John W. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226242514
- eISBN:
- 9780226242651
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226242651.003.0003
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
This chapter describes the founding of the new University by William Rainey Harper. It explores the innovative new organization of the University, its curriculum and administrative management, the ...
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This chapter describes the founding of the new University by William Rainey Harper. It explores the innovative new organization of the University, its curriculum and administrative management, the nature of the early student body, and Harper’s theories of liberal education. The role of the Trustees, led by Martin Ryerson and Charles Hutchinson, in mediating between Chicago and New York is explained as a foil to Harper’s own proclivities to spend financial resources that he did not have. The chapter also explores the role of religion in the early university, its relationship to the city of Chicago, and its early tendencies toward internationalism. It concludes with some reflections on the role of William Rainey Harper’s leadership in creating the new University.Less
This chapter describes the founding of the new University by William Rainey Harper. It explores the innovative new organization of the University, its curriculum and administrative management, the nature of the early student body, and Harper’s theories of liberal education. The role of the Trustees, led by Martin Ryerson and Charles Hutchinson, in mediating between Chicago and New York is explained as a foil to Harper’s own proclivities to spend financial resources that he did not have. The chapter also explores the role of religion in the early university, its relationship to the city of Chicago, and its early tendencies toward internationalism. It concludes with some reflections on the role of William Rainey Harper’s leadership in creating the new University.
John W. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226242514
- eISBN:
- 9780226242651
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226242651.001.0001
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
This book is a history of the University of Chicago, from its first founding in 1857 through its re-founding in 1890 till today. It presents the story of the emergence and growth of a complex ...
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This book is a history of the University of Chicago, from its first founding in 1857 through its re-founding in 1890 till today. It presents the story of the emergence and growth of a complex academic community, particularly the College, focusing on the nature of its academic culture and curricula, the experience of its students, its engagement with Chicago’s civic community, and the resources and conditions that have enabled the University to sustain itself. It focuses on two issues particular to undergraduate liberal arts colleges set within larger research universities. First, while the University’s relationship to the undergraduate College has been unpredictable, that relationship has had enormous influence over the identity and fiscal health of the larger institution. Second, Chicago’s history reveals a unique chronological flow within the story of American higher education, in that its “Golden Age” of fiscal bounty and rising ambitions came before 1945. Yet its successes proved fragile precisely because Chicago found itself on a different demographic trajectory than its peers, characterized by a collapse of undergraduate enrolment in the 1950s that profoundly disadvantaged the welfare of the University in the next forty years. These two themes run through an unusually complicated and controversial history, which has been shrouded at many points by layers of myth and hearsay. It is the contention of this book that one can most accurately uncover such a university history by addressing questions to sources that can be authenticated and compared with other sources.Less
This book is a history of the University of Chicago, from its first founding in 1857 through its re-founding in 1890 till today. It presents the story of the emergence and growth of a complex academic community, particularly the College, focusing on the nature of its academic culture and curricula, the experience of its students, its engagement with Chicago’s civic community, and the resources and conditions that have enabled the University to sustain itself. It focuses on two issues particular to undergraduate liberal arts colleges set within larger research universities. First, while the University’s relationship to the undergraduate College has been unpredictable, that relationship has had enormous influence over the identity and fiscal health of the larger institution. Second, Chicago’s history reveals a unique chronological flow within the story of American higher education, in that its “Golden Age” of fiscal bounty and rising ambitions came before 1945. Yet its successes proved fragile precisely because Chicago found itself on a different demographic trajectory than its peers, characterized by a collapse of undergraduate enrolment in the 1950s that profoundly disadvantaged the welfare of the University in the next forty years. These two themes run through an unusually complicated and controversial history, which has been shrouded at many points by layers of myth and hearsay. It is the contention of this book that one can most accurately uncover such a university history by addressing questions to sources that can be authenticated and compared with other sources.
Donald N. Levine
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226475530
- eISBN:
- 9780226475783
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226475783.003.0004
- Subject:
- Education, Philosophy and Theory of Education
University of Chicago founder William Rainey Harper became the first American university president to make research the primary concern of an academic institution. He also wanted to link the ...
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University of Chicago founder William Rainey Harper became the first American university president to make research the primary concern of an academic institution. He also wanted to link the university research enterprise with an undergraduate program that suited its intellectual caliber. He used the University's authority to elevate academic standards in the Chicago metropolitan area and throughout the Midwest. When it appeared that Harper's University was not developing the exemplary college he envisioned, the faculty decided not to abandon it but instead “to develop it to a position of strength in its field comparable to that of graduate schools in their fields.” Over the years, efforts to mount such a program produced tumult and tribulation and left a legacy of great moment to all who care about liberal learning. This chapter explores that legacy by looking at its innovative curricular and pedagogical ideas and at institutional factors that engendered all that innovation.Less
University of Chicago founder William Rainey Harper became the first American university president to make research the primary concern of an academic institution. He also wanted to link the university research enterprise with an undergraduate program that suited its intellectual caliber. He used the University's authority to elevate academic standards in the Chicago metropolitan area and throughout the Midwest. When it appeared that Harper's University was not developing the exemplary college he envisioned, the faculty decided not to abandon it but instead “to develop it to a position of strength in its field comparable to that of graduate schools in their fields.” Over the years, efforts to mount such a program produced tumult and tribulation and left a legacy of great moment to all who care about liberal learning. This chapter explores that legacy by looking at its innovative curricular and pedagogical ideas and at institutional factors that engendered all that innovation.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226074726
- eISBN:
- 9780226074733
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226074733.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
In mid-June 1901, while Elmer Riggs was away in Colorado collecting his dinosaur, officers at the University of Chicago were celebrating their tenth convocation with great fanfare, an occasion that ...
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In mid-June 1901, while Elmer Riggs was away in Colorado collecting his dinosaur, officers at the University of Chicago were celebrating their tenth convocation with great fanfare, an occasion that sparked much talk and excitement about the rapid growth and future expansion of the university. William Rainey Harper, the university's president, envisioned an immense endowment and had ambitions to build the largest and finest institution of higher learning in the country. The Field Columbian Museum, which was then located in the old Fine Arts Palace in Jackson Park, had always had a loose affiliation with the university, only a few blocks away. For the sake of greater scientific effectiveness, increased economy, and lesser duplication of effort and material, Harper harbored plans for a closer, more formal association with the museum. Rumors of his expansionist policies and word of Riggs's new dinosaur reached the Chicago Daily News at roughly the same time. On June 21, 1901, both were lampooned in a front-page editorial cartoon drawn by Luther Daniels Bradley entitled: “Watch the Dinosaur Shrink!” In it, Harper reacts to Riggs's discovery, saying: “Very neat Riggs, very neat! I may let your little place run as a side show to mine”.Less
In mid-June 1901, while Elmer Riggs was away in Colorado collecting his dinosaur, officers at the University of Chicago were celebrating their tenth convocation with great fanfare, an occasion that sparked much talk and excitement about the rapid growth and future expansion of the university. William Rainey Harper, the university's president, envisioned an immense endowment and had ambitions to build the largest and finest institution of higher learning in the country. The Field Columbian Museum, which was then located in the old Fine Arts Palace in Jackson Park, had always had a loose affiliation with the university, only a few blocks away. For the sake of greater scientific effectiveness, increased economy, and lesser duplication of effort and material, Harper harbored plans for a closer, more formal association with the museum. Rumors of his expansionist policies and word of Riggs's new dinosaur reached the Chicago Daily News at roughly the same time. On June 21, 1901, both were lampooned in a front-page editorial cartoon drawn by Luther Daniels Bradley entitled: “Watch the Dinosaur Shrink!” In it, Harper reacts to Riggs's discovery, saying: “Very neat Riggs, very neat! I may let your little place run as a side show to mine”.
Jeff Wilson, Tomoe Moriya, and Richard M. Jaffe (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520269170
- eISBN:
- 9780520965355
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520269170.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter contains D. T. Suzuki's letter to Paul Carus, written on September 14, 1897. In his letter, Suzuki describes his frequent attendance at Christian churches while he was in Chicago and ...
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This chapter contains D. T. Suzuki's letter to Paul Carus, written on September 14, 1897. In his letter, Suzuki describes his frequent attendance at Christian churches while he was in Chicago and hopes that he will be able to be acquainted with Swedenborgian, Unitarian, Society of Friends and some other churches. He also mentions William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago, telling Carus that he was not inclined to enroll there, as the curriculum seemed similar to that of Tokyo Imperial University, but he would perhaps audit some lectures. In addition, Suzuki says he has not yet finished translating Aśvaghosa's book Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana.Less
This chapter contains D. T. Suzuki's letter to Paul Carus, written on September 14, 1897. In his letter, Suzuki describes his frequent attendance at Christian churches while he was in Chicago and hopes that he will be able to be acquainted with Swedenborgian, Unitarian, Society of Friends and some other churches. He also mentions William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago, telling Carus that he was not inclined to enroll there, as the curriculum seemed similar to that of Tokyo Imperial University, but he would perhaps audit some lectures. In addition, Suzuki says he has not yet finished translating Aśvaghosa's book Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana.
George M. Marsden
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- August 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780190073312
- eISBN:
- 9780190073343
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190073312.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, History of Christianity
William Rainey Harper, founder of the University of Chicago, was an accomplished biblical scholar who convinced John D. Rockefeller Sr. that Baptists needed a great university. While Harper ...
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William Rainey Harper, founder of the University of Chicago, was an accomplished biblical scholar who convinced John D. Rockefeller Sr. that Baptists needed a great university. While Harper emphasized Christian character, chapel, community, and Christian dimensions in teaching, he was also an efficiency expert who was later accused, as by Upton Sinclair and Thorsten Veblen, of building a university too much beholden to business interests. Amos Alonzo Stagg saw football as contributing to building character and community. In Harper’s “low-church idea of a university,” America was his parish. Sociology, as represented by Albion Small, was presented as a Christian and democratic moral enterprise and can be seen as a last flowering of moral philosophy. John Dewey, who had abandoned earlier Christian faith, exemplifies how a broadly Christian moral heritage might blend with democratic ideals.Less
William Rainey Harper, founder of the University of Chicago, was an accomplished biblical scholar who convinced John D. Rockefeller Sr. that Baptists needed a great university. While Harper emphasized Christian character, chapel, community, and Christian dimensions in teaching, he was also an efficiency expert who was later accused, as by Upton Sinclair and Thorsten Veblen, of building a university too much beholden to business interests. Amos Alonzo Stagg saw football as contributing to building character and community. In Harper’s “low-church idea of a university,” America was his parish. Sociology, as represented by Albion Small, was presented as a Christian and democratic moral enterprise and can be seen as a last flowering of moral philosophy. John Dewey, who had abandoned earlier Christian faith, exemplifies how a broadly Christian moral heritage might blend with democratic ideals.
