/ LD 4159 Copy 1 mGi ^'^^ \^i5C.^'^?^^^S^ j 5>u\U^Vj8^S' wmmmmMuammuammmmmum * 1 I OBERLIN POLLEGE. ^^ ITS BUiLDir^C ERA. -^Its m E^i^do^^z^irrer^t * NecessitieB,^ -^STATISTICS. Illustrations and Description of Buildingj 1S87. Beacon Publishing Co., Printers, Akhon, 0. J ll 4^ \ ZJ THE BUIl.DING ERA. When Oberlin celebrated its serai-centennial in 1883, its buildings were utterly inadequate to the work. Four years have witnessed a change, probably not paralleled in college history. Six important buildings, five of them of stone, have arisen ; and there is still the prospect of a fine Memorial Building to be erected on the site of the old homestead, by Mr. F. N. Finney, of Milwaukee, Wis., to the memory of his father, the late President Finney. These buildings are all illustrated and described in the latter part of this circular. This outgrowth, so noble in architecture and so timely in relief, will ever mark these years as the building era of Oberlin College. The Endnwrnent At the opening of the semi-centennial year was $272,805.67, which sum was as utterly inadequate to the work as were the build- ings. The endowment, Jan. ist, 1887, amounts to $381,771.28. This shows a gain; but the growth of necessities has kept even pace with the growth of endowment. To realize the inadequacy of this sum, it must be remembered that the term Oberlin College is in some respects a misnomer. Besides the college proper, there are also the Theological Department, — 3 — the Conservatory of Music and the Preparatory Department, one of the largest classical preparatory schools in the country. The income from this endowment must bear the burdens of all. There is some economy in having these schools clustered together ; but if any one of these four departments should have the entire endowment, it would not have a more generous pro- vision than its needs would warrant : nor, excepting the Conservatory of Music, beyond that afforded many sister schools west as well as east. In all the years but one of Oberlin's history current cojitribiitions have been called out to supplement the income of this meager endowment. But contributions for current expenses, always unreliable, steadily fail as age and the notion of stability come to an institution. Besides, the specialties of Oberlin by which she made special friends for special contributions — her anti-slavery stand, her theological dogmas, her co-education, and higher education for women, and her temperance atti- tude — are no longer specialties, but are the possessions of the world. Contributions for current expenses must still be sought; but an endowment, which shall be somewhat adequate to the needs, is the great primal necessity. From what sources this endowment is to come has not yet been revealed. Possibly some man, feeling the inspiration of the superb benefactions made at various times to found new institutions of learning, will question with himself whether there are not most important elements of institutional as well as individual character which lie beyond the power of money to pur- chase ; and whether it would not be wise to exercise such princely munificence where the characteristics of economy, persistent work, moral endurance and moral enthusiasm have been fully developed. The storms of fifty years have sent the Oberlin roots deep into the soil. Surely it Avould seem safer and in its noblest and widest aspect more inspiring, to nurture such a life than to trust the chances of some new growth. It would be a new departure in the way of great benefactions which the thoughtful world would gladly welcome. But meanwhile as in the past, Oberlin must search out everything, small as well as great, which will help forward the work, and in this search we ask the aid of every friend. — 4 — Aside from the customary endowment gifts, and provisions made by will, the trustees of Oberlin College have for many years accepted endowment funds subject to an «//«///(>'. Persons unable to spare the income from some invested funds have given the college these funds, and the college has paid a stipulated interest during their lives. The assurance of income in this case is perhaps greater than in that of ordinary investment. Institutions of learning that have arrived at the point of stability make good trust companies. They have carried trusts through civil and commercial vicissitudes as long as any other human agencies. Their publicity, their benevolent purpose, the character of the men associated with them, the love of alumni, ever helpful and jealous of their honor, all conspire to this result. The character of the transaction also assures the income. It is the purpose of the college not to promise an annuity greater than can be earned by its use of the principal fund. But should that fund by any chance be encroached upon somewhat, there is still no embarrassment ; and the college is the gainer at the close of the transaction. As a provision for old age or for children, or for some dependent friend, this annuity plan presents some special advantages. The income is unfluctuating. As a whole it cannot be bartered or stolen, or in any way lost by individual carelessness, ignorance or improvidence. Any inquiries about this matter may be addressed to the Secretary of the College, and will receive prompt attention. Undoubtedly, if the $300,000 and more contributed during the past four years had been placed Avithout restriction in the hands of the trustees, not so large a portion would have gone into buildings. Yet every cubic foot is needed, and if there were a proposition to exchange Warner Hall, Spear Library, Peters Hall, Talcott Hall, Baldwin Cottage, or Sturges Hall for its value in endowment, some department would suffer so keenly that the proposition would probably be rejected. Oberlin has experienced an immeasurable relief in these buildings ; and while they have added to the endowment necessities, not simply for their care, but much more for the enlarged opportunities of work which they offer, they also form a solid basis of hope that these necessities will be in time relieved, and possibly in as wondrous a way as the buildings themselves have come. -5- SiaifsiiES. Financial Summary, nee. 31, 1886. INVESTED FUNDS. The Income of which to pay Teachers, . . . $381,771.28. 28,750.00. The Income of which to aid Students, . '. . . On which the College pays Annuities during lifetime of donors, 56,325.00. INCOME FROM REGULAR SOURCES. Interest on Investments, $27,418.47. Tuition, Incidentals, Fees, and Sundries, . . . 18,718.13. Total Income, $46,136.60. EXPENDITURES. Salaries, ; . . . $42,938.34. Incidentals, Fuel, Printing, Insurance, care of Grounds, Taxes, Apparatus, etc., .... 11,322.57. Total expenditure, $54,260.91. The deficit, $8,124.31, has been made up from sums sadly needed for other purposes. Attendanee. 1833 — Opening number from seven States, . , . 44. ^^35"5i — Average yearly attendance, 479. 1851-61 — " " " (sale of scholarships) 1202. 1861-65 — " " " (war times) .... 753. 1866-80 — " " " 1 143. 1881-87— " " " 1376. During the year 1887, 1403 students have been con- nected with the various departments, nearly one-half com- ing from beyond the boundaries of Ohio, and represent- ing fifty-seven States, Territories, and foreign countries. This number is distributed in the various departments as follows : Theology, 85. Philosophy and the Arts. Classical — Gentlemen, 156 ; Ladies, 52 208. Philosophical — " 29 " 57 86. Literary — . . " 152 152. Select Studies, " 16 " 55 71. Preparatory Department. Classical — Gentlemen, 219 ; Ladies, 16 235. English — " 74 " 170 244. Conservatory of Music. Gentlemen, 75 ; Ladies, 403 478. Deducting those who take music as an additional study and have been previously reckoned, 156, 322, — 6- N fl & n [b fi-i-n Hon « e 1 * ■ f 4 ^0 li ? a A r [ |ci(yH.« \H(,lrl COULSaG f ttura g □^ 1 tount.Y HftA - fevtr> 6 _ ICltlV 9 Chupel^. — 16 Speai-. Library T" _«. C,AcmlCi<.4 r«A' l± f ConsH. CkurcK. »f . , . Chapei I "Oberlin, the Colony and the College," by President Fairchild, issued at the semi-centennial celebration in 1883, gives a history of the enterprise up to that date. It is a book of 370 pages, published by E. J. Goodrich, of Oberlin, and sold by him at ^1.50, post paid. This should be in the hands of every friend who would understand clearly the growth of the past four years, as indicated in the follow- ing pages. In passing up Main St. from the hotel, the visitor soon stands at the entrance of Tappan Walk, an avenue of elms leading across the park to the main entrance of Peters Hall. A little further up Main St. can be seen Stewart Hall, where board is afforded at a very low price, the students doing most of the work. The college also owns the adjoining property, and it is hoped that in time a building better fitted to carry out this purpose will be erected. ^ Entering Tappan Walk, Spear Library is seen upon the right. The material used in this building, as in all the others, except Sturges Hall, is the famous Ohio building stone from the neighboring quarries. This stone has been afforded very cheaply, adding but little to the cost of the buildings. The walls are laid in rock face courses, and simplicity in details has been sought. But the beauty of the material, and the harmony of the architectural proportions have given to this group of buildings an unusually pleasing and impressive effect. AVeary & Kramer, of Akron, O., have been fhe archi- tects of Spear Library, Peters Hall, Talcott Hall and Baldwin Cottage ; Mr. A. B. Jennings, of New York City, of Warner Hall ; Coburn & Barnum, of Cleveland, O., of Sturges Hall. — 8 — Spear Library Is a Gothic structure, two stories in height, and about seventy feet square. Entering the vestibule, one finds himself at once midway between the lower story, where for the present is the Museum, and the upper story, where is the reading-room and adjacent stack rooms for books. The Reading-Room is 64 by 40 feet, exclusive of two large bay windows ; and 30 feet above is the ample sky-light. In the center is the marble statue of the Reading Girl, the gift of Mr. Aaron Healy, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Above the low book-cases, the walls are adorned with portraits of teachers and others. The room affords ample and delightful accommodations for more than a hundred readers. The building is constructed on the slow-burning principle, so as to be safe from. fire. All timbers, joists, rafters and roof boards are coated either with plaster or asbestos. The floors are laid on a bed- ding of mortar. The rooms are separated from each other by fire walls and iron-clad doors. The entire building affords shelf room for 175,000 volumes. The cost of the building, exclusive of furnishings, was about ^26,000, the gift of Rev. Chas. V. Spear, formerly of Pittsfield, Mass., but now of Oberlin. In addition to this and other important gifts, Mr. Spear has rendered the college a very valua'ble service in the arrangement of the Museum, involving,- as it has, a large amount of time and skill. The Chapel addition belongs to this period, an addition made possible by the timely and generous donation of Dr. J. A. Steven, of Hartford, Conn. By this change the front is now on College Street, two new stair-cases have been provided, the audience hall has been much improved, a pipe organ is in place, and in the tower are a clock and bell, the gift of Mr. C. H. Pond, of New York. At the head of Tappan Walk is the noble Norman entrance to PfiiErs HhIL This building in its extreme dimensions, is 130 by 142 feet, three stories in height, besides a nine foot basement. It contains 13 recitation rooms, varying in size from 20 by 25 to 30 by 45 ; a ladies' waiting room, and faculty room, five professors' studies, three large rooms for -^ physical laboratories and apparatus ; three ample rooms for college societies, each provided with a committee room and closets ; a large audience room on the third floor with a capacity for 500 or more ; an astronomer's room, tele- scope tower, janitor's quarters, an entrance court, 40 by 50 feet, with the grand stairway and corridor reaching rooms on upper floors. The basement, besides furnace, fuel and cold-air rooms, furnishes two large apartments for phys- ical laboratories, two for dry closets, a workshop and ■^Z^Siy store-rooms. A freight elevator leads from the basement to the attic. Besides the telescope tower, 20 feet in diam- eter, with walls two feet thick, a large deck on the top of the building, easily accessible, furnishes a place for study of the geography of the heavens by an entire class. The aim has been to make the building ample and complete in all its provisions, and so it has proved in use. The spa- cious central court, opening up through two stories, and amply lighted, is a most attractive center of college activity ; and it has also been effectual in shutting off disturbing noise from the surrounding class rooms. Special attention has been paid to the ventilation of the class rooms, and the air is as fresh at the close as at the beginning of the recitation. Four large shafts in the four quarters of the building carry off the foul air, while warm, fresh air is furnished in great abundance by nine Smead furnaces. The health and comfort of the building is also promoted by the Smead dry closet system. These features have also been incorporated in Talcott Hall and Baldwin Cottage. The cost of this building, exclusive of furniture, was about $70,000. Cap- tain Alva Bradley, of Cleveland, O., furnished the first $20,000. After the death of Captain Bradley, Mr. R. G. Peters, of Manistee, Mich., provided for the ad- ditional §50,000 needed to complete the structure. Turning south from Peters Hall, there stands upon the corner the centra] portion of 'arner HalL AVhen completed, the building will extend 150 feet on Professor St., and 120 feet on College St. The more important of these wings containing the Con- cert Hall is in process of erection. It is the gift of Dr. and Mrs. Lucien C. War- ner, of New York City, who have expended upon this central portion about $42,000, to which must now be added something more than $25,000, the cost of the new wing. Not only the money has come from this source, but Dr. Warner has given his personal attention to every detail of the plans, and has made the contracts with the builders. Probably no i m port a n t building ever •cost the col- lege officers less anxiety and care, and certainly no building has proved better adapted to its use. It is practically four stories in height, which stories arc made accessible by easy and well lighted flights of stairs, and also by an elevator which is kept constantly running. Here will be found a delightful and ample entrance hall, offices, library, rehearsal rooms, lesson rooms and practice rooms. But the build- ing is serving a higher and nobler purpose than is indicated by these arrangements. Before its erection there was a growing feeling that Oberlin might have something of 3 12' mission in preventing that divorcement between musical culture and spiritual culture whicli seems to threaten on every hand. The traditions of the place, -the presence in large numbers of both sexes, and the counter-balancing influences of other forms of culture, gave Oberlin the greatest advantages in attaining this high ideal. But this building, more than anything else, has given a visible shaping to these thoughts in the minds of all, and has been the direct means of the adoption of the Conserva- tory of music by the trustees as an integral part of the university work of Oberlin College. Next in order come three buildings devoted more especially to the use of women. Two of these buildings are in answer to the need created by the burning of the Ladies' Hall, in January, 1886. The most important of these, situated on the site ofthe burned building, is TelEntt HelL Its cost, with heating apparatus, is about |!45,ooo. Of this sum Mr. James Talcott, of New York City, gives $20,000. The balance is made up by insurance money and other contributions. It affords rooms and board for some 2 sixty young women, and table board for an equal number of young men. Here, also, are public reception rooms, and the office of the Principal of the Ladies' Department, making the 13 building semi-official in its use, which characteristic is well expressed in its architec- ture. Its spacious entrance porch of stone, with its unrestricted view across the col- lege campus, fitly belongs to a college, which first of all colleges, gave to women gen- erous welcome to the highest scholastic culture. Passing from the porch, through a vestibule, one enters a large central hall or sitting room, with its hospitable fire-place and attractive staircase, while clustered about it, with ample openings, are the reception room, dining room, office and par- lor, making all available as one whole in case of receptions. In the second and third stories are more private gathering pla- ces and reading nooks for the occupants of the building. The provision in case of sickness is made as perfect as possible by complete isolation, an open fire-place and a southern ex- ..^ - '^ posure. jj?^<^\ 'phe sister building, sharing the same grounds, is 14 Baldwin GnitaflE, It is the gift of Mr. E. I. Baldwin, of Cleveland, O., and its cost is something over $20,000. It lacks the public rooms and public character of Talcott Hall, and provides accommodations for about half the number of boarders. But in its architecture and in its interior arrangements, the "cottage" idea receives its completest exemplification. The long, sheltering roofs, the deep porches, the large and yet home-like reception room with window seat and recesses and fire-place, speak of healthful protection against the nervous unrest that belongs to more stately halls and greater numbers. These two buildings, of course, accommo- date but a small pro- '"^^ ■m-^.^^^^f'^^ 1^ portion of the students. The large majority are cared for under that best of "cottage" plans — in the homes of the citizens of Oberlin. The brick building next to Baldwin Cottage has recently been purchased by the College, to be used as a boarding house. It is known as the "Allen House," named from Professor Allen, whose home was on this spot so many years. On the other side of the street from these halls, and near the '')fs«', ^?==^ /— W\ Soldiers' Monument, is SlurgES HelL This is a brick structure of pleasing architecture, costing about ^^^^i