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An "Act for the Government and Regulation of the State University of Iowa," approved December 25, 1858, was mainly a re-enactment of the law of March 12, 1858, except that changes were made in the Board of Trustees, and manner of their appointment. This law provided that both sexes were to be admitted on equal terms to all departments of the institution, leaving the Board no discretion in the matter.

The new Board met and organized, February 2, 1859, and decided to continue the Normal Department only to the end of the current term, and that it was unwise to re-open the University at that time; but at the annual meeting of the Board, in June of the same year, it was resolved to continue the Normal Department in operation; and at a special meeting, October 25, 1859, it was decided to re-open the University in September, 1860. Mr. Dean had resigned as Chancellor prior to this meeting, and Silas Totten, D. D., LL. D., was elected President, at a salary of $2,000, and his term commenced June, 1860.

At the annual meeting, June 28, 1860, a full Faculty was appointed, and the University re-opened, under this new organization, September 19, 1860 (third Wednesday); and at this date the actual existence of the University may be said to commence.

August 19, 1862, Dr. Totten having resigned, Prof. Oliver M. Spencer was elected President and the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon Judge Samuel F. Miller, of Keokuk.

At the commencement, in June, 1863, was the first class of graduates in the Collegiate Department.

The Board of Education was abolished March 19, 1864, and the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction was restored; the General Assembly resumed control of the subject of education, and on March 21, an act was approved for the government of the University. It was substantially the same as the former law, but provided that the Governor should be ex officio President of the Board of Trustees. Until 1858, the Superintendent of Public Instruction had been ex officio President. During the period of the Board of Education, the University Trustees were elected by it, and elected their own President.

President Spencer was granted leave of absence from April 10, 1866, for fifteen months, to visit Europe; and Prof. Nathan R. Leonard was elected. President pro tem.

The North Hall was completed late in 1866.

At the annual meeting in June, 1867, the resignation of President Spencer (absent in Europe) was accepted, and Prof. Leonard continued as President pro tem., until March 4, 1868, when James Black, D. D., Vice President of Washington and Jefferson College, Penn., was elected President. Dr. Black entered upon his duties in September, 1868.

The Law Department was established in June, 1868, and, in September following, an arrangement was perfected with the Iowa Law School, at Des Moines, which had been in successful operation for three years, under the management of Messrs. George G. Wright, Chester C. Cole and William G. Hammond, by which that institution was transferred to Iowa City and merged in the Law Department of the University. The Faculty of this department consisted of the President of the University, Hon. Wm. G. Hammond, Resident Professor and Principal of the Department, and Professors G. G. Wright and C. C. Cole.

Nine students entered at the commencement of the first term, and during the year ending June, 1877, there were 103 students in this department.

At a special meeting of the Board, on the 17th of September, 1868, a Committee was appointed to consider the expediency of establishing a Medical De

partment. This Committee reported at once in favor of the proposition, the Faculty to consist of the President of the University and seven Professors, and recommended that, if practicable, the new department should be opened at the commencement of the University year, in 1869-70. At this meeting, Hon. Ezekiel Clark was elected Treasurer of the University.

By an act of the General Assembly, approved April 11, 1870, the "Board of Regents" was instituted as the governing power of the University, and since that time it has been the fundamental law of the institution. The Board of Regents held its first meeting June 28, 1870. Wm. J. Haddock was elected Secretary, and Mr. Clark, Treasurer.

Dr. Black tendered his resignation as President, at a special meeting of the Board, held August 18, 1870, to take effect on the 1st of December following. His resignation was accepted.

The South Hall having been fitted up for the purpose, the first term of the Medical Department was opened October 24, 1870, and continued until March, 1871, at which time there were three graduates and thirty-nine students.

March 1, 1871, Rev. George Thacher was elected President of the University. Mr. Thacher accepted, entered upon his duties April 1st, and was formally inaugurated at the annual meeting in June, 1861.

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In June, 1874, the "Chair of Military Instruction was established, and the President of the United States was requested to detail an officer to perform its duties. In compliance with this request, Lieut. A. D. Schenck, Second Artillery, U. S. A., was detailed as "Professor of Military Science and Tactics," at Iowa State University, by order of the War Department, August 26, 1874, who reported for duty on the 10th of September following. Lieut. Schenck was relieved by Lieut. James Chester, Third Artillery, January 1, 1877.

Treasurer Clark resigned November 3, 1875, and John N. Coldren elected in his stead.

At the annual meeting, in 1876, a Department of Homoeopathy was established.

In March, 1877, a resolution was adopted affiliating the High Schools of the State with the University.

In June, 1877, Dr. Thacher's connection with the University was terminated, and C. W. Slagle, a member of the Board of Regents, was elected President.

In 1872, the ex officio membership of the Superintendent of Public Instruction was abolished; but it was restored in 1876. Following is a catalogue of the officers of this important institution, from 1847 to 1878:

TRUSTEES OR REGENTS.

PRESIDENTS.

James Harlan, Superintendent Public Instruction, ex officio..............
Thomas H. Benton, Jr,, Superintendent Public Instruction, ex officio..... 1848
James D. Eads, Superintendent Public Instruction, ex officio........
Maturin L. Fisher, Superintendent Public Instruction, ex officio
Amos Dean, Chancellor, ex officio.......
Thomas H. Benton, Jr...............................................

Francis Springer.......

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William M. Stone, Governor, ex officio...........

Samuel Merrill, Governor, ex officio.....

Cyrus C. Carpenter, Governor, ex officio.

Samuel J. Kirkwood, Governor, ex officio.

Joshua G. Newbold, Governor, ex officio....
John H. Gear..........

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The present educational corps of the University consists of the President, nine Professors in the Collegiate Department, one Professor and six Instructors in Military Science; Chancellor, three Professors and four Lecturers in the Law Department; eight Professor Demonstrators of Anatomy; Prosector of Surgery and two Lecturers in the Medical Department, and two Professors in the Homœopathic Medical Department.

STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

By act of the General Assembly, approved January 28, 1857, a State Historical Society was provided for in connection with the University. At the commencement, an appropriation of $250 was made, to be expended in collecting, embodying, and preserving in an authentic form a library of books, pamphlets, charts, maps, manuscripts, papers, paintings, statuary, and other materials illustrative of the history of Iowa; and with the further object to rescue from oblivion the memory of the early pioneers; to obtain and preserve various accounts of their exploits, perils and hardy adventures; to secure facts and statements relative to the history and genius, and progress and decay of the Indian tribes of Iowa; to exhibit faithfully the antiquities and past and present resources of the State; to aid in the publication of such collections of the Society as shall from time to time be deemed of value and interest; to aid in binding its books, pamphlets, manuscripts and papers, and in defraying other necessary incidental expenses of the Society.

There was appropriated by law to this institution, till the General Assembly shall otherwise direct, the sum of $500 per annum. The Society is under the management of a Board of Curators, consisting of eighteen persons, nine of whom are appointed by the Governor, and nine elected by the members of the Society. The Curators receive no compensation for their services. The annual

meeting is provided for by law, to be held at Iowa City on Monday preceding the last Wednesday in June of each year.

The State Historical Society has published a series of very valuable collections, including history, biography, sketches, reminiscences, etc., with quite a large number of finely engraved portraits of prominent and early settlers, under the title of "Annals of Iowa."

THE PENITENTIARY.

Located at Fort Madison, Lee County.

The first act of the Territorial Legislature, relating to a Penitentiary in Iowa, was approved January 25, 1839, the fifth section of which authorized the Governor to draw the sum of $20,000 appropriated by an act of Congress approved July 7, 1838, for public buildings in the Territory of Iowa. It provided for a Board of Directors of three persons elected by the Legislature, who should direct the building of the Penitentiary, which should be located within one mile of the public square, in the town of Fort Madison, Lee County, provided Fort Madison should deed to the directors a tract of land suitable for a site, and assign them, by contract, a spring or stream of water for the use of the Penitentiary. To the Directors was also given the power of appointing the Warden; the latter to appoint his own assistants.

The first Directors appointed were John S. David and John Claypole. They made their first report to the Legislative Council November 9, 1839. The citizens of the town of Fort Madison had executed a deed conveying ten acres of land for the building site. Amos Ladd was appointed Superintendent of the building June 5, 1839. The building was designed of sufficient capacity to contain one hundred and thirty-eight convicts, and estimated to cost $55,933.90. It was begun on the 9th of July, 1839; the main building and Warden's house were completed in the Fall of 1841. Other additions were made from time to time till the building and arrangements were all complete according to the plan of the Directors. It has answered the purpose of the State as a Penitentiary for more than thirty years, and during that period many items of practical experience in prison management have been gained.

It has long been a problem how to conduct prisons, and deal with what are called the criminal classes generally, so as to secure their best good and best subserve the interests of the State. Both objects must be taken into consideration in any humaritarian view of the subject. This problem is not yet solved, but Iowa has adopted the progressive and enlightened policy of humane treatment of prisoners and the utilization of their labor for their own support. The labor of the convicts in the Iowa Penitentiary, as in most others in the United States, is let out to contractors, who pay the State a certain stipulated amount therefor, the State furnishing the shops, tools and machinery, as well as the supervision necessary to preserve order and discipline in the prison.

While this is an improvement upon the old solitary confinement system, it still falls short of an enlightened reformatory system that in the future will treat the criminal for mental disease and endeavor to restore him to usefulness in the community. The objections urged against the contract system of disposing of the labor of prisoners, that it brings the labor of honest citizens into competition with convict labor at reduced prices, and is disadvantageous to the State, are not without force, and the system will have no place in the prisons of the future.

It is right that the convict should labor. He should not be allowed to live in idleness at public expense. Honest men labor; why should not they? Honest men are entitled to the fruits of their toil; why should not the convict as well? The convict is sent to the Penitentiary to secure public safety. The State deprives him of his liberty to accomplish this purpose and to punish him for violations of law, but, having done this, the State wrongs both itself and the criminal by confiscating his earnings; because it deprives his family of what justly belongs to them, and an enlightened civilization will ere long demand that the prisoner in the penitentiary, after paying a fair price for his board, is as justly entitled to his net earnings as the good citizen outside its walls, and his family, if he has one, should be entitled to draw his earnings or stated portion of them at stated periods. If he has no family, then if his net earnings should be set aside to his credit and paid over to him at the expiration of his term of imprisonment, he would not be turned out upon the cold charities of a somewhat pharisaical world, penniless, with the brand of the convict upon his brow, with no resource save to sink still deeper in crime. Let Iowa, "The Beautiful Land," be first to recognize the rights of its convicts to the fruits of their labor; keep their children from the alms-house, and place a powerful incentive before them to become good citizens when they return to the busy world again.

ADDITIONAL PENITENTIARY.

Located at Anamosa, Jones County.

By an act of the Fourteenth General Assembly, approved April 23, 1872, William Ure, Foster L. Downing and Martin Heisey were constituted Commissioners to locate and provide for the erection and control of an additional Penitentiary for the State of Iowa. These Commissioners met on the 4th of the following June, at Anamosa, Jones County, and selected a site donated by the citizens, within the limits of the city. L. W. Foster & Co., architects, of Des Moines, furnished the plan, drawings and specifications, and work was commenced on the building on the 28th day of September, 1872. May 13, 1873, twenty convicts were transferred to Anamosa from the Fort Madison Penitentiary. The entire enclosure includes fifteen acres, with a frontage of

663 feet.

IOWA HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE.

Mount Pleasant, Henry County.

By an act of the General Assembly of Iowa, approved January 24, 1855, $4,425 were appropriated for the purchase of a site, and $50,000 for building an Insane Hospital, and the Governor (Grimes), Edward Johnston, of Lee County, and Charles S. Blake, of Henry County, were appointed to locate the institution and superintend the erection of the building. These Commissioners located the institution at Mt. Pleasant, Henry County. A plan for a building designed to accommodate 300 patients, drawn by Dr. Bell, of Massachusetts, was accepted, and in October work was commenced under the superintendence of Mr. Henry Winslow. Up to February 25, 1858, and including an appropriation made on that date, the Legislature had appropriated $258,555.67 to this institution, but the building was not finished ready for occupancy by patients until March 1, 1861. The Trustees were Maturin L. Fisher, President, Farmersburg; Samuel McFarland, Secretary, Mt. Pleasant; D. L.

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