "debate." Social sessions followed, sometimes varied by the serving of "light refreshments", such as doughnuts, apples, popcorn, or more rarely, ice cream ; and there were promenades through the long corridors. In the '80's and '90's, the height of elegance was thought to be attained when the more prodigal members went to a local restaurant after the program for oysters. The recreation of dancing was frowned upon in those days, and was not to be thought of after society meetings. Auxiliary organizations which played conspicuous roles in the life of the literary societies were the P. B. D. C. (Palladian Boys' Debating Club), 60 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA founded in 1882, and the P. G. D. C. (Palladian Girls' De- bating Club), founded in 1884, soon followed by the or- ganization of similar societies by the Unions, and later by the Delians. The old-time literary societies gave to their members valuable experience. Not only did they provide social di- version but they gave to the students almost their only training in conducting public meetings, in self-government, and in acquiring self-possession before an audience. The training which they afforded in practical politics assisted many a future leader, like A. W. Field, H. H. Wilson, United States Congressman Ernest Pollard, Governor George Shel- don, Regent E. P. Brown. A glance at old-time topics for debate shows that abstract questions were preferred in the first period, while more concrete questions gained favor later. According to Professor H. W. Caldwell, an early question debated was (the original spelling retained) : "Re- solved That the Signs of the Times Indicate that We Are Advancing Moraly and Spiritualy." This type of question gave way later to subjects like "The Negro Question", "Foreign Immigration", "The Advisability of Adopting the Initiative and Referendum." A classic institution of the early literary society was the "slate," without which some young women might have had many invitations to attend meetings while others might have found themselves without escorts. The official "slate- bearer" passed about a small book listing the names of the girl members, to be duly "scratched" for Friday evening by the men members. Professor H. H. Wilson sometimes tells, when indulging in reminiscences, of a new recruit who furnished an example of polite correspondence. Having been urged by his professor of rhetoric to write with studied exactness, he asked a woman member "for the pleas- ure of her company to and from the Union society on next Friday evening." Not to be outdone in exactitude, she ac- cepted his proffered escort "for the round trip." On leap- years the women members had their turn at carrying and "scratching" the slate and at extending invitations. ORGANIZATIONS 61 As the number of students increased and membership rolls lengthened, the literary societies became no longer open societies but restricted more and more their elections to membership. They now afford membership to but a small proportion of the students. Following the expansion of the University, most of the functions of the literary societies inevitably were taken over by a variety of new agencies. On the literary side, the old need for the societies was replaced by class-room instruction in public speaking, in debating, in essay-writing, and in oral expression, while old-time "oratory" became extinct. The more serious work of the societies was assumed by departmental clubs, lin- guistic, literary, scientific, or technical. On the social side, to meet the needs of those wishing greater social opportunities, or special affiliations, arose the system of Greek-letter fraternities. These contrast with the literary societies in that their membership is limited to one sex. They now play a large part in the undergraduate activities of all types. The first men's fraternity to announce its entry was Sigma Chi, in January, 1883, followed by Phi Delta Theta in December of the same year. The first women's organization to enter was Kappa Kappa Gamma in 1884, followed by Delta Gamma in 1887. For many years after the introduction of the first fraternities there was strong rivalry, and what were long spoken of as "frat- barb" feuds often added zest to undergraduate politics. At one stage members of fraternities were barred from mem- bership in the literary societies, and "Greeks" already with- in the societies were expelled. This rivalry has long since ended, as Greek-letter societies of all types, honorary as well as social, have multiplied; and many members of fra- ternities are enrolled at the present time as members of one, at least, of the literary societies. The two types of organizations afford different types of experiences, and while the function of the literary societies is now mainly social, their "co-educational" character enables them to fin a special and permanent place in undergraduate life and they continue to flourish. The complaint is sometimes heard that there are too many student organizations on the 62 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA campus. But so large is the number of students that how- ever many organizations there are and they overlap a good deal in membership there are still large tracts of students who are not reached and hence are likely to miss that executive experience and that training in working with others or in having to accommodate themselves to others which constitutes the most desirable thing to be had, along- side the work of the class-room, in undergraduate life. Another conspicuous early organization was the "Sem Bot", in full, the Botanical Seminar, formed by enthusiastic students under Dr. C. E. Bessey. It was restricted at first to men members but afterward admitted women. Promi- nent among its early members were H. C. Peterson, now of Chicago, Roscoe Pound, now of Harvard, Herbert Webber, Professor at the University of California, and Albert F. Woods, President of the Maryland Agricultural College. In these days when social conventions permit college girls to go everywhere together without the "escorts" that earlier times deemed imperative, one organization which played a conspicuous role for a time in university life may seem anomalous. This was the "G. 0. I." or order of "Go Out Independents." The members of this organization were pioneers in looking forward to the changed conditions of the present, and they had the encouragement of Chancellor Canfield, who was always forward-looking and anxious to promote the welfare of the girl students. The G. 0. I. demonstrated that girls could attend football games, evening lectures, society programs, and other public functions, with- out first having to acquire individual escorts; and their stand possibly hastened conditions of the present, when college girls seem to feel free to go anywhere or to do any- thing, whether singly or in groups. In 1883, through the encouragement and enthusiasm of Mr. B. L. Paine, a religious organization consisting of six- teen young men and nine young ladies was completed. It took to itself the name appropriate to the majority of its membership and called itself the Young Men's Christian Association. In 1884, the young women formed a compan- ORGANIZATIONS 63 ion organization of their own, the Young Women's Chris- tian Association. Both organizations have had since then a flourishing and unbroken existence, growing in influence and in numbers. In the earliest period but three commit- tees were appointed, the devotional, the membership, and the finance committees. The expansion of the Y. M. C. A. in the line of practical activities is shown by its present- day conduct of an employment bureau, its publication of a students' handbook, and by the varied duties of its secre- tary to say nothing of the roles assumed by it with the outbreak of the war. Since the completion of the Temple building, the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. have been permanently housed there, and they have contributed to the spiritual and social welfare of many students. Among honorary scholarship organizations, the first to enter was Phi Beta Kappa, which was granted a charter from the national organization in 1896, through efforts instituted by Chancellor Canfield. Its list of faculty mem- bers has included such men as Professors E. A. Ross, H. B. Ward, C. E. Bessey, Roscoe Pound, F. E. Clements, E. B. Andrews, E. W. Davis; often it was an enviable privilege to hear the discussions at its meetings. Of late years its brilliant faculty roll has been thinned by deaths and by losses to other institutions. The corresponding scientific society, Sigma Xi, entered in 1897. There are now honorary scholarship societies in nearly all departmental lines, mem- bership in which is based on definite achievement. By this time there are too many organizations asso- ciated with the life of the University for detailed enumera- tion. There are clubs based on nationality, like the Komen- sky (Bohemian), or the Tegner (Swedish) ; denominational clubs, like the Catholic or the Christian Science clubs ; class societies, social organizations; military, athletic, musical, and dramatic societies; and there are departmental socie- ties, ranging in their interests from linguistics and journal- ism to engineering and home economics. Beginning with the old centers of undergraduate life, the literary societies, which involved small groups of students, there have come to be innumerable social centers which involve thousands 64 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA of students. Their multifarious types and activities are surveyed to best advantage in the pages of the students' annual, The Cornhusker. The varied interests and the in- creasing membership of student organizations at the Uni- versity parallel the expansion of the institution as a whole. LOUISE POUND. THE ALUMNI In 1873 two men went forth from University Hall, the first two graduates of the University of Nebraska. Both men are living and active today the one, J. S. Dales, as secretary of the board of regents and of the University senate, is still devoting his services to his Alma Mater; the other, Judge William H. Snell, is a practicing attorney at Tacoma, Washington. From two, the roster of alumni has grown into the thousands, until today they are scattered in all parts of the world and in all lines of activities. Some seven thousand men and women as graduates, and many more as non-graduates, are doing their bit in the world's work the better for their training at the University. "By their fruits ye shall know them." The strongest argu- ment that can be adduced in support of a state loyal and generous to its university is the fact that the leaders among its citizenship, whether it be on the farm or in the city, very often are University men and women, serving in turn the state that has so well served them. It is impossible in a short article to pay individual tribute to all the men and women who have reflected honor on their Alma Mater. Parenthetically, and speaking of men and women, it ought to be noted that the first woman gradu- ate, Alice May Frost, '76, married one of her classmates, George Elliot Howard, thereby, as it were ab initio, setting such an example as many another has followed. In truth, it is no negligible feature of coeducation, and hence of the interest of the alumni life of a coeducational institution, THE ALUMNI 65 that marriages among classmates have been not infrequent, and again that the children of such marriages have returned in a later generation to continue the life and the traditions of an institution which, it is to be hoped, their parents have a particular reason for loving. Several years ago an alumnus, in his Alumni Day ad- dress, in undertaking to recount what the men and women who have reflected honor on their Alma Mater are doing in the world, apologized for the shortcomings of his account in words which the present writer must borrow. "No catalogue of names," he said, "no selection of a few, can give any adequate idea of the broad and general usefulness of our fellow alumni and fellow students within these walls to the world." Agreeing with this statement, and advanc- ing it as my own caution, I shall none the less attempt to record a few names of alumni who eminently represent their Alma Mater in the world of men. Since the University of Nebraska is a state institution I shall mention first those who have remained to serve within their state. A one-time governor, George L. Sheldon, class of 1892, a United States senator, Elmer J. Burkett, '93, three congressmen, the late David H. Mercer, '80, Omaha, E. M. Pollard, '93, Nehawka, and J. A. Maguire, '98, Lincoln, the present police commissioner of the city of Omaha, J. Dean Ringer, '03, scores of members in both houses of the state legislatures, and scores of city and coun- ty officials, are men all of whom honorably served in public life their state and their community. In our public school system, in all of its branches, are alumni. We have first of all our own chancellor, Dr. Samuel Avery, '92, the first alumnus to serve in that capacity. We rejoice that among the faculty there are still with us alumni who began more than twenty-five years ago to serve their Alma Mater ; Dr. G. E. Howard, '76 ; Professor H. H. Wilson, '78 ; Professor H. W. Caldwell, '80 ; Professor Laurence Fossler, '81 ; and Dean 0. V. P. Stout, '88. The staffs of our normal schools, high schools, city and rural schools, are largely made up of men and women who have attended if not graduated from the University. 66 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA But Nebraska is an agricultural state ; and if its highest institution of learning did not serve its greatest number of constituents there would be just ground for public criticism. There have gone back to their farms hundreds of men and women who because of their scientific training in the col- lege of agriculture and their broadening training in the other colleges are today among the best farmers and most progressive citizens in their communities. Of these there comes first to mind, Regent E. P. Brown, '92, of Davey, farmer, leader in various rural movements, and president of the board of regents of the University. Prominent among the horticulturists of the state is E. M. Pollard, '93, of Ne- hawka, owner of the famous Pollard orchards, started by his father, the late Isaac Pollard, in 1856. The editor of The Nebraska Farmer, a weekly which has the largest cir- culation of any farm paper in the state, is C. W. Pugsley, '06, formerly director of the extension service of the college of agriculture. Of the many women who are working side by side with their husbands on the farm perhaps none is more deserving of mention that Mrs. Fred M. Deweese (Alice C. Towne, '05) of Hilaire Farm, Dawson. Both Mrs. and Mr. Deweese, '02, are workers in many activities. As state chairman of the food production department of the woman's committee of the State Council of Defense, Mrs. Deweese accomplished one of the most constructive pieces of war work done in Nebraska. But even an agricultural state needs more than its farm- ers. And so are found in its newspaper work men like Clement Chase, '83, president of the Chase Publishing Com- pany, Omaha, Harvey E. Newbranch, '96, editor of the Omaha World-Herald, and Will Owen Jones, '86, editor of The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln. In industrial lines N. Z. Snell, '82, president of the Mid-West Life Insurance Company, Lincoln; Charles F. Schwarz, '96, president of the Schwarz Paper Company, Lincoln ; C. Louis Meyer, '07, president of the Concrete Engineering Company of Omaha, who has patented a system of reinforced concrete floors, are but a few of the men who have built up enterprises within our state. In the legal profession are men like THE ALUMNI 67 Judge Ernest B. Perry, '99, of Cambridge, recent candidate for judge of the supreme court, and Judge Lincoln Frost, '86, of Lincoln, a prime mover in the social welfare activi- ties of the state. But I realize the danger of trying to do justice to the several thousands of men and women who in every corner of the big state of Nebraska are quietly yet faithfully doing their share, whether it be in the home, on the farm, or in public service. As the alumni who remained within the state have done credit to their University, so likewise have those who have ventured forth, whether it be in this country or in other lands. And difficult as it seemed to select the men most worthy of mention within the state, it is far more difficult to do so among those who went elsewhere. For there seems to be no country or no line of work in which there are not several, if not many, pre-eminent Nebraskans. In public service arise names like Charles S. Lobingier, '88, Judge of the United States court for China at Shang- hai, and Charles S. Allen, '86, former president of the board of regents, now a public spirited citizen of the city of San Jose, California. In education appear the names of Dean Roscoe Pound, '88, of Harvard Law School ; President A. F. Woods, '90, of the College of Agriculture, Maryland; and Chancellor Edward C. Elliott, '95, of the University of Mon- tana. Innumerable are the students of Dr. Bessey who are doing noteworthy research along botanical lines as Dr. and Mrs. Frederic E. Clements (Edith Schwartz, '98) of the Carnegie Institution of Washington ; Dr. P. J. O'Gara, '02, of the American Smelting and Refining Company, Salt Lake City; C. A. Fisher, '98, consulting geologist and fuel engineer of Denver who has just been appointed by the War Department one of seven commissioners who are to deter- mine the available oil and gas resources of the nation. In medicine, Dr. Charles A. Elliott, '95, of Northwestern Uni- versity, is a member of a recently appointed commission of five men who will devote their scientific knowledge to a study of the yellow fever scourge in South America. In engineering may be mentioned J. W. McCrosky, '91, recent- ly of the Bureau of Enemy Trade, Washington, who for 68 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA many years was connected with a big construction company in London; and W. H. Sawyer, '94, vice-president of the E. W. Clark Co., Columbus, Ohio. What should be said about the thousands of women graduates of the University of Nebraska? Their highest contribution is that of home-builder. They are the mothers of the many sons and daughters who have come and will continue to come to the Alma Mater of their parents. As the wives of alumni, their contributions are interwoven with those of their husbands. They have followed their husbands into the missionary fields of China and Japan. They have worked side by side with them in their research and their publications; while those who have not trained their own sons and daughters, have helped to train others. As teachers, social workers, in business, and in the profes- sions, their record is a constantly growing one. Dr. Edith Abbott, '01, of Chicago, social worker and writer, has a national reputation. Her first book, published in 1910, on Women in Industry, is a classic on that subject. She is a member of the faculty of the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy and of Chicago University. Willa Gather, '95, of New York City, one-time associate editor of McClure's Magazine, and author of several highly ranked books of fiction, is perhaps our best known alumna in the literary field. Leta Stetter Hollingworth, '06, a member of the faculty of Teachers College, Columbia University, has won distinction alongside her husband, H. L. Hollingworth, '06, who is a professor of psychology at Columbia. Grace Coppock, '05, executive secretary of the Young Women's Christian Association for China, has been an inspiration to many other Nebraska women who have entered similar fields. For the men and women who have passed on but are not forgotten no tribute seems adequate acknowledgement of their services. The latest loss the alumni suffered was in the death of Dr. Harry Kirke Wolfe, '80, head of the de- partment of philosophy. Others to be mentioned are Pro- fessor George W. Botsford, '84, of Columbia, distinguished historian ; Edward J. Robinson, '84, engineer with the Bur- THE ALUMNI 69 lington railroad ; Amos G. Warner, '85, author of American Charities, still the standard treatise on that subject ; Sarah Harris Dorris, '88 ; Julia M. Korsmeyer of the department of Romance languages; Dr. Howard T. Ricketts, '94, noted physician, a victim of his own typhoid investigations we might go on selecting names from every class. The alumni who have given their lives in the great war that has just been brought to a close died, as they lived, reflecting honor on their Alma Mater. As we emerge from the great world conflict into an age of peace and reconstruction, the alumni find them- selves represented by two men at the peace gatherings at Versailles, General John J. Pershing, '93, Commander-in- Chief of the American Expeditionary forces, and Dr. Wil- liam Linn Westermann, '94, of the University of Wisconsin, historian. I realize that I have but barely touched here and there the records of the thousands of alumni who represent our Alma Mater. To the many deserving, yet unmentioned, there still remains the satisfaction of service well done. With every alumnus there rests the duty of building up an alumni association that will more fully reflect the work ac- complished by our great alumni body. ANNIS S. CHAIKIN, Secretary of the Alumni Association. 70 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA THE UNIVERSITY AND THE COMMUNITY The degree to which a university may be an asset to a community varies with the size of the town. In some in- stances it is completely subordinated, owing to overwhelm- ing industrial, commercial, and social interests. Again, in a small town, it may dominate the life of the community without making any distinct contribution to it. In such a case, class consciousness develops within the institution which causes a sharp line of cleavage between the towns- people and the university group. Faculty and citizens do not mingle socially, and often intense dislike for the student body springs up, chiefly on account of their pranks, which get beyond control through lack of adequate police force. The relationship between Lincoln and the University has been most happy in this respect. Both were located on the open prairie at the edge of civilization, and they have grown up together to a prosperous middle age. In 1873, the University granted two degrees; in 1910, 343 degrees. In 1870, Lincoln was a village of something less than 2,500 people; in 1910, a careful census gave it a population of 44,000. Both Lincoln and the University now lack, within themselves, the intimate relationships of the early days, but the challenge of the commercial and social forces of the city is still met by the educational forces of the University. Lincoln is more widely known for its schools than for its business enterprises, and this tends toward a selective pro- cess in its population. Families are drawn to the city to educate their children, and teachers and librarians often seek employment in Lincoln for the advantages which the University offers. Citizens and faculty mingle freely in social intercourse, while personal contact between the student body and the townspeople is increased on account of the lack of dormi- tories. Instead of being segregated within their own group, the students are scattered over the city, many in their own homes, some in homes temporarily established for the period of their college residence, others with friends or THE UNIVERSITY AND THE COMMUNITY 71 relatives, and many in private homes where only two or three roomers are kept. Although this system has its dis- advantages, it has its positive value in keeping students in touch with normal community life, the environment for which they are fitting themselves by their college experi- ences. The fact that many students in the University work their way through school is an added means of bringing students into contact with community life. In the early days, when the social and recreational life of the city was much more simple than it is now, the literary societies of the University were an important factor. Their programs, more serious than they are today, were adver- tised in the newspapers and the public was invited to at- tend. Many townspeople were regularly present and con- tributed, chiefly in the way of music, to the evening's entertainment. The development of art and music has been stimulated in the community by the presence of the University; while institutions such as the annual art exhibit, which depend for their permanent financial support upon a large body of citizens, could not be maintained easily in a small town even though it had a large university. One of the earliest definite efforts of the school to make its contribution to the solution of community problems was the establishment of the University Settlement during the school year, 1895-1896. It was known as the Graham Tay- lor House, in honor of the founder of Chicago Commons, who came to Lincoln in that year to help in starting the project. The House was located, during the greater part of its existence, at Eighth and X streets, in the foreign district in Northwest Lincoln. The board of control was made up of faculty members; the residents and assistants were students, or wives of University professors. In 1900, the Settlement was moved to Twentieth and N streets, and some years later, the property was turned over to the Char- ity Organization Society. In spite of the short life of the institution, it registered its influence in the broadening and democratizing of the students who served in it, some of 72 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA whom have since made well-known contributions in social service. The community has benefited by the assistance of uni- versity instructors in a wide range of activities. From early days to the present, the board .of education of the city has usually numbered faculty members upon its staff. In the early period, the shaping of the general policy of public school education, and the building program of recent years have been due in no small part to them. The library board and various departments of the city government, as the engineering department, the park board and the water board, have made use of their expert services. They have been active in the City Improvement and Social Welfare societies, in anti-tuberculosis and other public health work, while enthusiastic support has been given to the prohibi- tion and suffrage movements. University professors have sponsored legislation relating to child labor, mothers' pen- sions, women in industry, and juvenile courts; while the city charter and problems of local government have re- ceived their earnest attention. The community draws largely upon the university faculty for help in forming public opinion on social questions, and in contributing to the cultural life by lectures before parent-teacher associa- tions and the great variety of men's and women's clubs in the city. In addition to such specific contributions, there can be little question that the presence of the University has imparted a more serious tone to the life and thought of the community, accounting in part for the relative freedom of the city from social extravagances. The community, in turn, through its various agencies, furnishes a laboratory for training students in social and civic leadership. No doubt the history of the student vote, in city politics, would make an interesting, and not always savory, tale ; for it, together with the foreign vote, has been the uncertain element, which could be handled more or less en >masse, and hence, in the "old days", was an important consideration. Anxious politicians always advised that it "be watched"; it was frequently subjected to challenge at the polls ; a supreme court decision has been rendered upon THE UNIVERSITY AND THE COMMUNITY 73 it; and it became the subject of state legislation when its stand in favor of prohibition helped to place Lincoln in the dry column. Not only has the city furnished practice in politics and chance for observation of courts and legislatures, but oppor- tunity for social work as well. Investigations of a great variety of social problems, ranging in importance from class and seminar papers to doctoral theses, have been based on local data. Students carry on their field work in the social sciences through numerous community agencies charitable, penal, educational, industrial, recreational, health, and religious. To a great degree the city recognizes the responsibility laid upon it through the presence of a large student body. There is a conspicuous absence of any desire to exploit it on the part of the city at large. Its tastes are catered to perhaps too largely but at least indulgently in amuse- ments ; and the program of the churches is shaped with the students in mind. Their presence has always furnished a talking point for civic reform, and on their account various agencies which might contribute to their demoralization have undoubtedly been more easily disposed of, or have received stricter supervision. The University justifies its existence best by the service it renders. This consists "primarily in the training for lead- ership; but its second service is the practical help given by men and women of broad study to the problems of the com- munity. More and more must this latter function be exer- cised, and the community served be enlarged from the locality in which the University is situated to include every town and open country district in the state. HATTIE PLUM WILLIAMS. 74 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA THE REGENTS The act of the legislature approved February 15, 1869, which established "The University of Nebraska" provided that The general government of the university shall be vested in a board of regents, which shall consist of the governor, the superin- tendent of public instruction, the chancellor of the university, all of whom shall be members by virtue of their offices, and three per- sons from each judicial district, who shall be appointed by the legislature in joint session. The governor was ex officio president of the board. The term of service then fixed at six years has never been changed. This plan was doubtless adapted from Iowa, just as the first territorial assembly had adopted the Iowa civil and criminal code. The English deprecatingly admit that they "muddled through" the war. The records disclose that the experimentation in government of our state uni- versities is scarcely entitled to the English faint praise. It has merely muddled along. The case of our Iowa ex- amplar is typical though in some other states the fumbling has been more frequent and effusive. The act of the first general assembly, passed February 25, 1847, which established the State University of Iowa, provided that it should be governed and managed by fifteen trustees, to be appointed by the first general assembly for a term of six years, the superintendent of public instruction to be the presiding officer of the board. After an unfor- tunate experiment, permitted by the constitution of 1857, with a "Board of Education" elected by the people, but having incongruous legislative powers, an act of March 21, 1864, provided for a board of nine regents, of which the governor was president ex officio, the president of the uni- versity a member ex officio, and the other seven members were chosen by the general assembly, as before. This method of choosing the regents continued until the separate governing body was abolished by the act of 1909, which placed the university, the College of Agriculture and THE REGENTS 75 Mechanical Arts (at Ames) , and the normal school at Cedar Rapids under the government of a "State Board of Educa- tion" consisting of nine members, appointed by the gover- nor with the consent of two-thirds of the senate for a term of six years. Of the five states which started their universities with governing boards chosen by their respective legislatures, namely, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, Iowa alone brought that method into the present period of university development. I have examined the experiments of thirteen states, besides Nebraska, with the governing boards of their universities, but space permits only a skeleton outline of the main changes they have made. The University of Michigan began, in 1837, with the appointive system, but the constitution of 1850 fixed the elective method beyond practicable recall. Indiana University, established in 1838, was governed by a board of trustees named by the legislature. Until 1855 vacancies were filled by the board itself; then, until 1891, by the state board of education. Since 1891 the board of education has ap- pointed five trustees and the alumni resident in the state have appointed three of their own number. The governing board of the University of Missouri was appointed from 1839 till 1868 by the legislature ; since then it has been ap- pointed by the governor and the senate. The regents of the University of Wisconsin were elected by the legislature from 1848 to 1866 ; since then they have been appointed by the governor alone. The regents of the University of Min- nesota have been appointed, from 1851 to the present time, by the governor and the senate. At the University of Kan- sas, the regents were appointed from 1864 to 1913 by the governor and the senate; then all educational institutions were placed under the control of a "State Board of Admin- istration," consisting of three members appointed by the governor and the senate and the governor as ex officio mem- ber and chairman; in 1917 this method was spread over all state institutions. At the University of Illinois, the re- gents were appointed from 1867 to 1887 by the governor and the senate; since then they have been elected by pop- 76 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA ular vote. The University of California began (1868) with the complex system of six ex officio regents, eight appointed by the governor and senate for sixteen years and as many more chosen by the fourteen for a like long term, now there are twenty-four members, eight ex officio and sixteen ap- pointed by the governor. The regents of Ohio State Uni- versity, founded in 1878, have always been appointed by the governor and the senate. The University of South Da- kota, first called the University of the Territory of Dakota, 1883, then the University of Dakota, 1887, discarding earlier methods, is now governed by "Regents of Educa- tion" appointed by the governor and the senate to have jurisdiction over all educational institutions. The Univer- sity of North Dakota, 1883, is governed by a board ap- pointed by the governor and senate. The University of Colorado, 1876, by provision of the constitution, has a gov- erning board elected by the people. The act to establish the University of Nebraska au- thorized the governor to appoint the members of the first board of regents, and he announced his choice as follows: From the first judicial district, Rev. John C. Elliott, Otoe county, two years; Robert W. Furnas, of Nemaha, four years; Rev. D. R. Dungan, Pawnee, six years; from the second judicial district, Rev. John B. Maxfield of Cass, two years ; Abel B. Fuller, of Saunders, four years ; Champion S. Chase, of Douglas, six years ; from the third judicial dis- trict, William B. Dale, of Platte, two years; Rev. William G. Olinger, of Burt, four years ; Dr. Fyfield H. Longley, of Washington, six years. The board was organized at a meeting held in Lincoln on June 3, 1869, when August F. Harvey, uncommonly in- telligent and virile, was elected secretary and John L. Mc- Connell treasurer. Mr. Harvey was a protege of the capi- tal commissioners, functioning as surveyor of the site of Lincoln, and as editor of the peripatetic Statesman, he was a stout defender of the fiercely assaulted acts of his patrons. Mr. McConnell afterward became a well known merchant in Lincoln. At this meeting, the regents approved the plans and specifications for the first building which had THE REGENTS 77 been adopted by the building commissioners, who were iden- tical with the capital commissioners. At the second meet= ing, begun September 22, 1869, the regents attended the ceremonies of laying the corner stone of the building on September 23; at the third meeting, begun December 22, 1870, Uriah Bruner, of Cuming county, was chosen regent in place of Dale, and Rev. Henry T. Davis, of Lincoln, sec- retary in place of Harvey, both of the original incumbents having removed from the state. At the meeting of the board held in December, 1875, J. Stuart Dales was elected secretary to succeed Mr. Davis, and he has continuously held the office to the present time. Aside from the pan-sectarian aspect of their aggregate, the members of the first board of regents were pretty well assorted. The governors choice of clergymen for four of the nine appointive members perhaps five, for it is said that Fuller had taken Episcopalian orders and the elec- tion by the board itself of a reverend chancellor and a rev- erend secretary gave the infant institution a distinctively clerical cast. This virtual stamping of the principal state school as protege and ward of the church was doubtless due in part to the still surviving belief or concession that the inculcation of religion was the most important part of even public education. Probably, however, the politic gov- ernor was mainly intent on procuring the active co-opera- tion of the churches in the difficult and even doubtful experi- ment upon which the state, whose people were chiefly ex- perienced in a sense of poverty, was entering. Rev. John C. Elliott was pastor of the Presbyterian church at Nebraska City from 1866 to 1869, and he is still living at Seville, Ohio. Delineation of the character and career of Robert W. Furnas is accessible to the not numerous citizens of the state who are unfamiliar with them. At the time of his appointment, Rev. David Roberts Dungan was a resident of Lincoln and had been engaged for about five years in missionary work in Nebraska for the sect called the Church of Christ. After 1874 he was for many years a member of the faculty of Drake University, at Des Moines ; and he was president of Cotner University 78 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA for six years from 1890. He now lives at Glendale, Cali- fornia, where he preaches occasionally. Rev. John B. Max- field joined the Nebraska conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1861, and he was actively engaged in the service of his sect, as preacher, teacher, and presiding elder until near the year of his death in 1900. Forcefulness was his characteristic quality. He held the charge at Platts- mouth at the time of his appointment. Abel B. Fuller set- tled at Ashland, then in Cass county, in 1863, where he kept a general merchandise store until 1867, when he became land agent for the Union Pacific and Burlington and Mis- souri River railroad companies and was so employed when he was appointed regent. He was a member of the House of Representatives of the twelfth and last territorial legis- lative assembly, in 1867, and of the same house of the sec- ond state legislature in the same year. The session of the territorial assembly ended February 18 and that of the state legislature began February 20. The members of the territorial assembly were chosen at the regular election, under the law of the territory, on October 9, 1866. The pending process of admitting the territory to statehood being then under arrest by President Johnson, provisional members of a state legislature were elected at the same time. Moreover, the Republicans nominated the same men for members of legislative bodies under the actual terri- torial and the prospective state regime, and this body of dual parts, sitting as a state legislature immediately follow- ing its regular territorial session, accepted the negro suf- frage condition precedent to statehood imposed by the con- gress. Three members of the board, Governor Butler, Furnas, soon to be governor (the ambitious political aspirations of both soon to be cut down, never to rise again) , and Champ- ion S. Chase, belonged to the class commonly called profes- sional politicians; and it is but doing Elder Maxfield justice to observe that he also seems to have shone in that class with native distinction. In his public aspect and activities Regent Chase was a ubiquitous and picturesque personage, and forceful withal. He was a paymaster in the Union THE REGENTS 79 army, the first state's attorney under the first constitution an extra-constitutional office 1867-68; mayor of Omaha for three terms. In 1878-79 there was a very persistent and alleged corrupt attempt by the city council to adopt the Holly water works system, and Mayor Chase's repeated veto of the ordinances which were passed for that purpose won and doubtless deserved general praise. In 1865, William B. Dale came from the state of New York to Columbus, Nebraska, where he engaged in the sale of lumber and in storekeeping. At the third meeting of the board of regents, begun December 22, 1870, according to a provision of the act for establishing the University which authorized the board to fill vacancies occurring when the legislature was not in session, Uriah Bruner, of Cum- ing county, was appointed a successor to Mr. Dale for the reason, as alleged in the record, that he had removed from the state. It appears, however, that he remained a resident of Columbus for many years after this occurrence. Mr. Bruner had settled at West Point in 1856 and in 1869 be- came the first receiver of the land office there. Rev. Wil- liam G. Olinger came with his parents from Virginia to Tekamah in 1855. On October 24, 1862, the boy of 19 was mustered as a private in company B Second Regiment Ne- braska Cavalry, of which Furnas, his colleague on the board of regents, was colonel. He served until September 4, 1863. He was afterward treasurer of Burt county and a member of the House of Representatives in the sixth legis- lature, of 1875. When he was appointed a regent he was pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Tekamah, for which he personally provided the meeting house. He sub- sequently became a preacher in the Congregational church, in Oregon. His neighbors of Tekamah speak in high praise of his spirit and character. Dr. Fyfield H. Longley was a member of the first board of trustees of Blair, in 1869, and was a reputable physician there. Rev. Allen R. Benton became ex officio regent by his election as first chancellor of the university, which occurred at the fourth meeting of the board on January 6, 1871. The two other ex officio regents were Governor David Butler 80 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA and Samuel DeWitt Beals, superintendent of public instruc- tion. The first constitution of the state made no provision for the office of superintendent of public instruction, but "An Act to Establish a system of Public Instruction for the State of Nebraska," passed on the same day as the act to establish the state university, created the office and au- thorized the governor to appoint a superintendent whose tenure should continue until January 1, 1871, when he would be succeeded by the person chosen at the regular election of 1870. Accordingly, on the next day after the passage of the act, the governor appointed S. D. Beals, who thereupon became regent. He contested for nomination for the office in the Republican state convention of 1870, but was defeated by John Murray McKenzie, who therefore succeeded to both offices. Subsequently Mr. Beals had a long career as a teacher in the public schools of Omaha. On February 28, 1871, the two houses of the legislature, in joint convention, elected Dwight J. McCann, of Otoe county, in place of Elliott; Maxfield (still credited to Cass county) and Bruner, each as his own successor; all for the full term of six years from March 1, 1871. Similarly, on the 29th of January, 1873, the legislature elected William D. Scott, of Rulo, Richardson county; James W. Savage, of Omaha; and William Adair, of Dakota City, regents for the full term from March 1, 1873. On the 16th day of February, 1875, the legislature passed a joint resolution declaring that the office of regent from the first judicial district was vacant because McCann, the nominal incumbent, had removed from the state and had not attended any meeting of the board during the last eighteen months. On the same day and in like manner, the place to which Maxfield had been elected, from the second district, was declared vacant because he had moved to the first district from Plattsmouth to Beatrice. On the same day the legislature elected Edgar M. Hungerford, of the Or- leans Sentinel, Harlan county, in the first district, in Mc- Cann's place, and Samuel J. Tuttle, of Lincoln, Lancaster county, in the second district, in Maxfield's place. Charles A. Holmes, of Tecumseh, Johnson county, in the first dis- THE REGENTS 81 trict, was chosen for the full term, in place of Dungan; Benjamin H. Barrows, editor of the Omaha Republican-&nd a member of the House of Representatives, was chosen for the full term for the second district, to succeed Champion S. Chase, who received five votes against thirty-nine for Barrows; and Dr. Alexander Bear, of Norfolk, Madison county, for the full term from the third district, to succeed Dr. Longley, who had removed from Blair in 1872 to be- come the first receiver of the United States land office at North Platte, where he subsequently practiced his profes- sion until he died, about eight years ago. But Lincoln county was in the third district, so that he remained regent until the end of his term. Dr. Longley must have been a clever politician, for he managed to hold lucrative political offices while he was preparing and waiting for his long and suc- cessful professional career. McCann was president of the Nebraska City National Bank and otherwise prominent ; but he wrote compromising political letters, and, drifting to Wyoming, then a Mecca for superfluous politicians of Nebraska, he crippled his career by getting caught in fraudulent transactions in the United States revenue service. Maxfield aspired to re-election in 1875, but he also unwarily wrote a letter to McConnell, treasurer of the university, admonishing him that "we ought to have two or three thousand in Griggs and Webb's bank here [Beatrice] at the opening of the session. If so they cannot move the money into the state treasury during the session. We will then have a man at court. This will guarantee our continuance." For "there will not be a more influential member in the senate" than Griggs, who was slated for its president. It appears that the letter guaran- teed Maxfield's discontinuance; and McConneH's office was abolished by that legislature. Hungerford was found dead in his bed on the morning of January 3, 1876, three days before the beginning of his elective term. By common appraisement the young man of only twenty-seven years was of a high type of both character and accomplishment. On January 7, Governor Garber appointed Rev. Lebbius Fifield, of Kearney, to fill 82 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA the vacancy, and at the regular election of that year he was chosen for the remainder of Hungerford's term. He was elected for another term in 1881. Judge Tuttle remembers him as a man of fine character and spirit; but he was the last clergyman on the board. The inevitable radical reac- tion against the ecclesiastic regime, which culminated in 1882, stood pat, unwisely as I think. Considering the character of the pioneer population and the paucity of numbers to choose from, the legislatures were clearly more discriminating than the people at large have been in their choice of regents. Of those well adapted to the delicate and difficult task of establishing the university, Dungan, Fuller, Chase, Longley, Savage, Hungerford, Bar- rows, Bear, and Tuttle deserve mention. All were marked by more than ordinary character, education, and intelli- gence. That by the legislative plan two democrats could be chosen and that two such democrats as Savage and Bear were chosen is highly to its credit. I knew them, Horatio, both "of most excellent fancy." Judge Savage was a man of that peculiar cast which inspires, holds, and deserves public confidence. Moreover, at the time in question his profession had not become for the most part the mere hand- maid of business, and, in some sort, it still lived up to its reputation as the learned profession, as Judge Savage did. Dr. Bear was the Virginian gentleman. Speech came mended from his tongue with the soft touch and melodious cadence of the South. He took part of the college course of the University of Virginia and his medical degree, in 1860, at the University of Maryland. He had begun to prac- tice when he was caught in the vortex of the war serving on the Confederate side of course the full four years, three of them as surgeon prime preparation for his very successful medical career, which he resumed in Nebraska in 1866, settling permanently at Norfolk in 1872. Not long ago he retired with a handsome competence to Richmond, Virginia, his boyhood home. Judge Tuttle, now working out, hale and hearty, his fiftieth year of continuous practice at the Lincoln bar, had been college bred in Michigan and was encouraged for the THE REGENTS 83 Nebraska experiment by the success of the University of Michigan, the only state university then fairly on its feet. His observation of the ecclesiastical episode in Michigan prepared him for its Nebraska run, and he was so tempered as to be able to treat it fairly. Judge Tuttle drew the four- year term under the new constitution, 1876-89. His influ- ence in the board was strong and wholesome, especially as its president, 1876-77. The present constitution of Nebraska, which was adopted at the general election of 1875, provided that "the general government of the University of Nebraska shall, under the direction of the legislature, be vested in a board of six regents .... who shall be elected by the electors of the state at large" for a term of six years, except that the re- gents chosen at the next succeeding election of 1875 should be classified by lot so that the tenure of two of them should be two years, of two others four years, and of two others six years. Anticipating the adoption of the constitu- tion at the same election, the Republicans nominated a par- tisan ticket, comprising four of the incumbents Adair, Holmes, Hungerford, and Tuttle and Joseph W. Gannett, of Douglas county and Seth P. Mobley, of Hall. Dr. Bear met inevitable defeat with his companions on the democratic ticket, and thereafter none but republicans were permitted to participate in the government of this principal educa- tional institution until, in 1891, Edwin A. Hadley, of Gree- ley county, slipped in on the Independent People's ticket. By 1900 "fusionists" dominated the board, and they thereupon elected E. Benjamin Andrews chancellor by a strict party vote, four to two! The nominally nonpartisan method of electing regents provided by the act of 1917 may measur- ably improve their fitness, but they will still be commonly either self -nominated or, rather worse, nominated by co- teries. In the year 1890, President Thomas C. Chamberlain, of the University of Wisconsin, gave the charter-day ad- dress at Nebraska. In discussing with him the affairs of the two institutions, I said my chief regret was that our regents were not appointed as in Wisconsin, and he promptly replied that his chief regret was that they were 84 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA not elected in Wisconsin as in Nebraska. But the steady adherence to the appointive plan in ten of the fourteen states cited is strong evidence that the appointive method is not as objectionable as the elective. The superstitious tendency to "put God in the constitution" has caused great inconvenience and often worse harm. A plan of choosing regents is not a principle but a mere method, which should be left subject to legislative change; and I do not doubt that if the elective method had not been mistakenly cast in the constitutions of Michigan, Nebraska, and Colorado, it would long ago have been changed into harmony with the appointive method of the ten states I have named. Yet this is not a momentous matter; for as the univer- sities grow and become more complex, their control, both as to initiative and management, tends to fall more and more into the hands of the specialists the chief executive and the faculty. The regents' functions, in detail, are chiefly of a regulatory sort, and in general, mediatorial be- tween specialists and the people. They are handy adjuncts. On occasion, their very differentiation prompts them to open the blinders of the specialists to a broader outlook. On the other hand, an omniscient, or single-minded, or self-suf- ficient board of regents would surely be embarrassing and might be positively troublesome. It is a corollary that the regents should not be of one kind as at least five out of our present six are but that their pristine variety should be restored. Doubt obscures the educational outlook as chaos confronts political order. Says Professor Coe, of the Badger State university: "For this period of remarkable outer achievement has been also a period of skepticism and even of despair. We have fallen of late into a deep discontent with the college." And thus Professor Canby, of Yale: "I am not writing a treatise on education after the war, for the excellent reason that neither I nor any one else knows the terms upon which it will be conducted." But the melting blow-pipe of Profes- sor Veblen's A Memorandum of the Conduct of Universi- ties by Business Men pales other ineffectual fires. PUBLICATIONS 85 In some important aspects at least, our present "Red- blood" board is stronger than any of its predecessors. But, the Red-blood "neither looks back nor looks ahead. He lives in present action. The Red-blood sees nothing; but the Mollycoddle sees through everything." Though "all the building is done by Red-bloods," yet "the whole structure of civilization rests on foundations laid by Mollycoddles," and "in the long run the Red-blood does what the Molly- coddle tells him." Says the strenuous Oswald in Joan and Peter "Don't you know that education is building up an imagination? Everybody knows that." A temerarious critic of the supreme American mollycoddle settles it in a sentence: "And if Lincoln had been a good executive, we should have had no Lincoln." ALBERT WATKINS. PUBLICATIONS Except for official bulletins or catalogues, the earliest regular publication issuing from the campus was The Hesperian Student, established about 1871 or 1872. The paper was managed entirely by students, but received a little financial aid from the regents. The first editors of the paper lodged on the attic-like top floor of the building, as did the janitor; and they helped to keep up the fires in the stoves by which the building was heated. The contents of The Hesperian were varied. It ran a few original serial stories, and contained an article on "The Beautiful in Art," and one entitled "Nature and Art and Intellect." As a specimen of style, the following gem, concerning the gradu- ates of 1877, unearthed from a local column by Mr. J. A. Barrett, in 1894, may be quoted : The hour when these young men departed from her fostering care, was one of deep interest and earnest solicitude, as well as pride, to their alma mater in her young maternity. An hour of joy and pride, because her progeny, rejoicing in the full vigor, elasticity, lofty aspiration and hope of intelligent, cultured young 86 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA manhood, were now about to enter the broad arena of life's con- test, with the peculiar devices she has taught emblazoned upon their shields, as her representatives, to labor and achieve in her name. The following, also gleaned by Mr. Barrett, was from a later column and concerns the high school : In taste and beautiful arrangement the exercises were not excelled by any entertainment of the university. The graduating class consisted of three beautiful and talented young ladies and one young gentleman. The productions of the ladies were surprisingly excellent in thought, and couched in splendidly beautiful language. Every sentence seemed to sparkle with word- gems and sentences of pearls. The address of the young gentleman , on "The Manias of the Age," was a worthy produc- tion. It lacked the glitter and music with which the young ladies adorned their thoughts, but we liked it equally as well. He showed the elements of manly thought in grappling with the knottj prac- tical problems of the day, and evinced a conception of the follies and fantasies of the age. In the early nineties the management of The Hesperian became largely a matter of school politics. Alumni will recall the rather ornate cover designed by Miss Sarah Wool Moore of the art department. It represented a huge sun- flower supported by two "Hesperian students." Across the face of the sunflower ran a ribbon bearing the letters "Hesperian Student." The typography of the paper became so careless that it was not unusual for the paper to appear with all the s's, or some other letters, in italics. These strange freaks of the printer became such a joke among the students that one day a fake edition of The Hesperian ap- peared. It was made up largely of the most absurd items from the real Hesperian. The following is an extract from the mock Hesperian and is said to be almost a reproduction of an article in a real issue : Hair-Breadth Escape of J. H. Hooper At the close of last term a brutal and cowardly attack was made upon J. H. Hooper by a band of nine sneaking thugs and assassius who attempted to bind and gag him; boubt less with the intention of robbing him and leaving him a Mutilated corpse by the roadside. But Hooper proved too much for them. Summoning all his resolution he hurlad the villians from him knocking down five and dragging the PUBLICATIONS 87 other seven after him. Mr. Hooper's Heroic resistance, one MAN against seventeen so paralyzed the nineteen despejadoas that nothing more is to be feared from Them. In 1892 Willa Gather became a literary editor of The Hesperian, and a few years later editor-in-chief ; and it was under her vigorous leadership that the paper reached its maximum of excellence. The following passage is excerpted from the quarter-centennial number and suggests by its virile dash of composition Miss Gather's authorship : Along in '84 and '85 THE HESPERIAN had a literary column in which it felt in duty bound to review current literature. In reading this column we learned among other new and startling things that The Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, that it is very immoral and should be carefully kept from the young. Furthermore, we learned that War and Peace was a novel by Count Tolstoi, and that it was very good, though somewhat volumin- ous. Of Bordello the literary editor merely says that it is a poem by Robert Browning. It is a case in which silence speaks, appar- ently. In the local column we find a casual mention that Bismarck has been ill for a few days, and that Tennyson dined at Windsor Castle last week, and that the Queen of Spain has a new dress. In the editorial columns we find inspiring quotations from Faust, Hamlet, and Lucile. In the files we scanned we found thirteen essays on the inevitable Thomas Carlyle. It is a great temptation to reprint some of the literary productions of the olden times, for some of them are very good stuff indeed, but after all these years it would be cruel to treat our amiable librarian to her essay on the Founders of the Modern English Race, or to thrust upon the managing editor of The State Journal his own essay on Mahomet, and it would be little short of inhuman cruelty to expose Mr. Saunders by republishing the awful poetry he used to write under the graceful nom de plume of "Ivy." From time to time there were rival publications. A class paper, The Sophomorian, containing literary and journalistic matter, was conducted in 1889-90 by the enter- prise of one student. In the two succeeding years, the same student, associated with a few classmates, published suc- cessfully The Lasso, "for the promotion of college spirit." There was a design of a cowboy on the front, and for some reason all of its early numbers were in black covers. The Nebraskan, founded about 1894, was a rival of The Hesperian. This paper was nicknamed "Riley's Rag" after 88 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA one of its editors, "Rag Riley" (Frank T. Riley of Kansas City). Since his day the college paper has always been called familiarly "The Rag." The most ambitious and the most ephemeral of student publications was The University Monitor, an attempt at serious journalism which rose and passed in 1896. On January 13, 1901, The Daily Nebraskan was organized. It was a consolidation of the two weekly papers, The Hesperian and The Nebraskan, and the literary monthly connected with the latter, The Scarlet and Cream. The first issue of The Daily Nebraskan came out in Septem- ber, 1901. The editorship of the paper was at first elective by the student body, but it is now an official publication having financial backing from the university. The staff editors are selected by the faculty publication board. As to humorous publications, the earliest, according to tradition, was The Button Buster, issued in the early '80's by members of the Palladian society. This paper went through several issues at irregular intervals. Though copies have failed of preservation, a few gems illustrating its type of humor have been handed down. From a Soph's Album "May your life glide down The stream of time Like a bobbed-tailed chicken On a sweet potato vine." Our Favorite "She's a tall, slim girl without bang or curl But garbed in becoming apparel. She can give you askance a withering glance, As sour as a vinegar barrel." A high-class humorous paper, The Arrow-Head, was published about 1899-1901 with Herbert Johnson, now a celebrated cartoonist, as managing editor. This publica- tion showed unusual originality for a student production. Awgwan, the present student comic paper, was established in 1912-13, largely through the efforts of Ralph Northrup. Its drawings, and cover designs furnish an avenue of ex- PUBLICATIONS 89 pression for campus artists and cartoonists. The paper started as a bi-monthly but during the period of the war was reduced to five or six issues a year. The first annual, The Sombrero, appeared in 1884. Copies are not now to be found. The second volume was is- sued in 1892, and the third in 1894. This last contained a cut of the Sombrero board of 1884. Underneath the cut is the legend "The docile donkey, recently found anchored in a recitation room on the third floor is an honorary member of this board. He refused to compromise himself by appear- ing in the engraving." It is said that the donkey referred to was a quaint little animal which the professor of French used to ride to school. Numbers of The Sombrero continued to be issued until 1907, when the name was changed to The Cornhusker. The Cornhusker is an amalgamation of the junior annual and the senior class-books which used to be issued by the seniors alongside the junior annuals. Classic among the senior books were that of 1905 with Alice Town Deweese as editor and moving spirit, and that of 1906 with Leta Stetter Hollingworth as a leading editor and contributor. The uni- versity annual is now an official or semi-official publication of the souvenir type, issued under the supervision and censorship of the publication board. On the literary or non- journalistic side, it is to be re- gretted that there is now no avenue of expression for the University students. News gatherers and humorists have opportunities but not so the writers proper. The Nebraska Literary Magazine, a quarterly, ran in 1895-96, under the encouragement of the department of rhetoric and of the English Club of the University ; and, beginning in February, 1898, The Kiote, a monthly publication of the English Club, went through three or four volumes. The interest in writ- ing that led to the publication of these magazines was, for the most part, due to the stimulus of Instructor Herbert Bates, and later to that of Professor Clark Fisher Ansley, of the department of rhetoric. Formerly there was much of a literary nature in the Sombrero. This material now 90 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA seems to be crowded out by restrictions of space, interest in the social organizations, or for other reasons. And, the school is now so big that it is difficult to "stalk" talent that does not come forward of itself. Opportunity or personal popularity are likely to bring staff positions, where genius for writing may remain buried save for some lucky chance. Some of the former contributors to University publica- tions, all members of the English Club, who have since be- come distinguished, are Keene Abott of Omaha; Harvey Newbranch, editor of the Omaha World-Herald; Willa Gather, the novelist; Norris Huse, who was lately called to New York City for newspaper work; H. B. Alexander; D. N. Lehmer, now of the University of California; A. S. Johnson, sociologist, novelist, and one of the editors of The New Republic; Edith Abbott of Chicago, sociologist and author; George C. Shedd, novelist; Sara Birchall, now with Vogue, author of a book of verse ; Ruth Bryan Owen ; Mar- garet Lynn, essayist and short story writer; Leonard H. Bobbins, of The Newark News; Leta Stetter Hollingworth of Columbia University; J. A. Sargent, a well known engineer; Emory R. Buckner, attorney; Fred Ballard, the playwright; Louise Pound; and Edwin Ford Piper, author of a newly published book of verse entitled Barbed-Wire and Other Poems. For faculty and graduate publications, the University compares to great advantage with similar state institutions. The oldest publication, University Studies, includes studies of all kinds. It gained perhaps its greatest recognition by its publication of some of Professor C. W. Wallace's Shakes- pearian researches. The University Journal, a journalistic and educational bulletin, is edited by A. A. Reed, and it alternates with The Alumni Journal, edited by the alumni secretary, Miss Annis Chaiken. The publications of The Nebraska State Historical Society and of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences are issued from the campus. There are many departmental series, like Studies from the Zoo- logical Laboratory, established by Professor H. B. Ward; Reports of the Botanical Survey of Nebraska, founded by Dr. C. E. Bessey; Reports of the Nebraska Geological Sur- PUBLICATIONS 91 vey, edited by Professor E. H. B arbour, and the recently established Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism, edited by Louise Pound, H. B. Alexander, and F. B. San- ford. Finally deserving of mention is The Mid-West Quar- terly, established in 1913-14 during the administration of Chancellor Avery, with Professor P. H. Frye as editor. According to its prospectus it was "established by the University of Nebraska in the belief that there exists in this country a quantity of excellent writing for which there is no adequate medium of publication. While exact scholarship, the discovery and verification of fact, has re- ceived any amount of encouragement and stimulation, the cultivation of general ideas, the free play of intelligence, what Matthew Arnold would broadly call criticism, has met of late years with neglect if not with actual disfavor . . . . it is the hope of enlarging the opportunities of those who are interested in this manifestation of mental activity, irrespective of territorial limitations, which has led to the establishment of The Mid-West Quarterly." The Quarterly has contained contributions from writers and scholars of note, and has received much commendation from savants in many parts of the United States. OLIVIA POUND. 92 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA ATHLETICS No brief survey of the history of athletics at Nebraska can possibly seem adequate. Unrecorded history after all is much more interesting than the statistics of victories and defeats. If a composite picture could be drawn which would mirror the individual heroisms, then only could we appre- ciate the records which the University of Nebraska has made on the courts, diamond, track, field, and gridiron since embarking in intercollegiate contests in the late '80's and early '90's. The students of the University confined themselves in the early days to intra-mural athletics. It has been said that if Professor G. E. Howard, who was among the first students, had matriculated at a later time he would have been one of the most famous of our all-round athletes. Though one would scarcely picture Professor Caldwell as a plunging fullback, it is well known that he was a baseball player of a great deal of ability. FOOTBALL Football has been the major sport since its very begin- ning. From a desire to beat Doane and thus win the state championship, the goal of our first football teams, we have passed to the ambition revealed in the schedule for 1919, which includes Iowa, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Kansas, Ames, Missouri, and Syracuse. In 1890 with the aid of the football fans from among the faculty, the first football team was organized. The great rival for 1890 and 1891 was Doane; but in 1892 gridiron warriors tackled Kansas and were defeated by the score of 12 to 10. Their only other game that season was with Iowa, which resulted in a tie. The next year a professional coach was employed in the person of an old Michigan star by the name of Craw- ford, who piloted Nebraska through the season without a defeat. The 1894 team was the first team which was recog- nized as the champion of the Missouri Valley colleges. ATHLETICS 93 From 1894 to 1900 Nebraska did not win another cham- pionship, although she was always represented by credit- able teams which lost by nip and tuck battles^ Following Crawford, Thomas, also of Michigan, Robinson of Brown, Yost of Lafayette, and Branch of Williams were employed as professional coaches, until the advent of "Bummy" Booth in 1900. From the beginning of his career as football coach until he left after the season of 1905, Nebraska had an un- broken string of championships of the Missouri Valley. In 1902 our opponents were held scoreless and we gained national recognition by defeating, for the first time, the strong Minnesota team. In 1903 Nebraska was again un- defeated. In 1904 and 1905, though we were defeated by Western Conference schools, the Missouri Valley colleges succumbed to our attack. Foster of Dartmouth succeeded Booth in 1906, and though the team played well, it lost to Kansas, Minnesota, and Chicago. "King" Cole of Michigan as the football mentor in 1907, won another Missouri Valley championship. In 1908 and 1909, we lost the championship to Kansas. However, in "King's" last year, 1910, we came to our own by going through the season with only a single defeat and that at the hands of Minnesota. The preceding year the faculty representatives of the Missouri Valley Conference laid down the rule that coaches must henceforth be members of the faculty and elected for the entire year. This rule went into effect for the year 1911- 12. Ewald 0. Stiehm was our first all-year coach. He was the product of Wisconsin University, with several years of successful minor college coaching experience. His first foot- ball team, though falling a victim to Minnesota, made a clean sweep of the Missouri Valley and tied the University of Michigan in the last game of the season, after clearly outplaying its antagonist during the greater part of the game. In 1912 and 1913 the Cornhuskers won all games except that with Minnesota. After a series of defeats at the hands of Minnesota since 1902, Nebraska triumphed at last in 1914, by a score of 7 to 0, on the home field in a most exciting contest. The 94 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA season was a victorious one throughout and Nebraska's was classed as one of the strong teams of the country. The 1902 and the 1915 Cornhusker football teams were pointed out as the two greatest teams in our history. Rutherford and Chamberlain as a scoring machine, with other stars that would have shone on any ordinary team, made the 1915 warriors the most spectacular iin their performances of perhaps all our elevens. They defeated their strongest opponents by large scores, with the exception of Notre Dame on Thanksgiving Day, where the margin was only one point. Rutherford's blocking, with Chamberlain's marvel- ous dodging, kept the largest number of people that ever witnessed a football game on Nebraska Field continually on their feet. Dr. E. J. Stewart became director of athletics in the fall of 1916. His first team lost the championship to Kansas, though it made a very creditable record. In 1917 another Missouri Valley championship was annexed, making a total of fifteen years of championship out of a possible twenty- seven. W. G. Kline acted as coach of the 1918 football team in the absence of Director Stewart. It was a team made up of the members of the Students' Army Training Corps, with no eligibility rules and playing only hit and miss games throughout the season. Most of the veterans of former years had gone to war and as a consequence 1918 was not a successful season, though we defeated Kansas by a good score and we can all recall the time when that was the only essential to success. A roll call of the captains of the years reveals the names of men who perhaps during their college days were the best known men on the campus. 1891 E. E. Mockett 1898 W. C. Melford 1892 E. E. Mockett 1899 C. E. Williams 1893 G. H. Dern 1900 F. H. Brew 1894 E. 0. Pace 1901 John Westover 1895 W. W. Wilson 1902 John Westover 1896 0. B. Thorpe 1903 J. R. Bender 1897 G. C. Shedd 1904 M. A. Benedict ATHLETICS 95 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 C. T. Borg Glen Mason John Weller J. B. Harvey 0. A. Beltzer John Temple S. V. Shonka E. E. Frank 1913 L. R. Purdy 1914 Victor Halligan 1915 R. B. Rutherford 1916 H. H. Corey 1917 Edson Shaw 1918 *Ernest Hubka 1919 Paul Dobson, Captain Elect. BASEBALL Baseball is the oldest of Nebraska's sports. From the very beginning of the University, baseball contests were held between the various classes. An intercollegiate game with Doane in 1882 is the first outside contest recorded. Nebraska was victor by a decisive score, probably on ac- count of the fact that Frederick Shepard, now a judge of the district court of Lancaster County, had m'astered the curve ball and had the opposing batsmen absolutely at his mercy. A great many creditable teams have represented Ne- braska. Especially during the late '90's and early 1900's did we have excellent baseball teams, some of whose stars were Eddie Gordon, J. R. Bender, J. M. Bell, George Fenton, Robert Carroll. The coming of Western League Base- ball in 1905 brought a decline of interest. The baseball teams began to be controlled by university factions, and though they made extended trips to the East and South, baseball became a liability from the manager's point of view. No more than a handful of spectators would be on hand to witness an important battle. In 1911 the sport was abandoned. Since that time, baseball has had several revivals but only a few games were played each season. Coach Stewart is now planning a real resurrection of baseball, to take place just as soon as conditions within the University return to *Roscoe Rhodes, Captain Elect for 1918, was killed in action in France. 96 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA their pre-war basis. Much interesting information could be collected on the history of baseball at Nebraska, if time and space permitted. TRACK ATHLETICS Though contests within the University had been held in track events almost since the beginning, the late '80's and early '90's record some track meets with Doane College. The first meet with Kansas was in 1897 and resulted in a victory for Nebraska. After Dr. R. G. Clapp came to Ne- braska in 1902, Nebraska began to develop track stars of the first magnitude, though, as the accompanying records show, even before that time there were many notable per- formances. Nebraska has been first among Missouri Val- ley colleges in the annual conference meet but two times since its organization in 1907, but has won sixty percent of her dual meets with Kansas. She has lost only three meets in twelve years of competition with Minnesota and has divided honors with Ames. Louis R. Anderson, Ne- braska's greatest miler, was a member of the last Olympic team, which represented the United States at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. A comparison of the track records of 1896-97 with those today shows the development of the sport in the last twenty- five years. CROSS COUNTRY Cross country running was introduced by Dr. R. G. Clapp, and for six years after the competition of our first team in 1904, Nebraska was the Cornell of the West, win- ning four out of six championships in competition against Minnesota, Wisconsin, Chicago, Ohio, Ames, Iowa, and other middle western schools. Because of a lack of attention, cross country running has not flourished since 1910 and it was finally abandoned in 1915. Plans are now under way for a revival. HOLDER Present Record ER HO ecords in 896, 1897 ATHLETICS r, A r P3 O H O 5 O fe: J 3 J Q ^ P W S H Cj ! * g g " 1C 10 CD O5 CD CM TH irH COCM o 05 o CO CM ! "tf CD 1C COrH rH ! rH t- rH O .- ^3 CO O5 00 -^ rj< 05 t> t> CD 00 CO rH I> LC CD OO CO LO O CO LC ^ CO LC rH (N (N rH Tj< rH iH CN1 CO I> ^r c-i w CD O5 ep rH _ ^ TJ C 2 fl^COL005 O C ^ g rH COCO HH . O W (N rH CD O5 1C 00 rH (M irH(MCD05r> t> CO Tj :IC 0000 CD LC O5 CD ',i-t rH rH O5 CD d M rH g S W O5 s : < >H fc Q) g S S H fe COCOrH (N f o S>^ bo o p2 i *> o oo oTboS ^ ^^fsISS -S-S o3 03 ^ 3 T3T3 OO |g ^'i 03 00 *C rt< LC LC 00 "tf CO C<1 rH rH CD rH CO CO ^. a - ni Ki M a c* *^s H 1 1. 811^*1 ofl^-t^cj^iH^ajw .S S ^ ?H .S S =$ r? hn C3 a : _* bfi.^ o o> QJ 0) bo bo 0) o O^ Sfa-SSjS o> rr -s g If! T3 O a^aaaaallm^^a THE UNIVERSITY TODAY 109 None the less it is observable that the only striking dis- proportion in the enrollment is in the case of the wholly general and non-professional College of Arts and Sciences. The figures for that college, indeed, are somewhat decep- tive, for the Teachers' College and some of the schools are organized within it and demand certain deductions from its totals. Still, after all deductions are made, the numbers enrolled there are greater than those of any other division of the University, and show a persistent vitality in this oldest of all the colleges. The problem of the arts college is today the principal problem of higher education in America, and especially in the state universities of the Middle West. The keying up of the economic life and the growing disrepute of leisure have tended to put a pressure upon the student to make every moment of his training count in almost a Prussian degree toward his efficiency in some demonstrably useful activity. Out of this shift of emphasis there has grown a corresponding vagueness as to the exact values for which the arts college is to stand. But however much technical training may become the chief function of the state uni- versity, it can not wholly displace the pursuit of those other studies whose aim is to inform the mind broadly in the thoughts and experience of the past, and put the present into its just perspective by widening the student's outlook. How vitally this purpose clings to the prevailing idea of education is to be seen in the enrollment in those courses that have no other reason for being. And the problem of the arts college lies in the proper correlation of those studies to that end. To return to the general condition of the University, perhaps the best survey of the range of subjects of study offered by its colleges in its fiftieth year, and of the teach- ing done in them, may be had in a glance at the list of its separate departments and the numbers of students regis- tered in them in a recent typical semester. 110 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA DEPARTMENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY Registration for the first semester 1916-17 Agricultural chemistry 257 Agricultural extension 17 Agronomy 130 American history 369 Animal husbandry 252 Animal pathology 51 Astronomy and meteorology 76 Bacteriology and pathology 32 Botany 347 Chemistry 812 Dairy husbandry 166 Economics and com- merce 1023 Education 372 Education, sciences in secondary 37 Education, secondary .. 34 Educational theory and practice 313 Engineering, agricul- tural 228 Engineering, civil 155 Engineering, electrical 132 Engineering, mechani- cal 276 Applied mechanics 283 English history 141 English literature 1038 Entomology 96 European history 177 Farm management 84 Fine arts 981 Geography 165 Geology 120 German 731 Greek history and literature 37 Home economics 393 Horticulture 115 Mathematics 651 Military science 614 Philosophy 444 Physical education... 1087 Physics 415 Physiology 320 Plant pathology and physiology 63 Political science and sociology 655 Rhetoric 1762 Roman history and literature 143 Romance languages 790 School administration.. 33 Slavonic 88 Zoology, anatomy, his- tology 561 If this glance at the condition of the University today may be taken to include a survey of the past decade under the chancellorship of Dr. Avery, another set of tables may be of interest as showing the growth of the University plant during that period. The comparison is striking. THE UNIVERSITY TODAY 111 Degrees granted before 1909 3674 Degrees granted since 1909 ~ 4124 Size of City Campus, 1909 11.9 acres Size of City Campus, 1919 36 acres Value of University Bldgs., 1909....$ 685.000)