PACK Til KEF
Nebraska University Marches On
THE DAILY NKHKASKAN. TUKSIMY. MAY 10. 193ft
Institution Makes
Rapid Progress
Since Founding
Enrollment Figure Jumps
From 130 to 6,000
In 67 Years.
By Orvllle Donald Oe Frain
It seems especially appropriate
t this time for the Diiily Nebras
kan to publish a historical sketch
of the school which has so exten
sively advertised the state of Nc
.braska. To look back over for
two-thirds of a century of Nehias
ka higher education and to choose
the facts that should be of Inter
est to the readers of the Daily Ne
hraskan has been no easy task,
and to have written this story
without the wholehearted Interest
and co-operation of a great many
people and the scrutinizing; of old
musty records, would have been
quite impossible. Miss Helen L.
Pascoc, editor of the Daily Nc
braskan, and Charles Tanton, bus
iness manager; Dr. Addison E.
Sheldon, secretary and manager
of the State Historical society In
the state capitol; the officers, stu
dents and some of the faculty, as
well as the library employes of
the university, have Riven a great
measure of assistance In finding
snd checking up on source mate
rial. There are many who have mant
festtd more than a perceptible In
terest in the supplying of data in
the critical reading of the manu
script. Every student and profes
sor whom we contacted, as well
as various other people, seemed to
sanction this survey of the early
history of the University of Ne
braska. INSTITUTION OPENS AS
ONE COLLEGE UNIVERSITY
The university opened Sept. 7,
1871, with a single college of lit
erature, science, and the arts. It
offered courses in Latin, Greek
and the sciences. The first faculty
included Allen Richardson Benton
A. M., LL.D., chancellor and pro
fessor of intellectual and moral
science; A. M. Mauley, professor
of ancient language and literature;
Henry Ethan Hitchcock, A.M.,
prof-.-ssor of mathematics; O. C.
Drake, professor of 7'hetoric and
English literature: Samuel Aughy,
A.M., professor of chemistry and
natural science; George E. Church,
A.M., principal of the Latin
school; S. R. Thompson, professor
in the department of ngi iculture.
The first duty of the professor of
agriculture is said to have been to
landscape and plant trees and ar
range sidewalks on the campus.
This not only beautified the cam
pus but added to its appearance.
The first students to attend the
university were the following:
Freshmen: Frank Hurd of Tecum
seh; Uriah M. Malick, Camden; H.
Kanaga Metcalf, Rock Creek; W.
H. Sheldon, Percevil, la.; Mary W.
Sessions, Lincoln. Sophomores:
Wallace M. Stephens. Nebraska
City; William H. Snell. Lincoln.
Junior: J. Stuart Dales. East
Rochester, O. Mr. Dale and Mr.
Stuart were the first students to
receive decrees, -granted them in
1873. Mr. Stuart passed away
Aug. 14, 137, after devoting most
of his entire business life to edu
cational work In the University
of Nebraska.
FIRST YEAR'S ROLL
SHOWS 130 STUdENTS
In addition to the regular stu
dents, there were 12 irregular stu
dents and 110 in the preparatory
school, making a total of 130 stu
dents in attendance the first year.
Down thni the years the univer
sity has attracted an ever grow
ing number of students from
every ntate"In the union and also
from Japan, Korea, Cnmda, the
Philippines and ninny European
countries. Today the University
of Nebraska is one of the out
st'iivling educational institutions
of the middle west with about
1.1)1)0 enrolled and more than .",00
iii-mbers of the faculty who rani;
hi'.'h in the realms of education.
This university is constituted by
law h part of the educational sys
tem of I be slate. It owes its exis
tence to the same authority thai
has Riven the state its system
common schools, and Its :nr 'i cr.'i :
have been placed m the hail. Is or
a board of si icgeuls, clccti 1 1c,
the people every two y 1 1 .-. The
DANIEL A. FREEMAN
FIRST HOMESTEADER
Pioneer Settler Claimed
Land Near Beatrice
In Dec. 1862.
First homesteader In the entire
United States was Daniel A. Free
man, whose son, Samuel, is now
seeking the democratic nomination
(.t.Ml
Lincoln Journnl.
Samuel Freeman.
for governor of the state of Ne
braska. The elder Freeman filed his an
plication for a homestead with the
land office at Brownville, Neb.,
the midnight of Dec. 31, 1862. A
soldier in the army encampment
near Des Moines, la., Freeman re
quested a leave of absence from
his commander, was granted the
leave and traveled to Brownville
to put his claim, which became
effective the morning of the new
year, 1863. Freeman's homestead
is located about seven miles north
west of Beatrice in Gage county.
names of the present regents and
the date their terms expire are
as follows: Frank J. Taylor, presi
dent of the hoard, of St. Paul,
term expires Jan. 1, 1939; Stanley
D. Long of Grand Island, who wiil
complete his term Jan. 1, 1939;
Marion Shaw, David City, who has
until Jan. 1, 1941. to serve; Charles
Y. Thompson, who resides in West
Point, will complete his official
duties Jan. 1. 1941; Arthur C.
Stokes is the only member resid
ing in the metropolis of Nebraska,
Omaha. His term will expire Jan.
1, 1943; one member claims Lin
coln as his home. This member is
Robert W. Devoe. whose term ex
pires Jan. 1, 1943. He Bays that
Lincoln was incorporated as a city
(Conliued on Page 6.)
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Scientific Spirit Changes
Culture, Environment.
Of Commonwealth.
Little of the prairie had yet been
brought under the plow. The state
was rich prospectively, but really
poor practically, and yet it was
proposed to establish such an In
stitution several years in advance
of the time required by the United
States law, in order to hold the
large grants of land for the .sup
port of the agricultural college and
university. Under these circum
stances many people claimed that
it would be wiser to wait for an
increase in population and wealth,
and the building up of preparatory
schools before inaugurating such
an enterprise. Others again wished
to regulate the higher education
wholly to the Christian denomina
tions, by whom for generations it
had been controlled In the eastern
states.
YALE TRAINS SONS
THROUGH GENERATIONS.
Proponents of the new institu
tion urged that a state could not
too early establish the higher edu
cational institutions. They said
that the most distinguished col
leges in the east originated during
the infancy of the commonwealth
which they have made glorious,
that Massachusetts, for example,
owes her political and intellectual
glory to the fact that Harvard has
for generations, and from its earli
est history, been training her sons;
that Yale performed the same duty
for another colony, and is now
great because she, also, began her
career so early in history of the
commonwealth. There were others,
too, who felt that the time had
come when an advance should be
made in traditional methods of
education.
The state had provided a mag
nificent free school system. To per
fect that scheme, the higher edu
cation needed to be furnished to
the youth of the state on the same
terms as the common schools pro
vided elementary instruction. To do
this a university was needed a
university "by the people and for
the people" an Institution which
should be expressive of intellectual
life, not of the past or present, but
at all times. To accomplish this,
an institution was needed where
pre-eminently the scientific spirit
should prevail. By a scientific
spirit is not meant a mere study
of the socalled sciences. Scientific
methods are applicable to all
studies-to literature and lan
guages, as well as to metaphysics,
political economy, natural history
and physics.
SCIENTIFIC SPIRIT
REVOLUTIONIZES TIMES.
This scientific spirit is pre-eminently
the spirit of our epoch. It is
the spirit that is revolutionizing
101
ID
NEW UNIVERSITY
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Panic, Locusts
Cut Enrollment
In Early Years
GEORGE HEINKE FILES
CONGRESS CANDIDACY
Resident of Nebraska City
Graduated From Law
College in '08.
By Mildred Ruth Vavra.
George H. Heinke, Nebraska Oily,
a graduate of Nebraska, has never
moved very far from his birth
place at Dunbar, Neb., where ha
was born of Gorman parents on
Lincoln J tirni.l.
George H. Heinke.
July 22, 1881. But his next move
will be to Washington, D. C, in
January if his campaign in the
First congressional district this
year is successful. He is a candi
date for the nomination for con
gress on the republican ticket, at
the primary Aug. 9, 1938.
During his university career Mr.
Heinke was on the editorial staff
of the Sombrero and the Law
Book, university publications, and
was president of the senior law
school class in 1908.
Immediately upon his graduation
Mr. Heinke went to Nebraska City,
hung out his shingle and started
the practice of law. He was mar
ried in 1909 to Miss A. Elanche
Frerichs of Auburn. Mr. and Mrs.
Heinke have three sons, Martin,
who attended the university and
naw farms in Nemaha county;
John Paul, now in the university,
and Robert, in school in Nebraska
City.
our times. It built our railroads,
bridges, our telegraph lines, ra
dios, automobiles, airplane, com
bines, uniting society by the tele
phone, and turning darkness into
light by electricity. It culls the
best thoughts of our literature of
the ages, and illuminates with a
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University Faces, Overcomes
Great Interferences
Under Dr. Benton.
The success of the university
during the Chancellorship of Dr.
Allen Richardson VU'nlori was the
more remarkable as difficulties un
expected and unforseen arose that
naturally greatly inten'.red with
the attendance of students. Among
these obsl aides to success were the
locust raids of 1K72, and '74.
The crime of 173, the money pan
ic, was the topic of discussion hi
that time. Owing to these raids the
farriers, who made up the popu
lation, which constituted the ma-
were financially straightened, ami
were unable to semi tiieir children
to school away from home. At tU
sanie time shrinkage in the valir
of real ostr.te and other property
occurred to such an extent thn
many who had been opulent were
impoverished. That the university
should grow during such times anil
under such circumstances is a re
maikahle feature in its history,
and speaks volumes for its man
agement and those who were do
ing its educational work. Tt should
also be remembered that when lh-
university was opened in 1S71. de
population of the stTte was only
133,000, and at the clofc of Chan
cellor Benton's administration in
1876 it had increased to W7.747.
The percentage of students with
reference to the whole population
has never been higher except in
the past few years.
PROF. DAK-E LENT COLOR TO
EARLY HISTORY.
One othei character connected
with the early history of the uni
versity deserves special mention.
He was Prof. O. C. Dake, the first
protessor of English literature. Be
fore his election to the chair, he
published a volume of poems. "Ne
braska Legends." He found abund
ant material here to insipre his
work, and love, to pour out his
thoughts and emotions in inspired
song. His reading was exhausive.
especially in literature anil history,
and in some departments of the
ology, for he had been an actiw
priest in the Episcopal church an.i
was still connected with that phase
of religion. This educator and poet
was exceptionally open, candid,
courageous and impulsive. No man
ever doubted where he stood, o
what he thought. He never took
advantage of nn opponent. Owing
to his impulsive character, some
time speaking and writing with
out careful study, he laid himself
open to attack. He was ready to
give blows and receive them. He
was similar to the late George
Marvin, editor of the Gage Coun
ty Democrat, published in Beat
rice; the late Sol Miller, editor of
the Kansas Chief, published in
Troy, Kas.; and the late Prof. L.
L. H. Austin, who was editor of the
Lincoln Daily Call, from 1894 to
1898. The poetic temperament was
his in a high degree. He published
a second volume of poems while
yet at the University of Nebraska,
demonstrating that his muse was
Increasing in intesity, brilliancy
and depth. It received much praise
from literary crit'es. The number
of volumes published in Nebraska
at that time, however, was com
paratively small, due to the fact
that so few persons appreciated
and loved poetry for its own sake.
Poetry at that time was not the
rage because so few were educated
to such an extent that they could
give an independent judgment of
the merits of a poem. As un illus
tration of the man's character we
will quote his estimate of man
hood from "Nebraska Legends."
Men grow by independent thought,
Self-centered action uncon
strained; Far qreater he whosj lines are
wrought
By purpose in himself contained
Than he who, by another's will
Some tiresome, endless, dull rou
tine That makes him but a mere ma
chine. Give me a hLt with scanty clio'tr,
Far on the blooming, wild frontier,
A yoke of cattle and a cow,
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