HORACE MANN AND ANTIOCH COLLEGE. GEORGE ALLEN HUBBELL, PH. D., [Mr. Hubbell is a member of the Faculty of Berea College, Kentucky, and was formerly a professor at Antioch College of which Mr. Horace Mann was president. -EDITOR.] Ohio is the favorite daughter of the Eastern States. The cannon of the Revolution had scarcely cooled when the Ordinance of 1787 was adopted, and sturdy men began to look over the bor- ders of Virginia, Pennsyl- |
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vania, New York, Connec- ticut and Massachusetts to the rich land of the great West. Many of Virginia's sons went by way of Kentucky; the sons of the Keystone State crossed over the moun- tains, and dropped down the Ohio River on flatboats; while the sons of far Con- necticut and Massachusetts came through New York and down by Lake Erie to estab- lish themselves in the West- ern Reserve. Thus, things went on for half a century, with new set- tlers ever pouring out from the old home into this new |
State, so rich in natural resources, so rapidly developing, so strong in the enterprise and the daring spirit of its people, that in 1824 Lafayette called it "the eighth wonder of the world." In 1850 the population had reached nearly two millions. Cincinnati (12) |
Horace Mann and Antioch College. 13
was a city of 116,000. Cleveland and
Sandusky were important
lake ports. The little Miami Railroad, from
Cincinnati to
Columbus, was opened in this year, and
Columbus felt a new
spirit of enterprise.
Education had kept pace. In 1802, even before
Ohio was
definitely set off as a state, a bill
was passed establishing Ohio
University, at Athens. This was opened
in 1804.
Next, Miami
University was established in the
township of Oxford. But col-
leges increased most rapidly from 1835
to 1845, reaching by 1845
more than twenty denominational
institutions. Within the next
ten years eight institutions were added;
one of these was Antioch
College. Its source was religious.
Late in the seventeen hundreds, a great
religious revival
swept over the United States. Its effect
was to send men with
tender hearts and open minds to their
Bibles to learn the truth.
From this condition arose many
denominations, and, about the
time Washington was entering upon his
second term, there sprang
up in North Carolina, Kentucky, New York
and Vermont, con-
gregations of believers holding the
Bible as their "only rule of
faith and practice," and answering
to no other name than Chris-
tians. At first these people had not
looked with favor upon an
educated ministry, but fifty years'
experience had taught them
many things and a great wave of
educational enthusiasm swept
over the country, leaving deep in their
hearts the determination
to found a college.
It was supposed that the institution
would be located in some
pleasant town between Buffalo and
Albany, on the highway of
travel made famous by the Erie Canal;
but Yellow Springs, Ohio,
offered special advantages in central
location, in climate, in
money, in citizens, and, most of all, in
its leading citizen, Judge
Mills, who gave a tract of twenty acres
of land for the college
campus, and contributed liberally of his
money for the founding
of the institution. He laid out a large
part of his farm in town
lots, and in every way sought to promote
the interests of the town
and of the college. He was a
broad-minded, far-sighted man,
devoted to the welfare of the community
and to the cause of edu-
cation in the West. Friends, under the
leadership of Elder John
14
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Phillips, agent for the college, raised
within the borders of the
State nearly $100,000.
The wheat field which Judge Mills had
given as a college
campus was measured off, the best point
selected, and the founda-
tions of the college buildings were
laid. But other things besides
the buildings were in the making; the
process of construction was
slow, being hindered by many
uncertainties and insecure arrange-
ments, particularly on the financial
side. The master-builder had
been called from Massachusetts, but many
of his workmen were
of slight experience and the
undertaking, for that time and place,
was a great one. The leaders had planned
largely, and they
were building largely. Their ambitions
were high, and with the
spirit of true liberality they looked
the country over to find a
man worthy to be the first president of
the new college.
Head and shoulders above all other
educators in the land,
stood Horace Mann, of Massachusetts. He
had developed and
established there the common school
system. He had traveled
in Europe, and brought home ideas,
ideals and methods. He had
enlisted in the work of education the
foremost men of the nation.
At his call Daniel Webster, Henry Ward
Beecher, Gov. Andrews,
John Quincy Adams, Dr. Channing, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Dr.
S. G. Howe, Rev. Cyrus Pierce, Hon.
Henry Wilson and R. G.
Wintrop, leading men of the state and
nation, had campaigned
Massachusetts for education from one
boundary to the other.
Ohio was eager for the best things. Its
eyes were con-
tinually turned to New England, and when
Horace Mann was
finishing his second term in Congress,
the leaders of the college,
movement in Ohio met in the little town
of Enon, near the pres-
ent line of the Big Four Railroad,
between Springfield and Day-
ton, and named Horace Mann as their
first president. This had
not been done without many an anxious
thought and much cor-
respondence among friends. When the
matter was first men-
tioned to Mr. Mann, he gave it slight
consideration, but with the
turn in political affairs and with the
renewed ascendency of his
interest in the cause of education, he
paused and pondered, and,
at the age of fifty-eight, again entered
on the work of a pioneer
in education.
Horace Mann and Antioch College. 15 The founders of the college had already determined that the institution should be co-educational and non-sectarian in charac- ter. It remained for Mr. Mann to interpret and apply these two great principles. He really undertook to apply to college work his ideals of public school education. To this he added a new interpretation of the code of honor; the practice of using time more wisely than in many other colleges; and the golden rule of practical joking, "Indulge only in those jokes that are amusing to both parties." With a wisdom beyond his age he sought to |
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give the students definite instruction and discipline in observing the laws of health, hoping that the years in college would estab- lish habits which would conserve the vitality of youth. The first concern of the institution was to deal with spirit- ual value as the basis of all values, and to this was added the care of health, the economy of time, and the whole round of gifts and graces, including dress and manners. He taught science, to give a mastery of natural forces; but he dwelt much upon the duties that were owing to the ideal state, insisting that |
16 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
it should provide for the largest
individual liberty consistent
with the general good. Every student was
his brother's keeper
and was to render him all services
within his power, but he was
also the keeper of the honor of the
State and his was the duty
of keeping its banner unstained by
falsity, dishonor or political
corruption. Mr. Mann's new
interpretation of the code of
honor among college students held that
the reputation of each
was the concern of all, and that whoever
knew of a serious fault
in his fellow was bound to acquaint
those in authority with it,
in order that the student might be
reclaimed from the error of
his way. He held that the doctrine of
emulation might develop
keenness, but that it would produce
tricky merchants and dis-
honorable politicians. The ideal was
sublime, the effort to
accomplish it heroic.
He had put his hand to the plow and
would not turn back,
but when a man of fifty-eight undertakes
to plant himself in
wholly new surroundings and to establish
not only himself and
family, but wholly new ideals and a new
institution in a young
and growing community, he is attempting
a work for which even
the vigor and enthusiasm of youth are
not more than adequate.
The journey from Massachusetts was long
and difficult. At
Antioch nothing was in readiness.
"Though the trustees had
resolved that the college should be
opened early in October, yet,
said Mr. Mann, 'nothing was ready but
our own hearts,' add-
ing, 'if Adam and Eve had been
introduced into Paradise, as
early in the progress of creation, in
proportion, as the faculty
were introduced at Antioch, they would
have been created about
Wednesday night.'"
The days of summer slipped away; it was
now October.
Though the main college building was
still unplastered and
unheated, the leaders, with undaunted
courage, determined to
launch the great enterprise. The
dedication was but little adver-
tised, lest the village could but half
accommodate the people who
would come. October 5th arrived, and
more than three thousand
people in wagons, in carts, on horseback
and afoot, came from
far and near to the dedication of this
joy and hope of the Chris-
tians. It was an imposing sight. On the
great white steps at
the east front stood Horace Mann, tall,
erect, refined, intelligent,
Horace Mann and Antioch College. 17
with keen eyes, and face luminous and
sensitive. About him
stood the leaders of the Christian
connection and of that part
of Ohio-judges, lawyers, and officers of
State were in that
little group; and in the audience were
sturdy farmers, dressed
in their Sunday best, young men and
maidens, mothers with
children in arms - a miscellaneous
collection from far and near,
all waiting to see what would happen
next. But for the great
leaders there was no hesitation. After a
hymn and prayer, Rev.
John Phillips, a man of God, came
forward with three Bibles,
and delivered them to Mr. Mann with
these words: "In the
name of the Great God, I present these
to you as the Constitu-
tion of the world. I pray that you, and
those under your care,
may be guided by their heavenly
teachings, and made better by
their counsels." Horace Mann
answered thus, in manly words
of high purpose and unfailing faith:
"Did time and occasion
permit, I might give myself free scope
to enumerate and enlarge
upon the grand characteristics and
prerogatives of this volume
of the sacred Scriptures; I might speak
of the venerableness of
its antiquity; of the sublimity of its
eloquence; of the splendor
of its poetry, whose words shine out as
though precious stones
had been scattered over the page; of its
touching pathos; of its
precepts and examples of wisdom and
truth, and its inspirations
of devotion and love; but in this
pressure and urgency of the
hour it seems more fitting that I
should, so far as I am able,
accumulate all excellences in one
phrase, concentrate all eulo-
giums into a single expression; ay,
sweep the horizon of time,
and of eternity, too, gathering their
glories into one refulgent
blaze, and say that it is a book which
contains the truths that
are able to make men wise unto
salvation."
"Now, sir, no one knows better than
yourself that a single
institution cannot compass all purposes.
As our college is not
to be a theological or divinity school,
we do not propose to incul-
cate creeds, articles or confessions of
faith; but we do intend,
and, with the blessing of God, we do
hope, to train our pupils to
a practical Christian life, and to make
divine thoughts and con-
templations become to them, as it were,
their daily bread."
These exercises occurred at ten o'clock.
Vol. XIV- 2.
18 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
At twelve o'clock a procession was
formed, which moved
into the college chapel, a spacious
apartment seating fifteen hun-
dred people. After a hymn by the choir,
Rev. Isaac Walter
delivered to the President the charter
and keys of the institution.
A man of large mold, he voiced in noble
words the hope of the
Christians for this great institution,
and their ambition "that its
light might continue to attract the
seekers after truth and the
lovers of duty until it should shed its
radiance on the evening
of the world."
It was a great occasion, but Horace Mann
was worthy of
it all. He saw a beginning, which,
stretching out into the centu-
ries, would grow to the largest plans
and hopes. In thrilling
word he dedicated the building to the
glory of God and the serv-
ice of man. I have heard a few inaugural
addresses and I have
read many more, but not one that equals
the inaugural address
of Horace Mann. Throughout, its
thrilling words were tuned
to the grand key, "God, Duty,
Humanity." He saw, as with a
prophet's vision, the great opportunity,
and voiced it in noble
words to men who were to help him build
it into the life of the
great new West!
"And a youthful community or State
is like a child. Its
bones are in the gristle, and can be
shaped into symmetry of
form and nobleness of stature. Its heart
overflows with gen-
erosity and hope, and its habits of
thought have not yet been
hardened into insoluble dogmatism. This
youthful Western
world is gigantic youth, and therefore
its education must be such
as befits a giant. It is born to such
power as no heir to an earthly
throne ever inherited, and it must be
trained to make that power
a blessing and not a curse to mankind.
With its mighty frame
stretching from the Alleghanies to the
Rocky Mountains, and
with great rivers for arteries to
circulate its blood, it must have
a sensorium in which all mighty
interests of mankind can be
mapped out; and, in its colossal and
Briarean form, there must
be a heart large enough for worlds to
swim in. Wherever the
capital of the United States may be,
this valley will be its seat
of empire. No other valley - the Danube,
the Ganges, the Nile
or the Amazon-is ever to exert so
formative an influence as
this upon the destinies of men; and,
therefore, in civil polity, in
Horace Mann and Antioch College. 19 ethics, in studying and obeying the laws of God, it must ascend to a contemplation of a future and enduring reign of beneficence and peace." But no teacher's life can be always on the mountain top. The tables in the dining hall were cleared, and here examinations for entrance to college began. Out of the uneven company of one hundred and fifty who presented themselves, eight persons were ranked as freshmen, while all the others entered lower classes. And so Horace Mann's great work for Ohio began. The professors who came to the West to do college work found them- |
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selves busy in sorting and arranging this company, nearly all of whom were busy with preparatory subjects. But they went to the work with high enthusiasm. And well they might! Here were ministers who had given up their parishes to gain an edu- cation. Men who had thought their life course already deter- mined, and who had settled down and begun to rear families, gathered their belongings together and moved to Yellow Springs, |
20 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
to garner the fruits of knowledge under
the guidance of this
great apostle of education. It was a
slow process, but with a
heart of love, with unfailing patience,
and with all the richness
of personal magnetism and wide
experience, Horace Mann and
his devoted colleagues gave themselves
to the work of enduing
this company with life and power.
Although the Christians had already
announced as the lead-
ing principle of the institution the
non-sectarian and co-educa-
tional ideals, yet, for most of them,
the non-sectarian ideal was
only that all might become Christians.
As for the co-educational
ideal, it was still in the experimental
stage.
To Mr. Mann's surprise and
disappointment, he found him-
self restricted in all quarters save
with the students. Many of
the ministers who came there to
co-operate in the work of the
institution were unable to realize the
plan which he had been
asked to finish and make effective. He
was an educated man,
a person of rapid action, impatient of
delay, and of great
resources in bringing things to pass.
They were not accus-
tomed to the surroundings and the spirit
of labor, nor to the rapid
method by which he had wrought all the
large things which he
had already accomplished. Soon distrust
began to be felt in the
hearts of the ministers in the smaller
churches. It spread far
and wide, and he found himself growingly
restricted. But there
were two obstacles that were sufficient
to discourage the stoutest
heart - lack of money and conflict of
authority. Bills began to
come in much more rapidly than the money
with which to pay
them. A committee was called to examine
the accounts of the
institution, and, after sitting almost
steadily for forty hours, they
thoroughly satisfied themselves that
there were no satisfactory
records of the debts of the institution.
Representatives of the
college were sent to the various banking
institutions at Spring-
field, Xenia and other cities near at
hand, to inquire what paper
was held against the college. After a
time, a somewhat unsatis-
factory list of claims was made out, but
this working in the dark
with reference to debts against the
college continued until the
institution was sold by the sheriff.
The conflict of authority grew out of
the peculiar form of
the organization, which left in the hand
of the Superintendent
Horace Mann and Antioch College. 21
the many questions of policy and
administrative detail which in
this day would without question pass
into the hands of the Presi-
dent. This conflict of authority
produced continual irritation
and misunderstanding. Mr. Mann was not
really able to build
in the small way which these men
demanded of him, and he
lacked the patience and insight to deal
with them according to
their limitations.
The story of Mr. Mann's work is one of
sunshine and
shadow. The high hope and inspiration
and courage and pa-
tience of this man were marvelous. The
young people were
open-minded and teachable. Many were
crude and in some
respects uncouth, but their hearts were
rich and their aspirations
were high. They may have lacked the best
ideals, but it was
these they were seeking, and within the
year the company that
Horace Mann and his fellow-laborers had
met, were transformed.
Love, kindness and gentlemanly behavior
had been instilled, and
the aspirations of the college group had
been turned into new
channels. But it had cost hardships not
a few. There was a
kind of raw democracy, which tended to a
constant leveling
down. All the little arts and
refinements of cultivated life were
looked upon as so many earmarks of a
supercilious aristocracy.
Stools were used for seats, and when
some of the ladies of the
President's household brought chairs,
their action was regarded
as extreme and unreasonable. Napkins
found no place, and the
effort to secure clean plates for the
pie was made a matter of
dispute and contest.
To aid in instruction, Horace Mann had
brought his nephew,
C. F. Pennell, and his niece, Rebecca
Pennell, two well educated,
finely trained, Massachusetts teachers.
All the other officers and
teachers of the institution were
selected by the Superintendent
and the local trustees, upon little or
no consultation with Mr.
Mann. Bookkeeping had been advertised as
one of the branches,
and the man selected to teach it had
never studied it a day in his
life, but the Board had felt that he
would be a good man because
he represented certain religious ideals
for which they were jeal-
ous. Like incidents were of frequent
occurrence.
The deepest and darkest of all the
trials which fell on Hor-
ace Mann was the great spirit of doubt
and distrust growing out
22
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
of the sectarianism which was called
non-sectarian, but which
had its set of definite beliefs and
requirements that were as inex-
orable as any Thirty-nine Articles that
were ever penned. Mr.
Mann's motives were impugned, and the
ignorance and intoler-
ance which failed to understand him
embarrassed his work on
every hand.
But there is another side to the
picture. Though the con-
test had cost him many a heart throb and
many a waking hour,
the men who wronged him so sadly
believed in their own hearts
that he had as sadly wronged them. They
charged him with hav-
ing sold out the Christian interests to
Unitarian friends in the
East. They believed that his
interpretation of non-sectarianism
was permeated with rank infidelity. They
thought that his demand
for higher educational standards for
students and teachers was
only that he might bring Eastern friends
of Unitarian faith to
displace the sons and daughters of their
neighbors and friends.
However deep may have been his trials,
theirs were no less deep.
At many a family altar, and in many a
pastor's prayer, a cry
went up to God that He might save the
faith of the Christians
and bring to naught the counsels and
plans of this strong man,
who had proved untrue to the trust they
had placed in him. But
the struggle grew more bitter. Mr. Mann
took a stand against
them. He was strong, resourceful and
aggressive; they were
less so. The friends of his early
manhood were loyal, every one
feeling that his was a mission from God,
who wrought mightily
to accomplish His purpose through Horace
Mann.
The institution was practically bankrupt
when Mr. Mann
entered upon his work as President.
Though by the plan of
organization, he was in no way
responsible for the financial man-
agement, yet it is evident that until
the matter was pressed upon
him, he had given so little attention to
the financial standing of
the institution as not to show ordinary
business prudence. Those
who had the construction in charge had
given notes in many
quarters, and kept no record of them.
Agents had been sent to
solicit funds throughout the Christian
Connection, but with the
customary negligence of the time no
records were kept, and con-
tributions were not sent promptly to the
college. As the financial
stress became greater, more agents were
employed, and some of
Horace Mann and Antioch College. 23
these received large commissions, which,
with their traveling
expenses, materially reduced the funds
collected. Worse still,
the institution was founded on a
scholarship plan, which, in the
very nature of things, was fatal. The
holder of a $100 scholar-
ship was promised that he might keep one
student in the college
free of tuition perpetually. Many of
these scholarships were
represented only by notes, and it came
to be understood that the
giver would never be required to pay the
principal so long as the
interest was promptly paid. In some
cases there was not even
a note, but simply the promise of some
well-to-do man to help the
college. There is little wonder that
such a financial plan proved
disastrous.
The institution was steadily running
behind; salaries were
unpaid, and bills were accumulating far
more rapidly than dona-
tions. From time to time new claims
would appear. There
seemed to be no hope of adjustment
except assignment; accord-
ingly, steps were taken to that end, and
on the twentieth day of
April, 1859, the institution was sold in
Cincinnati, O., by Hon.
John Kebler, Master Commissioner, for
the sum of $40,200. It
was "knocked off" to the only
bidder, Moses Cummings, for
Frank A. Palmer, of the Broadway Bank,
New York City, a
member of the Christian denomination.
Later, Mr. Palmer
agreed to turn it over to a close board,
consisting of Josiah
Quincy, Charles E. Bidler, Eli Fay,
Artemus Carter and Thomas
McWhinney. At the same time he
surrendered his claim of
$18,000, which thus became his gift to
the new college. These
men prepared articles of incorporation,
and in that form duly
carried on the institution until the
succeeding June, when a full
Board of Trustees was appointed under
the new charter. The
tuition was raised and the general
management of the institution
was very much the same as before, except
that closer attention
was given to finances.
The new Antioch, free from its old
promises to pay when
there was nothing to pay with, and its
old false hopes, built on
a speculation, in its way, as wild as
that of the South Sea Bubble,
was formally opened, and Horace Mann
looked forward to a few
years of joy, comfort and triumph in
this educational child of his
old age, developing in the new West,
with new opportunities and
24
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
new hopes, surrounded by a fresh, strong
civilization, somewhat
crude it is true, but virile and
promising. For him this was
not to be!
For months preceding the Commencement of
1859, Mr.
Mann had been giving himself with the
strength of his whole
nature to the effort of adjusting the
financial affairs of the insti-
tution. It was seen at last that
assignment was the only course,
and with tireless energy he labored to
organize a new company
of friends to take hold of the
institution and carry it on after
assignment. The earlier weeks of summer
were spent in this
way, and soon after Commencement he
found himself prostrated
with fever. It did not seem serious, but
his health was failing.
On the morning of the second of August,
the physicians an-
nounced that he had but a few hours to
live. With steady
courage he called about him his students
and friends, some forty
in number, and gave to each one the
caution or encouragement
which he felt to be the special need of
the hour. It was near
sunset, and he was heard to say,
faintly, "Now I bid you all good-
night!" . . . The great heart
ceased to beat-Horace Mann
was dead.
The whole community was stricken. One
hundred of the
students came from their summer homes to
take a last look at
the face of him whom they loved and
honored. On the day of
burial a great concourse of men and
women came to pay the last
sad tributes of respect and affection. A
hymn was sung by the
choir of the village church where he
used to worship. Prayer
was offered by Rev. H. I. Nye, and the
Rev. Eli Fay spoke ear-
nest and stirring words in testimony of
Mr. Mann's great worth
and the mighty work he had undertaken
and carried forward
in Ohio.
A year later his body was disinterred
and removed to the
Old North Burial ground, at Providence,
R. I., and laid in eternal
rest beside his first wife, the daughter
of Dr. Messer, once Presi-
dent of Brown University.
But what are the tangible results of
Horace Mann's work in
Ohio? Like the influence of the sunlight
as it plays on a thou-
sand hills, or the dew as it blesses the
varied landscape, these
influences are hard to gather and to
name. Horace Mann worked
Horace Mann and Antioch College. 25 out for Ohio, and for our great Middle West, some of the mar- velous problems which have helped to make the Ordinance of 1787 more than a high-sounding phrase of campaign orators. He taught such an interpretation of non-sectarianism as has been a blessing to the great people of our State and far away to the westward. He did much to fix the rank and standing of women |
|
in co-educational institutions. But, most of all, he and his col- leagues gave to Antioch, and to the wide territory since influ- enced by her, those ideals of scholarship, devotion to duty and interest in the public welfare, which, through his students and by his writings, have been wrought into schools from Ohio to California. |
26 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Altogether apart from Mr. Mann's visible
work in the insti-
tution, may be found agencies which he
set in operation, whose
influence only eternity can measure. It
was a great thing for
the new West that a high standard of
scholarship should be
placed before her sons and daughters,
and that a few of them,
trained by "teachers with the
discipline of West Point and the
conscience of the Massachusetts Normal
School," should be sent
out into every corner of the State and
ultimately to the farthest
boundaries of the nation, with the sound
scholarship and the love
of truth that never failed.
Mr. Mann's reputation as a great apostle
of education gave
his opinions greater weight than those
of almost any other man
in the country. As a result, the most
radical educational ideas
were received from him with respect, and
he carried forward
the practical embodiment of co-education
and non-sectarianism
as few other educators could have done.
He went into every
corner of the State and into the great
West, and by public
addresses and personal contact kindled
in the minds of thousands
of the young people a devotion to truth
and duty which, in their
old age, still holds its inspiration.
But, with due allowance for all other
things, Mr. Mann's
greatest work in the West was done in
Antioch and through
Antioch. Many of his students have
followed his ideals with a
high devotion, and have made them living
forces in education,
particularly in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Missouri and California.
In the great work that Dr. Harris did in
St. Louis none sup-
ported him more loyally and none
contributed more largely in
patience and faith, in enthusiasm and
the vision of truth, than
the Antioch trained men and women.
Horace Mann's life at Antioch was full
of petty annoyances,
grievous disappointment and heart
sacrifices, but at the same
time it was rich in victory for the
cause in which he labored. In
those years he wrought mightily for the
higher education and
elevation of woman. He demonstrated that
men and women can
be educated together with profit to
intellect and to morals. He
gave an interpretation of
non-sectarianism which was wholly
new to the thought of his time. He
showed that conduct and
character are the central elements in
the intellectual and moral
Horace Mann and Antioch College. 27
life. Greater than all, in those six
years he stamped upon hun-
dreds of young people such high ideals
and touched them with
such glowing inspiration that their
influence was always to count
mightily for the highest and best. Far
and near he stimulated
thousands of people to nobler thinking
and higher living.
After his death friends carried on as
best they might the
work which he had undertaken. Willing
hands were found and
tender hearts and true, but the great
master spirit was gone.
The college has undergone many
hardships, and its work at times
has suffered sorely, but still there are
found signs of the old
ideals and there breathes yet about its
spacious halls something
of the large devotion to truth, of the
steady following of science,
of the earnest love of learning, and,
most of all, of that large-
minded devotion to truth which has gone
so far to make ours the
land of free thought and of free speech.
The spirit of the real
Antioch could never be kept within
bounds. It must have a field
proportionate to the high ideals and the
broad range of its
interests.
"The real Antioch promptly slipped
the fetters of the little
Ohio town. It took possession of great
hearts in great commu-
nities, backed by great commonwealths. A
non-sectarian, co-
educational, co-racial war-cry became
the bugle notes that gave
success to Ann Arbor, Cornell and the
long line of State Univer-
sities that have come to be in the
Western States since Antioch
was born. . .. Whatever becomes of the
Yellow Springs
Antioch, the Antioch of Horace Mann is
one of the greatest edu-
cational successes of the
century."*
* Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones, in New Unity.
HORACE MANN AND ANTIOCH COLLEGE. GEORGE ALLEN HUBBELL, PH. D., [Mr. Hubbell is a member of the Faculty of Berea College, Kentucky, and was formerly a professor at Antioch College of which Mr. Horace Mann was president. -EDITOR.] Ohio is the favorite daughter of the Eastern States. The cannon of the Revolution had scarcely cooled when the Ordinance of 1787 was adopted, and sturdy men began to look over the bor- ders of Virginia, Pennsyl- |
|
vania, New York, Connec- ticut and Massachusetts to the rich land of the great West. Many of Virginia's sons went by way of Kentucky; the sons of the Keystone State crossed over the moun- tains, and dropped down the Ohio River on flatboats; while the sons of far Con- necticut and Massachusetts came through New York and down by Lake Erie to estab- lish themselves in the West- ern Reserve. Thus, things went on for half a century, with new set- tlers ever pouring out from the old home into this new |
State, so rich in natural resources, so rapidly developing, so strong in the enterprise and the daring spirit of its people, that in 1824 Lafayette called it "the eighth wonder of the world." In 1850 the population had reached nearly two millions. Cincinnati (12) |