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Birth: October
15, 1878 in Franklin, Ohio
Death: March
18, 1961 in Cedar Rapids, IA
Educational Background: A.B., Wooster College, 1900;
M.A., Columbia University, 1905
Teaching Experience: Professor of Greek, Huron
College, 1900-1903; Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University,
1903-1905; Professor of Philosophy, Parsons College, 1905-1909
Administrative Experience: Dean of Faculty, Parsons
College, 1909-1912; Dean of Faculty (1912-1913), President,
(1913-1920), Huron College;
Key events/accomplishments during administration: Increased Coe's financial
standing despite the Great Depression; Greene Hall erected; Stewart
Memorial Library erected; Women's Field and Field house established
Post-Coe Career: President,
Lindenwood College for Women
Harry
Morehouse Gage: "A Prince Among Men"
"A college president needs a
poker face. At least he needs that kind of a disposition. He needs to
hear of all the sins and foolishnesses of youth, and not show shock, no
matter how much shock he feels...He needs to listen to his treasure's
tale of woe with apparent sympathy, meantime allowing his mind the
luxury of dreaming of new buildings and increased liabilities in the
way of students... There are many reasons why this undisturbed serenity
be made to appear in a college president's countenance no matter what
may be seething within...Harry Morehouse Gage...had a good poker
face."
[from
Woosterians Who are Achieving, May 1926]
Harry Morehouse was a
graduate of Wooster (1900) and Columbia ,where he received his M.A. in
philosophy. He was also an ordained Presbyterian minister who taught
philosophy and Greek at Huron college and Parsons College. At Parsons
he also served as Dean of Faculty and may have used his influence as
dean to get a date with the music instructor, Florence Louise Avery,
who later became his wife of fifty years. The two were married and
traveled to Huron college in 1912 where Gage again taught philosophy,
was dean of the faculty and later elected president. When offered the
position of president of Coe in 1920, Gage accepted "because he saw in
Coe College not only the present but the future," (Courier August
1920).
At a time when
financial burden was heavy, Gage had three lofty goals for the college:
-
secure $500,000 additional
endowment
-
close each year with all
bills paid
-
build a gym, music building,
and library before July 31, 1931.
All of these goals were
attained during his presidency from 1920-1941 with the exception of the
music building which, ironically, he campaigned for while acting
president in 1956-58. It was completed under Joseph McCabe in 1959. In
addition to the library and gym, Gage saw the completion of the Women's
field and fieldhouse, Greene Hall for men and an addition to Voorhees
hall.
New buildings had been on
Gage's agenda despite the fact that money was scarce. Col. Robert W.
Stewart, an old friend of Gage's from South Dakota, agreed to donate
$200,000 to his alma mater for the construction of the Stewart Memorial
Library. He also provided the architect; Ernest R. Graham of the
Chicago architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst and White. Graham
agreed to design a long range plan of the campus as well as the library
free of charge because of his friendship with Col. Stewart. The library
was dedicated to Stewart's parents in September of 1931.
Stewart's friendship with
Gage continued throughout the years, as the two generated boxes upon
boxes of letters of correspondence. These reveal a great deal not only
of Gage's values and morals, but provide insight into his personal
life, beyond the presidency and confines of an office. Their
coorspondance during Gage's presidency generated over one hundred
letters, which are in the Coe College archives.
During the Great Depression
hard times fell on the campus and Gage was forced to spend nearly all
of his time raising money to pay salaries and keep the college open.
This could not be accomplished alone; faculty showed their appreciation
and dedication by donating considerably from their paychecks, which
were only between $1,000 and $2,500 at this time.
Harris Lamb, Alumni director
from 1952-1971, recalled a story Gage told to him about fundraising.
"Gage had an appointment in Chicago to call on an influential, wealthy
man. After introducing himself and presenting his story, the man said,
'Dr. Gage, I’m not interested.' Dr. Gage thanked him, got in the
elevator and was on the street when he said to himself, 'Harry Gage,
you didn't do a very good job representing Coe College.' He turned
right around, got in the elevator, walked up to the man and shook hands
with him. He said, 'I didn't represent Coe College well. I'd like to
start all over again.' And he did. And, this time he sold Coe College
to that man and Coe received a huge check in support because Mr. Gage
wouldn't take no."
In addition to his dedicated
attitude, Gage had a quick sense of humor and often contributed
"President's Messages" in the yearbooks. In most cases they are full of
jokes and demonstrated the good-natured cheerful disposition Dr. Gage
was known for. In the 1935 Acorn he wrote: "When I was a very little
boy, deadly nightshade grew in our backyard. I was told that its
berries were poisonous and that I would die if I ate them, so I ate the
berries and have lived quite happily since that time. However, I know
now better than I knew then that I shall die. This incident is here
recorded to encourage you to read all the "howlers" in this Annual. You
will die whether you read them or not. And it is better to die
interested and laughing at yourself and others than to die with an
unsatisfied curiosity."
Gage was curious about the
lives of each of his students. Every student, after enrolling in the
fall, was to come to his office for a personal interview. Maxine Bogert
'30 (now Mrs. Hal Carter Jones) wrote a letter to the college in 1977
in response to an appeal for information about Gage. She recalled Gage
reading her name off a card and saying; "Miss Bogert, you must be very
young. In my mother's and Grandmother's day, that was not a common name
like Mary, Ruth, etc." This comment took her aback; coming from a
farming family in Oelwein, Maxine had been quite sheltered and it was
an enormous step for her to attend college on her own. But Gage's
comment sparked a conversation between the two of them, one which she
commented "made it a very valuable encounter that I can look back on
with some humor and admiration."
Gage's success at Coe led
him to be sought after by a number of different colleges and
universities. In 1941 Gage accepted an offer from Linderwood
College in St. Charles, MO to serve as their president. He had served
as advisor to their former president, John C. Romen, for fifteen years
and Gage had been requested to be his successor. He served here as
president until 1946 and then as temporary president and consultant for
Doane College in Crete, Nebraska from 1947-48.
Although all published
material concerning Gage's departure from Coe is positive, there are
unconfirmed rumors that he was discharged from his role as president in
1941 by Herb Stamats of the board of trustees. In Louise Crawford's
file, who was a music professor from 1916 - 1941, there is a single
sheet biography which includes the statement; "She was discharged by
Herb Stamats about 1940 when he also fired Dr. Gage..." There is no
further explanation and since this is the only mention of Gage being
dismissed in this manner, validity of the statement is unconfirmed.
By 1948 Gage was technically
in retirement but continued traveling regularly to colleges across the
nation as a consultant. As the June 29, 1948 Gazette wrote: "Gage talks
to them 'like a family doctor,' he says and asks them what their
objectives are and how they can best realize them. Sometimes the
difficulty at a college is friction between the board and faculty. The
board may try to do the faculty's job as well as its own," Gage
explained. The colleges Gage visits are in Utah, West Virginia,
Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Nebraska,
Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota."
In 1951 Coe asked former
President Gage to return to campus to give a speech for the centennial
celebration of the college, which he did with vigor. Gage was known for
his oratory abilities; he never gave the same speech twice, even though
he gave nearly 200 speeches a year across the country. An excerpt from
this speech gives a sense of his language and confidence in the college
even in difficult times.
"Coe, now that it reviews a
life of one hundred years, does not feel that death is not far removed.
It lives in the presence of life. In it is the thrill of youth and the
stimulus of the future. As a matter of fact Coe's prospects of life are
more extensive now than they were one hundred years ago. Its prospects
in 1951 of living a hundred years are far greater that its prospects of
living one year in 1851. The longer Coe lives, the more certain it
becomes that it will continue to live in years without assignable end."
When President Brooks
resigned in 1956, the fourth president in thirteen years, Gage was
requested by the board of trustees to return to Coe as acting president
from 1956-1958. His memorial from McCormick Theological Seminary stated
he returned to a "ship of which he was once captain, and which was
sinking, to save the ship." And this he did - his familiar presence and
knowledge of the College and fundraising strategies enabled Coe to
stand tall. He also recruited Joseph McCabe, who became president in
the spring of 1958.
On March 18, 1961, Harry
Morehouse Gage died at St. Luke's hospital at the age of eighty-two.
Memorials were written and honors bestowed upon him across the country
for his years of service and dedication to so many institutions. It was
to Coe College, however, that he gave almost twenty-five years of his
life. It was perhaps said best by President Joseph McCabe while
dedicating the Gage memorial building that Gage was "a prince among men
who is so affectionately remembered on this campus….(this building is)
to the glory of God and the memory of Harry Morehouse Gage."
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