Bryan College - Commoner Yearbook (Dayton, TN)

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Founders Base Bryan on Faith 1. Before an enthusiastic crowd, Tennessee Governor Austin Peay, shovel in hand, broke ground for the University on November 5, 1926. 2. Congressman William D. Upshaw of Georgia started the concrete mixer and officially began construction on May 14, 1927. 3- The Octagon, constructed in the fall of 1932 as a men ' s dormitory, was the first structure com- pleted on Bryan Hill. 4. Bryan ' s first gradu- ation, the Class of 1934, included (1. to r.) Har- riett Dunlap, R. Tibbs Maxey, Mona Fled, Franklin Bennett, Sybil Lusk, Logan Rector, Marjorie Yancey and Bertha Morgan. 5. A sec- ond floor was added to the south half of the Administration Building in 1938 and was modi- fied in the early fifties in the process of com- pleting the third floor. The Thirties ,;

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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

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The Forties CHRIST ABOVE ALL l B the challenge for victory re A0 Wta bn Co± WAV lot o eat a wort NHU I- «= r»J- «■ . - - ■- — n- MCMIakiAi • » » ■■• •»- ™ •»• » «■ » ' »•» Ml MUW «lHt ejai». ««obelo««.»- =»— tnj p pi i 1 1 1 1 J — i hi otM Wo ■ ■:— •• Urn r beaaibl iteOeiTfaM b obU; Wo b Atdefcee. JcWfeaBr =■ • =» An m taanisg w • •!■» »«4 « « o b ytw kMii dot lidir Ce» T™ c ak» o ton • ! W CVjW? An jou iMmng » «c=ro lecdty » »i« T-4 taereiso w bnWw and ot-i ley rt og Corf • wlO eo Mm wW A cod ct d tatty. a Tee pw Miq let efpen — «r b ce ft°«e tua jv fll w la whw r«e) bed e q ill I- a com a a olnetia « jw WMe ebefl Db h «= 4 (■ brfmdeab. He nsd dw . aged aee erf «r» w. befcz « I h ovn MreaijO an ■■-■j ' — bet o an «9 J» an (■ L S5- .c 1. Original plans for the campus included ex- pansion over the entirety of Bryan Hill. 2. Presi- dent Judson A. Rudd called the student body to action and prayer at the start of World War II. 3. Vetsville provided trailer housing for married war veterans. 4. The Memorial Chapel was dis- mantled from Camp Forrest, Tennessee, and re- assembled in 1947-1948 on campus. 5. Cedar Hill which had been Bryan ' s women ' s dormi- tory and faculty apartments from 1932-38 be- came in the forties and fifties Dayton ' s major tourist home. 6. Warner Sallman, famous for his religious paintings, donated a four-foot by five-foot portrayal of Christ to the University in 1941. 20 The Forties