Chapter 15: Widening Horizons

A ready spirit of cooperation, exceptional amiability marked the association of Rhees with the University corporation throughout his long and productive administration. Trustee records are studded with resolutions of appreciation and praise for President and increases in his salary. When he took office, the managerial body consisted of twenty men apart from Rhees and his predecessor, David J. Hill. Virtually all of the twenty had earned college degrees, twelve of them at the U. of R. Eleven, possibly twelve, of the trustees were business executives, three were lawyers, two were pastors, two physicians, one a theological professor, and Rhees and Hill professional educators.

At least twelve trustees belonged to the Baptist church, four were Episcopalians, one a Presbyterian, and the denominational connection of five is not available. In terms of residence, the Board was equally divided between Rochesterians and men living elsewhere; but the former were vastly more involved in the execution of trustee responsibilities on the four committees of the board: Internal Management, Library and Cabinets (Museum), Buildings and Grounds, and Finance. In 1913, after a major fund drive, a special Investment Committee was appointed to handle new endowment resources.

Normal processes of attrition--resignations and death--brought changes in the composition of the corporation. Upon the death of Dr. Edward Mott Moore in 1902 after three decades of devoted service, the presidency passed to a leading Rochester merchant, Rufus A. Sibley, a key man in attracting Rhees to the U. of R. Rhees earnestly promoted the candidacy of Sibley, who would "cement our good relations to the community, " and since he was not a Baptist but an Episcopalian, his election as president would make it " thoroughly evident " that the sectarian dispute which had troubled the Hill years was dead beyond resurrection. Rhees further argued that Sibley as president would render easier the solicitation of larger financial resources; nothing would more gravely jeopardize an appeal for greater endowment, he reasoned, than the revival of the controversy over the denominational heritage of the University. Sibley resigned after a year in favor of a Rochester manufacturer, Lewis P. Ross, who filled the executive chair until his death in 1915. 1

It was agreed (1903) that no fewer than half of the trustees should be graduates of the college. And during the first phase of the Rhees era, replacements on the self-perpetuating board were chosen largely from alumni: Doctors L. Emmett Holt, 1875, and William S. Ely, 1861, William B. Hale, 1885, business man in Rochester, Edmund Lyon, 1877, Rochester lawyer, and Horace F. Taylor, 1893, Buffalo lumber merchant. Holt in particular was a tower of strength, advising Rhees on such diversities as candidates for science professorships or for honorary degrees, investments, and how and when to approach potential benefactors.

An objective long desired by active alumni came to pass in 1904, when the graduate body was authorized to elect a trustee from its number. The action of the corporation called for the initial election of one trustee by the alumni who would hold office for five years; as vacancies on the board occurred, a maximum of five members might be chosen by the alumni. They would be selected by a plurality of a third of the eligible voters, and not more than three of them at any time would be residents of Rochester. Alumni-chosen trustees might be reelected for a second term of five years, and, after a lapse of five years, might be elected again. As was his custom, Rhees inquired of half a dozen sister colleges whether they had alumni-elected trustees and, if so, the method by which they were picked. 2

The first graduate chosen, Adelbert Cronise, 1877, a Rochester lawyer and world traveler, had for years been prominent in alumni affairs, serving for example as chairman of the committee responsible for the Anderson statue on the college campus; other trustees chosen by the alumni followed in due course. Rhees's uncle, Charles W. McCutchen, entered the board in 1903 as did seven years later Edward G. Miner, one day to be its chairman and second to none in advancing the welfare of the University.

On February 26, 1904, the most ruinous fire Rochester had ever known gutted the Granite Building and destroyed University records stored there, especially the financial books, alas and alack, and the blueprints for a new science structure. Trustee meetings, which apparently had been held in the Granite Building, were moved to the Genesee Valley Club; it was impossible at times to secure the presence of a quorum of the trustees, as was required to transact business legally. 3

So that retired professors or their widows might be eligible to receive pensions from the newly established Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the corporation adopted a resolution (June 19, 1906) categorically separating the U. of R. from the Baptist church. In spite of the role of Baptists in sponsoring the institution, the original charter had not linked the college to any Christian sect, nor had it propagated denominational tenets. It had never been under unfettered control by Baptists; on the other hand, the trustees had voted in 1892, it may be recalled, that two-thirds of the corporation should be Baptists in good standing. Proposed by a leading Baptist on the board and seconded by another, the resolution of 1906 not only revoked the rule of 1892 (which in fact had been repeatedly disregarded), but reaffirmed in unmistakable language that no denominational test was or would be applied to anyone connected in any way with the U. of R. Many another college, incidentally, issued similar declarations so as to qualify for faculty retirement allowances from the Carnegie Foundation. 4

Toward the end of 1911 reports circulated that "Prexy" would soon be offered the presidential chair at Amherst College, his Alma Mater, and, on an overall estimate, the foremost men's college in the country. Rhees referred delphically to "overtures relating to another college" in conversation with U. of R. trustees; one Amherst trustee, at least, asked confidentially whether he would be receptive to an invitation. He felt honored--and surprised--by the mention of his name for the post, though he believed that a Congregationalist would in fact be picked. If he were "not already at Rochester," he wrote, and were offered both positions, he would unhesitatingly accept Amherst. The attractiveness of Amherst, its comparative financial well being, its body of wealthy and enthusiastic alumni, the quality of its students in this "men only" institution, a sense of loyalty to his Alma Mater, and family ties in the Amherst area--all exerted a powerful pull upon Rhees.

Yet he was convinced that he ought to stay in Rochester and carry to fulfillment undertakings which were started--or brewing in his mind. He was fond of the "loyal and responsive" board of trustees and faculty , and he said that if at the end of fifteen years more he could accomplish in some measure his ideals for the University, the achievement would yield him greater satisfaction than going to Amherst and holding that college to its existing high level. In his own words, he was "forced to the conclusion that I ought not to change, even for so seductively attractive an opportunity."

Accordingly, he confided to certain Rochester trustees that if two urgent needs were met he would eliminate the Amherst possibility from his thought. First, the productive resources of the University would have to be increased in order to enlarge the faculty and raise salaries--the U. of R. compensation for a senior professor stood at a thousand dollars below the Amherst norm--and to erect and maintain new buildings. In the second place, Rhees wanted prompt action to create a coordinate college for women. Trustee Walter Hubbell, the President wrote laconically, "found a favorable opportunity to present my problem to Mr. Eastman." 5

Unlike the bid to President Anderson to move to Brown, no official, no formal invitation was extended to Rhees to go to Amherst. The most recent historian of the New England college (who, parenthetically, once considered joining the U. of R. faculty) is wholly silent on the Rhees candidacy. To the Amherst presidency Alexander Meikeljohn, then dean at Brown and soon a national figure as a crusading educator, was elected, and Rhees expressed delight over the choice. 6

In the meantime, influential U. of R. trustees had promised that if he would remain in the Flower City, they would launch a campaign for additional funds of $1,000,000; the Executive Committee also formally endorsed the idea of establishing a college for women within the University as soon as revenues for the purpose were in hand. The trustees likewise authorized improvements in the President's home, such as heating facilities, and an advance in salary. 7

II

Early in the Rhees period, the corporation was confronted with the possibility that the legislature in Albany might impose taxes on real estate or mortgages owned by institutions of higher learning and a collateral inheritance tax on bequests, which would tend to discourage gifts. In alliance with heads of other New York State colleges and universities, Rhees exerted successful pressure on the lawmakers to exempt educational establishments from these levies. It was estimated that the proposed tax on mortgages would have cost the U. of R. $2,000 annually, and that at a point when operating expenses exceeded income by approximately $3,500 a year. To meet the needs for more physical facilities and higher faculty compensation, owing partly to the admission of women, the trustees resolved in 1902 to seek $150,000 and to solicit contributions to put the annual budget in balance. Success, it appears, crowned the effort. 8

It was revealed on March 28, 1905, that the steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie, would donate $100,000 for an applied science building on condition that the U. of R. acquired an equal amount in endowment. William R. Willcox, non-graduate 1888, a lawyer and politician of New York City and an intimate of Carnegie, helped to obtain the offer. Notwithstanding Carnegie's almost complete commitment to financing libraries, Willcox and Rhees, working in double harness, managed to get the promise of $100,000, which would be adequate not only to erect but also to equip a building for both mechanical and electrical engineering, it was optimistically supposed. A substantial start, in any event, could be made in the direction of creating a full-fledged school of technology. The President interpreted the Carnegie pledge as "primarily a mark of friendship" for Willcox. Rhees met Carnegie for the first time in 1908 as the guest of the manufacturer at his Skibo Castle in Scotland. 9

It was clear to Rhees that it would be an exceptionally hard task to match the Carnegie offer, not least because two wealthy Rochester friends of the college, George Eastman and Hiram W. Sibley, had just promised to finance other University projects, as is explained later. Trustees estimated that if alumni and friends living outside of Rochester contributed $30,000 to the "Applied Science Fund," the rest could be secured within the Genesee community itself. Great reliance was placed upon the graduates in the New York City area, for whose information, primarily, a special brochure, "The U. of R.: its Story," was prepared. In synopsis form, the pamphlet reviewed the history of the institution (not accurate in every detail) and it contained an attractive "Plan for Progress." A diagram of the college grounds depicted the existing academic structures and spotted sites that had already been selected for residence halls, an auditorium, an art museum, and other buildings without designation. Photographs of university buildings, homes of the fraternities among them, embellished the most elaborate production on the University, that had yet been printed.

It seems that New York graduates pledged about $17,500, much less than had been anticipated, and the campaign as a whole was lamed by the previous solicitation of funds and by a business recession in 1907. Hiram W. Sibley, son of a generous benefactor, told Rhees "quite kindly, but frankly" that his entire interest in scientific education was focused on Cornell. Perhaps John D. Rockefeller, Sr., would come to the rescue. Earlier, a devoted alumnus, Henry L. Morehouse, 1858, influential in Baptist circles, had applied to Rockefeller for "moderate reinforcement," for financial help on a matching basis. Morehouse stressed the Baptist roots of the college, its achievement in educating prospective ministers, its general service to western New York, and the promise of future growth. Nothing came of this overture, and knowing trustees advised Rhees to proceed cautiously in seeking support from the multimillionaire oilman. 10

Instead of a direct approach, Rhees sought an appropriation from the Rockefeller-financed General Education Board, headed by Frederick T. Gates, class of 1877. This gambit paid off, for the Board promised $30,000 if the remainder of the $70,000 required for the Applied Science Fund were raised. By the end of 1908, three years after the solicitation began, the necessary sum was in hand. It has been related in another context how George Eastman underwrote the whole cost of constructing a building for physics and biology to which his name was assigned. Although plans for a men's residence hall had been drafted, Rhees thought the climate was not favorable to seek funds for it; in 1911-12, however, alumni and trustees subscribed about $24,000 for what was intended to be the beginning of a large dormitory system. An additional sum of $10,000 to build and equip the first of three residence units came from a million dollar plus financial campaign in 1912. 11

On the recommendation of knowledgeable alumni, Rhees twice appealed to Mrs. Russell Sage for money to finance the education of women at the U. of R., specifically to meet the salary of a dean, to provide a gymnasium, and perhaps to offer regular instruction in music and art. Her husband, a railway promoter and Wall Street financier who served as a trustee of the U. of R. in the 1870's, died in 1906, leaving a fortune estimated at more than $60,000,000 to his wife. Although she donated funds to several educational enterprises, and gave (1907) an endowment of $10,000, 000 to the Russell Sage Foundation, designed to better American social and living conditions, she never so much as answered the plea for assistance from the Flower City. 12

So far as current expenses were concerned, accounts were neatly balanced for the college year 1905-06, thanks to substantially increased revenues from a larger student body and to generous gifts from trustees, which virtually developed into an annual habit. Almost every year the books of the treasurer recorded bequests by appreciative alumni or donations by friends of higher learning for specific purposes like the education of women. Very much an innovation, graduates in 1907 fashioned a program of annual giving called the Alumni Maintenance Fund, which helped the college to operate without a deficit. 13 Yearly operating costs had risen to approximately $71,000 (1909), better than forty percent higher than when Rhees became President. More income from the enlarged student body, contributions by alumni and friends, and greater yield from endowment, including income from the Lewis Henry Morgan bequest, kept the budget on an even keel. By 1912, the productive resources approached a million dollars, and the annual expenditures had reached about $99,000.

Knowing that the administration desired a coordinate center for women, a Rochester committee of admirers of the late Susan B. Anthony initiated in 1906 a campaign to raise money for a special building for women undergraduates, which would be named in honor of the energetic crusader for feminine rights. Under the leadership of Mrs. Mary T. L. Gannett, a Memorial Association was founded, which sought support from all over the United States. Stirring requests for funds were addressed to the National Woman Suffrage Association as well as to organizations of women in New York State.

While Rhees approved the undertaking, he did so on the conditions that the city of Rochester should be exempt from a general appeal, that donors should be explicitly informed that the U. of R. would not be obligated to advocate the "political theories" of Miss Anthony, that the building would not be erected on the existing college grounds, and that when the money had been raised the corporation should have "absolute control" over the plans for the building and the structure itself. Promoters of the campaign believed "every suffragist in the land would want to put at least 50 cents into this thank-offering" for Miss Anthony. A goal of $75,000 was set, though actually only slightly more than $27,000 were collected. 14

Already the corporation had voted to establish coordinate education, for which $250,000 would be required. To hold Rhees in Rochester, the trustees agreed in 1912, as has been mentioned, to seek a million dollars, one quarter of which would be applied to a woman's complex in which separate instruction would be given the ladies in prescribed courses, and the remainder would go into the endowment fund.

Gently nudged by University Trustee Hubbell, George Eastman is quoted as saying in the spring of 1912, "Rochester cannot afford to lose Dr. Rhees. I will give $500,000 to keep him here, if you [the trustees] will raise the other half million." Acknowledging this most princely offer, "...the largest single gift we have ever received...," the President informed the Kodak philanthropist that plans were already in train to secure the second half million. Assurances were given Eastman that everything possible would be done to convince him "that your generous investment in our work... has been worthwhile." At precisely this time, Eastman started to give large sums to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the pseudonym of Mr. Smith; anonymity would reduce the begging appeals that flooded upon him. 15

By Commencement Day of 1912, slightly over $900,000 had been pledged, and two months later a trustee informed "Prexy" that "the completion of the endowment fund seems assured....When the 'victims' get back from their summer jaunts we will 'go for them.' " And he remarked enigmatically, "You have done some very artistic work with our New York friend." Perhaps he had in mind a "mysterious stranger," who intended to enrich the college treasury by $200,000--and whose identity remains an insoluble puzzle. To every living alumnus an appeal was dispatched ; in the letter was enclosed a statement of the purposes to which the money would be put, with emphasis upon more adequate professorial compensation.

Collectively, the University trustees gave over $174,000, Henry A. Strong promised $100,000 for a women's recitation hall in memory of his mother, and other well-wishers responded with like generosity. For full success, a good deal depended upon the action of the General Education Board. In an application for an appropriation, Rhees stressed that whereas a decade earlier Rochesterians regarded the institution as isolated from the community, the attitude had changed and the U. of R. was now recognized "as an important factor in the city's life and prosperity." The Board hesitated so long in replying to the request that Rhees was "frankly apprehensive" lest no assistance would be forthcoming. Yet the Board eventually promised $200,000 if the remaining $300,000 were in hand by June of 1913; in securing this pledge, Gates 1877, had been "principally influential."

By June of 1913, $1,061,185 were subscribed. Astute planning and hard work had achieved a major objective, which would not render the college secure forever, yet the success nourished hope, confidence, and determination to record larger accomplishments in the years ahead.

To celebrate the victorious campaign, a gala party was staged at the Hotel Seneca (later the Manger), which the modest Eastman characteristically declined to attend. Present were four alumni who had fought in the Civil War. Rhees told the company, "...Almost nothing is impossible in making the combination of Rochester as a college and Rochester as a city a most powerful [force] for good." Out of gratitude, the men of the college repeated the action of 1905 by dedicating the yearbook to the Kodak executive; an accompanying sketch of Eastman by Rhees described him "as eminent as a public spirited citizen as he is a leader in business enterprise. ...Students... recognize, with great thankfulness, his magnificent gifts to their Alma Mater."

In a summary, July 1, 1913, of the financial status of the institution, Rhees placed a value of $1,048,000 on land and buildings and of $266,000 on equipment. Endowment resources totalled $1,624,000, and generated income of $57,000. Payments by students brought in $38,0000 and gifts for the year amounted to $10,000. 16

III

Concerning the quality of the University faculty at the turn of the century, the President of Acadia College in Nova Scotia, Thomas Trotter, after visiting colleges and universities in eastern United States, wrote, "I could not help contrasting the teaching of Rochester professors--which was remarkably clear in thought and forceful in presentation--with the prosaic, dry methods I had recently seen elsewhere in institutions pretending to far greater dimensions and scholarship. Rochester certainly is as good as the best." 17

Not every appointment to the faculty at the outset of the Rhees period measured up to the high standards of sound learning and humane culture which were at the heart of the Rochester tradition, and to which "Prexy" was fully committed. Yet an impressive proportion of the new professors belong among the most eminent teachers and influential personalities in the entire U. of R. saga.

By this time, graduate schools in the United States had outgrown their dependence upon German universities, and the Ph.D., as indicative of a high level of academic training, as the badge of specialized scholarship, was by way of becoming a prerequisite for teachers on tenure in institutions of mature learning. Interlinked therewith were a novel religion of research, the cult of the learned monograph, the principle that the chief preoccupation of a University should be disinterested investigation to yield new knowledge and understanding. It was increasingly appreciated that a genuine university was above all else a center for the discovery of new knowledge through ordered searching, for the communication of such knowledge in the classroom and through publication, and for preparing graduate students for lifetime careers. It was a full generation after 1900, however, before these concepts found firm lodgment in the Rochester environment and before the conventional notion that the primary obligation of the Genesee institution was to furnish general education for gentle folk was significantly modified.

Answering an inquiry, Rhees indicated that senior professors had indefinite tenure, though they could be removed by action of a majority of the trustee Executive Committee. In 1908, salaries of professors varied from $2,000 to $3,000, with just under $2,400 as the average; the range for assistant professors extended from $1,600 to $1,800, with $1,750 as the average, and for instructors $1,000 to $1,100. As a fringe benefit, after 1907 children of faculty households were exempted from college tuition charges. Living expenses, it appears, were lower in Rochester than in rural Amherst, for instance; as of 1901, a suitable house could be rented for $30 to $35 a month. Professor Henry E. Lawrence, provoked no little comment in 1904 when he purchased an automobile. A prime purpose of the money raising effort of 1912, as has been seen, was to bring the remuneration of the faculty into line with rising living costs.

No fixed policy on sabbatical leaves for travel, uninterrupted study, reflection, and writing had yet been established, though in instances absences for a term had been granted at full salary. Hours of classroom instruction averaged (1903) around eleven each week or nearly thirteen if laboratory exercises were included; the maximum teaching "load'' was fifteen hours or almost twenty-six with laboratory. 18

To the instructional staff, a new category called assistants was added, young men studying for an advanced degree in the main and helping a professor in the lesser chores of teaching. Apart from them and administrative officers to shoulder a portion of the executive burden, new faculty appointments largely re-placed the second generation of U. of R. teachers.

IV

For six decades John R. Slater, who came to the U. of R. in 1905, was a leading figure in the affairs of the University and the Rochester community. Though he retired from the classroom in 1942, he never retired from life until his death twenty-three years later at the great age of ninety-three. Properly saluted as an immortal of the U. of R. story, Slater by reason of his intellectual versatility, the catholicity of his knowledge, merits the sobriquet of a "Renaissance man."

Upon graduation from Harvard in 1894--where he supported himself, concentrated in philosophy and the classics, and ranked seventeenth in a class of over 400--Slater studied for the ministry at the Newton Theological Institution, Rhees being one of his teachers. Choosing a career in journalism rather than in the pulpit, he filled the chair of managing editor of The World Today, published in Chicago. There in 1903 he disclosed to Rhees his longing for an university post in English; editorial duties, he complained, allowed him too little opportunity for general culture and fruitful literary creativity. "Prexy" hesitated to encourage his ambition since he had not undertaken any graduate study in English.

"Would it not be possible to take work at the University of Chicago," Rhees asked, "to acquaint yourself with the present status of rhetorical theory and practice?" Although he was not sure that a doctorate was worth the time and energy involved, the President nonetheless recommended that Slater seriously consider pursuing doctoral study and promised him a place at the U. of R. By 1905 Slater had not only satisfied the requirements at Chicago for a Ph.D., but he had accepted an invitation to Rochester as an assistant professor at a salary of $1,500 with assurance of an increase of $500 after four years if he proved competent. 19

One day Slater recalled some of his initial impressions of the Prince Street campus in these words "Upstairs in Sibley Hall there were stuffed beavers and Peruvian mummies in glass cases, all dead, with epitaphs. Whiskers [i. e. H. K. Phinney] in the Library, dust on the windows, soot on the noses of the stone ladies enshrined in niches on the walls, symbols of the arts and sciences--including navigation, though they could not sail away. One had lost an arm, all had lost their nerve. All was quiet about that campus... the elms were silent, the pines only whispered. The Library sphinxes said nothing of what they had seen, and guessed nothing of what was to come...''

Upon the retirement of Professor Gilmore, Slater advanced (1908) to the leadership of the English department, and held it for thirty-four years. Of him it may fairly be said, as he wrote of Rhees, ''An idealist in a realistic world wears armor; he has a reserve that insulates against intrusion and forbids familiarity. But among intimates, in the circle of friends and home and family, he was genial and delightful. He loved to watch anything that was growing--a child, a flower,a tree, a character..." 20

Many an undergraduate felt that Slater was frigid and distant. A typical comment reads, "Somebody reported they saw John R. smile. We must have the evidence first on a case so obviously impossible before we believe." On the door of his Anderson Hall study, he installed a knocker containing a grotesque, brass face with a large ring in its mouth, which certain students lifted and dropped hesitantly. Yet women of the Junior Class in 1918 dedicated their year-book to him, the first professor so honored, as "our true friend and critic."

That Slater excelled in the classroom no one could question. From a rich collection of encomiums on him as a teacher, a few representative examples may be culled. "In class he was reserved, diffident, exacting," one student remembered, "and you were always aware that you were in the presence of a great man." A second described him as a "great-hearted man, a gifted man--a man whose memory lives in the hearts of many hundreds who knew him face to face...." When in 1942 Slater retired formally, the Campus editor observed, "He loved to teach. He makes it seem easy to acquire knowledge, brings to the subject his own highly personal approach. Intellectual laziness or mediocrity in any form were his strongest dislikes. He has no patience with them." An earlier editor of the Campus was taken aback when Slater set a class to correcting errors in the student paper. He introduced (1911) a short-lived course in journalism, whose members contributed articles on University history, among other things, to the Campus.

As had been true of his predecessor, Gilmore, Slater maintained throughout life a keen interest in the past of the college as well as in current University happenings. A long essay, Rochester at Seventy-Five (1925), and his biography of Rhees of Rochester (1946) with "its wealth of blessed Slaterisms" belong among the seminal literature on U. of R. history, and he composed many smaller pieces of value in reconstructing the life of the institution. For years in chapel he read annually a list of U. of R. men who perished in the Civil War, and during the First World War he compiled data on students and graduates of the college who responded to the call to national service. 21

His concern for the intellectual and social growth of undergraduates extended beyond bleak classroom walls. Informal student gatherings and discussion groups delighted to hear him discourse on an almost incredible variety of themes. As mentor of a Sunday afternoon forum, Slater sometimes expressed views on religion which deviated from conventional orthodoxy. Commenting on the Book of Genesis, for instance, he insisted that its content had "little to do with Christianity, which is a religion based upon the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus," and he rejected narrowly dogmatic interpretations of the Scriptures.

Before he quit formal teaching and perhaps even more so afterward, Slater, by example far more than by precept, was an inspiration to younger faculty men. Practically every mature colleague who knew him well would endorse an appraisal offered by one of them. "His wide knowledge, his deep insight, and his wisdom have created in me a feeling of awe and reverence...." He has "devoted his life to the understanding of man and has acquired the ability to express his interpretation in words which will live long after all of us have passed away.... " 22

In the conduct of faculty affairs, his counsel was prized highly, and when he dissented from majority opinion, as frequently he did, he exposed his convictions with trenchant force and incisiveness.

Slater was an artist in words, a writer of distinctive prose and poetry, who practised what he preached in Freshman English, a student manual, once revised, and adopted by a score of colleges. His small study on the ethics of immortality, Living for the Future, came off the press in 1916. The content of his Recent Literature and Religion (1936) is accurately suggested by the title. Rhees Library possesses three stately volumes of his occasional Essays and Addresses in typescript.

No major University event, whether Commencement, the installation of a president, or the departure of an esteemed colleague, was quite complete without remarks by the senior professor of English. Arresting inscriptions that flank the entrance to the Rhees Library came from his pen, and he was principally responsible for the verse on the Library doors, for the selection of the thought-provoking aphorisms adorning the main reading room of the library and of the names of personalities on book cases there as well as on the facade of the building.

As testimony to the esteem in which graduates held Slater, virtually the entire issue of the alumni publication at the time of his retirement was given over to the savant and to reprints of several of his notable literary productions; an appendix lists his writings to 1942 ( RAR, XX (1942), no. 5). For the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the University, he prepared a brilliant, interpretative "Centennial Ode," which was set to music by the Director of the Eastman School of Music, Howard Hanson.

Believing strongly in a religious view of life, Slater's conception of the Christian faith and ethic was clearly progressive. "Never in his discourse," an admiring disciple has written, "was a hearer left long without a reminder, often in a phrase as homely and colloquial as some of the phrases of the Gospels themselves, that behind all the seen things which are temporal are the unseen things which are eternal." He acknowledged qualified allegiance to mysticism in a little pamphlet, Insight; Essays in Practical Mysticism (1936).

On a more folksy plane, Slater sketched his personal interpretation of the good life this way: "... If a man has a house of his own, or if he has a sweetheart, or a wife and children, or only a dog, a pipe and a place to watch the sky, he knows that life is more than room and board. No need to tell him why. He just knows."

Slater's table conversation and papers at meetings of "the dignified and mildly convivial" Fortnightly Club endeared him to fellow members. Besides being an untiring advocate of the beautification of Rochester, Slater cooperated in the development of its public library and other cultural facilities. To quicken wider reading of good current books, he contributed in his last years scores of reviews--models of their kind--to the Rochester Times-Union. Deep concern for tolerance and fairness prompted him to identify himself with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. From the Rochester community he received the Civic Medal of the Museum of Arts and Sciences, the citizen's award of the Rotary Club, and the literary award of the Friends of the Rochester Public Library.

At his summer retreat in Pultneyville, thirty-odd miles from Rochester on Lake Ontario, Slater pursued his hobbies of carving, carpentry, and versifying, Shakespeare being a favorite subject. 23 But music was his most cherished avocation. Shortly after coming to the U. of R., he composed (1907) "O Mater academica Rocestriensis," the Commencement Hymn, feeling that the graduation ceremony "should have a touch of poetry and a touch of the universal learned language." This creation, which evokes certain facets of the University spirit and which remained a fixture at each graduation festival, reads:

O Mater academica Rocestriensis, te
Quae nobis tanta munera dedisti libere
Nunc salutamus, agimus nos tibi gratias,
Et semper to laudabimus cui nomen Veritas.

O Mater, quam cognovimus per laeta tempora,
Quae demonstrasti omnibus laboris gaudia,
Quae "Meliora" indicas, excelsa praemia,
Ad caelum omnes incitas, to Mater splendida

O Mater ave, salve, tu, vale carissima!
Nos juvat jam in exitu dulcis memoria.
Per vias duc nos asperas semper ad optima;
Mercedes da perpetuas, bona caelestia!

A metrical paraphrase, though not an exact translation, runs:

Hail, Rochester, we raise to you our grateful parting song,
For giving us so much to do and keeping us so long.
We thank you for the challenges you brought us in our youth,
To learn to think, and how to live, and where to find the truth.

We understand you better now, for in those pleasant years
You showed us work can be a joy, and courage conquers fears.
By pointing to the "better things'' you turned our gaze on high.
Your shining face invites us all to contemplate the sky.

Bright spirit of the best that was, and of the best to be,
Lead on, by roads we do not know, to goals we cannot see.
We leave you, with a happy thought, a reminiscent sigh.
Dear Alma Mater, fare you well; Dear Rochester, good-bye.

In a vastly lighter vein, Slater struck off college songs for undergraduate diversion. For years he presided at the piano in Anderson Hall chapel, and he prided himself on being the first bellman of the Hopeman Memorial Chime in the tower of Rhees Library. For it he arranged melodious tunes, and his interest in youthful bellmen endured to the close of his life. The other finer arts, painting, sculpture, and architecture, spoke instructively to him and he replied in kind.

Years after Slater retired it was said of him that "No man has stated more forcefully or eloquently the inner spirit" of the U. of R. than he. "In the 'Centennial Ode,' in the inscriptions in Rhees Library, in the magnificent Commencement Hymn, and in many writings, he has made tangible the hopes and ideal of the University... and its present effort towards new goals and new service." 24 When conferring upon him an honorary doctorate, toward the very end of the long, busy, and productive retirement of the revered patriarch, University President W. Allen Wallis observed (1964) that "his intellect reached forth beyond the realm of literature, seeking fulfillment in the disciplines of philosophy and divinity, of science and music." Slater and his colleagues, Victor J. Chambers and Arthur S. Gale, are remembered by residence halls bearing their names at Hill Court on the River Campus.

 

V

To cooperate in English instruction, Slater brought to the faculty (1908) Raymond Dexter Havens, 1902, who had just received a Ph.D. at Harvard. Upon graduation he tried teaching mathematics before turning to literature. Both in the classroom and without, Havens was keenly concerned about the rounded growth of the undergraduates, and when away from Rochester he reported to the Campus on his observations and reflections. For him it was a matter of pride that he "never married, taught summer school, wrote a textbook, appeared on radio or television, drove an automobile or used a safety razor." Inevitably, he became the object of student verse. One piece, "To our Beloved Doc," read:

His name is Raymond Dextre
A man? No, a degree.
For thus he writes his signature, --
R.D.H., a Ph.D.

It required a dozen more verses of like quality for the rhymster to describe the talents and attributes of Havens. Very popular with women students, the presence of the bachelor-professor at a tea party inspired one of them to write:

The English profs are awful nice men,
They come out full force with plenty of pep;
They start conversational talk, an' then--
They get surrounded an' can't take a step.
Yes, Raymond D. Havens he
Always goes big at a faculty tea.

Havens made himself an authority on John Milton and his first big work The Influence of Milton on English Poetry (1922), the product of exhaustive research and distinguished writing, elicited warm applause in the international fraternity of scholars. In spite of his affection for the U. of R., the opportunity to train graduate students at the Johns Hopkins University proved irresistible; in 1925 he accepted a chair at that institution. His intellectual achievements rank him among the foremost scholars ever to go forth from the U. of R. 25

The distinction of being the first woman to offer instruction at the college belongs to Elizabeth H. Denio. An alumna of Mt. Holyoke College she studied the history of art at German universities, earning a Ph.D. at Heidelberg. Before coming to Rochester in 1902, she had taught art history at Wellesley College. For years her tenure at Rochester was on a haphazard basis, her compensation being largely donated by art lovers in the city; besides teaching at the college, she delivered public lectures on art ranging from the works of medieval Italians to contemporary Americans. Named a professor in 1910, she retired seven years later, and by then had firmly established art in the undergraduate curriculum; a substantial portion of her small estate was left to the University as a fund for purchase of equipment for the teaching of art history. 26

To replace the veteran Mixer, Clarence K. Moore, who was well along the way to a Ph.D. at Harvard and who had studied in Europe, took charge in 1904 of the Romance languages. Never a notably effective teacher nor a creative scholar, "Fuzzy," as undergraduates labelled him because of his untameable hair, served the University until 1943; after 1925 his sphere of instruction was confined to Spanish.

When a vacancy in mathematics occurred in 1905, Rochester outbid Wesleyan for Arthur S Gale, holder of a bachelor's degree and the doctorate from Yale. He was recommended to Rhees as a "first-class mathematician" with "more than ordinary force as a personality"--and so indeed he proved himself. In the classroom, on the campus, as first dean of freshmen and eventually as dean of the college for men, Gale was one of the most beloved faculty personalities of the twentieth century. Known to the undergraduates as "Uncle" or just plain "Doc," when the Interpres was dedicated to him it was said, "His laugh is... easily provoked, which he isn't;" allusions were made to his "sympathetic smile" and "the odor of his villainous pipe." When the Croceus picked Gale (1931) as "the man of the year, " he was saluted as "an understanding guide" noted for "never failing friendship." Without much prodding, Gale would gaily render the ballad of "Abdul Abdul-bul Amir," which, together with his corncob pipe, helped to build him into a legendary campus figure.

" He won his way into our hearts with his sage advice and wise counsel, his friendly approach..." an alumnus recalled. "...Something about this man... made us feel that he was one of us, and he certainly gave us the impression that we belonged to him...In our senior year, Arthur Gale asked some of us to call him by his first name... a token of mutual love and affection...." "As professor of mathematics..., " a lifelong colleague remarked, "he encouraged the gifted, helped the bewildered, and raised the standards of unified elementary functions for all. "

Although Gale was co-author of three widely used books on mathematics, his forte lay less in productive scholarship than in the curricular and administrative realms. As much if not more than any other professor, he shaped successive revisions in courses of study, displaying in that connection "balanced judgment and an open mind." And it was on his motion that the faculty approved (February, 1926) the revival of "honors courses" on an experimental basis.

As an academic administrator, Gale was "an unfailing source of help with the myriad problems young men encounter.... An intuitive and wise understanding of people, an unfailing warmth, and concern for others, an infinite patience, and unfailing self-control, and a steady perspective on life characterized all that he did." While freshman dean, he entertained the entire class in small groups at dinner, followed by a peculiar card game called Pounce, which has a certain affinity with double solitaire. "A few of the younger couples of the faculty," one participating teacher remembered, "were invited to help entertain. It was necessary to be young because Pounce was more of an athletic exercise than a card game" (and he might have added that it became a considerable bore after several years of experience). "Arthur always won."

Gale also pioneered in acquainting greenlings with college life by means of an orientation period at a lakeside camp near Rochester. Slater, who arrived at the college in the same year as Gale, hailed his friend on his death in 1964, at the age of eighty-seven, as a man who had given "honor to his family, distinction to his university, and luster to his city. " 27

To his side, Gale drew (1908) Charles W. Watkeys, 1901, who returned to the college with a Harvard M.A. and taught mathematics until he attained emeritus status in 1946. Upperclassmen were accustomed to warn freshmen, "When 'Watch keys' puts a whole string of numbers on the board at lightning speed, don't be frightened." In collaboration with Gale, he wrote Elementary Functions, and he set a Rochester precedent by marrying one of his students.

Like Gale, Watkeys shared energetically in curricular reforms and took great personal interest in the undergraduates, several of whom regarded a discussion group that he convened in his home as an invaluable supplement to their college experience. As a student he had been concerned with musical clubs, and that interest (as well as composing college songs) persisted after he entered the faculty. Watkeys likewise undertook investigations to improve the quality of instruction in the college as a whole and prepared elaborate reports on his findings, which led to curricular and administrative innovations.

Watkeys established a reputation as a methodical, meticulous teacher, as did Victor J. Chambers, 1895, who in 1908 accepted the chair in Chemistry vacated by Lattimore. Coming to the U. of R. from the Columbia University faculty, he brought with him a Ph.D. conferred by the Johns Hopkins University. Not only did he stress thoroughness and exactness in his instruction, but he acquired a name for gruffness and as something of a martinet. "Everyone is afraid of 'Doc' until he comes to know the man; straightway there develops a strong liking and a deeper respect for him," the Interpres commented. Formidable he was in debate on controversial faculty transactions and blunt--a doughty infighter--matching his scientific competence and ability. His head ship of the Chemistry department lasted three decades, and for six years he acted as dean of graduate studies. 28

To blaze a trail in applied science, Rhees chose Millard C. Ernsberger, 1888, who came from Cornell in 1909 and went back there a dozen years later. Given the title of Professor of Mechanical Engineering, he was entrusted with devising a curriculum, planning a building for instruction in engineering, and related chores. His remarkable success in arranging a course of study and securing teaching equipment elicited warm praise from "Prexy"--and an advance in salary. Ernsberger believed strongly that broad cultural training formed the best foundation for a career in engineering. A colleague recalled that Ernsberger was distinctive among engineers since he was familiar with the classics of antiquity and quoted from them on the slightest provocation. 29

Thanks to the facilities in the Alumni Gymnasium, it became possible at long last to provide regular physical culture for men. Several directors of this department, who usually combined with their work the training and coaching of athletic teams, came and went. By and large, they were more concerned with turning out winning clubs in intercollegiate sports than in their basic teaching responsibilities, and that emphasis put them at loggerheads with the academic faculty and the administration. It was not until the advent of Edwin Fauver in 1916 that a really satisfactory professor of physical education was obtained.

Novelties, too, were the creation of a part-time lectureship in citizenship (1910) and of a separate department of economics and social science. Entrusted with general planning in sociology was William Kirk, who offered a pioneer course in 1911. But his main preoccupation was the administration of the United Charities of Rochester; Rhees felt that Kirk would bring "college and city into still closer mutually helpful relations." 30

In the meantime, the administrative structure of the college had been substantially broadened. Fred L. Lamson, 1896, appointed registrar in 1904, united with that office the duties of assistant treasurer, secretary of the faculty, and an instructorship in mathematics, though it was supposed that his time would be very largely spent in administrative obligations. It was also his duty to keep--and keep up-to-date--a record of all faculty regulations that were in force (1908). The performance of Lamson turned out to be less than adequate, and it was not felt he merited promotion as a mathematician; he soon resigned to accept an opportunity in business.

In 1911 new administrative policies were decided upon. A dean of men would be charged with the responsibilities of the registrar, except purely clerical work and the functions of faculty class advisers, a recorder (promoted from " chief clerk ") would keep all student records, and the office of assistant treasurer was abolished. For the deanship, which carried with it the implication of chairman of the faculty, Rhees selected his college mate and personal friend, Frederick J. Bliss, who took up his duties in October, 1911. A scholar of distinction and known for tact and a sympathetic approach to all sorts of men, Bliss divided his energies between the dean's office and lectures away from the campus on his specialty of archaeology. When he failed to satisfy expectations, Rhees tried to get him to mend his ways, but welcomed his resignation in 1914 so that he might pursue his scholarly concerns. In his stead, Charles Hoeing, professor of Latin, who had been considered for the office before Bliss, was named dean. In January, 1910, the women of the college were given a dean in the person of Annette G. Munro, remarked upon later. To interpret college rules and regulations and to decide on exceptions to them, an Administrative Committee was instituted in 1912; it was composed of the President, the deans, and elected professors, and their decisions had to be reported periodically to the faculty for review. 31

VI

It was stated, in Rhees's report to the trustees of June 1, 1912, that Professor Kendrick P. Shedd, 1889, had handed in his resignation to take effect at the close of the current college year. Shedd was described by the President as a teacher of great industry and more than ordinary skill, who took a warm, personal interest in undergraduates. He would be held in affectionate regard, Rhees affirmed, partly because he roused students to "enthusiastic loyalty for Alma Mater." Previously, "Prexy" had lauded Shedd as "a really uncommon teacher, a man of generous sympathies and social instinct;" although his class room methods were at times unorthodox, Rhees described him as "one of the most aggressive, successful teachers I have ever known." 32

On the antecedents of the withdrawal of Shedd from the faculty, "Prexy" in his report of 1912 chose to remain silent, yet the Shedd affair was in fact a cause célèbre which gained national attention and produced far more voluminous correspondence in the official papers of the U. of R. than any other faculty matter. Since the episode has often been distorted and the subject of no little mythology, it deserves fuller treatment than its intrinsic importance warrants. Up to a point, the case involved the perennial, perplexing, delicate issue of academic freedom, ever a fluid concept; it was not until 1915, with the founding of the American Association of University Professors, that an ordered effort was made to define and protect the principles of academic freedom and of security of professorial tenure. 33

The mind of Shedd was not at all conventional. In his graduation speech of 1889, he deliberately challenged the popular image of Benedict Arnold, crediting him with patriotism--as well as being guilty of treason. During a year of study at the University of Berlin, Shedd must have made some acquaintance with the doctrine of Socialism, then a growing phenomenon in the empire of William II. Appointed to the U. of R. staff in 1890, he advanced to a professorship in German sixteen years later, and held the post until 1912. His requests for raises in salary yielded results, for in 1909 he was being paid $2,400--somewhat more than Slater, for example. 34

Rhees correctly remarked that Shedd performed admirably in the classroom and did more to foster undergraduate spirit and loyalty to the college than anyone else. Specifically, he collected U. of R. songs, wrote many himself, and led students in singing them; "Sheddie's singing classes," his snatches of humor and "little sermons" as part of the instruction in German won favor with many students. He opened his home for undergraduate parties that were long remembered.

Concern for social and civic welfare prompted Shedd in 1910 to affiliate with the Socialist party and he claimed that two of his colleagues--Forbes and Fairchild--shared his general outlook and convictions. Applying his principles, Shedd took on (1901) the direction of a Boys Evening Home in the city, and enlisted under-graduates to help in the enterprise. A Rochester newspaper described him as "the sunshine man." He also taught languages in a settlement house, and had charge of a community social center in a school located in an area largely inhabited by Jewish immigrants.

Early in 1909 a storm of protest swept the Rochester press (and disturbed several University trustees) when a masquerade dance was held in the school on a Sunday; allegedly girls appeared in male attire, something then very much offbeat. Newspaper commentary condemned dancing in a school house on Sunday and in a "manner offensive to the sense of propriety and the religious convictions of many citizens," and clergymen and important municipal officials took up the hue and cry. Shedd countered in a letter to the Mayor of Rochester, Hiram B. Edgerton, that he had personally chaperoned the party, that the dance was decorous, and he implied that critics were old fogies. Acting President Burton--Rhees was in Europe--in the face of trustee protestations took Shedd to task for the "offensive tone" of his rejoinder. Since Shedd had written the Mayor on University stationery, it was suggested that he refrain from doing so "in communications of a polemical nature," and he was likewise requested to avoid further controversy since his utterances would probably affect adversely the public image of the college. Shedd retorted that his communication to the Mayor had been published without his knowledge or consent, and that he had sent a note to that effect to the newspapers. Burton declined to be drawn into any public discussion of the controversy, which excited the local press for days. An address by Slater to a working class forum--the Labor Lyceum--on the ethics of Socialism passed without public notice. Shortly, Trustee President Lewis P. Ross wrote to Rhees, "Mr. Shedd has subsided into his regular condition of lunacy. How you get along with him I cannot quite see for he is crazy as a loon... " 35

With the blessing of Shedd, undergraduates organized in 1911 a branch of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, which enrolled some twenty-eight members. The popular football captain, Conrad R. ("Duke") Koegler, non-graduate, 1912, presided at meetings. Commenting on the club, a Rochester paper baldly asserted that "Socialism is now one of the most pronounced features of college life;" and the writer suspected that "several prominent and popular faculty" were polluting the mind of youth--an assumption in its essence, of course, as old as Socrates. Rhees retorted that only a few students were in fact involved and requested the editor to insist upon greater accuracy in press stories about the University. When the President refused to allow John Spargo, a militant Socialist orator, to address the Socialist Society in a University building, he spoke instead in Koegler's fraternity house and in a hall in the city, Professor Fairchild in the chair. 36

In the course of a speech in a public school on February 4, 1911, entitled "Privilege's Fear of Democracy," Shedd declared that the red flag [of Socialism] is broader than the Stars and Stripes or the flag of any other country. Whereas national flags symbolized strife and warfare, the emblem of Socialism represented human brotherhood, according to Shedd, and he added that "while I am a professor at the U. of R., I have not yet sold that institution my brains."

The address stirred up a hornet's nest--big press headlines and stories, denunciation by civic and patriotic societies --and Mayor Edgerton ordered that the professor of German should not be allowed to speak in a public building again. After an investigation, the School Board (Professor Forbes was president) emphatically disapproved the speech, though four of the five members doubted that Shedd had intended to besmirch the American flag. Denying that he had in fact propagated Socialism, Shedd regarded his remarks as purely an appeal to study the Socialist creed; and he repudiated the accusation that he had insulted the Stars and Stripes. From his angle of vision, "This affair is a tempest in a teapot."

To "correct Shedd's indiscretions," Rhees publicly explained that the University "trained young people for intelligent citizenship with regard for the stability of historical institutions and ... sane and rational developments...; " He did not think undergraduates would respond to "ill-digested vagaries or emotional enthusiasms." Privately, the President wrote that if Shedd were dismissed he would pose as "a martyr to the cause of freedom of thought and speech." In his judgment, whatever impact Shedd's views might have upon the student mind, it "would be offset a dozen times" by the influence of Professor Morey. 37

Claiming that he was only defending the fundamental right to speak freely, Shedd, on February 26, 1911, addressed a "wildly enthusiastic" city crowd of 2,000 on "The Right of Free Speech." He charged Mayor Edgerton with "persecution" and interlarded his remarks with references to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and Lincoln's Gettysburg address; the speech was printed and circulated. Reactions in the Rochester press were mixed. Rhees considered the performance of Shedd as "more temperate than usual."

Worse followed. On April 2, Shedd, ignoring the prohibition by the Mayor, spoke in the Shubert Theater to a "large, enthusiastic audience" on "Economic Patriotism." Pitching into spread-eagle nationalism, he sneered at churches, ridiculed the Chamber of Commerce, and condemned the massing of American troops along the Mexican border. "We love our country, yes, but we love mankind still more," he exclaimed. One newspaper likened the address to "the demagogic harangues of Eugene Debs [perennial Socialist aspirant to the White House] and Emma Goldman"--a fiery anarchist. The professor of German, Rhees sighed, had reverted to "his old sensationalism and demagogism."

Speaking in Syracuse under Socialist auspices and heeding his own mysterious inner voice, Shedd again upbraided the government for mobilizing troops near Mexico. "We are here because we are rebels, " he declared, "I am glad I'm a rebel." At a Socialist May day observance, the German professor appealed to a large sympathetic audience, which "applauded every movement of his lips," to "lift the glorious crimson banner of universal brotherhood." He touched obliquely on the theory of class struggle and assured the cheering throng that the idea of international solidarity of wageworkers was winning through. 38

At a conference with Shedd, Rhees admonished him to exercise "temperance" in public addresses. That counsel, however, fell on stony ground, and the President warned him "that your methods... of giving publicity to your ideas and convictions are such as are in danger of making your continued connection with the University an impossibility." What Shedd thought was his own private concern, Rhees emphasized, "but freedom of speech is far removed from intemperance and sensationalism of speech... your methods are inconsistent with the sober, thoughtful, scientific attitude to truth for which the University must stand." This communication evoked "no syllable of response" from Shedd, who months later indicated that he had talked the situation over at length with certain University officials--presumably Trustee Alling for one--assumed that his views would be transmitted in turn to the President.

Rhees was aware that "more than one member of the faculty is known to hold socialistic opinions and to express them," yet their tenure was in no wise endangered. He iterated and reiterated that it was the immoderate manner in which Shedd exposed his convictions in public, not the ideas themselves, that stirred up trouble.

After lengthy discussion of Shedd's public activities, which had given the college "some unwelcome notoriety," the trustee Executive Committee decided against taking formal action. It was as anxious as the President "to avoid a possible charge of interference with freedom of thought and speech;" all alike wished to avoid placing a crown of academic martyrdom on Shedd. At no point in the embittered quarrel was there the remotest suggestion of interference with Shedd's freedom to teach what he believed to be true in his academic specialty. "We shall have to proceed with the greatest circumspection," Rhees wisely observed. Belatedly, the President decided that Shedd, who had been a member of the teaching staff for over twenty years, was incompetent as a productive scholar, and he tried to find an opening for him in "general uplift work." 39

In spite of Rhees's "friendly and official" counsels of moderation, Shedd, who seemed to itch for a halo of martyrdom, rose to a climax of indiscretion in an address at Auburn, New York, on November 3, 1911. He was said to have said, "...I preach the doctrine of discontent. I sign my letters, 'Yours for the revolution'.... Jesus was crazy, Columbus was crazy, Gene Debs is crazy...." After denouncing patriotism as imparted in the schools as silly, Shedd sang two original songs, "The Little Red Ticket" and another calling for Socialist administrations in American cities. "I am a revolutionist with a capital R," he was quoted as saying. He made a "wild attack on religion," and more than hinted that it had been suggested that he might be forced to leave the U. of R.

Cries ascended in the Rochester press for the dismissal of Shedd from the college staff, and important trustees echoed that recommendation. An agent sent by Rhees to Auburn to ascertain whether the press had fairly treated the Shedd speech, reported that it had done so, though not everything that he said was published. 40

For political purposes, according to Shedd, newspapers had distorted the Auburn address; in his own account of what had happened, he denied, among other things, that he contemplated quitting the U. of R. His assertion that he neither referred to his Socialist principles in his recitation room nor permitted discussion of them was upheld by Socialist Society President Koegler, who vigorously championed the cause of the controversial teacher.

Rhees decided that the moment had arrived for positive action, but before moving he talked with Shedd to get his version of the Auburn episode and, as noted, obtained a detailed report from a representative who visited Auburn. Shedd readily acknowledged indifference to the higher intellectual concerns of a man of learning and his absorption in interests outside of the academic sphere. For a meeting on November 24, 1911, of the trustee Executive Committee to deliberate on the Shedd affair, Rhees prepared extensive and accurate notes in which the Professor's disinterest in creative scholarship and the charge that he exercised a pernicious influence upon his students had places. It was resolved by the Committee to request Shedd to withdraw, and, if he balked, he would be discharged as of June, 1912, though he would be given a leave of absence beginning in January, 1912. Rhees and Trustee Alling, with whom Shedd had been closely associated in a Good Government Club and whose Bible Class he had occasionally taught, were instructed to carry out the verdict.

Summoned to a conference on November 27 with Rhees and Alling, Shedd agreed to come, and properly assumed that his resignation would be requested. Consequently, he proposed that he "give a written promise" to refrain from public speeches for two years; in the interval he would decide upon a change of vocation and accumulate money to educate his three children. Then he would withdraw from the faculty in a manner that would seem entirely voluntary. This proposition, Shedd said, should not be interpreted as a plea for mercy; he was prepared "to take his medicine like a man."

As the sequel to a second conference, Shedd turned in his resignation on December 1, 1911, to go into force at the end of the current academic year. This modification in terms, Rhees recommended because of "the admirable spirit" Shedd had shown. The President rejoiced that what had threatened to be "an inexpressibly distressing" task had been accomplished quietly and in good spirit. On his own initiative, Shedd promised that he would stop speaking in public until his tenure at the University had ceased. Politely but firmly he declined an offer of money trustees to assure his children of a college education. 41

Public announcements of the impending Shedd withdrawal--a handy euphemism for forced resignation--was made on February 12, 1912. It provoked significant commentary in the national as well as in the Rochester press; an editorial in the New York World headed "Ousted for Socialism" accused the U. of R. authorities of violating "every principle of intellectual liberty and every right of free speech." Money, it was implied, exercised "a tyranny over university education worse than in any country outside of Russia." Whether the editorial writer, had he been more fully acquainted with the evidence in the Shedd case, would have written in different language, is conjectural. 42

For articulate undergraduates, the prospective departure of the professor of German came as a fell blow, and he achieved in fact sort of near martyrdom. The Campus predicted that students would "ever cherish a warm regard for him;" without necessarily endorsing his views "all agree that he is a man of upright character and fearless integrity," cheerful in disposition and helpful to students. As the time of his withdrawal approached, he was the guest of honor at several student parties. The Interpres carried "An Appreciation of K. P. Shedd:"

We're sorry you cannot still be with us,
But, tho you leave, your memory will linger,
A pleasant heritage of college life...
May God be with you, Sheddie.

At the final chapel meeting of the academic year, Shedd addressed the undergraduates, who applauded fervently, and gave him a gold watch engraved with the inscription, "Sheddie, 'Hoch soll er leben.' From the U. of R. fellows." At a reception by the women, he was presented with a traveling bag--a not inappropriate gift. Oddly enough, faculty colleagues of Shedd expressed no opinions on the affair that have been uncovered. At his death in 1953, at the age of eighty-seven, former students penned glowing tributes to "Sheddie," "an excellent teacher and a good and kind friend."

Shedd revealed to students that he had no idea of how he would earn a living. Actually, he concentrated for a while on promoting the Socialist interest in Rochester and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but after the entry of the United States into the First World War, he severed connections with the Socialist party because of its opposition to fighting Germany. Subsequently he engaged in secondary school teaching and administration. Asked to recommend Shedd as a teacher, Rhees replied that he was "a man of great enthusiasm, untiring industry, and high idealism... a man of honor and ability," especially qualified "for work in secondary education." 43

The bitterness of Shedd toward the U. of R. administration was deep-rooted, and led him to publish "positive untruths" about his withdrawal. For a pamphlet of his college class reunion in 1914 he wrote: "Kicked out (frozen out, forced out, etc., as you will) of the college for the crime of daring to express opinions on subjects economic and political....Am now employed at meagre wages in the cause of Truth and Humanity." 44

To fill the chair in German, Rhees cast about for a scholar of high competence, experience, and promise, finally inviting J. Percival King of the Williams College faculty at a higher than average salary and promising to appoint an instructor to work with him. King was asked not to disclose his election until after Commencement of 1912, for the President wished to avoid "further accentuating the unfortunate circumstances which led to the withdrawal of Professor Shedd." Canadian born and educated, King had studied extensively at universities in Germany and held a doctorate from Tübingen. Given his background and training, it is unlikely that King would have accepted the Rochester invitation had he not been satisfied that the Shedd affair had not transgressed the German university dogma of Lehrfreiheit. For over thirty years, with a single interruption, he toiled away acquainting youths with the intricacies of the German language and the glories of German literature. For him, learning the tongue of Lessing and Schiller meant "a pathway to a new appreciation of form and beauty of expression, to new friendships with great minds and their ideas and ideals, to new and inspiring adventures in thought." 45

VII

New perspectives on the purposes of higher education, new ideas on the range of careers for which mature, formal training was useful, new blood in the teaching force, and enlarged physical facilities brought alterations in curricula. Reforms were achieved without much friction in faculty circles; an unusual degree of harmony in truth prevailed, factionalism was rarely evident, and revisions in educational objectives were invariably effected smoothly and in a constructive spirit.

Individual professors, old and new, offered new courses from time to time as their intellectual perspectives changed. For years Rhees conducted two term courses in Biblical literature. Instruction in Italian and Spanish, previously available only in private honors study, was added to the elective curriculum, and in 1904 modern languages were separated into two departments, German and the Romance tongues. Increased offerings in social studies formed an important feature of the widening horizons: more intensive work in political science and economics, the advent of sociology (1911), and a course in citizenship (1910) required of all seniors. This last course, which met one hour weekly for three terms, concentrated upon municipal affairs "using the city of Rochester as a laboratory." Instruction in journalism, talked of for years, was introduced in 1910 with Slater as the teacher, as mentioned earlier but student interest was so tepid that it was soon dropped. A course in Applied Science, partly operative as early as 1906 in anticipation of the Carnegie Building, was "accorded an enthusiastic reception... from students and patrons of the institution, while those engaged in the management of important [Rochester] enterprises," proclaimed a college prospectus, "have been quick to appreciate the worth of young men who have enjoyed its advantages."

Systematic instruction in art, as has been noted, was restored in 1902, and nine years later, George Barlow Penny, a specialist in the theory and history of music, began to lecture on music appreciation. These offerings in the fine arts constituted facets of "the ministry of the college to the community." Two years of physical training were made obligatory for male students and tentative arrangements for regular exercise by undergraduate women were also devised. 46

Rather unique programs were worked out (1903) with Cornell in particular, whereby a student following three years of pre-engineering (or Applied Science) work at Rochester transferred to Cornell , and after two years study was awarded a Cornell degree in engineering. Lengthy negotiations with Harvard and Columbia resulted in a plan for combined college and medical training requiring seven years; after three years at the U. of R., a student enrolled at an approved medical school, and the first year there he rounded out the requirement for a baccalaureate degree at Rochester; the tie with Harvard, however, soon ended, since the Cambridge authorities prescribed a bachelor's degree for admission to medical training. Proposals for similar alliances with law and agricultural schools ran into sand. Law school education was adjudged (1912) too narrowly technical to accept the first year of legal studies as the equivalent of the fourth year at Rochester. When a national journal reported that the U. of R. had set up a four-year course in cinematography, Rhees stated that the news was "premature." 47

More than once in the forepart of the century, the idea of founding a law school or, alternatively, of an affiliation with a school operating as a private business enterprise, engaged the attention of the University corporation. The President wrote (1901), "I have for some time thought that there might be room here for a school similar to that in Buffalo...." Lecturers could be recruited from among Rochester attorneys and the presence in the city of a state law library and an Appellate division of the Supreme Court was accounted as additional assets. Rhees was eager to avoid both "a false step" and "a false conservatism, which will hinder our largest and worthiest ministry to the community." All the trustees residing in Rochester, save one, liked the law school idea, but after careful investigation it was rejected; the proposal for an autonomous law school connected somehow with the University suffered a like fate, presumably for financial reasons and because Upstate New York was already well supplied with law schools, and the same logic prevailed in 1913 when a school of law again came under consideration. 48

A suggestion for an agricultural department at the U. of R., in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and railways, was scrupulously canvassed. An extension course in agriculture, principally on fruit-raising, was actually announced, but promptly canceled. Proposals for industrial scholarships to be granted to students who would investigate problems of interest to Rochester companies and for training in optometry (1911) were not implemented. 49

Rhees took particular pride in the growth of instruction in the sciences, which he regarded as fulfillment of the vision and purpose outlined in the "Kelly Plan" of 1850 for the University. Yet he made it clear that expansion in the scientific departments implied no "change in the controlling idea of the University. The aim," he wrote (1907), "still is to give an education which shall develop in each student the most efficient and intelligent manhood." 50

By arrangements with Mechanics Institute, undergraduates might study mechanical drawing and shopwork there and count the credits toward a degree at the University--the fees were small, and in a spirit of reciprocity teachers at the Institute might receive instruction at the college free of charge. Later on, women undergraduates were given credit for a course at the Institute, gaily described as "household science," embracing home decoration, foods and nutrition, and so on. But the big leap forward in science and technology began when the Eastman and Carnegie Buildings became available. As has been mentioned, Professor Ernsberger prepared a four-year program--and a stiff one it was--leading to a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. To equip a laboratory for instructional purposes, he "begged, borrowed, and bought if absolutely necessary." Few students actually registered for the full engineering program, but in 1913 the first engineering degrees were conferred--upon Roy H. Hendrickson and Howard E. Bacon, who also carried off Phi Beta Kappa honors; more than mere foundations had been laid for what in time became an engineering school of distinction. 51

After prolonged debate, the faculty voted to retain the historic three term pattern of the academic year instead of a two semester plan which had been introduced in New England colleges. The weightiest argument against a change was that the first semester would run into January and that the short period following the Christmas holidays would not be conducive to efficiency in learning. The fall and spring terms were shortened in 1911, the winter term lengthened, and the Thanksgiving recess reduced to a single day. As a rule, classes met five times a week, and, aside from laboratory exercises in the sciences, the textbook technique of instruction still predominated.

In the early years of the century, able undergraduates were still permitted to engage in honors studies, meeting weekly with instructors. While this work was not credited toward a degree, successful participants were rewarded by honorable mention at Commencement and in the annual catalogues. According to official releases, roughly two-thirds of the study required for a baccalaureate degree were prescribed, one third elective. By about 1910, the country over, the elective philosophy had attained the peak of its prestige; on the reasoning that the system of election resulted in undesirable intellectual diffusion, if not in truth in anarchy, the pendulum began to swing back to prescription.

At Rochester drastic curricular alterations in 1909-1910 eliminated the Ph.B. degree, which had lost standing in the academic world, and requirements for the B.A. and B.S. were remolded on a kind of group pattern. To earn the Arts distinction, candidates were required to study Latin or Greek for at least three terms, and, as upperclassmen, they might pursue a general course (which most of them chose) or a major subject in any one of four departments; for the B.S., the options offered were a general curriculum (again the most popular) or specialization in any one of four departments. In the first two college years all students had to take courses in English and physical education. 52

As previously, the University continued to admit applicants from approved secondary schools with no questions asked, while others entered on the basis of examinations conducted by the college. A high percentage of the freshmen were graduates of Rochester city schools, and when the rumor got about that the University regarded "pupils prepared in Rochester as about the poorest material admitted," Rhees issued a spirited statement that "...taken as a whole, students from Rochester stand better than those from elsewhere...." Applicants certified by the College Entrance Examination Board, founded in 1901, or by the New York State Department of Education were readily enrolled. Transfers from approved colleges were placed on a kind of probationary status until they had demonstrated their academic quality. Special students--the term "eclectic" was given up--had to pass an entrance examination set by the department of learning in which they wished to work. 53

Primarily for secondary school teachers, instruction in the summer and on Saturday mornings was given until 1912 and then abandoned owing to the meager registration. Standards of scholarship for the master's degree--as for the bachelor's--were repeatedly raised in both quality and quantity; seldom were deviations permitted from the requirement of a thesis for master's honors. As of 1912, only ten candidates for master's degrees were enrolled. Seniors of outstanding ability were allowed to count part of their studies as credit towards a master's degree. Consideration was given (1901) to starting full-bodied graduate work which would culminate in a Ph.D., but the small size of the faculty and the lack of funds to engage more specialist professors defeated the suggestion. 54

VIII

Taken together, the new academic, living, and recreational buildings and equipment acquired early in the present century represent a very substantial segment of the widening horizons. The President and the corporation appreciated that enlarged physical facilities would encourage the growth of the student body and improve the regional and national standing of the college; and those gains in turn would prompt still further development.

Scarcely had Rhees seated himself firmly in the executive chair than he secured trustee approval for a comprehensive plan for future buildings on the Prince Street Campus. He had in mind structures for science and the fine arts, a chapel and auditorium, along with undergraduate living quarters. Trustee Ely underwrote part of the costs for the master plan, and in 1906 a sketch by consulting architects of what was desired was publicly disclosed. It was pointed out that in addition to the facilities mentioned above the trustees were thinking of larger playing fields for men and of a separate academic complex for women, which would relieve acute pressure on existing buildings. By 1912, several hitherto vacant areas on the campus had been filled in--or were by way of being occupied; accordingly, a revised edition of architectural renderings was drafted, which envisaged "a symmetrical and dignified development of the campus in future years." 55

When the Rochester Academy of Medicine sought permission to erect an edifice on the campus, possibly as a monument to the late and great physician, Edward Mott Moore, Rhees expressed approval of a long lease on a parcel of land. The presence of the Academy, he felt, would enhance the stature of the college and might prepare the way for the University park to become the focus of "all scientific activities" in Rochester. Notwithstanding the sympathetic attitude of "Prexy," the trustees, much divided on the Academy of Medicine scheme, appear to have turned thumbs down. 56

Characteristically, Rhees inquired of other college executives what their experience had been with a central heating plant. And when the responses proved favorable, he pushed ahead with a similar facility for Rochester, personally supervising the construction which was completed in November, 1904. Placed at the northeastern corner of the campus, the red brick plant, which was stoked automatically, cut down heating costs. After the erection of other buildings, it became necessary in 1913 to enlarge the plant, doubling its capacity. Soot from the chimney which showered down on campus pedestrians was brought under control. 57

Like Hill before him, Rhees in his earliest report to the trustees called attention to the urgency of a special building for biology and physics, then carried on in overcrowded quarters on three different floors of Anderson Hall. The structure might take the form of a memorial to Dr. Edward Mott Moore, or bear the name of the donor. Professors Lawrence and Dodge drew up specifications for a science building and its equipment, but "Prexy" was told, "If you could possibly... discover a gold mine or a bank note factory," it would accelerate construction. The trustees resolved, however, to secure funds not only for the building but for an endowment to cover maintenance. It has been recounted in an earlier chapter how George Eastman met all the costs of the new science building itself; modest outlays for equipment were authorized by the corporation. On October 26, 1904, ground was broken on the Prince Street side of the campus, almost directly across from Sibley Hall, and exactly two years later--debate over the exterior decoration slowed up construction--the structure was ceremonially dedicated. 58

Constructed of red sandstone and red brick, the Eastman Building contained a basement and three stories above it. While the basement and first floor were allocated to lecture rooms and laboratories for physics, the upper levels became the domain of the biology department and its museums, which were removed from Sibley Hall. Facilities included a freight elevator and an up-to-date fire escape. It was announced that Rochester scientific societies might freely use the rooms for their meetings.

Jubilantly--and prophetically--the Interpres lauded Eastman as "a true friend" of the U. of R., who "has done much toward the placing of scientific training within the reach of all. In years to come, when... our broad campus shall have become too narrow to accommodate the host of buildings and the throng of students... one imperishable link shall [sic] survive... the name of Eastman...." 59

At the dedicatory ceremonies attended by big crowds, Professor Edward L. Nichols, Cornell physicist who had taught Lawrence, spoke on "The Larger Field of a College Laboratory," while Professor William T. Sedgwick of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology did the honors for biology under the title of "Biology in the Service of Man." In the course of his remarks, Sedgwick directed the attention of the audience to its own environment--to the Genesee River. "You have spoiled a beautiful river. You have committed a crime. You have converted a beautiful river into a cesspool and now you must purify it. It will be expensive but a way must be found to accomplish it." That language had by no means lost its validity in the 1960's! 60

According to Rhees, without the Eastman Building the University corporation would not have felt justified in seriously considering an offer of Andrew Carnegie to contribute $100,000 for an applied science building and in branching out into a new area of education. It was not until 1909, four years after the Carnegie proposal, that planning of the structure got underway; irritating delays were partly due to the Fabian architect, Henry D. Whitfield, Carnegie's brother-in-law. Actual construction began in the spring of 1910, Rhees, as was his wont, overseeing every detail; the building was built of brown brick with stone trimmings. In January, 1911, the facilities were partly occupied, though the finishing touches were not applied for several months; greatly to the disappointment of Rhees, Carnegie could not attend the opening ceremonies. Especially planned for instruction in mechanical engineering, the building had two floors for classroom purposes and abasement for laboratories; it had space for up to one hundred and twenty students. Until 1930, this structure served the needs of engineering education (certain rooms were used by other departments) and subsequently it was converted into a residence hall for women. In 1965 a professorship in physics was assigned the name of Carnegie; "Carnegie's name," President W. Allen Wallis remarked, "was part of the daily life of this University for nearly fifty years, and we are eager to restore it." 61

Before the end of the first phase of the Rhees era, an alumnus was heard to remark that the campus would soon be so crowded with buildings that it would be impossible to install a hitching post. That wry observation was prompted by news (1907) that Grant Hugh Browne, 1885, a New York financier, wished to erect a dormitory for men. Unlike President Anderson, Rhees believed a college residence hall would be an asset, a magnet to draw students from out of the city, and the trustees endorsed that reasoning. Blueprints were prepared, but Browne, alas, went bankrupt, and the project was placed on the shelf until 1911. "Prexy" then proposed that dining facilities should be provided along with living quarters. In final form, the plans called for a residence center consisting of three sections, which would not only be cheaper than three individual structures, but would conserve space and look more attractive. Each section would rise to three stories with four suites on each floor, capable of caring for twenty-four men in all. Each suite would have a study with a fireplace, and two sleeping rooms; bathrooms on each floor would be equipped with showers.

By trustee decision the middle section would be built first, with two wings to be added when the need arose. It would be constructed of red brick and trimmed with red sandstone. Part of the first level was eventually set aside as a congenial place for student gatherings in an informal atmosphere, and after World War I a lunchroom was laid out in the basement. In keeping with undergraduate suggestions, a site between Anderson and Sibley Halls was chosen, in the heart of the campus, where the residence hall would help to promote activities, it was urged, that rounded out the college experience.

Funds having been furnished largely by alumni and trustees, work started in 1912 and in January , 1913, a few students moved into the finished portion of the dormitory. It was first thought of giving the name of Mixer to the section but eventually the honor went to Asahel C. Kendrick, professor of Greek, in the original Rochester faculty, in the hope that occupants would be reminded daily that the aim of the college was to educate cultured citizens who would cherish opportunities for reading and acquire a love of poetry and all forms of beauty, as Kendrick himself had done. Student sentiment favored, instead of simply Kendrick, the affectionate title of Kai Gar Hall. As matters turned out, the first section of the residence hall was the only part ever completed. 62

A central heating plant, a stately statue of President Anderson (1905), and the Eastman, Carnegie, and Kendrick buildings by no means exhausted the construction enterprises of the first thirteen Rhees years. While Kendrick Hall was rising, it was revealed that an art gallery and a complex for a coordinate college for women would be erected and work on both started promptly. These exciting developments will be related in the next chapter. The presence of a private dwelling on the west side of the campus, behind one of three older residences fronting on Prince Street, provoked undergraduate displeasure. (This home, after various vicissitudes, became (1955) an annex of the Memorial Art Gallery). 63

IX

Under the supervision of Professor Morey, library collections were reclassified in 1900 on a distinctive pattern. At that point, Sibley Hall contained nearly 37,000 volumes and during 1900 1,509 new books were acquired. The annual budget stood at $3,300; in 1906, the appropriation for books and periodicals reached the dizzy sum of $2,000 and rose modestly thereafter. As in the past, alumni, professors, and friends of the University presented gifts of books; especially valuable was a very large collection, mostly on astronomy and physics, as well as experimental apparatus, from the estate of William Harkness, 1858. Hiram W. Sibley of Rochester turned over (1904) to the Library a choice assortment of musical works and the Rochester Art Club placed its resources in Sibley Hall. In 1907 the Library was formally registered as a public library for reference purposes, and thus became eligible for a small annual subvention from the Education Department of New York State. By 1911, 57,000 volumes were on the shelves.

From 1901 to 1905, Professor Hoeing held the title of librarian, and then for a decade, until a professional librarian was engaged, the chairman of the faculty committee on library was in charge. Herman K. Phinney, 1877, whose idiosyncrasies often annoyed Prexy and the professors to the point where he was threatened with dismissal , held on as assistant librarian. His manifold duties were scrupulously defined and he was told that he was not obligated ''to inform himself of the contents of books or periodicals, except insofar as is necessary for their proper classification, nor to assist in the literary investigations of the users of the library..."

To the amusement of readers, it may be, a bird occasionally flew into Sibley Hall, disproving a piece of doggerel by Professor Shedd:

Once a year they ope the windows,
Let the new air mix with old;
Then they lock them, tightly block them,
Lest the ancients catch a cold. 64

Modest alterations in the interior of the Library in 1901 preceded thorough renovation three years later, made possible by the liberality of Hiram W. Sibley and planned by a Rochester architect, J. Foster Warner. By the installation of a steel balcony or gallery, with staircases leading to it, shelf space for 35,000 volumes became available; heat was supplied by the central plant, instead of a furnace in the Library cellar, the ventilation system was improved, and the main reading room was redecorated and furnished with electric lights. A showpiece in the reconstructed entrance corridor was a bronze bust of Hiram Sibley, donor of the Library, heroic in size, and mounted on a green marble pedestal. Wrought by the sculptor, H. A. McNeil, it was the gift of Sibley's son, Hiram W. On the walls of the lobby portraits of U. of R. celebrities, like Azariah Boody--given (1902) by a relative, Elwell S. Otis, 1858--and Lewis H. Morgan were displayed. As of 1968 the Sibley sculpture and the Boody picture were stored in a room beneath Strong Auditorium on the River Campus while the likeness of Morgan had completely disappeared. 65

Along the way, various improvements enhanced the beauty, the comfort, or the convenience of college properties. For example, a simple ladder fire escape attached to the rear of Anderson Hall, condemned as unsafe, was replaced (1908) by a wire enclosed escape with steps. To preserve University records, a massive fireproof safe was placed (1912) in Anderson Hall (it was still there in 1968); to avoid panic in case of fire, doors on all buildings were made to swing outwards (1907), and fire extinguishers were installed. A grand piano took the place (1901) of the wheezy chapel organ, new hymnals, free of "mere twaddle," were donated, the chapel was refurbished and supplied (1903) with electric lights.

After the Eastman Building became available, several rooms in Anderson were renovated, ventilation was bettered, a new staircase was built on the west side of the interior, and enlarged recreation quarters were provided for the women students. One by one, sanitary drinking fountains were installed in the principal academic buildings. A public telephone was placed in Anderson Hall and a telephone network for official use only linked up (1904) the campus structures.

"Why are the college clocks always wrong?" queried a Campus editorial. "The clock in Anderson Hall gains one day, loses the next...." In response to this and other student complaints, an electric clock supplanted (1911) the whimsical time piece which for generations had been wound every Saturday morning. Bare classroom walls in Anderson were brightened up by copies of famous paintings, classical landscapes, maps, sculptures, and pictures or oil paintings of men of letters, political personalities, and U. of R. professors and trustees. A reproduction of the Parthenon, presented by women under-graduates, honored Ella S. Wilcoxen, the first coed to receive a U. of R. diploma.

Reynolds Laboratory, too, was supplied with electricity, spruced up, and considerably rearranged (1910) so as to provide more working space. The establishment of a bookstore was considered (1903), but not approved; under-graduate pleas for a "lounging" room were satisfied at last in Kendrick Hall. Playing fields were improved and the trustees approved (1913) a proposal to acquire a new athletic field accessible by streetcar from Prince Street.

Campus beautification progressed steadily. Cement walks were laid down (1900), the area directly in front of Anderson Hall was paved (1911) with bricks, and, partly because thoughtless motorists drove cars on to the grounds from the "serpentine windings" of existing roads, a straight central driveway was built (1913) from University Avenue to the circle in front of Anderson Hall; a second roadway proceeded from Goodman Street along the southern side of Carnegie Building. The reuning classes of 1892 and 1902 underwrote (1912) the construction of an ornamental gateway of brick and limestone at the Prince Street entrance to the University park. Since the general public made use of the campus, the Rochester municipality appropriated money (1907) to light it by electricity. Affectionate care was lavished on campus trees, and a row of linden saplings replaced decaying trees along the driveway from Prince Street to Anderson Hall. It was quite unnecessary to imitate a president of Ohio University, who, after inspecting eastern campuses, set about collecting squirrels to frisk up and down trees.

Thomas T. Swinburne, non-graduate 1892, donated (1911) a handsome sundial, which was set on a granite pedestal before Sibley Hall; inscribed on it were the University motto, "Meliora," and Galileo's affirmation, "It is the earth that moves." "May its finger of light, pointing to the motto of our Alma Mater... inspire us with loyalty to her noble traditions," Swinburne wrote. As if to crown the expansion of University facilities, the trustees in 1913 created the office of Superintendent of College Grounds and Buildings; big George R. Rohr, the first incumbent, held on until his death in 1932. 66

Next Chapter: Men and Women
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Footnotes to Chapter 15

1. Rush Rhees to John B. Calvert, March 8, 1902. Rhees Papers. Anon., ''Rufus A. Sibley,'' Rochester Commerce, XXXI, August 25, 1944, 7. Anon., ''Lewis P. Ross,'' Ibid., March 10, 1944, 8.
2. Carl W. Lauterbach to W. A., Harper, September 14, 1927. Rhees Papers. Trustee Records, III, June 14, 1904, 152-154, Ibid., June 20, 1905, 166.
3. R D&C, Feb. 27, 1904.
4. Rush Rhees to Henry S. Pritchett, Feb. 2, March 15, 1906. Rhees Papers. Rhees to L. Emmett Holt, June 14, 1906. Ibid. Trustee Records, III, June 19, 1906, 182, 195. See, Galpin, op. cit., II, pp. 412-419.
5. R D&C, November 19, 1911. Executive Committee Minutes, VI, February 7, 1912. Rush Rhees to Williston Walker, March 5, 1912. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Francis R. Welles, 1875, March 20, 1912. Ibid. Rhees to L. Emmett Holt, 1875, March 21,1912. Ibid. Slater, Rhees, pp. 108-111, 288. Rhees at the time was greatly annoyed by a pamphlet published by the United States Bureau of Education in which the U. of R. was rated lower than Colgate or Hamilton. See, for example, Rush Rhees to P. P. Claxton, January 10, 1914. Rhees Papers.
6. Rush Rhees to William D. Conklin, 1912, November 21, 1915. Rhees Papers. Fuess, op. cit., pp. 278, 308. Stanley King to Alan Valentine, June 3, 1950. Valentine Papers. See also, Stanley King, A History of the Endowment of Amherst College (Amherst, 1950), p. 128. Ex-President King writes, "The Board elected Rush Rhees,...then president of the University of Rochester, who...chose to remain at Rochester," (83) but does not give the source of this information.
7. Trustee Records, IV, June 18, 1912, Jan. 18, June 17, 1913.
8. President's Report, 1902. Executive Committee Minutes, November 8, 1902.
9. John B. Calvert, 1876, to Rush Rhees, Oct. 22, 1902, April 29, May 6, 1903, April 3, 1905. Rhees Papers. William R. Willcox to Rhees, March 19, 1904. Ibid. Rhees to Willcox, Nov. 9, 1904, March 28, 29, 1905. Ibid. Rhees to Andrew Carnegie, March 29, 1905. Ibid. Rhees to G. E. Merrill, March 31, 1905. Ibid. Executive Committee Minutes, V, April 15, 1950, R D&C, March 29, 1905. Slater, Rhees, p. 72.
10. President's Report, June 1, 1905. Rochester Post-Express, May 14, 1906. Rush Rhees to A. H. Harris, May 7, 1906. Rhees Papers. H. L. Morehouse to John D. Rockefeller, copy, April 7, 1900. Ibid. Wallace Buttrick to Rhees, July 26, 1902. Ibid.
11. Rush Rhees to Wallace Buttrick, Dec. 24, 1907, April 29, 1908. Rhees Papers. Executive Committee Minutes, April 24, 1908. Rhees to C. A. Brown, 1879, Jan. 29, 1912. Rhees Papers. President's Report, June 10, 1913.
12. Rush Rhees to J. P. Munn, April 7, 9, June 5, 1907. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Mrs. Russell Sage, Dec. 11, 1907. Ibid.
13. Trustee Records, III, June 15, 1909.
14. Rochester History, XVII (1955), no. 4, 21-22. Executive Committee Minutes, V, March 20, 1906. Rush Rhees to Lewis P. Ross, March 22, 1906. Rhees Papers. Mary T. L. Gannett to Anna H. Shaw, Oct. 2, 1906, Anthony Memorial Fund Records, Rhees Library Archives. Mrs. Gannett to Rush Rhees, June 9, 1913. Ibid. Mrs. Gannett to Ida Husted Harper, August 17, 1919. Ibid. Rhees to Mrs. William C. Gannett, June 9, 1913. Rhees Papers.
15. RAR, X (1932), no. 4, 91-94. Ibid., XIV (1936), no. 5, 99-102. Rush Rhees to George Eastman, undated. Rhees Papers. Slater, Rhees, pp. 164-166. Merle Curti and Roderick Nash, Philanthropy in the Shaping of American Higher Education (New Brunswick, N.J., 1965), p. 154. Ackerman, op. cit., pp. 327-332, 340-347.
16. Edward G. Miner to Rush Rhees, August 8, 1912. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Wallace R. Buttrick, March 29, 1912. Ibid. Rhees to Grant H. Browne, 1885, November 15, 1912. Ibid. Rhees to George Eastman, May 29, June 3, December 13, 26, 1912. Ibid. Rhees to W. C. Wilkinson,1857, December 10, 1912. Ibid. Rhees to F. W. Padelford, May 15, 1914. Ibid. Trustee Records, IV, June 10, 1913. R U&A, November 11, 1912. Rochester Herald, February 18, 1914. Interpres, LVIII (1916), 8, 9-10. Another source gives these figures on finances at mid-1913: plant assets, $988,000, endowment, $1,778,000 yielding income of over $71,000. It is not clear whether the million dollars subscribed were fully paid; the endowment records for the year show an increase of only a little more than $832,000. "Financial History from September 1899 to June 1923..." Rhees Library Archives.
17. Campus, XXVI, February 15, 1901.
18. Rush Rhees to George Wilson, Nov. 14, 1901. Rhees Papers. Rhees to John G. Bowman, Feb. 17, 1908, Aug. 5, 1909. Ibid. Boothe C. Davis to Rhees, Nov. 24, 1903. Ibid. Executive Committee Minutes, V, Jan. 22, 1907. Rhees to Thomas C. Esty, March 19, 1901. Rhees Papers. Campus, XXIX, May 4, 1904.
19. Rush Rhees to John R. Slater, Dec. 22, 1903, Aug. 24, 1904. Rhees Papers. John R. Slater to Rush Rhees, Dec. 17, 1903, Feb. 29, March 14, April 25, 1904, Aug. 16, 1905. Ibid. A good deal of biographical material on Slater was disclosed at a memorial service for him on March 13, 1966. URLB, XXI (1966), no. 3.
20. RHSP, XX (1942), 26. Slater, Essays and Addresses, II, 756.
21. Campus, XXXVIII, Oct. 1, 1912. Ibid., XLII, Oct. 5, 1916. Interpres, XVII (1914), advertisements p.4. Croceus, IX (1918), R D&C, June 23, 1965. New York Times, June 23, 1965.
22. Campus, XL, Nov. 24, 1915. J. Edward Hoffmeister, "John Slater on Man," URLB, XIV (1959), 30-34.
23. R D&C, June 23, 1965. R T-U, June 22, 1965. Campus, XL, April 27, 1916.
24. RAR, XVI (1938), no. 3, 8. Ibid., XIV (1952), no. 1, 9-10; no. 3, 11.
25. Interpres, LV (1913),185. The Cloister, May, 1923. John R. Slater, "Havens' Distinguished Work on Milton," RAR, I (1922), no. 1, 20. Campus, L, April 24, 1925.
26. Rush Rhees to Clyde Furst, Feb. 8, 1923. Rhees Papers. Rochester History, XVII (1955), no. 4, 22. Treasurer's Report, 1932-1933, 146.
27. Williston Walker to Rush Rhees, March 29, April 28, 1905. Rhees Papers. Interpres, LXVI (1924). R D&C, Dec. 31, 1939. "Memorial Service for Dean Arthur Sullivan Gale, July 9, 1964" in typescript, Rhees Library Archives.
28. Interpres, XVII (1915). Faculty Minutes, November 1, 1956.
29. Rush Rhees to M. C. Ernsberger, Sept, 7, 1910, June 26, 1913. Rhees Papers. Campus, XXXV, Sept. 30, 1909.
30. President's Report, June 1, 1911.
31. President's Report, June 1, 1911. Rush Rhees to Lewis P. Ross, February 9, 1911. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Joseph T. Alling, August 23, 1913. Ibid. Rhees to Henry F. Burton, June 18, 1910. Ibid. Faculty Minutes, V, September 25, 1912, June 14, 1913.
32. President's Report, June 1, 1912. Rush Rhees to Percy Boynton, March 19, 1906. Rhees Papers.
33. The fullest analysis of the Shedd affair has been written by John Dutko, 1953, "Socialism in Rochester, 1900-1917," a thesis for the Master's degree at the U. of R., 1953, pp. 105-106, 143-182, 188-189, 204, 211, 213, 216. Certain statements in this work lack convincing factual support. See, also McKelvey, III, pp. 103-107, 240, and Ibid., "Rochester's Ethnic Transformations," Rochester History, XXV (1963), no. 3, 15.
34. R U&A, June 20, 1889. Kendrick P. Shedd to Rush Rhees, March 17, 1902. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Charles M. Williams, Oct. 4, 1909. Ibid.
35. R D&C, Feb. 5, 1909. Lewis P. Ross to Henry F. Burton, Feb. 5, 1909. Rhees Papers. Burton to Kendrick P. Shedd, Feb. 6, 1909. Ibid. Shedd to Burton, Feb. 6, 1909. Ibid. Burton to Rush Rhees, Feb. 18, 1909, April 14, 1909. Ibid. Campus, Feb. 24, 1909, 4. Ross to Rhees, March 21, 1909. Rhees Papers, Rochester Post-Express. Feb. 12, 1909.
36. Campus, XXXVI, Jan. 19, May 4, 1911. Rochester Herald, Jan. 28, 1911. Rush Rhees to Louis M. Antisdale, 1893, Jan. 30, 1911. Rhees Papers.
37. R U&A, Feb. 6, 1911. R D&C, Feb. 5, 7, 8, 1911. Kendrick P. Shedd to Herbert S. Weet, February 7, 1911. Rhees Library Archives. Lewis P. Ross to Rush Rhees, February 13, 15, 1911. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Ross, February 17, 1911. Ibid. Rhees to W. G. Ricker, February 15, 1911. Ibid.
38. Rochester Herald, Feb. 28, 1911. R U&A, Feb. 28, 1911. R D&C, Feb. 27, Apr. 3, 4, May 2, 1911.
39. Rush Rhees to Kendrick P. Shedd, April 7, 1911. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Charles M. Williams, April 20, 1911. Ibid. Rhees to Joseph T. Alling, April 15, 1911. Ibid. Rhees to J. Sloat Fassett, April 19, 1911. Ibid. Rhees to Luther Gulick, May 16, 1911. Ibid. Shedd to Rhees, November 22, 1911. Ibid. Rhees to Storrs B. Barrett, 1889, December 2, 1912. Ibid.
40. R D&C, Nov. 15, (two items), Nov. 19, 1911. Rochester Post Express, Nov. 16, 1911. L. Emmett Holt to Rush Rhees, Nov. 20, 1911. Rhees Papers. Report of agent sent to Auburn, Nov. 21, 1911. Ibid. Kendrick P. Shedd to Rhees, Nov. 22, 1911. Ibid. Frank Bohm to Rhees, Nov. 22, 1911. Ibid. Another "Socialist of the chair," Bohm, who had also spoken at Auburn, thought Shedd's remarks were "in keeping with the dignity of his position and the character and reputation of a gentleman."
41. Rush Rhees notes for Executive Committee meeting, November 24, 1911. Rhees Papers. Executive Committee Minutes, VI, November 24, 1911, 70. Rush Rhees to Kendrick P. Shedd, November 27, 1911. Rhees Papers. Shedd to Rhees, November 28, December 1, 6, 1911, May 27, June 8, 11, 1912. Ibid. Rhees to L. Emmett Holt, December 2, 1911. Ibid. Rhees to Henry C. Vedder, December 18, 1911. Ibid. According to Shedd, Alling remarked that George Eastman was hostile to him. Shedd further asserted that Eastman said "that wild Indian must be fired before I give another penny to the University." No evidence has been uncovered to substantiate this statement, and it seems improbable that Eastman let it be known that he would not contribute to the financial campaign of 1912 unless Shedd were dismissed. Cf. Dutko, op. cit., pp. 168-169. According to Rhees, "Eastman had nothing directly, or indirectly, to do with the severance in Shedd's relations to the U.of R." Rhees to Philip Bernhardt, 1906, May 27, 1932. Rhees Papers. In the initial and classic Report of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure of the American Association of University Professors, it is stated, "In their extramural utterances...academic teachers are under a peculiar obligation...to refrain from intemperate or sensational modes of expression...." Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, I (1915), 37. See, also Walter P. Metzger, Academic Freedom in the Age of the University (New York, 1961).
42. R D&C, Feb. 13, 1912. New York Times, Feb. 14, 1912. New York World, Feb. 16, 1912.
43. Campus, XXXVII, Feb. 20, May 28, June 19, 1912. Interpres, LVIII (1912), 28. RAR, XI (1936), no. 1, 3. Rush Rhees to O. G. Wood, July 1, 1921. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Scott Nearing, March 11, 1916. Ibid. Rhees to Kendrick P. Shedd, May 29, June 14, 1917. Ibid. Years later Shedd thanked Rhees for recommending him for various teaching posts, announced that he was quitting the classroom to sell life insurance, and would appreciate help in steering prospects to him. But in a couple of months he tired of salesmanship and asked Rhees's support in landing a school principalship. Shedd to Rhees, Oct. 9, 1925. Rhees Papers. Shedd to Rhees, January 20, 1926. Ibid.
44. Rush Rhees to Charles M. Williams, Jan. 5, 1915. Rhees Papers. Booklet, Class of 1889, 25th Reunion. Rhees Library Archives.
45. Rush Rhees to J. Percival King, June 21, 1912. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Carl T. Kreyer, 1863, January 17, 1913. Ibid. Ronald W. P. King, 1927, "J. Percival King, 1874-1958." Rhees Library Archives.
46. Annual Catalogue, 1904-05, 1910-11. Rush Rhees to Horatio Parker, Sept. 29, 1909. Rhees Papers.
47. Annual Catalogue, 1907-08. Rush Rhees to S. W. Lambert and Lambert to Rhees, March 7, 1908--April 30, 1908. Rhees Papers. C.M. Green to Rhees, May , 29, 1908. Ibid. Faculty Minutes, V, May 17, 1910. Campus, XXXVIII, May 13, 1913.
48. Rush Rhees to A. W. Emerson, Nov. 19, 1901, Dec. 19, 1901. Rhees Papers. Rhees to David J. Hill, Nov. 26, 1901. Ibid. Rhees to L. Clark Seelye, Nov. 28, 1901. Ibid. Rhees to James R. Parsons, Nov. 19, Dec. 21, 1901. Ibid.
49. Faculty Minutes, V, Jan. 13, 1909, May 17, 1910. Rush Rhees to M. T. Bogert, May 3, 1910. Rhees Papers. Trustee Records, IV, June 20, 1911. Rhees to John P. Munn, July 7, 1911. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Wallace R. Buttrick, May 2, 1912. Ibid. President's Report, June 10, 1913.
50. William F. Peck, History of Rochester and Monroe County (2 volumes, New York, 1908), I, 268.
51. President's Report, June 8, 1907. Executive Committee Minutes, IV, Dec. 1, 1900. Annual Catalogue, 1911-12. William J. Conley, 1918, to A. J. May, February 16, 1966. Rhees Library Archives.
52. Annual Catalogue, 1909-1910.
53. Rush Rhees to Editor, R D&C, June 6, 1906. Rhees Papers. Nicholas M. Butler to Rhees, Dec. 7, 1900, Feb. 8, 1901. Ibid. Henry F. Burton to Rhees, Dec. 4, 1908. Ibid. Rhees to Frank Bollens, Dec. 30, 1909. Ibid. President's Report, May 1902. Faculty Minutes V, Feb. 8, 1911.
54. Faculty Minutes, V, March 6, 1901, Dec. 13, 1905. Campus, XXXI, Jan. 18, 1906.
55. Executive Committee Minutes, V, March 6, 1903. Rush Rhees to William S. Ely, Dec. 5, 1904. Rhees Papers. Campus, XXXI, Feb. 28, 1906. Ibid., XXXVII, January 25, 1912.
56. Charles W. Dodge to Rush Rhees, July 17, 23, 1902. Rhees Papers. Wallace R. Buttrick to Rhees, July 26, 1902. Ibid. Rhees to Charles W. McCutcheon, April 30, 1903. Ibid.
57. Arthur C. Walworth to Rush Rhees, Nov. 12, 1902. Rhees Papers. President's Report, June 1, 1905. Campus, XXX, Oct. 19, 1904. Ibid., XXXVIII, May 13, 1913.
58. President's Report, May 1901. Lewis P. Ross to Rush Rhees, July 11, 1902. Rhees Papers. Rhees to William R. Wilcox, Nov. 11, 1903. Ibid. Campus, XXVIII, Feb. 11, 1903. Trustee Records, III, May 11, 1904. Executive Committee Minutes, V, July 1, Sept. 16, 1904.
59. Campus, XXIX, Sept. 16, 1904. Annual Catalogue, 1906-1907. Interpres, XLVII (1905), 4-6. This yearbook was dedicated to Eastman.
60. Campus, XXXII, Oct. 18, Nov. 1, 1906.
61. Trustee Records, III, May 11, 1909. Rush Rhees to Henry D. Whitfield, Oct. 16, 25, Nov. 8, 1909, Jan. 8, 25, 1910. Rhees Papers. Campus, XXXV, Sept. 30, 1909. Ibid., XXXVI, Feb. 2, May 4, 1911. Annual Catalogue, 1911-1912. Brighton-Pittsford Post, December 30, 1965.
62. Campus, XXXII, April 25, 1907. Rush Rhees to Grant H. Browne, 1885, Nov. 15, 1912. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Francis W. Ayer, 1871, Jan. 20, 23, 1912. Ibid. Rhees to Rufus A. Sibley, March 12, 1912. Ibid. President's Report, June 1, 1911, June 1, 1912. Trustee Records, IV, June 20, 1911, May 18, 1912. Executive Committee Minutes, VI, Jan. 18, 1913. Campus, XXXVII, Jan. 16, May 28, 1912. Ibid., XXXVIII, Nov. 26, 1912. Annual Catalogue, 1911-1912.
63. Campus, XXVIII, Dec. 10, 1902. Ibid., XXX, Dec. 14, 1904.
64. Rush Rhees to D. W. Harkness, June 27, Sept. 17, Oct. 1, 14, 1907. Rhees Papers. President's Report, June 1, 1905, June 8, 1907. Trustee Records, III, June 18, 1907. Executive Committee Minutes, IV, Jan. 4, 1901. Rush Rhees to Herman K. Phinney, Oct. 9, 1912. Rhees Papers. Herman K. Phinney, " 'Rah for Sibley,' " RAR, XI (1939), no. 4, 78-80.
65. Campus, XXVI, May 10, 1901. Ibid., XXX, Dec. 14, 1904. Hiram W. Sibley to Rush Rhees, May 22, July 7, Oct. 4, 1902. Rhees Papers. Rhees to Sibley, June 8, 1905. Ibid. Executive Committee Minutes, V, 1903 (?). Campus, XXIX, March 9, 1904. Rhees to George H. Brodhead, June 9, 1906. Rhees Papers. RAR, VIII (1929), no. 1, 11.
66. Executive Committee Minutes, IV, 1901 (?), V, October 5, 1901, VI, December 4, 1908 Campus, XXXV, Feb. 17, 1910. Ibid., XXXVI, Feb. 9, 1911, Ibid., XXXVIII, Jan. 28, May 20, 1913. Thomas T. Swinburne to Rush Rhees, Nov. 17, 1911. Rhees Papers. Trustee Records, IV, May 23, 1913.