The Kaw at Lawrence, F. O. Marvin

Exhibition Label: "Windmills to Workshops: Lawrence and the Visual Arts," Jul-2004, Kate Meyer Frank Olin Marvin was professor of mathematics, physics, and engineering at KU from 1878 to 1913 and became the dean of the School of Engineering in 1891. In addition to his contributions in the sciences, Marvin was a major proponent of the arts. He was a scholar of print lore, collector of prints, and a fine etcher. Marvin’s sketches document many facets of early Lawrence, including the economic prosperity afforded by bridges and railroads and the resulting rise in industry. The first bridge across the Kaw River was constructed in 1863 as a toll bridge. Railroad building and the sale of railroad land often secured the success or failure of fledgling towns. Despite numerous railroads operating in Lawrence previously, by 1880, every railroad leading into Lawrence was either part of the Union Pacific or Santa Fe systems. Marvin’s sketches reflect his scientific devotion to architectural detail as well as his interest in “the beauty and grace…in the simple lines of a machine or bridge, or in the curving of the curb by the roadside.” Archive Label 1999: Shortly after Marvin graduated from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania in 1871, with honors in science, he came to the University of Kansas, where his father was Chancellor. He taught engineering and was appointed dean of its school in 1891. Marvin lamented the gulf he perceived between art and daily life. The "intensive study of science" and its practical application for the "quick attainment of profitable results" had, he wrote, obscured art's true significance, an expression of "the highest life of the people.