This collection contains 3 items pertaining to an address delivered by Edward Everett during the inauguration ceremonies for Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, on April 23, 1857. The first item is a manuscript draft of "An Address Delivered at St. Louis on the 22d April 1857, at the Inauguration of Washington University of the State of Missouri, by Edward Everett" (49 pages). The draft differs slightly from published versions and contains additions and excisions. Everett discussed the history of European exploration of and settlement in North America, Native American culture, and the history and importance of education. Defending higher education, Everett described the usefulness of three branches of study: language and communication, higher mathematics, and the "philosophy of the mind" (metaphysics).
The collection also contains a printed pamphlet of the proceedings of the inauguration ceremonies, including a version of Everett's speech (Inauguration of Washington University at Saint Louis, Missouri. April 23, 1857. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1857), and a Freshman Bible of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri (Volume 37. Washington University Freshman Orientation Committee: 1945). The Freshman Bible contains information about the university and a brief description of Everett's remarks.
Edward Everett was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on April 11, 1794, the son of Oliver Everett and Lucy Hill. After earning a bachelor's degree from Harvard College in 1811 and a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School in 1814, he briefly preached at Boston's Brattle Street Church before attending Göttingen University in Germany, from which he received a Ph.D. in 1817. From 1819-1826, he taught Greek literature at Harvard. He served as Harvard's president from 1846-1849. Everett's political career included service in the United States House of Representatives (1825-1834), as Governor of Massachusetts (1836-1840), as a diplomat to Great Britain (1841-1845), as United States Secretary of State (1852-1853), and in the United States Senate (1853-1854). In 1860, he was the vice presidential candidate of the Constitutional Union Party. Everett married Charlotte Gray Brooks in 1822; they had six children. Edward Everett died on January 15, 1865.
