Benjamin Lee Arnold
President, 1872-1892
Benjamin L. Arnold, ca.
1875.
B.L. Arnold
served as president from 1872
until his death in
January of 1892.
Carte-de-visite photograph by L. Goldson.
[OSU
Archives P1:3.]
Benjamin Lee Arnold was named president by the bishops of the
Methodist Episcopal Church South in the summer of 1872 and arrived
in Corvallis in September. Arnold, 33, had taught at several small
colleges in the South, including 4 years as professor of
mathematics and natural science at West Tennessee College in
Jackson.
Arnold had grown up in Mecklenburg County, Virginia and graduated from Randolph-Macon
College in 1861. He enlisted immediately in the Confederate Army, but a physical
incapacity or impairment forced his discharge after only 3 months. After convalescence,
he began his teaching career.
Arnold continued as president until his death on January 30, 1892,
at the age of 52. He had been rushed home to Corvallis on a
special train after taking ill in the Senate chamber in Salem,
where he had been invited to appear before the
Legislature.
College Faculty, 1883. The College faculty
for 1883-84 assembled for this group photograph outside the College
building. They were (from left):
Edgar Grimm, Professor of Agriculture and Chemistry
Ida Burnett (Callahan), Primary Department
B.L. Arnold, President and Professor of Moral Philosophy and
Physics
B.J. Hawthorne, Professor of Languages
Joseph Emery, Professor of Mathematics
W.W. Bristow, Preparatory Department
Not present was Miss E. McFadden, who taught drawing and painting.
[OSU Archives #170]
Where to Find More Information about B.L. Arnold
President's Office Records
(RG 13)
Board of Regents Records (RG 8)
Board of Trustees Records (RG 33)
Memorabilia Collection - Arnold, B.L.
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