Eastern Michigan University - Aurora Yearbook (Ypsilanti, MI)

Page 9 text:

FIFTY YEARS S,.w 'iQx QMNZ! students began to spend four years on campus in an etlort to earn their AB. or BS. degrees. By this time the Aurora chronicled the events of the literary societies - Adelphic, Athenaeum, fef fi v' Crescent, and Qlympic - into which existing organiza- ,gz9,0.Q'v uEE'4,iit tions had been combined. ills . l - -01 4 'tlftygsfszssfsfd f . . . . . . . 'M 'AW V . - . - The Friday night meetings ofthesocietieslnthe north wing s ??3 ol pierce still linger in the ...i, ig' memory ol many. 1 ,X T y at - Then Npemember the Nlainen- and at Normal l-lill 'l5OO StUd9I'1tS cheered Gnd Fired a small cannon as the boys lelt For camp. -lime went on and the ,CQ Aurora announced that one could attend fVl.S.lNl.C. For the small registration lee of 559.00 per year. Rooms could be had for less than STOO per week, and 51.75 paid one's board lor seven days. The next year the Senior class chose Ha tower o' wisdom and silencenhlohn M. Munson, to lead I f them. And soon the Science i lu building and its thirteen chimneys appeared. Years came and Went. Enrollment had increased to the extent that there was rumor that the psych- ology classes would be held in the presidentls barn. C. P. Steimle had his picture talcen- surrounded by his girls' basketball team. Une day in 1907 an automobile spasmodically climbed Normal Hill. Classes were linterrupted 'E-M - . 'ribs For thirty minutes while students Watched its progress. ln those days minstrel shows were the entertainment, and lVl.S.N.C's Senior class produced several with end men and all of the trimmings. Daily the interurban and the Ann- Arbor 7

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Lnnzfzitic altar: When bicycling was the popular sport and means ol travel, and long skirts dominated the Fashion sheets, the First Aurora was planned under the able editorshipot j.S.l.athers. That was in i892- a year memorable not only because a line of Fifty Aurorcxs was born, but also because genuine athletics appeared lor the First time on the Michigan State Normal School campus. The nextyear the gymnasium was ded- 'a .FSU ff' icated, thus ending Forever the cautious lndian-club gymnastics of the class room. The gym provided For the care ol the bodyf ' the library-a hodgepodge of chairs and tables housed in Pierce l'lall- nourished the mind. The attic which shelved a large number ol the boolcs laclced even candle light. Couples spent many intriguing evenings in a futile f'N,xj? N Search for Hassigned readings . Eighteen ninety-tive saw Starlcvveather X ' 'V I . .. ' Us lips- l-lall dedicated to the social and religious life of the students. And the fact if. 'UUUFUL ' M .gf-'T'i' ' thatthe patriotic spirit has alway Q . E . . A l i fsi - '.-'J -.- been onthe campus was evidenced by the motto of the , ,u g . , i ' . 1 it GY? -i f VJ' 's' class of 96, ulmpossible is un-American . ln ' 'I897 Welch l-lall was dedicated and the name ol Michigan State Normal School was changed to Michigan State Normal College. No longer was the cur ' 6 riculum limited to English and the classics-

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LDDKIIXIE EACK riffs' vzmis men were joyously greeted in Front ol Zwergels, and the U. ol M. men lound the Friday night Qwl car most convenient, But the Normal lads were last coming into their own on the campus- the male population had so increased that it was deemed expedient to add a wing to the towered Hgymn, and by 1916 the Au- ,H I rora boasted ol one ot the best equipped gymnasiums in 91' .I -11 sL,,N.15a53.l '+a+:'i-- .'.A ' 1 -t ' , A , the state. That - , same year saw Pease Auditorium dedicated, and soon alter the Administration building came into existence. The literary societies which had been so powerful in the '9O,s were now replaced by the oratorical and debating classesi fraternities and sororities were also providing the campus with its social life. Then the World War l. -once again the Normal men were called to the training camps and lront lines. Amidst Flu masks and lonely girls the Aurora ol1918 went to press. Months passed slowly and the boys returned to Find the Women's League being organized. The prelace to the 1921 Aurora . , i , . ti i ' 'Wi-L ,- . , . . announced that history was being made in that -Wlu glililg-llw lgjlsl lil : -l .wt for the First time, its . . fsi5Q4fm'7'S:2,egaqePS'sj-g' i-f xg. publication passed from the hands ol the Soph- AN omore class to those FREE-?'.: --l,'J 'El 'X 1' of the Senior class . Another women s organ- 'E .- ization appearedin fgglbfiiltfiiiiiip 'l ' -,,.-asf 9 -,, the form ol the W.A,A, And in a leading De- troit newspaper an L-5 - jiifjfgf' 2 ' ' article stated, uAn annual event which Detroitls musical public has learned to anticipate with eager- ness is the pre-holiday appearance ol the Ypsilanti Normal Choir with the Detroitgymphony Qrchestraf' 8