Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 293, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1919 — “I. U." 100 YEARS OLD NEXT MAY [ARTICLE]

“I. U." 100 YEARS OLD NEXT MAY

Next Year Marks End of Full Century of Progress For State University. Indiana University will celebrate , . its centennial anniversary in the j coming year. One hundred years ago next May the first definite step toward the founding of Indiana University was taken when the General Assembly appointed a board of trustees and, empowered them to buy land and , erect thereon suitable buildings for a ! state seminary. These trustees were j Jonathan Lindley, Charles Dewey, I David H. Maxwell, John M. Jenkins, Jonathan Nichols and William Lane. ! As a result of this legislation, the i new seminary was opened in May, The building, only a temporary structure, was erected at the south ' end of College avenue where the old college, now the Junior high school, ' stands. Changed to University. Within three years it had made such progress in number of students and in the general character oi its ‘ work that a board of visitors, ap--1 pointed by the general assembly in | 1827, recommended that the Indiana seminary be raised to the dignity of a college. Accordingly, by an act of the assembly, Jan. 24, 1828, the state seminary became Indiana College. In 1836 a more pretentious building was erected and in 1838 the name of the institution was again changed —this time to Indiana University The question of the relation of the state to the university arose in the constitutional convention of 1851. Since no explicit statement was incorporated in the constitution as adopted at the first meeting of the general assembly in 1852, an act was passed which may be regarded as the fourth charter of the university, and the one by which in the main it is still governed. This act provided for the government of the institution, the management of its funds, and the disposition of the lands thereof. Finally, the supreme court of the state in the case of Fisher vs. Bower, rendered a decision. (June 24,1902) in which these words were used, “The Indiana University is an integral part of our free school system; it was the special creation of the constitution; the university as well as its endowment has always been under the supervision of the state.” Library Burns Twice. In 1854 the new building, with its entire contents in the form of libraries and collections, was destroyed by fire. The friends of the university came to its assistance and another and better building was erected. This structure, one of the most picturesque in Bloomington, is now known as the Old College, it was pur-, chased by the board of education of the city of Bloomington in 1897. In 1874 a second large building of design similar to that of the old cdllege was erected for the libraries and museum; but in a second fire, in 1883, this building was destroyed with all its contents. The fire of 1883 marked a turning point in the history of the institution. It was decided tn remove the university to a more ample site,, away from the noise and disturbance of the railway. For thia purpose the tract known as Dunn’s woods was purchased, east of the city, facing what is now, Indiana avenue on the west, and Third street on the south. The chief university buildings form three sides of a quadrangle on the crest of the campus proper. Beginning with the one nearest the Kirkwood entrance, they are as follows: The Library building, erected in 1907, containing at present 128,383 volumes and increasing at the rate of about 6,000 volumes a year; the Student building, 1906; Maxwell hall, 1890, occupied by the administrative offices and the School of Law, is narrfed for 'Doctor James .H Maxwell and for hia son, Doctor James D. Maxwell*, Owen hall, named for Richard Owen, geologist and professor .of natural science from 1863 to 1879; Wylie hall, 1884, named in honor of Doctor Andrew Wylie, the first president of Indiana University; Kirkwood hall,1894; Science hall, 1902; and Biology hall, 1910. The newest building on the campus is the fine men’s gymnasium, completed in 1917. However, the need for new buildings, especially a new dormitory for the girls, is very great. Indiana University has an increase of more than six hundred students this year as well as a large, number of new teachers.