I
10
Friday, April 30, 1976
University Daily Kansan
Philanthropists keep helping KU
Almost any student at the University of Kansas is familiar with the names Watkins, Pearson, Summerfield and Spencer. It is quite possible that without the support of these professors, we would be where today in terms of size, resources and the quality of education offered.
It would be difficult to calculate the amount of money the University has received, or will receive in the years to come, as a result of gifts from these families.
Information, compiled in the Alumni Association's files and in the University Archives in the Spencer Research Library, indicates that Watkins, Pearson, Summerfield and Spencer were KU's greatest benefactors.
All of the available information indicates that Elizabeth Watkins is the greatest KU student at the University. She is unsurpassed; donations of $75,000 for a scholarship hall and $175,000 for the first Watkins Memorial Hospital are sufficient to cover the total amount of money she gave to KU.
Watkins, formerly Elizabeth Miller, was born in New Paris, Ohio, in 1861. Her family moved to Kansas when she was young, and Watkins attended St. Paul's School. She attended KU for about a year, but was forced to quit because she didn't have enough money to continue. Watkins was determined that other students who couldn't attend, but deserved to be, given that chance.
She married J. B. Watkins, a Lawrence banker and financier, in 1909. They didn't have much money when they first got married, but Mr. Watkins managed, mainly by shrew real estate dealings, to acquire the land they bought for their joint plans for distributing some of their money to worthwhile causes, so Mrs. Watkins had to pursue the plans on her own.
"The fairy godmother of KU made sure that the University would continue to receive gifts on her behalf after her death at age 78 in 1929. She provided for a trust fund of almost $800,000 for the maintenance and large organization at KU and in Lawrence.
Joseph R. Pearson never attended KU, because the University as he seemingly could have
Pearson was born in Wakefield in 1880, the son of a farmer. His marriage to Geoffrey Sellars, who graduated from KU in 1925, gave him his long-time affiliation with the University.
Pearson was a pioneer in the development of oil production in western Kansas. The Pearls moved to Corsicana, Tex., in 1915, where Pearson played a major role in the development of the large, eastern Texas oil fields in the 1930's.
Pearson lived in Texas until his death in 1965, but never forgot KU. At the time of Mrs. Pearson's death in 1968, it was estimated that the couple had already donated more than $700,000 to KU. Most of this money was used for resuctions halls, including Joseph R. Pearson and Gertrude Schallis Pearson residence halls.
Another KU philanthropist was Solon Erb Summerfield, a lawrence native born in 1877. With the money he earned from his Gotham Silk Hiosiersy Co., Summerfield gave generous gifts to KU, where he had received his law degree in 1901.
In 1929, the Summerfield Scholarship for men students at KU was established. The scholarship gives between 15 and 20 Kansas student students a four-year college education.
After his death in 1947, the Summerfield Foundation continued to give money to KU. The foundation's contributions to KU total about $100,000 a year. About one-third of the
foundation's total income goes to the KU Endowment Association.
The largest single gift to the University was given by the Kenneth A. Spencer Foundation on March 28, 1979, for the new Spender to be paid out of his own funds behind the Kansas Union.
The Spencer Foundation was established in 1949 by Kenneth Spencer and his wife, and has continued to contribute to KU long after Mr. Spencer's death in 1960. The Kenneth Spencer Research Library and his home in Mission Hills are but a few of Spencer's trips to KU to help him is some evidence for the Dean of the School of Medicine.
BMA's Kansas City-West Branch Office
Award of Excellence Winner, 1975
E. P. Mackey,C.L.U Branch Manager
We are looking for associates to enter BMA's training program. Salary up to $900 a month plus ten bonuses, desire management responsibilities.
Send resume to:
E.P. Mackey, CLU, Manager
Business Men's Insurance Company
$800,000 to 150,500
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All entries for the
STUDENT SCULPTURE COMPETITION
are DUE TODAY by 5:00 in the SUA Office
KUAC selects pompon squad for next year
junior; Lisa Cave, Dodge City sophomore;
Denise White, Kansas City, Kan.,Junian;
Maria Morrell, Kansas City, Kan.,Junan;
Maria Moss, Kansas City, Kan.;Junan,
Hume, Topea sophomore; Karen Smith,
Shawnee sophomore; Karen Fleeger,
Lawrence junior; Debbie Blaylock,
Freshman; freshman, alternate; Susan
Lytle, Shawnee Mission sophomore;
alternate.
The University of Kansas yell leaders and pompom girls were recently combined into a group called the KU spirit squad. The second half of the group, formerly called the UKY, was led by the eighth judge appointed by the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation (KUAC).
Last night's final troys lasted five and one-half hours and the squad members were very excited.
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