Founder of Eastman Business College

HARVEY G. EASTMAN Founder of Eastman Business College

Elizabeth I. Carter

"He hit Poughkeepsie like an exploding meteorite!" "He had flashing blue eyes and the head of a genius." "He literally gave his life for his adopted city." These were some of the comments made immediately after the death of one of Poughkeepsie's most colorful and illustrious citizens in July, 1878, just one hundred years ago. They paint in a very few words a portrait of a man who has challenged every "painter of history" since his time. One artist might slap together a caricature of a man arrayed in a suit of bright colors, a high white beaver hat with a six-inch brim, riding around Poughkeepsie in his white barouche drawn by four horses (all with white feet). Another more truthful artist might portray an ambitious, energetic, dynamic gentleman whose very profile bespoke all of these qualities. But it would take an artist of unusual perception, ability and understanding to paint the ultimate portrait, one which would show the true character and personality of "H.G." as he came to be known. It would have to picture him in three dimensions, for underneath his showman-promotor exterior were hidden more subtle qualities - generosity, love of his city and devotion to the youth of the country. It is hard to start the life story of such a man at the usual beginning, but how else can we start? Harvey Gridley Eastman was born in Marshall, Oneida County, New York on October 16, 1832. His ancestors had come from England to Massachusetts in 1638, and later generations had migrated to central New York. Harvey's father was a farmer and most of the boy's time was spent helping with the farm work. He could "read, write and cipher" but his schooling was intermittent at best. At nineteen he began working for his uncle, George Washington Eastman, who operated a school in Rochester where young men could learn penmanship and arithmetic. (Harvey's younger cousin, George, started as a teller in a Rochester Bank and later founded the famous Eastman Kodak Company.) After a disagreement with his uncle, Harvey started a school of his own in Oswego and soon moved on to set up one in St. Louis, Mo. It was at this point that his interests began to widen beyond the operation of a "business school" for he started to invite renowned speakers on the anti-slavery issue to lecture to his students and to all who wished to join them. This led very quickly to a head-on clash with the St. Louis authorities and he had to leave. He had heard favorably about a town on the Hudson River, stratigically located halfway between New York and Albany and noted as an educational center. (It had some 50 private schools of all sizes.) It was a bustling industrial and commercial center and although he had never set foot in it, Eastman chose it for the location of his

new "State and National Business College." And now his genius becomes strikingly evident. He wrote tremendous amounts of advertizing material, expatiating on the opportunities which would be showered upon those who attended his "College" (all of which proved to be true), and he circularized "every state in the Union and all the islands of the sea". He would teach "book-keeping and penmanship, combining Theory with Practise." So convincing was his advertizing campaign that responses began to flood the little Post Office on Garden Street until the Postmaster demanded, "Who is this Eastman anyway? All this mail addressed to him is piling up in so many baskets that there's no room for the regular mail!" On November 16, 1859, aged 27, Eastman arrived and picked up his mail - and Poughkeepsie was never the same again! He took out a surprisingly modest ad in the Poughkeepsie Journal, only a 4-inch space, one column wide. It read, " 'Eastman State and National Business College' will be open for both Ladies and Gentlemen, established as a permanent School of Instruction in the Practical Arts of Life." Until this time, the colleges and universities had scorned "the useful arts" as too mundane to be included in their curricula. Courses pertaining to the world of business were not even considered. Latin, Greek and classical literature were the substance of higher education. However, with the industrial revolution rolling into high gear across the country, the new industries and commercial houses were crying for trained accountants and business administrators - and Harvey Eastman was about to supply them. He promptly rented one room on Market Street across from the Savings Bank for which he paid 75 cents a week, and with one student, a young man from Newburgh, the new Business College was off and running. (The story is told that Eastman met this young man and his father in a restaurant and persuaded them to enroll the son.) Within three months he had 20 students, moved to larger quarters on Vassar Street and later rented the beautiful church (still standing), on the corner of Vassar and Mill Streets from the man who had bought it from the Congregationalists in 1860 - none other than Matthew Vassar, Jr. who noted in his diary, "Today I rented it to Harvey Eastman for $250.00 a year." As the years progressed, so did the College. Eastman never built a classroom or a dormitory during his short lifetime. As the enrollment grew at an amazing pace, he rented more and more classroom space in public buildings, in churches, in the old City Hall, and he arranged for students to room and board in private homes. This proved to be a bonanza for Poughkeepsie homeowners. During the Civil War years over 100 families were keeping an average of four students. Mr. Eastman paid $3.50 for each one, which meant an income of $14.00 a week, a tidy sum at that time. Another result of this arrangement was that such intimate friendships were formed with the daughters in all

these households that many romances developed. Poughkeepsie even benefitted from these because many of the bridegrooms stayed on in the city and became business and civic leaders. After "H.G.'s" death, when a college building was finally erected on Washington Street, a popular joke went like this: "There should be an inscription over the door reading, 'Eastman's Gift to Poughkeepsie's Young Women'". The charge for the 3-month course was $100.00 which included tuition, board and room and all books and supplies. The school was never closed except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. A student could commence at any time and graduations were held weekly. (A similar system has recently been adopted by the Culinary Institute of America.) Any student could come back for a refresher course anytime without charge. Eastman promised each graduate a job, a promise which he had no trouble in fulfilling because firms like John Wanamaker wrote asking for 20-25 from the next class. Alumni formed State Societies and helped one another to obtain positions in industry, government and other colleges. As time went on more and more courses were added. Eastman's theme was "Learning by Doing", a concept which many years later was to become a popular one in educational circles. A student learned banking by working in the college bank; he learned about stocks and bonds on the College Stock Exchange (with a direct telephone line to Wall Street in later years); he worked in the College Post Office selling Eastman stamps and making out money orders. There were other "Ventures and Services" - an Emporium where actual goods were sold, an insurance agency, a shipping company, the young men made out all sorts of forms, duplicates of those they would be using in the real business world, and counted out the money as carefully as if it were real. Actually, it did have a fractional worth - 1 cent equalled 50 U.S. cents. When a student graduated, he was ready to start right in working for any business house without need of a long orientation period because he had already performed every chore involved. How was it possible to learn so much in 12 weeks? So realistic were the varying operations that some students made fortunes (on paper) and bequeathed them to successors upon graduation. It is also recorded that some students went bankrupt! They moved from one branch of study to another under the strict surveillance of a fellow student, who in turn, was monitored by an "Umpire", an instructor. And H. G. was personally supervising everyone to make sure that all received fair treatment. It was part of his genius that he could keep in close touch with every detail of the College even in the later years when his activities were so varied and so numerous. Needless to say, with the pressure to learn so much in such a short time there were never any disciplinary problems. Everyone was much too busy to misbehave! All printing of textbooks, stamps, money, forms and advertising materials was done as part of the training and many examples may be seen in Adriance Memorial Library. Some of them are really works of art.

It is difficult for us to grasp what the impact of the College must have been on every phase of life in Poughkeepsie. When Eastman came in 1859, it had a population of 14,000. During the next 10 years, the city grew to over 20,000, due mainly to its rapid industrial expansion. However, it was a very tightly-built, compact town and the continual arrival of hundreds of young men, living and going to school in the heart of the city was bound to have a tremendous economic effect. Mr. Eastman was a strong churchman, a member of the First Dutch Church, then located at the corner of Washington and Main Streets, and he urged church attendance on the part of his boys. The churches became social centers for young people, especially on Sunday evenings when they were crowded with Eastman students and local young ladies. It was then that many romances bloomed. While we are looking with amazement at the workings of the college itself, we are not to lose sight of the man who not only dreamed it into existence, but who operated it so successfully, attracting outstanding "professors", constantly improving the curriculum and making changes to fit the changing needs of the times. Everywhere his promotional literature went, the beauty and desirability of Poughkeepsie as a place to live and do business went along. His descriptions of Poughkeepsie are positively lyrical! The cover of one of his brochures showed his "Mansion" in the center encircled by pictures of elegant Greek Revival buildings and other imposing structures labelled "First College", "Second College", etc. Actually, Eastman only rented 2 or 3 rooms in each. The buildings were: The Cannon Street Methodist Church (now Masonic Temple). The Church at the corner of Vassar and Mill Streets. Washington Street Methodist Church. The City Hall The Collingwood Opera House The McLean Building The pictures were engravings, not photographs, which made it possible for the artist to take liberties with the size and appearance of the buildings, supplying a setting of trees and grass, giving the impression of a handsome campus. Small wonder that many of the arriving students were dumbfounded to find no campus, no dormitories, only widelyseparated buildings along cobblestone or muddy streets. There is no record, however, of any prospective student returning home after the first disillusionment. Many have said that Eastman was at least 50 years ahead of his time, especially as a promoter, and some of his schemes seem to border precariously on the verge of being misleading if not worse. Certainly his methods proved to be effective. Although he was only in his 30's, he quickly became a father-figure to his boys and "Don't" was one of his favorite words: "Don't Read Novels - Don't Drink - Don't Smoke - Don't Swear - Don't Chew - Don't Deceive." But he realized that they needed some outlet for recreation and plain fun. So he organized "The Eastman Band" which served the double purpose of promoting the

College. He had it outfitted in typically elegant style - ornate uniforms, straw hats with bright-colored ribbons - sparing no expense. It travelled all over the South and the Middle West, giving concerts and signing up new - students. It was a great success, although some of its members had never played a musical instrument before. No parade or public event in Poughkeepsie was complete without the Eastman Band. The band was selected to lead the funeral cortege of the assassinated President Lincoln up Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, and it rode his funeral train as far as Buffalo, playing funeral dirges at each stopping place. One of the stops was Poughkeepsie where the train rolled silently into the station on its muffled wheels at 10:30 P.M. on April 25th, 1865, and "every able-bodied person was on hand to pay their respects to the martyred President." Grim as all this sounds, it must have been a welcome relief from the incessant practice in buying, selling, lending and borrowing. One of H.G.'s innovative promotions was his use of decorative stationary. His envelopes carried large pictures on the back (why waste all that blank space?) and the paper itself was sometimes so covered with ornamentation that there was little space left for writing. The word "EXCELSIOR", the College motto, in flowery, Spencerian script appeared on almost everything. Since "perfect penmanship" was a requirement for every student, Eastman invented a rather cumbersome device, a ball to be held in the hand with a metal band to go around the first finger and a clip to attach to a pen. It held the hand in a most uncomfortable position, but it helped to produce the uniform, flowing, hand-writing so much admired at the time. Beautiful penmanship was not only a status symbol, but a commercial asset. At one time, so much mail came to the College through the Poughkeepsie Post Office, that it took 7 secretaries to answer it. Students came from every state in the Union as well as from Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Canada. The outgoing mail was equally heavy because Eastman's printing press was constantly busy turning out advertising material. Surfeited as we are today with all varieties of commercials and advertising schemes, it is hard for us to understand the astonishment of people over Eastman's willingness to spend $60,000 in one year for space in New York newspapers. His genius for publicity took many forms. At the close of the Civil War, he paid men to distribute literature among the Southern soldiers, extolling the school and calling attention to the fact that "now that the plantations are gone as well as many other means of livelihood, you will do well to come North and learn the ins-and-outs of the business world and fit yourselves for the lean years to come." It proved to be very effective because the enrollment of the school jumped to an all-time high of 2000 students, many of them from the southern states. At that same time, the Adriance Plow and Reaper plant was nearing completion down by the river. Eastman rented

it and gave a dinner for 2500 men, most of them returning soldiers. Smith Brothers catered and the local paper reported the following day, "It is hard to see how even Smith Brothers could feed such a multitude." But H.G. loved nothing so much as to do things on a grand scale and he later claimed that the affair had been very profitable because many signed up immediately to attend the "College." For some time, he had envisioned a chain of Eastman Business Colleges across the country and he decided that the time was now ripe for expansion. Choosing Chicago, centrally-located and a rapidly-developing industrial city, he utilized all his talent and experience to set up a college there which would even out-do the parent institution in Poughkeepsie. He dispatched the Eastman Band on a concert tour for the purpose of arousing interest in the new college, culminating in a series of concerts in the great Crosby Opera House in Chicago. By this time, Eastman Business College had won wide recognition and it was not too difficult to enroll 600 prospective students, with H.G.'s brother, Edward P. Eastman as Principal. For the final concert, the advertisements proclaimed that the renowned Civil War hero, General William T. Sherman, would occupy the platform. This was a typical Eastman gamble. It was known that Sherman would be passing through Chicago on a train from the west to Washington on that day. The city officials had already tried in vain to get the General to stop off for a public reception. Eastman too, had invited him but had had no answer. Quietly, on the afternoon of the concert, having learned that the General's train would have to make a watering-stop some miles west of Chicago, he drove there, boarded the train, and got an introduction to the General. He explained the situation, told him about the immense throng of 4000 people who were waiting_eagerly to greet him and promised that he would not be delayed one hour. As usual, H.G.'s powers of persuasion proved to be irresistable. The General consented, and when the train pulled into the Chicago Station a 4-horse barouche was waiting to whisk them to the Opera House. General Sherman was on the stage in front of a sea of faces, listening to a roar of applause and was so overcome that he even made a short speech before resuming his trip to Washington. The newspapers the next day "were full of wonderment" over Mr. Eastman's coup and "his name was on everyone's lips - a great start for the new Business College, the largest ever to be opened in the West." But alas! Despite its felicitous beginning, the new venture failed to flourish. In two years Edward Eastman became ill and died "due to overwork" and the school closed. Eastman's popularity in Poughkeepsie had been growing steadily. He was in great demand as a speaker and his rhetoric was as flamboyant as his actions. In one speech he said, "We have Yale and Harvard for those who want to go into the professions. We have West Point for those who want to go make the Army a career and Newport for Navy Officers, but no school but mine exists for those who

want to have the most profitable career of all - making money. That is the world's pursuit - only money gives bread, clothing, homes and comfort." And who could disagree with that? Naturally he had his critics and detractors. Once his enthusiasm (and his ego) carried him a bit too far and he stated that by his efforts "the old foggy Dutch town of Poughkeepsie had been transformed into a Paradise!" That brought down a torrent of criticism and ridicule upon his head, which he probably deserved, even though there was a good bit of truth in his claim. With the school running satisfactorily, he became more and more involved in the improvement and expansion of his city. He bought 27 acres of swampy land at the southern end of Market Street and transformed them into a beautiful "show place" - a park with winding paths bordered with exotic trees and flowers, a lake with an island in the middle on which he built a bandstand. There was a skating rink in winter and a baseball field in summer, a zoo and a conservatory - and it was all open to the public. He built a large carriage-house close to Montgomery Street (that section of which was re-named "Eastman Place"), intending to build his Mansion farther back in the Park later. Due to his untimely death, that never came to pass, but the carriage-house was enlarged by Mrs. Eastman and was always called "The Eastman Mansion." Some years after her death in 1907, the Park was sold to the city and "The Mansion" was occupied by the Board of Public Works offices. The last two bears in "the zoo" were finally disposed of in the early 1940's. The idea of a railroad bridge crossing the river at Poughkeepsie, had been discussed ever since 1855, but it took the vision and energy and persuasion of a Harvey Eastman to make it a reality. It would connect the industries of New England with the coal fields of Pennsylvania and it would bring untold benefits to the city. The proposal brought violent protests from the riverboat men whose livelihood depended upon the huge transport business they carried on, using the river as their thoroughfare. Other river towns jealously opposed it also. To understand something of the enormity of the idea, we must try to put it into the context of the post-Civil War period. Yes, a great bridge had been built at St. Louis and the Brooklyn Bridge was just getting under way, but for little Poughkeepsie to consider an even longer one? Preposterous - impossible! But Harvey Eastman's vocabulary contained no such word as "impossible" and he threw his whole heart and soul into the project, even getting the famous engineer who had planned the bridge at St. Louis, James Eads, to commit himself to one at Poughkeepsie. While working through the legislature in Albany to get a charter permitting the building of the bridge, he was busy rallying financial support from local business and civic leaders. Never one to tackle a single project at a time, he proposed a memorial for the soldiers who had given their lives in the War. The first plan was for a 70 foot high monument in the triangle in front of his home, but due to the great popularity of The Temperance Movement in which he and many of the leading citizens were very active, the plan was re-

vised "in order to promote water," it was said, and the memorial took the form of a fountain (even though there were no water pipes nearer than the corner of Main and Market Streets!). Eastman circulated "subscriptions" asking people how much they would be willing to contribute, but they were so slow in responding to the appeal that he gave the rest of what was required, $70,000, and the fountain was erected. A six-foot trench had to be dug from Main Street to the fountain site - all by hand, of course. On July 4, 1870, the Fountain was dedicated amid elaborate ceremonies, including a balloon ascension. In 1871 H. G. was elected Mayor. He served for two terms during which he also served in the State Legislature (for the sole purpose of getting the Bridge Bill passed). Ever since the frightful epidemic of cholera which had killed scores of people in 1832, the city had been subject to one eipdemic after another - typhiod fever, smallpox, diphtheria. Aware of the fact that the cause was due to the polluted wells so close to the outhouses in the compact center of town, the new mayor sent an eminent engineer, James P. Kirkwood, to England to find out how to build a waterpurification plant. He brought back plans and in remarkably short order, the first sand-filtration plant in the United States was built on the North Road. In 1872, water pipes were laid throughout the city and the epidemics came to an end. That one accomplishment alone should place Mr. Eastman well up to the top of our list of local heroes: But he never rested. His active brain conceived the idea of making Eastman Park into "The Central Park of Poughkeepsie." In 1872, as part of that plan, he started to build 23 Town Houses on a terrace overlooking the park. However, after 10 were completed, he found that they were not as enthusiastically received as he had expected. They were the ultimate in elegance down to the last detail and he "promoted them" in New York and elsewhere with his well-tested flair for publicity. He published a 27 page booklet praising Poughkeepsie as "The Residence City of America." It was entitled "Where to Live and the House to Live In," with superlatives sparkling on every page. Some of the "modern" attractions of the houses were: Dr. Nichol's patent furnace, a bathroom, a billiard room, a tank room, a wine room. There was a linen closet, a dumb waiter, hot and cold water, gas for light and "Foster's Pneumatic Bells" which, he assured his prospective buyers,were"a late and most meritorious invention." He promised "hallowed memories of history and purity of atmosphere" but for once, his selling techniques failed. Heavily in debt, he was forced to unload the houses. He advertised a great auction to be held June 28, 1873, but the best price bid was only $60,000 and they had cost him $150,000 so he stopped the auction. Somewhat later he sold them for $90,000 taking the loss. But that same year he had the pleasure of turning over the first spadeful of earth for the new bridge, amidst joyous celebrations. Misfortune followed when the third pier that was built collapsed into the river. The company building the bridge went bankrupt and for nine years those piers stood mockingly in the river, a source of derision to those

who had put up the money for them - and especially to H. G. himself who had poured out so much energy and used his considerable powers of persuasion to get the bridge started. It was called "Eastman's Monument" and "Eastman's Folly." New capital was raised and the work on the bridge resumed, but it was not completed until 1888, 10 years after Eastman's death. Although it was considered to be an engineering miracle and was called "The Ninth Wonder of the World" it never brought the direct benefits to Poughkeepsie that H. G. had envisioned. His dreams of the future extended far beyond the borders of the city. In 1877 he became absorbed in the potential for development of the practically undiscovered state of Florida. After a visit there he began promoting the idea of "colonizing" the state, calling attention to the tropical climate, the remarkable beauty and productivity of the land and inviting all and sundry to join him in creating new settlements there. He publicly disagreed with his long-time friend, Horace Greeley, who became famous for his advice, "Go West, young man, go West," and warned that any who followed that course would either die en route in the prairies and deserts or would freeze to death after they got there, whereas, if they went south to Florida, they would find warmth, ease and comfort. Alas! Before he could follow through on this enticing new project, he was overtaken by illness - tuberculosis. In May, 1878, he quietly left for Arkansas Hot Springs to try to regain his health and there he improved so much that he decided to go to Denver to complete his recuperation. As we have noted, his private life, in contrast to his public one, remains almost a complete mystery. Among all the columns of newsprint and the many accounts of his successes and triumphs, including a few failures, little can be found about his family. We know that he married Minerva Clark of Canastota, New York, that they had three little girls, one of whom was Minnie Clark Eastman born July, 1872, and died April, 1873. She is the only one of the children buried in the family plot in the Rural Cemetery. The other two were Cora and Lottie. We know that Mrs. Eastman helped with the "College" in many varied capacities and that she often entertained the visiting dignitaries and lecturers that H. G. invited to come to speak to his students - and to any and all who wished to avail themselves of these opportunities. The Lyceum and later the Vassar Institute lectures may well have had their roots in Eastman's ability to attract outstanding personages to speak in Poughkeepsie. After reaching Denver, Eastman asked his wife and daughter Lottie to join him, evidently anticipating a pleasant vacation interlude, but unfortunately he contracted pneumonia and died on July 13, 1878. The sad news came quickly to Poughkeepsie via telegraph and although headlines had not yet come into use, the July 14th edition of the Daily Eagle said: DEATH OF MAYOR EASTMAN City Shrouded in Gloom "The shock which the city sustained when the news arrived had its parallel only in war times when news of some terrible defeat of the Union forces was received. When the news came, it spread like wild-fire.

"All flags were flown at half-mast, the city hall was draped in mourning and even little children who knew him so well, wore sad countenances and talked with each other about his death." By the time the sorrowing party arrived on Thursday, July 18th, every public building and many homes were draped. All the stores were closed and the sidewalks from Main Street down to Eastman Place were crowded with people in spite of intense heat. The road was filled with carriages ready to form the funeral procession to the cemetery. Poughkeepsie truly mourned its popular leader and benefactor in a way not shown before - or since. In spite of the fact that it was all too common for people to die in their 30's or 40's, H.G. had always been "bursting with energy and strength," and no one thought him to be vulnerable to the usual human weaknesses. Poughkeepsie had indeed suffered a severe loss. He had recently been re-elected for a third term as mayor and one newspaper compared his death to that of President Lincoln's in its impact upon the community. Ezra White, whose wife was Mrs. Eastman's sister, had been a teacher in the College and had gradually become assistant to H. G. He continued to operate the school, but the spark was gone. No longer were there the spectacular advertizing schemes, but sheer momentum and wide recognition of the value of the training received there, continued to attract students to Poughkeepsie. In 1884, Mrs. Eastman married Clement Gaines, a professor 20 years her junior and she turned the school over completely to him. They lived in the "Eastman Mansion" until her death in 1907. Professor Gaines also became principal of the Riverview Military Academy which was located in what is now called "Lincoln Park" and when that school was closed, he gave the land to the city in memory of Harvey Eastman. Eastman Park was purchased by the city in 1909, and in 1969 the Y.M.C.A. was built in it. With H. G.'s lifetime interest in boys, he undoubtedly would have approved such a use of part of his Park. Mr. Gaines opened a branch of "Eastman Business College" in New York and that outlasted the original school by many years. In 1928, a local business man, John B. Marian, bought the Poughkeepsie college and spent thousands of dollars in an attempt to revitalize it, but it was too late. By that time colleges and universities throughout the country were including business courses and full business schools in their curricula. In his book, "Blithe Dutchess," Dr. Henry Noble MacCracken recounts a delightful story connected with Mr. Marian's purchase of the College. When John Marian was a young man, he used to deliver ice there, and one day when he was tugging a heavy block of it up the stairs, some of the students began shoving him and teasing him to a point where he lost hold of the ice and it skidded down to the bottom of the long flight. He had to get a fresh hold with the tongs and drag it up the stairs. He vowed that someday he would own "Eastman College" and he made good his vow although it proved to be a very expensive, futile purchase. The school was closed in 1933 and the building was demolished in 1941. Today the new Washington Street passes over the site.

After the lapse of enough time for the shattering grief over Eastman's death to dim somewhat, his critics began to speak in louder tones. They pointed out that while he was Mayor in 1873 his extensive city improvements had put it deeply in debt. In the space of a couple of years many streets were paved, miles of sidewalks laid, extra street lighting installed, the City Railroad (horse-cars) extended, the new water-filtration plant built and water and sewer pipes laid throughout the city. All this had brought about a situation where the total assessed value was $3,000,000 and the indebtedness $2,000,000. (In 1977 the assessed valuation was $205 million, the indebtedness was $12.5 million - only 6% compared with 1873's 66%.) The city's financial condition was so serious that the police department was abolished, all the street lights were turned off and a new Charter was adopted, one which would put stringent controls on each department thereafter. Until then each had been a law unto itself, free to incur debts and issue bonds at will. Eastman's partisans were quick to point out that it was not entirely the Mayor's fault that all this had happened, but everyone knew that his ideas and his persuasive enthusiasm had led the city down such a delightful garden path. It was 25 years before any other improvements could be undertaken. Who can ever know what plans and dreams were still unrealized? One was a "Ladies' Department" in his college. Back in 1866 he had opened one, again with a single student, but it failed to appeal to the women of that era - another evidence of his being "50 years ahead of his time." From about 1910 on, increasing numbers of women attended and two graduates, Miss Alice Wood and Mrs. Virginia Purinton conducted a successful secretarial school here for many years. H. G.'s years in Poughkeepsie had been relatively few - less than 19. He died just before his 46th birthday. But he left his cherished, adopted city a priceless legacy, both physical and spiritual. By the time the college closed, it had graduated nearly 100,000 trained accountants and administrators, many of whom, such as S. S. Kresge, became business pioneers and leaders. For that reason H. G. deserves a special place in the annals of U. S. history. But here in Poughkeepsie we still have the Park, the Memorial Fountain, the Eastman Terrace Houses, the 1962 successor to his water plant and the Railroad Bridge - which, even though it is currently in a sad state of disrepair, has the potential for a useful future. It is scheduled to be placed on the National Register of Historic places along with 11 other buildings and districts. Strange to say, Harvey Eastman died leaving many personal debts (all of which Mr. Gaines managed to pay off eventually), but if he could have lived a few more years perhaps it would have been a different story, although, knowing him as we do, perhaps his dreams might have led him even more deeply into debt - in Florida, for instance? Standing before his huge granite monument in the cemetery, knowing something of his life and times, one feels a sense of admiration tinged with awe. The only ornamentation on the monument is a large, copper bas-relief of his famous profile and the lettersEASTMAN. On his headstone are

his last words, "I have tried so to live as to do no man an injustice." So, how does the artist attempt to complete the painting of Harvey Gridley Eastman? He is a paradox, a mixture of so many qualities; he could be portrayed as a juggler keeping many balls in the air simultaneously; or as a showman attracting people's attention and participation in whatever project he was promoting at any given time. And underneath all of this he had great depth of character and a never-flagging concern for his fellow-men - and how can any painting depict all of these qualities? On further consideration, perhaps only a motion-picture could possibly convey the energy and the magnetism of the man. It is not at all difficult to imagine Harvey Eastman striding around Poughkeepsie today, taking a leading part in all the renewal and renovation (even the replacement of "his" water pipes). Perhaps it is in this re-birth of the city that his spirit most surely prevails!