Brevard College - Pertelote Yearbook (Brevard, NC)

Page 23 text:

ztwt by major college and pro teams. The name Tornado came to Brevard Col- lege from Weaver College. Costs Work-Study: In the early l9X) ' s. the cost was $300 a year for everything. But times were tough and many students couldn ' t afford $300. So, many students were placed on work-study. There ' s a story that says a boy arrived at school with his cow and through the aid of the cow he made it through his two years. Others waited on tables, fired the furnaces, and did janitorial work, to name a few. Mr. Jones says the most wanted job on campus was that of mail carrier. One year I carried the mail from the post office to the offices and dormitories. This was the most sought after job on the campus because you got to visit the girl ' s dormitory twice each day! In the early years of the college. rules were very strict concerning the conduct of males and females. Mr. Jones describes the situation of the early X) ' s. On Sunday afternoon, if you ' d been good all week, you could spend an hour In the parlor at the girls ' dorm with your favorite girl where many more had the same idea. Not only were you and all the other couples in the same room, but you were well chaperoned. This chaperone saw ev- ery suspicious move you had or look you gave. If you had been extra good, you might get another couple and a chaperon and go to Asheville to a well censored movie. I remember that on one occasion there were three couples who dared to meet in Asheville in the afternoon and go to a movie without permission or chaperon. Some dead eye saw them and reported to the authorities about this scandalous act. The results: the man who was sup- posed to have been responsible was expelled from school. The others were campused for a long period of time. As a result one of the professors resigned, the students went on a strike, and the president didn ' t come back the next year. I recall once I was walking across campus with a young lady going from the classroom to the dining hall at high noon. That afternoon there was a let- ter from the president telling me that I violated a well known social rule and that I would be campused for a week. I am sure that if a couple had been seen embracing or kissing then, they both would have been expelled. Of course there was plenty of it, but you learned to kiss and run. The administration was doing what they thought to be right and proper and I have great re- spect for them in what they did. I know that it is hard for a present day student to believe that this ever hap- pened. Religion played a very important role on campus. Weaver was a Meth- odist College, and the students were expected to act in an appropriate man- ner. Mr. Nathan Jones describes the situation on the Weaver campuS: There were religious organizations for both men and women which were given top priority in the affairs of the campus. Then in addition to this each year a well known minister would be brought to the campus for a revival meetings. Most all of the parents were very much in approval of this kind of meeting. Everyone was expected to attend one meeting at the morning chapel service and another in the evening. Another interesting practice when I first went to Weaver was that we had no classes on Monday. The rea- son for this was that if students went to their home for the weekend they would have Monday on which to return to campus and wouldn ' t commit the sin of riding the train on Sunday. This was later changed and we had no classes on Saturday. On Sunday morning we were lined up and marched to church and Sunday School, with the boys and girls in sepa- rate groups. Weaver College struggled through the depression, but in 1933 the West- ern North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church demanded a merger of Rutherford and Weaver Colleges. They were to open a college in Bre- vard, North Carolina, on the grounds of the closed Brevard Institute. Skinner Hall was ihe mosi ' modern boys dormitory on the campus. The Delphian literary society met in this

Page 22 text:

College Founded By Brothers Temperance speaker instills idea for college. The idea of building a school in Wea- verville. N.C., actually began when a temperance speaker came to town. The story goes that the speaker had such a tremendous impact on the town that no alcohol could be found when he left. An organization called Brothers of Temper- ance was formed. The broth- ers decided to build a small school on the beautiful camp- ground in Weaverville. They built one building which housed a temperance hall and school. In 1854 more buildings were built to house students. The school went well until 1873 when the wooden build- ings burned. After the fire, the school was turned over to the Methodist Church. Dr. John Regan, a doctor and a Methodist minister, was chosen to be the first president of the 4-year college known then as Weaverville Col- lege. The college also gave high school students their education. In I9Q that policy was changed. Weaverville Col- lege became Weaver College, a two- year college which also taught high school. The college was very strict, as were most schools then. Certain ac- tivities were not tolerated: Any stu- dent expecting to partake in card play- r-j-g Memorabilia from Weaver College can be found in the Weaver room. ing or dancing, please make arrange- ments to attend a school where such things are tolerated. It will not be toler- ated here. Extra-curricular activities were im- portant to the students of Weaver Col- lege. Students got a chance to debate each other, listen to orations and origi- nal compositions at the literary soci- eties. Apparently there was a great ri- valry among the societies. At the be- ginning of every year each society fought to get new members. Mr. Nathan Jones, a former student of Weaver College, tells of his experiences with the Delphin Society. At com- mencement one of the main events was what was known as the ' Junior Debate. ' Each of the four societies had a repre- sentative on the team for this event. I had the good fortune to represent the Delphins on the team in 1923. Also at Com- mencement there would be declamation and oratorical contests between men and reading contests among the women. Sports meant a lot to the college, and they meant a great deal to the town of Weaverville. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment that arose from the Weaver gridiron was the Flea Flicker play, which is now used WEAVER COLLEGE A girl tlorin on the Weaver campus UeUi HaU. The audilorrum was locateil in the AdiinnistrAtion RuiUting.

Page 24 text:

1 The 1930 Rulherlord College Ramblers, the Junior Champion baseball le RUTHERFORD COLLEGE Parent College Begins in 1853 Abernathy begins school with 8 pupils. Robert Laban Abernathy arrived at Happy Home, N.C., in 1853 to be the sole teacher of 8 at Owl Hollow School. Apparently, Abernathy had the quali- ties of a great teacher, because soon more people began to move near his school. He broadened the curriculum to include new courses. Before it would be known as Rutherford College in 1870, the school would have two oth- er names: Rutherford Academy in 1858 and Rutherford Seminary in 1961. The school was closed twice in the late 1800 ' s during the Civil War period. The history of the name Rutherford can be traced to John Rutherford, the wealthiest man around Happy Home. Mr. Rutherford gave Rogert Abernathy money to buy 200 acres of land to start a town, which would later be the town of Rutherford College. Rutherford told Abernathy to use the money from the sale of the land (which he was to sell for no more than $3.00 and not less than 50c an acre) to build the acade- my. By today ' s standards the dorms of Rutherford Academy were medieval! They were essentially one-room wood planked cabins. The cabins didn ' t have any lights, heat, or sanitation. In some cases, students built their own cabins. and when their days were through at Rutherford, they sold them to new stu- dents. Robert Abernathy believed every- one should get an education. He held night school for the farmers. He also let women in his school. Abernathy strongly believed in educating women, but as the following excerpt from the 1874 catalog shows, women were to be kept apart from the men. During all hours except when reciting and at- tending divine services, the sexes are kept separate by the most rigid laws. Any two of different sexes found in close conversation receive 10 demerits for the first offense and immediate expulsion for the second. In November of 1893, Robert Aber- nathy died, and his son Will took over the school. Will Abernathy was a confi- dent, resourceful man — as the follow- ing story shows. Apparently, a co-ed had caught Will ' s eye, and he started dating her. She obviously was a pretty girl because another student decided he liked her. One night the young man went to President Will ' s office and said he wanted to know what the President ' s intentions were. Will got up and told the young man to have a cigar and he ' d be right back. When Will returned, he told the young man what his intentions were. He ' d left his office, gone to the girl ' s dorm, and asked her to marry himi she accepted! The college continued successfully, and in 1914 it moved to Valdese, N.C. At that time, Valdese was located 10 miles from Lenoir, Hickory, and Morganton. The 1914 catalog had this to say about the location of the school. They are at a distance such that the students can conveniently do necessary shopping at any one of them (the towns) and yet the college be free from the evils that are incident to the town. Students worked very hard back in the early 1900 ' s. They were required to attend chapel every morning and Sun- day school on Sundays. Their 18 hour course loads were full of Biblical stud- ies, English, history, German, math, Latin. Greek and music. At the 1973 Rutherford College Reunion, Charles Lathan recalled an incident with his first English pr ofessor concerning his first composition. I had two sheets of paper but only one written sentence and when I got it back, it was so full of red marks I couldn ' t read my sen- tence! It ' s safe to assume that today at Brevard College the English stan- dards have remained the samel 11