46 Alumni Reunion 



addressed to "the true Founder of the true American 

 University." 



It is in a sense appropriate that a representative of the 

 department of history and political science should have 

 some share in discussing the part that Dr. Oilman played 

 in the academic life of this University. I only wish that 

 the opportunity might have fallen into more worthy 

 hands. One of Dr. Oilman's earliest interests was in the 

 field of history and was almost coincident with his 

 interest in education. It is significant that one of his 

 very earliest writings, contributed to Barnard's Journal 

 of Education, in March, 1856, when he was but twenty- 

 four years old, was on "scientific schools in Europe con- 

 sidered in reference to their prevalence, utility, scope, and 

 desirability in America," and that his earliest public 

 address, of which I can obtain knowledge, was "A Histori- 

 cal Discourse, delivered in Norwich, Connecticut, Septem- 

 ber 7, 1859, at the Bi-Centennial celebration of the Settle- 

 ment of the Town." This address, delivered in the home of 

 his ancestors and promoted to no small extent by his 

 father's enthusiasm for historical inquiries, is a work of 

 124 pages, founded on extensive historical research and 

 bearing witness to a wide familiarity with early New Eng- 

 land history. This interest in history and in historical 

 studies Dr. Oilman never lost, though he could only turn 

 to it occasionally or in connection with other subjects to 

 which he gave more attention. Even at the time when he 

 was delivering his historical sketch, at Norwich, he was 

 acting as chairman of the Visiting Committee of the public 

 schools of New Haven, and published two papers, one con- 

 taining suggestions respecting a course of study for 

 children between the ages of six and twelve years, and the 

 other on common schools and the English language, both 

 issued in 1860. 



Thus, at the very outset of his career, Dr. Oilman indi- 

 cated the two interests that were to dominate him during 

 the years that followed. The interest in history expanded 



