Shawnee County KS Archives History - Books .....Washburn College 1905
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Book Title: History Of Shawnee County, Kansas

WASHBURN COLLEGE.

    Period of Construction—1865-1896. For the origin of Washburn College we must
go back to New England. We find it in that spirit which the first New England
settlers brought over with them in the early part of the seventeenth century,
those who in their poverty founded Harvard College in 1636. It was traditional
in the church of the Massachusetts and Connecticut Puritans to make sacrifices
for the higher education. Wherever the Congregational Church has gone, it has
taken that tradition with it. The Congregationalists who came to Kansas, whether
they came from New England directly or not, brought with them this tradition.
When the Association of Congregational Churches was organized, to found a
college was one of the first things thought of. At their first meeting in 1857
they adopted this resolution: "That a committee of five be raised to obtain
information in regard to the location of a college under the patronage of this
body, and if they deem it expedient, to secure such a location." Among those
appointed upon the committee of five were John Ritchie and Lewis Bodwell. Lewis
Bodwell was pastor of the Congregational Church of Topeka and John Ritchie, one
of the leading members. These two men, together with Harvey D. Rice and Harrison
Hannahs, were those most deeply interested in the new enterprise. The
Association of Congregational Churches assumed direction and oversight and the
preliminary work for the college was guided by that body. There seems to have
been no question as to whether a college should be founded. There was no doubt
about that. There was some debate as to where the location should be. Some
friends of the embryo college wished it at Topeka, others wished it at Lawrence,
others at Leavenworth or elsewhere.

    In 1858 the association voted to accept the offers of Topeka subscribers; in
1859 the Topeka subscribers not having redemed their pledges, it was voted to
place the college at Lawrence and to call it Monumental College. The Lawrence
people were anxious to have the college. Nearly all of the inhabitants must have
signed the subscription list, for we are told that when unrolled at the
association meeting it reached from the door to the moderator's desk and half
way back again. Mount Oread was offered as a site for the college, hundreds of
acres of land and $10,000 for endowment, and a $25,000 building. The Topeka
delegation consisting of Harrison Hannahs resisted the action of the
association, as they deemed Topeka a better place for a college and claimed that
Topeka was at the time making efforts in good faith to fulfill the pledges made
the year before. In fact, Mr. Rice was in the East at the time to raise money
for Colonel Ritchie, to be used for the college. If 1860 had not been the famine
year, Lawrence might have redeemed her pledges, Monumental College might have
occupied Mount Oread and the State University been forced to occupy another
home. As it was, in 1860 the Topeka people were ready to make again the proposal
they had made in 1858, and were prepared—at least in part—to make their pledges
good. One part of the proposal made by the Topeka friends of the college was
that 160 acres of land should be given within a mile and a half of the
town-site. How this was procured is told by Mr. Rice in his "Reminiscences" and
has a place in this sketch, for it is the history of the procuring of the site
upon which these buildings stand which we now are using.

    In 1858 gold was discovered near Pike's Peak and George Davis, who owned
this quarter section was anxious to go in the spring of 1859. Previously he had
refused to sell. Colonel Ritchie and Mr. Rice accordingly got their heads
together and agreed that Colonel Ritchie should mortgage the quarter section
upon which he lived and Mr. Rice should give his time to go back to New England
and raise the money on the security of Colonel Ritchie's land. Mr. Rice went
first to Brooklyn to see Henry Ward Beecher, for he had come to Kansas in the
first place as a member of the Beecher Bible Rifle Company. But Mr. Beecher was
away and so Mr. Rice went on to Hartford, where he had lived. There, after two
weeks of rather discouraging effort, he called upon Mrs. Hooker, Henry Ward
Beecher's sister. She and her sisters, Mrs. Stowe and Miss Catherine E. Beecher,
became much interested, and soon after Mr. Hooker and his partner, Hon. Francis
Gillett, United States Senator from Connecticut, furnished Mr. Rice with a
thousand dollars. This, with another thousand dollars already obtained, he took
back to Topeka in the form of a $2,000 draft. The draft was cashed in
Leavenworth, the Topeka banks not having $2,000, and $1,600 of it were taken to
pay Mr. Davis for this land. It was held by Colonel Ritchie who was ready to
turn it over to the college when the time should come.

    The time came in 1865. February 6, 1865, a charter was granted to the
trustees of Lincoln College, and soon efforts were made to realize the
long-projected plan. Over $7,000 was subscribed. Colonel Ritchie subscribed
$3,000 and Mr. Rice $1,000. The 160 acres now the college site, were deeded to
the college by John Ritchie and his wife at $2,400. Lots at 10th avenue and
Jackson they deeded at $200 and Mr. Ritchie gave $400 in cash. The trustees were
now ready to build, but an unexpected obstacle presented itself. None of the
Topeka contractors had faith in the new undertaking. They refused to bid for the
work. But Mr. Rice, not much liking to be stopped that way, as he says, proposed
to the trustees that he be given the contract at $7,000. The proposal was
accepted. United States soldiers from Maine and Massachusetts then stationed in
Topeka dug the trenches. The stone for the building was drawn by Mr. Rice's
ox-team. Stone sills were-obtained that had been destined for Bethany College,
which had been started then but could not be completed until later. The pine
timber was hauled mostly from Atchison and Leavenworth by Mr. Rice. Native
lumber was sawed on the Wakarusa twelve miles south. The building thus
constructed is the one now standing on 10th avenue and Jackson street.

    Colonel Ritchie and Mr. Rice, two of those most active in giving Lincoln
College its habitation, got their impulse largely, the one from Knox College,
the other from Williams. Mr. Rice lived in Northern Massachusetts in his boyhood
and used very frequently to pass through Williamstown on his way to Troy. He
wished much to go to Williams, but, being unable to, resolved that he would do
what he could to make it possible for others to go to college. Colonel Ritchie
before coming to Kansas had visited President Blanchard of Knox College and was
impressed with the work for good done there. President Blanchard gave him $200
for the college, of which Colonel Ritchie may already have been thinking. The
early history of Washburn touches Knox College in another way. Major Hannahs had
also visited that institution, had observed how well co-education worked there,
and, when he later became interested in the Kansas college, resolved to use his
influence to open its doors to young women as well as young men.

    School opened in the new building January 3, 1866. There were three
teachers, Rev. Samuel D. Bowker, George H. Collier and Rev. H. Q. Butterfield.
Mr. Bowker had already been working in the interests of the college and had
secured several thousand dollars and several hundred "valuable volumes" as a
nucleus for a library. Each of the teachers was encouraged to make efforts to
help raise an endowment fund. A special effort was being made in Kansas in 1866
to raise $10,000 for endowment. The movement met with some success as $3,300 was
pledged on it by January, 1866.

    The first term seems to have been a successful one. We learn that "the
examination at the close of the winter term was quite thorough and creditable to
the institution. The classes in the languages and mathematics evinced by their
clear conception and ready answers the work of the teacher and pupil during the
term. Between thirty and forty students were in attendance."-Thirty-eight names
were given in the catalogue. These were all in the preparatory department. The
next year opened with two college students and 65 others. In 1868 Addison P.
Davis was given his diploma, the first student to be graduated.

    The last part of this year, 1868, Lincoln College became Washburn College.
November 19th, a meeting of the trustees was held at which a letter from Rev.
Mr. Butterfield was read announcing a gift of $25,000 from Deacon Ichabod
Washburn of Worcester, Massachusetts, and suggesting the propriety of changing
the name of the college in honor of the donor. Some felt, among them John
Ritchie, that Lincoln College was a name peculiarly fitting and were reluctant
to give it up, especially as Lincoln himself had expressed an interest in the
college, and shortly before his death had promised it a contribution; but there
were several other literary institutions in the United States bearing the name
of Lincoln and it was regarded as most fitting that the college should bear the
name of the one who, up to this time, had been its greatest benefactor, and who
had secured its permanence.

    The next year Rev. Mr. Butterfield was elected President. He remained
president a little over a year and was succeeded in 1871 by Rev. Peter MacVicar.
The first important task of Dr. Mac Vicar was to push through the erection of a
building upon the permanent site. The building at 10th avenue and Jackson street
had from the first been regarded as a merely temporary abode of the College. The
trustees had since the formation of the corporation held the 160 acres deeded to
them by John Ritchie, and although there had been some hesitation about going
out into the prairie so far, and some attempts had been made to secure a
location nearer the center of the city, it was decided to put up a building, if
possible, on the site now occupied. Accordingly a subscription book was passed
around upon which the citizens of Topeka generously pledged themselves in 1872
for $31,500. $25,000 was subscribed in 25 days. The academy building and site
were sold to the city for $15,000 and by December, 1872, the new building was
enclosed.

   The northeastern corner of the quarter section was chosen for a campus. The
trustees hoped to lease the rest to those who liked to breathe the learned
atmosphere of a classical institution, and thus establish a college community.
The campus was plowed up and around it was planted an osage hedge and outside of
that a high board fence. The osage hedge has grown and the board fence is no
longer necessary. Two hundred and fifty white elms and 200 cottonwoods were set
out. It was hard to make the trees live, the wind blew so continually and the
ground was so dry. It was largely to protect the trees that the fence was built
and the ground kept plowed. Corn was usually raised in the summer. At one time
Dr. MacVicar was paid in part by 314 bushels of corn at 18c a bushel.

    It did not prove practicable to make the building ready for occupancy until
1874. Then two rooms and a kitchen were finished off, and in the autumn the
college was moved to the building we now called Rice Hall.

    Meantime they had to vacate the building sold to the city and hold their
sessions at such places as they could find. In 1872-73 the school was held in a
grocery store on the west side of 10th avenue between Kansas avenue and Jackson
street. In 1873-74 it was held in the building at the southwest corner of Eighth
and Kansas avenues, while the library remained stored in boxes in the basement
of E. H. Blake's residence, corner of Sixth avenue and Tyler street.

    At the time the college was moved to College Hill, the most of the teaching
was done by Professor Dunbar and Prof. George C. Merrill. Professor Merrill
remained until 1875, when he was called to Phillips, Andover. Professor Dunbar
remained until 1878. Professor Merrill excelled in mathematics, and surveyed the
ground for the original campus. Professor Dunbar was an unusually proficient
student of languages. Washburn students of those days thought he had too little
patience with their shortcomings. The number of students from 1874 to 1878 was
not large. When C. K. Holliday entered, in 1876 or 1877, there were only 13, in
1878 there were 20. The few-ladies who boarded at the school had rooms in the
basement. The boys had rooms in the second story. Dr. MacVicar and other members
of the faculty occupied the floor between. On the first floor also were
recitation rooms, the library, and at the west end, the chapel.

    These were discouraging years for the president and trustees. It was hard
times financially, the prospect for students was unpromising. In 1874, however,
$10,000 was procured in the East to add to the endowment fund. The vested funds
of the college in June, 1877, were reported to be a little over $45,000. After a
trip East in the spring of 1878 the president thinks the situation encouraging.
In fact, from this time on for a decade substantial growth is the order of the
day. New buildings are erected, students increase in number, new departments are
added.

    In 1879 Hartford was built. Professor Stearns in the summer went East and in
the city of Hartford succeeded in a very short time in raising $3,000. With the
proceeds work was at once begun upon a new cottage for young ladies. It is to be
remarked that this building was not placed upon the campus enclosed by the hedge
and the board fence. For one thing boys are human and might be distracted if the
cottage were too near the dormitories in the main building; for another,
President MacVicar wished no buildings but large substantial ones of stone on
the campus. Hartford was ready in the autumn of 1879, a little late for the
beginning of the term. Until it was done the young ladies boarded in the city,
making the trip to and from College Hill in a hack. "So impatient were we," one
of them has written, "to move into the cottage, that while the sitting-room
floor was covered with shavings and the house was all unfinished we took
possession." The first meal under the new roof was an event. A plentiful supply
of crackers, milk and syrup was spread upon the kitchen table, guiltless of a
tablecloth, and otherwise primitive in its appointments, and eight girls sitting
on inverted crocks made a hearty meal. They made a bed all across one room and
slept sweetly under the protecting care of "our dear matron, Mrs. Webster." It
was the purpose of the board of trustees to add such buildings as Hartford as
there should be a demand for them. The catalogue published in 1880 contains the
following statement: "In the founding of Washburn College as a Christian
institution of learning, it was the intention to provide facilities of Christian
culture for young women as well as young men. In pursuance of this intention,
the Trustees have set apart an eligible tract adjoining the college campus as a
site for the ladies department. Instead of attempting, however, to erect
extensive buildings at great cost, the Trustees have adopted what may be called
the 'Cottage Plan'—that is, the erection of buildings in the form of dwellings,
at a cost of about $3,000 each, capable of accommodating twenty or twenty-five
pupils, under the care of a preceptress. The first of this style of buildings
has been erected and is now wholly occupied. Another cottage is partially
completed and occupied.

    "This plan prevents the congregating of large numbers in one building,
obviates the objection to extended stairways, is safer in the event of fire, and
renders the whole arrangement more attractive and homelike. The domestic economy
is on the Mount Holyoke principle. Each pupil is required to aid to the extent
of an hour a day in household work, under the personal supervision of the matron."

    The cottage referred to as partially completed and occupied was Cottage No.
2, later South Cottage. This was burned to the ground in December, 1890. In the
catalogue of 1882-83 a third cottage to be called the "Kansas Cottage" is
prophesied. But this was never erected. Some money was subscribed for it, but
not enough, and when Holbrook was built there was not the need of it.

    In January, 1883, Whitin Hall was ready to be used as a cottage for boys.
The catalogue announced that about 75 young men could be accommodated in the two
buildings, College Hall and Whitin. Board could be furnished at from $2.00 to
$2.50 per week. "At this low rate, very little would be gained by self-boarding.
Generally also the deleterious effect of boarding one's self is such as to
render it quite objectionable. On the plan effected the food is prepared in a
neat and wholesome manner, as in a well regulated family. By the formation of
boarding clubs the expenses of board may be still further reduced."

    In 1886 Holbrook was occupied. For several years before this it had been
impossible to receive all the young ladies who wished to enter the college. By
this addition about 100 girls could be taken.

    During this same year Boswell Memorial was completed. That has served us for
a library now for 19 years. Previously the books had been shelved in a room on
the first floor of the main building—now Rice Hall. The room was dark, dingy and
unpleasant. The books were not arranged in order and there was no catalogue. No
periodicals were subscribed for. Saturday mornings it was opened for a little
while so that students might take out books. When the new building was ready and
the books moved there, they were classified and catalogued by Professor
Whittemore. Presiously [sic] there had been a list of books made by Professor
Lovewell.

    Professor Whittemore spent his time in the summer of 1886 moving the books
from the main building to Boswell Memorial. He served as librarian for 12 years
after this, and all the old books, together with those added during that time,
were entered   by him in the accession book.

    When the new library was opened, periodicals were subscribed for, and the
rooms were open in the afternoons. A little later they were opened for two hours
in the morning besides.

    July 3, 1889, the contract for the Chapel was let, and in 1890 it was
occupied. Dedicatory services were held in the afternoon of baccalaureate Sunday
15 years ago.

    During this period, 1878-1890, the campus was also improved by the planting
of hundreds of trees. Two hundred evergreens were planted in the spring of 1882.
The next spring 1,000 forest trees were set out west of the cottages, to be
transplanted later. A year or two after this, several hundred evergreens were
planted. Some were placed south of the cottages, others put in groups of five
about the campus. A number were set out in "Potato Park." Potato Park has
disappeared now. It used to be situated between fhe cottages and Whitin. A
square with a road around it was fenced in and inside potatoes raised. Through
this ran the board walk connecting Hartford with the main building.

    Outside the campus there had also been striking changes. In 1880 the
trustees had purchased a tract of 135 acres north of the college site. It was to
be divided up into building lots and sold to persons in smypathy [sic] with the
college. The investment proved to be a good one, as the land increased in value.
Many lots were sold and houses put up. Three in the row west of College, avenue
were built by Washburn professors. We are told under date of September, 1888,
that in less than two years over 200 dwellings in easy access of the college had
been erected, that it was much easier to rent houses near the campus than
formerly. At that time on College Hill there were being erected four residences
at an average cost of $5,000 each.

    In June, 1884, the college was brought nearer the city by the extension of
the street railway to the campus. Before horse-cars ran out here, the young
ladies of the cottages had had to depend upon a hack to convey them to the city.
It made a trip regularly every Sunday to take them to church; sometimes it took
them on a shopping expedition on a Saturday, and, once in a great while was
enlisted for a party. Now, with the horse-car running nine times a day, trips to
town could be made more frequently. The trip to the Santa Fe Station and back
was made in one hour and 40 minutes. A few years later the electric line was put
in, and the two lines ran in competition for a while. Miss Lyman used to be
sorry for the neglected horse-car driver and ride down with him, while the girls
rode down by the more rapid electrics. The trustees had labored strenuously to
get the company to extend the car tracks to the college. They had paid $5,000 to
the company to accomplish that result and it was a manifest material advantage
that the city should be accessible. Yet the faculty were a little anxious as to
the moral effects of contact with the city. Young persons who made frequent
trips were discussed in faculty meetings. A group of boys setting out one
afternoon was intercepted by Professor Craigin and made to return.

    The remarkable increase in material advantages had been attended by a
corresponding enlargement of opportunities. But this was made possible only by
increased resources. These came through additions to the endowment, by special
contributions, and through increased attendance. The endowment fund was
increased to over $100,000. One of the most generous contributors was Mrs.
Williston who used to send a draft for $1,000 or more every year until her
death.   Upon her decease the estate went to Williston Seminary.

    In 1878 Professor Lovewell came to Washburn. He, C. D. Merrill, and
Professor Stearns with Dr. Mac Vicar were the working force. In 1879 Miss White
became preceptress. Professor Merrill, however, was not retained. From this time
on the teaching force was added to rapidly. We opened the year 1882 with five
teachers besides Dr. Mac Vicar, instead of three. 1886 and 1887 were years of
expansion and by 1890 there were nine who gave their full time to the college,
besides Miss Ingalls and Miss Case in the music department, and Mr. Harshbarger
who taught three hours as assistant in mathematics. One of those who made a deep
impress upon the college in the early '80's was Professor Bliss. He was offered
the presidency of Washburn upon Dr. Mac Vicar's resignation, and is now
president of Roberts College, Constantinople.

    With the increase in the staff the work of the teachers was systematized.
Each one was enabled to confine himself to that branch in which he was most
proficient. Professor Whittemore taught the Latin; Professor Phelps, the Greek;
Professor Lovewell, physics and chemistry; Miss Storrs or Miss Aldrich, the
French and German; Miss White or Miss Merriam, preceptress, English literature
and a little history; Professor Curtis or Mr. Adams, the mathematics, while
Professor Puffer drilled the students in declamation and oratory. The music
department received more systematic attention from 1883. Miss Carrie Barnes, now
Mrs. Lovewell, was given charge of that department that fall. Miss Lard
succeeded Miss Barnes for several years and then came Miss Ingalls and at the
same time a division of the department into vocal and instrumental. A good deal
was said then about increased facilities in the science departments. Professor
Craigin, now residing in Colorado, was ^especially active in procuring fossils
and other specimens in natural history. For a time he issued a scientific
publication. In 1887 Professor Lovewell was allowed $1,300 for scientific
apparatus. Among other things there were procured a Holtz machine, a
saccharometer, a polariscope, a cathetometer, a sperometer, a Sprengel's mercury
air-pump, Watt's "Dictionary of Chemistry," the works of Faraday, Maxwell,
Prescott, and other volumes.

    There had during these years been a marked increase in the number of
students. In 1878 there were about 20 in the fall term; in 1879, about 50; in
1882, 130; in 1885, over 200; and so on. In 1890 a class of 12 graduated. Up to
that time the graduating class usually numbered three or four. The college was
growing at the top and that was encouraging.

    They were conscious of the growth at the time. The Telephone for February,
1889, the publication of the Congregational churches, sums up this growth thus:

    Within the last four years the number of students in the four college
classes has doubled, and in the highest, class of the preparatory department
there has been a similar increase * * * All of the members of the present Junior
class have been connected with the college for more than four years. The courses
of study have been undergoing a gradual development as the means of the college
and as necessity has required    *    *   *.

    And Dr. MacVicar's text for his baccalaureate sermon the next Commencement
was:   "Thou shalt see greater things than these."

    The body of students as it had grown in numbers, and still more in
importance—since the growth was at the top—had developed a self-consciousness
and a corps d'esprit heretofore unknown. Student organizations and enterprises
had come into being; literary societies had been started; a Christian
Association had been begun; a magazine conducted entirely by the students was
issued; football and baseball teams were organized. Some of the time they had a
glee club.

    During the latter part of the '80's and early '90's there developed unusual
interest and success in oratory. This is attributed partly to the instruction
and inspiration of Professor Puffer, whose constant drill for the monthly public
rhetoricals must have had its effect. Perhaps it was due partly to the happy
chance which sent to Washburn at about the same time those who had special
talent in oratory. Whatever the cause, Washburn won first place in the State
Oratorical Contest three times in four years from 1889 to 1892,— Brewster
winning in 1889, Naylor in 1890 and Poston in 1892. In 1890, Naylor won first
place in the Inter-State Contest, as everybody knows.

    After the Washburn victory at Emporia in 1889 the State University Times
came out with the following editorial. I quote in part:

    Look at Washburn. Every month her students have some kind of contest; a
prize debate, a contest in declamation or oratory, or a splendid musical
entertainment given by the students. What is the result? Their college life is
not a monotonous drudgery * * *. It is these contests that have given Washburn
her Brewster, and threaten to send his peer to Lawrence next February to again
take off the prize. It is this college life and activity that made such a grand
showing for her at Emporia last month. There was her orator, her glee club, her
cherubs, her banners and colors, and almost every one of her enthusiastic sons
and daughters was there to sound her praises. Going out of the hall that night,
we heard the remark, "This just as an advertisement has been worth a thousand
dollars to Washburn College,"—and so it was—We can learn a great deal from the
lesson she has taught us at Emporia, and from her college spirit at all times.

    That dignified body, the Washburn faculty, had not looked with so much favor
upon the manifestations of college spirit at Emporia. What the offense was I am
not informed, but certain it is there was one, for it was ruled by the faculty
that the next year the young ladies of the academy should not be allowed to go
to Lawrence to the State Oratorical Contest. Whether the faculty had just cause
for condemnation, those same young ladies could truly say now after the lapse of
15 sobering years. Then they thought the faculty to be unjust, and the other
students did, too. There resulted a sympathetic strike. The students all refused
to attend classes for several days. They were induced to come to terms, however,
by the President, and the girls did not go to Lawrence.

    It remains for me to say a few words about the remainder of Dr. MacVicar's
administration from 1890 to 1895. It was a trying period for the-president and
trustees. The very success and expansion of the preceding years had brought
serious problems. More buildings, more students, amplified opportunities for
them, had brought largely increased expenses. It was; not a time to increase the
endowment, for the country was suffering from one of the worst financial
depressions in its history. The trustees felt that "to cut down the work would
be to miss an opportunity in the State," yet feared that it might have to be done.

    At the trustees' meeting of June, 1892, after reports from different members
of the faculty, a report from which the following was taken was made by a
committee appointed to consider the needs of the college. After a suitable
introduction they go on to say:

    "The department of Elocution needs relief; that of Modern Languages,
enlargement; the departments of Greek and Latin need illustrative materials;.
that of Mathematics and of Astronomy need instruments; while History and English
Literature need an enlarged library.

    "But there are other needs which press equally upon the slender resources of
the college and cause one need to be felt above all others, the need of money to
supply all needs.

    "With a view of making more obvious, both the sympathy of the Trustees with
the enlightened views of the devoted instructors in the college and their own
estimate of the needs of the college, the Trustees hereby declare that the
college needs immediately:

    "First, the endowment of a chair of Mental and Moral Science to be filled by
the President.

    "Second, the endowment of a chair of History and Social Science, including
Political Economy.

    "Third, a chair of Belles Lettres and Logic.

    "Fourth, a chair of Mathematics and Astronomy, later to be separated.

    "Fifth, a professorship of Greek and Latin, later to be separated.

    "Sixth, a professorship of Natural Science and Chemistry, later to
be-subdivided into several professorships.

    "Seventh, a professorship of Modern Languages.

    "Eighth, a professorship of Elocution.

    "These are immediate needs, and each one obviously involves expenditures
other than those required for the salary of the head of the department. The
Library must be greatly enriched to make it serve the uses of any one of these
departments. Apparatus and illustrative material can be most useful only where
each department has exclusive lecture or class rooms. * * * * If an effort were
made to raise twenty thousand dollars from the Alumni and their friends toward
the endowment of the Peter MacVicar Chair of Mental and Moral Science, its
success would be assured by the aid of the former-teachers of these graduates.
If at the same time twenty or thirty thousand more were raised through other
efforts, some of the income of our present funds might be used for the present
urgent needs of all departments.

    "Something must be done. We must advance or die. Trusting in Him-who has so
wonderfully guided and blessed Washburn in all its history, we-face the future,
and for the better college that is needed we will at once plan to raise
first:—fifty thousand dollars, then a second fifty thousand, then a third fifty
thousand, not resting until one hundred and fifty thousand is added to our
present endowment fund, and permanent professors with special departments take
the place of teachers having various topics of instruction, and little time for
the preparation of any topic.     *     *   *"

    It seemed impossible to raise the $150,000 or even one third of that amount.
For a time the only possible alternative seemed to be a policy of retrenchment.
That policy, however, proved to be the impossible one. The college had been
growing so large and progressing so fast that it was impossible to check it. The
momentum was too great. When in 1895 was decided that some courses must be cut
out, that conditions would not warrant so large expenditures, the college
resisted. To go ahead seemed to invite financial ruin, but suddenly to check our
strong and lusty college was a worse ruin. Dr. Mac Vicar who had given the best
years of his noble life to Washburn was not able to carry the increased burden.

    The Washburn of 1895 was a more weighty burden to carry than the Lincoln
College of 30 years before. That it was so was due in large part to Dr. Mac
Vicar. To build the college had been his life work. He is the dominating person
of this period I am writing of. He had planned for the college. He was in fact
as well as in name the head of it. He more than any other one man had made a
foundation worth while for others to build upon still further. His competent
business management, his splendid courage and faith, his uplifting words and
thoughts many who are present remember and those of another generation can be
told. It is more difficult to tell of the quiet power which was of the very
essence of his nature. In 1895 Dr. Mac Vicar was compelled to give up his active
work. How the burden has been courageously borne and how the promises of earlier
years have not been disappointed, it is the task of my colleague to set forth.
                                     —A. M. Hyde.

    Period of Expansion—1896-1905. The period in the history of Washburn College
called the period of expansion is too recent to view with any historical
perspective, especially by one whose connection with the college is practically
contemporaneous with it. Any history of this period would, however, be
incomplete and misleading, that failed to give the fullest recognition to the
splendid work that has preceded it. One cannot read the simple record of the
board of trustees month by month and year by year through the formative period
of its history without being impressed with the wisdom and devotion of the men
who founded the college, and with no resources but its endowment of splendid
opportunities carried it on through the unstable and trying years of our State's
history and gave to these comparative prosperous times an institution already
rich in tradition and character and ideals.

    Whether the nine years that have passed since Peter MacVicar laid down the
load that had bent his broad shoulders and exhausted his powerful mind, the
period of which I am to speak to-day, be a realization or a promise I do not
know. I believe it to be both. A realization in that it is a partial fulfillment
of the hopes and ambitions of the early heroes of the college, the legitimate
fruitage of their many years of careful planting and patient nurturing.  A
promise that the period of slow and painful development is past and from this
time forth the workers may sooner see the fruit of their labors. What has been
accomplished in this period is best shown by a simple statement of facts. In
1896 the work of the college was organized in three departments—the college, the
college preparatory and a department of music, enrolling altogether 214 students
and employing 14 instructors. In the college proper 96 students were enrolled,
having the choice of 75 courses of study of one-half year each. In 1897 the
attendance in this department had increased to 119; in 1900 to 151; in 1903 to
172; and in 1905 to 247. In the year 1895-96 10 instructors were employed in
college work. In the fall of 1896 a chair of history was added. In 1899-1900
instruction was provided in elementary law, courses in sociology were first
added and an additional instructor was secured to take charge of the work in
German. In 1902 the department of physics and astronomy was organized under a
separate instructor, and new electives were opened to students in law and the
fine arts. During the present year 19 instructors have been giving courses in
the college department, offering to their students 134 half-year courses. To sum
up, there has been an increase of nearly 100 per cent, in the teaching force and
in the amount of work offered in the college department, and a gain of 150 per
cent, in the attendance. During the same period the teaching force of the
academy has been doubled and the attendance increased 50 per cent. These figures
show that the period under consideration has been a period of rapid development
in the departments with which the college started.

    Since 1896 there has been added to the work of the college a department of
art, a school of law and a school of medicine. During the year 1902-03 the
departments of music and art were combined, a school of fine arts was organized,
including work in painting and illustration and in oratory. This school has
employed the time, wholly or in part, of nine instructors and has enrolled
during the year just closing 218 students. It offers four year courses leading
to the Bachelor's degree in piano, organ, voice, violin, painting and oratory.
Its development has been materially assisted by the enterprise of the city of
Topeka in planning the massive pipe organ in its auditorium.

    The school of medicine was formed by merging the Kansas Medical College of
Topeka. This institution was organized in 1889. It grew out of the conviction of
many of the physicians of the city that there was an opportunity here to
establish a medical school that would bring to Topeka many young men anxious to
enter the profession of medicine and put them in touch with the splendid
opportunities that the city affords. Small in its beginnings, the school
steadily grew in numbers and efficiency and at the time of its merging into
Washburn College, during the spring of 1903, it had a faculty of 34 members, 100
students and a substantial building at the corner of 12th and Tyler streets. The
courses of lectures, originally three in number, had been increased to four and
following the merger the length of each course was increased from six to seven
months. The greater part of the medical work is still carried on at the medical
building, but a portion of the laboratory work is given on the college campus.

In the spring of 1903 the board of trustees announced the organization of a
school of law. It was believed that the city of Topeka, containing as it does
courts of so many different kinds, ranging from the Police to the United States
District Court, offered superior opportunities for instruction in law.

    A thorough curriculum covering three years of nine months each was adopted
and in the fall of 1903 work was begun in suitable rooms in the city near the
State and City libraries. The school has shown great vigor and promise of
success. It already has a good working library, the gift of T. W. Harrison of
this city. The enrollment of students for each of the two years of its history
has been about 40.

    In 1896 the college had six buildings—Rice Hall, Boswell Memorial, the
Chapel, Whitin, Holbrook and Hartford. These buildings were erected at a cost of
$145,000. The endowment at this time was $70,000 and the equipment was valued at
$24,000. Estimating the campus and other lands at $100,000, the total value of
the material equipment was $339,000. In June, 1902, in addition to the above the
college had an observatory building costing $30,000, containing $19,250 worth of
equipment, and a central heating plant and mains valued at $7,500. In June,
1903, the Jewell Fund had been completed, adding $20,000 to the endowment. The
medical building with its •equipment had been secured, valued together at
$15,250. The law library valued at $5,000 and land worth $2,000 had come into
the possession of the college. Since 1903 the college has come into possession
of the Cooper collection of minerals worth $15,000 and other equipment estimated
at $5,000. The president's residence has been erected at a cost of $7,500 and
the Carnegie library at a cost of $40,000.

    To summarize, during the years 1896 to 1905 the attendance of all
departments of the college has increased from 214 to 663. The equipment,
including land, buildings, books and apparatus has advanced in value from
$339,000 to $506,000. The number of courses of instruction offered in the
departments that existed at the beginning of this period has almost doubled and
there have been added the schools of law and medicine and a large amount of work
in the school of fine arts.

    I have said that this gratifying growth of the college is a promise that the
day of slow development is past. The resources of our State are rapidly
increasing, our young people are intelligent and earnestly desirous of the
opportunities for an education. Is it not a reasonable hope that Washburn,
situated at the very heart of the State, may keep pace with the commonwealth in
its rapid development? Indeed, may we not expect it to maintain a place of
leadership in the great work of educating the mind and the heart of those who
are so soon to be the history makers of our great State?

                            D. L. McEachron.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, KANSAS
AND
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

EDITED AND COMPILED BY
JAMES L. KING
TOPEKA, KANSAS 

"History is Philosophy Teaching by Examples"

PUBLISHED BY
RICHMOND & ARNOLD,
GEORGE RICHMOND; C. R. ARNOLD.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,
1905.

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