The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-30
CHARLES sPRASUE SMITH DEAD
Mead - PeeUle.s Institute Passed Away
ThAs Msrnlng a. Haontcsaar.

Tnas MeruAmG at MontciaiR.
Charles Spre8ue Smith. director %
the Peoples Institute. died At I % clock
this morning At the home % his brother
In-la~. Charles b. Coles. at s7I Upper
Mountain avenue. MontclAir
Mr.. smith had been IN for q week. suffer
'ng from pleuro-pnsumonia.
Charles Sprague smith waa a member
OF the faculty Of modern languages In
columbia University from 1850 80 1891
He had prepared himself for the teaching
81 modern languages a. his life work and
n credited with having organized the
present department Of modern languhg gee
In the university But some oI his ideas
we're not in harmony with the ideas u
the trustees and in Issl he resigned
The former professor now turned TO
the lecture platform Tor a livelihood.
In his oWn words he got some hard
Knocks Presently he conceived the
idea Of public forum where sincere men
of all classes. educated and uneducated.
should md meeting place. This roum
should 10 non-partisan. non-political and
non -ectarlhH he told his dream TO
friends and they approved
fcw meetings Of those whom he
Interested in the project were held in the
late Abram & Hewitt's library. MIR.
Hewitt gave the scheme encouragement.
Through his efforts Mr. Smith procured
the use Of the large hall Of Cooper Union.
The loose organization which Mr.
smith named the Peoples Institute be
came a fact in 1897. II was Mr.. Smiths
own cherished idea and he took the title
Of -dircctor.- The formulating Of defi-
mite educative plans for the departure was
al in ns.. II ha
features was the Sunday night meetings
IN Cooper Union. The director saw 20 u
that men Of prominence addressed these
mes'tings. When the addresses we're nm
ished Mr.. Smith opened the meanings to
any one IN the audience who wished TO
give his own opinion on the subject ~
the evening
The crowds which All Cooper Union
on these nights are not easy OF control:
The task OF keeping up a semplanco OF
orderly discussion was Mr.. smiths. tie
gained the confidence OF his people to
q degree that insured. whenever ne was
forced 10 appeal % the audience. a big
burst OF applause and rough and rSady
hissnR down OF disturbers.
II was Mr.. smiths idea to make the
Peoples Institute a religious or rather
an ethical force. The audiences at the
meetlngA werp persons OF every Chris
tian denomination and every non-ChFis-
tan faith and persons OF no religion az all
dictions Mr. Smith found in a working
creed which he once roughly stated in
this way: The brotherhood % man and
the existence Of a force which makes for
righteousness with which u IL the pTivi-
lege and duty of the individual 10 ally
himself
The regular night meetings in Cooper
Union ere hut or" feature Of the plan
which Mr.. smith put into succ ssfll
operation. An OCCASIONAL mess m-eting
was called 20 protest against some pro-
posed Sovernm 'ntal act and served 20
thousands.
Besides the various meetings the in
stitute maintains classes. particularly IA
social science: lectures on literary sub
Jects, an agency through which an OPP
pOrtunity IL gwen 20 49, theatrical pro-
auctions AZ reduced prices by CooTera-
ton with a strictly musical organization,
a musical branch which provides good
music az low prices. and a club system.
With one large central club and many
smaller organizations All these things
we're the work Of one man. Charles
SpraGue Smith.
Mr. Smith ~ n born in Andover. Mas
on April -. 1858 His father was Charles
Smith and his mother Caroline Sprague
He " as graduated from Amherst In 1874
and received MS masters degree . year
later He then sent 90 Europe and
studied in the universities IT Berlin.
PARIS. Rome, Madrid topenh Agen. Atfs-nS
and Reyk layik Iceland and a. Oxford
In 1891 Alr smith h..' ''ns G.hh ~ pro-
fessOr of Germ n - Coiumbig Two
vetrs later he ws- mad professor ~
modern lang ~ ges end foreign hteTatur,s
He lecturd AZ var.o'rs times AT H. va nj.
Boston University. Amherst. Brown
smith. Vas~. nd Naissey
For his work along educational and
social lines he received "a gold medal AZ
the l.I"ge Expos ltlon IN 1915. diploma 81
honor and a silver risSial At the Milan
Exposition 1881 and a diploma ~ honor
At 'h- Internal 'onal kyposition az Paris
IN l9O7.
As an author Mr. Smith - known chiefly
for two books -bArbzon Davs. published
IN 1902 and Working With the People.
dated 1917 In 1873 he published a book
Of poems Ne Wa married az Clinton.
y. y. On November ~. lsss Ia lsahella
Dwight There il one daughter. Hilda
smith horn ~ 1855 VI Smiths home
was az - West sixty Eighth street