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Rev. Bernard Iddings Bell, ca. 1920.
Rev. Bernard Iddings Bell was the last administrator to carry the title of warden. As the college's 7th president, he took the position in 1919 and resigned in 1933. His vision and energy permanently altered the physical and social geography of the College. Under his tenure, many buildings were constructed, science was emphasized, a nationally renowned athletics department was created, and legions of students were deeply impacted by his educational philosophy and personal charisma. Under Dr. Bell, the College sought to “give men four years of classical and cultural education as a background for life, and as a basis for graduate specialization or professional study.” It was through his leadership, as the College faced one of its many financial crises, that St. Stephen’s merged with Columbia University in 1928. Bell resigned in 1933 after his pleas for the closure of the college were ignored.
During his time as president of St. Stephen's College Bell preached a sermon at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine titled "The Church's Relation to Capital and Labour." What follows is an excerpt. "In other words, the Church is called upon to preach, in squareness and love, the principles of CHRIST as the sine qua non for humanity, to whatever economic order may happen to be in power. Changes and developments will come according to the operation of the inevitable economic laws of GOD. The function of religion is to seek ever to spiritualize, humanize, fraternize that which is, fearing not that which is to come, nor seeking fondly to preserve that which can, because of the operation of economic laws, no longer be.”
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Presidents List, ca. 1919.
This image represents a framed, hand-inked list of the presidents of St. Stephen’s College, along with their degrees, dates of service, and deaths where applicable. This was probably completed soon after the arrival of Bernard Iddings Bell in 1919.
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William C. Rodgers, ca. 1910.
Appointed in 1909, Rev. William Cunningham Rodgers brought new energy to St. Stephen’s as the sixth president of the college, serving until 1919. Signaling the changes he was to make, Rodgers changed his title to president, (though B.I. Bell again carried the title of warden for several years). Under the Rodgers administration, the campus was modernized: Electricity, a sewage system, and central heating systems were all installed. The Chapel was remodeled, and Gerry House was built to house the president’s family, as well as serve as a gathering place for entertaining students, staff, faculty, and guests. To make way for Gerry House, it was necessary to move the observatory down the hill, where the structure still stands as the chaplain’s office. Gerry House was built from funds donated by Robert L. Gerry, with the condition that the ritual in the college chapel should become more "High-Church." There was opposition on campus to these changes and when Rev. Rodgers did not institute the changes the Gerry's were not pleased, and cut off funding halfway through construction. Dr. Rodgers resigned in 1918.
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Rev. Thomas Robinson Harris, ca. 1905.
A veteran of the Civil War, Rev. Harris was the fifth warden of the College from 1904 to 1907. He was a graduate of Harvard, but did not have any previous experience with education. Though plagued by ill health, sustaining a leg injury from the war, he brought enrollment up by replacing the “Preparatory Course” altogether. Under his tenure enrollment increased to 50 students. At his retirement, Rev. George B. Hopson served as acting warden at St. Stephen’s.
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Rev. Lawrence T. Cole, ca. 1900.
Rev. Lawrence T. Cole was not yet thirty when he accepted the position of warden at St. Stephen’s in 1899. He served as president from 1899 to 1903, and as trustee of the College from 1916 to 1928 and from 1933 to 1953. He introduced a modified elective program, and abolished the traditional “Preparatory Course,” for those students not yet prepared for the advanced Latin and Greek in the College’s curriculum. He left in 1903, but remained on good terms with St. Stephen’s, returning years later to serve as trustee. He was a very dedicated trustee, attending 58 meetings during his first term on the board and chairing the administration committee and serving on the finance committee.
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Robert Brinckerhoff Fairbairn, ca. 1870.
Rev. Robert B. Fairbairn was the third president of the college. During this time the title warden was used and he is often referred to as "The Great Warden," having served as warden from 1863 to 1898, making him the longest serving head of the college until the current president. The historic architectural core of campus was also established during his tenure, including the construction of Ludlow-Willink (1866), the Stone Row buildings Potter and McVickar (1885), North and South Hoffman (1891), and the Hoffman Library (1893). After ten years of service the trustees presented Rev. Fairbairn with a gift of $1500 and he went to Europe for the summer. He died within two weeks of John Bard in 1899, effectively ending the “early years” of St. Stephen’s.
As warden Rev. Fairbairn wrote a sermon titled "A Plea for an Endowment of St. Stephen's College." What follows is an excerpt from that sermon. "Our blessed Lord makes use of the instrumentality of men in the economy of grace. He does not come to operate directly, without the intervention of means, on the hearts of men. He does not carry on the work of grace, any more than the work of nature, by the direct exertion of his power. It is a gradual work which is going on in the laboratory of nature. There is first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. So it is in grace. The work is gradual. It is performed by the instrumentality of means. God makes use of man in carrying on his divine operations. This is why he says, 'Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.' This is the means by which he has ordained that the truth shall be exhibited to the world, that men shall be brought to a knowledge of the truth, that they shall receive his grace, and shall be enabled to grow therein. He does not speak in an audible voice from heaven. He has committed the truth to his Church as its witness and keeper. He has ordained men to go forth in his name, and by his authority to be the instruments in the forgiveness of sins.”
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Rev. Thomas Richey, ca. 1862.
Rev. Richey was the second president of the college, presiding from 1861 to 1863. During his time the first catalog was issued, Rev. Richey writing the curriculum presented. The curriculum was revised and extended later by President Fairbairn, but remained mostly intact until 1899. During his time Aspinwall was built, which added substantially to the dormitory capacity.
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George Franklin Seymour, 1860.
Rev. Seymour was the first president of St. Stephen’s College. The title of warden reflected its English use, to indicate a college president. Rev. Seymour had, for several years prior, served as missionary of Annandale and had been tutoring students in the classics to prepare them for entrance into the General Theological Seminary. These six students represented the core of the first class of St. Stephen’s College. Rev. Seymour presided over the College’s first commencement in 1861, with two students receiving degrees. Warden Seymour resigned soon after, and eventually became the Bishop of Springfield, Illinois.