The Frigate Constitution: The Central Figure of the Navy Under Sail
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.
Ira Nelson Hollis was an American engineer. He served as a mechanical engineer at the U. S. Navy and professor of engineering at Harvard University.
Background
Ira Nelson Hollis was born on March 7, 1856 in Mooresville, Indiana, United States. He was the son of Ephraim Joseph Hollis and Mary (Kerns) Hollis. During the Civil War his father became captain in the 59th Indiana Regiment, serving at Vicksburg, Corinth, Shiloh, Chickamauga, Atlanta, and on the march to the sea. He returned in command of his regiment, and later became owner and operator of a quarry at Louisville, Kentucky. His wife was the daughter of a farmer in Steubenville, Ohio. Ira's youth was spent at Louisville in straitened circumstances.
Education
Hollis attended the local high school and then became an apprentice in a machine shop. He later secured a clerical position with a railroad, and then with a cotton commission house in Memphis. At the age of eighteen he took the examination for admission to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and came out at the head of the list, a position which he retained throughout the course. He graduated as cadet-engineer in 1878.
Career
Hollis spent three years on the cruiser Quinnebaug in the Mediterranean and North seas and on the coast of Africa. He was promoted to assistant engineer in 1880, and at the conclusion of the cruise was detailed as professor of marine engineering at Union College, Schenectady, New York. In 1884 he served with the advisory board for the construction of the ships of the White Squadron. Ordered to the Pacific coast in January 1887, he spent three years at the Union Iron Works, supervising the construction of the Charleston, and three years on board that vessel in charge of her machinery, with the rank of passed assistant engineer, going to the Pacific Station and later, taking part in the chase of the Itata.
In 1892 he was designated to lecture on naval engineering at the Naval War College at Newport, his lectures being subsequently published as a textbook for the navy. He then became assistant to the chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering, but resigned from the navy in 1893 to take charge of the development of instruction in engineering at Harvard University.
In 1913 Hollis was called to the presidency of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a position which gave wide scope to his administrative powers. He soon became a leading citizen of the community and during the World War was a member of the Committee of Public Safety and of the New England Fuel Administration. In this period also he was elected president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and in that position did valuable work for national preparedness. He resigned the presidency of the Institute in 1925 on account of ill health, returned to Cambridge, Massachussets, and devoted himself to writing until his death some five years later. His publications include The Frigate Constitution: The Central Figure of the Navy under Sail (1900) and various scientific papers. His proposals for naval reorganization, presented in the North American Review, May 1896, and in the Atlantic Monthly, September 1897, were the basis for the Personnel Act of 1898 which reorganized the line and staff of the navy and established the present system.
Achievements
Hollis is remembered as a prominent naval engineer and professor of engineering. He was noted for his service in the Navy for fifteen years at sea and on shore. During his twenty years as professor of mechanical engineering at Harvard, Hollis built up a reputation as an educator and an administrator. As chairman of the athletic committee he converted the marsh land (now known as Soldiers Field) into a well-equipped playing field, and constructed on it the colossal Stadium, the first structure of its character in America. His courage in building that structure of reinforced concrete, in the face of the grave doubts then existing as to its durability in the New England climate, was characteristic of the man. He was active also in improving intercollegiate athletic relations, in establishing the Harvard Union (a students' club), in founding the Engineers Club of Boston, of which he was the first president, and in numerous other enterprises demanding organizing power and leadership. His election later to the Board of Overseers of Harvard University--a unique honor for a non-graduate--gave evidence of the confidence and respect with which he was regarded by the great body of Harvard alumni.
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
Membership
Hollis was the president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Personality
The influence of Hollis in all his associations was the result not only of his energy, character, and good judgment but also of his genialty and capacity for comradeship and sympathetic helpfulness. His breadth of experience, energy, and sanity of judgment were brought into play in numerous non-academic activities.
Connections
On August 22, 1894, Hollis was married to Caroline (Lorman) Hollis, the daughter of Charles Lorman of Detroit. He was survived by four children.
