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BOGAZICI UNIVERSITY CULTURAL HERITAGE MUSEUM
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IF YOU KNOW THE PAST, YOU CAN PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE FUTURE
There is a white, wooden house at the campus. It is one
of the numerous houses which constitute a rare specimen of the nineteenth
century American architecture in Istanbul. But this old house differs
from the others because here you can find the history of our University.
This house was also named as the 'Guest House of the Queens', because
it was visited by Queen Maria of Romania with her daughter in 1917 and
by the Queen of Yugoslavia in 1932. But now it is named after David Alexander
Scott, the beloved son of the Scotts who lost his life in the turmoil
of the Second World War. Here you can go through our past which we are
proud of. The Museum will hold various documents, tapes and video cassettes
for the researches.
Furniture and documents bequeathed by the Scott family constitute the
nucleus of the Museum.
Description of the Museum Building
This is a typical American suburban house. The house has an inner hall
type plan. The main entrance is through the garden, and the connection
between the floors is achieved by means of dogleg stairs. The double-hung
windows have decorative wooden bands around the frames. The pitched roof
is covered with French tiles. Above the entrance there is a canopy supported
by carved wooden brackets.
Inside, the furniture from the last century, the various ceramic plates
and Japanese ceramics with Chinese figures are exposed.
Alexander Van Millingen 1840-1915
He was born in 1840 in Constantinople. He was Scotch of Dutch extraction
and he was the son of a doctor, who must have come out to Turkey in the
early days of the 19. Century. He was physician at the Imperial Palace.
The son A.v.M. was a scholar of the first order and he taught at Robert
College for a great many years. He was formidable in his lectures but
every one respected him for his erudition and his passion for accuracy
in research. He was tall and spare and wore a rather scraggy moustache
and his near-sighted eyes were almost hidden behind his thick pince-nez.
His speech was always deliberate and sounded as though it flowed from
the purest of classical fountaine.He was exceedingly broad-minded and
possessed the ability of seeing the inner nature and the causes of things
rather than judging them superficially. He was always energetic, active,
strong and young-looking. He married Miss Cora Welch, daughter of a rich
New Haven banker. He wanted a home for himself. He made an arrangement
with the College to share in its construction. His 2 sons were the first
students of Robert College. Although Van Millingen excelled as a teacher
and theologien archeology was the most important field of his activity.
With the help of the many languages which he had mastered, including Latin,
and ancient Greek he had access to all the important works concerning
his own field of study Byzantine Constantinople. He was never satisfied
with the works of others. He collected scientific data on the field by
reading inscriptions on the walls and in the churches and making accurate
measurements and designs.He published his 2 masterpieces after painstaiking
and conscientious work. These are: The books on the walls and churches
of Byzantine Constantinople. Millingen's books many years after are still
considered standard works on the subject. He wrote several scholarly books
on the history and monuments of Istanbul. for his speciality was Byzantine
times. When he died on 15 september 1915, he left a good many of his books
to the institution he had served so long and it has formed the nucleus
of the Library.
Eveline Scott 1889-1976
She was born on September 24.1889 in Rumelihisar. In the neighboring suburb
of Bebek there was colony of English people with 10-15 families. There
her parents met. During and after the Crimean War a number of English
families established themselves in Turkey. Her paternal grandfather, Alexander
Thomson, the same name as her father was Scotch, born near Edinburgh.
He had come to Turkey as a naval engineer. Unfortunately he died early
when her father was only 9.
She went to public school in Portland, the Park School and later to Portland
Academy.Her father died at the age of 42. Her mother, having still many
relations in Turkey, decided to return to Constantinople. She had a position
at the American College for girls in skdar. Eveline graduated from the
American College for Girls in 1909 with a AB degree. She wanted to be
a teacher so she went to Cambridge in England. To the Training College,
she was awarded an University Certificate in Education in 1910. She returned
to Turkey in 1910. She taught in a small community School for English
children in English. From 1912 till 1914 she taught English at the American
College for girls in skdar. In 1911 Harold Scott came as a tutor to Robert
College. In 1915 H. Scott came to Columbia University for M.D. in History.
On June 23 1920 they are married. On 18.Oct. 1924 their son David Alexander
was born. They pass all their time in the service of Robert College. Eveline
Scott was professor of English Literature and Harold Scott had many administrative
missions at Robert College. When the occasion is present they made several
travels and Eveline Scott was a passionated writer. She wrote essays,
poems, sketches. The subject of the poems and essays were in general suburbs
of Anatolia, or the quarter's of Istanbul that she loved. The one of the
speech adressed at the Rumelihisar Women's League began by There are many
ancient roads in Stamboul but we shall take one to explore. It is a road
in many pleasant characteristics.
Or in another speech my first view of Konya was from a train window, on
my way south to Adana on early April morning. The sun was just touching
the pale green poplar trees and the tips of minarets. And so on. She was
an amator of Bronte family. She was very influenced by their novels and
their life. n one of the speeches she said: My grandmother described so
graphically the cold winds, the dark skies, the gruff ways of Yorkshire
that I felt at home when I read Brontes.
She was died in 1976. She left all the documents and a library of thousand
books to Robert College. This consists of the nucleus of the museum. She
was great friend of Turkey. In one of her poems she wrote: When passion
all is spent, and life is done, And I am doomed to sleep, as all men are,
No bed could softer be, than that below The lovely cypress trees of skdar.
Harold Loran Scott 1889-1958
The young man who climbed the Aiyan Road in the company of young Floyd
Black in the fall of 1911 didn'know that he will teach at Robert College
longer than any other Amerrican in the history of the College. During
his 41 years on the Faculty, he served as instructor, associate professor
of history, principal of Robert Academy, dean of the College of Arts &
Sciences and American vice-president. He was 'Robert College'. He died
in 1958. He was born in Bedford, Iowa in 1889. He received his early education
in Japan where his father was a missionary in Osaka. He studied in Kalamazoo,
Michigan. He graduated from Denison University in 1911 and promptly applied
for a teaching position in Japan. That there were non openings at the
time was fortunate for Robert College. . In June 1952 he was honoured
by his Alma Mater, Denison University with a degree of Doctor of Laws.
In presenting him for the degree his classmate Prof. Karl Eschman said:
Dean Harold l. Scott of Robert College has made a very great contribution
to the new Turkey and to the relation between that relatively young country
and the United States. He has helped scores of Young American College
graduates in their new positions as instructors to become effective teachers.
As an ambassador in the meeting of East and West at this important gateway
of civilisation: as a citizen of the world engaged in international education;
in a very real sense as a man with a high mission. I present Harold Lorain
Scott, worthy candidate for the degree of Doctor of Laws.
How is Dean Scott? Invariably asked of the traveller from the campus was
long synonymous with 'How goes the College'. He was the Uncle of the students.
He died in 1958 from a heart attack.
David Alexander Scott 1924-1944
He was born on October 18, 1924 in Istanbul. He grew up and and lived
for 15 years in Turkey and came back to U.S. to Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts.
He was active in basketball, tennis and soccer. He graduated from there
and entered Princeton. He was an ardent athletic and exceptional student.
He was enrolled in the Near-Eastern Program. He finished his freshmen
year with honors and was in the first half of his sophomore year when
he joined the service. Tragically he died on December 6, 1944 in France
fighting up in front where he had always naturally taken place. The Museum
is dedicated for his memory.
Dr. George Herbert Huntington 1878-1953
Born at Gorham, Maine in 1878 he received the BA degree at Williams College
in 1900 and came out to Robert College as an instructor in English. He
studied at Hartford Theological Seminary, at Columbia University Teacher's
College and Union Theological Seminary. On 1916 he married Miss Elizabeth
Wainwright Dodge, daughter of the President of the Board of Trustees of
Robert College.
During his 38 years at R.C he served as Principal of Robert Academy for
20 years and Vice-President for 16 years, acting president for 2 years,
professors for 30 and professor emeritus until his death. Huntington's
value as an educator extended far beyond the classroom. Hundreds of students
were entertained at the Huntington House. For many years he was chairman
of the committee on student aid. Unfortunately in 1934 he suffered an
attack of poliomyelitis. Yet even during those days of forced retirement,
he never lost contact with the College. A detailed correspondence he managed
to keep abreast of such minute details as the conditions of buildings,
the paths and gardens. He also continued his financial help to many students
and provided the library with magazines and books to broaden the reading
available to the students. He died in 1953. President Black described
Dr. Huntington as one who devoted his life to doing well in society He
recalled the line from one of the proverbs of Solomon which says:
'The path of the righteous is as a shining light." It seems to me
President Black said: That this line characterizes his life and work
Elizabeth Dodge Huntington Clarke 1884-1976
She was born on August 10, 1884 at Greyston in Riverdale, New-York. Her
father, Cleveland H. Dodge was the president of Trustees. Her great grand
father William Earl Dodge had been one of the founders of the Syrian Protestant
College, which later became the American University of Beirut. The Dodge
family had built 3 buildings on Bebek campus: Theodorus Hall (1900) built
by Miss Olivia Eggleston Stokes a niece of William E. Dodge: The gymnasium:
(1903) built by William E. Dodge Jr., and his son Cleveland and Washburn
Hall (1904) built by Mrs. William Dodge. On his visit Robert College she
met George Huntington. They were married on July 27, 1916 and came to
stanbul. During their 16 years of residence on the campus G. and E. Huntington
made the problems of Robert College as their problems. They helped Robert
College through many of its financial difficulties. She had also important
responsabilities at YMCA. She was died in 1976. In 1977, the Board established
the Elizabeth Dodge Huntington Clarke Prize, to be given annually to an
intellectually outstanding student.
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Contact
Information
Bogazici University 34342 Bebek, Istanbul Tel: 0212 359 54 00 |