University of Virginia Library

VII. Courses of Instruction—Professional, Continued

Upon no single department did the catastrophe of the
fire fall more heavily than on the department of engineering.
It was asserted at the beginning of the ensuing session,
—jestingly, it is true, but with too close an approximation
to actuality to be pleasant,—that the engineering
corps of teachers and their audience comprised one
professor, one instructor, and one student. But how extensive
was the growth of this department during the
decade that followed was demonstrated by the number of
persons whom it became necessary, within that period, to
add to its faculty,—besides the four full professors in
1906, there were four instructors. Taking in all the
branches of study that impinged on the science of engineering,
there could be counted in the faculty of the department
not less than fourteen professors and instructors.

In spite of the ruin which appeared to have overwhelmed

the department just after the fire, the Board
wisely determined that it should not be allowed to remain
in this condition. The sum of five thousand dollars was
appropriated for its reequipment. The erection of the
mechanical building put the department in a position of
practical usefulness far superior in its advantages to the
one which it had previously occupied. The first gift for
the restoration of that usefulness was made by R. C. Taylor,
of New York; and it was followed by a donation of
twenty-five hundred dollars by his mother, Mrs. John A.
Sinclair. This was to be employed in providing the laboratory
with the means for testing the quality and
strength of constructive materials. The number of students
in attendance began to increase so steadily that,
after an interval, it was found necessary to choose an
assistant from the ranks of those members of the class
who had proven themselves to be most competent. Ultimately,
three were thus singled out. In 1903, Lewis L.
Holladay was appointed to the adjunct professorship of
applied mathematics. The second gift to the department,
—to which we have alluded elsewhere,—was the
sum of ten thousand, five hundred dollars presented by
Mrs. Frances Branch Scott, of Richmond, as a memorial
of her son. One half of this amount, as we have already
stated, was spent in equipping the manual laboratory of
electrical engineering; the other half was invested with a
view to the maintenance of that laboratory. Through
the liberality of Peter B. Rouss, two new adjunct professors
now became practicable,—one in civil engineering;
the other in mechanical. These were established in memory
of Charles Broadway Rouss, the philanthropic father
of the benefactor, and were filled by the appointments of
John Lloyd Newcomb and Charles M. McKergow.

The courses which had to be mastered during and after

the session of 1895–96, in order to secure the degree
of bachelor of science, which was now the title granted
in the department, embraced the five following divisions:
mathematics—mechanics, physics—astronomy,
chemistry—analytical chemistry, geology—biology,
and applied mathematics. Astronomy was subsequently
dropped. Each of these divisions led up to a special diploma
of graduation. There were to be found in each
school (1896–97) two courses,—one general, the other
advanced; one dealing with the general principles of the
subject, such as were necessary to be known for a liberal
education, the other with the extensions of that subject,
especially in its industrial applications. The first was required
of all who were candidates for the degree of bachelor
of science, which corresponded to the degree of bachelor
of arts; the other was an advanced course, which corresponded
to the graduate course required of a candidate
for the degree of master of arts.

In the School of Applied Mathematics, there was established,
—in addition to the general and advanced
courses,—a complete series of technical courses in the
different branches of engineering; namely, civil, mining,
mechanical, and electrical. The work of instruction was
simultaneously pursued in the drawing room, the laboratory,
and the field.

Some changes in the courses of study in engineering
were announced during the session 1898–99. Four divisions
were laid off, each of which led up to a separate
degree. One course was arranged for the degree of civil
engineering; another for that of mining engineering; another
still for the degree of mechanical engineering; and
still another for the degree of electrical engineering. In
each was introduced a notable expansion of subjects; and
this was particularly discernible on its technical side.

The enlargement in the electrical course was the most
perceptible of all; and this was to be observed as much
in its practical aspects as in its purely technical. The
equipment of the electrical school consisted of a workshop,
metalshop, testing laboratory, and drawing-room.
At the end of the Eighth Period, 1896–1904, the engineering
department had the use of four large buildings:
(1) the mechanical laboratory; (2) the Rouss laboratory
and museum of industrial chemistry; (3) Brooks
Museum, (4) pattern-shop, foundry, and forge. The
course was now spread over three sessions.

The student in the department of agriculture was not
confined to its lectures. If he should so desire, it was
permissible for him to combine the study of the several
courses in this department with the study of selected
courses in the academic schools. The object of granting
this privilege was to place the courses of the agricultural
department among those that might be elected by the candidate
for the graduated degrees of bachelor of arts, master
of arts, and doctor of philosophy. The income of the
Miller Fund was not sufficient to provide at the same time
for practical tests in the arts of agriculture, and also for
instruction in all those sciences upon which that art was
founded.

During the session of 1896–97, it was announced that
new regulations had become necessary in order to lay out
the fund more usefully, without departing by a hair's
breadth from the wishes of the donor. First, the experiment
station was discontinued. No loss to agriculture
was really occasioned by this act, as the Federal Government
had, by this date, set up stations of its own in all
parts of the Union. Second, agricultural colleges with
vocational advantages of all kinds were now numerous
throughout the South,—the region from which the agricultural

department of the University of Virginia could
alone expect to obtain its patronage. The existence of
these two facts seem to have convinced the Faculty and
Board that the funds of this department should now be
entirely expended in the enlargement of the opportunities
of those students who aspired to the acquisition of
the sciences on which the art of agriculture was based;
and it was, therefore, decided,—apparently with the
approval of the Miller trustees,—to limit the instruction
to the courses embraced in the Schools of Biology
and Agriculture, Analytical Chemistry, Applied Mathematics,
Chemistry, Natural History and Geology, and
Natural Philosophy. This instruction was, in its general
aspects, such as was considered to be essential to the
equipment of a liberally educated man who happened to
be pursuing agriculture as a calling in life; but it also extended
to special courses in those sciences which related
directly and practically to the art of farming.

The trustees of the Miller Fund, at a later date, were
not fully satisfied with the manner in which the School of
Biology was conducted,—in June, 1899, they informed
the Visitors that, in their opinion, the instruction given
in this school did not bear the precise relation to practical
and experimental agriculture which they, as representatives
of Mr. Miller, were required by their oaths to
keep strictly and constantly in view. Under the pressure
of this protest, the Board adopted the rule that the lectures
thereafter should be restricted to the principles of
agriculture as based on the sciences of chemistry, botany,
and zoology.