A hidden connection with CU President James Hutchins Baker
by Silvia Pettem
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the University of Colorado, founded in 1876. So, it's a good time to look at one of CU's early presidents, James Hutchins Baker. What makes Baker even more appropriate is that he and our own Jon Hatch share common ancestors, most recently David Williams Hutchins (1746-1822). Both Baker and Hatch have roots in Maine, and both moved to Boulder.
James Hutchins Baker was born in 1848 in Harmony, Maine, then attended Bates College in Lewiston, approximately 40 miles north of Portland where Jon Hatch was born. In 1875 (a year before the founding of CU), Baker moved from Maine to Denver to become principal of the then-small city's only high school. He married Jennie Hilton in 1882, and the couple had two children - Helen and Hilton.
Then, in 1892, Baker accepted the position of president at CU, in Boulder, following Joseph A. Sewall and Horace Hale. Baker joked that although he had graduated from Bates College, he was educated at CU. Baker is credited with transforming the institution from a small college into a fully fledged university. During his tenure, Baker expanded enrollment by establishing numerous graduate and professional schools and raising academic requirements.
And several schools and colleges were established under his watch- law, business, education, pharmacy, engineering, music, and the graduate school. Baker promoted the university around the state, insisting that CU was the head of the Colorado public school system. Baker was remembered by his students as stern and somewhat absentminded. He went about his work with grim determination and liked to hike in the mountains. One time he managed to take an unsuspecting companion on a "walk," and they ended up in Estes Park! Meanwhile Jennie took an active part in society and in club work, both in Denver and Boulder.
In fact, the Baker neighborhood in Denver was named in honor of James Baker, the first principal of Denver High School, now East High. The neighborhood name was adopted in the 1970s and 1980s, taking its name from Baker Junior High School (which was renamed in 1962 from West Junior High).
Baker was the first President of CU to officially foster the tradition of presenting Shakespearean plays on campus (see photo opposite page). Recognizing the educational value of the performing arts, his leadership paved the way for early theatrical endeavors that later evolved into the renowned Colorado Shakespeare Festival which celebrated works like Shakespeare's
Love's Labour's Lost through on-campus recitations, dramatic readings, and early outdoor productions.
Boulder, at the time, was a frontier town of approximately 5,000 people. Founded in 1859 and set against its iconic mountain backdrop, by the 1890s it had shed its frontier facade for permanent commercial buildings of brick and stone. When the Chautauqua resort opened in 1898, Boulder had become not only an educational center, but a cultural one, as well.
Silvia Pettem can be reached at silviapettem@gmail.com or through her website, silviapettem.com