University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXIV

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES

Eighty years ago there was probably not an institution
of higher education in America that did not
owe allegiance to some religious denomination. It
was therefore a startling innovation that the Rockfish
Commission proposed—a State university without
religious affiliation. No provision was made for
religious or theological instruction, and yet no member
of the legislature felt called upon to propose
either condemnation or approval. There was a new
spirit abroad and Jefferson's policy embodied it;
and so when the doors of the school were opened and
students filled the lecture-rooms, a new era had
dawned in which there was not to be compulsory attendance
upon religious services, and in which the
students, free to select their own studies, were
equally free to choose their religious privileges.

Mr. Jefferson was not dependant upon the clergy,
but the dwellers in his academic village desired their
ministrations. The court-house in the village of
Charlottesville served in some measure as a church
for the little community in which there was not a
single house of worship, but it was too far away,
especially in winter, because the intervening way was
covered with thickets through which ran a very bad
road. The Rev. Frederick W. Hatch, an Episcopalian

clergyman, and the Rev. Francis Bowman, a
Presbyterian minister, by an arrangement with the
professors in their private capacity, preached alternately
in one of the lecture-rooms in the Rotunda.
The year in which this plan was inaugurated cannot
be determined, but it ended in 1829, when the
chaplaincy was instituted, and a Mr. Smith, a clergyman
from Philadelphia, became the first incumbent.
These clergymen were paid by the voluntary contributions
of the professors and students, as all religious
services of the University have been compensated.

The chaplain system of religious administration
persevered for nearly seventy years. In 1854-55 a
parsonage was erected on the grounds of the University
by the consent of the Board of Visitors.
This accomplished, steps were taken for the building
of a chapel. The story of it is serial and long
drawn out, as far as years go, but a highly creditable
one for the makers of this part of the history of our
University. More than once the faculty earnestly
discussed the location of the chapel long before the
means for its building were at hand. At one time
a site near the present Mechanical Laboratory was
considered, but later (1861) the whole matter was
held in abeyance to await the issue of plans then
under consideration for the erection of wings to the
Annex in one of which it was proposed to locate a
chapel. One of the mercies of the war was the enforced
abandonment of this further extension of an
architectural monstrosity. It was not until the
chaplainship of the Rev. Otis A. Glazebrook
(1883-85) that the present structure, an impressive
Gothic edifice, was completed after years of devoted
effort, in which, as usual, the ladies of the University

The Chapel

OPPOSITE P. 316

lent a hand. In the meantime the eastern basement
wing of the Rotunda served all the purposes of a
chapel on ordinary occasions. It was first used in
1841 or 1842.

The chaplains to the University were almost without
exception men of ability, and many of them became
eminent in various fields. The roll is made up,
because the system is no longer in vogue, and is interesting
in several particulars.[1]

Dr. A. R. Cocke was the last chaplain who served,
although the last appointed was the Rev. L. C. Vass,
whose term would have embraced the session of
1896-7, but he died September 28, 1896, and the following
month a decision was reached to devolve
upon a general secretary of the Y. M. C. A. the pastoral
and administrative duties, and to have the
chapel pulpit filled by preachers selected by a committee.
Already a secretary had been giving a part
of his time to college work. Two students, at least,
had been so employed—the late J. I. Curtis, during
the session 1893-94, followed by I. C. Harrison, who
remained in the field until March, 1896. Under the
new system, however, W. I. McNair was the first
incumbent, entering upon the duties November 15,
1896, and continuing until March, 1898, when he
was succeeded by J. M. Broadnax, whose services
ended June, 1900. Herbert J. Gallaudet was the
next secretary, but, his health failing, he retired, and
W. M. M. Thomas completed his unexpired term.
For 1901-2 Robert Beale, Jr., performed the onerous
duties of the office, and the next session saw the beginning
of the administration of Dr. Hugh M. McIlhany.

It was long believed that the University Y. M. C.
A. was the first college association in the world,
that its formal organization took place in the fall of
1857, and that it had been planned and decided upon
in the previous spring; but the recent discovery of
its first printed circular has established the truth of
its history in this respect. This circular was signed
by J. William Jones, Randolph H. McKim, and John
L. Johnson, and states that the association was
formed November 12, 1858. Dr. Charles A.
Briggs, using the methods of the higher criticism,
had proved to his satisfaction that the day of its
foundation was either the first or twelfth of November,
1858. The beginning was not weak. "As in
Geneva in 1858," so runs one of the reports of that
day, "the roll was called by nations, and then there
arose one after another representatives from England,
America, France, Germany, so here [in the
University Association] it might be called by States
and the voice of our Union from New York to
Texas, and from North Carolina to Missouri would
be heard."

Religious activity among the students at that time
is shown by a statement taken from a report:
"Every Sabbath some fifty young men are actively
engaged in preaching the gospel either in the Sunday-schools
of Charlottesville or the University, or,
willing to forego the privilege of the sanctuary during
the day, as missionaries to different parts of the
surrounding country."

The missionary spirit has not abated. The University
has more than forty of its alumni in the foreign
field, and others are preparing for the work.
More than three per cent. of the matriculates of the
institution have gone into the ministry, and at this

time twenty-five young men are pursuing studies in
preparation for it. The work of the Association
among students and for them includes a mid-week
prayer-meeting, about twenty Bible classes which
enroll a fourth of the student body, four mission
classes with an enrollment of eighteen, a board of
systematic giving to missions, a voluntary band of
ten pledged to the foreign field, voluntary neighborhood
mission work in which thirty men are engaged,
and a ministerial band of twenty-five. The Association
issues a hand-book, which is very helpful to
new men, publishes a weekly paper dealing with association
interests, an annual report, and a directory;
maintains summer correspondence for the information
of prospective students, an information bureau,
a boarding-house register, and at the opening of
each session gives a reception with the purpose of
bringing the young men into pleasant personal relations
with each other. To all these good works
must be added the advantages of an excellent
library—the gift of Miss Grace Dodge of New
York—and the opportunities for tennis in the eighteen
courts on the Y. M. C. A. campus. More men
engage in this form of athletic amusement than in
all others combined.

From this brief catalogue the conclusion may be
safely reached that the general secretary leads a very
busy life, planning and executing. Fortunately he
has able and devoted young men as his assistants.
The members of the various boards and committees
are carefully chosen for service, and the service is
rendered with fidelity. The presidents of the Association[2]

—of which there are two each year—are
selected for results and the results follow.

Madison Hall, the home of this busy Association,
is within a stone's throw of the Rotunda, and faces
the north front of that building. It is the gift of
Mrs. William E. Dodge and her family, of New
York, and named in honor of James Madison, who
succeeded Jefferson in the office of rector of the University.
Mr. Madison was an alumnus of Princeton,
the alma mater of Mr. Dodge. The cost of the
building and furnishings was $80,000, and it has an
endowment of $20,000, subscribed by students,
alumni and friends. The architecture in its main
features is colonial.

The ground floor is devoted to three editorial
rooms, for the Magazine, College Topics, and Corks
and Curls, and rooms for games, smoking, exercise,
tea, baths, etc. The main floor contains a large reception
and lounging hall, reading room, meeting
room to seat one hundred, lady's parlor, secretary's
office, writing room and auditorium, seating four
hundred and fifty. The second floor, two rooms
for Bible and missionary meetings, guests' rooms,
etc. The frontage is 150 feet and the depth is 125
feet in the center.