Spring 2003

James Wickersham And The Birth Of The Humanities At Rose

Rose-Hulman strives to prepare its alumni to play a broad role in society, and the humanities and social sciences curriculum provides an essential foundation for such preparation. The roots of that philosophy run back to the college’s founding.

The Articles of Association, our founding charter, laid the groundwork for the humanities, if in vague terms. (Recall that the school would not actually begin for nearly nine years after its founding.) Object Two states: "Prominence Shall be given to the following studies, but not to the exclusion of other useful arts and sciences in harmony with the general design of said institution… which may be deemed expedient or desirable… English Language and Literature with reference to writing business correspondence, contracts, and reports. Book-Keeping and so much of the Latin Language as will enable the Student to understand terms of Science used." Object 2, Articles of Association of the Terre Haute School of Industrial Science September 10, 1874

Fortunately the Latin was ditched or the school might have died at birth.

During the summer of 1883 the components of the humanities curricula started to take shape, and the name forever linked to the humanities is Professor James A. Wickersham, the fourth faculty appointment. For the next 36 years, Wickersham defined the evolving role of the humanities in the lives of the students.

The "birth notice" was modest. The minutes of the Board for 21 June 1883 note that "Prof. James A. Wickersham of Chicago, Illinois, was unanimously elected Professor of Languages…His term of services to begin September 1st, 1883, and his salary to be $800 for the first year." It would be his job to implement and revise as necessary the plan of study. Note: The salary of the math teacher was $1200 – market factors affected wages even then.

Wickersham was evidently well prepared for the task. He was born in 1851 in Wilmington, Ohio. Reared in Harper, Iowa, he graduated from the University of Kansas in 1876 with a specialty in Greek. He immediately went to work teaching for the university, earned a master’s degree, and was elected to the chair in Greek. He took his new master’s degree and went for three years to study at Leipzig, Berlin, and Tubingen.

It was while serving as principal of the schools of Franklin Falls, N.H., that Wickersham evidently made the acquaintance of Dr. Thompson. That relationship would lead to a life’s work among the students of Rose Poly and the community of Terre Haute.

Then, as now, the professorial expectations were high and many students dreaded language study and English, while others looked at it as a reprieve from the engineering, science and math tedium. As found in the college catalogue for 1884, "Great importance is attached to the study of language for its intrinsic worth and the auxiliary advantages it gives in the pursuit of other branches." The student body stood at 45.

Wickersham constructed his language classes so that each student was expected to give an oral response, and a mark was entered in his records. Each Saturday, he and the other professors gathered and reviewed the progress of each student, one by one. A reading proficiency was expected of all, but those aspiring to a grade higher than C knew that a conversational ability was required. Although an ability to navigate German and French technical literature was the principal aim, Wickersham felt that a study of German was essential for the engineer and scientist. A great portion of the significant scholarship of engineering was found in German journals. His teaching load seems to have been significant. From the catalog of 1903 it would appear that for the spring semester he would teach 11 credits consisting of the following:

German I for freshmen (required, 3 credits)

English composition for freshmen (for those with deficiencies, 1 credit)

German II for sophomores (required, 3 credits)

French I for juniors (required, 3 credits)

English composition for juniors (required, 1 credit)

Wickersham and his wit became something of a legend during his 37 years, based on the stream of passing references in The Rose Technic, the monthly magazine of the school. Students knew to come prepared to his classes and tried to avoid becoming the focus of his attention. He was the one professor that all students took multiple times. He faithfully attended every athletic event and concert, showing his support for students in and out of the classroom. He retired in June of 1920, and died in 1947 at the age of 96.