1852: An Acadia Tragedy Unfolds (Part 3, Jun 2/25)

College exams in June 1852, part 1

Opening the College to the community so they could celebrate the work being done in class was a brilliant move. It attracted money. It attracted students. It got attention. Who made this decision is unclear, but the College did not open to the public in this way until after President Cramp arrived in 1851. Archivist Wendy Robicheau looks at the exams being given on campus, 173 years ago today.

Choosing to acknowledge their past rather than deny it, reports in the Maritime Baptist newspapers delicately conveyed the results of the public anniversary events at Acadia College in June 1852. The Christian Visitor breeched the topic on 11 June 1852, saying

The friends are aware that owing to the temporary suspension and the embarrassments connected therewith which occurred two years since, we have been deprived of a regular graduating class this year, such as is usual in Colleges at the close of each year. The students have none of them completed the regular course of study prescribed to candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The number who have been pursuing their studies for the year, as will be seen by the Report of the officers in another, column has been sixteen. (Anniversary of Acadia College, 162)

Professor Chipman had already announced through the newspapers that the College exams would be held on 2 and 3 June, inviting any available Governors to help oversee the process and insure impartiality. The Christian Messenger reported on 11 June 1852 that the examinations had been conducted “in the presence of the Governors and other friends of the College.” (Acadia College Report of the Studies of the Year Ending June 4, 1852, 186)

On the first day of examinations, the students were tested on Algebra, Latin (for the senior class), Mental Philosophy, and Greek (for the junior class). (Acadia College Anniversary Exercises, June 4, 1852, Christian Messenger, 11 June 1852, 186) The Minutes of the Baptist Convention for 1852 reported on the year’s studies, giving more insight on the classes’ specifics. The Algebra textbook used was Davies’ Bourdan and the Theory of Logarithms. The senior class of Latin read Agricola and Germania as well as parts of Cicero. The Mental Philosophy class studied from Upham’s Treatise on the Intellect. Finally, the junior Greek class read Homer’s Iliad. (Acadia College Report, 19) None of these original textbooks were found in the collections at the Library.

Closer investigation of the John Mockett Cramp Collection in the Vaughan Memorial Library at Acadia University found only one textbook that might have been used by Professor Chipman. The Arcana of Science and Art, published in 1835, includes an index on the inside, back cover that is written in Chipman’s handwriting. How and when he may have used this textbook is only speculative.

In tomorrow’s post, learn about the final day of exams before the public exhibition in 1852.