 The University began with high ideals and a sound financial base. Much of Isaac Rich's generous legacy, however, consisted of property which was destroyed in the Great Fire of Boston in 1872. Financial setbacks and legal complications further diminished the University's holdings. The President and Trustees decided to sell portions of their Brookline holdings and move into the heart of Boston on Beacon Hill. By 1873, the University consisted of the School of Theology, the School of Medicine, the College of Music, the School of Law, a School of Oratory, and a new College of Liberal Arts; a Graduate School soon added yet another dimension. President Warren had realized his dream, and was justified in ending his letters with "Vivat Universitas!"
The Schools and Colleges of the University flourished and their fields developed with the times. Boston University Law School was the first to establish a three-year curriculum and to introduce mandatory written, graded final examinations. Its first female graduate, Lelia Robinson, became the first woman admitted to the bar in Massachusetts. In the nineteenth century, approximately one quarter of the Law School's students were women.
At its founding, the School of Medicine absorbed the New England Female Medical College, which supported the homeopathic approach to medicine. The School therefore had a large proportion of female medical students, and homeopathy was practiced in addition to more conventional medical treatments. The School of Medicine graduated its first black student, Solomon Carter Fuller, in 1897; Dr. Fuller went on to become the first black psychiatrist in the United States.
The School of Oratory, which closed after seven years, fostered the experiments of a young professor of "Vocal Physiology and Elocution," Alexander Graham Bell. An advance of one year's salary-not quite an early sabbatical-enabled Bell to devote time to his invention of the telephone in 1876.
At the turn of the twentieth century, the University expanded and moved the College of Liberal Arts, its Graduate School, and the administrative offices to Copley Square. The administration grappled with the problem of how to increase the representation of males in the College of Liberal Arts (now the College of Arts and Sciences). The College was known for its training in education, and this was one of the few fields that welcomed women. Everett Lord, a graduate of the College, decided that the way to attract more men was to offer business courses at the undergraduate level. His program, however, did not correct the imbalance, and, in 1913, Lord initiated a separate College of Business Administration. For decades, the College of Liberal Arts remained predominantly female, and the College of Business Administration, later renamed the School of Management, was primarily male.
From the start, the University recognized its obligations to the society that fostered it. Physicians and medical students had participated in the Home Medical Service since 1875, making house calls to the elderly. A graduate of the School of Theology, Edgar Helms, founded Goodwill Industries in 1902. Students helped to establish Epworth Settlement, which combined charitable work with religious services for the urban poor.
For a time, the volunteer war effort took center stage. The most significant contribution of the University to World War I was the School of Medicine's organization of Base Hospital 44 in Pougues-les-Eaux, France, for use by the Red Cross. Over $30,000 was raised for this effort, and 32 doctors from the University served in this hospital.
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July 11, 2007
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