Hastings College - Bronco Yearbook (Hastings, NE)

Page 10 text:

Above: Classes during the years 1882-83 were con- ducted by these faculty members. On September 13, 1882, just one year after the appointment of the board of trustees, the formal op- ening of Hastings College took place at a chapel service in the First Presbyterian Church of Hastings. Inasmuch as work had not yet started on the first building, six rooms were rented on the second floor of Chilcote Building, which stood on the northeast corner of First Street and Hastings Avenue. Classes were held in these rooms for the next two years until McCormick Hall was completed. Forty-four students, all of secondary rank, were enrolled in the first classes. An exceptional group of men and women established at the outset a high standard of scholarship for Hastings College. The faculty consisted of five me'mbers: M. Wil- son, George E. White, and Miss Addie Brewer in the literary department, Miss Lou Vance, art instructor, and John Rees, music instructor. Of the early fac- ulty members of the institution, Miss Janet Car- penter, '92 says: Many of the faculty, indeed most of them, were men and women who were engaged in the work as a missionary enterprise. And indeed it was a 'missionary enterprise .... Our teachers were men and women of culture, mostly from the East, for the NWest at that time could hardly have provided themf' Dr. White went from his position on the Hast- ings College faculty to become president of Anatolia College, Thessalonika, Greece, and still later to be- come president-emeritus of that institution, a posi- tion which he now holds. He is the only living member of the first faculty of Hastings College. The year 1883 was a very significant one in the early history of the college: The Rev. William F. Ringland became the first president of the college, the transformation from prairie to college campus was begun, and the first building was started. Dr. Ringland, pastor of the Hastings Presbyter- ian Church, accepted the presidency of the college in the belief that he could perform the duties of both the college and the church. At the end of the year, however, he found the exacting duties of the presi- dency 'more than enough to require all of his time, and he gave up his pastorate. For thirteen years he served faithfully as the capable leader of the strug- gling young college. On April 25, 1883, the day on which ground was broken for the first building, the citizens of Hastings expressed their interest in the college by assembling on the college grounds for the purpose of setting out trees. Over 200 loyal supporters ioined wholeheartedly in the initial effort to trans- form the campus from a barren plain to a place of beauty. On the same date one year later more trees were planted, making a total of six thousand trees. The cornerstone of the first building was laid July 12, 1883, by J. B. Heartwell, president of the board of trustees. Preceding this event the Hastings town band led a mile-long procession from the busi- ness district to the new campus, a speech was de- livered by the Rev. H. M. Giltner, pioneer Presby- terian minister in Nebraska, and a congratulatory letter was read from Cyrus McCormick, Sr. Also on that same day word came from Cyrus McCormick, Jr. that he was presenting the college with a gift of S3,000, a su'm sufficient to complete payments on the new building. When it was ready for use in Sep- tember, 1884, permission was obtained from Mr. Mc- Cormick to name the building in his honor with the hope that the name would prove attractive to farm youth. Before McCormick Hall was completed, work was begun on a second building. Money for it was raised, for the most part, in Hastings, and the build- ing was finished early in 1885 at a cost of 516,- 799.54. Known as South Hall for many years, this Below: Campus music in 1892-95 was furnished by these members of the first college orchestra.

Page 9 text:

The Histor of Gur College Six years after Nebraska became a state and one year before the village of Hastings became incorpor- ated, the enterprising citizens of the young com- munity were considering the establishment of a col- lege in their city. The very fact that they felt the need of a collge shows that the people of the village had brought with them, from states a little farther east, a surprising amount of education and culture. These pioneer men and women realized the import- ance of higher education and had an ambition to make such education available for their children. As a result, on August 19, 1873, A. L. Wigton printed in his paper, the Hastings journal, an article entitled Why Not Have a Presbyterian College? Interest in the proposed college reached a climax when Kearney Presbytery met at Kearney Junction on November 19. By that time enthusiasm for a col- lege was such that Mr. Wigton and the Rev. James Griffes, pastor of the Hastings Presbyterian Church, presented a proposal that a college be located in Hastings. A committee was appointed to formulate plans for raising funds and obtaining land for the college. Mr. Wigton, the Rev. James Griffes, and the Rev. Nahum Gould, pastor of the Kearney Junc- tion Presbyterian Church, were the committee mem- bers. Hastings College was ready to become some- thing more than words. The committee worked arduously at its task and by the next spring had received promises of 5100,- OO0 in land, money, and services. Included in the gifts were forty acres of land immediately south of what is now the business district of Hastings. This land, offered by two railroad companies, would have become the college campus if plans had proceeded as scheduled, but nature took a hand in matters, and for nine years droughts and grasshoppers settled on the broad Nebraska plains. Despite adverse conditions, the village of Hast- ings grew until it numbered several thousand in- habitants in 1881. In this year active work was re- sumed in behalf of the college, but the railroad grants for the campus were no longer available. Ninety-three Hastings men who shared the vision of a college joined in a gift of S11,300, which was to be used for a site, for the first building, and for the cost of maintenance during the first year. The Kear- ney Presbytery then appointed a board of trustees on September 14, 1881 to begin immediately with the work of organization. The first gift of cash after the initial fund followed in 1883 in the form of a 355,000 gift from Cyrus H. McCormick, inventor of the famed McCormick reaper, a man whose name is closely associated with the founding of Hastings College. The newly-appointed board of trustees shared the enthusiasm of the local people for a college and proceeded immediately with their work. For the campus they selected one hundred acres of prairie land lying east of town, twenty acres of which rep- resented a gift from Mr. Joseph H. Hanson, for whom the football field was later named. The other eighty acres were purchased outright. Below: For the first time Nebraska Synod members were able to meet in the newly-completed McCormick Hall, 1884.

Page 11 text:

building housed administrative offices, library, class- rooms, and girls' dormitory until early in the 1900,s. The official name is now Ringland Hall, in honor of the first president of the college. After the first buildings were completed and the confusion of starting the college resolved into a semblance of order, the school settled down to begin its academic work. James H. H. Hewett, a transfer student from Peru, was the first graduate of Hastings College in 1885, three years after the school was established. The enrollment gradually increased and reached a total of 208 students in 1897. The faculty likewise increased steadily to keep pace with the en- rollment. Drought and grasshoppers again besieged the Midwest in the late '80's, and there was no further increase in enrollment until 1897. The drop in farm income resulting from the drought greatly affected gifts to the college, and in 1889 the institution had a 837,000 debt. With such a debt the trustees con- templated closing the college, but heartening word came from Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick, she would give the college 515,000 for endowment provided the 837,000 debt be removed by the citizens of Hast- ings. Needless to say, the money was raised. The faculty, members of the executive committee, and other citizens of Hastings united in the effort, raised the 537,000 which cancelled the entire debt, and saved the life of the college. The graduating classes during those first years of the struggling young college were exceedingly small, but from their ranks have come many worthy men and women. From the senior class of nine in 1892 have come two distinguished alumni of Hast- ings College, Miss Janet L. Carpenter and Mr. Robert Moritz. Miss Carpenter returned to her alma mater in 1906 after several years of experience in other schools. Lrff: Students of the gay nineties gave a performance typifing the period. She taught first in the Greek and Latin Department and then in the English Department. Quoting Dean F. E. Weyer, Miss Carpenter has not only served the institution longer than has anyone else in the history of the college, but she has also had an indis- pensable part in promoting the scholarship standards, cultural tone, and spiritual life of the institution. Mr. Moritz, after completing graduate work, returned to the college as instructor of mathe- matics. In 1904 he became head of the Mathematics Department at the University of Washington, a posi- tion he held until he was succeeded by Dr. Allen Carpenter, '01, brother of Miss Janet Carpenter. Hastings College faced another financial crisis in the '90's. Crop failures combined with the finan- cial panic to bring trying times to the college. In this time of emergency Dr. Ringland was called upon in 1896 to distribute relief and loans to the needy people of western Nebraska who had been affected by the drought. This work made it impossible for him to perform his usual duties as president, and as a result the college came through this second crisis with a substantial debt. To climax events, Dr. Ringland felt it necessary to resign his position as president of the college to accept full time work as synodical missionary in Ohio. Salem G. Pattison, who was chosen to succeed Dr. Ringland, was president during the four years which have often been called the transition period of Hastings College. Throughout his term a con- stant effort was made to relieve the financial crisis of the college. A program was instituted whereby students could earn part of their expenses by work- ing on a farm or in a dairy, but this plan proved un- successful and was discontinued after a few years. A drive also was started to increase the original 515,000 endowment, but it met with little immediate success. At this time the college still found it necessary to