Rose’s First Presidential Inauguration

By John Robson, Librarian and Archivist

Plans to celebrate the inauguration of Dr. Gerald Jakubowski as the thirteenth president of the Institute have been in the making almost since his arrival in July.  The occasion will be a multi-day affair and include such activities as the design and striking of a first-ever presidential medallion; a robed faculty and dignitary procession with all due pomp, circumstance and bagpipes; a series of receptions and dinners for campus members and invited guests; a speaker series featuring our most accomplished and entrepreneurial ‘young’ alumni; and special comedic entertainments and program souveniers.  All this will hallmark a special and rare event – a new president taking the helm.  When it is all over, the whole campus and much of the extended Rose family will have been involved and probably leave our president in need of a bit of R&R.

Charles O. Thompson Rose's First President

Rose has not always been able to host such varied and splendid activities to mark a new presidency.  Sometimes the coffers were a bit thin to finance much of a gala such as when Dr. Woodworth came in 1921 while the American economy was in the midst of one of its most severe recessions, only surpassed when Dr. Prentice arrived in 1930 while Rose and the U.S. were coping with the Great Depression. 

The first inaugural, however, was a true celebration, reflecting the joy of the board and Terre Haute community.  Perhaps the level of joy was heightened because of the protracted, multi-year search for our first president, Dr. Charles O. Thompson.  His hiring and actual arrival at the Institute happened with little or no fanfare.  Perhaps this was because the school had yet to begin.   The minutes of the Board for February 20, 1882 simply state “…Resolved that Professor Charles O. Thompson of Worcester, Mass. be elected to the Presidency of the Faculty of Rose Polytechnic Institute, to enter upon the discharge of the duties of the office at his earliest convenience….”  By the March board meeting President Thompson was present and making motions to hire the teaching staff.   Since classes would not start for another year, there was no suitable occasion to celebrate President Thompson’s arrival.

Thus our first presidential inauguration was also the inauguration of the school’s first academic year.  Plans were set in motion to invite all of Terre Haute to a special day of prayers, speeches, and refreshments.  The Board minutes are spare on plans.  The minutes of February 20^th, 1883 merely state “The programme [sic] for Inauguration Day was then considered and Messrs. Cruft, Mack, and Cox were appointed a special committee of arrangements, with full powers to act.”  The date was fixed for Wednesday, March 7, 1883, the day before classes commenced.  The headline of the Terre Haute Tribune, in typical Victorian prose, announced “The Rose Polytechnic Starts on Its Voyage, Amidst Auspicious Surroundings.”

As indicative of the importance of the event, the courts and the public schools were dismissed, including Indiana Normal (now Indiana State University).  A huge crowd gathered well before 10 a.m. in the chapel, the central room occupying the third floor between the two towers flanking the entrance to the so named Academic Building. (At that time, the Institute was located at 13^th and Locust streets in the city of Terre Haute.)  All gallery and floor seating was taken by 10:30 a.m., with the aisles filled with standees.  Those who could not be accommodated inspected the hallways and extensive mineral collection.  The stage for the speakers and president was arrayed in flowers and plants and our large portrait of our founder Chauncey Rose was displayed to the left with floral garland.  The Ringgold orchestra, Terre Haute’s finest, occupied the left gallery.

Though exercises were to start at 10:30 a.m., board chairman Josephus Collett did not gavel the beginning of the program until 11 a.m..  The reporter noted that some ladies, unable to find a seat in the chapel, were given seats on the stage.  The stage seems to have been quite crowded with speakers, local politicians, and a large number of Terre Haute educators, including a teacher who first taught in the Terre Haute schools in 1826.  President Thompson and the faculty of six sat to the right.

The college's first location in the City of Terre Haute.

After the orchestra performed and the Congregational minister, Rev. Pitman Croft, provided an invocation (President Thompson was the son and grandson of Congregational ministers), Collett announced that Gov. Porter and Sen. Voorhees, the announced speakers were unable to attend and that Terre Haute’s own Col. Richard Thompson, former secretary of the Navy under President Rutherford B. Hayes, would deliver the opening address.  His talk lasted 45 minutes.  More music followed and then the second speaker, Gen. John Eaton, long-serving U.S. Commission of Education, spoke for 30 minutes.  It now being well into lunch hour, a half hour recess was declared, probably to the gratitude of many gathered in the stuffy, and probably hot, chapel.  The honored guests were treated to an appetizer lunch – presumably implying a light lunch.  Before adjourning, Mr. Mack of the board said that the exercises after break would consist of delivering the keys of the school to President Thompson, the president’s address, and several short speeches by the presidents of IU and Purdue and the ex-superintendent of education.  Others brought their lunches and ate while seated, fearing to relinquish their chairs.  The daring climbed the two towers to take advantage of the excellent view of Terre Haute. 

Josephus Collett, in handing the keys to the Institute to Thomson said of him “…The matter was long and carefully considered, and every effort made to secure of the fullest information as to the fitness of the persons suggested for the position.  Their [members of the board] unanimous choice has fallen upon you, and they deem themselves fortunate in having secured your services, believing that the institute will be safe in your hands, and its prosperity and usefulness assured.” 

President Thompson, having accepted the keys and thanking the board for their trust, entered upon a lengthy address, delving into the minutiae of Rose’s unique technical education.  Though the hour was late, we are told that people paid close attention to his remarks, establishing the framework for Mr. Rose’s college.  He also looked into the future, and hoped that he would live to see the day when a polytechnic school would be established for girls to fit them for the practical duties of life.  With a benediction by Rev. Croft, the day’s exercises concluded and the guests departed.  Time:  6 p.m. – a seven hour program with a 30-minute lunch break.  What patient folks our ancestors were.

The minutes of March 10^th ordered Early, board secretary, to thank all the speakers of the day and ask for copies for publication.  Thanks were then offered to the Committee on Arrangements and especially Gen. Cruft for the very tasteful and effective equipment of the chapel, with a special thanks to Mrs. Sarah Heminway (Mr. Rose’s cousin) and Mrs. Firmin Nippert (wife of longtime board member) for the ‘beautiful contributions of flowers and plants with which the chapel stage was decorated, and which added largely to the interest of the day.”  Two hundred copies of a special commemorative pamphlet were ordered and 500 copies of President Thompson’s address.  Lastly, Early was to pay any bills submitted by the Committee on Arrangements, but those items are hopelessly buried in the account ledger.

One is struck by the optimism of the day.  The Tribune reporter wrote that “The inauguration exercises of the Rose Polytechnic institute, an institution liberally endowed by an honored citizen of Terre Haute and destined to become famous throughout the land as one of its leading educational schools, took place yesterday with the proper ceremonies and exercises.”