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The team's daily routine was to start classes at 7 am and attend until 1:30 pm. They could then play and exercise for awhile. Then in the afternoon they would continue their studies until 10:45 pm. They may participate in extracurricular activities except fraternities, which was theorized would interfere with their studies. The average student typically studied 15 hours' class work a week, but the brain team would apply 25 to 30 hours a week. The average student attended college 8 months a year, but Jacobs' team would attend the college 11 months out of the year. The courses taught at the university would be on the sciences of astronomy, geology, paleontology, and anthropology. They would be on various types of art and would also include physical exercise, shorthand, Greek, French, German, Italian, Spanish and philosophy.<ref name=GFT10_14_1939>{{cite news |author= |title= Intellectual Giants to spend six years learning everything |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74930327// |work= Great Falls Tribune |page= 6 |location=Great Falls, Montana |date= October 14, 1939 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref>
The team's daily routine was to start classes at 7 am and attend until 1:30 pm. They could then play and exercise for awhile. Then in the afternoon they would continue their studies until 10:45 pm. They may participate in extracurricular activities except fraternities, which was theorized would interfere with their studies. The average student typically studied 15 hours' class work a week, but the brain team would apply 25 to 30 hours a week. The average student attended college 8 months a year, but Jacobs' team would attend the college 11 months out of the year. The courses taught at the university would be on the sciences of astronomy, geology, paleontology, and anthropology. They would be on various types of art and would also include physical exercise, shorthand, Greek, French, German, Italian, Spanish and philosophy.<ref name=GFT10_14_1939>{{cite news |author= |title= Intellectual Giants to spend six years learning everything |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74930327// |work= Great Falls Tribune |page= 6 |location=Great Falls, Montana |date= October 14, 1939 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref>


There was a state-wide high school contest conducted in the summer of 1941 for a six-year scholarship to Oglethorpe University to replace Goss who had quite the program. It involved a comprehensive set of examinations covering ail subjects taught in the high schools. Marshall Asher, a student from [[Athens, Texas]], was the winner and took over leadership in September of 1941.
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After 20 months into the project six American youths finished the first segment of the experiment and qualified for a four-year bachelor of arts degree. Jacobs declares that after they complete the next four years of training the students will be the best educated college men to graduate from any American university.

⚫
After 20 months into the project six American youths finished the first segment of the experiment and qualified for a four-year bachelor of arts degree. Jacobs pronounced that after they complete the next four years of training the students will be the best educated college men to graduate from any American university.




Revision as of 14:34, 2 April 2021

Thornwell Jacobs
Dr. Thornwell Jacobs, president of Oglethorpe University, sealing the last object holder to go into the Crypt of Civilization.
Born(1877-02-15)15 February 1877
Clinton, South Carolina
Died4 August 1956 (aged 79)
Clinton, South Carolina
Occupation(s)Presbyterian minister, author, educator, business executive
Known foreducator, "time capsule"
Parent(s)William Plumer Jacobs
Mary Jane (Dillard)

Thornwell Jacobs (February 15, 1877 – August 4, 1956) was an educator, author, and a Presbyterian minister. He conceived the Crypt of Civilization idea for a historic time collection of 1930s cultural objects sealed in a specially designed place for people of the 82nd century to find to see how the people on Earth lived in the 20th century.

Early life

Jacobs was born at Thornwell Orphanage in Clinton, South Carolina on February 15, 1877. The orphanage was organized and developed by his father, Reverend William Plumer Jacobs. Mary Jane (Dillard) Jacobs was the wife of William and Jacob's mother. Jacobs studied the printing trade while a boy. Later in 1895 when he was 18 years old he earned the Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree from Presbyterian College of South Carolina. After that he attended Princeton Theological Seminary that is located in the state of New Jersey and graduated from there in 1899.[1][2]

Adult life

Oglethorpe University, c 1920

Jacobs served as a Presbyterian pastor in Morganton, North Carolina, at the Presbyterian Church from 1900 to 1903. After this time he became vice president of Thornwell Orphanage and began fund raising for the organization.[3] In 1905, Jacobs became involved in religious publications in Nashville, Tennessee. He visited Atlanta after the Atlanta race riot of September 1906 and then in Nashville wrote a novel based on it about the mulatto as a third race, The Law of the White Circle which was published in 1908.[4]

In 1909, Jacobs returned to Atlanta to raise funds for Agnes Scott College. Later he then decided to establish a Presbyterian college in Atlanta. He planned to reestablish the old Oglethorpe University that his grandfather, Ferdinand Jacobs, had been a faculty member of and told him stories about of the educated people that came from the institution.[2] Some of them were governors, some of them were poets, some of them were ministers, some of them were farmers, and some of them were merchants. It had been an educational college like Princeton, Yale and Harvard.[5] Oglethorpe University was chartered a Presbyterian institution in 1835.[6] The college had been closed during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and was not reopen until Jacobs intervened and reestablished it in 1913 to 1916.[2] He restored and rebuilt the old college from a fund he raised of $500,000 (equivalent to $14,000,000 in 2023).[7] He became its president on January 21, 1915,[8] and continued in that position for nearly 30 years until 1944.[9]

Brain team

Oglethorpe University, c 1939

Jacobs in 1939 set up an Exceptional Educational Experiment training for an 11-man team at Oglethorpe University . He selected young men from the top 10 percent of recent high school graduates for his intense university program. In the unique educational experiment, team members were to stay in college six years, do several times as much work as an average student and Jacobs planned that they would learn at least four times as much. He theorized his students would go through the sum of human knowledge available at the time much sooner finding the task no harder than ordinary studies to ordinary students. When done it was anticipated the students would have a half dozen ways to make a living to earn above average wages. There was a 21-year-old assistant coach by the name of Frederick Goss who had to leader title of Don. Jacobs raised funds to finance the students through the six years involved.[10]

The team's daily routine was to start classes at 7 am and attend until 1:30 pm. They could then play and exercise for awhile. Then in the afternoon they would continue their studies until 10:45 pm. They may participate in extracurricular activities except fraternities, which was theorized would interfere with their studies. The average student typically studied 15 hours' class work a week, but the brain team would apply 25 to 30 hours a week. The average student attended college 8 months a year, but Jacobs' team would attend the college 11 months out of the year. The courses taught at the university would be on the sciences of astronomy, geology, paleontology, and anthropology. They would be on various types of art and would also include physical exercise, shorthand, Greek, French, German, Italian, Spanish and philosophy.[11]

There was a state-wide high school contest conducted in the summer of 1941 for a six-year scholarship to Oglethorpe University to replace Goss who had quite the program. It involved a comprehensive set of examinations covering ail subjects taught in the high schools. Marshall Asher, a student from Athens, Texas, was the winner and took over leadership in September of 1941.

After 20 months into the project six American youths finished the first segment of the experiment and qualified for a four-year bachelor of arts degree. Jacobs pronounced that after they complete the next four years of training the students will be the best educated college men to graduate from any American university.


James Olethrope

Oglethorpe's tomb

Jacobs had located in the churchyard of the Cranham rectory in England in 1923 the burial place of General Sir James Edward Oglethorpe, namesake of the old university and founder of the colony of Georgia and the first governor of the state.[9] He made an effort to have his body's remains and that of the general's wife's moved to Atlanta where they were to be reburied in a tomb on the Oglethorpe campus,[12] but there was opposition from Georgia organizations and English authorities that caused this to not come to fruition.[13] Jacobs expressed a hope that the remains of Lord and Lady Oglethorpe could be moved to America someday in the future.[14]

Crypt of Civilization

Main article: Crypt of Civilization

Jacobs originated and conceived the Crypt of Civilization idea for a historic time treasure trove of 1930s cultural objects sealed in a specially designed room at Oglethorpe University.[15] The room was removed of oxygen and sealed off with welded steel doors in 1940 with the intention of the civilization of the 82nd century to find.[2][9][15] According to the Guinness Book of World Records it was successful in being first record of 20th century cultural objects buried away for any future occupants of Earth or visitors that may come to the planet.[16] He planned and designed the permanent storage space to preserve information of the early 20th century in 1930s. He discussed this proposal in an article in Scientific American, November 1936, because he was astounded by the shortage of information on people that lived in communities and settlements that were established as a basis for nations and empires that came about later.[17] Jacobs devised a plan to present a story of customs of humans on Earth and put it down in a detailed written design. He wanted to show the acquired knowledge of people, especially of the United States, up to the present time.[17]

Jacobs put Dr. Thomas Kimmwood Peters in charge of the project in 1937 because of his experience as a scientist, photographer, and inventor. For the next three years most every conceivable phase of living was investigated and cataloged. There were 960,000 pages of book knowledge microfilmed by specially designed cameras of Peters innovation. There were included to show the level of scientific achievement 250 motion pictures about industries, processes of manufacture, surgical operations, scenes of everyday life, fiction films, documentaries, a motion picture history of the United States from 1895 and a still photography history from 1840. Additionally to show the way of living in the 20th century fashions in 30 inch high miniature models were made dressed by prominent costume designers, complete with patterns for full-length reproduction in the future. Also included was a complete five-and-ten-cent store, dishes, newspapers, chewing gum, optical instruments, musical instruments, cataloged musical recordings, scale models of railroad locomotives, automobiles, yachts, ocean liners, airplanes, air-conditioning systems, and samples of food with associated drinks.[18]

The permanent closing of the crypt by welding the entrance door in place sealing it had ceremonies performed May 27, 1940. So that the Crypt of Civilization project and the tomb's location would not be lost, a series of records were made in all the world's major languages and then sent to repositories, libraries, and universities in key parts of the world. The Crypt was closed permanently on May 28, 1940. It is not intended to be opened again until at least May 28, 8113 C.E.. Because of this Oglethorpe University project Jacobs is known as the Father of Modern Time Capsules.[19][20]

George Edward Pendray is the one responsible for the Westinghouse Time Capsule that was buried in 1939 for the New York World's Fair that took place in 1939 and 1940.[17] He "borrowed" the original idea from Jacobs.[21] Originally Westinghouse's project was named time bomb because of its shape, but due to the time period of World War II this was not acceptable and Pendray then coined a new term of time capsule.[22][23] The date of 8113 C.E. was calculated by Jacobs from the first accepted historical fixed date, 4241 B.C.E. This is the time that chroniclers and scholars believe was when the Egyptian calendar became established. The Crypt's projected intended opening is in 6177 years.[9] This was what Jacobs determined as the number of years between 4241 BCE and 1936 CE. He then added the same number of years to 1936, concluding the year as a midway time, and then decided the opening date of the crypt should be no earlier than 8113 A.D.[19]

Death

Jacobs died August 4, 1956 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is buried at the First Presbyterian Church cemetery in Clinton, South Carolina.[24]

Works

  • Sinful Saddy (1907)
  • Law of White Circle (1908)
  • Midnight Mummer (poems) (1911)
  • The Oglethorpe Story (1916)
  • Life of William Plumer Jacobs (1918)
  • New Science and the Old Religion (1927)
  • Islands of the Blest (poems) (1928)
  • Oglethorpe Book of Georgia Verse (1930)
  • Diary of William Plumber Jacobs (1937)
  • William Plumber Jacobs Memorabilla (1942)
  • Red Lanterns on St. Michael's (1940)
  • Story of Christmas (1941)
  • Drums of Doomsday (1942)
  • Step down, Dr. Jacobs (1945)
  • When For The Truth - Reconstruction Days in South Carolina (1950)

References

  1. ^ Marquis 1966, p. 443.
  2. ^ a b c d Paul Stephen Hudson (15 August 2013). "The New Georgia Encyclopedia / Thornwell Jacobs (1877-1956)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. University of Georgia. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  3. ^ "Jacobs Rites at 5 Today was Educator and Author". The Greenville New. Greenville, South Carolina. August 7, 1956. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  4. ^ "The Law of the White Circle". Jackson Daily News. Jackson, Mississippi. January 7, 1909. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  5. ^ "Lo! A university is rising from the dead". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. May 11, 1913. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  6. ^ "The New Georgia Encyclopedia — Education — Oglethorpe University". Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  7. ^ "Oglethorpe founder No. 1 money raiser". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. December 8, 1940. p. 47 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  8. ^ Webb Garrison (May 11, 1986). "Capturing time in a bottle". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. 121 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  9. ^ a b c d "Article on Paul Stephen Hudson". Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  10. ^ "'Brain Team' hopes to learn just about all college has to offer". News-Journal. Mansfield, Ohio. October 13, 1939. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  11. ^ "Intellectual Giants to spend six years learning everything". Great Falls Tribune. Great Falls, Montana. October 14, 1939. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  12. ^ "Georgia's first governor to be reiherenterred". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. September 30, 1923. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  13. ^ "Will Adorn Grave of Oglethorpe". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. January 27, 1925. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  14. ^ "Still Hopes to bring Oglethorpe's body to U.S." The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. October 27, 1923. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  15. ^ a b Keith Phillips (August 29, 1990). "Crypt Entombs Secrets of 1930s for Habitants of 82nd Century". The Salt Lake Tribune. Atlanta, Georgia. p. 61 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  16. ^ Dean 2010, p. 18.
  17. ^ a b c "History of the Crypt of Civilization". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  18. ^ "Detailed History / The "Archaeological Duty" of Thornwell Jacobs / The Oglethorpe Atlanta Crypt of Civilization Time Capsule". Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  19. ^ a b "Oglethorpe University - International Time Capsule Society". Archived from the original on 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  20. ^ Jarvis 2002, p. 232.
  21. ^ Jarvis 2002, pp. 153–156.
  22. ^ Jarvis 2002, p. 155.
  23. ^ "Time capsules leave behind remnants of our lives". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. July 29, 1993. p. 121 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  24. ^ "Dr. Thornwell Jacobs". The Index-Journaln. Greenwood, South Carolina. August 7, 1956. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.

Sources

See also

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