at no time in the history been more marked and distinctly recognized than at the present time under the presidency and leadership of the Rev. A. T. Seashore. President Seashore cultivates freedom of thought and action, guided and tempered by aspirations for the best and the highest things in life and conduct, and inspired by the sanctions of things divine and eternal.
   Among the teachers who have been connected with the college we find Dr. S. M. Hill, who was faithful to his duties for thirty-two years. He is professor emeritus and in consideration of his long and devoted services receives a pension. Mrs. J. H. Foldman served faithfully and endeared herself to the students by twenty-three years' continuous work. President 0. J. Johnson, D.D., now president of Gustavus Adolphus College, was the administrative head of Luther College for twelve years.
   During the last seven years the Park Association has greatly beautified the campus, giving it a very inviting appearance. The park-like appearance and conditions would be a credit to any community. At the present time the college is represented on the foreign mission fields in the continents by twenty-one persons who have been students. One who is familiar with the life and work of the college says that no one can estimate the influences for good which have been exerted during the thirty-four years of the history of the college. He adds that there is scarcely a corner on the earth that is not a little better because of the training men and women have received in her chapel and class-rooms. The long file of the farmers, merchants, bankers, salesmen, doctors, engineers, professors, teachers, artists, ministers, and missionaries is a record of which any institution may well be proud. Luther College has been an honor to the people who have supported it, to the devoted men and women who have made up her faculty, to the city of Wahoo, and to the state of Nebraska.

    UNIVERSITY OF OMAHA. The college catalogue for 1915-1916 gives the following statement concerning the beginning and progress of this institution of learning: "The University of Omaha owes its existence to a felt need for an institution of learning in Omaha. Such an institution could not well have its origin elsewhere than in the spirit of philanthrophy and devotion to civic welfare. Actuated by this spirit and by a conviction that the time was ripe for action, a group of representative citizens, in the early summer of 1908, organized a board of trustees and began the active promotion of the movement for the founding of a university under Christian ideals and influences but, at the same time free from ecclesiastical control. The board of trustees was incorporated on October 8th, 1908. The articles of incorporation defined the object for which the university was founded in the following terms: The object of this incorporation shall be to establish, endow, conduct and maintain a University for the promotion of sound learning and education, such as is usually contemplated in colleges and universities, under such influences as will lead to the highest type of Christian character and citizenship, with the Bible as supreme authority."
   The university was opened for the enrollment of students November 14, 1909. The ground and buildings are in the city of Omaha at 3612 North Twenty-fourth street. Early in 1916 the trustees secured an option on forty acres of land as a site for the institution and for new buildings.
   As soon as the option was secured the trustees began a campaign for funds with which to erect buildings. It was the purpose of the trustees to erect at first two buildings on the new site. It was planned that each building would cost about $50,000. George A. Joslin started the subscription with $25,000, and other enterprising citizens were ready to aid with equal liberality. Before all the plans had been matured and before many steps had been taken to carry this work to a successful end the war in Europe came on and conditions changed. Instead of occupying the new site it was determined to continue the work on the campus where it was started. The grounds contain the John Jacobs gymnasium, and Joslyn hall. The gymnasium is modern and well equipped. When it is used as an

auditorium about 1000 people can be seated. Joslyn hall houses the chapel, college offices, class rooms, laboratories, library, and art rooms. Mr. Joslyn's $25,000 was the first subscription to the building. With the furnishing the building cost $175,000. As soon as the war conditions will permit a campaign will be made for productive endowment. Small sums have already been contributed for endowment. Also provision has already been made in the wills of some citizens to this worthy end. The Stoddard scholarship and the Spalding scholarship have become permanent endowments. While the Omaha Theological Seminary has no legal or organic connection with the University of Omaha the two institutions work together by interchange of instruction and academic credits. The university sustains a course of study for students who expect to take the regular medical course of study and to practice the profession. There is maintained likewise a school of law. For the college years 1916-1917 the enrolment (sic), including the students in the summer school, was 386.
   Among the institutions of higher education in Nebraska the University of Omaha occupies a unique position in some respects. Nearly all of its students are from the homes of Omaha people. Because of this condition some of the problems of the college are local and are to be solved by the people of the city.
   The university has the following departments: Liberal arts and sciences, art, home economics, law, and medical preparatory, It is authorized to confer the bachelor of arts and the bachelor of science degrees, and also, the master of arts and master of science degrees. The policy of the university has been to maintain a faculty of earnest, devoted capable men and women, whose lives, teachings, and influence have been pronounced for culture, for scholarship, and for character. President Daniel H. Jenkins, Ph.D., Dean Walter N. Halsey, M.A., and Miss Selma Anderson have been with the institution from the opening day. Other members of the faculty for a shorter time have been equally loyal and devoted. The growth in equipment and enlargement in every department insures a future of great usefulness.

    BROWNELL HALL. Brownell Hall, an Episcopal boarding school for girls, was founded September 17, 1863, and is in point of continuous existence the oldest school in the state. When, in 1860, the Rev. Joseph C. Talbot was consecrated bishop of the Northwest, he found three parishes in Nebraska territory. One of these was at Nebraska City. On the site of old Fort Kearney, now embraced within the limits of Nebraska City, still stands the old church which awaited his ministrations. He decided to found a girls' boarding school in or near the city of Omaha. Between Omaha and Florence, about three and a half miles north of Omaha, lay Saratoga, then fraught with as many civic possibilities as its northern or southern neighbor. Numerous springs abounded. Why should not Saratoga become a second Saratoga Springs? In 1859 an enterprising group of men formed a company and erected (on paper) a town called Saratoga Springs. On the main street they built a hotel located at what is now Twenty-fourth street and Grand avenue. As it proved more a resort for summer than a summer resort, the hotel was closed after the first season. In 1861 Bishop Talbot bought the property for $3500 for his school. As a large part of the purchase money came from Connecticut the school was named in honor of its bishop, "Brownell" Hall. The young ladies were not permitted, for fear of Indians, to visit the various springs, except in groups.
   The weekly Nebraskian, of Omaha, of September 18, 1863, gives the following account of the opening of Brownell Hall:

    "We witnessed yesterday the opening exercises of Brownell Hall, the new Episcopal Seminary, about three miles north of the city of Omaha.
   "The institution, we are happy to state, commences under the most favorable auspices. It has an able faculty, consisting of Rev. 0. C. Dake, A.M., Principal; Miss Helen M. Liddiard, Miss M. Louise Gillmore, assistants; Miss Sarah J. Miser, Music Teacher, and is we believe, upon a sound financial basis. The present buildings have thirty-four rooms and

can accommodate thirty boarders. There is every prospect that this number will be obtained in a few weeks."
   The school opened with pupils from Nebraska City and vicinity, Bellevue, Florence, Omaha, Fontanelle, and Decatur, forty in all. Sometimes pupils came from Nebraska City by boat, and from other towns, either in private conveyances, lumber wagons, or stage coaches. Day pupils from Omaha went back and forth in an omnibus, or the "Black Maria."
   The Rev. O. C. Dake, rector of Trinity parish, in Omaha, was its first principal and rector. The head teacher was Miss M. Louise Gillmore. Her young sister, Mrs. Hattie Gillmore Hough, still living in Chicago, was the first boarder, Miss Miser was the first music teacher, Miss Root the second; Miss Helen Liddiard was matron. The first class presented for confirmation consisted of Miss Ophelia Taylor, Miss Elizabeth May Davis, and Miss Elizabeth Stillman Arnold. In 1867 the Rev. Samuel Hermann, of Hartford, Connecticut, the rector, organized a branch school for day pupils, first in the old state house, and later at "250 Dodge Street," being between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets.
   The first class, consisting of Mrs. Helen Ingalls Drake and Mrs. Helen Hoyt Burr, was graduated in 1868.
   The Omaha Herald, of July 10, 1868, says of the first commencement:

    A large concourse of our citizens attended the closing exercises of this popular educational institute on last Friday. The proceedings opened with prayer, after which the opening chorus was rendered with a very harmonious and pleasing effect by the young ladies of the seminary. Next was a duet polka by the Misses Nellie Clarkson [now Mrs. Fred Davis] and Morton.

   Music, Mazurka, by Miss Libbie Poppleton [now Mrs. Shannon].
   Song, "Something Sweet to Tell You," by little Jennie Morrison.
   Music, "Andes," Miss Helen Ingalls [later Mrs. Drake].
   Reading of the Chimes by Miss Penfield, editress.
   Music, "Fra Diavola," quartet, Misses Ingalls, Jordan, Poppleton and White.
   Reading reports and awarding of prizes.
   Song and duet, "In the Star Light," by the young Misses Poppleton and Sears.
   Music, quartet, by Misses Jordan, Ingalls and Clarkson.

   Bishop Talbot, having been transferred to the diocese of Indiana in 1865, the Rev. Robert H. Clarkson of St. James Church, Chicago, was consecrated missionary bishop of Nebraska and became the head of the school. Being of the opinion that the establishment of a day school in connection with the hall was advisable, and that its interests would be better subserved by removal of the institution to Omaha, it was decided to relocate. Accordingly, in November, 1868, Brownell Hall was incorporated. Its articles were signed by the following persons, names written large in the history of our state, and many of whose children and grand-children have been pupils of the school: Bishop Clarkson, Rev. Samuel Herman, Rev. Geo. C. Betts, R. C. Jordan, Geo. W. Doane, G. C. Monell, C. S. Chase, J. M. Woolworth, John I. Redick, Benj. Alvord, Henry W. Yates.
   On Monday, October 5, 1868, the school was opened in its new home on the corner of Sixteenth and Jones streets, a three-story wooden building, heated by coal stoves, lighted with coal-oil lamps, and supplied with water from a well. Here it remained until January 4, 1887.
   The rector resigning in February, 1869, Bishop and Mrs. Clarkson left their own comfortable home and took under their own personal supervision the conduct of the school, the bishop himself teaching and Mrs. Clarkson acting as matron and housekeeper. In 1869 Miss Elizabeth Butterfield, of Racine, Wisconsin, was retained as principal. Imbuing all about her with something of her own efficiency, nobility of character, and Christian grace, the school grew in numbers and in spiritual and educational attainment. In August, 1887, Miss Butterfield resigned and was married to the Hon. James M. Woolworth.
   In 1871, Mrs. P. C. Hall, a sister of Bishop Clarkson, was principal, the Rev. George Paterson, secretary, and Mrs. Paterson, matron, the bishop himself being chaplain and visitor.

   Mrs. Hall possessed the very rare gift of inspiring in her students a permanent interest in the subjects taught. Miss Lucinda B. Loomis, a pupil of the school, well known in Omaha and Lincoln, especially in university circles, taught for nine years.
   The hard times of the early seventies, the almost complete destruction of crops by grasshoppers, the consequent inability of many students to pay their bills, would have discouraged hearts less firm than the bishop's or Mrs. Hall's. Theirs was strength born of love and sympathy with all human kind. And if, as it is said, the voice responds most readily to the emotions, no wonder that those whom the bishop confirmed and upon whose heads he laid apostolic hands, said they could almost feel a special blessing come straight from our Heavenly Father, as they heard the bishop's wonderful voice saying, "Defend, 0 Lord, this Thy child with Thy Heavenly Grace; that she may continue Thine forever; and daily increase in Thy Holy Spirit, more and more, until she come unto Thy everlasting kingdom. Amen."
   With the advent of the Rev. Robert H. Doherty, Mrs. S. H. Windsor, in 1875, and of Miss Emma Windsor, whom Dr. Doherty married, commenced a period of unprecedented growth. Side by side they labored for twenty-two years, until 1897. Although the old building at Sixteenth and Jones streets had been added to, it became entirely inadequate. A new building and new location were proposed. Bishop Clarkson had died in 1884, and the Rt. Rev. George Worthington succeeded him. Bishop Worthington bequeathed to the Hall eighty thousand dollars for scholarship endowment.
   On June 12, 1886, the corner stone of the third building was laid at Tenth and Worthington streets. A hymn for the occasion was written by the Rev. H. B. Burgess of Plattsmouth, a pioneer clergyman well known throughout the state.
   The new building, valued with its furnishings at $125,000, was occupied January 4, 1887. It is entirely modern, four stories in height, built of brick, with ample grounds, and very handsome. Connected with it is a gymnasium and infirmary.
   in 1891, under Dr. Doherty's rectorship, there were reported seventy-three boarders and fifty-nine day scholars-the high water mark in attendance up to that time.
   Some of Dr. Doherty's teachers remained in the school a long time. Among these were Miss Wallace, teacher of music, Miss Ethel Davenport, mathematics, Miss Kate Lyman, a Vassar graduate. In 1889, at the suggestion of Mrs. Windsor, an alumnae association was formed, having for its objects the promotion of a higher life in woman, the furtherance of the prosperity of the school, the encouragement of girls to take advantage of the opportunities for Christian education which Brownell Hall afforded. The association has founded a scholarship fund of $3,000, the interest of which is used for the expenses at the Hall of a clergyman's daughter. It has presented valuable additions to the library, and through its endeavors Brownell Hall has been made an accredited school to our State University and to women's colleges.
   In 1897 Dr. Doherty resigned, having in conjunction with Mrs. Doherty and Mrs. Windsor brought the school to the greatest prosperity and influence. Dr. Doherty's genial personality, his self-sacrificing devotion to the school, and ministrations in the remote parishes and missions of the state, will be ever held in grateful remembrance.
   In 1899 the Rev. Arthur L. Williams was made bishop co-adjutor of Nebraska, and served until the death of Bishop Worthington in 1908. Mrs. Louise Upton of Detroit was named as principal in 189S and after three years of efficient service was succeeded by Miss Euphan Macrae. In her régime the school prospered in point of numbers and in scholarship and, especially, a greater interest was awakened in college education for women.
   Upon Miss Macrae's resignation in 1909, Miss Edith Marsden, a college graduate, assumed the principalship, maintaining with an efficient corps of teachers the honor and standing of the school, whose present head is Miss Euphemia Johnson, and under whose admin-

istration the ideals, aims, and aspirations of the founders and teachers of the institution have been constantly fostered and developed, to keep pace with the ever increasing trend of education and the moral and spiritual progress of the age.
   The school has lived its life under four bishops: Talbot, Clarkson, Worthington, and Williams, and except for their labors and those of Dr. Doherty, is almost wholly the product of women's work.

    STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT PERU. The legislature which met a few weeks after Nebraska became a state, March 1, 1867, passed the bill which authorized the State Normal School at Peru. The act was approved by the governor and became a law June 20, 1867. Like many of the schools of that day it began as a community enterprise. While the early settlers were cutting the timber found on the rich lands in the valley of the Missouri, and were breaking the uplands back from the river, they were thinking and planning for the future of the community and especially for the education of their children and youth. So far as is known the earliest movement was by the territorial legislature in granting a charter in 1860 for an institution of college grade. The matter was not carried any farther at that time.
   The first plans after that are said to have been laid when seventeen citizens of Peru and vicinity met in a store building in September, 1865, and determined to establish a school. While a building was being erected the school was conducted in the basement of a dwelling house. Dr. J. M. McKenzie, afterwards so well and so favorably known as the president of the Normal School and as state school superintendent, was persuaded to leave a private school at Pawnee City and take charge of the school. Among the first acts of real importance which helped to determine the course of events was the purchase of the sixty acres for school purposes which are now the property of the Normal School. The grounds were bought by John Neal, Mrs. J. M. McKenzie, the Rev. Hiram Busch, and Major William Daily. The building Dr. McKenzie found and in which he and Mrs. McKenzie lived and taught, was far from ready. This did not prevent them from taking up the work with faith and courage, with hope and determination. it was the expectation of those who were most interested and enthusastic (sic) in the enterprise to secure aid in building the school and to gain a greater constituency in maintaining it, that it would become a seminary of learning under the direction of the Methodist church. The conference of the church was consulted with this in view. It was the judgment of those making up that body that the means could not be secured for such an undertaking.
   Colonel T. J. Majors and Major William Daily were members of the legislature. Through their leadership and the assistance of others it was agreed to take over the property and establish a State Normal School. The first thought of these men was to establish at Peru the State University. The majority of the members in the legislature were controlled by the idea that the university ought to be at the capital city. When this became apparent the next thing was to take advantage of the situation and secure for the community and for the state a normal school. The effort was successful, and as already stated the act was approved June 20, 1867. The bill was both general and specific in its requirements. It provided that the Normal School should devote its instructions to persons who are preparing to teach in the public schools; that all branches should be taught which pertain to good common school education; that instruction should be given in mechanic arts, in husbandry and in agricultural chemistry, in the fundamental laws of the United States, and with regard to the rights and duties of citizens.
   The bill required also that the grounds, buildings, and equipment of the Peru Seminary be secured by deed from the trustees to the state of Nebraska and that the grounds be devoted to the interests of the State Normal School.
   The provision was made that the school should be under the direction of a body called the state board of education, consisting of seven members -- five to be appointed by the governor, each, after the first appointments.

for five years, and two ex officio members the state school superintendent and the state treasurer.
   The law gives the board of education full power to buy and sell and to do all other things which relate to the progress and management of the school. Some things in the act tell us how well the members of the legislature understood the enriching power of the higher studies. It says, "Lectures on chemistry, comparative anatomy, the mechanic arts, agricultural chemistry, and any other science or branch of literature that the board of education may direct." The bill directs that the governor shall select and set apart for the endowment of the Normal School twenty sections of land belonging to the state and not otherwise disposed of.
   The voices of history unite in saying that the Normal School has always had a capable and devoted faculty. The men and women who have presided in the class-rooms have been worthy of all praise for their scholarly attainments, for their sincere devotion, and for their worthy character.
   Also it is agreed that it has been peculiarly fortunate in the twelve men who in the fifty-one years have been called to the presidency. The names and periods are as follows: J. M. McKenzie, A.M., LL.D., 1867 to 1871; Henry H. Straight, January, 1871, to September, 1871; A. D. Williams, A.M., LL.D., September, 1871, to June, 1872; General T. J. Morgan, A.M., June, 1872, to June, 1875; L. S. Thompson, A.M., June, 1875, to June, 1877; Robert Curry, A.M., LL.D., June, 1877, to June, 1883; George L. Farnam, A.M., June, 1883, to June, 1893; A. W. Norton, A.M., June, 1893, to 1896; J. A. Beattie, A.M., LL.D., June, 1896, to August, 1900; W. A. Clark, A.M., Ph.B., August, 1900, to June, 1904; J. W. Crabtree, A.M., June, 1904, to June, 1910; D. W. Hayes, A.B., A.M., June, 1910.
   The student body has always been made up of a superior class of young men and young women; as a whole they have been animated with right aims and directed by true purposes.
   The schools and firesides of Nebraska and elsewhere as well owe much to the teachers who have gone out from the halls and associations of the Normal School at Peru. The grounds are beautiful, the buildings are good and commodious, the library and other equipment -- among the best, and the natural and acquired surroundings such as inspire true devotion and honest effort.
   The fifty-one years of history are but a pledge and a prophecy of the good and accomplishments of the years to come.

    STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT KEARNEY. The legislature of 1903 authorized the establishment of the second State Normal School in Nebraska. Among the first provisions of the bill was the one which related to the location and that it should be selected by the state board of education. The act restricted the selection to a city or a town that shall be at a point west of a point not exceeding five miles east of the 98th meridian. By looking at the map of Nebraska it will be seen that this gave the board of education the opportunity to consider places along the line across the state which is marked by Superior, Clay Center, Aurora, Fullerton, Central City, Albion, Neligh, and all other places in the state which are west of these cities. Out of the ten or more places which asked for the school and were willing to comply with the provisions of the act and any requirements the board of education might see fit to impose, Kearney was selected.
   The act required that the place to which the school would go must provide free of cost to the state for "the perpetual use of said school a suitable tract of land not less than twenty acres in extent," said land to be worth at least $75 per acre. The legislature appropriated $50,000 for the purpose of putting the act into effect.
   The first building erected was the center wing of the main building. It was completed December 20, 1905. To this additions have been made. One of these is a very beautiful auditorium which was completed in May, 1917. The legislature of 1905 appropriated $15,000 for equipment and for current expenses. Superintendent A. 0. Thomas of the schools of Kearney was elected president. Dr. Thomas and the board of education selected an able body of men and women for a faculty. The