James Burrill Angell (January 7, 1829 – April 1, 1916) was an American educator and diplomat. He is best known for being the
longest-serving president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, from 1871 to 1909. He represented the transition from small college life to nationally oriented universities. Under his energetic leadership, Michigan gained prominence as an elite public university. Angell is often cited by school administrators for providing the vision that the university should provide "an uncommon education for the common man." Angell was also president of the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...
from 1866 to 1871 and helped that small school recover from its financial difficulties brought on by the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
. Throughout the war, he was the editor of ''
The Providence Journal
''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...
'' and was a consistent vocal supporter of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
.
Angell served in diplomatic posts as America's minister to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
from 1880 to 1881 and then to the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
from 1897 to 1898. On his mission to China, he was the primary American negotiator of the
Angell Treaty of 1880 that curtailed the
emigration of laborers to the United States, as well as a second treaty restricting the trade in opium. In the Ottoman Empire, he was responsible for the protection of American missionaries during the unrest following the
massacre of Armenians. Angell was a member of a prominent Yankee family in
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, and many of his descendants became senior academics.
Early life
James Burrill Angell was born January 7, 1829, in
Scituate, Rhode Island, the eldest of eight children of Andrew Aldrich Angell and Amy Aldrich, who themselves were distantly related; he was named after a former senator,
James Burrill. The Angells had been a prominent family in and around
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...
, since its founding in 1636 by
Roger Williams
Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantatio ...
and his companion
Thomas Angell. Though scant, there is evidence suggesting Thomas Angell's ancestors were relations of
Henry I of England
Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...
.
Thomas Angell's grandson had settled the farm where James was born in 1710, the same year he founded the
Angell Tavern, where Scituate's leaders held town meetings after its incorporation in 1730, and where men such as
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
,
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...
, and the
Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
stayed during the
Revolutionary War. Angell's grandfather built an inn on the site in 1810, and Angell credited his boyhood interaction with the travelers who passed through for some of his later success, saying, "... the knowledge of men I gained by the observations and experiences of my boyhood in the country tavern has been of the greatest service. ... The eminent political speakers were always entertained at our table, and some of them were very helpful friends in my later life." The building burned down in 1862, and the land was later submerged during the creation of the
Scituate Reservoir.
Education
Angell attended the local school until the age of eight, when his parents placed him with a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
tutor who taught him
arithmetic
Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...
and
surveying
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...
. At twelve, he left home to attend a
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...
in
Seekonk, Massachusetts
Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Massachusetts border with Rhode Island. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 15,531 at the 2020 census. Until 1862, the town o ...
, in order to study
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, but after one term went to study at the
Smithville Seminary
The Smithville Seminary was a Freewill Baptist institution established in 1839 on what is now Institute Lane in Smithville-North Scituate, Rhode Island. Renamed the Lapham Institute in 1863, it closed in 1876. The site was then used as the campus ...
, where he stayed until the age of fourteen. Unsure what career path to take, he had worked on the family farm for two summers, and also unsuccessfully attempted to find clerk jobs with Providence businesses. When his father informed him that he had the financial means to pay for college, Angell decided to attend
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
. A year too young to enroll, he went first to University Grammar School in Providence, where one of his instructors was
Henry S. Frieze, who would later serve as acting president of the University of Michigan while Angell was abroad on diplomatic assignments.
In 1845, Angell began studying at Brown, which had a total of seven instructors on the faculty at the time. He graduated in 1849 and obtained part-time jobs working as an assistant
librarian
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...
at the university and tutoring a boy whose eyesight prevented him from reading. In 1850, Angell came down with a cold and sore throat, but he refused to give his throat any rest from the daily exertion of reading aloud to his pupil. The resultant damage to his throat made extended speaking difficult for the rest of his life.
Travels
While Angell was recuperating, the father of his friend
Rowland Hazard II Rowland may refer to:
Places
;in the United States
* Rowland Heights, California, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County
* Rowland, Kentucky, an unincorporated community
*Rowland Township, Michigan
* Rowland, Missouri, an unincorporated ...
, whose own grandson
Rowland Hazard III
Rowland Hazard III (October 29, 1881 – December 20, 1945) was an American businessman and member of a prominent Rhode Island family involved in the foundation and executive leadership of a number of well-known companies. He is also known as ...
would later be instrumental in the formation of
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
, suggested that Angell accompany Hazard on an upcoming winter tour of the South he was undertaking to help alleviate a lung ailment. The trip, which began on October 5, 1850, lasted seven and a half months and took Angell and Hazard throughout much of the South. The young men were introduced to the realities of
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, including a whipping and a slave auction that Angell called "the most repulsive and disgusting spectacle we had ever seen".
Upon his return, Angell had planned to attend
Andover Theological Seminary and take up a career as a minister. A throat specialist, however, advised him to avoid any work that would require extended public speaking, and he instead found work in the office of
Ellis S. Chesbrough
Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough (1813–1886) was an engineer credited with the design of the Chicago sewer system, which are sometimes known as the 'Chesbrough sewers'. This was the first comprehensive sewer system in the United States. He is responsi ...
, the city engineer of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. His brief tenure there ended when his friend Rowland Hazard, still suffering from lung ailments, invited him on another trip, this time to Europe. The pair traveled first to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, arriving just three weeks after
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte had staged a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
, then later to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. While in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, he received a letter from
Francis Wayland
Francis Wayland (March 11, 1796 – September 30, 1865), was an American Baptist minister, educator and economist. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washington ...
, the president of Brown University, offering him a choice of jobs as chairman of either the Civil Engineering or Modern Language Department, with a year and a half of continued study in Europe. He chose the latter, and went to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
for several months to study
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, then to
Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
to study
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, finally returning home in the summer of 1853.
Professor and editor
When Angell began his tenure as chair of the modern languages department at Brown University, President Wayland was in the midst of reorganizing the university away from its traditional roots. Additional study was offered in areas such as modern languages and engineering, Angell's own areas of interest, and students were given greater freedom to choose elective courses. Extension classes were initiated to bring instruction to the wider community, and Angell gave lectures on his experiences in Europe and on the topic of education. Among his own students, Angell singled out as especially memorable two future U.S.
Secretaries of State,
Richard Olney and
John Hay
John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was U ...
.
On November 26, 1855, Angell married Sarah Swoope Caswell, the daughter of
Alexis Caswell, who was then a professor at Brown and became its president in 1868. Sarah's family was also long-established in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, and she was a direct descendant of
Peregrine White
Peregrine White ( 20 November 162020 July 1704) was the first
baby boy born on the Pilgrim ship the ''Mayflower'' in the harbour of Massachusetts, the second baby born on the ''Mayflower''s historic voyage, and the first known English child bo ...
, the first baby born in
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...
. The couple had a son,
Alexis C. Angell, on April 26, 1857.
Wayland grew frustrated with a lack of funding for his reforms and resigned as president in 1855, and his successor,
Barnas Sears
Barnas Sears (November 19, 1802 – July 6, 1880) was an American educational theorist and Baptist theologian.
Biography
Sears graduated from Brown University in 1825 and from Newton Theological Institution in 1827. For a short time, he served ...
, reversed many of the reforms. The study of modern languages was de-emphasized, leaving Angell unsatisfied with teaching duties that were now limited to only one-year courses. He began writing articles for ''
The Providence Journal
''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...
'' starting in 1854 and took over full responsibility for the editorial pages in 1859. After the editor and part-owner,
Henry B. Anthony
Henry Bowen Anthony (April 1, 1815 – September 2, 1884) was a United States newspaperman and political figure. He served as editor and was later part owner of the ''Providence Journal''. He was the 21st Governor of Rhode Island, serving betwee ...
, was elected to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and po ...
in 1858, he proposed that Angell replace him as editor. Angell resigned his professorship in 1860 to become the full-time editor of the paper.
Angell allied himself with the radical wing of the new
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
* Republican Party (Liberia)
*Republican Party ...
, and lent the paper's backing to the 1860 gubernatorial candidacy of
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
Republican nominee
Seth Padelford, which failed when a coalition concerned about the economic effects of angering the South instead led to the election of fellow Republican
William Sprague. In the presidential contest, Angell felt that Rhode Island's interests would be best served by the nomination of staunch abolitionist
William H. Seward as the Republican candidate. But when the somewhat more moderate
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
was nominated, he put the power of the ''Journal'' behind Lincoln's candidacy, publishing favorable letters from his former pupil John Hay, who was by then working in Lincoln's law offices. In the end, Lincoln carried Rhode Island, 61.4% to 38.6%.
Angell ran the ''Journal'' for the entire
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
, and briefly considered buying it to run as a non-partisan newspaper (an idea which Senator Anthony rejected), but the workload took its toll on his health. In August 1866, when the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...
requested that he come serve as its new president, he accepted the offer and moved to
Burlington.
University of Vermont
The Civil War had depleted the University of Vermont of students and the funds that came with them. When he assumed the presidency in 1866, Angell's primary responsibility was to improve both the size of the student body and the university's finances. He oversaw the integration of a state agricultural college formed following passage of the
Morrill Act in 1862, which had introduced
land-grant colleges
A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.
Signed by Abraha ...
in the United States. This effort faced resistance both from classicists worried about the influence of the new college on the quality of education and from farmers who doubted the university curriculum had much to offer them, but Angell was able to build enough trust between the groups that the integration went forward, and both the finances and enrollment began to recover; the latter grew from 31 in 1866 to 67 in 1870.
Angell traveled to state and county fairs around Vermont to attract publicity for the university and his fundraising efforts, and also secured donations from prominent alumni such as
Henry J. Raymond, founder of ''The New York Times'', and Congressman
Thaddeus Stevens
Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792August 11, 1868) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, one of the leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the Republican Party during the 1860s. A fierce opponent of sla ...
. Due to a lack of funds to hire professors, he personally taught the university's courses in history, rhetoric, German, and international law.
On May 8, 1869, the Angells had another son,
James Rowland Angell
James Rowland Angell (; May 8, 1869 – March 4, 1949) was an American psychologist and educator who served as the 16th President of Yale University between 1921 and 1937. His father, James Burrill Angell (1829–1916), was president of the Un ...
, who later served as president of
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
. On September 3 of that year, the University of Michigan offered Angell its presidency, following the resignation of
Erastus Haven that June. He visited
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
with his wife, but he felt that he had a duty to complete his work at the University of Vermont and declined the offer. Michigan repeated the offer in 1871, his former teacher Henry S. Frieze having served as acting president while the
regents searched for a permanent president. This time, Angell felt that the University of Vermont had made enough progress that he could leave it in good conscience, and he accepted the offer. He made a trip to Ann Arbor to deliver his inaugural address at Commencement on June 28, 1871, then returned to Vermont to complete the academic term before moving his family to Ann Arbor in September of that year.
University of Michigan
When Angell took over as the third president of the University of Michigan in 1871, it was the largest university in the country, with 1,207 students, 35 faculty members, and an annual budget of $104,000. But it was still more a collection of colleges than an expression of the "German model" of university that had been envisioned by its first two presidents,
Henry Philip Tappan
Henry Philip Tappan (April 18, 1805 – November 15, 1881) was an American philosopher, educator and academic administrator. He is officially considered the first president of the University of Michigan.The University of Michigan was establ ...
and the recently departed Haven. Over the next 38 years, Angell oversaw growth and innovation that led to him being called "the chief architect of the modern state university".
Unlike Tappan, Angell did not have an overriding vision of the future of education,
but he introduced several changes early in his tenure, establishing a scientific course that no longer required Greek, dropping classics from the English course, and greatly expanding the number of elective courses. Michigan had begun admitting women the year before Angell arrived, one of the first large schools to do so, and Angell pushed for its continuation and became known as an advocate for
coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
for the rest of his career. Angell felt it was important for a president to teach courses, and he taught
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
during his entire term.
Controversies
Angell's first decade in Ann Arbor was marked by several controversies. One involved his expressions of
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
piety in the course of official business, which drew criticism as aligning the state-funded university too closely with his personal faith.
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
resident Stephen B. McCracken lodged a complaint in 1873 that said such Christian—and specifically Protestant—favoritism violated the state constitution, to the detriment of Catholics, Jews, spiritualists, and free thinkers. A
state senate committee investigated and ultimately cleared Angell and the university, concluding that "the teachings of the university are those of a liberal and enlightened Christianity, in the general, highest and best use of the term." Angell recognized the need to make the Christian spirit he wished to cultivate more voluntary and less explicitly Protestant, first by dropping compulsory chapel attendance, then by hiring the university's first
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
faculty member,
Eugene W. Hilgard
Eugene Woldemar Hilgard (January 5, 1833, Zweibrücken, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany – January 8, 1916, Berkeley, California, United States) was a German-American expert on pedology (the study of soil resources). An authority on climate as a ...
.
The question of whether
homeopathic medicine
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dise ...
should be taught at the university had been debated for decades before Angell's arrival, and in 1873 the legislature passed a law appointing two professors of homeopathy in the medical school, despite the testimony of Angell and others that doing so would be a great mistake that might ultimately kill the entire department due to the hostility of the medical faculty towards homeopathy. The regents refused to appoint the professors, saying it was impossible to teach both types of medicine in a single department but they would establish a separate school to teach homeopathy if the legislature funded it. Funding for a separate school was provided in 1875, and the School of Homeopathy was created. In spite of his earlier opposition, Angell worked to find qualified professors and to ensure the school provided the best possible instruction, and it coexisted with the medical school until it was closed in 1922.
In October 1875, an audit of student laboratory fees in the chemistry department found a shortfall of $831.10, attributable to one of two professors, Silas H. Douglas or Preston B. Rose. Rose at first mortgaged his house to make up the difference, but later Douglas was also found to be responsible. Charges and countercharges were made among the two men, various regents, and President Angell. Douglas was
Episcopalian
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
and Rose was
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
, and their fellow churchmen joined in a bitter public debate over who was to blame. A two-month investigation by the state legislature produced a 740-page report, and the case ultimately went to the Michigan Supreme Court, where Douglas won a judgment against the university in 1881. One historian wrote that "no one who examines the voluminous records of the struggle ... can doubt that the University would have been a far stronger institution ... had there been no Douglas-Rose controversy". The six-year fight affected Angell as well, with one professor saying he "was never quite the same" afterwards.
Growth of the university
During his tenure at Michigan, the faculty size grew from 35 to about 400; the student body from 1,100 to over 5,000; the annual budget from $104,000 to over $1,000,000. The following schools or colleges were founded during his tenure: Dentistry, Pharmacy, Music, Nursing, and Architecture & Urban Planning.
Concerned about the growing role of professionalism in collegiate sports and a loss of control by faculties over athletics on campus, Angell called for a meeting in 1906 of the presidents of the members of the
Western Conference (now the Big Ten). At the
Angell Conference, the presidents agreed to restrictions on the number of games, years of student eligibility, and ticket prices. An additional rule targeted Michigan football coach
Fielding H. Yost's considerable outside income by requiring coaches be full-time employees of the university. In spite of Angell's efforts to institute more control, Yost convinced a majority of the regents to support him, and Michigan left the athletic conference for nearly a decade rather than abide by the new rules.
Diplomatic posts
Angell put his academic career on hold at several points in order to carry out a variety of diplomatic assignments, including serving as minister to the
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
in China and the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
as well as negotiating maritime treaties with Britain and Canada. He remained president of the University of Michigan throughout, but took leaves of absence with acting presidents managing in his place.
Minister to China
In February 1880, Secretary of State
William M. Evarts
William Maxwell Evarts (February 6, 1818February 28, 1901) was an American lawyer and statesman from New York who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York. He was renowned for his skills as a litig ...
asked Angell to go to China to negotiate changes to the
Burlingame Treaty that would reduce the flow of Chinese immigrants into the Pacific United States. Angell was nominated by
President Hayes, confirmed by the Senate as
minister to China and chairman of the treaty commission on April 9, 1880. Angell left for
Peking that June with fellow commissioners
John F. Swift and
William Henry Trescot
William Henry Trescot (November 10, 1822May 4, 1898) was a Charleston lawyer, historian, and diplomat born in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 10, 1822. He graduated at College of Charleston in 1840, studied law at Harvard University, an ...
, and presented his credentials on August 16, succeeding
George Seward.
Henry S. Frieze was appointed acting president of the University of Michigan in his absence.
The commission negotiated two treaties. The first, formally called the Treaty Regulating Immigration from China and dubbed by historians as the
Angell Treaty of 1880, allowed the U.S. to regulate and limit the immigration of Chinese laborers, but not to prohibit it outright. The second was a trade treaty that outlawed the trade of
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy '' Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which ...
and set tonnage dues and tariffs to be the same for both nations. The treaties, collectively, were signed on November 17, 1880, and the other commissioners returned home, leaving Angell in China to fulfill his duties as minister. After a year, he decided to return to academia and left China on October 4, 1881, taking a trip through Europe and returning to Ann Arbor on February 24, 1882. Angell was succeeded in his post by
John Russell Young.
Most of the provisions that the Angell Treaty had secured were negated by the
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplo ...
of 1882 and the
Scott Act of 1888, which placed much stricter bans on Chinese immigration.
Maritime commissions
In the fall of 1887,
President Cleveland appointed Angell to a three-man commission, along with
William L. Putnam and Secretary of State
Thomas F. Bayard
Thomas Francis Bayard (October 29, 1828 – September 28, 1898) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from Wilmington, Delaware. A Democrat, he served three terms as United States Senator from Delaware and made three unsuccessful bids ...
, to negotiate with the
British government regarding fishing rights off the coast of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, which had been a source of misunderstanding between Canada and the U.S. since they were first agreed to in the
Treaty of 1818
The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, is an international treaty signed in 1818 betw ...
. The results of these negotiations, the
Bayard-Chamberlain Treaty
Thomas Francis Bayard (October 29, 1828 – September 28, 1898) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from Wilmington, Delaware. A Democrat, he served three terms as United States Senator from Delaware and made three unsuccessful bid ...
, was signed on February 15, 1888, but subsequently failed ratification in the U.S. Senate, whose Republican majority had objected to the formation of the commission in the first place.
On November 4, 1895, President Cleveland appointed Angell to the
Deep Waterways Commission, along with
John E. Russell and
Lyman E. Cooley. The commission, created by Congress, was to negotiate an agreement between the U.S. and Canada regarding the creation of a waterway to allow ocean-going traffic between the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
and the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. They undertook a feasibility study and forwarded proposals for further appropriations to Congress, but little was done, and it was not until 1959 that the
St. Lawrence Seaway finally opened.
Minister to the Ottoman Empire
President McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
asked Angell to serve as
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Ottoman Empire in April 1897, and he agreed on the condition he could return home after a year if he wished. Angell's nomination encountered brief opposition from
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, first because of reports that he had accused
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
of fomenting unrest in the region, and then because Sultan
Abdul Hamid II
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
had confused Angell's
Congregationalist faith with the
Congregation of Jesuits, of whom he had a poor opinion. These objections were resolved by Angell's denial of the former report and clarification to the Sultan on the latter misunderstanding; the Senate confirmed him and he sailed to Europe on the
SS ''Normandie'' in July, then on to Constantinople, where he presented his credentials to the Sultan on September 3, succeeding
Alexander W. Terrell. The University of Michigan regents appointed
Harry Burns Hutchins acting president in his absence, through October 1898.
The pressing issue facing Angell in the Ottoman Empire was the protection of American missionaries during the unrest following the
massacre of Armenians that had been carried out over the previous two years, as well as compensation for damage to their properties they claimed were caused by both the deliberate actions and the inaction of Turkish forces. He was mostly unsuccessful on this front, except for negotiating a $50,000 surcharge on a warship the Ottoman Empire was purchasing from an American firm, with the understanding that this would be used to resolve the claims of damages (and which was eventually paid in 1901). Angell blamed this failure in part on the outbreak of the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
causing American naval ships to leave the area and remove pressure on the Sultan.
Angell and his wife toured the Middle East from January to March 1898, visiting
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...
,
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
,
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
,
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, and
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...
. President McKinley was disturbed by a request from Angell to send American warships to "rattle the Sultan's windows"; he feared it would lead to an event like the sinking of the
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
, and approached
Oscar S. Straus
Oscar Solomon Straus (December 23, 1850 – May 3, 1926) was an American politician and diplomat. He served as United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1906 to 1909, making him the first Jewish United ...
about taking over the post. Angell himself was becoming discouraged by his inability to win concessions from the Turkish government and submitted his resignation in May. He had his final audience with the Sultan on August 5 and left his post on August 13, traveling home by way of
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
, Italy,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, and France.
Later years
Angell's wife, Sarah Caswell Angell, died on December 17, 1903. In 1905, Angell submitted his resignation to the Board of Regents, feeling that at his age, he may be losing the qualifications for his position, but the board refused to accept it. By 1909, he had been in office for 38 years and this time the Regents accepted his resignation. .
Angell's health began to decline while on a tour of Europe in the summer of 1911, when he suffered a stroke of paralysis in Germany following an exhausting excursion to Russia. He recovered sufficiently to return to Ann Arbor within a month, but his lingering weakness was blamed for a bout of pneumonia in September 1913. On January 24, 1916, he had a stroke that affected his eyesight, leaving him unable to read, and he grew weaker until he contracted pneumonia again. He died a few days later, April 1, 1916, and was buried in
Forest Hill Cemetery on April 3, with a line of university students formed on each side of the streets as his funeral cortege traveled through Ann Arbor.
Legacy
Angell's historic legacy is based on the transition of Michigan from a small local state college to a major national University featuring state-of-the-art research. He was a transitional figure, maintaining the small-college paternalistic interest in the welfare of individual students, and endorsing the traditional small-college mission to promote civility and character building. He introduced a broader mission including admission by merit; coeducation; teaching large classes by lecture; and an increasing emphasis on graduate studies. He introduced a broad curriculum ranging from the humanities to the social sciences, sciences and engineering, as well as traditional and modern professional fields. He appealed to the Michigan public for financial support, and provided a model that was followed by other ambitious university presidents. His moderation, natural tact, and political astuteness strengthened his leadership role, and his diverse background in foreign languages, literature, civil engineering, and newspaper work facilitated his approaches to every major interest group in the state. However, Angell was not as dynamic or innovative as the younger generation such as
Charles W. Eliot,
Daniel Coit Gilman, and
William Rainey Harper
William Rainey Harper (July 24, 1856 – January 10, 1906) was an American academic leader, an accomplished semiticist, and Baptist clergyman. Harper helped to establish both the University of Chicago and Bradley University and served as the ...
. By 1909 he was obsolete in terms of the state-of-the-art in world-class universities, and was even accused of provincialism, inbreeding, and complacency.
Notable descendants and relatives
A number of James Angell's descendants and near relatives rose to prominence in their respective fields, largely also in academia:
* Son
James Rowland Angell
James Rowland Angell (; May 8, 1869 – March 4, 1949) was an American psychologist and educator who served as the 16th President of Yale University between 1921 and 1937. His father, James Burrill Angell (1829–1916), was president of the Un ...
was president of
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
.
* Son
Alexis C. Angell was a
Michigan Law School professor and U.S.
District Judge.
** Grandson
Robert Cooley Angell was chair of the sociology department at the University of Michigan and president of the
American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...
.
* Nephew
Frank Angell
Frank Angell (July 8, 1857 – November 2, 1939) was an early American psychologist and the former athletic director at Stanford University.
Biography
Angell was born in 1857 in Scituate, Rhode Island. He graduated from the University of Verm ...
was a psychologist at Cornell and Stanford universities.
* Son-in-law
Andrew McLaughlin
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derive ...
, married to Angell's daughter Lois (b. 1863), was a
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...
-winning historian.
** Granddaughter
Constance Green was also a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian.
** Grandson
James Angell MacLachlan was a
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each c ...
professor.
Honors and appointments
* Elected an associate fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1868.
* Elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...
in 1890.
* Served as president of the
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
from 1892 to 1893.
* Honorary
Doctor of Law degrees from Brown University (1868),
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
(1887),
Rutgers College
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
(1896),
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
(1896),
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
(1901),
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
(1902),
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
(1904),
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...
(1904),
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
(1906), University of Michigan (1908), and
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
(1909).
*Regent of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...
from January 19, 1887, to January 15, 1912.
* Awarded the First Class of the
Order of the Sacred Treasure
The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest tw ...
by
Emperor Meiji
, also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...
in October 1909 for service to Japanese students.
* Inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2008.
Commemoration
*
Angell Hall
Angell Hall is an academic building at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, United States. It was previously connected to the University Hall building, which was replaced by Mason Hall and Haven Hall. Angell Hall is named in honor of James ...
, one of the most prominent buildings on the University of Michigan campus, is named after him. Designed by
Albert Kahn, it was completed in 1924 at a cost of $1 million, providing of classroom and office space.
* Angell School, a kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school in the
Ann Arbor Public Schools
Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) serves the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan and parts of eight surrounding townships covering . The district operates 20 elementary schools, 2 K-8 schools, 6 middle schools, 4 comprehensive high schools, 1 alternativ ...
, is named after him.
* Angell School, a kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school in the
Berkley School District
Berkley School District is a United States school district serving the entirety of Berkley, Huntington Woods, and the northern portion of Oak Park, in the state of Michigan. The superintendent is Scott Francis. Created in 1840, the district cu ...
, is named after him.
* In 1910 sculptor
Karl Bitter produced a
bas relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
depicting a seated Angell. It now resides in the lobby of Angell Hall.
* A caricature of Angell by
Ulysses Ricci's firm Ricci and Zari can be found carved on a
corbel
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
at the University of Michigan's Law Quadrangle.
* The former University of Michigan honor society Michigamua renamed itself the
Order of Angell
The Order of Angell, known for decades as Michigamua, was a senior honorary society recognizing student leaders and outstanding athletes at the University of Michigan. For most of its history, its practices reflected images of Native Americans d ...
in 2007, over the objections of some of Angell's descendants.
* Sarah Caswell Angell Hall was a theater in Barbour Gymnasium (a women's gymnasium on the Michigan campus), named in honor of Angell's wife in 1905. The gymnasium was torn down in 1946.
See also
*
History of Chinese Americans
*
History of Rhode Island
The history of Rhode Island is an overview of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and the state of Rhode Island from pre-colonial times to the present.
Pre-colonization
Native Americans occupied most of the area comprising Rh ...
*
History of the University of Michigan
Notes
Citations
References
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Further reading
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External links
Brown University biography of James B. Angell*
ttps://bentley.umich.edu/bhl/exhibits/UMChina/China/people/Angell.htm University of Michigan biography of James B. Angell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angell, James Burrill
1829 births
1916 deaths
Brown University alumni
Brown University faculty
American Congregationalists
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Presidents of the American Historical Association
Presidents of the University of Vermont
Presidents of the University of Michigan
People from Scituate, Rhode Island
Ambassadors of the United States to the Ottoman Empire
American people of English descent
19th-century American diplomats
Rhode Island Republicans
University of Michigan faculty
Ambassadors of the United States to China
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class
Burials in Michigan