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==Death and legacy==
==Death and legacy==
Jacobs died on August 4, 1956, in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name=TGN8_7_1956/> He is buried at the First Presbyterian Church cemetery in [[Clinton, South Carolina]].<ref name=TIJ8_7_1956>{{cite news |author= |title= Dr. Thornwell Jacobs |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8403539/t-jacobs-obit/ |work= The Index-Journaln |page= 5 |location=Greenwood, South Carolina|date= August 7, 1956 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref> The personal library of Jacobs of some 4000 books and numerous personal papers was given as a gift to Presbyterian College from his five children.<ref name=TIJ10_3_1957>{{cite news |author= |title= PC is given The Library of late Dr. Thornwell Jacobs, by family |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80985384/ |work= The Index-Journaln |page= 3 |location=Greenwood, South Carolina|date= October 3, 1957 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref>
Jacobs died on August 4, 1956, in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name=TGN8_7_1956/> He is buried at the First Presbyterian Church cemetery in [[Clinton, South Carolina]].<ref name=TIJ8_7_1956>{{cite news |author= |title= Dr. Thornwell Jacobs |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8403539/t-jacobs-obit/ |work= The Index-Journaln |page= 5 |location=Greenwood, South Carolina|date= August 7, 1956 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref> The personal library of Jacobs of some 4000 books and numerous personal papers was given as a gift to Presbyterian College from his five children.<ref name=TIJ10_3_1957>{{cite news |author= |title= PC is given The Library of late Dr. Thornwell Jacobs, by family |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80985384/ |work= The Index-Journaln |page= 3 |location=Greenwood, South Carolina|date= October 3, 1957 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref> They also established a memorial scholarship fund of $20,500 at the college in Clinton.<ref name=TCO12_26_1957>{{cite news |author= |title= Thornwell Jacobs scholarship established |url= |work= The Charlotte Observer |page= 14 |location=Charlotte, North Carolina|date= December 26, 1957 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref>


==Works==
==Works==

Revision as of 21:04, 7 July 2021

Thornwell Jacobs
Jacobs 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 a professor, historian, author, fundraiser, university founder, and Presbyterian minister. He earned degrees from Presbyterian College in South Carolina and the Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He wrote a novel about the mulatto as a third race based a race riot where at least two dozen people were killed.

Jacobs reestablished Oglethorpe University, becoming its president and developing intense educational programs. His motivation for this was that his grandfather attended the original college and told him of educated people that had graduated from it to become productive citizens in society. It had been forced to cease functioning because of the American Civil War.

At the university he conceived the Crypt of Civilization time capsule idea for a historic time collection of 1930s cultural objects sealed in a specially designed place on campus 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 to Reverend William Plumer Jacob and the former Mary Jane Dillard at Thornwell Orphanage in Clinton, South Carolina, on February 15, 1877. The orphanage was organized and developed by his father. Jacobs learned the printing trade in his early teens. In 1895, when he was 18 years old, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894 and Master of Arts degree from Presbyterian College of South Carolina in 1895. He was later honored by his alma mater with the Doctor of Letters degree.[1] After that he attended Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey and graduated in 1899 with a Bachelor of Divinity degree.[2][3][4]

General James Oglethorpe
Oglethorpe University, c 1920

Adult life

Jacobs served as a Presbyterian pastor in Morganton, North Carolina, from 1900 to 1903. After this time he became vice president of Thornwell Orphanage and began fundraising for the organization.[4] In 1905, Jacobs became involved in religious publications in Nashville, Tennessee. He visited Atlanta after the Atlanta Massacre race riots of September 1906 and then in Nashville wrote a novel based on it about the mulatto as a third race, Law of White Circle (1908).[5]

In 1909, Jacobs returned to Atlanta for a fundraising project to benefit the growth of Agnes Scott College. He then established a Presbyterian college in Atlanta. He also planned to reestablish the old Oglethorpe University near Atlanta, where his grandfather, Ferdinand, had been a faculty member.[3] His grandfather had told him stories about the university's graduates; some were governors, some were poets, some were ministers, some were farmers, and some were merchants.[6] Oglethorpe University, named for British General James Edward Oglethorpe the founder of the colony of Georgia and the first governor of the state of Georgia, was chartered a Presbyterian institution in 1835. The college had been closed during the American Civil War (1861-1865).[7]

Jacobs started the religious publication Westminster Magazine in 1911 which promoted the reestablishing of Oglethorpe University as a college again.[8] Jacobs reopened the school of higher education and reestablished it from 1913 to 1916.[3] He restored and rebuilt the old college from a fund he raised of $500,000 (equivalent to $14,000,000 in 2023).[9] He became its president on January 21, 1915,[10] and continued in that position for nearly 30 years until 1944.[11] As a salesman, Jacobs was able to get financial backers for Oglethorpe University like J.T. Lupton, a Chattanooga Coca-Cola bottling businessman, who gave $100,000 for the hall that bears his name at the university. Jacobs was able to get newspaper czar William Randolph Hearst to give a quarter of a million dollars cash and other donations to the university. According to Judson C. Ward, historian and vice president of Emory University, Jacobs was an outstanding salesman, master showman, and man of ideas with a flair for attracting publicity.[12]

Oglethorpe University, Lupton Hall, c. 1939

Educational experiment

In 1939, Jacobs set up an Exceptional Educational Experiment training for an 11-man "brain 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 and do two to three times as much work as an average student. Jacobs predicted that they would learn at least four times as much as other students. He theorized that 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. It was anticipated the students would have a half dozen ways to make a living with above average wages. There was a 21-year-old assistant coach by the name of Frederick Goss who had the leader title of Don as a person of distinction.[13] Jacobs raised funds to finance the students through the six years involved.[13]

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 a while. Then in the afternoon they would continue their studies until 10:45 pm. They could participate in extracurricular activities except fraternities, which were thought to 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 included astronomy, geology, paleontology, and anthropology, as well as various types of art, physical exercise, shorthand, Greek, French, German, Italian, Spanish and philosophy.[14]

One winner of the six-year Oglethorpe scholarship, Marshall Asher Jr of Athens, Texas, gave details of his experiences as a member of the brain team. He explained that in the summer following his high school graduation, he entered a statewide contest for the scholarship, and he earned high scores on a comprehensive set of exams. In the middle of September 1939 he was notified to report to Oglethorpe to replace a member of the experiment that dropped out. When he arrived the first thing that happened was that he met the other ten young men who were participating in the program. Then he was notified of the conditions regulating the scholarship. He was guaranteed a room, board and regular school fees if he would follow the rules of the experiment. The most important one was that he was to buy all the necessary books and keep them in his possession. The next rule was that he was to attend a designated church each Sunday assigned by Jacobs. He could not smoke, drink liquor, gamble or swear. He was to remain in his room every evening, except Saturday, to prepare for the next day's lessons. Other rules were that he was to follow a daily schedule with time allotted for classes, meals, exercise, reading in the library, studying and sleep. He was told that the education that he was to receive would include every subject taught in the university and would take six years of study at 11 months a year. He was told that he would take twice the load of the average student and be expected to make grades of at least 90. At the end of 20 months he was the lead student with an average grade of 95 and was one of six students remaining in the rigid rule test project.[15] He had received a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree. All the students that would graduate at the end of the six-year period would receive the special degree of doctor of arts and sciences.[16]

Oglethorpe's tomb

In 1922, in the churchyard of the Cranham rectory in England, Jacobs located the burial place of British General James Edward Oglethorpe, namesake of the old university.[11] He made an effort to have his remains and those of the general's wife's moved to Atlanta where they were to be reburied in a tomb on the Oglethorpe campus,[17] but there was opposition from Georgia organizations and English authorities that caused this to not come to fruition.[18] Jacobs expressed a hope that the remains of Lord and Lady Oglethorpe could be moved to America in the future.[19]

Crypt of Civilization

Main article: Crypt of Civilization

Jacobs originated and conceived the Crypt of Civilization millennial idea for a historic time treasure trove of 1930s cultural objects sealed in a specially designed room at Oglethorpe University in 1935.[20][21] The room was removed of oxygen and sealed off with welded steel doors in 1940; it was not to be opened until the 82nd century.[3][11][21] According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it was the first record of 20th century cultural objects buried away for any future occupants of Earth or visitors that may come to the planet.[22] He planned and designed the permanent storage space to preserve information of the early 20th century in the 1930s. He discussed this proposal in an article in Scientific American in 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.[23] 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.[23]

Crypt of Civilization entrance

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. To show the level of scientific achievement, contents included 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 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.[24]

A ceremony was conducted before the crypt was sealed on 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. Because of this project, Jacobs is known as the Father of Modern Time Capsules.[25][26]

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.[23] He took the original time repository concept from Jacobs since he wrote about the beginning of the Crypt of Civilization project as the editor for Literary Digest magazine where he had worked before.[27] 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.[28][29] The date of 8113 C.E. was calculated by Jacobs from the first accepted historical fixed date, 4241 B.C.E. Scholars believe the Egyptian calendar became established in 6,177 years,[11] and there are 6,177 years between 4241 BCE and 1936 CE. He then added the same number of years to 1936 to calculate the year that the time capsule should be opened.[25]

Death and legacy

Jacobs died on August 4, 1956, in Atlanta, Georgia.[4] He is buried at the First Presbyterian Church cemetery in Clinton, South Carolina.[30] The personal library of Jacobs of some 4000 books and numerous personal papers was given as a gift to Presbyterian College from his five children.[31] They also established a memorial scholarship fund of $20,500 at the college in Clinton.[32]

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)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Orphanage head, P.C. graduate returns to Clinton for exercises". The Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. October 25, 1939. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  2. ^ Marquis 1966, p. 443.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b c "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.
  5. ^ "The Law of the White Circle". Jackson Daily News. Jackson, Mississippi. January 7, 1909. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  6. ^ "Lo! A university is rising from the dead". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. May 11, 1913. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ^ "The New Georgia Encyclopedia — Education — Oglethorpe University". Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  8. ^ "Thornwell Jacobs entertains press during assembly". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. May 3, 1913. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  9. ^ "Oglethorpe founder No. 1 money raiser". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. December 8, 1940. p. 47 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  10. ^ Garrison, Webb (May 11, 1986). "Capturing time in a bottle". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. 121 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  11. ^ a b c d "Article on Paul Stephen Hudson". Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  12. ^ "Oglethorpe". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. February 10, 1985. p. 129 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  13. ^ a b "'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.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "Brain Team of university threatened". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. December 30, 1941. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  16. ^ Marshall Asher Jr (June 26, 1941). "Texan leads brain team, qualifying far B.A. in 20 months". The Paris News. Paris, Texas. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  17. ^ "Georgia's first governor to be reiherenterred". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. September 30, 1923. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  18. ^ "Will Adorn Grave of Oglethorpe". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. January 27, 1925. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  19. ^ "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.
  20. ^ Jarvis 2002, p. 121.
  21. ^ a b Phillips, Keith (August 29, 1990). "Crypt Entombs Secrets of 1930s for Habitats of 82nd Century". The Salt Lake Tribune. Atlanta, Georgia. p. 61 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  22. ^ Dean 2010, p. 18.
  23. ^ a b c "History of the Crypt of Civilization". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  24. ^ "Detailed History / The "Archaeological Duty" of Thornwell Jacobs / The Oglethorpe Atlanta Crypt of Civilization Time Capsule". Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  25. ^ a b "Oglethorpe University - International Time Capsule Society". Archived from the original on 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  26. ^ Jarvis 2002, p. 232.
  27. ^ Jarvis 2002, pp. 156.
  28. ^ Jarvis 2002, p. 155.
  29. ^ "Time capsules leave behind remnants of our lives". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. July 29, 1993. p. 121 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  30. ^ "Dr. Thornwell Jacobs". The Index-Journaln. Greenwood, South Carolina. August 7, 1956. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  31. ^ "PC is given The Library of late Dr. Thornwell Jacobs, by family". The Index-Journaln. Greenwood, South Carolina. October 3, 1957. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  32. ^ "Thornwell Jacobs scholarship established". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. December 26, 1957. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.

Sources

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