Bryan College - Commoner Yearbook (Dayton, TN)

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CHRIST ABOVE ALL Bryan Yesterday Aerial vie ■ ( William Jcnningi Brj I ersit) campus i Fiftieth So Hon n

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1 6 Table of Contents

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The Thirties CHRIST ABOVE ALL liteM One year after the Great Commoner ' s death, the Bryan Memorial University Association purchased eighty-two acres of land on Matthew ' s Hill in Dayton, the town of the Scopes trial. Although Bryan himself helped select another site, Governor Austin Peay of Tennessee al- layed the anger of many at the ground breaking ceremony in 1926. Pointing to the Rhea County courthouse, Peay asked that there be no further conflict between science and religion. The crowd cheered in agreement. But very soon these cheers turned to tears. Once again, controversies arose over the University site; many can- celled subscriptions. Economic depres- sion struck the country. Several notable persons, however, were able to fulfill their pledges: Cordell Hull, Grace Liv- ingston Hill, Franklin D. Roosevelt. By 1927, over $700,000 had been made in gifts and pledges to finance the building of the school. Moving forward through faith, con- struction began in 1927 with Congress- man William D. Upshaw of Georgia paying tribute to William Jennings Bryan and the educational memorial. As a result of financial difficulty, build- ing ceased on the school ' s foundation. Yet, founders declared that the Univer- sity would open its doors in the fall of 1930 with the building completed or not. Indeed, it did. Ironically, con- vocation services were held in the court- house room of the trial. President George Guille ' s inaugural address stated that Bryan University would not stand merely as a memorial to its namesake, but as witness of the glory of a greater and more worthy name, the Lord Jesus Christ. City businessmen, to aid the college while its buildings were in the construction stages, offered the univer- sity use of the old Rhea County High School building. Classes continued in downtown Dayton for five years. Bryan ' s first graduates left the school before it moved to its own campus in 1935. Construction contin- ued as funds permitted. The Octagon, a men ' s dormitory, was the first com- pleted structure on campus. Enrollment increased from the original twenty- eight students, and the library began with 30,000 books. At last, Bryan was established on both a firm fundamental and a concrete foundation. 18 The Thirties