Georgia Southwestern State University - Gale Yearbook (Americus, GA)

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led lake and slips on its polished floors. lt is dungarees and Carson suits. lt is short weekend library hours and 24 hours a day postal service. lt is three-story buildings and an unused chapel. lt is red- necks and freaks and beer and dope and independents and Greeks and men and women and shoes and barefeet. lt is a seiso- mograph and a greenhouse. lt is a fenced-in maintenance department and hardly used barbeque grills. lt is for faculty only restrooms and parking lot with yellow curbs and a ticket book. lt is a snack bar and isolated soft drink and snack food machines. lt is an indoor swimming pool and uncovered walks be- tween class buildings. It is an in- firmary and the Dean's office. It is deserted weekends and crowded street between Comlex ll and Ill. Not so visable is the GSC that off the record agrees and on the record doesn't remember. lt is at- tendance mandatory for learning and change takes time attitudes. It is computerized registration and no wait counseling. It is dated speeches with thanks for choosing GSC endings. lt is liberal minds and the Peter Principal. lt is help if we can give it and it is Southern hospitality. It is popularity elections with enviable purposed charters. lt is we've come a long way and we've the history to prove it. The following historical account is given mainly, by use of liberal extractions, from Through E Years - A -gg Informal Record of Georgia Southwestern Colley 1908-1957 by Macy Bishop Gray. The Third District Agricultural and Mechanical School fcalled af- fectionately in its early years Ag- gie j which was the forerunner of Georgia Southwestern College came into being by a bill intro- duced by H. H. Perry of Hall County, passed by the General Assembly of Georgia and signed by Governor Joseph M. Terrell on August 18, 1906. This act provided for the founding of a school of agriculture and mechanical arts in each of the eleven congressional districts of Georgia, the school to be located in the community of each district offering to give the most land and the most money for 12 its equipment. Two hundred and seventy acres of land lying along the Seaboard Airline Railroad ISCL todayj and 830,000 in cash offered by Sumter County was the in- ducement for the State to locate our school just outside the city limits of Americus. A distinctive purpose was to offer general and technical training to boys and girls wishing to improve their efficiency and usefulness in the agriculture and industrial pursuits common to the various sections of the state. The act provided that money from the sale of fertilizer tags and fees from the inspection of oil be used for the maintenance of the school. Georgia Southwestern College has come a long way, to use a trite expression. On campus today can be seen a sharp contrast between the old foundations and the modern day structures - a contrast that shows the progress of many years. ln 1907, buildings which in- cluded an academic building, a dining hall, a dormitory for boys named in honor of Governor Jo- seph M. Terrell and a machine shop were constructed. Girls were housed in a rented building on Felder Street near the campus. A committee of leading educa- tors outlined a course of study and classes began at Third District Agricultural and Mechanical School - the first of district schools in the state - on January 4, 1908. The catalog of the year stated that girls must be thirteen years old and boys fourteen years old in order to enter school and all enter upon probation for a reason- able length of time. ln September 1908 military training was instituted and the de- partment was made responsible for the discipline of the school. A band was organized and basketball, baseball, and football teams played excellent games. Later in 1911- 1912, Wheatley Hall was built at the cost of 517,500 and was named for Crawford Wheatley, a member of the Board of Trustees and the treasurer of the institution, who gave unsparingly of his time and money for the progress of the school. On April 6, 1915, 'A disastrous fire swept away the beautiful ivy-

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covered academic building' and nearly all of its equipment. The cost of this building and the equipment it contained was nearly S28,000. The old academic building con- sisted of eight classrooms, a mili- tary department, a laboratory, a room for mechanical drawing and an auditorium that would seat 800 people. The building that has been known for many years as the Pres- ident's Home fthis, one student exalted to President's Mansionj was built in 1915. fPresently the Early Childhood Developmental Building.j As the school grew, so did its reputation. ln fact, in 1910 forty- nine applications had to be refused because of lack of room in the dormitories. That same year stu- dents from twenty-nine Georgia counties and from Alabama, Flor- ida, and South Carolina were reg- istered at the school. Prior to this time two hundred and thirty stu- dents had been admitted. During the 1910-11 school year there was an eight-student orches- tra and a military band composed of thirteen members. A YMCA was organized and a prayer service was held each evening. ln the cat- alog was printed in bold, black type: 'Every student must attend some religious service every Sun- day.' At that time the total fees which included board, room and incidentals for nine months was S65.00. Much has changed in school policy as well as basic structure since the beginning years of this school. For instance, the 1912 catalog stated: Pupils will not be allowed to go to their homes at any time during the school term except upon a written request of their parents or guardians! There was a school bank where students could open accounts and check on them. All male students were required to wear the regulation olive drab uni- form that cost 37.50. Day students were admitted but were not urged to enter, the school was primarily for boarding students. 14 ln 1913 girls were required to wear a uniform that cost S14.00. Students were not allowed to leave campus without permission. At any time vacancies occurred students were permitted to enroll. Taboos were put on card playing, strong drink, and cigarettes. ln 1916, the total expenses for entrance into the college was raised. For a nine-month year, in- cluding books, matriculation fee, literary fee, board, laundry, and uniform was S118.75. ln order to be admitted to the school, students who were unknown to the faculty must present two letters of recommendation as to their moral character from prominent citizens of their community. Students would be suspended from school for in- ability or unwillingness to master their studies, irregularity in class attendance or failure to comply with the regulations of the school. The 1916-1917 school year of- fered, for the first time, a course in teacher training to juniors and seniors. Laboratory teaching was done in an elementary school on the campus, built in 1916 at the cost of S4,500. Religious emphasis was intro- duced in the 1918-1919 school year when prayer meetings were held in the dormitory lobbies just after supper. On Sunday nights there was an assembly sponsored by the Young People's Christian Associa- tion in which all students had an opportunity to participate. Literary society meetings were scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings. The dining hall was operated on a co-operative plan. All students contributed a reasonable amount of profitable service to the school each week. The girls set tables, cleared tables and cared for the silverware. By 1920, students were no longer required to wear uniforms since the plants that manufactured them charged from thirty to fifty dollars for each of them. 'Bring along your clothing from home, it will be all right' the catalog stated. Textbooks during that period cost