In preparation for President Thomas LeBlanc’s inauguration set for November 13, 2017 we are hi

In preparation for President Thomas LeBlanc’s inauguration set for November 13, 2017 we are highlighting inaugurations of past GW presidents using materials from the University Archives.  Benaiah Longley Whitman was president of Columbian University (now George Washington University) from 1895 to 1900. He was inaugurated as the 8th president of the university on November 15, 1895. According to the articles in the above picture issues of The Columbian Call, 6,000 people attended his inauguration which was held in Convention Hall. A tin horn sounded down New York avenue and under a street light “were seen a squad of fellows resplendent in orange and blue,” (GW’s colors were orange and blue before they were buff and blue!)  President Whitman had a commanding personality. He was of large figure and his face was impressive with “philosophic calm”. It was natural to him to do things in a large way. He was eminent in scholarship, and his judgments were always characterized by magnanimity. The University grew during his administration, although financial difficulties continued, a condition that was soon to become critical. The student body increased from 1,000 to 1,300, there were many additions to the faculties and many new courses of study. Also during Whitman’s tenure the University Extension Program was established, library science was added to the curriculum, a new law school building was erected, and training of nurses begun at the University’s new hospital (whose new female superintendent was also the first woman to appear on the official faculty list). A special event during this period was the establishment of the School of Comparative Jurisprudence and Diplomacy. President McKinley and his cabinet attended the opening of the new school. Whitman was born in Torbrook, Nova Scotia, November 21, 1862 and he died in Seattle, Washington, November 27, 1911. He graduated from Brown University in the class of 1887, with a B.A. degrees, and received an M.A. degree in 1890. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from Bowdoin College in 1894; the degree of LL.D. from Howard University in 1899, and from Furman University in 1906. He married Mary J. Scott of Newton, Massachusetts, December 6, 1888. He was pastor of the Free Street Baptist Church, Portland, Maine, 1890-92; President of Colby University, 1892-95; President of Columbian, now George Washington University, 1895-1900; pastor of the Fifth Baptist Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1900-07; First Baptist Church, Seattle, Washington, from 1908 until his death in 1911. He was lecturer in Bucknell University, 1900-07; trustee of Newton Theological Institution, 1894-02; of Crozer Theological Seminary, 1901-08; President of the American Baptist Historical Society, 1900-07.  He was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity and of Phi Beta Kappa. His inaugural address at Colby University, Ideals of Education (1892) is available online. He also authored: Elements of Ethics (1893);Elements of Sociology (1894); Elements of Political Science (1899); Outlines of Political History (1900). Learn more about GW Presidents on GWPast  -- source link

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