Spring 1997
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Spring 1997 |
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In recruiting a class for opening day in the spring of 1883 the task was a little different. The Board of Managers sought only 20 to 25 lads. Chuck Howard, dean of admissions, has often talked about the challenge of getting our name out across the nation. In the years before 1883 it was not even a name in Indiana. Therein lay the challenge. This task chiefly fell to board secretary Samuel S. Early, a prominent businessman and a friend of both Chauncey Rose and his successor as board president, Josephus Collett. He became a one-person admissions office. Mr. Early was given the assignment of spreading the word about the novel curriculum of this new school and its intellectual merits. In his own fair handwriting, copies of which are in the Archives, Early wrote in response to hundreds of general inquiries about the school. In May of 1882 in response to a query from Joliet, Ill., he described the requirements for admission. "The condition of admission will be that the candidates shall be not less than 16 years old, that they shall pass a good examination in the ordinary branches of a fair English education, such as geography, grammar, U.S. history, arithmetic and algebra to quadratic equations, and that they shall be boys of good moral character." He went on to state that the terms will be $75 per year for tuition and $25 per year for incidentals." The cost of books was estimated at $10. Since his own son would be transferring in from Worcester Free Institute, Early was eager to assemble a bright group of well-prepared students. In the absence of a circular to send to prospective parents (there are very few student letters) explaining the school, Early sent copies of the July 1, 1882, article on the school from the Terre Haute Evening Gazette and an earlier one from the Express of June 18th. Then, as now, good press was important. In his letter of July 3, 1882, he told his correspondent in Louisville that "I can only add to what they [the newspaper articles] say, an expression of the determination of the Trustees to make the School equal to any one in the Country...." A common bragging tactic was to describe the faculty. Foremost was the president of the school, Charles O. Thompson, head of Worcester, whose earned doctorate from Dartmouth was something for which a new school in Indiana was to be proud. He will be "...assisted by Professors from the Johns Hopkins University, Columbia College, Harvard and Yale graduates, all men of ability and experience (June 10, 1882)." The school might be new, but would have a distinguished and well- educated faculty. A parent from Keokuk, Iowa, was told that "we regret to notice that your son is already entered at M.I.T. of Boston, for we believe that our School will offer as great, if not greater, facilities for the acquisition of a sound practical training in Technology as the M.I.T. or any other institution in the country... (August 7, 1883)." Not too proud!! He went on to declare that "a visit to the Rose Polytechnic would we think demonstrate our great superiority in the Department of Mechanical Engineering over most of the Schools in the United States, and also show that in the other branches of scientific education we are prepared to compete with any of them. We have the most complete outfit attainable and all required appliances for such a school....We can do our pupils good in every way." So, first class labs have always been important in recruitment. Letters from women sometimes brought up different issues in regards to the education of young men. He tells an aunt in Chicago that he is sending the college catalog, newly printed. He responds to one of her questions by telling her "as to the social training of pupils, not much time can be given in a technical school to the graces of life. Such schools are eminently practical, and require nearly all a student’s time to accomplish his mental and manual work, so that he has little leisure for social pleasures. Still the society of Terre Haute is cultivated and refined, and many of our boys will be the sons of the best citizens of Indiana & other states, so that opportunities for well-bred companionship will not be wanting (August 11, 1883)." And, in a fact surprising to me, he stated that "attendance upon church and prayers is exacted...." The assembly hall at the top of the school building was called the Chapel. Parents wanted to know about living accommodations in those days before residence halls. A parent had hoped that his son could live with a professor. But Early writes that "none of our professors is prepared to board students, but comfortable accommodations can be obtained with respectable families....Boarding ranges from $4.00 to $5.00 per week...(August 14, 1883)." They also inquired about the healthiness of Terre Haute. Some letters discuss outbreaks of malaria and other communicable diseases. But Early was proud of Terre Haute. "As to the health of Terre Haute, mortuary statistics prove that she is the healthiest city of her size in the United States except Knoxville in Tennessee. The death rate for a number of years has not exceeded 12 per 1000, and that is about average....I have lived in Terre Haute for 42 years and have never had anything in the way of malarious trouble in all that time. My family all have good health also. (August 23, 1883)." Lastly, parents were anxious about the admissions standards. College was only for the few and the best prepared. In the days before the SAT or ACT exams, students were advised that they must present themselves to the President’s Office on a given day for an examination in English grammar, history of the United States, geography, arithmetic, and algebra. To a parent in Coshhocton, Ohio, Early wrote that "in reply to your inquiry concerning textbooks, I can inform you that no particular ones are considered at our examinations. The applicant’s knowledge of the subjects he is examined upon is the point, not where he obtained his knowledge (Sept. 7, 1883)." There were suggested questions, however. I think that some might be a bit of a challenge today. In history: Give an account of the conspiracy of Pontiac. In geography: Describe a voyage from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Odessa, Russia. In grammar: Correct some false syntax and give reasons for the corrections. In arithmetic: How many cords of wood will a car receive, the dimensions of which are 8’ x 8’ x 40’? In the end, the school’s "Admissions Office" achieved a class of 45 students consisting of three juniors, 26 sophomores, and 16 freshmen. Chiefly Terre Haute boys, others came from Indianapolis, Louisville, Holland, Michigan, South Hadley, Massachusetts, and Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Early, unfortunately, did not live to see the school flourish. He died in September 1884, not living long enough to see his own son graduate in the first class of June 1885.
by John Robson
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