DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES, RESOURCES AND STATE TAX FOR ACADEMIES AND UNION DEPARTMENTS OF DISTRICT SCHOOLS - THE QUESTION OF APPROPRIATIONS TO DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS...... 424 APPROPRIATIONS MADE TO ACADEMIES BY THE REGENTS UPON THE BASIS OF ATTENDANCE OF STUDENTS ALLOWED UNDER THEIR RULES TO PARTICI- ALPHABETICAL LIST OF REGENTS OF UNIVERSITY FROM 1784 TO 1884, INCLU- SIVE, INCLUDING THOSE WHO HELD THE OFFICE ex-officio, AS WELL AS The compilation of this volume was undertaken in connection with the celebration, in 1884, of the centennial anniversary of the establishment of the University of the State of New York. It was designed to comprise a full record of the educational work of the Board of Regents, and of the several institutions and trusts which by law had been placed in its care. The execution of this task was intrusted to Dr. Franklin B. Hough, who by natural taste, by his long experience in such investigations, and his familiarity with the sources of information to be explored, was possessed of all the qualifications for its successful accomplishment. Amid the sorrow with which we make record of his death,* we must note it as a fortunate circumstance that his labors on this volume were substantially completed before he was attacked by the fatal illness which ended his life. The little that remained to be done, in the adjustment of portions of the prepared material, and in the correction of the proofs, has been done by the hands of those whom he had trained to such tasks. And though there is little need for such apology, I am charged by those upon whom this work was so sadly devolved to ask for it such consideration as may be due to the fact that a part of it lacked the critical revision of him who had planned and written it. To those who desire to investigate the early history of education in this State, and trace the broad stream to its small beginnings, the present compilation, drawn from original and authentic sources, must always possess a special interest and value. The period covered by this record begins with the year following the close of the revolutionary war, when the Legislature, adopting the courageous and inspiring counsels of Governor George Clinton, took the first steps toward the "revival and encouragement of seminaries of learning." During this period New York has done much to justify for herself the title of the Empire State. In population, * Dr. Hough died at Lowville, N. Y., June 11, 1885. in wealth, in all the wealth producing industries, in commerce, in her great cities, in her lines of transportation, in her public works, in her contributions to the establishment and maintenance of the Union, she stands pre-eminent. But her best title to greatness lies in none of these evidences of political power or commercial superiority. Her chief glory and her chief assurance of continued prosperity are found in the system of education which she has established,- a system which compasses in its beneficent folds her entire population, a system which comprises her colleges of arts with 378 professors and 4,165 under-graduate students, with endowments aggregating $22,812,835; her professional colleges of medicine, law and science with 374 professors and 7,252 students; her academies and high schools with 1,400 teachers and 34,162 scholars, and expending an annual revenue of $1,359,945; her State Normal Schools with 120 instructors and 2,393 students; her classes in academies for training teachers with their 1,616 pupil-teachers; her teachers' institutes and city training classes; and last and greatest of all, her 11,921 public schools free to every child of the State, employing 21,411 teachers, and instructing 1,000,057 children, at a total cost of $11,834,911. The inception of this system was largely the work of the great men whose names appear in the long list of the Board of Regents. To its care the State has committed its institutions for higher education, and through it has distributed the funds which she has given for their aid. The history and statistics of these institutions as given in the following pages are creditable alike to the great State whose liberality and protection have made them possible, and to the board which for a hundred years has rendered to the State its unpaid service of supervision and visitation. ALBANY, August 1, 1885. D. M. |