| CHAPTER THIRD: PRESIDENT MINER'S ADMINISTRATION.
THE selection of a successor to Dr. Ballou was not an
easy task, and for a whole year the college remained
without an executive head. During this time, however, its
affairs were administered with great care and discretion
by Professor Marshall. Many men were suggested for the
presidency, and considered by the Trustees, among them
Professor Alpheus Crosby, who had been Professor of Greek
in Dartmouth College, and was at that time Principal of the
State Normal School for Girls at Salem, Massachusetts.
The name of Alonzo Ames Miner, D. D., was brought forward
by his parishioner, Sylvanus Packard, and met with ready
support from a large number of the Trustees. The finances
of the college were in a very low condition, and these members of the Board felt that Dr. Miner, with his splendid
executive ability and his tireless energy, was the man of
men to better the situation. They were not mistaken. The
presidency was offered to Dr. Miner in the Spring of 1862,
and he was inaugurated on the eleventh of July. He found
the college with an income of about one thousand dollars,
and a debt of eighteen thousand dollars, the latter increasing at the rate of five thousand dollars annually. When he
resigned the presidency the assets of the college amounted to
nearly a million dollars, although the expenses had greatly
increased and the resources had been diminished by the
Boston fire of 1872, and the flagging of manufacturing
industries in which college money was invested.
In becoming President Dr. Miner did not relinquish his
pastorate in Boston, and during the first three years of his
administration his services to the college were rendered
gratuitously. He continued to reside in the city, but came
to the Hill nearly every day, conducting the classes in
Ethics and Political Economy.
As an instructor he possessed many strong qualities, and
the influence of his powerful personality upon the young men
who came in contact with him was very great; but it is for
his wonderful work as an administrator that he is chiefly to
be remembered in connection with Tufts College. He was
well known as an able and active public man, and his
management of the affairs of the college inspired confidence
among men of wealth. Mention has already been made of
Sylvanus Packard, who had no children, and who was accustomed to point to his numerous buildings in the city, saying,
"These belong to my heir, Tufts College;" and of Thomas
A. Goddard, the large-hearted Treasurer of the college,
whose gifts were all the nobler for being so quietly bestowed.
Both these gentlemen were parishioners of Dr. Miner. It
was also during this period that Dr. William J. Walker of
Newport, Rhode Island, already a liberal donor, bequeathed
about $200,000 to the college. Dr. Walker was deeply
interested in Harvard University, and was not a Universalist
in belief; but he was a man of broad views and keen foresight, and realized the future which was in store for the
liberal young institution. The major part of his estate was
divided among Amherst College, Williams College, Tufts
College, and the Boston Museum of Natural History. The
first large sum which the college received after the accession
of Dr. Miner was a gift from his own parish amounting to
between sixteen and seventeen thousand dollars. About this
time the recently redeemed lands of the Back Bay were
placed on the market, and the State decided to appropriate a
considerable portion of the proceeds to educational purposes
Fifty thousand dollars were offered to Tufts on the condition
that an equal amount should be raised by friends of the
college. Men were soon found to promise the required sum,
and thus $100,000 was secured.
Up to this time there had been a serious lack of secondary
schools offering preparation for Tufts, Westbrook Seminary
affording almost the only adequate facilities; but during
this period the founding of Dean Academy at Franklin,
Massachusetts, and of Goddard Seminary at Barre, Vermont,
both largely owing to the influence of Dr. Miner, furnished
ample opportunity for preparatory training.
As a further condition of the gift of $50,000 by the State
in 1863, it was required that three State Scholarships of fifty
dollars each should be established. These were increased to
one hundred dollars each in 1869, at which time the college
tuition fee was raised from thirty-five dollars to sixty. During the same year a gift of one thousand dollars was made,
the income of which was to be used as a loan fund for deserving students, and from this time the number of scholarships
steadily increased. In 1865 four scholarships of fifty dollars
each were set apart from a bequest of $10,000 from Edwin
Howland, and five Walker Mathematical Scholarships of one
hundred dollars each were also established in honor of Dr.
Walker. In 1866 three scholarships of sixty dollars each
were established, - the Perkins Scholarship, founded by
James D. Perkins, of Boston; the Lillie Scholarship, founded
by Henry A. Lillie, of Boston; and another established by
converting the loan fund to that purpose. Two Natural
History Scholarships, one of fifty and the other of one
hundred dollars, were also founded, and were assigned to
members of the Senior Class attaining superior rank in
some branch of Natural History. In 1868 ten Packard Free
Scholarships were established, admitting ten needy students
to the college without the payment of tuition fees. Three
more prize scholarships were offered in Natural History
East Hall
West Hall
in 1870, and in 1874 four gratuities were made available.
Additional opportunities for a few students to aid themselves were offered by the annual appointment of a chapel
monitor at a salary of twenty dollars, and a bell-ringer, who
received a salary proportional to the number of students, one
dollar being assessed on the term bill of each student.
The Russell Lectureship was established in 1867, in
accordance with a bequest of the Hon. James Russell, of
Arlington, Massachusetts. This bequest provided for an
annual lecture, to be delivered before the Faculty and
students some time during the month of September. Two
subjects, to be used in alternation, were prescribed by Mr.
Russell, "The Importance of Christian Faith and Belief in
the Formation of the Character of the Good Citizen and the
Good Man;" and "The Sufficiency of the Promises of the
Gospel to meet the Reasonable Wants of Man, both in Time
and Eternity." The Russell Lecture is now regularly delivered on the first Sunday after the commencement of the
Fall term, and really constitutes the formal opening of the
college year. During the years since its establishment
the subjects assigned have been treated by many eminent
men who have given to them their best thought and most
careful preparation.
But one building was erected during Dr. Miner's administration, - West Hall, a four-storied brick dormitory, which
was completed in 1872. This is an attractive building both
inside and outside, and though not the newest it is still the
most popular dormitory on the Hill.
As the resources of the college increased, several additions
were made to the teaching force, and the curriculum was
expanded by the establishment of a Philosophical Course and
a Department of Engineering. In 1861, while the affairs
of the college were in the hands of Professor Marshall,
Benjamin G. Brown, a graduate of Harvard, was engaged as
Tutor in Mathematics, and four years later he was given
charge of the department with the title of Walker Professor
of Mathematics. In 1862 the Walker Special Instructorship
in Mathematics was established, the appointment thereto
being for a term of three years. Mr. Brown was the first
incumbent, and on becoming a professor was succeeded by
Benjamin F. Kinsman, of the Class of '68. In 1864 Heman
A. Dearborn, A. M., of the Class of '57, was called to the
chair of Latin, made vacant by the death of Professor Keen.
In the same year Professor Tweed resigned his position,
and William R. Shipman, A. M., a graduate of Middlebury
College, was called to take charge of the departments of
Rhetoric, Logic, and English Literature. At this time the
work in Rhetoric still included Oratory, but in 1866 a
special chair of Oratory was established, with Moses True
Brown, A. M., as its incumbent. An instructorship in Vocal
Music was established in 1869. From 1865 until 1872 a
course of lectures on History was offered by the well-known
historical writer, Richard Frothingham, A. M. Charles E.
Fay, of the Class of '68, was appointed Walker Special
instructor upon his graduation, but in the following year he
was transferred to the department of Modern Languages, and
in 1871 assumed entire charge of the work with the title of
Wade Professor of Modern Languages. S. Minot Pitman,
M. E., who had graduated from Tufts in 1869, and spent five
years in study at Harvard and in Germany, was appointed
Walker Special Instructor in 1874, and also served as
Assistant in Chemistry, of which he subsequently became
Professor. In the same year Amos E. Dolbear, A. M., M. E.,
who had already become prominent in the scientific world,
was appointed Professor of Physics and Astronomy.
With the corps of instructors thus augmented, the scope
of the regular curriculum was of course considerably
extended. Facilities for work in Science and the Modern
Languages were especially increased, and a few more electives
were offered. The feeling that there were many young
men whom the requirement of preparation in the Classics
would debar from admission to the regular course led to
the establishment, in 1863, of a Philosophical Course. As
originally planned this course extended over three years, the
required work comprising French and German, Mathematics,
Chemistry, Physics, Botany, Mineralogy, Zöology, and
Astronomy, Rhetoric and Logic, History and Political
Economy, Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, and Revealed
Religion, while opportunities were offered for elective work
in Civil Engineering and Practical Chemistry. The degree
conferred upon the completion of this course was that of
Bachelor of Philosophy. The requirements for admission
included Mathematics, Geography, History, and English
Grammar. In 1866 Geometry and Algebra were added to
these requirements for admission, and the course was shortened to two years, being given more of a purely scientific
character.
A course in Engineering,leading to the degree of Civil
Engineer, was established in 1865. During the year 1868-69,
T. Willis Pratt, C. E., served as Instructor in Civil Engineering, being assisted by Mr. Kinsman as Instructor in
Applied Mathematics, and in 1869 Charles D. Bray, C. E.,
was appointed Instructor in Civil and Mechanical Engineering, being advanced to the grade of Professor the year
following. This course originally extended over three years,
the requirements for admission being the same as those
of the Philosophical Course. Mathematics, the Physical
Sciences, French, Rhetoric, Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Political Economy, and Logic were included in the
requirements of the course, while lectures on Mercantile
Usages and on Christian Evidences were introduced in the
third year. It was not long, however, before this course
was placed upon a thoroughly technical basis. In 1874 it
included Surveying, Drafting, Construction, Mechanics,
Field Engineering, and Practical Chemistry.
In 1869 another department was added to the college by
the establishment of the Divinity School, the history of
which is detailed in another chapter.
For many years the degree of Master of Arts was conferred
upon all Bachelors of Arts who had been engaged in literary
work for three years, provided that they were of an unexceptionable character, and chose to apply for the degree at least
one week before Commencement. All requirements, however, were gradually raised as the college grew.
The first prizes to be offered at Tufts were derived from
the Goddard Prize Fund, established in 1862. One prize
was offered for the best dissertation by a Senior; one for the
best Greek Prose composition by a Junior; one for the best
examination in Mathematics by a Sophomore; and one for
the best Latin Prose translation by a Freshman. These
prizes were originally in the form of books, as were also
three others added from the same fund in 1866, - one of
twenty-five dollars to the best reader of the Senior Class;
one of twenty dollars to the Junior showing the greatest
improvement in Oratory, and one of fifteen dollars to the
best reader of the Sophomore Class. In 1868, in accordance
with the will of Sylvanus Packard, ten prizes of twenty
dollars each were offered to the ten students ranking highest
in scholarship and good behavior. That year an extra prize
was also offered by Professor Orello Cone, of the Canton
Theological School, - a complete set of Schiller's works for
the best examination in German. In 1869 the prizes offered
in 1866 for reading were made equal, - twenty dollars each,
and in 1874 second prizes of ten dollars each were also
offered. In 1870 a prize of fifteen dollars was offered for
the best examination in Mathematics by a Freshman, the
Latin Prose prize taking the place of the Sophomore prize in
Mathematics.
In 1872 the Junior Exhibition was abolished at the request
of the Class of 1873, and a year later the Faculty mercifully
discontinued the "Junior Grinds," thus permitting peaceful
forgetfulness of all Freshman and Sophomore subjects prior
to the Senior year.
At the end of Dr. Miner's administration the library had
grown until it contained about fourteen thousand volumes
and more than five thousand pamphlets. The income of a
fund of twelve hundred dollars, established by John D. W.
Joy, of Boston, became available in 1874, and was devoted
to the purchase of books, preference being given to the
department of Philology.
The number of students increased with the facilities of the
college, until in the year 1874 there were eighty-three in
attendance, forty-seven of them being in the regular Course
of Liberal Arts. During the first years of Dr. Miner's presidency, as in the days of Dr. Ballou, the college was loco
parentis to the students, and their comings and goings
were minutely watched. Gradually, however, the stringency
of rules and regulations was relaxed, and the policy of the
Faculty became less restrictive, although it was not until
the following administration that the students were completely placed upon their honor. The college limits were
before long enlarged to include Somerville as well as
Medford, but as the boundary rules were much oftener
"honored in the breach than the observance," all arbitrary
lines were abolished in 1867. Although the young men were
closely watched and frequently corrected, there was no lack
of jolly good times, and many lively pranks prevented life
on the Hill from becoming dull. One method of manifesting
a sportive disposition was the issuing of mock programs at
the time of the Junior Exhibition. Probably this custom
has had its rage in almost every educational institution, and
it generally passes the stage of simple ludicrousness. Some
of the Tufts programs, which were generally distributed on
the trains which brought guests from Boston to the Hill, are
said to have been positively scurrilous. An occasion which
the boys are said to have greatly enjoyed was the removal of
an unsightly rail fence, which enclosed the entire campus
and extended over other parts of the Hill. The students
having obtained permission to take the fence down, it
vanished in less than an hour and a half. During the first
years of Dr. Miner's administration was continued the
very proper custom of requiring from each student the
deposit of a bond of two hundred dollars; but like many
other rules this soon fell into disuse, the requirement not
being revived until 1895.
During this period student organizations multiplied rapidly. The Mathetican was very active, and in 1871 it found a
running mate in the Zetagathean, which was a society of the
same character organized in the Divinity School. Public
exercises were held under the auspices of both these organizations, which performed a splendid work in the training of
men for public speaking. Mock-trials, furnished annually
by them, provided much amusement. In 1864 the Order of
the Round Table was established as a rival to the Order of
the Coffee Pot. Its motto was Utilitas pariterque Delectatio,
and its badge was an octagonal silver plate very similar to
that of the Coffee Pot. Both these orders were very active
for a time, but the interest in them died out with the
Commencement season of 1867, and in 1868 they ceased to
have any actual existence. Another local secret society, the
So Fa, was organized in 1869, and existed for a short time.
Zeta Psi and Theta Delta Chi were rapidly coming to assume
the position of leadership, which they subsequently maintained almost without a break for many years.
As the boarding-house had begun to cause considerable
trouble, the students finally took the matter in hand; and in
1870 the Adams Club was formed, furnishing good board at
a reasonable price. John Coleman Adams was the leading
spirit in this movement, although Dr. Miner and Professor
Shipman had an oversight of the affairs of the club. In
1872 another economic organization was formed, known as
the Tufts Laundry Association.
A Glee Club was formed as early as 1866, and if this one
died out, another was certainly organized in 1874. Several
other musical clubs flourished for short periods. A number
of minor organizations were instituted during this time,
among them the Tufts Chess Club, founded in 1873, and the
Tufts Amateur Dispatch Company, formed for practice in
telegraphy. A Reading-room Association existed, and was
very strong considering the number of students. It supplied the college with many of the leading periodicals.
Athletics were fast becoming a prominent feature of college life. Base-ball was introduced in 1863, and foot-ball
followed ten years later. Many graduates of this period are
inclined to condemn our present athletic system in toto,
but on examination one finds that it is the manner and not
the matter of which they complain. When one says, "There
is a great deal more of athletics in the college course now
than formerly," he should not be set down as an old fogy,
for the remark is explained by what follows: "Then we boys
used to go out, all of us, and take a hand at the bat or football, and come in refreshed and invigorated. . . . Now to
win is the great object at any cost. " It was this universality
of athletics in the life of the students, not the absence of athletics, - this exercise for the love of it, taken in connection
with steady work in other fields for their Alma Mater, that
produced the players who, in the first years of President
Capen's administration, defeated everything in sight. A
fencing club, known as the Order of the Foil and Mask, was
active in cultivating the graceful art of swordsmanship
during this period. Professor Tousey and Professor Bray
were honorary members. Two boat clubs were also organized.
In the Spring of 1865 a four-oared lapstreak working boat
was purchased by members of the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity,
and placed upon the Mystic River. A boat-house was provided about half a mile from the Medford Bridge. There
was no regular crew, about ten students being interested in
the boat, of which Virgil G. Curtis, '66, was coxswain.
Shortly after the purchase of this boat some students belonging to Zeta Psi purchased a boat also, and erected a boathouse a short distance below the bridge. Occasional friendly
contests took place between the two crafts, but no formal
races were held. The width of the river, indeed, permitted
racing only in the English fashion of the rear boat bumping
the one before it. A college crew was nominally organized,
but it was difficult to maintain an interest in aquatics owing
to the distance of the boat-houses from the college, and in
1866 both boats were sold.
The original Tufts Athletic Association was founded in
November, 1874, and the first athletic contests ever attempted
at the Hill were held on the fourth of the same month. The
events comprised a mile walk, a mile run, a 100-yards dash,
a wheelbarrow race, high and broad jumping, a sack race,
and a three-legged race. The first three events were held
on the reservoir, with prizes of "a fine cane, two elegant
silver cups, and two silver vases." The other contests were
held on the ball ground, south of the reservoir, and must
have greatly resembled a Scotch Picnic.
Previous to 1864 no college publications were issued, but
in that year the first number of the "Tuftonian" appeared.
This was originally an annual of four pages, and the first
issue contained lists of the college organizations, a short
salutatory, and brief articles on "Professor Tweed," and
"Land and Water Sports. " It was published jointly by Theta
Delta Chi and Zeta Psi, and appeared without essential
difference of form until 1867, when it came out in a tinted
cover with a cut of Ballou Hall. It appeared in this form
irregularly until 1872. Its price was ten cents. Prior to
the issue of this sheet a written paper had been read at stated
times before the Mathetican Society. On acount of a failure
to agree on the part of the two fraternities, the "Tuftonian,"
enlarged to thirty-two pages, was published by Zeta Psi
alone from 1872 to 1877, while Theta Delta Chi issued an
annual of its own, of forty-eight pages, entitled the " Budget."
Considerable literary effort was expended upon these annuals,
and the "grinds " were comparatively few and harmless. In
1874 was formed the Tufts College Publishing Association,
and in June of that year the first number of the "Tufts
Collegian" appeared. This paper at first consisted of eight
pages, then of twelve, and later of sixteen. It was published
monthly at the price of one dollar a year. It was in every
respect a high grade paper from the first, although it has
been said that too many of its best articles were contributed
by the Faculty and by prominent friends of the college. It
continued under the name of the "Collegian " for four years,
when it was rechristened by the name originally chosen for
the college annual.
Mention has been made of the reservoir in connection with
the holding of athletic contests. This was one of the steps
toward improving the land about the college which followed
each other rapidly during these years. During the entire
period of Dr. Ballou's presidency there had been no regular
roadway to the college. College Avenue, leading from
Stearns Avenue in Medford to Broadway in Somerville, was
built during the years 1861-62. For some years previous
to this there had been a foot-bridge, near the site of the
present bridge, for driving cattle across the railroad tracks,
and thence a plank walk ran to Stearns Avenue. An old
cart path had run through the Tufts farm, passing the spot
where the President's house now stands, and turning up by
Professor Marshall's house to the top of the hill. Over this
were hauled the materials for the first college buildings.
After the completion of College Avenue, Professors Row
was laid out as far as Packard Avenue, the last-named street
being opened by the improvement of the land about the
reservoir in 1866. The reservoir itself is a part of the
Boston water supply system, and was built by the united
action of Somerville, Charlestown, and Chelsea. Some
grading had been done prior to the building of the reservoir,
but the completion of the streets around it required still
more, principally near West Hall; and about 1869-70 some
further grading was done between the present sites of the
chapel and Miner Hall; so that, taking all the work together,
a large portion of the Hill has been lowered from three to
four feet. A large number of trees had been planted before
this time, and when the grading was done these had to be
lowered with the land. Many of the trees on the southern
lawn were planted by the earlier classes.
On December 3, 1874, at the end of the first half of the
college year, 1874-75, Dr. Miner resigned the presidency.
He felt that he must give up either the college or his parish.
His preferences lay with the latter, and believing that the
work for which he had assumed the presidency was accomplished, he laid it down, and devoted the remainder of his
long and useful life to his labors in the city. To the day of
his death, however, he was an active member of the executive
committee of the Trustees, and he never lost his interest in
the young institution which he had helped to place in a
position of strength and power.
The services of Dr. Miner to Tufts College can be set forth
in no better way than by quoting a "minute" prepared by
the committee to whom his resignation was referred.
