Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 19/Umpqua Academy Students' Association
THE UMPQUA ACADEMY STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION. By J. H. BOOTH. Last year the faculty of the public school of Wilbur, Ore- gon, was making a study of the history of the early educators and educational centers of Oregon. It was impressed with the prominent part the old Umpqua Academy had played in the educational foundation of the State. It seemed important that this evidence should be gathered into permanent form. Upon the suggestion of Mrs. Inez Miller, principal of the school, it was decided to undertake the holding of a reunion of the old students. It seemed, also, a fitting way to close the commencement exercises for the first class of the new Stand- ard High School. Former students, residing both within and without the dis- trict, were communicated with and the idea received with favor, though not without misgivings, as to its success. The residents of the little town, however, entered whole-heartedly into the plan. Then began the hunt to locate the former stu- dents. In this effort Mrs. Miller and her co-teachers worked long and faithfully. Invitations were sent out for June first and bore addresses from California to New York. The won- derful response received in answer to these invitations can be realized only by those who attended the reunion. More than three hundred came. June first of last year was a bright, beautiful day. The season being late, Nature was at her best. The green carpet of the Umpqua hills was a-gleam with the bloom of wild flowers, which nowhere grow in more profusion. Birds sang from the trees and the fields, and as the old bell in the high belfry rang to call the assembled crowd together, men and women met who had been boys and girls in school there forty years ago. Many had not seen one another since. The exercises were held out of doors in the school yard, with the porch of the former academy as the stage. A pro50 J. H. BOOTH gram of speeches and songs was given by old-time students and teachers. Beneath the oak trees nearby the Wilbur people had prepared and spread an excellent noon-time meal. To perpetuate the ideas inculcated by the old institution and to preserve the history and strengthen the ties of early asso- ciation, it was decided to form a permanent organization. Officers for the year were elected. A committee was ap- pointed to draft articles of association for adoption at the next yearly meeting. From these proposed articles the real object of the association can best be set out by quoting: 1. To unite in a permanent organization all students and teachers of the Umpqua Academy; to renew and extend acquaintance and friendship of students and teachers and patrons of the school. 2. To gather, publish and preserve the history of the Ump- qua Academy, its teachers, students and patrons. 3. To mark the location of the first building and provide a fitting memorial to Rev. James H. Wilbur, the founder. 4. To stimulate the interest of education in the Wilbur Public School. The affairs of the association are to be handled by an executive committee, which is to be elected annually. An his- torian is provided to "gather, edit and present in proper form all historical data in, harmony with the objects of this associa- tion." Funds are provided through initiation, annual dues and voluntary contributions. It is difficult to measure the influence of such an institu- tion as the Umpqua Academy upon a community. To do so it is necessary to know both the principles upon which it was founded and the character of its founders. Founded by Father Wilbur, who was himself missionary, Indian agent, and "cir- cuit rider" for the Methodist Church, a man of great physical endurance and courage, as well as moral force and high intel- lectual endowment; and maintained by far-seeing pioneers of sterling worth and integrity, it is not strange that its influence extends and is felt far beyond the picturesque village named for its founder, or the boundaries of the county in which lie the various valleys of the Umpqua rivers. UMPQUA ACADEMY 51 Says a prominent stock buyer whose operations range throughout Northern California and the five southwestern counties of Oregon to the Klamath and Goose Lake basins : "Wherever night overtakes me I am sure of hanging my hat on the walls of a home from which some member of the family went to school in the old days at the Umpqua Academy and reminiscently recalls them in conversation." A prominent educator of the state, formerly a student there, recently said to the writer : "For many years the Academy was the only institution of higher learning between Salem and Sacramento, and thus drew its students from a large part of two states, and as they returned to take up their various occupations in life, they carried with them the high ideals of the old school and wove them into the fabric of two common wealths. They have been constructive state builders." A glance at the old school roster will verify his statement. Students of the old Academy have gone to our legislative halls. Some have gained prominence in the profession of medicine and of law. Many eminent educators, editors and statesmen who have gained the top round in these professions received their first inspiration and early training at the old school. Successful business men and those following voca- tional lines of work recall with musing pleasure the days profitably and happily spent under its roof. It is safe to venture the statement that no institution of similar size has wielded a greater influence for good than has the old Umpqua Academy.