| Show university of pennsylvania celebrating two huna hundredth edth anniversary of founding by GEO L SIMPSON SR released by western newspaper union alff 0 centuries of growth atre being mar marked ked by the university of pennsylvania at philadelphia this month with a week of celebration from september 16 t to 0 21 the celebration includes symposia and professional conferences cultural and scientific exhibits laboratory and clinical demonstrations and convocations for the conferring of honorary degrees more than colleges universities versi ties and learned societies are represented at the celebration by official delegates among the recipients of honorary T 6 es are president franklin D roosevelt and sir lyman duff chief justice of the supreme court of canada while the list of distinguished guests also includes american and european scholars and leaders in various fields the symposia and conferences which F t D B R constitute the program of the bicentennial conference being held as a part of the september week celebration are being featured by lectures and papers in in six general fields the fine arts humanities medical sciences natural sciences religion and the social sciences the offerings in the field of the humanities are designed to bring out the continuity of culture while in the other fields the objective is to reveal the trends of modern thought and the advances of science former president herbert dark clark hoover henry A wallace the democratic nominee for vice president hu shih the chinese ambassador dr frank baldwin jewett pres president of the bell telephone laboratories and president of the national academy of sciences dr elmer V mccollum discoverer co of vitamin A and dr jacques maritain famous french author and philosopher are a few of the many noted speakers on the program of the conference many graduates return the symposia and conferences of iQ Bicentennial bicentennial conference claims jajor portion of attention during the first days of the bicentennial week celebration at the same time the program has been so arranged as to provide an opportunity for all to attend the various other events scheduled for the same period as well as to view the special bicentennial exhibits demonstrations and clinics and to enjoy tours of the campus according to robert T me cracken chairman hundreds of the graduates and former students are attending the opening of class reunions wednesday and thursday while on the latter day pennsylva nias undergraduates greet student delegates from colleges and universities throughout the country ten thousand alumni and alumnae of pennsylvania join in paying tribute to the university on friday morning september 20 at a bicentennial meeting in the dormitory quadrangle in the afternoon there is another impressive meeting including a convocation of university council in convention hall addresses given the morning program in the quadrangle includes addresses by dr thomas S gates president of the university of pennsylvania former united states sen george wharton pepper an alumnus and trustee of the university and thomas I 1 parkinson I 1 president of the equitable life assurance society of the united states who is chairman of the national alumni bicentennial committee presentation of the bicentennial fund addresses by representatives of the student body and selections by the university band and glee club feature the program ralph morgan president of the general alumni society is presiding president roosevelt and sir lyman duff receive honorary degrees and deliver addresses at the convocation in convention hall on friday afternoon in addition associate justice owen J roberts of the supreme court of the united states who is an alumnus of the university of pennsylvania is delivering an address and the bicentennial poem is being presented by its author edward W mumford secretary of the university water carnival staged A bicentennial river pageant and water carnival is being staged friday night on the schuylkill river in fairmount park A fireworks display crew races and a parade of floats depicting various phases of the life make up the program many former university oars men are taking part the university of penns pennsylvania alvania traces its origin to a charity school for which a building was erected in philadelphia in 1740 nine years later after the publication of benjamin franklins proposals relating to the education of youth in pennsylvania there was established an academy with which the charity school was combined franklin served as the first president of the acad trustees and so successful was the undertaking that in 1753 a charter was obtained in the name of the academy and charitable school in the province of pennsylvania charter granted in 1755 in 1755 a confirmatory charter incorporating the college academy and charitable school was granted by thomas and richard penn and the institution continued under that name until 1779 when the state legislative body changed the corporate title to trustees of t the he university of the state of penn pennsylvania syl later the rights and properties were restored to the trustees of the college with the university still continuing and in 1791 an act was passed amalgamating the old college with the new university and providing that the name of the institution be the university of pennsylvania the corporate title it now holds the buildings first used by the university were at fourth and arch streets in philadelphia during a period of 15 months in 1777 and 1778 these buildings were used by british troops and the college was closed at another time the buildings were occupied by soldiers in the continental army washinton washington ton attended exercises in 1778 congress met in the old college hall and members of the congress george washington and others prominent in early history of the country attended the public functions and commencement exercises the university itself contributed many men who played distinguished parts in the making of a new nation in the continental congress for instance were allen alien mifflin john and lambert cadwalader peters bingham and smith of pennsylvania hopkinson neilson and sargeant of new jersey paca seney and hindman of maryland williamson and hill of north carolina and others signers of the declaration of independence included the following pennsylvania men benjamin franklin robert morris george clymer janes james wilson benjamin rush thomas mckean john penn francis hopkinson william paca and james smith many distinguished graduates in the war of the revolution the university contributed many graduates who distinguished themselves among them being maj gen anthony wayne brig gen john cad er rt t 4 A A sp fe i r ia franklin field mammoth marn moth stadium of the university of pennsylvania at philadelphia has s been the scene of many historic football games at right is pictured robert T mccracken chairman of the bicentennial planning committee bior for the uni aversit vers itys s anniversary being celebrated this month falader wa lader maj gen thomas mifflin dr john morgan director general and physician in chief of the hospital of the american army maj gen philemon dickinson maj gen J P G muhlenberg richard peters first secretary of war benjamin B anja stoddert first secretary of the navy and col tench tilghman aide and secretary to washington the university was also well represented among those who later sat in the constitutional convention the group of pennsylvanians ians there including benjamin franklin robert morris james wilson thomas mifflin george clymer jared ingersoll joan john dickinson thomas fitzsimons and hugh williamson the university of which dr thomas S gates now is president also has an outstanding record of leadership in the pursuit of new ventures in education first medical school the first school of medicine in north america was founded at the university in 1765 and the first department part ment of botany in this country had its origin there three years later the first teaching hospital was established at the university in 1874 the wharton school of finance and commerce established at pennsylvania in 1881 was the first university school of business and in 1896 the first psychological clinic in the world was established at the university ver sity A X in 1910 the first department of research medicine was started in connection with the school of medicine and in 1916 the first comprehensive graduate school of medicine was established the university of pennsylvania has occupied three sites in philadelphia in the course of its history at one time being housed in a mansion built for the president of the united states the university moved to its present home on the west bank of the schuylkill kiU in 1872 it is this tract of acres which contains most mo st of the units of the university community only 14 students comprised the first class to be graduated from the old college which was in 1757 17 years after its founding at the present time some students are enrolled on full time in the undergraduate schools while full time enrollment for degrees in the professional schools and the graduate school totals nearly 2000 part time and special students bring the present total enrollment to approximately there are about 1500 members on the teaching staff |
