Butler Era Timeline, 1902 - 1945
[Under Construction]

The Butler Imperium
1902 -- 1945

1902

January 6 -- Trustees unanimously elect 39-year-old Nicholas Murray Butler as Columbia's 12th president (to serve until 1945)

April 19 -- Nicholas Murray Butler inaugurated; President Theodore Roosevelt in attendance

1903

University acquires land south of 116th St. to 114th St. ("South Field') for $1,800,000

1904

Olivia and Caroline Phelps Stokes pledge $200,000 for the construction of St. Paul's Chapel; first of the buildings in McKim's plan not to be designed by McKim or his firm John Mead Howells as architect; building completed in 1906.

Ground broken for two undergraduate dormitories, Hartley Hall and Livingston Hall, on eastern side of the newly acquired South Field.

Mining magnate Adolph Lewisohn offered $250,000 to build School of Mines (now Lewisohn). if University would use Lewisohn's choice, Arnold W. Brunner, as architect.

1905

Anonymous bequest of $500,000 [from John Stewart Kennedy] to support the construction of College Hall/Hamilton Hall; to be located on the south side of 116th Street, adjacent to the two undergraduate dormitories [Livingston and Hartley] under construction

President Butler changed procedures for choosing deans of the various faculties from election by faculty colleagues to appointment by Trustees/President 

1906

1907

Hamilton Hall construction begun; to be home of Columbia College; on southwest corner of 116th Street

1908

Columbia College approves a Bachelor of Science dgree as alternative to the Classics-oriented AB degree

1909

Columbia's principal architect, Charles Follen McKim, died; McKim, Mead & White less involved in subsequent Columbia construction

President Butler created new position of Dean of Graduate Faculties; John W. Burgess named to position

1910

Kent Hall completed as the main building of the Law School and the Faculty of Political Science; located on northwest corner of  116th Street, across from Hamilton Hall.

University acquires land to east of campus between 116th and 117th Streets (East Field/Campus) for $1,000,000; much of the funding from William Vanderbilt;  initially thought to be future site for the Medical School. (Medical School subsequently moved from 59th Street and Tenth Avenue to 168th Street in 1925)

Secretary of the University Frederick Keppel (C 1898) named 3rd Dean of Columbia College upon retirement of Van Amringe; remained Dean of the College until 1917

Professor of Psychology J. McKeen Cattell criticizes University policies relating to salaries for junior faculty; Butler rebukes him

1911

Avery and Philosophy Halls completed; Avery inboard (to west) of Fayerweather; Philosophy parallel with (and south of0 Fayerweather

Hamilton Hall opens as the new home of Columbia College; located on southeast corner of 116th Street and Amsterdam

Construction of President's House underway; corner of Morningside Drive and 116th Street

1912

President Butler revives position of Provost (vacate since 1816) and appoints Professor of German William Henry Carpenter to position

1913

Using earlier bequest of Joseph Pulitzer, Journalism Building completed; located on southwestern corner of 116th Street and pendant of Hamilton Hall to the east.

Psychology Professor J. McKeen Cattell edits and published book on University Control; openly critical of Columbia administration' Trustee Francis S. Bangs calls for Cattell's involuntary retirement; faculty support for Cattell prompts Trustees to back off

1914

August -- War breaks out in Europe, involving most European powers; United States adopts policy of neutrality

September 23 -- President Butler condemns upsurge in militarism; blames war in Europe on "kings and cabinets"

1915

February -- Columbia College Dean Keppel opposed introduction of student military training

May -- Professor of Sociology Franklin Giddings denounces US neutrality; calls for American intervention on side of british and French; retired John W. Burgess sympathetic to the German cause

1916

Columbia College drops reading knowledge of Latin as entrance requirement; remaining requirements could be met by attendance at a public high school

1917

January -- Historian Carleton J. H. Hayes opposes student military training and urges continuation of American neutrality; Historians James Harvey Robinson, Robert L. Schuyler and psychologist Edward L. Thorndike openly critical of German policies

January 10 -- Professor Cattell circulates memorandum critical of various presidential initiatives; his doing so infuriates President Butler and embarrasses many senior faculty heretofore protective of him

February 1 -- Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare in Atlantic

February 6 -- President Butler calls for US intervention against Germany; informs president Wilson of Columbia's readiness to support a declaration of war against Germany

February 22 -- President Butler defends historian David Muzzey against alumnus criticism of his anti-interventionist views

March 5 -- Trustees vote to force Cattell into retirement  and deny him a pension; seek support in their action from senior faculty on "Committee of Nine"; launch inquiry into the political views of Columbia facultyl

Spring -- Professor of English John Erskine (CC 1899; PhD 1903) proposes a two-year course for Columbia College upperclassmen in "Classics of Western Civilization" to be read in English (later called his "Great Books" course); encounters stiff faculty opposition

April 2 -- President Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war against Germany; Congress decalres war four days later

May 8 -- Professor H.W.L. Dana and Assistant Professor of Economics Henry R. Mussey attend anti-war protest rally; Trustees informed of their action

June 6 -- President Butler declares in his Commencement Address apropos of faculty sentiment against intervention, "What had been wrongheadedness was now sedition."

June 20 -- President Butler asserts Trustees' right to remove a professor without charges being brought, stating that "any contrary theory assumes a pre-established harmony of which not even Liebnitz dreamed."

Summer -- Columbia alumnus Randoplh Bourne (MA 1913) and Columbia Professor of Philosophydebate the merits of American entry into the war in the pages of the New Republic and Seven Arts

July -- Professor Cattell publicly defended his son's involvement in anti-war protests; president Butler considered his doing so in violation of Butler's directing Columbia faculty not to speak against the war

September -- Columbia College introduces a "War Issues" course to all freshmen; championed by Dean of Graduate Faculties Frederick J. F. Woodbridge; was forerunner of post-war "Contemporary Civilization" and the "Columbia Core" generally

September --  President Butler calls for the dismissal of  Professor H.W.L. Dana for participation in anti-war protests

October 1 -- Trustees dismissed Cattell without waiting for faculty view; decision questioned by many faculty

October 8 -- Professor Charles A. Beard resigned his Columbia professorship to protest firing of Dana and Cattell

Professor of Mathematics Herbert E. Hawkes named 4th Dean of Columbia College

1918

About one-third of Columbia College curriculum required in the first two years; other two-thirds consist of electives

1919

Columbia College adopts a year-long course in "Contemporary Civilization" ("CCA"); met five times a week and required of all freshmen

Erskine resubmits "Great Books" course proposal as a co-taught "General Honors" seminar for interested upperclassmen; to emphasize student discussion; first teachers include Erskine, Mortimer Adler, Mark van Doren, Irwin Edman and Clifton Fadiman

President Butler outlines extensive building program for the University

1920

1921

1922

1923

School of Business building (now Dodge Hall) construction begun on northwestern corner of 116th Street; also housed University Extension; completed in 1924  at cost of over $1,000,000; included McMillin Theater (now Miller Theatre)

1924

1925

January 31 -- Ground broken for Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center at 168th Street in Fort Washington;
Same day ground broken for Johnspon Hall (now Wien), Columbia's first women's dormitory.

Baker Field completed on upper tip of Manhattan; land provided by George baker some years earlier specifically for Columbia's use as athletics fields.

Cornerstone of Chandler Hall laid; building located north of Mathematics on northwest corner of Broadway and 120th Street.

John Jay Hall under construction; a men's dormitory on on southeast corner of 116th St. and Amsterdam

1926

Casa Italiana construction underway; designed by William Kendall and built by Joseph Paterno; located across Amsterdam on East Field; opposite the apse of St. Paul's Chapel; only building on campus beside Low Library to be faced in limestone

Medical Center under construction at 168th Street; principal funding from Edward S. Harkness

1927

Pupin Hall under construction; located east of Chandler with back to 120th Street

1928

Schermerhorn Extension under construction; to serve the biological sciences; located with back to 120th Street, the eastern pendant of Chandler Hall

1929

Professor John Erskine. leader in the College's core curriculum movement, resigned from columbia; later became president of the Juilliard School

Columbia College makes a second year of Contemporary Civilization ("CC B") required of all sophomores; course focussed on "the character of the present"

1930

1931

New Library Building underway, partially funded by $3,000,000 gift from Edward S. Harkness; backside on 114th Street; front encloses the southern opening of the campus; last large building project undertaken by Columbia until after World War Two

1932

1933

January 13 -- Trustees elect F. Coykendall Chairman of the Board of Trustees

June 4 -- Columbia's 179th Commencement

June 16 -- Thomas E. Watson, head of IBM, elected to Board of Trustees

July 4 -- Rokefeller Center lease extended 30 years to 1962

1934

November -- Columbia Spectator Editor James Wechsler (CC 1936?) critical of Columbia authorities

December -- South Hall Library officially opened for use

Casa Italiana attacked in The Nation  as center of Fascist propaganda  

Columbia Yacht Club evicted from its Hudson River site by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses

1935

April -- Proposed student strike to protest rearmament opposed by President Butler

1936

1937

Columbia College introduced a year-long Humanities course (Humanities "A"), using many of the books Erskine had used in his Honors Course, and required it of all freshmen. A second year Humanities course (Humanities "B"), which focused on music and art, was offered as a sophomore option.

1938

College now had one-half of the freshman and sophomore curriculum required; the other half consisted of taking electives to meet other College requirements

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

History Professor Harry Carman appointed 5th Dean of Columbia College; succeeds the retiring Herbert Hawkes; Carman to serve as Dean until 1950

1944

1945

1946