ORIGINS OF THE OF LOUISVILLE

BY WILLIAM CASSELL MALLALIEU Professor of History,

Read before The Filson Club, March 1, 1937

The University of Louisville originated in two separate institutions, both of which were founded by the City of Louisville in 1837: the Louisville Medical Institute and the Collegiate Institute of Louisville. It is the oldest of the institutions now known as municipal and this year, beginning April 3 [1937], will celebrate its centennial., The school was chartered as a municipal university in 1846, but, as we shall see, it failed to receive annual support from the City until 1910. This paper is an attempt to explain the origins of the University of Louisville and its relations with the City government during the early years of its existence. Why did the City of Louisville start a municipal university in-18377 The answer is found in the conditions of the time and in the personal motives which were both an index and a reflection of the conditions. The period between 1810 and 1840 was one of expansion, of economic, pohtical, and intellectual growth. The population of the doubled in these three decades and most of the increase was in the West along the Mississippi and Rivers and their branches. The West of 1812 had consisted of only four states--Ohio, , Ten- nessee, and Lonisiana--and these only partly settled. By 1840 there were eleven Western States, and settlement was practi- cally solid out to the Great Plains and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf. Towns had become cities almost overnight, though not always the towns that land-owners had laid out for specula- tive purposes. Increasing population meant huge profits for lucky or clever land speculators. Statesmen thought of the possibility of using part of the increased value which society had created to benefit society as a whole. Part of the huge Federal income from land sales was deposited with the states to promote 1 In this connection we call attention to the fact that the of Charleston Charleston, South Carolina) was founded in 1790 and became a municipal "college" n 1837. See R. H. Eckelberry, The History of the Municipal University in the United States, Office of , Bulletin, 1932, No. 2, pages 7-22. 1938] Origins of the University of Louisville 25 internal improvements. States and cities gave lands for the support of schools and . Democracy was also on the march. "King Caucus" was overthrown in 1824. Andrew Jackson was elected four years later. In all parts of the country "the common man" came into power. The "aristocrat of talents" was no more. This made a democratic educational system necessary. Especially in the cities, working men demanded free public schools for their children. Academies and colleges were founded in every section. Libraries and lyceums ministered to the thirst for knowledge among the older folk--the beginnings of adult education. All of these developments, leading to increased interest in education, affected Louisville greatly. The Falls of the Ohio became an important stopping point in the rapidly developing steam-boat trade. Indian cessions in western Kentucky and southern opened new areas for its traders. The sugar and cotton plantations of the lower Mississippi called for the hemp bagging and slave cloth, the cornmeal, corn-whiskey, and pork of the Ohio Valley; and many of these originated in Louis- ville or passed through the hands of its merchants. The town grew rapidly. The frontier town of 1810 with 1,397 inhabitants became, in 1828, an incorporated city, and in 1830 was credited with 10,341 inhabitants, and, in 1840, with 21,210., The City Council realized the necessity of educating its future citizens and very soon took steps toward establishing an elemen- tary school. In 1829 they petitioned the Kentucky Legislature "for a portion of the funds and lands of Jefferson Seminary and the fines and forfeitures accruing within this city for the use and benefit of the public school of this city.''a The Legislature com- plied with the spirit of their request rather than with the letter. Jefferson Seminary had been founded in Louisville as a result of an act of 1798 which allotted land for the support of a "seminary," or secondary school, in each county not already having such an institution.' Jefferson County obtained 6,000 acres of unsettled land and later raised $5,000.00 through a lottery. In 1813 a lot of two-and-a-half acres was purchased on the west side of Eighth Street between Green (now Liberty) - iL.A.W--'-"illiamsandCornpany, His•oryof theOhloFallsCitle•andThelrCountles (HenryA.FordandKateFord, editors). 2 Vols. (1882). Vol. 1, pages 223, 264, 287. z Louisville City Records• No. 2, pages 71, 77, 80, 81. 4William Littell, D/gent of the Statute Law of Kentucky. 2 Vols. (1822). Vol. 2• pages 108, 208. 26 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 12

and Walnut streets. An additional quarter-acre was later purchased, and a one-story brick building was erected, facing Grayson Street. Here Jefferson Seminary began in 1816, with between forty and fifty students. The faculty consisted of the principal (Mann Butler) at a salary of $600.00 a year, and two assistants at $500.00 each. The tuition fee was $20.00 for each session, which lasted six months., Jefferson Seminary was con- trolled by the Fiscal Court of Jefferson County until 1830, when the Legislature, in response to the City's petition, authorized the transfer to it of one-half the seminary lands and funds for the purpose of erecting a high school building (the other half going to the Orphan Asylum at Middletown)o The lot and building in Louisville was agreed on as the City's share and, accordingly, was transferred to the Seminary in 1844., In the fall of 1837 James Guthrio introduced an ordinance providing for the Collegiate Institute of Louisville. This ordi- nance, passed on November 27, 1837, specified seven depart- ments: (1) Mental and Moral Science and Political Economy; (2) Mathematics, Natural Science, and Civil ; (3) Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; (4) Modern Languages; (5) Belles Lettres and History; (6) Elementary Branches and English Literature; (7) History and Principles of Agriculture, Manufacture, and the Mechanic Arts. However, since this ambitious plan could not be carried out at once, the faculty, in the beginning, was to consist of a president and three professors (of Mathematics, Ancient Languages, and Belles Lettres and History), at $2,000.00 a year. The faculty could employ such tutors and additional professors as it thought proper, and could make regulations for the conduct of the school. The board of visitors, consisting of nine members, included six ministers and Judge John Rowan. The tuition was to be $25.00 or $30.00 each session of six months, but the City promised to pay $2,000.00 annually for thirty scholars from the public schools. The Institute was to be located on the Seminary Lot.8 It was l H. MeMurtrie, Sketches of Louisville and Its Environs, 1819, pages 124, 125. J. Stoddard Johnston, Memorial History of Louisville, from Its Firet Settlement to the Year 1896. 2 Vols. (1896). Vol. Iz pages 69, 70, 233. e Johnston's Memorial History (op. czt.I, Vol. 1 page 234. Collection of Acts of Virginia and Kentucky Relative to Louisville and Portland (Louisville, 1839), page 92. ' Louisville City Records No. 2, page 500. City Journal No. I, pages 23, 144, 145, 202. ' Louisville City Journal No. 7, pages 370 and following; No. 8, pages 71, 108, el pa•slm. 1938] Origins of the University of Louisville 27 chartered in 1840 as Louisville College under a board of nine trustees chosen by the Mayor and Council., The first faculty (1838) consisted of .five teachers: The Reverend Mr. B. F: Farnsworth, President and Professor of Philosophy and Political Economy; John Harney, Professor of Mathematics, Natural Science and Civil Engineering; James Brown, Professor of Greek and Latin; Leonard Bliss, Professor of Belles Lettres and History; and H. F. Farnsworth, Tutor of Latin.10 In 1840 the faculty was: J. H. Harncy, President and Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; Noble But- ler, Professor of Ancient Languages; William H. Newton, Pro- fessor of Moral Philosophy, Rhetoric, etc.; L. Lewinski, Pro- fessor of French.l• In 1843, Louisville College was still active, teaching the subjects "usually included in a college course. 'u' In 1844, however, it was said to be yet in its infancy: "It had a faculty until very recently, hut the gentlemen composing it, have, for some cause resigned; and the college edifice is temo porarfly closed. This College has an endowment, but which at present is not sufficiently productive to enable the trustees to provide the proper buildings and sustain a faculty. No great time, it is believed, will elapse before it will be placed on a respectable footing.''1• The Louisville Medical Institute, the other school from which the University of Louisville originated, had been chartered in 1833 on the petition of a number of Louisville physicians headed by Dr. Alban Gold Smith (or Goldsmith). •° The purpose of the Institute, as given in its charter, was simply "the advance- ment of medical science," and no reference was made to teaching or the granting of degrees, although departments were referred to. It was also provided that the Board of Managers should be chosen annually by the "members," and that the medical depart- ments of the Marine Hospital of Louisville and of the City Poor- o Collection of Acts (1839) (op. cir.), pages 153, 15•, 159, 191,192. •o LouisviUv City Directory, 1838-1839, page 138. City Journal No. 7, page 478. 11 Johnston•s Memorial" H•story" (op. cir.), Vol. 2, p•ge 235. 12 Louistfflle City Directory, 1843-1844, pages 187, 188. la Haldeman's Picture of Louist•ille, Directory and Business Advertiser for 1844- 1845 (compiled by W. Peabody Poor, published by W. N. Haldeman, Louisville• 1844), page 69. it Lunsford P Yandel[ History of the Medical Department of the Universi y of LouisviUe, An Introductory Lecture dehvered November 11, 1852 (1852), page i0. Lewis Rogers, "Pacts and Reminiscences of the Medical History of Kentucky/' in Dr. Joseph Nathaniel McCormack's Some of the Medical Pioneers of Kentucky (1917), page 126. 28 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 12

house and Hospital might be put under the direction of the Institute.,, The vagueness of the powers of the Institute was possibly due to the desire to avoid opposition from and the people of Lexington, who were very jealous of the prerogatives of their famous Medical Department. It should be remembered also that medical education was still largely carried on by private practitioners, whose certifi- Cates were accepted as sufficient warrant for their pupils to practice. Thus the formal degree of Doctor of Medicine was unnecessary and the lectures by the leading members of the Institute would be merely auxiliary to office instruction given by the preceptors of the students. In 1834 the Louisville City Council appointed a committee, headed by James Guthrie, to investigate the possibility of estab- lishing a in Louisville. L, In 1835, the Board of Managers then in office were by law authorized to hold office "until death, resignation or removal from the county," and to elect new members to fill vacancies.- Thus the powers of the physician members were abolished and the way was prepared for the establishment of a medical school of the accepted form. About this time, however, a new proposition was brought up, namely, the removal of the Transylvania Medical Department to Louisville. This move was supported by James Guthrie, by George D. Prentice (editor of the Louisville Journal), and others.,, The Louisville City Council offered to give a city square and $30,000 for the erection of a building for the Transylvania Medical Department in Louisville. That the City Council was not blind to the economic value of having an institution of higher education in the city is shown by the report of a committee on January 23, 1837, regarding the sale of the City property bounded by Chestnut, Prather (now Broadway), Seventh, and Ninth streets. Stating that the civic improvements already projected could or should not be paid for entirely out of taxes, the report continued: "Your Committee arc aware that the property if sold now would not bring its value. They are therefore willing to put off the sale until the first day of April next, at which time it is thought money will be more plentiful and it will be ascertained 16 Collection of Acts (1839) (op. cir.), pages 156-159. 16 Louisville City Journal No. 5 page 213 and following. l• Collec$1on of Act8 (1839) (op. cir.) page 189 and following. t, L. P. Yandell, Introductory Lecture (op. cir.), pages 1O, 11. 1938] Origins of the Uninersity of Louisville 29 to a certainty whether the Medical Department of Transylvania University will be removed to Louisville, and should the con- templated removal take place, the cite [sic] being already fixed, those lots fronting the said Medical Hall will be greatly enhanced in their value, which your committee think will be as high next Spring as for years to come . . . "There are 79 lots containing 1969 feet front at a valuation of $30 per foot, which is a low estimate, and it would amount to 859,070. which your Committee think ought to be an induce- ment with this Council to sell and appropriate the same to the extinguishment of the debts the city now owes, or in the building of a new market house, the present one being in a very dilapi- dated condition." The Council accordingly authorized the division of the land fronting the proposed medical school into seventy-nine lots, each 26¼ feet wide, and their sale at auction on April 1, 1837, for $50 down and the remainder in six annual instalments.,* The Transylvania Medical Faculty apparently favored removal to Louisville because of the decline of their student body and because of the greater number of "subjects," i. e., bodies available for dissection, in Louisville. It was stated that "sub- jects" were scarce in Lexington because everyone, even the negro, was carefully buried, and that there was a "universal re- puguance felt by the entire community against disenterments.",* However, the citizens of Lexington and the Transylvania Board of Trustees bitterly opposed the moving of the school to Louis- ville. Doctors Benjamin W. Dudley and Win. H. Richardson then came out in Opposition to the proposal and accused their colleagues, Doctors Charles Caldwell and Lunsford P. Yandell of treachery, conspiracy, etc. Dr. Caldwell requested a public hearing and meanwhile went to Louisville, apparently to confer with the managers of the Medical Institute. The Transylvania board thereupon dismissed him without a hearing and, on second thought, "dissolved" the whole medical faculty. There was talk of reinstating all but Dr. Caldwell; but Dr. John Esten Cooke and Dr. L. P. Yandell also became interested in the Louis- ville school. Dr. hesitated and remained at Transylvania University until the following year.,• "- •D Louisville City Journal No. 7, passim. s0 Dr. Charles Wilkins Short to William Short,March 20 and November 16, 1836. In the Dr. Short Papers in The Filson Club archives. sl Dr. L. P. Yandell to Dr. C. W. Short and Dr. Short to William Short, 1836- 1838. In the Dr. Short Papers in The Filson Club archives. Dr. Robert Peter and Miss Johanna Peter, The Medical Department of Transylvania University, The Filson Club Publications No. 20 (1905), pages 101-103. 3O The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 12

Finding that the Transylvania removal was blocked, the Louisville City Council, on motion of James Guthrie, resolved, on March 6, 1837: " . . . Whereas the Mayor and Council . . . deem thisa proper time to establish a medical school in Louisville under the corporate powers vested in the aforesaid [Medical] Institute, and that it would redound to the Honor and advantage of Louisville and that of Medical Science to endow said Institute in such man- ner as to enable the school to enter into competition with any school in the United States-- "Therefore, Be it Resolved . . . that the square bounded by Chestnut, Magazine, Eighth and Ninth Streets and the sum of thirty thousand dollars for the erection of college buildings will be devoted to said Institution on the same terms and conditions that it was certified to the Legislature of Kentucky that the same would be given for the use of the Medical Department of Transylvania University . . . as soon as they shall raise by subscription or otherwise a sum sufficient to purchase an ade- quate Library, apparatus, etc. . . "• Meanwhile, an acrimonious debate had arisen between the Lexington and Louisville newspapers over the rights and advan- tages of the respective cities. The Louis•lle Medical Institute had applied to the Kentucky Legislature for an increase of its powers, and this had been defeated through the influence of the Lexington representatives. The Louisville Public Advertiser then argued that the existing powers were sufficient and that Louisville had the advantage of the numerous patients in the Marine Hospital and the City Poorhouse and Hospital. It stated ironically: " . . . We arc rapidly going over to the Lexington doctrine-- that all monopolies are anti-republican, corrupting and dan- gerous. As Louisville engrosses a great portion of the trade of the , it was contended, not only that an effort should be made to bring Cincinnati into full and fair competition with Louisville, but that Lexington, by being made a great central railroad point, should be forced up, so as to enable her to enter into competition with Louisville and Cincinnati. Our law- makers implicitly believe in the Lexington doctrine--'competi- tion is the life of business,'--and will undoubtedly be delighted to see a Medical Institute established in Louisville, capable of entering into effective and successful competition with the Medical College in Lexington. 'Success to trade' must be our motto. We must yield to the spirit of the age in which we live. The prevalent opinion in Kentucky is, that every county town n Louisville City Journal No. 7, page 115. 1938] Origins of the, University of Louisville 31 should be a commercial emporium; that banking privately should be distributed, not in proportion to business, but in pro- portion to populations; . . . We would not advocate a removal of the Lunatic Asylum. That is appropriately located, and ought to remain •here it is. We cannot think of depriving Lexington of all her useful and money-malting institutions--not we. Besides, her present race of statesmen will likely need an asylum in their old age, and we go in, heart and soul, for pro- riding laborers in the political vineyard. " . . . It is sufficient to remark, that Lexington is now re- garded as an inconsiderable inland town--as a place that was commercial, flourishing and partially polished--but must here- after be viewed as a pastoral village, or a declining and decaying county town, in the midst of hemp growing and stock raising country. Loulsx4lle long since lost sight of her. For the last seven years the ancient feeling of rivalry has been wholly for- gotten. Louisville in her onward march, in her vast business andstriking superiority, never thought of Lexington ...... We therefore concur in the opinion, that the applica- tion for an additional charter at the late session was wholly unnecessary. Having an ample and suitable lot designated, the only question yet to be decided is, 'whether the erection of the Institute edifice shall be commenced this season, or in 1838.' When our Council may determine to act in the premises, they will find merchants and propertyholders ready to 'plank up' thousands 'for the advancement of medical science.' What a valuable addition to our population would four or five hundred respectable students form !--think of the mass of money they would expend here !---and, then, the fame and influence we should acquire, by having the first Medical School in the West, and by sending out hundreds of graduates annually, endeared to the place and its citizens, whilst qualifying themselves to be useful in their profession. Such advantages will not be disregarded by the intelligent and enterprising people of Louisville. No, no! They will 'go in' for the Institute Edifice, equal to the Court House already commenced, which, when finished, will be about twice as large as the Capitol in Frankfort . . .,,is The president of the Medical Institute, Judge John Rowan, called a mass meeting in the Radical Methodist Episcopal Church on March 30, 1837, to allow Dr. Caldwell to lay the proposition before the citizens of Louisville. 2' This meeting, after electing Levi Tyler chairman and William Tanuehill secretary and after hearing addresses by Dr. CaldweU and others, broadened the scope of the proposal to include a complete "college or university." Louisville Public Advertiser, February 6, March 14, 21 and 25, 1837. 2• Ibid., March 29 and 30, 1837. 32 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 12

The resolutions adopted by the meeting were as follows: • "1. Resolved, that it is the decided opinion of this meeting that there ought to be a college in the City of Louisville, and that said college ought to have both medical and law departments therein. "2. Resolved, that this meeting approve the designation of the square.., bounded by Eighth, Ninth, Chestnut, and Magazine Streets for the location of a college. "3. Resolved, that in the opinion of this meeting said square is sufficiently large for the buildings for a college proper and also for buildings for the medical and law departments. "4. Resolved, that in the opinion of this meeting the Mayor and Council . . . will act in accordance with public sentiment in Louisville by donating said square for said college buildings. "5. Resolved, that in the opinion of this meeting the estab- lishment of a college, with medical and law departments therein, will be alike beneficial and advantageous to all the Citizens of Louisville in proportion to their property and business, and ought to be a general charge on all. "6. Resolved, that it is highly expedient and proper that the medical department of said college should be established and put into immediate operation with a sufficient endowment on the part of the City of Louisville to afford all the facilities for instruc- tion in the science of medicine which any college in the United States affords. Be it therefore further Resolved, that it be recommended to the Mayor and Council of the City of Louisville to donate and designate the square aforesaid for a college square and to erect or cause to be erected thereon the necessary and proper buildings for the Medical Department of said college; and also purchase or cause to be purchased a suitable library, appara- tus, etc., for the use of the same at the expense of the City of Louisville, and that said medical department be placed under the control and management of the trustees of the Medical Institute of Louisville . . .-,6 Consequently, the City Council on April 3, 1837, passed the following resolutions: "Resolved . . . in accordance with the resolutions of the citizens . . . that the square bounded by Chestnut, Magazine, and Eighth and Ninth Streets shall be given as a college square,. and that the City of Louisville will undertake to build on said square the necessary buildings for a medical college, at a cost not exceeding thirty thousand dollars, and that the city of Louisville will advance in cash, for the purpose of purchasing a Library, Anatomical Museum, and requisite apparatus, etc., for the use 26 Louisville Public Adverllser April 1 1837. City Journal No. 7, pages 146-148. In the final indenture signed November 17 1837 the word "college" is replaced by ' university, except where both words were used originally. 1938] Origins of the University of Louisville 33

of a Medical School, the sum of twenty thousand dollars, and that the management and control of the school be placed under the direction of the President and Managers of the Medical Institute of Louisville. "Resolved, That the Finance Committee cause a proper con- veyance of the square aforesaid to be prepared and proper stipu- lations on the part of the city for the erection of the building to be inserted and that they provide for the right of erecting other college buildings on said square, and that on the obtention of a charter for a College or University, that the square, buildings, library, etc., shall be conveyed to the Trustees of such College or University with the consent of the Mayor and Council of Louis- ville, and that . . . when said square and the buildings . . . shall cease to be used for the purpose of a Medical School, that the same shall revert to and be vested in the City of Louisville for the use of said city. "Resolved, That the Finance Committee take into considera- tion the ways and means of raising the twenty thousand d01- lars . . .",•. The Finance Committee doubtless had some difficulty in raising the funds, for two weeks later all the banks in the city suspended specie payment because of the financial panic which was sweeping the country.,, In accepting the city's offer, the Medical Institute stated that "$5000.00 is wanted . . . forth- with for the purpose of obtaining in the Atlantic cities, books, apparatus, etc. the present summer and that tl•e balance of the appropriation will not be required until next spring." This money was soon turned over and the other $15,000.00 was bor- rowed by the city and placed at the disposal of the Institute by January, 1838.,s The debt was paid from the sale of the lots near the Medical Institute. The first year's lectures of the Medical Institute were de- livered in an improvised hall on the upper floor of the City Work- house. The session was formally opened on October 31, 1837, with a lecture by Dr. Caldwell. He pointed out the advantages of Louisville as an educational center and the need, not only of a Medical School, but of a real university with "at least four grand departments," i. e., academic, medical, engineering, and law.,9 Meanwhile, plans for the Medical Building had been drawn up ,6 See Louisville City Journal No. 7, pages 143, 144, 146, 147, 167, 168, 351, 352• 357, 358. :7 Ben Casseday, The History of Louisville from It• Earliest Settlement till the Year 185• (1852), pages 194, 195. 2a Louisville City Journal No. 7, pages 167, 168. J* Plans for engineering and law schools are mentioned in the Louisville Public ' Advertiser, May 4, 1837. 34 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 12 by , a well-known architect, and had been approved by the City Council. The building, located on the southwest corner of Eighth and Chestnut Streets, was of brick, three stories in height, one hundred and thirty feet long, and sixty-six feet wide. The cornerstone was laid on February 22, 1838, with Masonic honors and speeches by Chancellor George M. Bibb and others. '° Mr. Guthrie, as a representative of the City Council, pledged that the building should be completed by the time set for the beginning of the next session of the Institute. Construction was delayed, however, by sickness that prevailed during the summer of 1838. The Faculty of the new school had their moments of despair as well as of hopefulness. The Dean, Dr. Lunsford P. Yandell, wrote to his friend Dr. Charles Wilklns Short, who was still in Lexington: "When I get low-spirited, I go to the rising edifice, and fur- ther confidence and hope by surveying its grand dimensions and imagining what will be its splendid and graceful proportions." Some of the rooms were ready for use in the fall of 1838 and the whole was finished by the beginning of the third scholastic year (1839).8. The cost was approximately $45,000.00.•' After Louisville College received a charter in 1840, some members of the City Council proposed that, in accordance with the agreement of 1837, the Medical Institute should be brought under the control of the College trustees." While the College languished, and eventually expired for lack of funds, the medical professors, because of the ever increasing enrollment, were enjoying incomes considered large at the time. In addition, there was considerable jealousy between the Medical Faculty and the physicians of the City, few of whom were on the Institute Staff. Dr. Daniel Drake, who had become a member of the Medical Faculty in 1839, seems, directly or indirectly, to have added fuel to the smoldering flames. "The public career of Professor Drake had been marked by discord and angry con- tention . . . The fame of these dissensions preceded him to his new theater of action, and it is not too much to affirm that the • a0 George M. Bibb, An Oration Commemorative of Laying the Cornerstone of the College Edifice of the Louisville Medical Institute on the $•nd of February, 18S8 (Louts- ville, 1838). 81 Dr. L. P. Yandell to Dr. C. W. Short, February 10 and 24, March 10, June 3, 1838; Dr. Short to William Short, October 28, 1838. In the Dr. Short Papers, in The Filson Club archives. The letters of February 24 and June 3, 1838 (also one of May 12, 183•), are printed in full in The Filson Club History Quartvrly, for July, 1933. sl L. P. Yandell Introductory Lecture (op. cir.), page 11, says the cost was $30,000, hut the artic e in the Courier-Journal August 8 and 9, 1869, gives it as $45,000. aa Louisville City Records No. 9, pages 16, 38. 193s] Origins of the University of Louisville 35 medical profession of Louisville generally was soured towards the Institute by his appointment."" The forced resignation of Dr. Joshua Barker Flint in 1840 was another cause of antagonism to the Institute.'6 The Louisville physicians denied that they were motivated by "jealousy, envy, or malevolence," as alleged by the medical professors, and explained their attitude by adopting a series of resolutions, including the following: "5th. Resolved, That the liberal endowment, the splendid library and apparatus and its eligible situation, entitle the 'Louisville Medical Institute,' to assure the highest standard of qualification in the candidates for her honors instead of the low- est, and that those having control of the Institute ought to exer- cise their authority in relation to this important matter, however it may interfere with the profits of the Professors . . . "7th. Resolved, That a preliminary education, embracing, at least, all the elementary sciences, should be made a pre- requisite to membership in the classes of the Institute. "8th. Resolved, That no physician or surgeon whose pro- fessional qualifications are not such as will enable him to subsist by the practice of his art, is fit to teach it. "9th. Resolved, That in their recent subserviency to the dictates of the Professors, the managers of the Institute, have forfeited our confidence in their capacity and fairness, as Trustees of the power committed to them. "10th. Resolved, That for the reason assigned in the fore- going resolution, we recommend to the City Council, if in their power so to do, to place the management of the Institute in other hands. "11th. Resolved, That in the event of the resignation or expulsion of the present Faculty of the Institute, we can from among ourselves furnish a better, but we do not believe, that we can thus furnish one that will fully comport with the exalted standing that a school so richly endowed is entitled to; and to prove our personal disinterestedness in the matter, we pledge ourselves to select a Committee and bear their expenses to go abroad in quest of suitable incumbents for all the chairs. "12th. Resolved, That in the event of their withdrawal, the present Faculty of the Institute shall suffer no pecuniary loss on account of the very liberal advances made for the benefit of the Institute, out of their private funds, and reckoned at the munifi- cent sum of fifteen hundred dollars, we pledge ourselves, if the City Treasury should prove unequal to the draft, to raise by subscription $200.00 for each of the Professors of the Institute |4 Lomsville• • Courier-Journal (Supplement)• August 8 and 9, 1869. s5 Dr. C. W. Shore to William Short9 May 24• 1840. The Dr. Short Papers in The Filson Club archives. 36 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 12 and refund it to them, provided it can be made to appear that they have actually expended said amount upon the Institute."• • Obviously, these charges cannot be taken literally, but the strong dissatisfaction with the management of the Institute is apparent. The "transfer question" hung fire for several years, but in December, 1845, was revived by a resolution introduced into the City Council by Mr. Curran Pope, as the result of an investiga- tion of the condition of the library, anatomical museum, etc., of the Medical Institute. It proposed to authorize its transfer to the College and to provide that matriculation and graduation fees should be used for general College purposes, instead of being divided among the professors, as theretofore. The medical professors protested against this transfer, claiming that they had agreed to be transferred to a "university," not to a "college." After considerable argument about the difference, if any, be- tween a college and a university, the City Council offered a compromise, by petitioning the Kentucky Legislature "to grant to the Louisville College and the Louisville Medical Institute a charter as one institution under the name and title of the Uni- versity of Louisville." .7 Even this did not satisfy the Medical Institute, however, for they sent a protest "against the repeal of their charter."*. Moreover, there was a motion in the City Council "censuring the delegates to Frankfort for the course of action they had pursued relative to the charter of the Univer- sity." But it was lost..0 The proposed charter was passed by the Legislature very quickly and approved by the governor on February 7, 1846. ,. The charter authorized the establishment of "all the departments Of a University, for the promotion of every branch of science, literature, and liberal arts." It provided that the University should acquire the site of the Medical Institute, which became the "Medical Department" of the University. It also repealed the act of 1840, establishing Louisville College, and provided that the proceeds of the sale of the "seminary lot," on which the College was located, should be used to erect a building for the ** Meeting of the Medical Faculty of Louisvilla--a broadside dated May 25, 1840• in The Filson Club archives. s7 Louisville Morning Courier and American Democrat, December 12, 13, 15, 31, 1845. Louisville City Journal, 1845-46, pages 93• 95, 96• 127, 143• 144. ,s Journal of the Kentucky Senate, 1845-46, page 128. "Louisville Morning Courier, February 3, 1846. City Journal No: 12, pages 101 102. do Journal of the House of Representatives of She Commonwealth of Kentucky, also Journal of the Senate. 1845-1846, passim. 1938] Origins of the University of Louisville 37

"Academic Department" of the University. Each department was to receive, without charge, six public school students named by the Mayor and Council. The charter did not improve the financial status of the College, for the fees of one department of the University could not be used to help support other departments. There were to be eleven trustees, two chosen by the Mayor and Council every two years for a term of ten years, and the President chosen by the other trustees for an indefinite term. The original trustees were: George W. Weissinger, Garnett Duncan, Samuel S. Nicholas (President), William E. Glover, W. S. Vernon (Secretary), Isaac Everett, James Marshall, Henry Pirtle, James Guthrie, Chapman Coleman, and William F. Bullock. - Under this charter the Law School was established on May 18, 1846, at the same time as the formal adoption of the Medical School.', In addition to the building, library, and equipment, the Medical Institute turned over to the University Trustees the sum of $1,211.33, the uncxpended balance of the sum appropriated by the City for the purchase of the Library and equipment.'* The City Council authorized the erection of a building for the Academic Department, with two rooms reserved for the Law School. This building was paid for out of the College funds and erected on the "University Square" at Ninth and Chestnut streets, the architect being John Stirewalt, the City Engineer." (The building is now--1937--oecupied by the Central (Colored) High School.) There was a proposal, approved by the City Council, that the University delegate its authority over the Academic Department to the Order of Odd Fellows, on certain conditions; that the agreement might be terminated after twelve months, that no religious creed be taught, and that the tuition be not over $40.00 per annum; but apparently nothing came of this." ,1 Organization of lhe Uniwralty of Loulsvill• (1928), pages 4-9. City Journal No. 12, pages 5, 10, 18 (sale of Seminary lot). Duncan and Pirtle resigned in September, 1846, apparently in order to become professors in the Law School. City Journal No. 12, page 235. Morning Courier, August 26, 1846. By-Laws adopted by the President and Trustees of the University of Louisville. Record Book (1846), pages 9-13. u Louisville City Records No. 12, page 168. " Louisville City Journal No. 12, pages 144, 163, 166, 216, 249, 278, 294; 301, 303- 304, 512. " Ibid., page 216. Loulsvill• Clipper and Leader, August 10, 1846. Louisville Morning Courier and Amebean Democrat, August U and 18, 1846. 38 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 12

The new organization'did not, as anticipated, help the Academic Department. The University Trustees attempted to raise an endowment fund by means of two hundred "scholar• ships" or contributions of five hundred dollars each. Only six- .teen such pledges were obtained, however, and these were can- celed because of the failure toraise the full amount. In 1850, in response to an inquiry from the Mayor and City Council regarding the Academic Department, the Board of Trustees stated: "To the Mayor and Council of Louisville. The Trustees of the University of Louisville have received their resolution of the 18th March last and respectfully note that they have felt exceedingly anxious to put the Academic Department of the University into operation but are without any funds upon which to base an organization, and they felt convinced that no pros- perous and advantageous organization could be made without adequate capital from which to draw a sufficient annual income to give reasonable salaries to the various professors. They find that no university or respectable College has been sustained prosperously without such a capital. And that it will not do to rely upon the tuition fees of the department; . . . many Citizens expressed the opinion that the Mayor and Council should make the proper endowment out of the joint fund of all the Citizens, and the Trustees are satisfied that at the present time, the proper endowment can be obtained from no other source. It would be a worthy act on the part of the citizens to have the endowment made out of the joint fund of the City and would be carrying out the principles that governed them when the project of the University was first agitated. They understand that the City of Louisville have recently subscribed $200,000. to the Louisville and Frankfort Rail Road Co. and will hold that amount of stock and they would respectfully suggest and solicit that $100,000. of said stock be set apart and applied as a capital and endowment for the Academic Department, the dividends only to be annually expended. All of which is respectfully submitted." The City Council was unwilling to comply with this request of the Trustees and suggested instead that the Academic Depart- ment be made a part of the City school system supported by City taxes and controlled by the Trustees of the Public Schools. They petitioned the Kentucky Legislature for a new City charter, including among its provisions the establishment of a general popularly elected school board, officially designated as "The Trustees of the University of Louisville, the Female High School and the Public Schools bf Louisville." The Academic Depart- ment, like the Female High School, was to be open free of tuition 1938] Origins of the University of Louisville 39 fees to qualified students from the public schools. The Univer- sity Trustees sent their President, James Guthrie, to Frankfort to "remonstrate before the Legislature on behalf of the University against the passage of that part of the City charter which con- tticts with the present government and subverts the fights and privileges of the University." The legislature, nevertheless, passed the Charter in the form desired by the City Council, but added a proviso that the section regarding the Academic Depart- ment of the University should not be enforced until its con- stitutionality had been passed on by the courts. The University Trustees appointed council to defend their rights, and the case was eventually decided in 1854 in favor of the University, which thus remained independent of the School Trustees, but also with- out support for its Academic Department." In the meanwhile, the Academic Building had been com- pleted in 1848, and was used by the Law School and after 1851 also by the Kentucky Institute for the Education of the Blind. In February, 1855, the University Trustees appointed a com- mittee to confer with the School Trustees regarding the future of the Academic Department. On March 20, 1855, the following agreement was signed by representatives of the two Boards: "The Trustees of the University to place the Trustees of the University and Public Schools in possession of the house built for the Academical Department and the University lot . . . for one year from the eighth of September next free of rent, and until one year's notice to quit. "The House to be used . . . for a High School, to keep the house in repair, to keep it insured and pay all city assessments and charges upon the property for the term, to return the property at the end of the term in as good order as when received.'", On March 24, 1856, the School Board resolved to establish the Academical Department immediately. It actually began on April 7, 1856, with forty-two pupils. It was often referred to as the Louisville Male High School, although that name wi•s not legally adopted until 1860. In 1857 a list of books for the Academic Department was adopted, including those for four years each of English, mathematics, science, German, Latin, •e O. H. Stratton and J. M. Vaughan, editors, A Collection of State and Municipal Laws (Louisville, 1857), pages 419-426, 437. Ben Monroe, Report• of Cases . . . Decidedin theCeurtofAppealeofKentucky (1854-1855), Vol. 15j pa•e 642 and following. • 47 The agreement as given above is from the Records of the Trustees of the Uni- versity and differs from the proposed agreement, a•proved by the School Trustees on March 5 (Minutes 1855, page 364), mainly in that the original proposed agree- ment was for five years from the first of September next.' 40 The Filson Club History Quarterly [Vol. 12

Greek, and history.'s That military training was also a part of the curriculum is indicated by an act of the Kentucky Legislature passed in 1859, whereby the Academic Department was allowed the use of the "public arms.",g The first examinations of the Department took place on June 27, 1856. Those of June, 1857, are described as follows in the Louisville Daily Journal: "The pupils in the Academical Department of the University of Louisville are now undergoing their annual examination. Large assemblages are present at the building on Chestnut Street, near Ninth, and pay strict attention to the interesting exercises. The examination is conducted upon an entirely different prin- ciple from that adopted in other schools. The plan is, in fact, similar to that practised in the German universities and by two celebrated institutions in this country--Brown University and the University of Virginia. Each pupil is presented with a series of printed questions to which he is required to give written answers. These embrace the whole scope of his year's studies and are such as the teachers think will best develop his progress and attainments. The pupil, of course, is unaware of the nature of the questions propounded to him until brought before the audience and handed the list of queries. Then without having any opportunity to consult authorities or seek assistance, he has to solve the problems. "We have seen the printed list and cannot but marvel at the facility with which most of the young men return answers to the most difficult propositions in mathematics, the languages, and sciences. They certainly exhibit wonderful proficiency. "The Male High School is an institution of which Louisville may justly boast. The standard of scholarship is fully as elevated as that of any western college and. the students arc quite as thoroughly drilled in their different studies.",0 During the year 1859 the School Trustees took steps to sever the nominal connection of the Academic Department with the University. By an act of the Kentucky Legislature, approved February 28, 1860, the school was legalized under the name of the Louisville Male High School and was recognized as a college with the independent power to grant degrees. For many years the degree of bachelor of arts was conferred upon its graduates. It was further provided that no funds raised by taxation "shall .a Minutes of the Board of Trustees of the University and Public Schools of Louisville, 1858, pages 354, 355, 372, 373; and 1857, pages 7, 12, 22, 26, 37, 43. Annual Report of th6 Agent of the Louisville Public •choo/s, 1856, pages 6, 7, I1; and 1857, pages 11, 12. 4, Acts of the G•.ral Assembly of th6 Commonwealth of Kentucky, 1857-1858, Chapter 598. l° Loulsdlle Daily Journal, June 25, 1857; see also June 26, 1856. 1938] Origins of the University of Louisville 41 ever be applied to the support of any school or schools, which are not entirely under the control . . . of the said [School] Board." Thus municipal support of the University was for- bidden. The Louisville Male High School was held in the Academic Building of the University until 1898, but it was not legally a part of the University after 1860. It was later decided by the courts that the University could not collect rent from the School Board for the use of the building by the High School.•' For forty-seven years (1860-1907) the University consisted merely of the School of Law and the School of Medicine; at that time they were officially called Departments. The two schools were practically independent. Each Faculty chose its own dean and other officers, and recommended to the Trustees candidates for vacant professorships and for the degrees of the respective schools. The President and Trustees were business and pro- fessional men of Louisville and did little except to confirm the actions of the Medical and the Law faculties and occasionally deal with questions of property and finance. Each school was maintained by the fees of its students. It was sometimes for- gotten that they were parts of the University of Louisville, and they were often popularly referred to as the Louis•4lle Medical School and the Louisville Law School. In 1907 the modernization of the University began with the establishment of the College of Liberal Arts and the rejuvenation of the old School of Law and the old School of Medicine. In 1918 the School of Dentistry was acquired. Seven years later the Speed Scientific School was established. In 1932 the School of was added as another of the departments of the Univer- sity'of Louisville.* 51 G. Barnett, editor, Louisville City Code (1884)• page 682. * EVX•OR'S NOT•: A paper bearing on one of thephases of the origin of the University of Louisville is Dr. Emmet Field Horine's "A History of the •Louisville Medical Institute and the Establishment of the University ofLoulsville and Its School of Medicine, 1833-1846," in Ths Filson Club History Quarterly, July, 1933, Vol. 7, No. 3, pages 133-147.