An Imperative Need
By Sadie Segura
During the early 1900's Southwestern had notably been running at a deficit. The university's shortfalls were unquestionably tied to the economic impact of The Great War beginning in 1914. The war had been spreading a sense of uncertainty throughout the entire world. Though The U.S.'s involvement had yet to come, the effects of the war were not exclusive to the countries involved. During this period, America was going through unprecedented challenges. The beginning of the war introduced significant setbacks to economic recovery from a recession that had begun a year prior, in 1913. However, A trading stalemate between the European countries at war presented a graciously unexpected turn of events for America's economy. The U.S. went through extreme industrial changes in order to support the level of exports demanded by allied countries. They converted production facilities to meet the needs of exported goods, such as war artillery. They also rapidly increased the amount of labor supply through vast work reforms, such as allowing more women and people of color in the workforce and increasing wages to compensate for the increased cost of living at the time. During this same period, Southwestern University was in the midst of raising money for the new addition of science facilities for the campus. The Williamson County science Building was to cost the equivalent of 1.3 million in today's dollars. Why was the need for specifically a physics, biology, and chemistry department so crucial that even financial deficiencies in the face of unsettling world events did not make anyone wary of this plan? How did this initiative align with the relevant needs of anyone involved?
The first proposal, discussion, and planning for the university's science building construction appears in "Southwestern University Minutes and Reports of SU Boards From 1913-1925". The minutes and reports contain Southwestern's official records of the topics discussed at board meetings throughout the years. Those who were usual attendees of these meetings included board officers– such as the president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer– and an assortment of committees– such as the financial affairs committee, endowment funds committee, faculty reports committee, and more. These meetings usually entailed discussion and reports about different affairs running at the university throughout the year as well as suggestions for future affairs. Topics discussed ritually were usually of importance to those attending; including, nominations for committees if there were vacancies that needed to be occupied, the commendation of students who attained their degrees that academic year, logistic problems on campus that needed to be addressed, and many other relevant subjects. The science building served its own section in the meeting of 1916. This critical remnant piece from the record concludes that The Williamson County science building at Southwestern was considered an 'imperative' need and that the plans for it were being solidified. Science building arrangements by a previously selected firm of architects were reportedly designed and approved earlier that year, March 16, 1916. The official price for the new addition on campus was expected to cost a total of $50,000. This was a large sum of money, yet, the need for science facilities was still top of the university's priority. The secretary of the board of trustees assured the money would be put to good use in his closing statement, “... by painstaking heed given to the needs of the departments of Physics, Biology, and Chemistry, in the planning will be a science building entirely worthy of self-sacrifice of the men and women of Williamson County that made it possible.”
In this same period, other universities across America shared the same motives for prioritizing the sciences. Even just within the scope of Texas, two of the three colleges that already had science buildings had only been built a few years prior to Southwestern's: Austin College's in 1913 and Baylor University's in 1901. The University of Texas's College of Mines and Metallurgy had their science building built the same year as Southwestern's– 1917– Hardin Simmons' came only two years later in 1919. The timing of this trend is no coincidence. The industrial revolution followed by the world war had given the premise for the ensuing demand for modern sciences: physics, biology, and chemistry. Innovations like railways, wireless communication, and even new methods of food preservation– all outcomes of industrialization– proved advantageous for the soldiers in battle. The technology that came into existence on behalf of the industrial revolution had shown great prowess on the battlefields of the world war, especially the incorporation of artillery in its warfare. "Advances in metallurgy and machine-tooling made possible great increases in the size, range, accuracy, and rate of fire of both artillery and hand weapons. Rifled, breech-loading weapons had within decades increased the effective range of massed infantry from a few hundred to thousands of yards." History had never seen the effects of lethal weapons in war before, and that had the ability to use technology for mass destruction in this new way gained extreme world power. This sequence of events gave the American universities and their supporters real incentive, encouragement, and pressure to prioritize rational sciences in their curriculum.
Even preceding educational upheavals that the war was stimulating, the presence of science in academia hitherto was a movement in the works. As late as the early 1900's metallurgy and applied sciences, such as chemistry, had made the majority of their progression outside the domains of science, the universities or the laboratories in America and most of Europe. Early 20th-century European scientists employed by universities usually experienced insecurity in their positions and were paid similarly to that of a laborer's wage based on their 'academic qualifications'. The lack of security scientists experienced displayed an apparent disregard for the value of science or the laboratory. However, Germany was one of the few countries that had successfully integrated research within the natural sciences into their education system. Because of this, they were able to realize the benefits of chemistry and engineering– and consequently, exponential improvements in their technology– long before America or any other European country. What made Germany so successful was not that their scientists were more intelligent than those in Europe or The United States, but rather that the resources provided to their sciences were unparalleled. The provision of resources to scientific research, such as science buildings and laboratories, heavily depended on the public's appreciation of the scientific profession. Spectators of Germany's performance were beginning to piece together the puzzle that science had the ability to aid industries and, ergo, create social, economic, and political power. From then on, support and efforts to integrate science into the university were a slow but increasing effort from within universities, trustees, and benefactors of academia.
Germany's industrial abilities were lightyears ahead of any other European country, and with that, they were heavily relied upon for their exports. Consequently, when war broke out and trade with Germany came to a halt, the remainder of Europe was hung out to dry– no longer provided their required goods and services. Deprived countries turned to their allied country, America, to compensate for their lack of imports. This acted as a catalyst for the interventions already in progress at universities as America scrambled to replicate Germany's industrious efficiency. The addition of the science building and laboratories across America was intrinsically a war effort, justified by the expectation of world power through scientific and industrial culture, an area in which they had extensive catching up to do. Southwestern's relentless push for The Williamson County Science building was in every way substantial. The rejuvenation of Southwestern's science departments was a part of a more influential movement all across the country. It can be implied that Southwestern's ability to raise a fund so large during such world pandemonium was partially in correlation to its supporters' patriotic and academic motives of supporting its country's measure of world power through their own local institution.
Sources:
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