Old newspapers are always
fascinating. Even when I don’t find the obituary or whatever I’m looking for
(which happens more often than not), I usually turn up something of interest.
Consider the following advertisement for Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio. It ran
on the front page of the Portage County
Democrat, published in Ravenna, Ohio, on January 10, 1872:
Hiram College
Hiram College offers the
student a choice of six courses of study: Biblical, Classical, Scientific,
Ladies’, Teachers’ and Commercial.
TUITION
Common English Branches,
Algebra, Composition
and Natural Philosophy, per term…..$7.00
All other Studies……$10.00
Penmanship (daily
lessons)…..$6.00
Penmanship (complete
course)……$15.00
Complete Commercial
Course…..$20.00
Instrumental Music…..$12.00
Use of instrument one hour
per day…..$2.00
Incidentals…..$1.00
Students in the Commercial
Course can have access to the College classes upon further payment of five
dollars per term.
Calender, 1871-2 [sic]
First Term commences—Tuesday,
August 22, 1871
First Term closes—Friday,
November 17, 1871
Second Term
commences—Tuesday, Dec. 5, 1871
Second Term closes—Friday,
March 1, 1872
Third Term commences—Tuesday,
March 19, 1871 [should be 1872]
Third Term closes with
Commencement day, June 20, 1872
For catalogue or further
information, address B.A. HINSDALE, Pres’t
Hiram, Ohio
I did a quick check using the
Measuring Worth website, and found $10 had the same relative purchasing power
in 1872 as $197 does today. I have a hunch the incoming Class of 2018 would
find that a pretty attractive course fee.
It’s interesting to see the
curriculum offerings, too. I wonder what classes were offered in the Ladies’ course
of study? The fact that Penmanship was listed separately in this little
advertisement suggests it was popular. With the decline of teaching cursive
handwriting in elementary school, will we eventually see Penmanship on college
class schedules again?
 |
| Western Reserve Eclectic Institute at Hiram, Ohio, 1858; from the Hiram College Archives |
Hiram College was founded as
the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute in 1850, and has a proud history of higher education. My father-in-law and at least
three of his ancestors attended Hiram at one time or another. He also has a
family connection by marriage to one of its founders. So the accidental discovery of this little ad might
lead me into a little more investigation.
That’s the fun thing about
newspaper research. You never know what you might find, cranking through the
microfilm on a summer afternoon.
--Shelley
Photo credit: "WREI-Hiram" by Unknown - Hiram College Archives. Via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WREI-Hiram.jpg#mediaviewer/File:WREI-Hiram.jpg
Related Post:
Yeah, Shelley, I'd say $197 would be a real bargain for a year of college now! My daughter happens to attend the same college I graduated from. When I was going there, a year's course of studies ran about $4000 for on-campus students. Now, just the tuition and fees top $40,000--a painful jump over the years!
ReplyDeleteWith three kids going through college, I know just what you mean, Jacqi! Thanks for reading.
ReplyDelete