The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-04-01
SCHOOL INSPIRED BY LINCOLN
Scope of the University at Cumber
land Gap for Poor Boys and Girls.

~A-AShA iOAl ll1iiu VI nan d
million dollars is required to put
Lincoln Memorial university at
Cumberland Gap, Tenn, abreast
of its opportunities. Princely gifts
have already been bestowed upon
the enterprise by many wealthy
people of the country. The insti-
tuition is for the benefit of the poor,
primarily the poor of east Tennes-
see, whom Lincoln loved so we'll.
To teach young men and women
not only to know but to do things
is the fundamental idea of the Lin
coin Memorial university. In their
endeavors to obtain the necessary
endowment fund those in charge
OF the movement say at the outset
that it is not their intention to
build up an institution on the plan
of Harvard, Yale, the University
of Virginia or Columbia. The
curriculum of the university at
Cumberland Gap includes all the
various courses and trades as we'll.
The general divisions of the insti-
tuition at the present time are the
normal. industrial, academic and
the medical. They embrace do
nestle science, commercial train
ing, music, printing, mechanical
engineering, elocution, art, prepar,
atory, collegiate, medicine and
trained nursing. With the aid of
the endowment fund it is the in
tention to install departments Of
all the trade schools.
The school is located in the
Cumberland mountains and is for
the benefit of'the young men and
women who want education, but
who are unable to pay what is
charged by the greater institutions
of the country. Cumberland Gap
IS a part of that section known as
Appalachian America, in which
there is population Of over FIVE
millions Of people The young
men and women of that section are
too poor to pay travelling expenses
to any great university even if the
tuition at such institutions were
offered free. To give such young
men and women the opportunity Of
becoming better citizens and there
by benefit the country is the object
OF the Lincoln centennial endow-
ment committee and at the same
time to establish a national me-
mortal to Abraham Lincoln.
The first steps toward establish
ing OF this work were made in
1897. One of the prime movers
in the enterprise was General o.
O. Howard, who had the iuspira-
ton of Lincoln for a start. The
great emancipation was interested
in the welfare of the people Of
eastern Tennessee in 1868. He
urged General Howard at that
time to interest himself in their
behalf, for they had helped Lincoln
in his work When the war was
over General Howard and a few
others undertook to carry out on
a larger scale thar Lincoln foresaw
a movement which has already
borne fruit. A charter was OBJ
tanned giving authority to organize
a board of directors and different
departments. The board purchas-
ed the present property subject to
heavy mortgages, and, finally,
with the kindness of Mr.. Carnegie,
the last moneys, 3oo-was given
and the mortgages were discharg-
ed.
At the start the university had
nearly 200 students. Now it has
600, and many come and are turn
ed away because the institution
has no means properly to care for
them. A small tuition is charged
Students come many miles afoot,
often destitute, but pleading for a
chance to earn their education by
working on the farm of the institu-
ton or in some of its shops. The
expenses for term of twelve
weeks, from tuition fee to board,
ranges from S32.75 to $3.50.
If a student, bow or girl. goes to