He taught at Johns Hopkins University, served as head of the Mechanical Arts department at
West Virginia State and at the University of Illinois before coming to Potsdam.
His daughter described him as being modest and self-effacing, but so aware of the
dignity of his position as Director that he would wear a cutaway coat whenever he passed the
collection plate at Trinity Church. He died in Milwaukee suddenly on February 2, 1942, and
was buried in Manlius, N.Y., because he had been living in Manlius with one of his married
daughters shortly before his death.
Clarkson's Motto.
Director Aldrich and Miss Elizabeth and Miss Frederica chose the motto:
"A workman that needeth not to be ashamed," which President Brooks, in 1913, placed in a
circle around the family crest to form the new Clarkson seal. The two sisters chose that as a
motto because they used Thomas' favorite Biblical phrase to refer to Thomas S. himself, for
they felt indeed, he was "a workman who needeth not to be ashamed."
Electrical Engineering.
This course of study was designed to "fit young men to engage
intelligently in the production and operation of electrical apparatus and in the application of
electricity to the arts and sciences." Besides foundation work in chemistry, mathematics,
mechanics, physics, and drawing, it provided specialized studies in electricity and applied
electricity. These involved the theory of electricity and magnetism, and their application to
direct-current machinery and electrical measuring instruments; the theory of alternating currents
and such alternating current machinery as alternators, synchronous and induction motors, rotary
converters, and rectifiers. Courses also were given in electrical distribution, electric lighting,
and the art of illumination.
The electrical engineering major took the common first two years of engineering
curriculum, and in his junior and senior years enrolled in the following courses of varying
credits (1, 2, 3, or 4):
JUNIOR YEAR
I SEMESTER
Sociology
Theoretical Mechanics
Experimental Mechanics
Electricity and Magnetism
Dynamo-Electric Machinery
Electrical Laboratory
Steam Engineering
Steam Generation
Kinematics
Electric Distribution
Machine Drawing
II SEMESTER
Applied Mechanics
Iron and Steel
Lab of Applied Mechanism
Iron Analysis
Alternating Currents
