Concordia College - Spire / Concordian Yearbook (Fort Wayne, IN)

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c f f T , STUDENTS GOING TO CLASSES beginning of October on account of the recurring fever. The Christmas recess lasted from the day be- fore Christmas to Epiphany: the Easter recess, from Wednesday of Holy Week to the Sunday after Eas- ter: the Pentecost recess, from Saturday to the fol- lowing Wednesday. Once each month of the school year when there was no holiday a free day was inserted, on which the students were urged to take hikes. Board was 848.00 per year for the ministerial students and 860.00 for the non-ministerial and those whose parents did not belong to the Synodi- cal Conference. Heating and light was covered by a fee of 810.00 per year. The fee for medical ser- vice and medicine was 83.25, while those desiring homoeopathic treatment paid only 352.00 per year. Despite previous promises to the contrary. German was no longer used as a medium of instruction in English, in the geography of America, and in arith- metic. Examinations at the end of the semester were still public, and written reports were issued for behavior, effort, and progress. New students were admitted at Easter and were classified as Sexta B. This practice of admitting new students at Easter was abandoned in the present century. During this period the enrollment was mounting steadily. We have information on only two years in the sixties, but from 1872-73 to the present time the records are complete. The annual enrollment Huctuated considerably, directly reflecting condi- Page 26 CONCORDIA tions prevailing at the time. From 1861 to 1873 the college sent 138 graduates to St. Louis. In 1861-2 there were 78 students. This number had grown to 130 in 1866-7, and by 1874-5 a peak of 270 was reached. Not until 1912-3 was this number reached again. In the meantime other preparatory schools were founded. When Milwaukee and Bronxville, the first of our sister Concordias, were opened in 1881, the enrollment at Concordia dropped imme- diately. The largest enrollment during the hun- dred years of Concordia's history is recorded for 1922-3, when an influx of about 125 new students raised the total to 339. Comparatively few changes were made in the faculty in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. When Director Hanser left in 1879. Prof. John Frederick Zucker took his place. In 1881 he accepted a professorship of Greek and history, a position which he held until 1921. Professor Zucker received his education at Erlangen and served six years in India, 1870-1876, under the Leipzig Mis- sion Society. At the time when he was called to Concordia he was serving a congregation at Brook- lyn. After his resignation from the faculty, he filled the position of librarian until the spring of 1927. He died on September 13, 1927. When, in 1881, Professor Stellhorn left, the Rev. Otto Sie- mon was called as his successor. He continued on the faculty until the time of his death in 1902. Candidate August Schuelke served as assistant for two years, from 1888 to 1890. When, in 1886, Direc- tor Bischoff accepted a call into the ministry, an interregnum of about two years ensued, during which various members of the faculty assumed the duties of the director. Prof. Andrew Baepler, pro- fessor at St. Paul's College, Concordia, Mo., began his service as director in 1888. Six years later, in 1894, he accepted a call to Little Rock, Ark., but returned to St. Paul's College and taught there from 1899 to 1925. In 1894, Prof. Martin Joseph Schmidt became director, and held this position until 1903, when he accepted a professorship of history, teaching until 1917. Director Schmidt was a direct descendant of the Saxon immigrants. He was born at Altenburg in 1846, his parents being members of the original pioneer group. His charges in the ministry took him to Missouri, at Weston, and then to Michigan, to Dallas, and Saginaw. He was president of the Michigan District from 1882 to 1891. He died in the spring of 1930, thirteen years after his retirement. When in 1889, Concordia reached the half-cen- tury mark, the event was celebrated with great festivities. Excursions of special trains brought large crowds of people from Chicago and St. Louis. The main festivities were held in the grove on June 25, 1889. The speakers were the Rev. Johann Paul Beyer, president of the Eastern District: Prof. A. L. Graebner, of Concordia Seminaryg Director J. H. C. Kaeppel of St. Paul's College, Concordia,

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COLLEGE LO OJ LO ll! ll fy'iffffffi-- . .Q., ffn'ss?lwf fw ue,ig1,aH'i A , llllllil mlflillgl V, fiullglnlr ,f Y 9,2 OTTOMAR KRUEGER banks of the Maumee below the locks. Fish fries and pancake fries on Saturdays in these caves pre- sented an opportunity to satisfy at least in part the unplenishable college hunger. Through these so- cieties the students found release from many in- hibited emotions, as any alumnus of that day will testify. Then, too, there were the annual athletic festivals, Turnfeste, which were held in James B. White's beautiful grove along the river just north of the canal locks. There was also the college fire- engine house, located north of Hanser Hall, a pop- ular resort for the college boys. The student volun- teers engaged regularly in drills in rushing to man the pumper. Special enthusiasm was manifested when the alarm was sounded during class hours. Six large cisterns and a well supplied the water. And, finally. there was military drill. A Captain Tyler had charge in the seventies. Drill was held once a week. and the captain also taught penman- ship once a week. The cadets then had wooden guns. but no uniforms. Yet, as we are told, an annual inspection by a government official was held. The boys paid an annual military fee of 255.00 and a separate athletic fee of 32.00. The faculty minutes show that the boys were permitted to march on Decoration Day in 1876, with the under- standing that they would not be required to attend the religious ceremonies at the cemetery. It seems that the boys have marched off and on since that time. The first printed catalog of the school after 1860 appeared in 1872-3. From it we learn that the students were aroused at 5. 5: 30, or 6 o'clock in the morning. depending on the season of the year. Next came chapel exercises, breakfast, and a study period until 7:30, A half hour was devoted to cleaning the rooms, making the beds, and the like. Recitations followed from 8 to 12. Then came the noon meal and free time until 2 o'clock. Lessons were resumed from 2 until 5 C4 on Wednesdaysl. The hours of 5 to 7 were free, and 7 to 10 was free study period and leisure time f freie Studienzeit und Unterhaltungul. The younger students retired at 9, and the older boys at 10. Summer vacations continued from June 30 to September 1. but for a few years, in the late seventies and early eighties, that time was changed to the end of July and the ASTRID J. BREDEMEIER Librarian Page 25

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COLLEG-E gg gg Mo.: and Director Baepler, president of Concordia College. The alumni collected over 316,000 through voluntary contributions. This sum was applied to making improvements in the old chapel. to equip- ping it with gothic windows of cathedral glass, fresco decorations on the ceiling and the walls, new seats. and a gallery on two sides of the auditorium. In commemoration of the anniversary, a history of the college was published over the name of a Concordianer , who in reality was Prof. J. C. W. Lindemann. Also a number of material improvements were made during this period. The Synodical convention of 1881 voted funds to build a cow barn and a hay loft and a wood shed for fuel. The same convention permitted the college to introduce steam heat and abolished the office of the Praeses. Several head of horses lost their lives in a tire of the barn in the early twentieth century. Later the barns were con- verted into garages for the cars of the professors. and finally, in the twenties, were wrecked to pro- vide parking space for the remodeled gymnasium. Since it was reported to the convention in 1890 that the old board fence around the grounds was rapidly disintegrating, the convention appropri- ated 31,500.00 for an iron fence. At the next con- vention, in 1893, it was reported that a fence had been built with the money allotted, but that only the side along Maumee Avenue could be covered for that amount. Since Synod refused to appropri- ate additional funds, only this portion of the carn- pus enjoys the embellishment of the iron fence to this day. This same convention appropriated 3800.00 for a tower to be constructed on the roof of Hanser Hall. In the middle twenties, it was again removed. An additional 33,000.00 was appro- priated to meet the city's levy for paving Maumee Avenue. With the turn of the century the college em- barked on a period of boom. Anthony Boulevard was opened by the city, and Synod had to meet a charge of 3850.00 for grading. Now the college was completely surrounded by open streets. The hos- pital building was constructed in 1899 at a cost of 34,686.28, and in 1900 the college acquired a swim- ming pool at a cost of 33,806.47 fwhich is now used as garageb, and the present carpenter shop for 3640.00. A new residence, No. 1 on Central Drive. was erected in 1902 at a cost of 35,249.50. The boiler house followed in 1903 C34,949.00J and was re- modeled in 1923 at a cost of 310,171.00 In the fol- lowing year, 1904, another residence, No. 106. was added to the group on West Lane at a cost of 35,572.40. This was converted into a double resi- dence in 1922 at an additional expense of 35,548.00. Schick Hall, the present lecture hall, was the next large building to be constructed. The large edifice cost only 344,251.60 and was dedicated with im- pressive ceremonies on September 10, 1905. The g N gpg 1939 Wggfgfqfyi, ....ffflz1Q'!fff iiiiiZ xl , nuns. ulliliilgf I. rllllllllll' P I ff fl FACULTY MEETING, 1925 morning services were held in German with the following speakers: The Rev. J. H. Niemann of Cleveland, president of the Central District. and the Rev. P. Brand, first vice-president of the Synod, The English ceremonies were observed in the afternoon. The speakers were the Rev. L. Loch- ner of Chicago and the Rev. William Broecker of Pittsburgh. The next large building operation was the gymnasium, which was erected in 1907. At about the same time, it seems, the retaining wall was put in place on the north side of the campus, from the gymnasium to Schick Street. Successive improvements have made the gymnasium pro- gressively more serviceable, so that it is today also an excellent auditorium. In 1911-12 an asphalt floor was placed on one side, the cost of which was to be covered by collections of students and proceeds from concerts. In 1914 further improvements were made. such as the completion of the ceiling, re- decoration of the interior, a hookup with the cen- tral heating plant, the equipment of dressing rooms and showers, and the attachment of screens for the windows. The expenditures for these improve- ments were met by donations from alumni and friends of Concordia. Mr. Theodore Lamprecht, who had also contributed freely to the original building of the gymnasium and the construction of the retaining wall, led the list of donors with 31,000.00. The last improvements, which converted the old building into the concert hall of today. were completed in 1928 at a cost of 342,000.00 The original cost in 1907 had been only 313,000.00. The remodeled building was dedicated during the mili- tary tournaments in June, 1928. In 1913 the college received its present dining hall 1318.09-1.55J, which replaced the old frame building. Eight years later. a double residence was built. Nos. 2 and 3 on Cen- tral Drive, for 38,000.00 The next large project was the construction of the two dormitories, Sihler and Crull Halls. Both buildings are identical. save the window frames and minor details, and measure 62 by 150 feet. Mr. J. M. E. Riedel, an alumnus, designed these buildings, as well as Schick Hall. Page 27