Baptist Missionary Training School - Beacon Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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-l-- THE BEAcoN -M- ALUMNAE 1 Y 1 B. M. T. S. is rich in its Alumnae. It is said that the sun never sets upon its graduates. We are especially reminded this Golden Anniversary year of the Alumnae and theirinterest in the Training School, because, through their generous gift, the Morris Memorial Chapel has been remodeled in order that we may have a beautiful place in which to worship. What a sacrifice this has been to the Alumnae and yet what a proof of their love and loyalty to their Alma Mater. We, in the school, have felt the strength from the prayers of the Alumnae this year. Our school has grown in numbers. We have had eighty-four stu- dents in the school this year and it seems as if the goal of one hundred for 1931 might be reached. Some of the Alumnae have expressed their regard for the school now and in the days when they were students here. We join our own gratitude with their appreciation of our Alma Mater in the following letters: So far as I know, l am one of two members left of that first class to tell of the good we received. The first building was a rented one and the good women sent any pieces of furniture they could spare. Some sent folding canvas cotsp others a pillow, sheets and quilts, etc. Some students slept on a mattress on the floor. All went to the one bathroom to wash and without a looking glass. We looked in each other's eyes and laughed at failure to comb and fix right without help. Lack- ing chairs we could sit on box or board at table. Miss Burdette, who followed Mrs. Swift as Corresponding Secretary of the Board, brought furniture for her room and loaned one chair for the class room teacher. She also insisted that her bed was wide and she 'only needed a little space,' so she could take two students into her bed, and for a short time the three smallest persons used that bed. However, more furniture was being sent in almost daily, and while hardly two pieces in a room were related, they were thankfully used, and we were a happy family. I have been truly loving Mrs. Donnelley all these years. God gave great women to that work of starting things and they are being followed by good women. God bless all the efforts to advance B. M. T. S. and our W. A. B. H. M. Society, all dear to JENNIE L. PECK -1881 'iff I shall always have a warm place in my heart for the Training School and in memory of the many friendships formed, and happy days spent there, I have endowed a room in the school which bears my name. My recollection is that the first class numbered seventeen returned mis- sionaries, who came from near and far. Their fields included work among Swedes, Germans, Indians, and the coloredpeople of the South. The school was conducted in a three-story dwelling house at 2338 Michigan Avenue with 38

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.+-- THE BEAc:oN il- GLEE CLUB This Golden Anniversary year has proved to be one of the biggest and best for the B. M. T. S. Glee Club. From the forty-two members, ofiicers were elected as follows: MYRTLE RAWSON President FLORA Jo SMITH . . Secretary FLORENCE TINDALL 1 Chorisms EDNA SUTTON 5 . FAITH WARBURTON . Accompanist BESSIE GILLIES . . . Student Director The first appearance of the Glee Club was a very creditable performance of Scott's The Voice in the Wilderness at the Annual Mission Union Day program. Just before the Christmas holidays, the girls went to the home of Mrs. R. R. Donnelley to sing carols for her. As usual, the club has had a part on various school programs, perhaps the most outstanding one being Founders' Day. A trip through Michigan was planned for Spring vacation, but had to be abandoned because of a heavy snowstorm: however, the Club appeared in various churches in Chicago as well as at the District Meeting at Elgin during the month of April. The Glee Club is anticipating joyous participation in Commencement activities. First Sopranos: Mauguerette Allen, West Virginia: Sigrid Anderson, Pennsylvania: Kathryn Beadle. Wisconsin: Lillian Billings. New York: Virginia Cotchefer, New York: Margaret Cuddeback. Oregon: Marcia Cudworth, Kansas: Nancy Espy, Iowa: Bessie Gillies, Massachusetts: Marian Gossman. Indiana: Iva Gurlcy. Colorado: Gertrude Hollingworth. Ohio: Frances Stone, Colorado: Merle Stone. Nebraska: Edna Sutton. Kansas: Eva Mae Wong Gem, Nebraska. Second Sopranos: Helen Akin, California: Irene Amundrud, North Dakota: Adele Chism, Ohio: Raffaela Del Pozzo, Rhode Island: Elmora Jones, Indiana: Daesie Lawyow. Washington: gloria Mlekush. Pennsylvania: Myrtle Rawson, Illinois: Florence Tindall, Iowa: Ruth White. il 0. Altos: Elizabeth Abele. Illinois: Elsie Anderson, Iowa: Esther Bush, Arizona: Rocelia Christenson, Wisconsin: Anna Holland. Iowa: Kathryn Kappes, Iowa: Doris Lea. North Dakota: Jean McKenzie, North Dakota: Enid Myers. Nebraska: Julia Snyder. Wisconsin: Pearl Vilhauer. Wisconsin: Mercie Wickersham. Wisconsin: Faith Warburton, California. 37

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i--- THE BEAcoN -1.-. meagre equipment. We were so happy in the work that inconveniences were not considered, and when our three months' training was over, We wished that it had been possible to stay longer. Friendships were formed that proved to be wonderfully inspiring in the years that followed. I shall always revere the memory of Miss Burdette and her inspiration to us all. She seemed to be the soul of the school. l am at present uncertain as to whether I shall be able to venture the journey to Chicago for the Fiftieth Anniversary. I should dearly love to go and if my strength permits, I will surely be there. ANNA NILSSON fMrs. Anna Hanson? - 1881 'f Y 'f The two years spent in B. M. T. S. were very happy. The home life and friendships formed at '24l l' will always be an abiding remembrance, as well as the helpful guidance of the saintly 'trio' - Mother Morris, Mother Whaley, and Miss Burdette. 'Their works do follow them after.' The school of today is far superior to the one we attended. The building itself has so many more advantages that make it suitable for this preparatory work, and the district where it is located opens a mission field of opportunities in the immediate vicinity. It has been a source of pleasure to visit the school during recent years while our daughter has been studying there. God bless the teachers and students of today. May all your wishes and plans for this Golden Anniversary be realized, is the wish of SIGRID TRANEUS fMrs. C. Adolph Andersonj - 1902 1 1 1 World-war days were stern days, when life was real and earnest. But dur- ing this period Mrs. Pinkham came to B. M. T. S. to brighten it with her radiant personality. Never has there been a higher soul than Dr. Behan, and under the direction of these two leaders the school prospered. Serious study, cordial relationship between faculty and students, and plenty of cheer and good fellowship characterized this period which lay between the old and the new regime. Many of the girls of that day are serving the denomination in some capacity. Their hearts ring true in loyalty to the ideals which have always MRS. ADAH H. BOYCE - 1917 1 1 1 been held before us. As I look over the Baptist Missionary Training School family album and acquaint myself with those heroic and far-seeing women who lifty years ago founded the school we love today, I am impressed more forcibly than ever with the rich heritage which is ours and with the challenge which the past brings to us of the present to build our part in the Master's work as worthily as did they. To me the Baptist Missionary Training School has indeed opened a door- way to service which is: bringing with it a peace and joy and a purposefulness in life that I have never felt before. As I try to evaluate my year at the school I Hnd that I cannot separate the various factors and say this particular class or that particular person meant the most' to me. The highest tribute I can give is that at the Baptist Missionary Training School I found a group of women trying in the best way they know how to live out in every phase of their lives' the teachings of Jesus. fConcIuded on page 402 39