Concordia College - White and Blue Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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came and went in the following ten years, though it was not until the year 1921, when Dr. Gaensle decided to quit teaching at Concordia, that anything of more exceptional noteworthiness took place. What the college may have fallen behind in during the last yearsyof the bygone decade, it more than made up in the early twenties, and events have been chasing one another in rapid succession up to the time of this writing. The duties of chief executive were shifted to the shoulders of Rev. G. Chr. Barth, who was called from St. Lukeis congrega- tion, St. Louis. This was done shortly after Dir. Albrecht gave up his office as president and accepted a professorship in the late fall of the year '21. The next spring the va- cancy left by Dr. Gaensle was filled by Prof. M. Graebner. Towards the close of the second year of Director Barthis administration an epidemic of scarlet fever thrust its tentacles into the student body. The college doctor at the time advised that the school close down before the dread disease would prove fatal to the closely crowded students. Though the admonition was heeded without hesitation and the term was brought to a close on May 22, 1923, Ottomar Zersen, a member of the class of '28, was carried off by death soon after his fellowstudents had left for home. tThe class of 128 inserts this as a memorial to their departed friendJ The following autumn brought a great many more newcomers than usual, in spite of the dampening effect of the late epidemic. Thus a pressing need was felt for more instructors, and that same fall Prof. P. Koehneke was called, followed by Prof. P. Zanow the next spring. About this time the dormitories in which the boys of Concordia had lived for forty years, showed signs of an old age, a prema- ture old age perhaps. Due to the cramped conditions the rooms fairly bulged with stud- ents and their belongings. Besides, it was feared that this situation might invite ill- health, and likewise encourage laxity in good scholarship. Many students had to sleep in low, draughty attics or in other improvised bedrooms, just as coopy. Something had to be done within a very short time. Relief was finally in sight when Synod allotted enough funds to begin building operations. On June 4, 1924, during a special service, ground was broken for the Wunder Dormitory. In April of 1925, when the dedicatory ceremonies took place, Lutherans tiocked from miles about to instect the splendid new dormitory with its twenty-tive two-room suites of four desks, four beds, and four wardrobes, the Director's headquarters, the reception and Board room, the stationery; they came to inspect the ter- razzo floors of the halls, the batleship linoleum of the rooms, the oak woodwork, things never seen inside Concordiais walls before; they came to participate in a happy celebration of another landmark in the progress of this insitution. Excavating for Refectory 7x URING the summer of 1925 the old frame building which had housed the - kitchen and the living quarters for the workers, passed out of eyesight and history. Also the old brick hospital, yellowing with age, was moved away to make room for the further constructional processes of which the college was woefully in need. By the time the students returned from the Christ- mas holidays of 1925-26 a new building, the Refectory, could be formally opened. The roomy, sunny dining hall with its oaken tables and chairs, snowy table-cloths and shiny chinaware,-all new-was an immeasurable improvement over the aged and dingy mess-hall where the aisles between the sixteen-foot, wobbly tables had narrowed down to mere slits. The new, highly improved kitchen made it possible for the matron to serve meals on an efficient basis. On the second iioor, the cozy comfortableness of the hospital gave every visitor and student the impression that henceforth a furlough spent in the sick room would not be regretted at all even if one was sick. In fact, the addition of the Wunder Dormitory and the Refectory made life at Concordia so much more attractive that the list of newcomers in September, 1925, was appreciably lengthened.

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A Corner of the Campus before 1925 The next two years passed without any pronounced event. Then, in 1903, Prof. Kroen. ing resigned. His place on the faculty was accepted by Rev. C. Gaensle the frllcwing year. The teaching staff now consisted of seven members given in the order of their electionl Professor Huth, Hamann, Mueller, Hattstaedt, Ross, Albrecht, and Gaensle. Another three years slipped by. And then came the year 1906, bringing with it a special meaning for Concordia. This was the year in which she could celebrate her first important anniversary, her twenty-flfth birthday. It was a time of much rejoicing. Re- cords made clear the fact that the college had already sprinkled the world with five hun- dred young ministers of the Gospel. The jubilee services were held on the seventeenth of June. In the afternoon of that outstanding day, thousands from far and near were wedged together upon the campus, and in that shoulder-rubbing throng there were many hearty handclasps between old-time classmates meeting one another for the first time in years. That same evening more than two hundred graduates held a banquet for the sake of the good old times when.... . With emotions bubbling over, the gay companions and yokefellows of college days parted once more, to be scattered throughout the country again. They took with them the pleasantest of memories, and left behind them the sug- gestion for organizing an alumni association so that connections with their Alma Mater would not be entirely severed. In the last years their suggestion has been acted upon, and it is hoped that the alumni association will soon be an effectual body. In the march of events Concordia now seemed to be going double-time. synodical adherents began to acknowledge its importance more and more. Which was proved by word and gift alike. Messrs. Luedtke and F. Pritzlaff, for example, were the donors of a piece of property on the northeast corner of Thirty-third and Cedar Streets. In con- sequence of this the campus was stretched out considerably, and the gymnasium was moved upon the new ground. Then, to make room for a larger athletic field, the Di- rectorls residence was moved to the corner of Thirty-first and State Streets. HE next event worthy of special mention happened in May, 1910, when Prof. E. Hamann resigned on account of increasing deaf. ness. This resignation in- flicted the first breach up- cn the old faculty phalanx Moreover, it seemed to inaugurate a process of rejuvenation which has gone on in the faculty ever since. Prof. A. Bergmann invested the professional robe doifed by Prof. Hamann. Immediately there- after, Prof. C. Homann, was installed. Also a number of assistant professors Wander Dormitory E121

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This same fall the surprising announcement was made that Prof. Bergmann had resigned his professorship and that a new instructor had been called, namely, Prof. A. Rehwaldt. The school year was swiftly winging to the close, when there was a grief to be borne by teacher and pupil alike, in the death of Dr. C. Huth who passed away on April 23, 1926, at the age of sixty-seven. The report of his death came like a bolt out of the blue for he had been ill for only a short while. He who was the tirst instruc- tor at Concordia was also the first to die while holding office. The forty-flve years of faithful service of one of our most illustrious professors will not easily be forgotten. Now that the faculty numbered one less, a greater need than ever was felt for a larger teaching staff, a need which resulted in the appointment of three more professors. The first, on whose shoulders the professorial mantle of Dr. Huth descended, was Prof. V. Battling. The other two, Profs. L. Rincker and E. HattstaedtY had served for some years as assistants. During this same year the college tables, usually lean, were loaded down with farm produce. This was mainly due to two methods of getting foodstuffs instituted by Dir. Barth. One means was to get money and support from the Concordia Ladies, Aid Society, formed a few years before; the other was to buy a truck, which the students now drive to outlying villages and country congregations to collect the apples, potatoes, and vege- tables gathered through the efforts of the rural ministers. The vacancy created in the faculty during the summer months by the departure of Prof. Graebner, who followed a call to the presidency of a sister institution at St. Paul, was tilled this term by Rev. Aug. Hardt. Shortly before the Christmas vacation 0927-28 the Electoral College extended a call to Rev. A. Dede to occupy the chair left vacant by the venerable Dr. C. Ross, who had thought it needful to stop instructing because of old age and nervous troubles. The services of Dr. Ross to Concordia filled a period of thirty-five years. On account of its enlarging faculty and ever-increasing student body, the well-wishers of Concordia certainly have much heart-felt thanksgiving to pour out soulfully to the Lord their God in heaven. Even more so, when they for a moment make a sweeping survey of the whole field of nations and everywhere see its preachers and teachers broad- casting God's Word. Concordia College of Milwaukee has grown, is growing, and let us pray that God will continue to wreathe its future eEorts with success imperishableY that He will glori- ously ensphere the dear old Alma Mater with the spirit of progress and advancement. Onward, Concordia!