These cyanotypes* taken in 1898 show Hovey Museum and the office and laboratory of Professor Mason B. Thomas, who was also an amateur photographer. He was known as the “Maker of Men” for the talented students he prepared and sent to graduate schools across the nation.
But this letter from John W. “Bill” Irwin, Class of 1909, to base-ball coach Dave Lantz gives us a glimpse of Professor Thomas’ respect and mentoring of non-science majors through the rigors of his discipline. Bill was an A student and played baseball with the Little Giants that won the 1909 Indiana Championship. But botany wasn’t his strong suit, as he recalled:
“Dean Mason Thomas guided me through botany with the assistance of a most able partner for my field work—Jake Schramm, afterwards noted at Cornell for his work in that field. I could barely distinguish between a dandelion and a thistle and Dean Thomas knew it. He also knew I could do the bookwork of the course, and he was a baseball fan.
“I got through botany without too much damage to my scholastic record and I became acquainted with a wise man as well as a great teacher.”
—Beth Swift, Archivist