Excerpt from Grant Memorial University, Athens, Tenn;, Chartered 1867: Its History, and the Commendations of Leading Statesmen and Divines

At the close of the war there was no institution in all the Central South that offered the higher forms of learning to the great mass of whites, known as the non-slave-holding or middle class, who had been loyal to the United States Government dur ing the great conflict.

To meet this felt want, the institution now bearing the name of grant memorial university was established; and in 1867 was chartered with full University powers by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Tennessee. For the Upbuilding of this school, amid the poverty and desolation made by the war, that quiet, modest, magnanimous man, General U. S. Grant, gave the first cash donation, his well-known Signature appearing at the head of the list. Because of this fact, and because the friends of General Grant, the families of more than Union sol diers in the Central South, desire to perpetuate his memory, this living monument To his name is being more fully and broadly established.

The property of this University consists of lands, buildings and other assets, valued at Five hundred acres of land near the University campus have been secured for the purpose of establishing an industrial school with three departments, viz agriculture, carpentry and machinery.

The Trustees, feeling the imperative need of such a school, are seeking to secure for each of these departments as an endowment fund, So that students living in the mountainous sec tions and of meager circumstances shall have placed within their reach, not only a literary training, but the opportunity of prac tical industry, and thus be enabled to go forth from the halls of the University skilled mechanics. Many of these students are the children of those who fell in the defense of the nation's life. They are poor, but this door of opportunity opens, and with glad hearts they will enter the industrial departments.

The location of the University is the very best. In the dis tance on either side mountains lift their majestic heads into the clouds, while their very bosoms are bursting with the richest of mineral treasures. These mountains and valleys are swept by health-supporting breezes, creating a climate unsurpassed on the continent for purity of atmosphere, richness of sunshine, fragrance of flowers, and mildness of temperature.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.