Oak Street UNCLASSIFIED B TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Founder’s and Alumni Day ACADEMY OF MUSIC PHILADELPHIA February Fourteenth Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-One TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Founder’s and Alumni Day ACADEMY OF MUSIC PHILADELPHIA February Fourteenth Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-One Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/foundersalumnidaOOtemp FOUNDER’S AND ALUMNI DAY Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pa. February 14, 1921. Wilmer Krusen, M.D., LL.D., Vice-President of the University, called the meeting to order at 8.20 o’clock P. M. Chairman Krusen: The opening prayer will be made by The Reverend J. Gray Bolton, D.D. PRAYER BY Rev. J. Gray Bolton: Let us unite in prayer. Oh, God, our Heavenly Father, Thou who art the Founder of this Nation, Thou who has blessed us as a Nation and a people; we come tonight to give unto Thee the gratitude of our hearts, to offer unto Thee the consecrated service of our lives. We thank Thee for the institution that we represent here tonight, for the faithful, loyal and loving service of the President of Temple University; for all that he has been to this City and to our country; for his love of the Church and his love of the State, one undivided and one in purpose for the best interests of all her citizens. God bless Dr. Conwell, and may the coming days and years be brighter and happier and more profitable for Christ and humanity than any of the past years of his life. Bless his associates in the faculty, and bless the boys and girls that have gone out into the world carrying with them life, morality and Christianity, and may this institution, and all the institutions in our land, tend to the glory of Thy name and the salvation of men everywhere in this world, and may such institutions as we represent here tonight send out the Saviour of saving power into the hearts and homes of the nation, and from this nation to the world. Now we commit ourselves to Thy 3 care and keeping. Bless the exercises of the evening; bless all who are present, and all who love righteousness, justice and peace to the honor and glory of Thy name, our Blessed Lord and Redeemer. Amen. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS OF THE PRESIDING OFFICER Chairman Krusen: President Conwell, Honored Guests, Members of the Faculty, Friends of Temple University: It is a pleasant privilege which I have to welcome you on this occasion on behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Faculties of Temple University, to have you join with us in paying tribute to our beloved President and Founder, Dr. Russell H. Conwell. This has been a week of birthday cele- brations: On last Monday a number of admirers of the writings and life of Charles Dickens celebrated the anni- versary of his birth; on last Saturday the Nation paid tribute to the memory of Abraham Lincoln. Tonight we pay tribute to a living man who, in many ways, resembles both of these great men. Charles Dickens fought the iniquitous educational system of his day, particularly in Nicholas Nickleby; Abraham Lincoln ' emancipated the colored man from the shackles of slavery. Russell Conwell is fighting for a democracy of education and is fighting to break the shackles of ignorance and illiteracy from the youth of America. And so it is fitting that we should meet here tonight to tell him how much we love him, how much we honor him, and how we, as citizens of Philadelphia, appre- ciate the work that he has done for the City of Philadelphia and for the State of Pennsylvania. We are also celebrating tonight the founding of Temple University. Dr. Conwell came to this city in 1882.' In 1884 the first student of Temple University, or Temple College, applied to him for help. I hold in my hand, and I wish I could pass it out to each one of you to see, the first catalogue of Temple University, or Temple College as it was then called, published in 1889. It has in it the few courses 4 of study that were then taught, the few branches that were taught at that time, and has just eighteen pages. I now show you the catalogue of Temple University in the present year — 600 pages with the various University courses described. The growth of the institution from 7 students to 7,000 students shows the wonderful, and, I may say, the unexpected growth to the man who founded this institu- tion; and when we realize tonight that 100,000 boys and girls, young men and young women, have received part or all of their education in this institution, I need to make no further comment upon the influence he has exerted in this com- munity. The various departments have grown, and the necessity for greater buildings and a greater endowment must be apparent to every thoughtful man and woman. I know that our President will speak to you upon that theme before the evening is over. But my duty as presiding officer is simply to present to you the real speakers, the real orators of the evening, and I introduce to you first our well-known but new Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Pennsylvania who came to us, after being thoroughly trained in the State of New York in its educational system, on the first day of June, 1919, and has won the esteem and confidence of pupils, of parents, of teachers and the public in the State of Pennsyl- vania. I present for the opening address on this occasion Dr. Thomas E. Finegan, of Harrisburg. [Applause.] ADDRESS BY Thomas E. Finegan, Ph.D., LL.D., State Superintendent of Public Instruction: Distinguished President of the Uni- versity, Guests, Members of the Board of Trustees and Faculty, Ladies and Gentlemen and Friends of the Uni- versity: It is a pleasure to come here tonight and share with you the joy and the satisfaction which I know you all feel in the success of Temple University. We come here tonight to honor the distinguished head of this institution, because the life of Dr. Conwell is in part the life of the University, 5 and the life of the University is the story in part of the life of Dr. Conwell. This institution has not only the respect and the esteem and the confidence of the people of Philadelphia, but it also has the esteem and the respect and the confidence of the people of this great Commonwealth; and while we take pride in all that this institution has accomplished in its great history and growth, we may with propriety at this time inquire into the aims and purposes of the institution, as to how, as to why it was deemed neces- sary to establish an institution of this kind in Philadelphia, what has been the reason of its phenomenal growth and success; how has it happened that in these few years, as you have learned tonight, thirty-seven years, from a mere classroom of seven students it has grown and developed into a university which maintains departments in the liberal arts, the sciences, medicine, law, music, theology, education, dentistry and others, and has an attendance now of seven thousand or more students? No university, no educational institution in the land has a record which eclipses this, and while the number of years of its existence indicates its youth, the magnitude of its service, the importance of that service and the extent of it is an indication that the institution is upon a sound and enduring basis. And so I take pride, as a representative of the State of Pennsylvania, in coming here tonight to join with you who are interested in the work of this great institution, to express our appreciation for what it has accomplished and what it is, and for the work which is still open for it, and in all of these things to pay honor and respect to the wisdom of the leadership which has made it possible for this institution to reach such rich accomplish- ments. I have known Temple University for more than half of the years of its existence. It was my duty as an educational officer in an adjoining State to pass upon the certificates and credentials which were frequently issued by this institution. Many young men and young women who received their training in this institution have entered vocations of various 6 kinds and settled down to the practice of those vocations in nearly all of the States of the Union, so that I know something of the institution, something of its spirit, something of the man, by coming in contact with it through these young men and young women who went out to represent it and who acquitted themselves with honor and reflected pride upon the institution. Now, when you consider all of these ques- tions which I have suggested, when you consider the work of the institution, and when you center your thoughts upon it all, there are three words which naturally come to your minds, and these words are: A man, a philosophy and an institution. The most of you are familiar with the life of Dr. Conwell, and he will pardon us tonight if, in his presence, we refer to some features of it, because there should be frequent refer- ence to it in assemblages of this kind. He stands out as one of the great characters in America which should be held up to the young men and women of this country and those who are in attendance upon educational institutions, to those who have not yet determined upon the careers which they shall follow. I know that very often we think of his young life as one of hardship. Somehow I don’t. It was a life of privation and of sacrifice, but it was a life of joy in many respects. Oh, there were many things in the life, the boy- hood life of Dr. Conwell for which he is grateful; I know it; it could not be otherwise. Dr. Conwell was fortunate in having been born at a time when the people of this Nation were thinking seriously upon some of the great problems which it was confronting, and those who lived in that day and who studied and reflected upon those problems obtained strength of character that others did not obtain. Dr. Conwell was fortunate in having lived in a Christian home, in having had a praying father and a praying mother. He lived in the days when it was fashionable to observe the family altar; when it was deemed necessary and right that the Bible should be the text-book of the morality of family life and com- munity life; at a time when they believed in prayer, and, 7 oh, what an influence that Christian home and those Chris- tian parents have or did have upon the life of that boy. And, do you know that America is suffering more today for the lack of Christian influences in family life and in the life of young men and women than for any other thing in this country. [Applause.] That is true not only of America; it is true of the world today. There is nothing that would do more good in settling conditions in this country and in the world at large than a return to the good old fundamental Christian principles which prevailed in the days of the Civil War and preceding it, and America must come to it. Oh, I tell you it was a great thing for Dr. Conwell to have lived in those days and to have had his character, as it developed, influenced by such power. Now, as to the question of privation and sacrifice. If Dr. Conwell wanted to play a game of baseball he had to make his ball; he had to make his bat. As a boy, if he wanted a cart he had to make the cart. Boys do not have to do those things today; boys no longer make the balls; boys no longer make the bats; boys no longer make the carts; they are usually brought home to the boys. Oh, what a power, what an influence on the life of young Conwell did these things have. And today, I wish we could prescribe a rule for all the public schools of America that every boy to enjoy a game of baseball must make his ball and make his bat; must use his hands; must use his eyes; must use these great instruments of his mind. What an effect it would have in the intellectual development of those boys, and, oh, I would give the same kind of training to the girls if I possibly could; I should not take from them any of the intellectual training which they receive in what we call the “book work” of the public schools, but I would insist, if I could make it possible, that every boy and every girl must have some of this hand work and some of this work that trains the eye and the judgment in their courses of study as they go through the schools. When Dr. Conwell wanted amuse- ment he could not leave his home and step out on a trolley 8 and go to a “ movie” or an entertainment of that kind. Oh, no. When Dr. Conwell wanted amusement and recreation as a boy he had to unite with the others in providing some kind of amusement themselves in the community where they lived. And when they did have recreation and amuse- ment, how wholesome it was and what an influence it was upon the life and character of those young people. Inci- dentally, I want to say that is just a little of the philosophy which I hold as respects public education. This institution has not been so very careful and respectful of educational traditions. This institution has tried to pro- vide — not only tried but has succeeded in providing that type of education which young men and young women were thirsting for; young men and young women who found it necessary to work through a portion of the usual working hours, if not all of them, but who were so anxious to obtain an education that they were willing to go to an institution at the unusual hours or unprescribed hours for colleges and schools, and there, under the influences of a great univer- sity, pursue the course of study which they desired to take; and that has not always been regarded as orthodox. Oh, I wish we had a thousand Dr. Conwells in America today. I wish we had a Dr. Conwell in every State and in every great City of America so that the advantages which have been made available for the young men and women of this great City and surrounding territory could be made available to the young men and women everywhere. What an intel- lectual uplift there has been given to the Nation itself through the influence of this one institution. Now, of course, we must respect traditions in education; we must respect educational standards. Very much is being said upon this question at the present time, and I cannot dwell on it but a moment, but I do not want the evening to pass without saying a word upon it. We have in America today 2,000,000 boys and girls in attendance upon secondary institutions. We have today 325,000 young people in attendance upon colleges and universities and higher tech- 9 nical institutions. Catch these figures: 325,000 in the higher institutions; 2,000,000 in the secondary institutions. What about the 1,675,000 boys and girls of America who are in the secondary institutions but who never expect to get into the institutions of higher learning? Are they not entitled to some consideration? Of course, we should main- tain courses of study in our graded secondary schools which shall enable as many of these young people, as many of these two millions as may be possible, to prepare to enter the colleges and universities and higher institutions of tech- nical character. We shall get none too many of them for the interest and good of the country. We should induce as many of them as possible to go into these institutions; we should do nothing which is going to decrease the impor- tance of educational standards in any way. So far as my influence is concerned in the State, it will not be done; but still I shall take into consideration the needs of these 325,000 boys and girls. I am also going to take into consideration the needs of the 1,675,000 boys and girls who go to work, who go into life’s battle without going into college. We must go back into civilization as far as we can and take from it anything that will make our present civilization better and richer. Oh, we must do all that; yes, let us get every- thing we can from Homer and Virgil and Plato and those other ancients that have anything in their lives and works to give us. Let us take it; but let us remember that there is very much in the lives and works of such men as Washing- ton and Jefferson and Adams and William Penn and Dr. Rush and Benjamin Franklin, and Morris and Hamilton and scores of others; yes, let us not by all means forget Abraham Lincoln and his philosophy. [Applause.] I am inclined to think that the average boy or girl in attendance upon a high school today will get as much out of studying the philosophy of the life of Abraham Lincoln and his phil- osophy of government as the average boy or girl will get in studying the life of Homer or some of the other ancients. Now this institution is not a separate and distinct instr 10 tution. Temple University is a part of the great educational system of the Commonwealth; it does not stand alone by itself. I look upon every college, every university, every educational institution in the Commonwealth as a part of our great system of public education. What is the phil- osophy of public education? Have you ever asked yourself the question why public schools are maintained, why millions and millions of dollars are expended for the maintenance of schools? Why is it that men give up their minds and lives for the maintenance of colleges and universities throughout the land? There must be a reason for it, and this institution is maintained for the very reason that the people themselves believe it is necessary to maintain public education, and therefore vote public funds for it. There is a historic reason for it. When the English first landed at Virginia they set up a school. When the Puritans landed at New England they set up a meeting house — a church and a school. When the Dutch landed in New York they set up their church and a school-house, and when William Penn landed in this Com- monwealth or colony he set up his meeting house and a school. What was it for? Each of these people which came to this country had a certain philosophy of life and a philosophy of government, and they proposed to impress that upon the young people through a system of education. And all through Colonial life these various Colonial systems of education were maintained, and then the time came when the different Colonies merged their interests and stood at issue with another country, and we built a great Republic. What did they do then? Did they write into the consti- tution anything in relation to education? No, they didn’t, but nevertheless they adopted what has become known as the “ American policy in education.” They left to each State the question of determining what its educational system and plans should be, and from that day on there has been the different values and different efficiencies and State school systems in each of the States of the Union. Why are these systems maintained? Because it is the 11 common belief throughout the country that in a democratic country the good of the people, the preservation of demo- cratic ideals and institutions depends upon the education of the masses, and for that reason we maintain public schools. A document promulgated in this City years ago sets forth certain principles which must be maintained for them. It is a great honor to a city to enjoy this distinction. Why, we may trace right back in Pennsylvania itself the very foundation of public education, the very necessity for it. It was written by William Penn in his frame of government. Listen to William Penn’s words: “The means of peace is justice, and the means of justice is government. Liberty without obedience is confusion and obedience without liberty is slavery.” And then, later, a century later, after promulgation of this doctrine, we find that people gathered in Philadelphia from each of the Colonies in America and promulgated the Declaration of Independence. It contains two great fundamental American principles: First, that all men are created equal; second, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And then, after the great war in which the American people defended these principles and won the issue, there was again called in the City of Philadelphia another convention containing representatives of all the Colonies, and in that convention they promulgated that great document — the Constitution of the United States, and in the preamble, as you know, they set forth that the objects of government are these things: “In order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to posterity.” What should a great public educational system express? Should it not express the ideals, the aspirations, the philos- ophy of life and government of the Nation itself, and that is what the public schools of America, what the educational institutions of America must stand for and must express in 12 their work. A few years ago, more than a few years ago, there was a convention called in Berlin. It was called by the Kaiser. Something like twenty-five years ago or a little more. He invited to that Council the leading educa- tors of his nation; he appeared before them and he told them that the work of the public schools should be to express the philosophy of life and government as expressed in the German form of Government, and they were there to con- sider how best to form an educational system that would give expression to this general policy. And after they had been in session for several months and reached their con- clusions, the Kaiser again came before that body, expressed his thanks to them and told them in direct words what the work of the public schools should be. Is there any doubt in the minds of any of you that the German system of educa- tion for the last twenty-five or thirty years did have its influence and did express the philosophy and life of German thought and German government? I am finding no fault with that. I say that is what an educational system should do, and the public educational system of America, which includes not only public schools, but which includes every college and university in it, should give expression to the ideals and the aspirations and the philosophy of life and government in America. We hear a great deal of talk these days about peace; world peace. Oh, what a pity that we haven’t world peace. What a reflection upon civilization everywhere with the chaotic conditions existing which now prevail. How are they to be remedied? I do not know, but I know this — I know that when our Govern- ment has expended $68 out of every #100 which it expends for wars which it has fought, and that when it is expending #25 out of every $100 which it expends for wars which it is contemplating, and that it expends but $ 6 for the interests of labor and business and agriculture out of all that it expends, and that it expends but $1 out of each $100 for education and science, I know that there is something wrong somewhere. [Applause.] How are we going to 13 correct it? I am not sure it can be; but I do wish that there could be a crystallized public sentiment in America somewhere which could undertake to go at it, and it seems to me that the very place where we should start with this is in our educational institutions. We hear it said that after the fourth of March the President-elect is going to call a Council of the Nations of the earth to take up the question of disarmament. Let us hope and pray that he does. Let us hope and pray that out of it shall come a successful con- clusion of the great issues involved now and which are dis- turbing the peace of the world. But after that is held, I hope that he will call another great conference; I hope he will call a great international educational conference and that he will convene in that conference the leading educa- tional workers of the great civilized nations of the world, and that there they will determine that so far as the educa- tional institutions are concerned a great propaganda shall be begun which shall be international, world-wide, in every civilized nation of the world where schools are maintained, to teach the fundamental principles of Christianity which are peace, honor and justice. Now, ladies and gentlemen, and President Conwell and your associates, once more I bring to you the greetings and felicitations so far as are within my power of the great Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania. I pledge to you in behalf of the 45,000 teachers of the Commonwealth their united sup- port in the great work which you have been doing, not only in behalf of this institution and this city, but in behalf of manhood and womanhood throughout the nation. Chairman Krusen: During the last few months the work of Temple University has become national in its aspect. We have been entrusted by the Federal Vocational Board with the training of over one thousand soldiers — boys that have returned gassed or injured from France have been receiving their higher education in Temple University. As our University has become national in its scope, we are happy tonight to have with us a national figure. When the 14 President of the United States wanted a man of tact and talent, of sagacity and diplomatic characteristics to represent our country he came to Philadelphia, and so I present to you Honorable Roland S. Morris, United States Ambassador to Japan, who will now address you. ADDRESS BY Hon. Roland S. Morris, United States Ambassador to Japan: Mr. President, Members of the Faculty and Friends of Temple University: I am proud indeed to be permitted to join in these exercises of Founder’s Day. It is a privilege to unite with you, the representatives of more than 10,000 graduates of Temple University to pay a tribute of gratitude and respect to Dr. Conwell, whose energy, persistence and optimism have made possible this great Philadelphia insti- tution. I often wonder whether we Philadelphians recognize the extraordinary work which Temple University is doing in the field of modern education — the opportunities it offers and the influence which it exercises. It is a wonderful story of growth and achievement from those days in 1884 when Dr. Conwell gathered the first seven students around him to this year 1921 when seven thousand students are gathering in the class-rooms of the University. It is essentially the story of one man’s vision. He saw a need in this community and he could not rest content until he had created the instrument to meet it. What a burden he has carried during those years. What difficulties he has overcome. And Temple University exists today as a monument to an energy that never wearied — to a faith that never faltered. It is well that we should gather here on this Founder’s Day to voice our appreciation of this supreme service which one man has rendered to our city and our country. It is better if we can catch just a glimpse of the vision that is his and under its inspiration resolve that we will do our part. 15 as opportunity offers, to share the burdens he has carried almost alone, and to help in maintaining the work he has so firmly established. I venture to suggest that never in our national history has the call to individual service been more insistent or the need of a broader education greater. Our national interests have become so much larger than ever before, and in this democracy of ours that means the interests of each one of us. There has probably never been a time when public opinion in all countries was so far reaching in its effect and yet so unconventional, so experimental and so unsettled as it is now. The burning experiences of the war have melted the set forms of thought and action with which we have grown familiar. We hope and believe that gradually new and better forms will emerge to mould the future of our world’s civilization. May I suggest that during this bewildering period of change and readjustment if we would render ourselves fit for service and prepared to do our part there is imposed upon each one of us the imperative duty to cultivate certain permanent qualities of mind and charac- ter. In the first place let us resolve to be generous. I do not mean “generous” in the material sense of charity, or even in the emotional sense of sympathy. Valuable as such qualities are I am inclined to believe that they are less rare among normal men and women and less difficult to foster than we sometimes imagine. What I particularly plead for is generosity of mind. There are times, perhaps, when it is proper and useful to emphasize, as William Hazlitt did so brilliantly a century ago, the value of prejudice; but in these days of changing standards, if we would exercise a steadying influence on our environment we must, I submit, be unpreju- diced in our outlook, generous in imputing motives to men, and even more generous in striving to understand and in rendering judgments on either men or movements. It is so very difficult as we grow older to avoid a kind of mental hardening which tends to place us in antagonism with the spirit and purposes of our generation and soon reduces us 16 to the relatively inferior position of critics or obstructionists. But it is possible for all of us to keep our minds elastic, our interests broad and yet lose nothing of — rather immeasur- ably gain in — strength of conviction and steadiness of pur- pose. And again, cannot we, under the inspiration of Dr. ConwelFs example, resolve anew that we will never for an instant (to quote the pregnant words of St. Paul) “be disobedient to the Heavenly vision.” There is not one of us who at some time in his life has not glimpsed the “heavenly vision” of some ideal and under its inspiration gone forth with unselfish enthusiasm to realize it in a world of hard fact and seemingly cruel reality. And there is not one of us who in moments of expended effort has not suffered the inevitable reaction when we were oppressed with a sense of futility and disillusion. Such periods of reaction in individual experience have marked “the instant of the birth” of many a cynic, realist or pessimist. But it is the glory of the history of the human race that they have also marked the “instant of birth” of those leaders and inspirers of mankind who “obtained a good report through faith” and of whom indeed “the world was not worthy.” And as it occurs in the experience of the individual, so it seems to me it occurs in the experience of nations. There are times when men and women united in a great national aspiration and effort have their moments of what might be termed national reaction when cynicism strives to usurp the place of faith and realism does battle with ideals. It is such national crises which call aloud for the men and women who in hours of darkness and depression are never “disobedient to the heavenly vision.” And finally, may we all definitely and conscientiously cultivate a spirit of optimism. I do not mean the irritat- ing optimism of ignorance, and optimism which wilfully excludes from view the ugly aspects of human life and human nature. Such an optimism may wrap the individual in comfortable content, but it is not of the stuff which a real and vital world demands. Rather, for all of us, that 17 “generous discontent” which William Watson rightly ranks among “the things that are more excellent.” I fear that we elders often carry into our maturer life the too narrow conception of the “prophet” which we formed in early years when we were first introduced to those rugged men of penetrating vision who gave to Hebrew history and its records the supreme place which they occupy in the spiritual history of humanity. The gift of prophecy, the witness and “the evidence of things not seen” is not the sole heritage of any race or any time. Is it too much to claim that in Walt Whitman America has given to the world one who had something of that moral vision and that enthu- siasm for the possibilities of the human spirit which the prophets of Israel possessed in such abundance? It is to the optimism which characterized all his life and work that I would point as the example of the quality which we need in our lives today. There was nothing of ignorance or aloofness in it. He found it in the limited opportunities of his boyhood, in the harrowing experiences of hospital life, in the sordid intrigues of local politics, in the obscurity and poverty of his Camden days. May we catch just a little of that fine spirit of hope and joy with which Walt Whitman welcomed over twenty-five years ago the prophetic vision which was vouchsafed to him of these very days in which we are living. He tells it to us in his “Years of the Modern” — “Years of the modern; years of the unperform’d; Your horizon rises — I see it parting away for more august dramas, I see not America only — I see not only Liberty’s nation, but other nations preparing: I see tremendous entrances and exits — I see new combi- nations — I see the solidarity of races; I see that force advancing with irresistible power on the world’s stage; (Have the old forces, the old wars, played their parts? Are the acts suitable to them closed ?) 18 I see Freedom, completely arm’d and victorious, and very haughty, with Law on one side, and Peace on the other, A stupendous Trio, all issuing forth against the idea of caste; I see men marching and countermarching by swift millions; I see the frontiers and boundaries of the old aristocracies broken; I see the landmarks of European kings removed; I see this day the People beginning their landmarks (all others give way) ; Never were such sharp questions ask’d as this day; Never was average man, his soul, more energetic, more like God; f Lo! how he urges and urges, leaving the masses no rest; His daring foot is on land and sea everywhere . . . With the steamship, the electric telegraph, the newspaper, the wholesale engines of war, With these, and the world-spreading factories, he interlinks all geography, all lands; What whispers are these, O lands, running ahead of you, passing under the seas? Are all nations communing? Is there going to be but one heart to the globe? The earth, restive, confronts a new era, perhaps a general divine war; No one knows what will happen next — such portents fill the days and nights; Years prophetical! the space ahead as I walk, as I vainly try to pierce it, is full of phantoms; Unborn deeds, things soon to be, project their shapes around me; The perform’d America and Europe grow dim, retiring in shadow behind me, The unperform’d, more gigantic than ever, advance, advance upon me.” 19 May each one of us with an humble appreciation of the great heritage which the anguish of myriads of men and women has made ours, with minds generously sensitive to the impact of new hopes and new aspirations, steadied by undimmed vision of the high destiny of the human spirit and sustained by an unwavering faith in the future, thank God for the “ unperformed ” more gigantic than ever, and watch with confidence as it advances, advances upon us. CONFERRING OF DEGREES Chairman Krusen: The next part of our program is the conferring of honorary degrees. The first one recommended by the Board of Trustees will be presented by Mr. Charles E. Beury, Chairman of our Endowment Committee and Member of the Board of Trustees. Mr. Charles E. Beury: President Conwell: It is my great privilege to present to you one who has secured a position of unusual eminence not only in our country but throughout the world; one who graduated from Princeton University in 1896 with a degree of Bachelor of Arts; in 1899 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School with a degree of Bachelor of Law, and who subsequently commenced the practice of law in this our own City. He shortly attained a position of unusual eminence as a lawyer, as a social worker, as a religious worker, as a man interested in the political development of our country, and, as we have just heard, as an essayist and philosopher. His distinction in this field increasing, he was asked by our Government, shortly after we entered the World War, to undertake a very delicate position as Ambassador to Japan; and during the course of that strenuous war period our President summoned him to Siberia and Russia, and three times he studied in secret the great problems there presented. He acquitted himself with such distinction and with such honor that many are glad to pronounce that he is one of the most accomplished ambassadors and diplomats that it has ever been the privilege of America to honor. I, therefore, Mr. 20 President, take great pleasure in presenting to you the Honorable Roland S. Morris, Ambassador to Japan, for the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. President Conwell: On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Faculty of Temple University I accept this official position to confer upon you this distinguished title which is recognized now the world over as belonging only to those who have done the nation or the people of the United States great good. Our system of conferring degrees in this Uni- versity is very simple, very unostentatious; we try to keep everything connected with it along that democratic plane of the people, the every day people; we speak the language of the American people; we strive to keep in line with their feelings and with their thoughts and their positions; there- fore, without attempting any unusual display, we confer them upon distinguished people who are kind enough to visit us, and who have been recognized by the nation as among those who deserve such positions. Sir, you have conferred an honor upon us coming here tonight; you have also done a noble deed by coming here tonight. As I said to you in private, I now repeat in public, here are assembled the representatives of the city, the State and perhaps of the nation; here in this hall tonight are those of brain and brawn, men and women of intelligence and of sterling char- acter, of good health of body and of mind; they will be the influential Americans in the years to come, and your coming tonight, representing as you do our nation, and your words tonight of wise counsel, will live when you perhaps have forgotten this visit tonight, because through the hearts and minds of those present will go your thoughts and your example out into the American world, and wherever the American flag is unfurled there will probably, in the years to come, be some representative of the Temple University. I welcome you to this place tonight because of the great service you did for humanity as ambassador to Japan. Many of us through those difficult and dangerous days watched with an anxiety I cannot now express what should come 21 from our negotiations with Japan. It was the danger point in the war; it was the extremely sensitive point in the American future political and educational life. The Presi- dent of the United States selected a Philadelphian. We were proud of that. He selected you. We are now proud of that, because through those difficult negotiations, which required the highest talent and the greatest care and the most com- plete consecration, you carried yourself with a dignity, with a success which the Nation now appreciates, and we, tonight, are simply echoing this when we confer upon you this recognition of your great service to humanity in the preven* tion of war and in the securing of those measures adopted by Japan which shall unquestionably bring us together in close bonds of friendship in the years to come. We are grateful to you for your service to humanity, and tonight it is an honor to us that on behalf of the corporation I confer upon you this degree of Doctor of Laws. I, therefore, give you the insignia of our institution. Chairman Krusen: President Conwell, it is my pleasant duty, on behalf of the Board of Trustees of Temple Uni- versity, to present to you for the Degree of Doctor of Laws a man who struggled for his early education, who can sym- pathize with the difficulties and has a keen appreciation of the hardships through which many of the students of Temple University and other similar institutions have had to pass. He was born in West Fulton County, New York, several years ago. He graduated from the College for Teachers in Albany in 1889. He studied law and was admitted to the bar of New York in 1894. He has been associated with the educational system of New York State in an administrative capacity for many years. He has written valuable books and papers upon educational subjects. He was selected by the Governor of this State and became the Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 1st, 1919, and has won for himself in that brief time the esteem, the affection and the confidence of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania. It is a privilege to present to you, President 22 Conwell, Dr. Thomas E. Finegan for the degree of Doctor of Laws. President Conwell: On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Faculty of Temple University I confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Laws. You did have and you probably will have more in the years to come from institutions of wider fame than ours. Therefore, it is not conferring upon you a distinction which you already bear, but it is expressing a fraternal interest in your own personal life and a respect for the great office which you hold in our Commonwealth. There is no place held by any man in the State of Penn- sylvania so important to the welfare of its people as that which you now hold at the head of our common school system. You reach every department through these schools and you are laying the foundation for the future institutions of the State and of the country. The important position which you hold entitled you to our respect from that very fact; but in addition to it we can tonight, without any appearance of over-statement, say that you have filled the office already to the full, and you have overflowed it and you will overflow it in the years to come. I like a man that is larger than his denomination, and I honor you for being larger than your office, and therefore, on behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Faculty, I confer upon you the distinction, if it be such, the degree of Doctor of Laws, I give you the insignia of our institution. Chairman Krusen: I now present to you President Conwell who is seventy-eight years young today. ADDRESS BY President Russell H. Conwell: Mr. Vice-President and Faculty and Trustees and Friends and Students: It is not necessary, after these orators have spoken, for me to add anything along the line of their thoughts. They have said it well; I should only mar it by venturing into their fields. Therefore, as we disperse for tonight I wish to give you a little of the old man’s advice; I wish to give you something 23 of an appeal in behalf of Temple University. You have now your duty to perform. The institution has established itself now, and now it is with the people; it is with you; you can do with it what you wish. It was never undertaken for the purpose of any denominational expansion, and it was not undertaken for the purpose of any local institution. It is simply an institution established for the good of the people of the State and Nation, and whatever name may be attached to it in the future — or no name at all — the idea is the essential thing and under the American flag such an insti- tution as this must necessarily be supported because it is the need of the common people of the United States; it seems to be the only door that is open to the poor boy and the poor girl who must work for his or her living, and care for himself or herself and others, that leads upward and clearly and advantageously to the higher ranks of learning. The great institutions of the world are changing their characteristics rapidly and becoming more practical. We are learning now it is more necessary to have good cooking than it is to read Cicero or Socrates; we are learning now that it is more necessary to have an Edison than it is any great philosopher; we are learning now that men and women must be practical; they must learn that which shall be of use to themselves and to the world. And so this institution, in common with other institutions, has adapted itself to the new ideas and the apparent new needs of the world; we are working with the other universities. I suppose that the ex-Provost of Pennsylvania University is present now; he said he would be if he were in his right mind, and I know he is, but I haven’t seen Provost Smith or I would have gone after him to come up on the platform; but he said he would be here; he has always been here; always taken an interest in this institution, and the Pennsylvania Univer- sity and the Temple University have worked along in com- plete harmony. We have our work to do; they have their work to do. If a young man comes to us that has plenty of opportunity and plenty of money, he should avail himself 24 of the Pennsylvania University on the other side of the river. This institution is intended for those who earn their own money. This institution is for those who must earn their living in part or entirely and consequently cannot come in the hours which would be available in other institutions. Therefore, I want you to go out from this gathering tonight and advertise or spread abroad the work of the Temple University. Don’t talk about the founder. I have been so much talked about I am sick abed; don’t talk about the founder. One of the gatherings of today are even arranging for my funeral; but talk about the idea; talk about the purposes; go out into the world and say that the Temple University has now as excellent a course in all the various branches as any university in the land. Go out into the world and say that many of our leading minds in the educa- tional world have fallen into the idea that a university must have money, and so, in order to hold rank with other insti- tutions, they have come to us and told us, “Now you must have $5,000,000 or else you will not be recognized, though you do just as good work or better work than any other institution with a hundred million dollars. It don’t make any difference, you have got to have five million in order to be recognized as a first-class institution.” That is so un- American, so contrary to the spirit of the American flag, that it cannot prevail. The American people will not long bear up under an aristocratic idea like that — that a man’s education has but little to do with it, but where he obtained it has everything to do with it. And the regulation that was made a short time ago that no man’s education should be recognized in an examination for the higher professions unless he had obtained that education between nine o’clock in the morning and four o’clock in the afternoon. That regulation, which was really a regulation, has troubled us much and hindered us much. Why Abraham Lincoln wouldn’t stand anywhere now, — that is if the American people and American institutions were to recognize any such aristocratic idea, but it has been extant long enough and 25 has furnished the Temple University with a great deal of trouble — a great deal of trouble. An instance comes plainly to mind: I asked a certain lady to give $100,000 to our medical school, and she said she could give more than that. I asked her, “Can you give $500,000?” She didn’t know about it but believed she could give perhaps $200,000, and she wanted to know about the institution, so she came and looked it over, and found that the Medical Society of the nation had decided that a medical school could not be a number A school without two million dollars, and she said, “Can you raise the rest of it?” I didn’t dare say I could, and so, instead of having $200,000 to go on with our medical work, they knocked us squarely out of that and prevented us from being what they wanted us to be by the foolish regulation or idea in education that recognizes only money, and we have been hampered time and time and again by this aristocratic tendency to say that you must go to a school endowed with twenty million whether they spend that twenty million or not in order to have an education that is entitled to respect. The two hundred and fifty lawyers that are practicing law in Philadelphia that have graduated from Temple University, why they stand among the best, as judges they stand among the highest, and we are not ashamed of them compared with any graduate of Harvard or Oxford, England, and if that aristocratic standard were to prevail, then they would stand as being unfit perhaps to occupy the high stations they now do. But that cannot prevail and you can go out and demand justice, such as the distinguished Ambassador brought before us tonight. . What we want is that this land shall continue to be what it has been for 155 years — the land of the poor boy. I have given much attention, for the purpose of public lecturing, to the study of the lives of the great millionaires of America, and 3900 out of 4100 were poor boys without a dollar. Oh, it has been the land of the poor boy after all. Institutions may try to promulgate their aristocratic regulations and say that money shall decide what a man shall be, but they 26 can’t do it. They haven’t often done it in the past and they can’t do it in the future, so go out to the world and say that the graduate from Temple University, or any institution like that, whether it be poor or rich in money, if it be rich in education, will stand the equal of any other, because he will stand on his merit, and merit will stand, after all, in every discussion of the kind. So go out and say to the world that the Temple University has a magnificent faculty. Oh, that I could say what I ought to say. This day, this week, you have surrounded me with the indications of your care in day after day celebrations of my birthday. My friends, I tell you the sincere truth — I feel a sense of deep guilt in accepting any such tribute when I think of the many who have sacrificed for the Temple University and they are not even known. I am simply standing on their reputation. I am standing on their heads and kind of hold them down by receiving myself the credit that really is due to them. But our Temple faculty of today: It has the distinguished graduates of the greatest universities on its list, and among over three hundred of them you find the noblest of characters, yet working at a salary much less than obtainable from other institutions of greater fame, because they believe we are doing a great good to humanity and the satisfaction of that makes up for the loss of their salary. If you get acquainted with the members of this faculty you will find men of high motives, because of grand humanitarian principles, and they do it because they love it, and they love it because it is doing good to humanity in the name of God. We have a magnificent faculty. Say that to the world and it will never come back on you anywhere. Say that you have the grandest men and women perhaps tha,t ever assembled together, guided by high principles, and doing their work as thoroughly as done in any university. Go out and tell the world that the time has now come when any poor boy in America, any poor girl in America, can have the highest education. The time has now come. We need very much 27 the new two million dollar building running from Berks Street to Montgomery Avenue on Broad Street, as we now own the houses, with one exception I think, of the whole block. We need to have a great block there so that we can take care of 10,000 more than we are now. Our system is so simple and the kind of material among the students is such that we could take 100,000 or 500,000 and do the work just as thoroughly as we are doing it now, because each student can earn his own living and pay his own tuition, and the institution can go on that plan and be established in any city as it is established here. It was not so difficult to establish it. Any boy or girl can have an education if he is industrious enough to undertake to earn his own living and give his mind to study. The time has come now when any one can get it. It is a great achieve- ment. It is not my achievement. I feel as though I could say, “Let now Thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” Say to the State of Penn- sylvania that this institution is a great one today in many ways, in enlargement of the vision of the people, not only in the increase of beautiful home life, and not only in the increase of business interest, worship and the life of God, but it has a financial increase which is sometimes astonishing to people. Professor Stauffer just handed me the figures with reference to the value to the State in money of the 100,000 graduates of the Temple University now living with 97 per cent of the 100,000 in the State of Pennsylvania; if their increase of earning is what the Educational Depart- ment declares is the usual increase of $15 a week, why then the Temple University students now in the State are giving to the State of Pennsylvania in an increased income #780,000,000 every year. Now when you think that 780 millions a year are given to the income of the people of the State by an institution like this, and then think of Dr. Finegan’s awful responsibility of the great educational system of the day schools, which also confer so many millions of income upon the State, then you can appreciate how great 28 is his duty, and you can also appreciate how great is the value of the Temple University to the State of Pennsyl- vania. Think of the millions every year — 280 millions a year, and then multiply by 35 and see what it is, and then look forward one hundred years and see what immense value that education of the people is being given to the State of Pennsylvania. I would not tire you. You have been kind to come, and I want you to go home rested, but I do want you to carry home with you a realization of how mighty is the influence of the present 7000 students, and how much greater still is the increasing influence of the 112,000 who have gone out from the institution in the past. Take it upon your heart, take it upon your lives, and when we enter into any method of striving to secure subscriptions for buildings, read about it. There is coming from the publishers, a book, I think the advertisement of it is in your program, on the history of this institution which I wrote for them. Take that book and read what I have said about it, if you can, and then talk it to the world. Let us in the next year talk up the Temple University until every poor boy hears of it who needs an education, and every benevolent man hears of it who is willing to help the poor boy and poor girl get an education. [Applause.] Dr. Conwell offered the benediction and the meeting adjourned at 10.30 P. m. 29