The Record-courier. [volume] (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1904-current, 1924-09-19
ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
OF NEVADA'S UNIVERSITY
A Book Review by c. w.
Shumway, Ph. D., Principal
of Douglas High School

Inc douglas county nigh school
has Just received from the University
of Nevada complimentary copy of
An Illustrated History of Nevada"
by Samuel Bradford Doten, of the
class of 1898. The author cites in
his list of Acknowledgements his
thanks for the generous assistance
of several workers, among them Miss
Jeanne Elizabeth Wier, at present
head of the department of history of
the university, the various members
OF the board of regents, Governor
James G. Scrugham, and President
Walter E. Clark, Phi. d.
The work of the committee on edu-
cation of the constitutional conven-
tion of 1864 is traced with care and
1T is shown that the constitutional
provisions relating to education were
considerably in advance of those of
any other of the states at that time.
The governor, the secretary of state,
and the superintendent of public in
struction were constituted a board of
regents, and it is noteworthy that
at a period in general educational
history when throughout the country
great emphasis was laid upon the
| formal disciplinary" subjects, and
particularly upon Latin, Greek and
some modern languages, no mention
is made of these in the constitution,
while it is expressly stipulated that
in Nevada's new university" instruc-
ton "shall embrace departments of
agriculture, mechanic arts and min
ing" The progressiveness Of this
provision is apparent in view of the
more recent tendencies in education
to abandon the formal disciplinary"
theory of education altogether and to
substitute instruction in the more
practical fields.
The federal land grants of the
early COS were entirely inadequate
either to found or to support uni
versity, and the obstacles in the way
of higher education in Nevada were
many and serious. Virginia City had
the only high school in the state. In
all Nevada there were only fifty
nNhVoiS Vi citHitHthig Sldhts anu III
teen of them were housed in rented
quarters. The report of the state
superintendent of public instruction
characterized eight Of the other
buildings as unfit for use. The lead
ing communities of the state were
small and poor, and there was not
proper proportion of women and chill
dren in the population.
Reno and Carson City were almost
bitter in their rivalry to become the
seat of the university and each made
generous offers OF money and land
to the board of regents. Ii would
appear that since half of the popula-
ton of the state lived within a radius
of forty miles from Carson City, one
or the other should have been select
ed Reno was jealous of the fact
that Carson City had already several
state and federal buildings, while
Carson City seems to have been fear
full that since Reno was apparently
the coming railroad town the hegem-
ony of Carson City was soon to wane.
Perhaps partly from political reasons
and partly from the fact that ii Of
fered generous amounts of money
and land, Elko was selected as the
site. There may have been an ele-
ment of compromise in the selection,
which was made by the legislature.
The university" building was
erected on the outskirts of Elko dur
ing the winter of lS73-74. The origi-
nal cost was not intended to exceed
$4,000, but appears to have gone
very much beyond that figure, the
citizens of Elko and vicinity rallying
nobly and eventually paying the en-
tire amount. An interesting feature
of the winters social season was the
giving of a university BALI the eve
ming of Monday, February %, 1874,
tickets, which included supper, selling
for So. This was a worthy effort
to raise funds with which to secure
the needed equipment for the infant
school. The institution was formally
opened for instruction October II,
1874, under the principalship of ID. k.
StSSlOnS, anu WIN seven P"f''' ~
lected by him from the elementary
school in Elko. Tuition was free. 1t
was not in reality a university, but
the promise of better things to come.
instruction was on the level of 9th
grade work and all that was intended
was that the school should soon be-
come a fuIl-fledged link between the
elementary school and college work
proper. Mr.. Sessions did most ex-
cellent work and for four years, un-
til he became, in his thirty-thlrd
year, superintendent of public IN
struction, January |, 1879, he carried
on with remarkable ability the work
of principal and sole teacher. 1t must
have been a source of great personal
pleasure to him to be able to watch
this child of his young manhood
grow to become the flourishing ana
full-fledged university 1t
was on the date of his death in Janu-
airy of the present year.
On March Z, 1885 Governor }. W.
Adams signed Legislative bill pro-
yiding for the removal of the "um-
to Reno. The contract Tor
the new building was let July Il,
1885, for $12,70O, and the main build
ing. now known as Morrill, Hall, was
begun. The corner stone was lald
by the Masonic Order. Strikes pre-
vented the early completion of the
work, but on March 81, 1886 the in
.;.,,.;o, was formally opened, the