Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/69

 THE PREPARING OF THE WAY 43 situation? Had Mr. Rockefeller finally dismissed Chicago from his mind ? Would the effort to found an institution at Morgan Park on a very small scale be attempted prematurely and thus defeat any larger and better plans? On June i, 1888, everything seemed uncertain. But as a matter of fact the way was fully prepared for all the great and splendid developments of which at the time no one so much as dreamed. Mr. Gates's study of the educational situation soon convinced him that the very first thing to be done was the founding of a new institution of a high order in Chicago. He went to Chicago and got in touch with the men most interested in this great matter. In October, 1888, he delivered before the Baptist ministers of the city a masterly address showing the need of an institution under Baptist auspices in Chicago. Under his judicious management the entire question was referred to the new Society. The Morgan Park project was tried out, and, as soon as a glimmer of encourage- ment of larger and better things appeared, was quietly laid on the shelf. Mr. Gates convinced his Board of Trustees, most of them eastern men, that the first great thing for the new Society to under- take was the University of Chicago. At the meeting held in Washington, December 3, 1888, the board adopted unanimously the following resolutions prepared by Mr. Gates in advance of the meeting: Resolved, That the establishment of a thoroughly equipped Baptist institu- tion of learning in Chicago is an immediate and imperative denominational necessity. Resolved, That we rejoice in the powerful sentiment favorable to such an institution that prevails, not only in Chicago and the West, but also throughout the denomination at large. Resolved, That we invite brethren of means to unite in the endeavor to found such an institution and pledge the hearty co-operation of this board, and that the Secretary of the Society be directed to use every means in his power to originate and encourage such a movement. The secretary, Mr. Gates, from this time forward devoted himself to this undertaking. His clear perception that the first great undertaking of the newly organized Education Society must be the founding of an institution in Chicago, his overwhelming demonstration of the need and promise of such an institution,