Henry Philip Tappan
Encyclopedia
Henry Philip Tappan was an American
philosopher, educator and academic administrator. He is officially considered the first president of the University of Michigan
.
A pioneer in the transformation of American university
curricula, he was instrumental in fashioning the University of Michigan as a prototype for American research universities
, and has been called the "John the Baptist
of the age of the American university." His academic career was ultimately cut short by personality clashes with the university's Board of Regents
, and he finished his life in self-imposed exile
in Europe
.
, New York
. His father was of Prussian descent and his mother of Dutch descent. He attended Union College
and studied under its president, Eliphalet Nott
, graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1825. He graduated from Auburn Theological Seminary
two years later and planned a career in ministry. He became associate pastor
at the Dutch Reformed church in Schenectady, New York for one year, and was then pastor at the Congregational church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
. He married Julia Livingston on April 7, 1828.
A throat affliction prompted him to leave for a trip to the West Indies, and upon his return he joined the faculty of the University of the City of New York (now NYU) as a professor of philosophy.
degree from Union College
in 1845. He toured Europe
between 1849 and 1851 and became increasingly convinced of the superiority of the "Germa
n model" (or Prussia
n model, as it was known at the time) of public education
, in which a complete system of primary schools, secondary school
s, and a university are all administered by the state and supported with tax dollars.
The German model had first gained widespread attention through the 1835 publication of Sarah Austin's English translation of Victor Cousin
's Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia, originally prepared for the French
Minister of Public Instruction and Ecclesiastical Affairs in 1831. This model stood in direct contrast to the prevailing state of higher education in the U.S., where virtually all institutions of higher learning were privately run with no official connection to any public school system, which were themselves rare.
Principally due to the Cousin report's influence on two men, John Davis Pierce and Isaac Edwin Crary
, the basic tenets of the German education model had made their way into the Michigan Constitution
of 1836, which officially chartered the University of Michigan and was the first state constitution in the U.S. to truly embrace the German model. The specific implementation outlined therein, however, proved unwieldy in practice, and for some time the Board of Regents made little progress in implementing the vision for the university, even postponing indefinitely the appointment of a Chancellor
in favor of a rotating roster of professor
s who performed the day-to-day administrative duties.
In 1850, the state of Michigan
adopted a new state constitution that created the office of President of the University of Michigan
and directed the newly-elected Board of Regents to select someone for the office. They sent a representative to the East to solicit recommendations, and former Secretary of the Navy
George Bancroft
recommended Henry Tappan. Despite this recommendation, the regents first elected Henry Barnard
of Connecticut
, who declined the offer. Although John Hiram Lathrop
(then Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
) was also considered for the job following Barnard's refusal, Tappan was unanimously elected on August 12, 1852. His starting salary was $1,500 per year.
Tappan was also a strong proponent of the German model of university curriculum, which emphasized research, laboratory study, elective courses, and the increased importance of science and engineering, rather than the "British model" of recitation in a core classical arts curriculum that typified most major American universities of the time. Shortly after his arrival, Michigan became the second university in the country (after Harvard
) to issue Bachelor of Science
degrees.
Tappan received a Doctor of Laws degree from Columbia College
in 1854.
as the new president.
Upon his removal, Tappan remarked, "This matter belongs to history; the pen of history is held by Almighty Justice, and I fear not the record it will make of my conduct, whether public or private, in relation to the affairs of the University." He immediately left Michigan and moved his family to Europe, residing in Berlin
, Paris
, Bonn
, Frankfurt
, Basel
, and Geneva
.
Tappan's firing was unpopular with students and the broader community, as it came with no warning, at a time when the university was more successful than ever, for no wrongdoing other than personal friction with the regents, and from a board whose terms in office were all expiring (save one) in just a few months and who were due to be replaced with new regents (already elected) who had expressed a desire to form a better working relationship with Tappan. Henry Barnard, by then the editor of The American Journal of Education, called the dismissal an "act of savage, unmitigated barbarism" in light of Tappan's work being "without a precedent in the educational history of the country." At the suggestion of his supporters, Tappan himself wrote a lengthy response to his dismissal, generally praising the first Board of Regents and excoriating the second as incompetent, and also singling out certain faculty members for criticism.
When the new Board of Regents took office in 1864, the flood of support for Tappan led them to consider re-hiring him, but in the end they felt it would be disruptive to the university, in light of Tappan's subsequent response.
In 1874 and 1875 the Board of Regents passed resolutions commending Tappan's service to the university and inviting him to return to Ann Arbor to be honored; the latter expressly withdrew "any censure express or implied in the resolutions which severed his connection" to the university. Tappan, who had moved to Europe
after his firing, expressed a desire to return, but twice deferred accepting the invitation, citing first his age and then the health of his daughter.
He never returned to Michigan and died in his villa in Vevey
, Switzerland
on November 15, 1881, where he is buried overlooking Lake Geneva
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
philosopher, educator and academic administrator. He is officially considered the first president of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
A pioneer in the transformation of American university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
curricula, he was instrumental in fashioning the University of Michigan as a prototype for American research universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, and has been called the "John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
of the age of the American university." His academic career was ultimately cut short by personality clashes with the university's Board of Regents
Board of Regents
In the United States, a board often governs public institutions of higher education, which include both state universities and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual colleges and universities, or both. In general they operate as...
, and he finished his life in self-imposed exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Early life
Henry Philip Tappan was born on April 18, 1805 in the village of RhinebeckRhinebeck (village), New York
Rhinebeck is a village located in the Town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport,...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. His father was of Prussian descent and his mother of Dutch descent. He attended Union College
Union College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
and studied under its president, Eliphalet Nott
Eliphalet Nott
Eliphalet Nott , was a famed Presbyterian minister, inventor, educational pioneer, and long-term president of Union College, Schenectady, New York.-Life:...
, graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1825. He graduated from Auburn Theological Seminary
Auburn Theological Seminary
Auburn Theological Seminary was founded in 1818. Auburn Theological Seminary focuses on religious leadership development, movement-building, and research. Auburn is based in New York City and exists in covenant with the Presbyterian Church ....
two years later and planned a career in ministry. He became associate pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
at the Dutch Reformed church in Schenectady, New York for one year, and was then pastor at the Congregational church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
. He married Julia Livingston on April 7, 1828.
A throat affliction prompted him to leave for a trip to the West Indies, and upon his return he joined the faculty of the University of the City of New York (now NYU) as a professor of philosophy.
Philosophical Writings
Tappan embarked on writing a series of philosophical treatises that began to influence thinking in Europe. He received a Doctor of DivinityDoctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
degree from Union College
Union College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
in 1845. He toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
between 1849 and 1851 and became increasingly convinced of the superiority of the "Germa
Germa
Germa, known in ancient times as Garama, is an archaeological site in Libya and was the capital of the Garamantes.The Garamantes were a Berber people living in the Fezzan in the northeastern Sahara, originating from the Sahara's Tibesti region. Garamantian power climaxed during the 2nd and the 3rd...
n model" (or Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n model, as it was known at the time) of public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
, in which a complete system of primary schools, secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s, and a university are all administered by the state and supported with tax dollars.
The German model had first gained widespread attention through the 1835 publication of Sarah Austin's English translation of Victor Cousin
Victor Cousin
Victor Cousin was a French philosopher. He was a proponent of Scottish Common Sense Realism and had an important influence on French educational policy.-Early life:...
's Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia, originally prepared for the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Minister of Public Instruction and Ecclesiastical Affairs in 1831. This model stood in direct contrast to the prevailing state of higher education in the U.S., where virtually all institutions of higher learning were privately run with no official connection to any public school system, which were themselves rare.
Principally due to the Cousin report's influence on two men, John Davis Pierce and Isaac Edwin Crary
Isaac E. Crary
Isaac Edwin Crary was the first elected U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan.Crary was born in Preston, Connecticut, where he attended the public schools and graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, in its first class in 1827...
, the basic tenets of the German education model had made their way into the Michigan Constitution
Michigan Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government....
of 1836, which officially chartered the University of Michigan and was the first state constitution in the U.S. to truly embrace the German model. The specific implementation outlined therein, however, proved unwieldy in practice, and for some time the Board of Regents made little progress in implementing the vision for the university, even postponing indefinitely the appointment of a Chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
in favor of a rotating roster of professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
s who performed the day-to-day administrative duties.
President of the University of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
adopted a new state constitution that created the office of President of the University of Michigan
President of the University of Michigan
The President of the University of Michigan is the principal executive officer of the University of Michigan. The office was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1850, which also specified that the president was to be appointed by the Regents of the University of Michigan and preside at their...
and directed the newly-elected Board of Regents to select someone for the office. They sent a representative to the East to solicit recommendations, and former Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
George Bancroft
George Bancroft
George Bancroft was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state and at the national level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845...
recommended Henry Tappan. Despite this recommendation, the regents first elected Henry Barnard
Henry Barnard
Henry Barnard was an American educationalist and reformer.-Biography:...
of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, who declined the offer. Although John Hiram Lathrop
John Hiram Lathrop
John Hiram Lathrop was a well-known American educator during the early 19th century . He served as the first President of both the University of Missouri and the University of Wisconsin as well as president of Indiana University.-Early life:John Lathrop was born in Sherburne, New York in 1799...
(then Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
) was also considered for the job following Barnard's refusal, Tappan was unanimously elected on August 12, 1852. His starting salary was $1,500 per year.
Tappan was also a strong proponent of the German model of university curriculum, which emphasized research, laboratory study, elective courses, and the increased importance of science and engineering, rather than the "British model" of recitation in a core classical arts curriculum that typified most major American universities of the time. Shortly after his arrival, Michigan became the second university in the country (after Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
) to issue Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degrees.
Tappan received a Doctor of Laws degree from Columbia College
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...
in 1854.
Removal as President
Despite the success of the flourishing university, Tappan's aristocratic bearing and perceived tendency to magnify his own importance did not sit well with the new regents who had been elected in 1858, many of whom came from rural areas and were without advanced education—only two of the ten members were college graduates themselves. One regent, Donald McIntyre, a strict prohibitionist, disapproved of Tappan's serving wine at dinner. Another, Ebenezer Lakin Brown, had a particular dislike for Tappan's lofty airs, and at the board's June 25, 1863 meeting, he introduced a resolution removing Tappan as president. It passed unanimously, after which the regents also fired Tappan's son John as university librarian and appointed Erastus Otis HavenErastus Otis Haven
Erastus Otis Haven was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1880, and the president of several universities.-Biography:...
as the new president.
Upon his removal, Tappan remarked, "This matter belongs to history; the pen of history is held by Almighty Justice, and I fear not the record it will make of my conduct, whether public or private, in relation to the affairs of the University." He immediately left Michigan and moved his family to Europe, residing in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
Tappan's firing was unpopular with students and the broader community, as it came with no warning, at a time when the university was more successful than ever, for no wrongdoing other than personal friction with the regents, and from a board whose terms in office were all expiring (save one) in just a few months and who were due to be replaced with new regents (already elected) who had expressed a desire to form a better working relationship with Tappan. Henry Barnard, by then the editor of The American Journal of Education, called the dismissal an "act of savage, unmitigated barbarism" in light of Tappan's work being "without a precedent in the educational history of the country." At the suggestion of his supporters, Tappan himself wrote a lengthy response to his dismissal, generally praising the first Board of Regents and excoriating the second as incompetent, and also singling out certain faculty members for criticism.
When the new Board of Regents took office in 1864, the flood of support for Tappan led them to consider re-hiring him, but in the end they felt it would be disruptive to the university, in light of Tappan's subsequent response.
Later Years
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
after his firing, expressed a desire to return, but twice deferred accepting the invitation, citing first his age and then the health of his daughter.
He never returned to Michigan and died in his villa in Vevey
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on November 15, 1881, where he is buried overlooking Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
.
Commemoration
- The Tappan Professorship of Law was created in 1879, with former Michigan governor Alpheus FelchAlpheus FelchAlpheus Felch was the fifth Governor of Michigan and U.S. Senator from Michigan.-Early life:Felch was born in Limerick, Maine. He was left an orphan at the age of three and lived with his grandfather Abijah Felch, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War...
the first to hold it. - Tappan Hall, the oldest extant classroom building on the University of Michigan campus, was finished in 1894. It currently houses the History of Art Department and the Fine Art Library.