Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/347

 THE SECOND ERA OF BUILDING 305 The building whose cornerstone we have just laid will be the first American laboratory dedicated exclusively to Physiology If the building of this laboratory will lead the other universities of this country to follow the example of the University of Chicago, we may feel satisfied that today we are laying the cornerstone, not only of the Hull Physiological Laboratory, but of one of the arches on which the future civilization of the country will rest. Professor Jordan read a statement, prepared by Professor Donaldson, at the laying of the cornerstone of Anatomy, saying: In the world's history the study of the human body has marked each intellectual revival For this study a splendid building is now set apart It is our privilege to be present at the beginning of a noble enterprise. Hope, gratitude, and reverence bring us here, revering the spirit of this gift, sincerely grateful to the donor for the opportunity thus offered, and hopeful for the full development of those great principles of ceaseless labor and unhampered thought on which good learning and wide culture ever stand. Head Professor Whitman, at the site of Zoology, said : The Culver gift to Biology came to us all as a grand surprise. Our earliest days in the University were spent in the garrets and kitchens of a tenement house. We were then tenderly transferred to the unused corners of Kent Chemical Laboratory where .... we struggled for three years for bare existence Just as our hopes had cooled to near the freezing-point came .... the story, told in all the brevity and gravity that befit great deeds: "A gift of a million to Biology." .... The gift was great, but not too great for the purposes contemplated. The participation of Miss Culver in the laying of the corner- stones added much to the interest of a memorable day. The laboratories were finished in the spring of 1897, and dedi- cated on July 2, in connection with the Nineteenth Convocation. A dedicatory address was delivered in Hull Court by Professor William H. Welch of Johns Hopkins University on "Biology and Medicine." In presenting the buildings to the University Miss Culver spoke as follows: In some strenuous natures anxiety regarding a personal hereafter is largely replaced by an ardent desire to accomplish some real work here "to produce," as Carlyle puts it. To them it is not enough to add somewhat, day by day, to the sum total of well-being. They long to preserve the life force from total dissipation at the close to leave in concrete form a definite resultant of the life here and to give it such direction that it may move on as a continuation of personal effort. The son, it is hoped, may be heir to his father's spirit and