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Brown Ayres Diplomas and Other Materials

 Collection
Identifier: AR-0741

  • Staff Only

This collection consists primarily of earned and honorary diplomas awarded to Brown Ayres by such institutions as Tulane University, Washington and Lee College, Stevens Institute of Technology, and the University of the South. Also included are biographical sketches of Brown Ayres, resolutions passed by the University of Tennessee's Board of Trustees to honor Ayres after his death, a sketch of Katie (Anderson) Ayres' life, and other materials (including an undated family portrait) documenting the Ayres family.

Dates

  • 1872 June 27-circa 1939

Conditions Governing Access

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Conditions Governing Use

The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

3.17 Linear Feet

Abstract

This collection consists primarily of earned and honorary diplomas awarded to Brown Ayres by such institutions as Tulane University, Washington and Lee College, Stevens Institute of Technology, and the University of the South. Also included are biographical sketches of Brown Ayres, resolutions passed by the University of Tennessee's Board of Trustees to honor Ayres after his death, a sketch of Katie (Anderson) Ayres' life, and other materials (including an undated family portrait) documenting the Ayres family.

Biographical/Historical Note

Brown Ayres was born on May 25, 1856 to Samuel Warren and Elizabeth Little (Cook) Ayres in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned his BS (1878) and MS (1888) degrees in Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. In 1880, he became a professor of physics and electrical engineering at Tulane University in Louisiana. He married Katie Allen Anderson on July 5, 1881 and the couple had eight children: Martha Garland (Ayres) Newman (1883-1982), Samuel Warren (1886-1915), John Anderson (1890-1969), Elizabeth Cook (Ayres) Link Ayres May (1893-1980), Mary Douglas (Ayres) Ewell (1895-1999), Katherine Stewart (Ayres) Watson (1897-1990), Ruth Virginia (1899-1987), and Morgan Brown (1902-1981). Ayres rose rapidly through the ranks at Tulane, where he remained until accepting the presidency of the University of Tennessee in 1905.

As president, Ayres made a number of notable improvements to the University. He increased the number of faculty and students, made the College of Liberal Arts equal in stature to the Colleges of Agriculture and Engineering, enlarged the College of Agriculture, elevated the departments of Law, Medicine, and Dentistry to Colleges, constructed a separate library, stiffened academic requirements (resulting in recognition by the American Association of Universities), reorganized the Board of Trustees, established scholarships to attract students from outside the Knoxville area, merged the Medical and Dental Colleges with the University, and made the Summer School of the South a regular part of the University program. Ayres died on January 28, 1919 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Arrangement

This collection consists of two boxes.

Acquisition Note

These items were donated to Special Collections in 2011.

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480