James Burrill Angell
Encyclopedia
James Burrill Angell was an American
educator, academic administrator, and diplomat
. He is best known for being the longest-serving president of the University of Michigan
(1871–1909). Under his leadership Michigan gained prominence as an elite public university. Today, he is often cited by Michigan administrators for providing the vision of Michigan as a university that should provide "an uncommon education for the common man."
Angell was a graduate of and professor of languages at Brown University
, editor of The Providence Journal
(1860–1866), president of the University of Vermont
(1866–1871). He served as U.S. Minister to China (1880–1881) and to Turkey (1897–1898). Several of his descendents also became well-known educators and academics.
since its original founding in 1636 by Roger Williams
and his companion Thomas Angell
. Though scant, there is evidence suggesting Thomas Angell's ancestors were relations of Henry I of England
. Thomas Angell's grandson, also named Thomas, had settled the farm where James was born in 1710, and also founded the Angell Tavern, where the leaders of Scituate held its town meetings after its incorporation in 1730 (both George Washington
and the Marquis de Lafayette are also said to have stayed there).
He started his schooling in the local school, but Angell's parents placed him at the age of eight with a Quaker tutor who taught him arithmetic
and surveying
. At twelve, he left home to attend a seminary
in Seekonk, Massachusetts
in order to study Latin
, but after one term went to study at the Smithville Seminary, where he stayed until the age of fourteen. Unsure what career path to take, he had worked on the family farm for two summers, and also unsuccessfully attempted to find clerk jobs with Providence businesses. When his father informed him that he had the financial means to send James to college, he decided to attend Brown University. A year too young to enroll, he went first to University Grammar School in Providence, where one of his instructors was Henry S. Frieze
, who himself would later serve as acting president of the University of Michigan while Angell was abroad on diplomatic assignments.
In 1845, Angell began studying at Brown, which at the time had a total of only seven instructors on the faculty. He graduated in 1849, and eventually obtained part-time jobs as an Assistant Librarian
at the university and tutoring a boy whose eyesight prevented him from reading. In 1850, he came down with a cold and sore throat, but he refused to give his throat any rest from the daily exertion of reading aloud to his pupil. The resultant damage to his throat would last the rest of his life and make extended speaking difficult.
While James was recuperating, the father of his friend Rowland Hazard
(an ancestor of the same Rowland Hazard who was instrumental in the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous
) suggested that James accompany his son on an upcoming winter tour of the South, designed to alleviate Rowland's own lung ailment. The trip, which began on October 5, 1850, took Angell and Hazard throughout much of the South, including the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Lasting about seven and a half months, Angell details in his autobiography how it acquainted him with the realities of slavery.
Upon his return, Angell had planned to attend Andover Theological Seminary and take up a career as a minister. A throat specialist, however, advised him to avoid any work that would require extended public speaking, and he instead found work in the office of the city engineer
of Boston
. His brief tenure there ended when his friend Rowland Hazard, still suffering from lung ailments, invited him on another trip, this time to Europe. The pair traveled first to France
, arriving just three weeks after Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte
had staged a coup d'état
, then later to Italy
and Austria
. While in Vienna
, he received a letter from Francis Wayland
, the president of Brown University, offering him a choice of jobs as chairman of either the Civil Engineering or Modern Language Department, with a year and a half of continued study in Europe. He chose the latter, and went to Paris
for several months to study French
, then to Braunschweig
, Germany
to study German
, finally returning home in the summer of 1853.
, Richard Olney
and John Hay
.
On November 26, 1855, Angell married Sarah Swoope Caswell. She was the daughter of Alexis Caswell
, who was then a professor at Brown and would become president of the university in 1868. They had a son, Alexis Caswell Angell
, on April 26, 1857.
After President Wayland grew frustrated with a lack of funding for his reforms and resigned as president in 1855, affairs reverted somewhat to their earlier state and the study of modern languages was de-emphasized, leaving Angell less satisfied with his teaching duties than before. He took on work writing articles for The Providence Journal
, and when the editor and part-owner, Henry B. Anthony
, was elected to the United States Senate
in 1858, Anthony proposed that Angell replace him as the full-time editor. Angell took him up on the offer, resigning his professorship in 1860 to become the full-time editor of the paper.
As the largest newspaper in Rhode Island, and the state's leading voice for the new Republican Party (then only six years old), the editorship of the Journal put Angell in a powerful public position for the first time. His first foray into electoral politics came early on, as 1860 was an election year. He lent the paper's backing to the gubernatorial candidacy of abolitionist Republican nominee Seth Padelford
, which failed when a coalition of various interests instead led to the election of fellow Republican William Sprague
. In the presidential contest, Angell felt that Rhode Island's interests would be best served by the nomination of staunch abolitionist William H. Seward
as the Republican candidate. But when the somewhat more moderate (and virtual unknown in Rhode Island) Abraham Lincoln
was unexpectedly nominated, he put the power of the Journal behind Lincoln's candidacy, requesting favorable letters from his old pupil John Hay, who was working in Lincoln's law offices at the time, in order to generate enthusiasm for Lincoln. In the end, Lincoln won Rhode Island by a margin of 61.4% to 38.6%.
Angell ran the Journal for the entire Civil War
, and briefly considered buying it to run as a non-partisan newspaper (an idea which Senator Anthony rejected), but the workload took its toll on his health. He and Sarah had a daughter, Lois, in 1863. In August of 1866, when the University of Vermont requested that he come serve as its new president, he accepted the offer and moved to Burlington
.
had been passed in 1862, marking the beginning of land-grant colleges
in the United States. A State Agricultural College had been created in Vermont, and part of Angell's job was to oversee its integration with the existing university, effecting a change from a fully private university to a quasi-public one. Much of his effort at the university was related to fundraising, as the Civil War had depleted the school of both students and funds. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1868.
On May 8, 1869, James and Sarah had another son, James Rowland Angell
, who later served as president of Yale University
. That same year, the University of Michigan offered Angell its presidency following the resignation of Erastus Haven
. He visited Ann Arbor with his wife, but felt that he owed it to his supporters in Vermont to stay on with the University of Vermont. The offer was repeated in 1871, his former teacher Henry S. Frieze having served as acting president in the meantime. This time, Angell felt that the University of Vermont had made enough progress that he could leave it in good conscience, and he accepted the offer. He made a trip to Ann Arbor to deliver his inaugural address at Commencement on June 28, 1871, then returned to Vermont to finish out the academic term before moving his family to Ann Arbor for good in September of that year.
. Prior to a falling out with the Board of Regents that led to his dismissal and self-imposed exile to Europe
in 1863, Tappan had been one of the leading American proponents of the "German model" of university curriculum, which emphasized research and laboratory work in a wide variety of disciplines over the "English model" of recitation in a core classical curriculum that typified most Eastern universities of the time. Michigan was a full-fledged realization of the type of university that Francis Wayland had been attempting to create at Brown during Angell's years there, and was viewed as the model for future public universities to follow (most notably, the University of California
). Angell took on teaching duties in International Law
, which he carried out during his entire term.
Angell's expressions of Christian
piety, while not unusual at the New England
Protestant institutions where he had previously served, caused him trouble early on at Michigan. Controversy surrounded two comments he had made. One was during his inaugural speech, when he stated that "the Christian spirit, which pervades the law, the customs, and the life of the State shall shape and color the life of the University, that a lofty, earnest, but catholic and unsectarian Christian tone shall characterize the culture which is here imparted." He had also stated an express desire to hire faculty who would prepare students for "their work in promoting our Christian civilization." A complaint was lodged in 1873 by Detroit resident Stephen B. McCracken, alleging that such Christian (and specifically Protestant) favoritism violated the state constitution. A Michigan State Senate committee was appointed to investigate, and interviewed Angell and others at the university. The committee ultimately cleared Angell and the university, concluding that "the teachings of the university are those of a liberal and enlightened Christianity, in the general, highest and best use of the term." In spite of such complaints, Angell took action early to make the university less sectarian, first by dropping compulsory chapel attendance, then by hiring its first Roman Catholic faculty member, Eugene W. Hilgard
.
Angell served as president of the American Historical Association
from 1892 to 1893.
During his tenure at Michigan, the faculty size grew from 35 to about 400; the student body from 1100 to over 5000; the annual budget from $104,000 to over $1,000,000. The following schools or colleges were founded during his tenure: Dentistry, Pharmacy, Music, Nursing, and Architecture & Urban Planning.
In 1902, Angell inspired the formation of an elite senior leadership society at Michigan. Known for most of its history as Michigamua, the organization renamed itself after Angell in 2007. The organization is now named "Order of Angell" and its mission is "to advance exceptional leadership through a lifelong loyalty to and engagement with the University of Michigan."
In February 1880, Secretary of State William M. Evarts
asked Angell to go to China as part of a two-member commission (to which Angell proposed the addition of a third member) with the goal of negotiating changes to the Burlingame Treaty
that would reduce what was viewed as a flood of Chinese immigrants into the Pacific United States. Angell was nominated by President Hayes
, confirmed by the Senate as Minister to China
and chairman of the treaty commission on April 9, 1880, and left for Peking that June with fellow commissioners John F. Swift and William Henry Trescot
. Henry S. Frieze was appointed acting president of the University of Michigan in his absence. The commission negotiated two treaties, the first of which allowed the U.S. to regulate and limit the immigration of Chinese laborers, but not to prohibit it outright. The second was a trade treaty that outlawed the trade of opium and set tonnage dues and tariffs to be the same for both nations. The treaties were signed on November 17, 1880, and the other commissioners returned home, leaving Angell in China to fulfill his duties as Minister. After a year, he decided to return to academia and left China on October 4, 1881, taking a trip through Europe and returning to Ann Arbor on February 24, 1882. Most of the protections for Chinese immigrants that the treaty had secured were reversed by Congress in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
In the fall of 1887, President Cleveland
appointed Angell to the International Commission of Canadian Fisheries, along with William L. Putnam and Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard
, to negotiate with the British
government regarding fishing rights off the coast of Canada
, which had been a source of misunderstanding between Canada and the U.S. since they were first agreed to in the Treaty of 1818
. A new treaty was signed on February 15, 1888, but subsequently failed ratification in the U.S. Senate, whose Republican majority had objected to the formation of the commission in the first place.
On November 4, 1895, President Cleveland appointed Angell to the Deep Waterways Commission, along with John E. Russell
and Lyman E. Cooley. The commission, created by Congress, was to negotiate an agreement between the U.S. and Canada regarding the creation of a waterway to allow ocean-going traffic between the Great Lakes
and the Atlantic Ocean
. They undertook a feasibility study and forwarded proposals for further appropriations to Congress, but little was done, and it was not until 1959 that the St. Lawrence Seaway finally opened.
President McKinley
appointed Angell Minister to Turkey
in 1897, and Henry S. Frieze was again appointed acting president of the university. He served in the post until August 5, 1898.
Angell died April 1, 1916, in Ann Arbor, and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
educator, academic administrator, and diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
. He is best known for being the longest-serving 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...
(1871–1909). Under his leadership Michigan gained prominence as an elite public university. Today, he is often cited by Michigan administrators for providing the vision of Michigan as a university that should provide "an uncommon education for the common man."
Angell was a graduate of and professor of languages at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, editor of The Providence Journal
The Providence Journal
The Providence Journal, nicknamed the ProJo, is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper, first published in 1829 and the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the United States, was purchased...
(1860–1866), president of the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
(1866–1871). He served as U.S. Minister to China (1880–1881) and to Turkey (1897–1898). Several of his descendents also became well-known educators and academics.
Early years
James Angell was born January 7, 1829, in Scituate, Rhode Island, the eldest of eight children. The Angells had been a prominent family in and around Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
since its original founding in 1636 by Roger Williams
Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
and his companion Thomas Angell
Thomas Angell
Thomas Angell was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams in founding the settlement of Providence in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Though he was a minor at the time of his arrival, his name appears on several of the early documents related to...
. Though scant, there is evidence suggesting Thomas Angell's ancestors were relations of Henry I of England
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
. Thomas Angell's grandson, also named Thomas, had settled the farm where James was born in 1710, and also founded the Angell Tavern, where the leaders of Scituate held its town meetings after its incorporation in 1730 (both George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
and the Marquis de Lafayette are also said to have stayed there).
He started his schooling in the local school, but Angell's parents placed him at the age of eight with a Quaker tutor who taught him arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
and surveying
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
. At twelve, he left home to attend a seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
in Seekonk, Massachusetts
Seekonk, Massachusetts
Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Massachusetts border. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 13,722 at the 2010 census. Until 1862, the town of Seekonk also included what is now the City of East Providence, Rhode...
in order to study Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, but after one term went to study at the Smithville Seminary, where he stayed until the age of fourteen. Unsure what career path to take, he had worked on the family farm for two summers, and also unsuccessfully attempted to find clerk jobs with Providence businesses. When his father informed him that he had the financial means to send James to college, he decided to attend Brown University. A year too young to enroll, he went first to University Grammar School in Providence, where one of his instructors was Henry S. Frieze
Henry Simmons Frieze
Henry Simmons Frieze was an American educator and academic administrator. He was an instructor at Brown University and its University Grammar School, a professor at the University of Michigan, and served three separate times as acting president of the University of Michigan.- Early Life & Brown...
, who himself would later serve as acting president of the University of Michigan while Angell was abroad on diplomatic assignments.
In 1845, Angell began studying at Brown, which at the time had a total of only seven instructors on the faculty. He graduated in 1849, and eventually obtained part-time jobs as an Assistant Librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
at the university and tutoring a boy whose eyesight prevented him from reading. In 1850, he came down with a cold and sore throat, but he refused to give his throat any rest from the daily exertion of reading aloud to his pupil. The resultant damage to his throat would last the rest of his life and make extended speaking difficult.
While James was recuperating, the father of his friend Rowland Hazard
Rowland Hazard
Rowland Hazard may refer to:* Rowland Hazard , Rhode Island industrialist, established a woollen mill in Peace Dale, Rhode Island c.1804* Rowland G...
(an ancestor of the same Rowland Hazard who was instrumental in the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
) suggested that James accompany his son on an upcoming winter tour of the South, designed to alleviate Rowland's own lung ailment. The trip, which began on October 5, 1850, took Angell and Hazard throughout much of the South, including the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Lasting about seven and a half months, Angell details in his autobiography how it acquainted him with the realities of slavery.
Upon his return, Angell had planned to attend Andover Theological Seminary and take up a career as a minister. A throat specialist, however, advised him to avoid any work that would require extended public speaking, and he instead found work in the office of the city engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. His brief tenure there ended when his friend Rowland Hazard, still suffering from lung ailments, invited him on another trip, this time to Europe. The pair traveled first to France
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...
, arriving just three weeks after Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
had staged a coup d'état
French coup of 1851
The French coup d'état on 2 December 1851, staged by Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte , ended in the successful dissolution of the French National Assembly, as well as the subsequent re-establishment of the French Empire the next year...
, then later to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. While in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, he received a letter from Francis Wayland
Francis Wayland
Francis Wayland , American Baptist educator and economist, was born in New York City, New York. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washington, D.C., Wayland Seminary was established in 1867, primarily to educate...
, the president of Brown University, offering him a choice of jobs as chairman of either the Civil Engineering or Modern Language Department, with a year and a half of continued study in Europe. He chose the latter, and went to 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...
for several months to study French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, then to Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to study German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, finally returning home in the summer of 1853.
Professor and editor
When Angell began his tenure as chairman of the Modern Languages Department at Brown University, President Wayland was in the midst of reorganizing the university away from its traditional roots. Additional study was prescribed in areas such as modern languages and engineering, Angell's own areas of interest, and students were given greater freedom to choose elective courses. Extension classes were being initiated, to bring instruction to the wider community, and Angell himself gave lectures on his experiences in Europe and on the topic of education itself. Among his own students, Angell singled out as especially memorable two future U.S. Secretaries of StateUnited States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
, Richard Olney
Richard Olney
Richard Olney was an American statesman. He served as both United States Attorney General and Secretary of State under President Grover Cleveland. As attorney general, Olney used injunctions against striking workers in the Pullman strike, setting a precedent, and advised the use of federal troops,...
and John Hay
John Hay
John Milton Hay was an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.-Early life:...
.
On November 26, 1855, Angell married Sarah Swoope Caswell. She was the daughter of Alexis Caswell
Alexis Caswell
Alexis Caswell was an American educator, born in Taunton, Massachusetts. He graduated Brown University in 1822, and entered the Baptist ministry....
, who was then a professor at Brown and would become president of the university in 1868. They had a son, Alexis Caswell Angell
Alexis Caswell Angell
Alexis Caswell Angell was a United States federal judge.Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Angell received an A.B. from the University of Michigan in 1878 and read law in 1879, also receiving an LL.B. from the University of Michigan in 1880...
, on April 26, 1857.
After President Wayland grew frustrated with a lack of funding for his reforms and resigned as president in 1855, affairs reverted somewhat to their earlier state and the study of modern languages was de-emphasized, leaving Angell less satisfied with his teaching duties than before. He took on work writing articles for The Providence Journal
The Providence Journal
The Providence Journal, nicknamed the ProJo, is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper, first published in 1829 and the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the United States, was purchased...
, and when the editor and part-owner, Henry B. Anthony
Henry B. Anthony
Henry Bowen Anthony was a United States newspaperman and political figure. He served as the editor and later part owner of the Providence Journal and later was the 21st Governor of Rhode Island between 1849 and 1851, as a member of the Whig Party.The son of William Anthony and Mary Kennicut...
, was elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1858, Anthony proposed that Angell replace him as the full-time editor. Angell took him up on the offer, resigning his professorship in 1860 to become the full-time editor of the paper.
As the largest newspaper in Rhode Island, and the state's leading voice for the new Republican Party (then only six years old), the editorship of the Journal put Angell in a powerful public position for the first time. His first foray into electoral politics came early on, as 1860 was an election year. He lent the paper's backing to the gubernatorial candidacy of abolitionist Republican nominee Seth Padelford
Seth Padelford
Seth Padelford was the 31st Governor of Rhode Island from 1869 to 1873.Padelford was born in Taunton, Massachusetts...
, which failed when a coalition of various interests instead led to the election of fellow Republican William Sprague
William Sprague (1830-1915)
William Sprague IV was the 27th Governor of the U.S. state of Rhode Island from 1860–1863, and U.S. Senator from 1863-1875. He participated in the First Battle of Bull Run during the American Civil War.-Early years:...
. In the presidential contest, Angell felt that Rhode Island's interests would be best served by the nomination of staunch abolitionist William H. Seward
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
as the Republican candidate. But when the somewhat more moderate (and virtual unknown in Rhode Island) Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
was unexpectedly nominated, he put the power of the Journal behind Lincoln's candidacy, requesting favorable letters from his old pupil John Hay, who was working in Lincoln's law offices at the time, in order to generate enthusiasm for Lincoln. In the end, Lincoln won Rhode Island by a margin of 61.4% to 38.6%.
Angell ran the Journal for the entire Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and briefly considered buying it to run as a non-partisan newspaper (an idea which Senator Anthony rejected), but the workload took its toll on his health. He and Sarah had a daughter, Lois, in 1863. In August of 1866, when the University of Vermont requested that he come serve as its new president, he accepted the offer and moved to Burlington
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
.
President of the University of Vermont
As he had at Brown, Angell arrived at the University of Vermont while it was in the midst of a major reorganization. The Morrill ActMorrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges, including the Morrill Act of 1862 and the Morrill Act of 1890 -Passage of original bill:...
had been passed in 1862, marking the beginning of land-grant colleges
Land-grant university
Land-grant universities are institutions of higher education in the United States designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890....
in the United States. A State Agricultural College had been created in Vermont, and part of Angell's job was to oversee its integration with the existing university, effecting a change from a fully private university to a quasi-public one. Much of his effort at the university was related to fundraising, as the Civil War had depleted the school of both students and funds. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1868.
On May 8, 1869, James and Sarah had another son, James Rowland Angell
James Rowland Angell
James Rowland Angell was an American psychologist and educator. He served as the president of Yale University between 1921 and 1937...
, who later served as president of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. That same year, the University of Michigan offered Angell its presidency following the resignation of Erastus Haven
Erastus Otis Haven
Erastus Otis Haven was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1880, and the president of several universities.-Biography:...
. He visited Ann Arbor with his wife, but felt that he owed it to his supporters in Vermont to stay on with the University of Vermont. The offer was repeated in 1871, his former teacher Henry S. Frieze having served as acting president in the meantime. This time, Angell felt that the University of Vermont had made enough progress that he could leave it in good conscience, and he accepted the offer. He made a trip to Ann Arbor to deliver his inaugural address at Commencement on June 28, 1871, then returned to Vermont to finish out the academic term before moving his family to Ann Arbor for good in September of that year.
President of the University of Michigan
While President Haven was Angell's immediate predecessor, having spent six years in office as the second president of the university, the University of Michigan at the time of Angell's arrival was still largely a reflection of its first president, Henry Philip TappanHenry Philip Tappan
Henry Philip Tappan was an American philosopher, educator and academic administrator. He is officially considered the first president of the University of Michigan....
. Prior to a falling out with the Board of Regents that led to his dismissal and self-imposed exile to 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...
in 1863, Tappan had been one of the leading American proponents of the "German model" of university curriculum, which emphasized research and laboratory work in a wide variety of disciplines over the "English model" of recitation in a core classical curriculum that typified most Eastern universities of the time. Michigan was a full-fledged realization of the type of university that Francis Wayland had been attempting to create at Brown during Angell's years there, and was viewed as the model for future public universities to follow (most notably, the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
). Angell took on teaching duties in International Law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, which he carried out during his entire term.
Angell's expressions of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
piety, while not unusual at the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
Protestant institutions where he had previously served, caused him trouble early on at Michigan. Controversy surrounded two comments he had made. One was during his inaugural speech, when he stated that "the Christian spirit, which pervades the law, the customs, and the life of the State shall shape and color the life of the University, that a lofty, earnest, but catholic and unsectarian Christian tone shall characterize the culture which is here imparted." He had also stated an express desire to hire faculty who would prepare students for "their work in promoting our Christian civilization." A complaint was lodged in 1873 by Detroit resident Stephen B. McCracken, alleging that such Christian (and specifically Protestant) favoritism violated the state constitution. A Michigan State Senate committee was appointed to investigate, and interviewed Angell and others at the university. The committee ultimately cleared Angell and the university, concluding that "the teachings of the university are those of a liberal and enlightened Christianity, in the general, highest and best use of the term." In spite of such complaints, Angell took action early to make the university less sectarian, first by dropping compulsory chapel attendance, then by hiring its first Roman Catholic faculty member, Eugene W. Hilgard
Eugene W. Hilgard
Eugene Woldemar Hilgard was a German-American expert on pedology...
.
Angell served as president of the American Historical Association
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
from 1892 to 1893.
During his tenure at Michigan, the faculty size grew from 35 to about 400; the student body from 1100 to over 5000; the annual budget from $104,000 to over $1,000,000. The following schools or colleges were founded during his tenure: Dentistry, Pharmacy, Music, Nursing, and Architecture & Urban Planning.
In 1902, Angell inspired the formation of an elite senior leadership society at Michigan. Known for most of its history as Michigamua, the organization renamed itself after Angell in 2007. The organization is now named "Order of Angell" and its mission is "to advance exceptional leadership through a lifelong loyalty to and engagement with the University of Michigan."
Diplomatic posts
Angell's academic career was put on hold at several points so he could carry out a variety of diplomatic assignments.In February 1880, Secretary of State William M. Evarts
William M. Evarts
William Maxwell Evarts was an American lawyer and statesman who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York...
asked Angell to go to China as part of a two-member commission (to which Angell proposed the addition of a third member) with the goal of negotiating changes to the Burlingame Treaty
Burlingame Treaty
The Burlingame Treaty, also known as the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868, between the United States and China, amended the Treaty of Tientsin of 1858 and established formal friendly relations between the two countries, with the United States granting China most favored nation status...
that would reduce what was viewed as a flood of Chinese immigrants into the Pacific United States. Angell was nominated by President Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
, confirmed by the Senate as Minister to China
United States Ambassador to China
The United States Ambassador to China is the chief American diplomat to People's Republic of China . The United States has sent diplomatic representatives to China since 1844, when Caleb Cushing, as Commissioner, negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia. Commissioners represented the United States in...
and chairman of the treaty commission on April 9, 1880, and left for Peking that June with fellow commissioners John F. Swift and William Henry Trescot
William Henry Trescot
William Henry Trescot was an American diplomatist born in Charleston, South Carolina, on the November 10, 1822. He graduated at College of Charleston in 1840, studied law at Harvard University, and was admitted to the bar in 1843.From 1852 to 1854 he was secretary of the U.S. legation in London...
. Henry S. Frieze was appointed acting president of the University of Michigan in his absence. The commission negotiated two treaties, the first of which allowed the U.S. to regulate and limit the immigration of Chinese laborers, but not to prohibit it outright. The second was a trade treaty that outlawed the trade of opium and set tonnage dues and tariffs to be the same for both nations. The treaties were signed on November 17, 1880, and the other commissioners returned home, leaving Angell in China to fulfill his duties as Minister. After a year, he decided to return to academia and left China on October 4, 1881, taking a trip through Europe and returning to Ann Arbor on February 24, 1882. Most of the protections for Chinese immigrants that the treaty had secured were reversed by Congress in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
In the fall of 1887, President Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
appointed Angell to the International Commission of Canadian Fisheries, along with William L. Putnam and Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard
Thomas F. Bayard
Thomas Francis Bayard was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served three terms as U.S. Senator from Delaware, and as U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.-Early life and family:Bayard was born in...
, to negotiate with the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government regarding fishing rights off the coast of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, which had been a source of misunderstanding between Canada and the U.S. since they were first agreed to in the Treaty of 1818
Treaty of 1818
The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, was a...
. A new treaty was signed on February 15, 1888, but subsequently failed ratification in the U.S. Senate, whose Republican majority had objected to the formation of the commission in the first place.
On November 4, 1895, President Cleveland appointed Angell to the Deep Waterways Commission, along with John E. Russell
John E. Russell
John Edwards Russell was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.Born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, Russell was instructed by private tutors....
and Lyman E. Cooley. The commission, created by Congress, was to negotiate an agreement between the U.S. and Canada regarding the creation of a waterway to allow ocean-going traffic between the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
and the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. They undertook a feasibility study and forwarded proposals for further appropriations to Congress, but little was done, and it was not until 1959 that the St. Lawrence Seaway finally opened.
President McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
appointed Angell Minister to Turkey
United States Ambassador to Turkey
The United States of America has maintained many high level contacts with Turkey since the nineteenth century.-Chargé d'Affaires:*George W. Erving *David Porter -Minister Resident:*David Porter *Dabney Smith Carr...
in 1897, and Henry S. Frieze was again appointed acting president of the university. He served in the post until August 5, 1898.
Later years
Angell's wife, Sarah Caswell Angell, died on December 17, 1903. In 1905, Angell submitted his resignation to the Board of Regents, feeling that at his age, he may be losing the qualifications for his position, but the board refused to accept it. By 1909, he had been in office for 38 years, all of his predecessors had died, and Angell was the only man alive who had been president of the University of Michigan. He again submitted his resignation to the Regents, who this time accepted it, while at the same time designating him President Emeritus.Angell died April 1, 1916, in Ann Arbor, and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery
Forest Hill Cemetery (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Forest Hill Cemetery in Ann Arbor, Michigan is a cemetery founded in 1857. A civil engineer named James L. Glenn designed the cemetery in the rural or garden style popular in the second half of the 19th century. The cemetery's main gate was designed by James Morwick in the Gothic Revival style....
.
Notable descendents and relatives
A number of James Angell's descendents and near relatives rose to prominence in their respective fields, largely also in academia:- Son James Rowland AngellJames Rowland AngellJames Rowland Angell was an American psychologist and educator. He served as the president of Yale University between 1921 and 1937...
, a psychologist at the University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and president of Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States... - Son Alexis Caswell AngellAlexis Caswell AngellAlexis Caswell Angell was a United States federal judge.Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Angell received an A.B. from the University of Michigan in 1878 and read law in 1879, also receiving an LL.B. from the University of Michigan in 1880...
, Michigan Law SchoolUniversity of Michigan Law SchoolThe University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...
professor and U.S. District JudgeUnited States federal judgeIn the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
- Grandson Robert Cooley Angell, chair of the sociologySociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
department at the University of Michigan and president of the American Sociological AssociationAmerican Sociological AssociationThe American Sociological Association , founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society , is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions to serve society.The ASA holds its...
- Grandson Robert Cooley Angell, chair of the sociology
- Nephew Frank AngellFrank AngellFrank Angell was an early American psychologist. The nephew of University of Vermont and University of Michigan president, James Burrill Angell and cousin of University of Chicago psychologist and Yale University president James Rowland Angell, Frank Angell earn his PhD in the Leipzig laboratory of...
, psychologist at Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San... - Son-in-law Andrew McLaughlinAndrew C. McLaughlinAndrew Cunningham McLaughlin was an American historian born to Scottish immigrant parents. He received his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Michigan. By 1903 he was a respected historian and in 1914 he was named President of the American Historical Association...
(married daughter Lois Angell), Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning historianHistorianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
- Granddaughter Constance Green, also a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
- Grandson James Angell MacLachlan, Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
professor and co-founder of the National Bankruptcy Conference
Commemoration
- Angell Hall, one of the most prominent buildings on the University of Michigan campus, is named after him. Designed by Albert Kahn, it was completed in 1924 at a cost of $1 million, providing 152000 square feet (14,121.3 m²) of classroom and office space.
- In 1910 sculptor Karl BitterKarl BitterKarl Theodore Francis Bitter was an Austrian-born United States sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture, memorials and residential work.- Life and career :...
produced a 7 feet (2.1 m) bas relief depicting a seated Angell. It now resides in the lobby of Angell Hall. - A caricature of Angell by Ulysses RicciUlysses RicciUlysses Ricci was an American sculptor known primarily for his architectural sculpture. Born in New York City, Ricci was an apprentice at the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Works in New Jersey from 1902 to 1906. He studied at Cooper Union Institute and at the Art Students League with James Earle...
's firm Ricci and Zari can be found carved on a corbelCorbelIn architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
at the University of Michigan's Law Quadrangle. - Angell School, a kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, is named after him.
- The former University of Michigan honor society Michigamua renamed itself the Order of Angell in 2007. Angell inspired the organization's creation through his vision of uniting student leaders in the hopes of creating meaningful dialogue surrounding campus issues.
- A street named after the Angell family runs by Brown University.
- Sarah Caswell Angell Hall was a theater in Barbour Gymnasium (a women's gymnasium on the Michigan campus), named in honor of Angell's wife in 1905. The gymnasium was torn down in 1946.