Records
Your search returned 46 Results
Refined by : Levermore, Charles Herbert (1856-1927)
- Iconographic browsing
- Results per page : 50
-
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 22, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 22, 1904
Brooklyn, N.Y. April 22, 1904.
My dear Woodruff:-
Just a word to say that I understood at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees, from some words that Mr. Wheeler let fall, that Mr. Coler's subscription to the Rockefeller Fund us not yet paid. Mr. Wheeler thinks that he will get it, I believe. Mr. Coler just now is in much trouble. His wife is ill and I think that he hears that she is threatened with some serious malady.
[marginalia] How would it do to ask McKelway to make that speech? If we do, you are the one to extend the invitation. We did invite him about 3 or 4 years ago & he declined -
Garrison the Faith
C. H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, DECEMBER 26, 1903
FROM LEVERMORE, DECEMBER 26, 1903
Letterhead
Dec. 26, 1903
My dear Woodruff
Yea. verily - there is to be a meeting of the Board next Monday night. It was postponed from last Monday night, because the annual dinner of the New England Society occurred on that evening & Messer. Benefict Wheeler & Levermore could not easily escape from attending that dinner.
I am glad to know that you can be here next Monday night. We shall look for you - With cordial Christmas greetings and wishes for a happy New Year to Mrs. Woodruff and yourself - I am
Yours Very Sincerely
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, DECEMBER 9, 1909
FROM LEVERMORE, DECEMBER 9, 1909
Letterhead
December 9, 1909.
My dear Governor:
The Academy Alumni Association will have its next "smoker" in our Gymnasium on Thursday evening, December 23, beginning at eight o'clock. On that occasion the members of the 1909 Academy Football team will be present as guests, and will receive from the Association certain beautiful and substantial tokens of appreciation of their splendid work upon that team.
The officers of the Association have asked me to extend in their name to all the masculine members of the Board a most cordial invitation to attend this meeting and join in the festivities. I wish to add a hearty second to this invitation. These young men worked hard and faithfully throughout the Fall, and rendered a great service to the school. They won every game that they played, and placed the Academy in the front rank of Brooklyn schools in the important department of athletics. They have merited our praise and gratitude. It will stimulate the enthusiasm of the boys and also of the Alumni to see a goodly number of the Trustees manifesting interest in the Academy by being present at this final scene of the football season.
Please record in your memorandum the time and place of this meeting of the Association, and, if you possibly can, let us have the pleasure of your company.
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff
New York City -
FROM LEVERMORE, DECEMBER 7, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, DECEMBER 7, 1904
Brooklyn, N.Y. Dec. 7th, 1904
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
287 Broadway,
My dear Woodruff:-
Judge Crane reported to me what you said to him about the advisability of changing the meeting of the Board for this month from December 19th to December 22nd. Mr. Rossiter had already expressed his opinion that it would be well to hold the meeting on some other night on account of the affair at the Montauk under the auspices of the Alumnae of Adelphi Academy on the evening of the 19th. Judge Crane had therefore left orders here that the notices calling for the December meeting of the Board will announce that its date is to be Thursday evening, December 22nd.
I am sorry to say that Mr. Burrell now tells me that he had business engagements on every Monday night is each month; otherwise he would be much pleased to became one of the members of our Board. He is a good man, and I am sorry that there should be such an obstacle in the way of him joining us.
Very sincerely yours,
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, FEBRUARY 17, 1903
FROM LEVERMORE, FEBRUARY 17, 1903
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., Feb. 17, 1903.
Hon. T. L. Woodruff,
Syracuse, N.Y.
My dear Woodruff:-
I discussed with members of the Board last night (the faithful few who came out in the storm), the question of a Commencement orator. It was the opinion of those present that it would be a fine thing to procure the services on that occasion of Senator Depew. If your judgement agrees with that of your colleagues, will you please undertake the job of securing Senator Depew's consent to be our orator? The place is the Academy of Music and the date is Tuesday evening, June 16.
The second choice of the members of the Board was Ex-Gov. Frank S. [Black}
[incomplete] -
FROM LEVERMORE, FEBRUARY 22, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, FEBRUARY 22, 1905
Letterhead
Feb, 22d 1905
My dear Friend -
You came so late the other night and departed so promptly that I didnt have a good opportunity to do as I intended to and offer you my hearty congratulations upon your impending marriage which was announced some time ago and I doubt not by your authority. There has been so much irresponsible chatter about this that I take pleasure in saying what I believe that you know already - that my entire confidence and affection my voice and vote, are yours to command.
The pressure of business Monday night prevented us from considering the subject of a possible deal with Pratt High School pupils about which I wrote to you some time ago. I should like to know whether you think it wise to offer them a discount rate. I am myself more and more dubious about such a policy. Dr. Hitchcock is likely to call upon me for an expression of opinion and I think that we ought to discuss the matter seriously and carefully.
Another matter that I want to confer with you about is the presence of the lady members on our Board. I dont think that they feel at home there. They cant come to the meetings often, nor say much when they do come. It is a delicate matter to handle, but, if you appear I am willing to catch the three together and offer them something definite to do for Adelphi, vis: retire from the Board and became the nucleus of a Women's Auxiliary Committee, or Auxiliary Board, whose duty it shall be to offer and maintain each year in our College parlors a series of social evenings intended primarily to bring together trustees, teachers and friends of Adelphi. Thus the institution would have for the first time a social organization and social leadership. The teachers need it. What do you think?
Yours as ever
C. H. Levermore
[marginalia] To be answered Wednesday -
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 15, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 15, 1904
Letterhead
Jan. 15, 1904.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
287 Broadway, New York City.
My Dear Woodruff:-
I have just received word from the manager of the Montauk Theatre that the determination to close that theatre in June has been reconsidered and that it will be open for the express purpose of accommodating schools and colleges that wish to hold their commencement exercises there.
Inasmuch as the sentiment around the table at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees seemed unanimously in favor of using the Montauk, if we could get it, I shall, unless you object, make a provisional engagement of that theatre for Tuesday, June 14, and will bring the matter up for final approval at the meeting of the Board next Monday night.
Very sincerely yours,
Charles H. Levermore
[marginalia] This clipping is from today's Times. It indicates that Mr. Carnegie is widening the range of his benefactions - Inasmuch as we particularly need unconditioned endowments just now. would it not be well to devise ways & means of reaching his ear?
CHL -
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 14, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 14, 1904
Brooklyn, N.Y. Jan. 14, 1904.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
287 Broadway, New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
I have just remembered since reading your note of the 13th that, acting under the authority of the Board of Trustees, I gave Woodrow Wilson an invitation to be our Commencement orator last year, and he declined it. It was after that that you came into the game and secured the services of Mr. Beck.
Will it be advisable to give Wilson another invitation so soon? I am willing to try him, if you think that it is wise to do so. As it appears to me now, I should think that we would have a better chance of receiving a favorable answer from him, if we waited a year or two before extending another invitation.
How would the sky-rocket oratory of our friend Littleton do for our Commencement platform?
With salutations Yours in bonds
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 19, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 19, 1904
Letterhead
Jan. 19, 1904
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
287 Broadway, New York.
My Dear Woodruff:-
The discussion in the Board last evening concerning the Commencement orator favored an attempt to get the services of Rev. Dr. Henry Van Dyke. The faculty has also discussed the question somewhat and is in favor of trying to get Dr. Van Dyke rather than President Wilson. As between the two, I am myself inclined to think that we have a chance to get Dr. Van Dyke and that Wilson will certainly say "No."
If you still prefer to have me make an attempt to secure Wilson, I will write to him about it. If you are favorably impressed by the nomination of Dr. Van Dyke, would it not be wise for you to extend to him the official invitation?
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore
[marginalia] I think that with either of them it would be necessary to suggest that there is to be a honorarium - of $50. perhaps. -
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 16, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 16, 1904
Letterhead
Shorthand
Mar. 16 1904
My dear Woodruff
I find that I inadvertently omitted to return Gov. Odell's letter yesterday. I send herewith also a copy of the bill introduced into the Senate in Heffley's behalf. As I read it over, I begin to think that he means business. He certainly is an educational Barnum & his proceedings are calculated to bring contempt upon Brooklyn & upon all schools for higher education therein.
I hope that the leaders will not allow it to pass either House & I think that a word from you may be needed.
Yours Much
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 21, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 21, 1904
Letterhead
Jan. 21 1904
My dear Woodruff
A gray-haired teacher in Adelphi Academy, a lady named Louise D. Harlow, who has been here for thirty years, is somewhat broken in health and wants to take a winter's trip to Florida to Orlando, Fla., I believe. Do you suppose that a wire might be pulled somewhere which would bring down a pass over the railways for some or all of the distance?
Yours muchly
C. H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 25, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 25, 1904
Brooklyn, N.Y. March 25, 1904.
My dear Woodruff:
I have turned that suggestion about the Chinese Minister over in my mind and my conclusion is that if his address is likely to measure up to the demands of the occasion he will be a suitable man to get. I spoke about it to Mr. Wheeler and he expressed the same opinion. Several members of the Faculty have stated their agreement with this view. You say that the Chinese Minister "would probably read a pretty fair address." His recent addresses, as quoted in newspapers, would seem to indicate that he might do even better than you suggest, and perhaps if he is invited to speak it might be a good thing for us to suggest a topic for him.
I presume that it could be done indirectly or suggestively without appearing to be over-officious. As to the regalia which he would wear I suspect that it would fit in pretty well with the mandarin robes that the rest of us assume on that occasion. If any better name can be suggested I should be much pleased, but I do not now think of any one who would be so likely to help draw a crowd and make the occasion interesting.
Shorthand
[marginalia] The Commencement is to be held in the Montauk Theater. The other names that have been suggested are Rev. Dr. James M. Buckley and Rev. Amory H. Bradford. I dont seem "drawn" to either of them. Would that we might unearth another Beck!
I feel troubled about this Heffley business. I object to his proposition because no man who holds or confers B.A. degrees should favor letting a commercial high school issue such degrees. There is a general incorporation act in this State for degree - granting institutions. We conformed to it. If the Heffley School wants to be a college, why should it not be made to satisfy the requirements of that University Law?
Yours Faithfully
Charles H. Levermore
[marginalia] Mrs Griffin Write to Minister & ask him say I will appreciate it personally
Write Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 5, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 5, 1905
Brooklyn, N.Y., May 5th, 1905.
Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
It is true that Mr. Carnegie has left the country; he sailed about two weeks ago. I have no doubt that it will be possible for you to reach him sooner or later, either here or in Scotland. Perhaps your summer automobile tour can be planned to include a trip to Skibo Castle.
What do you think of the other suggestion, about a meeting of the Executive Committee to push that proposition for scholars in the College to be paid for by the City?
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore
[marginalia] I hope that you will talk with Messrs Rossiter & Palmer about the scheme to sell our present playing field for about $75000. & purchase another one, near the line of the Brighton Beach R.R., that shall be about ten times as large for about $25000. & use the rest of the money for our needed additions to buildings & gymnasium here. I believe that this scheme should be adopted & pushed through as soon as possible. -
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 3, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 3, 1905
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., May 3rd, 1905.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
I believe that the proposition to the city authorities to maintain free scholarships in this College, if made at all, should be made this spring. I believe also that, if we do make it, we ought to consider whether we should not notify the Polytechnic folks of our intention and let them join us in the effort if they wish to. The next meeting of the Board does not occur until Monday evening, May 22nd. That is too far along for the initial consideration of such scheme. I therefore send you this rough draft of a proposition, which I should like to have you read and criticise. If you think well of the scheme I should like to have you call a meeting of the Executive Committee at some time and place during the next fortnight when we can be sure to get the members of the Committee together, so that we may give to this scheme all the consideration that may be necessary before presenting it to the Board and to the officers of the City Government.
It seems to me that if we can present this subject judiciously we may be able to get all the good that there ever was in the Grout proposition without any of the attendant evils.
I would not venture to send this document along at this time if I had not understood from you that you expected to make your sojourn in the Adirondacks a short one and to be back in your office early in May.
Very sincerely yours,
Charles H. Levermore
-
FROM LEVERMORE, SEPTEMBER 27, 1906
FROM LEVERMORE, SEPTEMBER 27, 1906
Letterhead
Sept. 27 1906
My dear Woodruff
Let me add my congratuations to the host that you must have received already. I am very glad that you have the chairmanship rather than the nomination for the governorship, and I have no doubt whatever that you will be a shining success there.
If you must play the game of politics I believe that you are now where you can reach the Senate of the U.S. and they do tell me that it is a fine club to belong to.
You will be busier than ever now for a couple of months, but I hope that you will find time to keep an occasional eye on Mrs. Sage's strong box. Adelphi wants to break into it! Do you know Dr. John P. Munn, who is one of the Sage executors?
With all greetings & good wishes
Faithfully Yours
Charles H Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, UNDATED
FROM LEVERMORE, UNDATED
T.L.W., 2.
Black, and that name also is submitted for your consideration.
As there were so few present last night, nothing was done beyond authorizing the completion of arrangements with Mr. Turner to act as business agent and disposing of a few matters of routine business.
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, OCTOBER 8, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, OCTOBER 8, 1904
Letterhead
Shorthand
Oct. 8, 1904
My dear Woodruff,
As Messrs Crane and Rossiter said that you could not attend a Board meeting on Monday evening the 17th but could be here on Wedn. evening the 19th the call has been issued for the latter date. I hope that it will be a relief to you to dodge politics for a couple of hours & enter this quiet haven of scholastic leisure.
I have had a talk with Athinson the new president of Poly; a handsome giant, with sensible ideas. If his Board will back him up, the consolidation of our Brooklyn collegiate schools can be accomplished within a comparatively short period of years & when it comes it will be an event of the first magnitude for this community.
Faithfully Yours
C. H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 6, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 6, 1905
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., April 6th, 1905.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
Dear Mr. Woodruff:-
You have probably already noticed in the newspapers the announcement of the death of the Rev. Dr. Charles W. Homer - our senior Trustee - which occurred yesterday. I am informed that the funeral will take place in St. James Church on Friday afternoon, April 7th, beginning at half past two. Immediately after the funeral the body will be taken to the station for transportation to Boston.
The usual afternoon exercises in the various departments of this institution will be omitted on Friday, but the offices at the Clifton Place entrance will be open between two and 2.30 so that any of the members of the Board who will attend the funeral can assemble in the Trustees' Room if they wish, and proceed thence in company to the church.
Yours sincerely, C. H. Levermore
-
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 9, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 9, 1905
Brooklyn, N.Y., May 9th, 1905.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
Please note that the meetings of the Board are now held, in accordance with the last vote, upon the evening of the fourth Monday in each month. This will place the next meeting of the Board on May 22nd, and not May 29th, as you supposed. I hope that you will surely be present at that meeting. Matters of considerable importance are sure to be discussed.
Mr. Grout told me the other day that he had sent a copy of his letter about the proposed plans for higher education in Brooklyn, to you. He expects that the different Boards of Trustees of the institutions to whom he sent that letter, will appoint committees to consider it. I find that the Trustees of the Polytechnic Institute, the Hoagland Laboratory, and the Polhemus Clinic, have all received this letter from Mr. Grout, and have all appointed committees to consider it. Mr. Nichols - the President of the Poly. Board - is the President of the committee for that institution, and he is now planning with Dr. Raymond to ask for a conference between the committees of these institutions who have received Mr. Grout's letter. -
LEVERMORE TO GRIFFIN, APRIL 4, 1904
LEVERMORE TO GRIFFIN, APRIL 4, 1904
Letterhead
Apr. 4 1904
Mr. J. C. Griffin
Dear Sir:
Your note inclosing copy of letter of invitation to Sir Chautung Lieng-Cheng has just found me here where I have come for the Easter vacation. There is only one question in my mind about the note of invitation. I am not President of Adelphi Academy and the Commencement to which the Chinese minister is invited is the Commencement of Adelphi College of which I am the President. The Academy Commencement is a different affair, coming two days later.
It has seemed to me that possibly the Chinese Minister might be more interested in an invitation to appear at a College Commencement than in a summons to an Academy Commencement.
If you see Gov. woodruff you might ask him whether it is worth while to correct the mistake or you might get a copy of the College catalog from Mr. J. G. Ewing. Adelphi College, Brooklyn & send the catalog to Sir Cheutung with a suggestion that he may be interested to see the catalog of the institution in which Gov. Woodruff is interested and from which the invitation comes.
Yours Very Truly
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 15, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 15, 1905
Letterhead
May 15, 1905
My dear Woodruff
I have run away for a day or two in a search for a Professor of English Literature. I expect to return on Wednesday. I believe that I have not yet told you about my interview with Wm. H. Nichols. I spent last Thursday evening with him. He expresses himself as ready to join with representatives of our Board in a conference concerning ways & means of developing our two institutions together and of securing an adequate endowment, site, etc. He hopes that the scheme will take shape in the discussions necessitated by Grout's letter. The Poly Board referred that letter to a committee consisting of Messrs. Nichols, Lyman & Raymond. The latter was named because of his position at the L. I. Medical School. Mr. Nichols hopes that our Board will name a committee which will be prepared to deliberate with his committee & with persons directly representing the Medical College group of schools not so much about the Grant letter as about the formation of a Union Endowment Committee. He thinks - and so do I - that the counter-preposition made by such a committee would side-track the Grout committee. He thinks that the track will be free for us as soon as the Academy of Music project is finished. That is a large obstacle but I am delighted to find some one at the Poly who takes statesmanlike views & is ready to move.
The chief thing now is to get started.
Very Sincerely Yours
C. H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 24, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 24, 1905
Letterhead
Apr. 24, 1905
My dear Woodruff
In one way I am sorry that Miss Scharff was so foolish as to trouble you about her discharge - It seems like a waste of good time - but in another light, I am glad that you saw her, and discovered so quickly some of the defects in her which have made it rather difficult at times to work with her here. She received last Feb. a letter from me, the one that Mr. Rossiter saw, which stated clearly why her resignation was demanded. It was absurd in her to pretend that she didnt understand.
In a nutshell, she was indiscreet in speech & she was not fitted to be a teacher of college classes. I went up to Mr. Carnegie's house with that letter of introduction. His secretary saw me and asked me to send them what I had to say in writing. I therefore returned home and wrote out my plea.
I have had no answer, and shall not expect any until I receive it. The next effort that is to be made in that quarter should be made by you I fancy. In one name or another we ought to keep hammering at him until we either suceed or fail. That is good news about Mr. Coles - That Rockefeller subscription was virtually all paid in but that, and now we can say that not a cent escaped us - a good record -
Yours Very Sincerely
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, FEBRUARY 6, 1906
FROM LEVERMORE, FEBRUARY 6, 1906
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y. Feb. 6, 1906.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
N.Y.
My dear Woodruff:-
You have probably received from Mr. Grout copies of the proposed act incorporating a Brooklyn University, which he has sent to all members of the Committee of One Hundred.
This is the way in which that undertaking has thus far been conducted: The Committee of One Hundred authorized Mr. Grout last spring to appoint a Committee of Fifteen to confer with the representatives of various institutions in Brooklyn. Mr. Grout's Committee of Fifteen sent a letter to those institutions asking the appointment of representatives for such conferences.
This letter did not reach us no that our Committee could be appointed earlier than at the May meeting, and before our Committee had time to have a meeting of its own Mr. Grout issued a call for a conference at the Brooklyn Club. None of the other institutions, unless it be the Brooklyn Institute, had been able to have a meeting of its own Conference Committee before that call was issued. At the conference Mr. Benedict and myself reported that the Adelphi Committee had not been able to meet, and was not therefore able as a Committee to make any statement, - we expressed however, our individual opinions. The other institutions there represented, excepting the Brooklyn Institute, were not ready to make any statement of any kind excepting an utterance expressing a vague interest.
No other conference was called during the summer or during the autumn.
Last December Mr. Grout and two or three of his friends met the Polytechnic representatives at a dinner at the Hamilton Club. We were not invited, neither was the representative of any other institution invited. Mr. Swanstrom however, got a special meeting of our Board called in order that we might re-constitute our Conference Committee and be ready to have a session with the Committee of Fifteen. We have never yet received any invitation to meet the Committee of Fifteen, and no other institution, barring that one instance of the Polytechnic dinner, has had any invitation to meet the Committee of Fifteen, so far as we know.
Nevertheless Mr. Grout has evidently had sessions of the Committee of Fifteen, and has drawn up an act of incorporation* and an application to the Board of Regents, and has now summoned the Committee of One Hundred to meet on Wednesday afternoon Feb. 7 in Historical Hall at five o'clock, evidently with the intention of asking it to act finally upon the reports of this Committee of Fifteen. Taking into view the original instructions which the Committee of Fifteen received from the Committee of One Hundred, and taking into view also the liberties which this movement is likely to take with the policies and the prospects of existing institutions, it would seem as though the officers of this college had not had the opportunities which they have a right to expect to discuss with Mr. Grout and his friends the possibility of some form of university development which would meet the approval of all parties. [*This act says that all institutions joining the merger shall surrender to the University of Brooklyn at their property. This seems to contradict Grout's former assurance that he did not seek to disturb Adelphi Academy.]
A Brooklyn University ought to be the outgrowth of the existing colleges here. The energetic cooperation of a man like Mr. Grout and his immediate associates would be highly desirable, but it is certainly highly undesirable that a coterie of citizens of just that sort should force upon the institutions of higher education in Brooklyn a scheme of educational development which they have not had any large share in making.
I am quite ready to admit that it may be necessary to enter into some kind of relation with the city school system. I wish that it might not be so, but it is quite likely that it may be true. Mr. Grout and his friends however, have taken it for granted at the outset that the only kind of plan possible is one which will, so far as undergraduate collegiate instruction is concerned, create here without change an institution modelled upon the C.C.N.Y. There is scarcely an educator of any importance in the United States who knows anything about collegiate and university life, who would not deprecate a duplication of that institution, and would not urge that when a new city institution was to be created it should be framed so as to avoid some of the evils that have attended the origin and management of that school.
For my part I believe that it is foolish indeed to think that a Brooklyn college must be exactly like that college in Manhattan. Improvements are certainly possible, and a careful study of the problem is necessary in order to make certain what those improvements ought to be.
[marginalia] Since dictating the above I have had a conference with Rossiter & Crane. It was our opinion that a letter should be sent to Mr. Grout tomorrow saying that his documents have been received, that some of the propositions therein contained are such that we are unable to act upon them without ample deliberation, and that as we have no opportunity to discuss them with the Committee of 15 we do not feel ready to attend the meeting of the committee of 100. You ought to be the one to sign such a note if it is sent. If you get this tomorrow morning. I wish that you would call me to the phone.
Faithfully Yours
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, JUNE 6, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, JUNE 6, 1904
Letterhead
June 6 1904
My dear Governor
It seems that Mr. Wheeler will probably be unable to sign checks for any purpose for some time perhaps for two weeks. He is said to be improving - but the process is slow, and the doctor forbids any intrusion of business. The trouble is with the liver.
Now salaries are due at the end of this week & some bills must be paid - The Mechanics Bank says that if you will write to it a letter asking that C. L. Rossiter's name be accepted on the checks for the salaries - they will honor his signature on the checks for that purpose, as he is chairman of the Finance Committee. It seems to me however that it would be better if you would call a meeting of the Exec. Com. on Wednesday. - state in the call that the purpose is to choose a Treasurer pro tem. I think that Mr. Palmer should be chosen if he will consent. Such a meeting could be held at your call anywhere & at any time in this office or in yours & it would not delay us long.
Then Sec. Crane could serve formal notice on the Mechanics Bank that the institution has an Acting Treasurer.
The Exec. Com. now consists of yourself & Messrs. Benedict, Wheeler, Crane, Rossiter, McDermott & Levermore.
This Com. is empowered by the By-Laws to do such things. Sorry to trouble you when you are so busy but Mr. Wheeler's unfortunate illness has put us into difficulties. The diplomas, certificates, etc. that you were to sign have all been sent to you, I believe -
Faithfully Yours
C. H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 3, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 3, 1905
Letterhead
Apr - 3 1905
My dear Woodruff
I was so inferrially tired Friday night that I went home without waiting to confer with you, as I had expected to. I realize how busy you must be with the preparations for the coming marriage but this Carnegie business seems to me so important that I maybe justified in holding you up in the highway for a brief reason.
Ought we not to acquaint him in some formal way with our needs, & at once? The Polytechnic people will surely approach him Dont we want to get a promise from him too? No better solution of the questions raised by Mr. Grant can be found than the speedy acquisition of considerable endowments by these colleges already existing.
Cant we manage it so as to secure at least the usual conditional promises from both Rockefeller & Carnegie, and secure the one with the other?
I cant help feeling that now in the accepted time for activity on our part. I dont want to approach Mr. Carnegie myself unless you & I have agreed that it is a wise thing to do & have outlined our plan of campaign together.
May I not hear from you? Or it would be still better if you could come over here - perhaps some morning
Faithfully yours
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, JUNE 2, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, JUNE 2, 1905
Letterhead
June 2, 1905
My dear Governor -
If the Exec. Com. meeting has not been yet called. I feel pretty sure that it will be difficult to get the members together for business on Sat. afternoon.
The matter that it needs to prepare for will need some discussion I fancy. You have my letter of May 23d. I presume That committee which my motion calls for to cooperate with Mr. Nichols' committee of "Poly" folks in the consideration of affiliation & endowments & the Grant letter might be named by you now without the Exec. Com. & the names could be announced at the next Board meeting - which will be on June 12 . It might be a good thing to have that committee having the way & putting down wires during the summer. We have to try to consolidate & set up a strong college in Brooklyn & we will need all the reflection & all the help that we can command.
I am sorry that you could not come on with Mrs. Woodruff to see this big company of young folks. Put it down for next Fall without fail. My letter of May 23d was intended to show that Mr. Nissen, one of our new members was actively interested in the Metz candidacy & was not inclined to favor speedy favorable action. It will go over till next Fall now anyway. I suppose & by that time I fancy that we can all agree about Mr. Metz. I have wanted to get him on our Board but have been somewhat shaken in my seal for action by Mr. Nissen's conservative attitude.
The scholarships created here four years ago by Henry W. Maxwell & Charles A. Moore are vacated this year by the graduation of the incumbents - four Maxwell & two Moore scholars. They have all been splendid students.
I am intending to see to it that they send thanks to J. R. Maxwell & Mr. Moore for what they have rec'd. Would it not be wise for you to suggest to those two gentlemen the desirability of continuing these benefactions in the names of the original donors probably?
Why should not such scholarships be made permanent? I have reason to believe that Henry W. Maxwell intended to make his permanent, altho unfortunately he did not live long enough to put that clause into his will.
Yours Very Sincerely
C. H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 28, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 28, 1905
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y. Jan. 28th, 1905.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
Syracuse, N.Y.
My dear Woodruff:-
Dr. Hitchcock - the head of the Pratt High School, has made a report to me concerning investigations among the three lower classes of that High School, to see where they are likely to go next year. The majority of the students in that school will go to the Manual Training High School, but Dr. Hitchcock regards it as certain that about thirty will enter Adelphi Academy if an arrangement can be made by which they can be admitted at a tuition rate not to exceed $100. a year. He says there are three or four who would come here any way at full tuition, but there are as many as twenty-four who have told him that they will in all probability enter here if the rate of tuition mentioned above can be agreed upon. He represents that eleven more are undecided as yet between entering Adelphi and some other school. He thinks that if the twenty-four above alluded to should come to the Academy, most of the eleven would come with them. He reports that there are twelve more who have made no plans whatever for next year, and say that they are not ready to make any. Among this whole number of students the proportion of girls to boys is about as two to one. It would appear therefore, that if Dr. Hitchcock's estimate is correct, that we might add at the rate of $100. per head, some $3,000. to our income next year, and as these students are evenly distributed among three classes, it would mean about $2,000. more for the year afterwards, and about $1,000. more for a third year. It is possible that we might admit that number of students to our present study room without any additional expense excepting that involved in setting up a few more desks. If we did so however, we would undoubtedly be unable to admit any applicant who might come to us ready to pay full tuition; the room for the next year would be filled to overflowing. It is a matter for debate whether it would be wise for us to shut off, for a year's time at any rate, all applicants who would come ready to pay full tuition. It may be a countervailing argument, that the transfer of thirty students in a body from the Pratt to Adelphi Academy would be an advertisement that would be worth something. If this course were adopted, and the whole company of perhaps thirty could be accommodated in our present study room, I doubt whether any additional teaching force would be needed for them, unless it would be possibly another teacher in mathematics. If we should undertake however, to keep the door open for admitting new applicants who are ready to pay full tuition, we would have to fit up a room somewhere in the buildings which would be large enough to hold all of our next fourth year Academy class, and we should have to put that class - which would be the graduating class - with a special supervisor, into that room by itself, and handle it as a separate study room through the year. This of course would mean for us the expense of fitting up another room with study room furniture, and it would mean the addition of another supervisor, a sort of Assistant Superintendent in addition to the probable need of an increase in the department of mathematics.
I should be glad to know what you think about all this.
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore
[marginalia] Mrs. G. Refer to me. -
FROM LEVERMORE, UNDATED
FROM LEVERMORE, UNDATED
I attended Mr. Grout's dinner last evening. Mr. Grout read an address which was carefully prepared, and which led up to the proposition with which he has already acquainted you, namely, that an application should be made to the legislature or the Board of Regents for a charter for a university in Brooklyn, which university should be situated possibly on the east side lands near the museum and should be controlled by a Board of Trustees nominated by the Mayor, and should be maintained as a part of the city system of education. Mr. Boody and Mr. Littleton made speeches warmly supporting the proposition. A good many other gentlemen spoke briefly to the effect that they warmly favored the proposition to establish a city college or university, and were willing to do what they could to help along the project. Among these gentlemen were Messrs. Alexander E. Orr, Ex-Mayor Schieren, Mr. Rossiter, President Atkinson - of the Polytechnic -, and Senator McCarren, and Messrs. McKelway, McLean, Berri and Peters, representing the four Brooklyn papers. All of these gentlemen, I think without exception, spoke only of the general proposition to consolidate the existing colleges and establish a strong college or university under city auspices. None of them discussed details. Professor Hooper was the only one who entered into a discussion of details. Professor Hooper said that there was not room enough upon the east side lands for a college campus, and that when the museum was completed no other buildings could be put up on that plot of ground without giving the appearance of unduly crowding the museum building. He suggested as a better site for a college campus, the land along the parkway to the east of the museum. Professor Hooper also opposed the endowment of a local college or university by the city. He affirmed that it would be much better if such a college could be kept away from the risk of political influence, and could be adequately endowed by private beneficence. He spoke somewhat at length of the possibility of finding people in Brooklyn who would be willing to give an adequate endowment for such an institution. Mr. Grout and Park Commissioner Kennedy and Professor Hooper entered into a slight and brief discussion concerning the east side lands, and the right to use them for such a purpose. Finally a motion was adopted, without any dessenting voices, that Mr. Grout should proceed to name a committee of one hundred, who would meet and organize, to procure from the legislature or the Board of Regents, a charter for for a college or university in Brooklyn. I believe that the resolution included nothing else, not even any reference to the possible financing of the enterprise by the city.
My belief is that a large part of the interest displayed in this scheme by Messrs. Grout and McCarren is due to their perception that the project is not only a worthy one as a piece of educational development, but that it also has some value as a move in the game of politics. At the same time I am heartily glad to have representative citizens discussing such schemes of improvement, whatever the mixture of of motives, and I welcome last night's meeting as a distinctly encouraging step.
However, I believe with Professor Hooper, that the east side lands are too small for a proper college campus. It would be foolish to start in as a part of the city system with a campus that did not leave ample room for growth for a hundred years. That part of the east side lands not occupied by the museum when completed, and by the new public library building, would be only large enough to hold buildings. What such an institution should have is a generous campus, fit to hold not only all the buildings that are needed, but open spaces and an athletic field besides. Such lands could be secured on the parkway between Franklin Avenue and Nostrand Avenue, and would include the clearing away of that unsightly old Kings' County penitentiary, which has got to go some time any way. Moreover, the latter site is convenient for transportation, since the Franklin Avenue and Nostrand Avenue lines connect with all the main arteries of traffic. The east side lands would be served by the Flatbush Avenue line and the Coney Island lines; the latter are at present of little importance for such an institution.
I also agree with Professor Hooper that the Brooklyn college or university which is to be established, should be adequately endowed by private munificence. That is the ideal condition, but I am afraid that we should have to wait too long before it is attained; therefore I am inclined to disagree with Professor Hooper, who is willing to wait. If the city treasury can be reached for this purpose, I am inclined to think that as a second best choice the appeal ought to be made. Nevertheless it is with the utmost reluctance that I would work for the establishment of a city college or university, which would almost surely pass under the control of political parties. If the Mayor of the city should have the power to appoint a Board of Trustees, it seems to me that, to begin with, Trustees should be chosen from the Boards of Poly. and the Adelphia and the Long Island College Hospital, and that after a certain number of years had gone by, the Mayor should be obliged to make a certain number of nominations from among the graduates of the institution. It also seems to me absurd to talk, as Mr. Grout has done, about including Packer and the Brooklyn Insitute, and perhaps the Pratt Institute in this scheme. None of these institutions are colleges or exercise the power of granting degrees. There is comparatively no work done at the Pratt Institute which has any collegiate value; there is scarcely any more work of such value in the scheme of the Brooklyn Institute; and the Packer Institute is chiefly a preparatory school. It has only two years of study which contain work that is collegiate in its character. I found in conversation with Mr. Grout, that his scheme as he himself had pictured it, included wiping out the secondary school work of Adelphi, Packer and Poly. I take that to be a chimerical notion. It would mean blotting about all there is to the Packer out of life, and the effect upon the Poly. would be about the same; - there are only about ninety students in the college work at the Polytechnic, and there are about four hundred and fifty in the preparatory school. As for Adelphi, this property which we hold was given to Adelphi Academy. It has over seven hundred and fifty students in preparatory work alone. It is paying the bills for the college now, and is abundantly able to pay its own way if the college were removed from it. Any proposition which would look to its extinction would meet with a chorus of condemnation from some two thousand people in the city who are its graduates or former students. Mr. Grout however, seemed to think that all the students
in these great private fitting schools should be at once tirned over to the public high schools. Such a notion is crazy.
[marginalia] Inasmuch as this scheme is probably to be pushed, I hope that you will get Mr. Grout's ear, and influence him in the nomination of members of his committee. That committee ought to be well packed with Adelphi and Poly trustees and friends. We should see to it that the consolidated college, if formed, is made by federating Poly & Adelphi as the first move. The new college should be a growth out of the institutions now existing, and not a legislative creation that we must swallow, willy-nilly, just as the politicians make it.
I hope that liberal representation of our own Board maybe secured, & certainly you & I ought to be in the plot from start to finish. You know these politicians very much better than I do. Mr Grout probably means well, but he is not fitted by character or training to become the father of a university.
Yours Very Sincerely
C H Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 8, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, JANUARY 8, 1904
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., Jan. 8, 1904.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
287 Broadway, New York.
My dear Woodruff:-
I think that there was a laugh in Lorimer's joke about the pup who got his meat at the price of running himself to death to shake off the can. At the same time I agree with you that the man of millions has good reasons for generally imposing such conditions as Mr. Rockefeller usually does impose. Nevertheless I believe that it ought not to be necessary to require that every gift shall be balanced by an equal amount raised by subscription. When a man of great wealth is dealing with an institution as poor as many colleges, hospitals and similar institutions are, he may sometimes be imposing in such a condition a burden too heavy for it to carry. Certainly the community of Brooklyn, wealthy as it is, could not often be interested in benevolence so extensively as you succeeded in interesting it two years ago. J. D. R. has several times made unconditional gifts to Chicago Univ. Adelphi is approaching the time when it will sorely need unhampered bequests or donations.
There is one other matter of business which we ought to begin to consider early, and perhaps it is not too early to consider it now. That is the question of a Commencement orator. We have thus far made a brilliant record in Commencement orations at the Academy of Music. We have had two there, and each time the Academy was packed from the platform to the remotest corner of the top gallery. It behooves us to continue to maintain our high standard, if we can, and I think that the continued success of that feature of our Commencement program must depend very largely on your action.
You are likely to know who the forceful speakers are, and to be able to induce such people to come to us. Please think this over and see if you can discover some suitable candidates. I am not now able to make any nominations that seem to me very good, with the possible exception of Woodrow Wilson of Princeton, whom I presume I can myself get, if anybody can, as I know him very well. But my belief is that it would be useless to try to get him this year. He is working now up to the limit of his strength and perhaps a little beyond it, and is very reluctant to do anything more, unless he feels that the interests of Princeton University demand it.
The only remaining individual who has been seriously considered in the former years, as I now remember the list, is the Rev. Amory H. Bradford of Montclair. I have no personal knowledge of him. He has been mentioned favorably by some members of our faculty and I think by Mr. Benedict.
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore
P.S. Concerning place of Commencement I should add that Mrs. Hecht, manager of the Montauk, writes me that that theater will be closed in the middle of May. I fancy that we will have to go either to the Baptist Temple, or to the Grand Opera House on Elm Place, or possibly to the Columbia Theater - if open.
It is quite likely that all the large theaters will be closed.
I am
CHL -
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 18, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 18, 1905
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., March 18th, 1905.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
I enclose herewith a copy of the resolutions that I presented at the last meeting of the Board, and I have made upon the copy some annotations which
useful.
I have this morning a letter from Mr. Grout, which shows that he has by no means decided to drop his scheme. He says that he intends now to call a meeting of the Plan and Scope Committee at an early date, and he trusts that as a result of the conferences inaugurated by that Committee the public university will grow naturally out of an alliance between the existing schools and the city. He says that he does not think any proposition for legislation will be brought forward until the next session of the legislature.
He also directly answers the question which I previously asked him, and which call ed for an expression of opinion by him upon the idea embodied in these resolutions which I presented to the Board. His answer is, that he doesn't think it wise to put free scholars side by side with scholars paying tuition. This answer seems to me to indicate a too hasty examination of the question which I raised. We all know that in all our eastern institutions the winners and holders of free scholarships are at no disadvantage in the student body on account of the exemption from tuition. My proposition as formulated in the resolutions would make the city scholarships in our College, or the Polytechnic, or both, a distinct badge of honor, since they would be won only by usually capable work in the final High School examinations. A company of free scholars in our College who were known by the students to have won their free scholarship as a distinction, would be a sort of Legion of Honor. That is the way in which our present twenty-three scholarships (for which nobody pays) are now regarded among the students in this institution.
[marginalia] Please notice that the last paragraphs of this too long letter call for an immediate answer.
There is another matter which is troubling me sorely and concerning which I feel that action must promptly be taken, You will recall what was said & done at our meeting about Miss Scharff, professor of French, now on leave of absence for one year. In the pressure of business Monday evening I failed, & we failed, to give to that case all the examination that it demands and in thinking it over since I have nearly fallen into nervous prostration. I had overlooked entirely one important fact. Last year in April Miss Scharff came to me & said that he had a chance to go elsewhere & that if I did not want to keep here after her leave of absence had expired she wanted to know about it then so that she could get an appointment elsewhere - I replied then that I expected her to resume work in Sept. '05. I see now that we are not dealing justly with her unless we put her now into as good a position as she stood in at that time & give her a fair chance this Spring
(over) -
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 26, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 26, 1904
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., April 26, 1904.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
287 Broadway, New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
I am sorry that Dr. McKelway is out of reach. I do not feel that I have any better name to suggest than that of Mr. Taylor. If no better name can be discovered, I shall try to see him about it during the coming week. I have already made a tentative suggestion to him and I think that he was not unwilling to entertain the proposition.
I am inclined to believe that the time has come when you, as the President of the Board of Trustees, may, if you think it wise, properly take the lead in some movement looking towards a consolidation of certain Brooklyn institutions of higher education. Personally, I have come to think that such a movement on our part is justified by almost every consideration of policy.
Our increase in numbers and our comparatively narrow limits of space and our small endowments, all combine to compel us in the near future to make a considerable number of appeals, public and private, for assistance of various kinds. We shall probably have to go to Mr. Rockefeller again. We should seize a dramatic moment and in order to get that dramatic moment, we must create it. Our increase in numbers will help us to create such a situation, but in addition to that, I am confident that a rather striking development in local affiliations will give us a very strong support. The Polytechnic is trying to find a new president Undoubtedly no man who is worth his salt will take the office, unless the trustees of the Polytechnic will give him satisfactory guarantees about their debt. That will mean that the election of a new president down there will probably be conincident with a splendid advertisement for that institution caused by the liquidation of their indebtedness, or by a tremendous effort to make a stronger public appeal than
ever made before.
In either case, that institution is likely to hold the center of the stage, unless we can manufacture a stage for ourselves which will be larger than theirs. I think it is our duty to try to put ourselves in such a position that when the Polytechnic manages to get the new president and to provide some reasonable means for removing their indebtedness, the best thing that they can do next will be to come into a local university, which we have already started.
We ought to hold the leading cards, and up to date we are in a position to grasp them. I should advise that if possible you should take the lead in some private meetings, more or less social in character, in which the few men who are most immediately and personally responsible for Adelphi should invite a few men who are most directly responsible for the management of the Long Island College Hospital, the Polhemus Clinic, the Hoagland Laboratory, and perhaps the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy, to confer concerning plans for affiliating or perhaps consolidating, the institutions suggested into a Brooklyn university. If there could be a preliminary agreement, I think that it would be wise to try to draw into the combination the Brooklyn Institute, which would then become one of the biggest systems of university extension in
United States.
If such a scheme were well under way, the Polytechnic, when its hour of action comes, could find nothing better to do than to come right into it. If we do not get it under way, the Polytechnic people themselves may in self-protection be pushed forward to lead off in a similar undertaking. I say this because it is evident that the appeal which we all must soon make for adequate endowments ought to be made and must be made in the name of a corporation big enough to overshadow this end of the city and compel public attention. Otherwise the appeal will fail.
I believe that the conferences suggested would be eminently wise at this time, even though the result of deliberation should take different lines from those which I have here imagined. The main thing just now is to try to get the institutions which are solvent and which belong to the grade of higher education in Brooklyn, to learn how to stand together and begin to think of the needs of one another. Nothing but good can surely come from an object lesson of that kind. There is surely a magnificent possibility in these outlines. Somewhere among them lies the certainty of future progress. Let us try to be in the van.
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 11, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, MAY 11, 1905
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., May 11th, 1905.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
Let me remind you once more of that suggestion about coming over here with Mrs. Woodruff some morning next week in order to show her the opening exercises of this institution. You have not visited the institution while in session during this year, if I remember rightly, and it seems to me that it would be a very nice thing to do.
I have just received from Mr. Grout a duplicate of that letter of his Committee of Fifteen. I expect to have a talk with William H. Nichols to-night about what the Polytechnic folks think concerning it.
I hope that your affairs will shape themselves so that you may after all find it possible to be at the meeting of the Board on the night of the 22nd. If that is absolutely impossible there will be a little more reason why our Executive Committee ought to have a session with time enough to discuss several of these subjects carefully with you, inasmuch as it is evident that we cannot have any other time to consider with you the fortunes of the institution until next fall.
I am still interested in the question about the advisability of approaching Mr. Herman A. Metz with reference to membership in the Board. He has done several little kindnesses for this institution in such a way that I cannot avoid the belief that he would really like to become one of us. I have tried a score of times to get any evidence concerning the rumors that have been referred to in the Board Meeting by Mr. Gilmore in former years, and Mr. Kelley more recently. Beyond what those two gentlemen have said I cannot get a spark of evidence that would substantiate their suggestion, and on the contrary I find a great deal which is entirely in favor of Mr. Metz in every way. He seems to be a man of considerable education, a great deal of liberality and public spirit, universally regarded as a good fellow, and undoubtedly successful in his business affairs. Is there anything more that you would say about this matter?
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 29, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, APRIL 29, 1904
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., April 29, 1904.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
287 Broadway, New York.
My dear Woodruff:-
By all means, we want you to be present at the May meeting. If Thursday evening, May 26th, is the time which would best suit your convenience, please put that down at once among your engagements, and I will ask the office here to send out the notices for the meeting of the Board in accordance with the suggestion contained in your letter which I have just received.
About Commencement, I hope that if you can you will be with us. I have not yet seen Mr. Taylor about the oration, but expect to do so within a day or two, unless I hear from you that some outsider can be secured. No new names have been suggested to me excepting the name of Stewart L. Woodford.
Do you think that he would be any better for us than Mr. Taylor?
[marginalia] Since I dictated the foregoing Judge Crane has telephoned me that McDermott, our "new member" wants to invite John F. Carson of Philadelphia, a personal friend, I think.
Have you any wish to express?
I wish that you & Mr. Wheeler & Fred Crane & I could get together before the May meeting and talk over questions of policy, such as I partially outlined in a recent letter -
Our Board of Trustees & afterwards, the community need to see just what course we are to shape in navigating this ship of ours.
Garrison the Faith
C. H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 28, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 28, 1905
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., March 28th, 1905.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
I have no doubt that you noticed in this morning's paper the significant statement by Mr. Andrew Carnegie that he finds the library business dull, and is now planning to give his money to small Colleges. Undoubtedly the result of this announcement will be very large number of applications within the new few weeks for help of various kinds to small Colleges all over the country. Would it not be wise for the officers of our Board to unite in a statement to Mr. Carnegie, which should be among the first to reach him, and which would set forth in concise shape the reasons why this College is particularly deserving. I think we all have the main details of such a statement at the ends of our tongues: The 350 students; the rapidly growing numbers in a College without a campus or suitable buildings that are exclusively its own; the almost unlimited possibilities of developing for collegiate work in a community so large as this; the constantly increasing demand from the large graduating classes of the Brooklyn High Schools; the prohibitory restraints imposed by distance from Columbia or New York University; the need of giving institutional character and independence to Brooklyn that it may be preserved from becoming another "East End of London." Here is an opportunity to set forth the need for endowments for professorial chairs, and for the purchase of a campus, and the erection of suitable buildings, including of course a library.
[marginalia] Cant you get access to Mr. Carnegie, or to his Grand Almoner, if there be one? I suppose that he has some one who advises him about such things, as Mr. Murphy advises Mr. Rochefeller.
Miss Scharff has cabled to me that she will sail April 1st. Inasmuch as she may interview different trustees when she gets here, and inasmuch as she may be rather explosive, would it be will for me to send to each trustee a statement of the reasons why we want to sever her connection with the institution? Some of the trustees know nothing about our discussion at the last meeting, and most of them of course know nothing about the action of the officers a few days ago. The next meeting of the Board will not occur until Monday evening, Apr. 24. At that meeting I hope that we can consider my resolutions about a proposal to the city Fathers to establish scholarships at the city expense in our College. I think that Dr. Atkinson will ask the Poly Board to adopt the same policy. Our old friend, A. S. Haight, says that such action will put an end to the Grout scheme. I hope also that the Board will consider in April a proposition to begin the next year with the abolition of all discount rates to classes of citizens, and to treat hereafter every individual case of need, upon application upon its individual merits. The Packer has already adopted this rule. Dr Atkiinson & Dr. Abernathy of the Berkeley Institute also, favor such action. If all the private schools unite in this, there will be no danger to any one I presume.
Faithfully Yours
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, DECEMBER 8, 1904
FROM LEVERMORE, DECEMBER 8, 1904
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., Dec. 8th, 1904.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
Your letter is just at hand, and I am very much interested in your report of the conversation with Messrs. Murphy and Babbott. I did not believe that Mr. Murphy would accept the invitation, but I have no doubt that it was a politic thing to make the offer. Mr. Babbott's part in the conversation, and the suggestion of a possible interest on the part of the Packer people in schemes for consolidation, open some new views to me.
Up to this time I have always supposed that Dr. Backus and his associates would not wish to be considered at all in any such project. The people most dominant in the affairs of Packer Institute have turned down propositions looking towards Collegiate developments in their own institution, and I have supposed that they wanted the school to be an old-fashioned seminary for girls and nothing more.
I think that the proposition to sell the present properties of these institutions would have to include some plan for taking care of the preparatory work of all of them. If we should buy a site on the Eastern Parkway we might house Collegiate work there very comfortably, but it
be a poor place for the Academic work of either the Polytechnic or the Adelphi. Moreover, one of the chief arguments for getting the separate site is that we should disassociate the College life from the Academy life. Adelphi Academy is a prosperous school, and would undoubtedly need the present buildings even if the College went out of them. The Polytechnic Preparatory School likewise, would need to take the new building down there, and sell the
one for old junk, if the technical work were placed somewhere else.
As I mailed a letter to you yesterday announcing that Judge Crane would call the meeting of the Board for Thursday evening, December 22nd, I take it for granted that you have received that letter this morning, and that consequently you will not look for any telegram this afternoon.
[marginalia] With reference to the Eastern Parkway site, I understand that the new subway is to run under that Parkway, which will make that region very accessible, and within a year or two will increase values there very much.
What has Chicago done that it should be so much preferred to Brooklyn by the Rochfeller bounty? Perhaps we ought to include in our scheme of expansion the proposal to start a theological seminary under Baptist auspices in connection with the new Lond Island University. I think that there is no training school for Baptist preachers in our metropolis. With cordial greetings
Very Sincerely Yours
Charles H. Levermore -
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 1, 1905
FROM LEVERMORE, MARCH 1, 1905
Letterhead
Brooklyn, N.Y., March 1st, 1905.
Hon. Timothy L. Woodruff,
339 Broadway,
New York City.
My dear Woodruff:-
You have doubtless heard or read about Controller Grout's project to secure a charter for a "public university" in Brooklyn. He has outlined his scheme as a proposition to establish here a free city college or university, controlled by trustees appointed by the Mayor, housed upon the city property near the Museum known as "the east side lands," and supported by the city treasury. He has suggested that the Packer Institute, the Polytechnic Institute, the Brooklyn Institute and Adelphi College, shoudl sell their various buildings and become merged in the new "public university." The sale of their property and the consolidation of their various possessions would suffice to erect the new buildings and provide some endowments. He also suggests that the organization of the Brooklyn Public Library could be affiliated or fused with the new university.
I am glad that Mr. Grout is interested in the educational development of this borough, and that he has brought our needs for the first time to the attention of a great many people in this community. But while I am thankful to him for this service, I believe that his proposition in its present form is unwise. As it seems possible that Mr. Grout will urge speedy action, I wish now to make in this way to each one of my colleagues upon the Adelphi Corporation, a statement of my reasons for opposing Mr. Grout's proposition, and for hoping that the Trustees of Adelphi College will refuse to favor it.
In the first place, the development of collegiate instruction in Brooklyn ought to proceed from the natural and gradual growth within Brooklyn's two colleges, the Polytechnic and Adelphi. The Packer is not a college, and has now only about sixty students who are of collegiate rank. The other institutions mentioned by Mr. Grout are even less collegiate in character. Mr. Grout's scheme proposes the disappearance of our present colleges in a new insitution created by legislative charter, which "Poly." and Adelphi must join, or be killed. Speaking of and for Adelphi alone, I believe that we ought to exhaust every possible method of preseving our individuality and independence before we consent to become another wheel in the great public school system.
Secondly, I believe that a college ought to be kept free from the danger of management by politicians and party machines. The great State Universities have suffered much from this cause. A City college or university would run a risk tenfold greater. If Mr. Grout's college were now in existence its trustees would be named by Mayor McClellan, and that means by Tammany Hall. We can easily imagine what kind of collegiate or university influences would emanate from such controlling powers as Messrs. Murphy and McCarren.
Adelphi College might be glad to have help from the city in securing a site, but surely not if that help were purchased at the cost of suicide or subjection to political control. There are four or five city colleges in this country, and every one of them has been a disgrace to the name of college because of low standards or political interference or both. There is but one city university in the United States and from its birth it has been the football of political contention, and the miserable home of endless quarrels.
Thirdly, I do not believe that our city should use its taxes for the maintenance of university or professional schools. New York City already has two universities within its boundaries which possess large endowments and can do all the university work that is needed here. The city should not enter into competition with Columbia and New York University. New York City is already maintaining two free city colleges in Manhattan. I would not favor the increase of that kind of institution unless I felt convinced that individual initiative and individual benevolence were both dead in Brooklyn. Adelphi College has excellent reason to believe that they are not dead.
Fourthly, I regard Mr. Grout's proposition to transfer the present wealth of these great Brooklyn schools to the new city university as not only unwise but impossible. He means that the buildings and lands of the schools named should be sold for the benefit of the new university. This means that Adelphi Academy, Packer Insitute and the "Poly" Preparatory School would all be blotted out of existence. He told me that the pupils in these schools should go to the public high schools. This is an absurd idea. If these private schools were destroyed today they would reappear tomorrow under new names. They are inevitable. Moreover Adelphi Academy is now a most prosperous school. It has over 750 students and is supporting not only itself but Adelphi College as well. If the College were otherwise provided for, the Academy would now go on creating its own endowment. It has the interest of several thousands of former students and graduates living in this vicinity. I believe that the man who proposes to kill that school in order to create a free college shows that he doesn't really understand the educational situation.
These statements do not cover all possible objections to Mr. Grout's proposition, but they seem to me to present sufficiently weighty arguments, and they will naturally suggest some others. After serious reflection along the lines here suggested, I have been forced to conclude that Mr. Grout's project would be ruinous to our educational ideals, destructive of the best kind of public spirit in Brooklyn, and fatal to the normal development of several splendid schools. If you agree with me, I hope that your influence will be used to thwart Mr. Grout's scheme.
Yours very sincerely,
Charles H. Levermore
Per W.
Showing 1-46 of 46 records.