Gettysburg College - Spectrum Yearbook (Gettysburg, PA)

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' x BASE HALL. k: Hagersmwn :s ii? . Wk nsytvmta Cottage. :22 ???;aamwmsugtm a Imghm 38d. ' tum. f The McCreary Gymnasium, standing northeast of Old Dorm, was erected in 1872 and converted into a chemistry laboratory in 1890. It was demolished when Breiden- baugh Science Hall was erected in 1929. Notes on, the Rebel Invasion of Maryland and Pennsyl- vania was a popular source of information for many 1 year. A company consisting almost entirely of men from , the College and Seminary was mustered into service at the outbreak of the invasion; most of the students and 4 professors abandoned their classes as the town grew 4 tense in anticipation of battle. When the President of the United States dedicated the battlefield as a cemetery with tta few appropriate remarks7 in November, Rev. Louis A. Baugher, the College President, pronounced the Bene- diction. The chain of events by which Gettysburg matured and arrived at its present status paralleled the development of America as it emerged into modern times. Periods of Miller Hall the Phi Ka lodge erected physical growthethe 189Ws9 when McKnight, Glatfelter in 1882-1834, is the ofdist fraternity house and Brua Halls appeared, the prosperous 190Ws when in Pennsylvania. Weidensall and Breidenhaugh Halls, Schmucker Library, Gettysburg College,s backyard in 1889: a picture taken looking across the roof of Linnaean Hall to the northeast from the Glatfelter tower. In the right the college observatory stands. The little buildings in the lower right occupy what is now shady campus back of Old Dorm.

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lawyer in Gettysburg. were responsible not only for the success of the college in winning an $18,000 grant, but also in assuring for Pennsylvania a system of free schools. With part of this appropriation the college purchased a tract of land, a little more than six acres, from Thad- deus Stevens, on which was begun in 1836 a three-story building to house the college. The preparatory depart- ment was housed on the first Hoar, and the president of the college resided 0n the second. The students themselves erected the second building to appear on the campus. Dedicated in 1847, Linnaean Hall, fronting parallel with Old Dorm. was designed by a professor and to a large extent erected by students. The building was devoted to classrooms and the exhibi- tion of scientific matters, at the time one of the finest collections in the country. Such extracurricular life as there was for the students The Rev. Michael Jacobs tl808-187li9 Professor of mathematics and general science, is remembered for his teaching career and service to the Church as well as for his experiments in preserving food by canning which he originated in America and for his account of the Battle of Gettysburg, first published in 1864 and popular until after the turn of the century. Thaddeus Stevens, loved and hated in his day and a controversial figure among historians, was active in the Pennsylvania legislature. He secured the $18,000 appropriation with which Pennsylvania Hall was built and served as a trustee of the college from 1834 until his death in 1867, Stevens Hall was named for him in appreciation of his efforts and contributions to the school. This painting was made by Jacob Eicholtz, in Stevensi earlier days and presented to the College by a close friend. Old Dormis appearance in the back- ground was meant to typify Stevensi great interest in education. of the century reveals a shady campus similar to the look changes can be noticed. revolved about two literary societies twhose tongue- twisting names Phrenakosmian and Philomathean were invariably shortened to Phrena and Philot and the Linnaean Association. Each of the literary societies had rooms on the top floor of Old Dorm for their meetings, and the Linnaean group, of course, had its hall. The first fraternity on campus, Phi Kappa Psi, was founded secretly in 1855, and added some extracurricular life to that Of the societies. Fraternities, which 510wa grew in number, did not acquire houses until much later in the century. When the first on the campus was erected in 1882, it was also the first in Pennsylvania. The Civil War days were among the most stirring in the colleges career. The cupola of Old Dorm served as an observation post for both sides in the confiict; it was also a hospital for Confederate soldiers after the area of the campus fell within Confederate lines. One of the professors was a keen observer of the battle, and his

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Brua Chapel was erected in 1888-1889, just after Glatfelter Hall was completed. This picture was made from the Glatfelter tower. After Christ Chapel was erected, the Woments League of Gettysburg College converted Brua Chapel into a fine arts building. and the Plank Gymnasium were erected and the post-World War II era which so far has resulted in Hanson and Stine Halls and Christ Chapelehave occurred when the nation experienced economic prosperity. Enrollment too has Huctuated in relation to prosperity and war. As the campus has expanded, buildings have come and gone. In addition to Lin- naean Hall, there was a chemistry lab, built in the 1870,s at the northeast corner of Old Dorm which also served a stint as a gymnasium; an observatory, which stood in the vicinity of Hanson Hall; and ttCottage Hall;9 a residence for professors, standing where the library is located. Miller Hall, the first fraternity house in Pennsylvania, was erected by Phi Kappa Psi, in 1882-4; it was joined a few years later by similar lodges of Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Delta Theta which together made up one of the flrst fraternity rOWS 0n the campus of an American college. What was once a field has been transformed into a shady lawn as the campus was created in its present appearance. Standing above the level of the campus. and brightly lit every night is the tower of Christ Chapel. It stands to unify the history of Gettysburg College: founded to pro- vide education in a Christian setting, the college has continued, through prosperity and adversity through the ups and downs of Changing academic procedures and atti- tudes, and through the remarkable growth of higher education, to offer America the finest of her intellectual tradition against a mosaic background of Christ befriending the student. 1The old photographs reproduced above and on the division pages of the 1957 SPECTRUM are owned by Gettysburg College9 the Alumni OHice, the Public Relations Office; the United States National Park Service; Mrs. Howard Sheffer; Pennsylvania Epsilon of Phi Kappa Psi; and Frederick S. WeiserJ Christ Chapel, dedicated in 1953, stands in the center of the campus, its steeple lit at night, attracting the eyes of travellers from miles away.