Whitman College - Waiilatpu Yearbook (Walla Walla, WA)

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STEPHEN B. L. PENROSE, D

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61112 Alumni Anauriatinn Presldent -------v,-,------v--- Vice-President .--,---------- Secretary -----4-----' -------- Treasurer ......, IQ! K9 LQ! Oflicers. FRANK W. CROWE, '94. MARY,GILLIAM, 'S7. ANNE M. BARRET, '02. OSCAR DRUMHELLER 13

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Stephen E. ill. Hvnrnnr vbtkinlt On a cold winter day, the twentieth of December, 1864, there was born in the little Quaker city of Germantown a boy who was to exert a far-reaching influence on the educational history of the Wfest. This was a day of marked significance for the name XVhitman. as it was the birthday of him who to whom belongs a large part of the credit for rescuing the name of the martyr missionary from comparative oblivion and making it a household word in America. Rarely is it that a college owes such a debt of gratitude to a single individual as does NVhitman to Stephen Beasley Linuard Penrose. It seems not too much to say that without his executive genius, endless perseverance and boundless optimism XVhitman College would to-day be but a cherished memory of the noble intentions of its devoted band of missionary founders. H ' Our president came from a long line of'the most distinguished builders of the Keystone State. His father, Clement Biddle Penrose, is a noted lawyer. who for years has been judge of the Orphan's Court, Philadelphia. Of the early life of the youthful Stephen we know little save that tradition sayeth that he had long golden curls and wore-a velvet suit. The greatest molding inliuence of his boyhood, and to a large extent of his whole life, was the example and teachings of the grandmother. who lived with her daughter for many years. She was a woman of singular tact and beautiful Christian char- acter, and she taught the boy at an early age much of that splendid self-control which tempers a naturally aggressive and out- spoken disposition. His early education was obtained from' tutors at home. Later he attended Penn Charter School, Phila- delphia, where he prepared for college. giving particular attention to the classics. ' He entered Wfilliams College in 1881 and was graduated with high honor in 1885, with the degree A. 13. VVhile in college he took a' leading part in student affairs and belonged to the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He is also a member of the honorary fraternity Phi Beta Kappa. Q l5 4