Table Of ContentEHIGH
UNIVERSITY
rV
v_ here the Lehigh's rocky rapids
Rush from out theWest,
'
Mid a grove of spreading chestnuts
Walls in ivy dressed.
On
the breast ofold South Mountain
Reared against the sky,
Stands our noble Alma Mater,
Stands our dear Lehigh.
VVe
V. will ever hve to love her,
Live to praise her name,
Live to make our lives add luster
^ To her glorious fame.
Let the glad notes wake the echo,
oyfully we cry:
Hail to thee, ourAlma Mater;
Hail, all hail, Lehigh.
(5**^ ike a watchman on the mountain
Stands she grandly bold,
Earth's and Heaven's-secret seeking.
Hoarding them like gold.
All she wrests from Nature's storehouse
Naught escapes her eye,
Gives she gladly to her dear ones.
While we bless Lehigh.
hhuQ^. i^ibs^ri
24 t Features 64 t Academics Athletics 1 60 j Greek Orgs.
rganizations 262 f Undergraduates 286 t Seniors 356 f Residence Life 456 t Closing
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Volume 126
29 Trembley Drive
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015
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1
Christmas Hall was the first building
usedbytheuniversit)'. Itwasacquired
from the Moravians even before they
had the chance to use it as a church.
Lu
ehighw:lsfounded in I86S b\'.\sa Packer. Packerwasbom in Decemberof1805 inMystic,Connecticut,buteventually
travelleddown toasmall town on the upperreachesoftheSus(|uehannaRiver. Packerbeganworkingasacarpenterandmarried
awomanIromVermont,Sarahblakslee. Hespottedmanyoi)portunitieslorhimselfearlyon;uidenteredintoman\ partnershipswith
family andfriendsthroughoutmanydisciplines in the mining industn*. Hebecameacivicfigure, foundingSt. Mark's Episcopal
Churchandcharteringthe.MaucliChunkWaterCompany. Hewassenttothestatelegislaturein 1841 and 1842,whereheestablished
CarbonCotinty,inwhich.\lauchChunk,nowcalledJimThorpe,islocated. PackerbeganatermasassociatejudgeofCarbonCounty,
,i;i\inghim tlie reverent titleas "the Honorable.Asa Packer."
Whilein .MauchCliunk,Sarah Packergavebirthtothreechildren:MaryHannah,RobertAsa,andHarr)'Eldred. Thecouplealso
iidoptedalittlegirl,Marian. De.spitetheprosperityofthefamily,theystilllivedasimpleandhumblelife. Packercontinuedworking
in theanthracitecoal business, andbestowed itupon himselftobeginplanson theI.ehigh\alleyRailro:id. Constmctionbegan in
ISSJ andthreeyean;latertrainswererunningregularkbetween NhaichChunkandEaston. Thissmalltownbusinessmanbecame
amanofnationalreputation andarailroadmonarch. Duringthissametimeperiod, 1853-1857,heservedtwotermsintheHouse
ofRepresentatives.
TheLehigh\'alleyRailroadbecamePacker'sprimar\'interest,andhebeganpurchasingvastamounlsoflandin.'Mientown,Easton.
andBethlehem. Thesmartentrepreneurbegansurroundinghimselfwithcapableassistantsandfriends. .Mtheageof29.Packerhired
RobertSayre,Jr. andmadehimchiefengineerofLVRR,andmaintainedElishaWilburasthemaninchargeoffinancialoperations
fortheRailroadandhisprivatesecretar)-. Bythistime,AsaPackerwasoneofthewealthiestmenintheStateofPennsylvaniaandhe
began lookingforawaytospendhissurplus.
In lS(i9, Packerapproached BishopStevensofPhiladelphiawith iiis ideaforaunivereit)'. PackertoldtheBishopheplannedto
donate$500,000toendowtheuniversity,andentrustedtheBishopwiththeknowhowofestablishingapremierinstitution. Alocation
waspickedonthewoodedslopeofSouthMountain. Fifty-sevenacresweresetasidefor
the universin's purposes. The building of a bridge was also proposed to connect
BethlehemwithSouthBethlehem. TheoriginalBoardofTrusteeswasthenselectedand
wascomprisedofPacker,hissonRobert,BishopStevens,Sayre,andtheHonorableJohn
W.Maynard. ThefirstorganizationalmeetingwasheldattheSunHotelonJuly27,1865.
Theboardelected ElishaWilburtreasurer, and Rev. Potterassecretan'andconcluded
thattheinstitutionshallconsistofacollegeproper;isusuallyorganized,togetherwith
a scientific school embracing the whole class ofphysical sciences taught in the best
institutionsofitskind."Anarchitectwashiredandplansfortheuniversity^ensued,which
wasmodeled:ifterinstitutionssuch asYale. Hanard. Rens.selearPohlechnic Institute,
andUnionCollege. Plansforthepresident'shouseandPackerHallwereapprovedfor
theboardandCharlesBrodheaddonatedsevenacrestotheuniversity'splot,bringingthe
edgeofcampusuptotheroadwa\-nowknownasBrodheadAvenue. Bytheendof1865.
Henr\-Coppeewaschosenasthefirstpresident andfi\emorepersonswerechosentoserve
on the Board ofTrustees: Packers son Harr\. G. B. I.indemian. Packer'sson-in-law.
Sayre'sbrotherWilliam.Jolin I'ritz. andJoseph HarrisonJr.
OnSeptember1. 1866,openingceremonieswereheldandtheformalopeningof
LehighI'niversiti.-began at("hristmasHall, afomierMoravainChurch.39youngmen
wereeagertobegintheireducationat;uiinstitutionwJieretechnicalelementswouldbe
learned alongwith the arts, so graduateswould have acomplete understandingand
workingknowledgeofalltheskillsrequiredinworldofbusiness.
.\saPackerdonatedS500.000toestablishLehigh
University. Asa Packer was a liberal man who
wanted to develop a university where students
wereversed in technical and languagesicills.
Tokening
WilliamHenryChandlerwaselectedpro-
^u
fessor ofchemistry at Lehigh University
in 1871. Heplanned thechemical labo-
ratories, which werecompleted in 1885,
and the buildings of St. Lukes Hospital.
Photo 1892 Epitome.
186S-1900
(W.
hen the University first opened, tuition prices were high in comparison to similar universities hke Cornell and
Lafayette. Enrollmentwaslowbecauseofthehighcostsofeducationandveryhighentrancerequirements. Ratesofattritionwere
also alarming. More than halfoftheenteringfreshmendroppedoutwithin threeyears. The trusteesbelieved thatcreating a
preparatoryschoolwouldhelpalleviatesomeoftheenrollmentandfinancialissues. Inthefallof 1871,thepreparatoryschool
admitted 49 males, some as young as 15 years old. The preppers, as theywere called, would take classes and participate in
laboratoriesuntiltheywereabletopasstheuniversity'sentranceexamsandbeadmittedasdegreecandidates. Manyfacult}'and
studentswereopposedto thisideabecause thefacultydid notwanttotakeondiscipliningandteachingthepreppers andolder
studentsdid notwantto make roomfortheyoungerstudentsoncampus. Because thepreparatoiyschooldidnotsignificantly
increaseenrollment, itwasclosed in thespringof 1874.
OnJuly3, 1871,AsaPackerannouncedtheabolitionoftuitionandintroducedhisoriginalplanforfinancing. Packerwould
donate$250,000forevery$125,00theboardraised.Healsoagreedto donateanadditional$20,000eachyearformaintenance
costs.Theboardfounditnearlyimpossibletoraisethenecessaryfunds,butPackercontinueddonatingallofthemoneyneeded
to operate the universityso Lehigh could remain tuitionfree.
ThestudentsatLehighwerenotedasthoseatascientificschool andoftheflannelshirtvariety. Thestudentsbegantheirday
atthechapelsixdaysaweek,werenotallowedtoplaycards,smokeordrink,andweretoremainintheirroomsbetween7:30and
9:30 in theeveningforstudyhours. Studentsweretaughtbymethodofrecitation, inwhicheach studentwouldbe required to
standupinfrontoftheclassandrecitethelessons. Eachstudentwasthengraded
onhisperformance. Sincegradingwasdoneonadailybasis,attendancewasat
apremium. Saturdayswereusedtocomplete laboratorywork. Theschoolyear
was divided into two terms with each term ending with a written and oral
examination. The annual review, in which seniors defended their theses, was
held at the end of the second term and open to the public. Many interested
residentsfrom Bethlehemoften attended.
MostofLehigh'sstudentbodyhailedfromNewYork,NewJerseyandPennsyl-
vania, although Lehigh has always had a few students from Brazil and other
South American countries. The students formed very close relationships and
participated in a variety of traditions and tomfoolery. Each spring, a mock
programwasproducedbythegraduatingseniors. Thisprogramwasaspoofon
commencementandstudentsandprofessorsconferredforfarfetchedandrepug-
nantdegrees. Thecane rushwas an annualeventthatoccurredeachfall. First
and secondyearstudentswouldbeat andclawone another forpossession of a
cane. This event left manywith battle scars to show their involvement, some
recollectionsevenincludethepresenceofan ambulanceinthePresident'syard.
Thespringeventwasthecalculuscremationceremony. Thiseventstartedwith
first and second year technical students who would get together after exams
duringthespringtermandburntheircalculusbooksonthemain lawn infront
ofPackerHall.
jOpening
I'hroughout the early years of Coppee Hall opened in March
I.chigh, each entering class de- of 1883 and was the school's
velopedaninsignia,chooseclass first gymnasium. Here, stu-
colors that were worn to show dentspracticedgymnastics,box-
camaraderie,andhadtheirown ing, wrestling and billiards. In
fight song tor football games. 1912, the g}'mnasium was re-
The Class of 1895 insignia is named in honor of Coppee.
shown below. Photo 1895 Photo 1898 Epitome.
liidnu-.
The men's lacrosse team photo from 1896.
The Lehigh Lacrosse Club was founded in
1884andlacrossesprungupquicklyaround
campuses. ThisteamdefeatedJohnsHopkins
and Stevensforthe IntercollegiateChampi-
onship in 1896. Photo 1898 Epitome.
Thecalculuscremationceremonywasoneof
Lehigh's most unique and peculiar tradi-
tions. Students would process across the
NewStreet BridgetotheNorthSide, return
over the Old Bridge and venture up Dela-
ware Avenue before returning to campus.
The Grand Accussador would then begin
the ornate ceremony and book burning.
Songsandchantswouldbesongthroughout
the entire lestivity. Photo 1891 Epitome.
U5
TaylorHallwasthefirstbuilding The children of Robert H.
constructed solely for the pur- Sayre donated $100,000 for
poseofhousingstudents. Itwas thedevelopmentofSayrePark
endowed bv Andrew Carnegie asamemorialtotheirfatherin
and named in honor ofCharley 1909. The main roads were
L. Taylor. Taylor ser\'ed as a laid down as theyexist today.
trusteeoftheCarnegie Corpora- The Hill later became home
tion and the University. Photo to many fraternities. Photo
^
1912 Epitome. 1911 Epitome.
