Athens State College - Columns Yearbook (Athens, AL)

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a ■.■.r ejya?OSA .... MAID OF ATHENS 1924- ' ' -r sfcj ' j IE social circle a delight. It was recognized and stressed that these accomplish- ments were tremendously enhanced in value when they were permeated through and through with the spirit of the Divine Master. Hence, mental training and religious thinking and living were to go hand in hand. In the election of the various Presidents who have been at the head of the College from its inception, and in the selection of the Faculties from time to time, scholarship and the ability to teach have been necessary qualifica- tions, but over and above these Christian character has been a sine qua non. Indeed, so far as the Presidents have been concerned, scholarship and training in school work have not been insisted upon the same earnestness as has been the ability to impress Christian ideals upon the students. From the sainted Dr. Rivers the first President, in whom both scholarship and Christian character were combined in a marked degree, until the present time, the College has been fortunate in the selection of men and women for the Presidency who have been conspicuous for consecration and Christian leadership. If this writer were to go into historical details and recount the financial sacrifices made by many of these servants of God, the reader would be amazed at their heroism and be convinced that not on mission fields alone, nor in the hardsh ps of a pioneer m nistry, do we find that complete surrender to Christ which so many of us admire but which so few of us are willing to emulate. More than two or three have assumed the Presidency of Athens College, not from hope of financial reward, but because they believed this to be a chosen field in which to serve the Master. One President reported at the end of the year that while the teachers had been paid in full he had not paid himself a single dollar. Another, who took some funds with him when he assumed the Presidency, did not quit until no t only his time and energy had been given but his last dollar had been exhausted. I know no greater record of self immolation and heroic service than is found in the historical documents of Athens College. It is no wonder that under the influence of such a spirit in the leaders of College, from its halls have come women by the hundreds who have been recognized as the best examples of refined, cultured and graceful womanhood. They have made many parsonage homes happy and have con- tributed to the success of their preacher husbands. They have carried the ideals of the institution into many school rooms and instilled them into the youth of Alabama and adjacent states. They have gone into the service of the Church by scores, and on mission fields, at home and abroad, have demon- strated the value of the training they received in Athens College. Despite the poverty of the school, its lack of physical equipment and sometimes of even physical comfort, for its students in the past, its record for genuine Christian education will compare most favorably with the work of colleges that have had all the money thought necessary to do their work. Some one,: ' once said that a college was Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student

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■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ■ - ' - ' ...f tU!9fe 3 .... MAID OF ATHENS 1924- YP - 0: ATHENS COLLEGE— LOOKING BACKWARD AND FORWARD This is not intended to be a history of Athens College, which dates its corporate existence back to January 9, 1843. At this date the Legislature of Alabama granted a charter to certain trustees to establish and maintain a Fe- male Institute of the Tennessee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, located at Athens, Alabama. This was one year before the division of the Methodist Church. It was two years before the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, and twenty-seven years before the organization of the North Alabama Con- ference, to which belongs the Female Institute ' now grown to be an ' .A Grade college. There has been much history since that eventful day 8 I years ago. The War Between the States has been fought. The great issues, economic and social, that caused that fratricidal conflict have been settled. The bitterness engenderd by that awful struggle has passed away. The Spanish-American War and the World War have been fought. In each of these Alabama played no insignificant part. They have left their impress upon the life and character of our citizenship. The commonwealth from being an almost exclusively agri- cultural state, has become one of the great manufacturing states of the union. In the midst of these great changes, Athens College has not been un- affected. It, like the nation and the state has had its history. But simply to detail its history would be to compile a lot of more or less dry statistics, that would prove of little interest to the general reader, and would be for- gotten almost as soon as read. What is intended is rather by a backward glance to get some conception of the spirit and purpose of its founders; and to ascertain if that spirit still exists, and if that purpose is still being carried out. The evident purpose of the founders was to build up the character of the womanhood of the country by giving to them the advantage of the best education consistent with the ideals then prevailing, and to give that educa- tion under Christian teachers and amidst Christian influences. When the Institute was founded the field of womanly activities was cir- cumscribed. Outside of the Church and the school there was little demand and little opportunity for woman in business and professional life. Her sphere was limited largely to the home and the social life of the community in which she lived. Even in this limited circle there was much room for a well trained intellect, but the emphasis was placed not so much on scientific attainments as on accomplishments, such as music, art and elocution; and the cultivation of such graces as enabled a woman to make the home life and the

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.■...- f- ?ate ia.j! .. -■-■■■-■ i J ' i W .U MA D O F ATHENS 92 |pa . ■ . ■ . ■V -Tr«a|-SBSe»-TC:» on the other end. The thought in this statement for many years was appli- cable to Athens College. The blessed thing is that in its long history it has had many 1 ke Mark Hopk ' ns. Perhaps the best proof of the value and work of Athens College is found in the town of Athens itself. Though just a small town with a population even now of only about 4,000, it has contributed to the public life of the commonwealth more leaders than any other town in the state of twice its size. For more than half a century it has been noted for the culture, refine- ment, prosperity and law abid ng character of its citizenship. Naturally Athens College has been its chief educational institution. A large percentage of the students have come from the homes of Athens or nearby communities. The graduates have gone back to these homes, and in many instances have be- come the mistresses of Athens homes. In these homes they have been the inspiration and foundation of those virtues that has made the little City one of the most dflightTul communities in all the land. It is true that the college has confined its educational work to women. But some one has ascer- tained that 90 ' r of the graduates become wives and mothers. If it be true, as it doubtless is, that every great man had a great mother it is easy to account for the character of the City of Athens. Now that we have taken our look backward, let us take a passing glance at the present. The one building in which the work began has been enlarged to twice its capacity. It has been remodeled, particularly on the inside. The first impression which one gets when he sees the classical outlines of the building with its imposing columns is enhanced when he enters the beauti- ful and commodious students parlor. All that refined taste can do to make it attractive has been done. Upon its walls hang many portraits of former Presidents and deceased Trustees. In this building is located the library, the President ' s office and numerous class rooms, while the dining room is just across an interior gallery. Then, there is the Music Hall with its unexcelled chapel, splendidly adapted to the work which its name implies. Here are numerous practice rooms, each tqu ' pped with its own instrument. Brown Hall, named for one of the most loved teachers, is used exclusively for dormi- tory purposes except that its comfortable basement is fitted up for indoor amusements. Within the last five or six years the swimming pool and gym- nasium have been completed, and now the magnificent new dormitory is under course of construction and will be ready for occupancy by the opening of the next session. This latest addition to the buildings when furnished will cost $80,000. The heating plant in a separate build ' ng furnishes heat wherever it is needed. Laboratory and library are well equipped. Athens College to- day is prepared to look after the comfort of its students and to do the school- astic work required by the highest grade college as well as any institution of learning in the land. It has not aspired to be great in size nor in the number ]t?g of its studfnts. It rather seeks to do well its work among the number of the smaller colleges, which as the late President Harding said, are the most