Thomas W. Goodspeed

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Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed (born September 4, 1842 in Glens Falls , New York , † December 16, 1927 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American Baptist pastor , theological teacher, secretary on the board of directors of the University of Chicago (1890-1913) and registrar of the university of Chicago (1897–1913) and its historian from 1916 to 1927.

Education and Pastor

In 1855 his parents, Stephen Goodspeed and Jane nee. Johnson, to Illinois. They had five sons. Under the influence of the mother, a devout Baptist, two of the sons, Edgar and Thomas, became preachers of this church. Thomas attended schools in Poughkeepsie, New York and Galesburg, Illinois. In 1862 he graduated from the first University of Chicago, founded by donations from Stephen Arnold Douglas . He had followed his debates with Abraham Lincoln with interest. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1863 and was ordained at Rochester Theological Seminary in 1865. In 1866 he received his doctorate with the Doctor of Divinity.

In 1866 he married Mary Ellen Ten Broeke, an organist with whom he had two sons, Charles Ten Broeke (1869–1949) and Edgar Johnson (1871–1962). His first pastor was in Quincy, Massachusetts, where he stayed for five years until 1872.

Chicago and Morgan Park

At the urging of his brother Edgar (1833-1881), who needed support in the Second Baptist Church, Thomas went to see him in Chicago. A year later he became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baptist Union Theological Seminary (BUTS). He quickly became secretary and in 1877 arranged for the Morgan Hall seminary to be moved from the Old University to the new Morgan Park building. Here he founded the Morgan Park Baptist Church and was its pastor from 1876 to 1879. Over the course of over 8 years, Goodspeed managed to raise over $ 250,000 for the establishment of the seminary. In doing so, he made his first connections to rich business people in Chicago, such as B. Marshall Field and John D. Rockefeller in Cleveland, who donated $ 30,000 to the BUTS and served as Vice President on its board of directors. During this time he already corresponded with Rockefeller. E.g. a request from Yale about William Rainey Harper , who had been a teacher at Morgan Park since 1879.

Plans for a new university

In the spring of 1887, the first university finally had to close its doors because the finances were no longer sufficient. It was a severe blow to the Chicago Baptists. So thought a group around Goodspeed, including George C. Walker of the Blue Island Land and Building Company, Frederick A. Smith, President of BUTS, Rev. George W. Northrup, President of the Baptist Theological Union, and E. Nelson Blake, businessman how to rebuild a university. They envisioned a college on their property in Morgan Park. Goodspeed promoted the idea of ​​a large college or university in the Midwest as a place of it-intellectual and light. In late 1887, Harper heard from Dr. Augustus H. Strong, President of the Rochester Theological Seminary, that there was a plan to start a great Baptist university in New York with the generosity of John D. Rockefeller. After Harper was invited to New York to discuss the plans, and he happened to meet Rockefeller again in October 1888, there was still no final decision on the location. Harper immediately informed Goodspeed at Morgan Park, who should advocate Chicago “with all caution” through the Baptist Education Society.

Collaboration with Frederick T. Gates and ABES

In May 1888, the American Baptist Education Society (ABES) was founded in Washington DC at the instigation of Reverend Henry Lyman Morehouse , who headed the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS), which limited itself to the education of African-Americans and Indians. The new organization saw its aim in the upbringing and education of Baptists across the country and now brought together the leaders in the west, south and east. Frederick Taylor Gates , pastor of the Central Baptist Church of Minneapolis, became first secretary. After he had obtained an overview of the state of the educational system of the various churches in comparison to the Baptists and John D. Rockefeller had presented his overview, he too, after long hesitation, came to the conviction that Chicago would be the new location for a well-equipped college should.

Goodspeed as a fundraiser

Despite his disappointment that "only" a college should be built, Harper became a member of the nine-person planning commission in April 1889. In May 1889, the ABES passed the resolution for the construction of a "well-equipped college" - without any indication of further development. Harper knew that he would never run this college and shared his point of view with both Goodspeed and Rockefeller. He stayed at Yale and waited for it to develop.

Gates was finally able to achieve something gratifying: John D. Rockefeller would be willing to donate $ 600,000 if an additional $ 400,000 is committed by other donors by June 1, 1890. Gates traveled enthusiastically to Chicago and began the year-long campaign with Goodspeed to raise funds. Experienced in appeals for donations, Goodspeed left his position at the Morgan Park Seminar and devoted himself solely to raising the $ 400,000 needed. He first reached out to the local Baptist and other religious communities and business people in Chicago. When these appeals didn't make enough money, he extended them all over the West. Finally, on May 23, 1890, he was able to report the total donation of $ 549,000. In addition, he had convinced the Chicago businessman Marshall Field to give the university a piece of land in the south of the city on Hyde Park.

At the new University of Chicago

In his story about the university, Goodspeed neglected the role he played in founding the university. He pays tribute to Harper as the one who convinced Rockefeller to fund the university, while documents show that Rockefeller negotiated with Frederick T. Gates and Goodspeed. The University of Chicago was founded on September 9, 1890. Goodspeed was elected to the board, initially as secretary. He organized the move of the Morgan Park Theological Seminary to the newly built School of Divinity On July 13, 1891, the Baptist Union Theological Seminary became the University's Divinity School of the University, where he was next to President Harper and his brother Robert Francis Harper also taught. However, he also worked as an unofficial managing director and chancellor, did public relations and continued to run fundraising and was a registrar.

When the American Baptist Education Society (ABES) was merged into the General Education Board (GEB) founded by John D. Rockefeller in 1903, Frederick Taylor Gates became managing director and was commissioned by Rockefeller with the allocation of donations. Even now, Gates worked closely with Goodspeed to build the university.

Goodspeed celebrated the university's five and ten year anniversaries with President Harper and its 25th anniversary during World War I in 1916 with President Judson .

"The Baptist denomination and the University of Chicago owe a debt to Dr. Goodspeed beyond computation. It was to his vigor and indefatigable courage that the Theological Seminary owed its steady development in resources, and it was to him also that we, to whom the Morgan Park Seminary is only a memory, owe so much, not only for the prosperity of the Divinity School, but for the very foundation of the present University itself. "

“The Baptist Church and the University of Chicago owe an invaluable debt to Dr. Goodspeeds. It is to his strength and tireless courage that the Theological Seminary owes its steady development in resources, and it was he to whom we - to whom the Morgan Park Seminary is only a memory - owe so much, not only for the prosperity of the Divinity School, but for them Founding of today's university itself. "

- Shailor Mathews : The quarter-centennial celebrations of the University of Chicago, June 2 to 6, 1916

Goodspeed retired in 1912. Rockefeller had made its final $ 10 million donation and the university was finally on its own. President Harry Pratt Judson asked him to remain an honorary director and to record the biographies of the university's founders. He spent the summers in his rustic home in the Wisconsin woods, writing the biography of William Rainey Harper and the history of the university. In early December 1927 he suffered a stroke, so that his son Edgar Johnson had to finish the last two chapters of his biography on William Rainey Harper.

Works

literature

  • Charles Ten Broeke Goodspeed: Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed . The University of Chicago press 1932. Facsimili reprint Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (September 2010) ISBN 978-1-163-13897-7 .
  • Kenneth W. Rose: John D. Rockefeller, The American Baptist Education Society and the Growth of Baptist Higher Education in the Midwest .
  • William H. Brackney: The A to Z of the Baptists . Publisher: Scarecrow Pr. Inc. 2009 ISBN 978-0-8108-7158-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edgar J. Goodspeed: Ten Years with the Second Baptist Chuch of Chicago. Lakeside Publishing, Chicago 1875
  2. ↑ Morgan Park ( Memento of the original from July 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bapa.org
  3. ^ Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed: William Rainey Harper, page 57 ff.
  4. ^ A City Builds a University - The University of Chicago Centennial Catalogs
  5. ^ Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed: William Rainey Harper, page 83 ff.
  6. ^ Description by Rev. Moorhouse in: Thomas W. Goodspeed: History of University of Chicago. Page 40.
  7. ^ Description of the calls for donations in: Thomas W. Goodspeed: "A History of the University of Chicago", page 76 ff.
  8. ↑ Adoption of Gates' resolutions on July 9, 1890, in Thomas W. Goodspeed, “A History of the University of Chicago,” 480
  9. ^ Agreement between the Baptist Theological Union, the University of Chicago, and John D. Rockefeller of June 1891 on the School of Divinity in: Thomas W. Goodspeed, "A History of the University of Chicago," pp. 483-84
  10. ^ Report of The Registrar TW Goodspeed in: University of Chicago Decennial Publication. First Series, Volume I, The University of Chicago Press 1903
  11. ^ General Education Board Archives at the Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York.
  12. ^ David Allan Robertson: The quarter-centennial celebrations of the University of Chicago, June 2 to 6, 1916. The University of Chicago Press 1918, p. 123
personal data
SURNAME Goodspeed, Thomas W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Goodspeed, Thomas Wakefield (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American theologian (Baptist), founding member of the University of Chicago
DATE OF BIRTH September 4, 1842
PLACE OF BIRTH Glens Falls , New York
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1927
Place of death Chicago , Illinois