Barnard College - Mortarboard Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 14 text:

At the turn of the century, our predecessors pondered these problems: Should a Barnard student, walking among the dusty roads and the piles of stone in the new Columbia grounds, scan all the faces she meets so that she may bow to acquaintances, or shall she gaze steadily into space, and cut her second cousin or her intimate friend as she passes within three feet of him? If Columbia professors would only introduce the students to each other, so that after arguing with a male student in class all semester, it would be proper to bow to him when meeting on the street . . . In 1903, the sophomores challenged the freshmen to an informal athletic contest, of which the main feature was to be a tug of war. The costumes were an interesting combination of middy blouses and Pysche knots. These first Greek Games gradually evolved into their present form, as the cultural elements were given more emphasis. Students learned to throw the discus, hurdle for form and race while carrying a burning torch. Greek Games Hurdling

Page 13 text:

In 1903 we went suburban The Hockey Club — if you couldn ' t knot the tie, you couldn ' t play. In 1896, Barnard moved to new and larger quarters on Broadway, between 119th and 120th Streets, opposite the new Morning- side Heights campus of Columbia University. Fiske Hall served as a dormitory, while the adjacent BrinckerhofT and Milbank Halls contained the academic and administrative facilities. The atmosphere was much more favorable to the growth of the college than the pre- vious cramped conditions. Student Govern- ment, Bulletin, Mortarboard, and the Ath- letic Association began. The Banjo Club, Hockey Club, and Baseball Team were flour- ishing organizations. Chapters of seven na- tional sororities — then called fraternities — were formed. After a few years of existence, the need for fraternities was reconsidered, and it was concluded that the evils of fraternities as they are at present organized and conducted at Barnard College on the whole outweigh the advantages, and that the element of secrecy is especially harmful. In 1912, fra- ternities were abolished by student resolution. A wandering minstrel I — so join the Banjo Club (1900).

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In 1903, Mrs. A. A. Anderson, the donor of Milbank Hall, gave the College the three and one-half acres from 1 1 6th to 1 1 9th Street, bounded by Broadway and Claremont Avenue, thus securing the Barnard campus against the encroachment of a rapidly-growing New York. A dormitory, Brooks Hall, named after the Reverend Arthur Brooks, the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was built in 1907. In 1910, Barnard came of age when one of her alumnae, Virginia C. Gildersleeve ' 97, was appointed Dean, in which capacity she served for thirty-six years. Under her guidance and leadership, the College expanded, despite the Great Depression and two world wars. In 1915, to commemorate his fiftieth year in America, Jacob H. Schiff, first Treasurer of Barnard, donated funds for an additional build- ing to house student organizations, athletic, medical and lunchroom facilities. The lobby of Barnard Hall is called Jake in fond remem- brance of the man who was so instrumental in the development of the College. An additional dormitory, Hewitt Hall, was built in 1925. War Work at Barnard, 1918. I don ' t care what my boyfriend says, I ' m voting. act