Gettysburg College - Spectrum Yearbook (Gettysburg, PA)

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i i i g i i i Gettysburg College is one of approximately forty institutions of higher learning begun in the 1830s. As in the case of most colleges which trace their origins this far back into American history, religious motives figured prominently in the beginnings of Gettysburg. The principal founder was the Reverend Samuel Simon Schmucker f1799-1873i, a young Lutheran clergyman who had studied at the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton Theological Semi- nary. After a charter had been secured from This is a building which over the years has had many different names. At first when it housed the entire college it was called the College or the College Edifice. When, in 1890, the build- ing was converted to a dormitory it was called the Dormitory Hall. But in 1898 when a new dormitory, McKnight Hall, was built people be- gan to call the old one the Old Dorm. It was known as such to hundreds and hundreds of students. In 1970 after the building had been completely renovated as an administrative center it was officially named Pennsylvania Hail. To most stu- dents today it is known as Penn Hall. 2 Gettysburg Reviewed Gettysburgi the state legislature in the spring of 1832, Penn- t sylvania College of Gettysburg admitted its first i students in the fall of the same year. The corpo- rate name was not changed to Gettysburg until , 1921. The first building, the College Edifice, was oc- cupied in the fall of 1837. It contained living quarters, classrooms, libraries, and the Chapel. The steward, who made the meals and kept the rooms clean, lived on the ground floor with his family. The president of the college lived with his family on the second floor. There were many regulations which the students had to 5. obey. For example, students were expected to rise and retire by the bell. Students were not , Stevens Hall was built in 1867-68 and named in honor of Thaddeus Stevens, a prominent member of the United States House of Re- presentatives and for more than thirty years a trustee and devoted supporter of the col- lege. Stevens Hall was built for the prepara- i tory department, or academy, which was part of the college during the first century of its existence. After the academy closed in 1935 it became a dormitory for women and has been used for that purpose ever since.

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Gettysburg College Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

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If 3, s e rst ' 0- til I 18 al. 1e IiS th re to to at ' Reviewed permitted to leave the campus without permis- sion, except during specific hours each day. With good reason the college could claim in its catologue and in other printed material that it strove to function as a well regulated family. In 1850, when a new president took over, he refused to move from his own comfortable house into the building. In order to make it possible for him to have his own quarters, and yet be near the college, the trustees built, in 1860, what is now known as the White House. During the Civil War enrollment decreased as many young men enlisted. The Confederates The first fraternity chapter house on campus was built by the brothers of Phi Kappa Psi. In 1884 they dedicated a lodge named Miller Hall. The building is still is use by the frater- nity. Miller Hall is one of the oldest Phi Psi chapter houses in the country. encountered the Union army on July 1, 1863 in and around Gettysburg. In the fighting which ensued, the Confederates drove their oppo- nents southward through the town occupying the main college building on the late afternoon of that day. It was then transformed into a hos- pital and was used for that purpose for several weeks after the battle. For many years students enjoyed relating tales of what had happened in the building. On a less serious note, the long halls of the old building and the available sup- ply of cannon balls were too much of a tempta- tion for many young men to resist! Today a thirty-four star flag flies over the building both night and day as a reminder of the part it played in the battle. There were four chapter houses on or near the campus by the end of the 1890's. The brothers of Phi Gamma Delta and Sigma Chi each dedi- cated a chapter house in 1891. The Sigma Chi fraternity house was named the William L. Glat- felter Hall and is now known as Glatfelter Lodge. The Phi Delta Theta fraternity dedicated its chapter house in 1899. These houses were used for meeting purposes only. It was not until the 1920's that the board of trustees permitted the fraternities to have houses in which stu- dents roomed and boarded. Gettysburg Reviewed 3