Illinois Wesleyan University - Wesleyana Yearbook (Bloomington, IL)

Page 25 text:

Hedding Burns january 9, 1915, 21 snowy Saturday night when seventy-three years ot Wesleyztns' history lighted the sky in il terrible hut beautiful tire. Appraised valuation ot the huildinzg and contents was 55IOI,000. Irreplaceahle, however, were records, the museums, thousands ot volumes in the personal lihrzlries of Professors Wfilhert and Constance Ferguson, the art collection then in temporary storage on the third floor, Amie Clliapels portraits of XYfesleyan's presidents, and tradition, 21

Page 24 text:

Bell remind us of the close connection of the sister college. The first Homecoming celebration of Illinois Wes- leyan was staged on November 10, 1917, with dec- orated residence halls and houses and a parade through the business district. As a climax, Bradley was defeated by Wfesleyan in a football game, 14-0. But the World War began to disrupt the program of the University with more and more men going into the service. Attention was quickly turned from plans for a second Homecoming in the fall of 1918 to the installation of a Students' Army Training Corps. Wesleyan was one of 500 colleges to secure such a military unit. The temporary barracks were built on the lot where Memorial Gymnasium now stands, and the cadets drilled on the grounds near by. Fortunately, the Armistice of November 11 put an end to campus participation in the war. An active attempt to move the University to Springfield was blocked in the spring of 1919. A successful local campaign for funds to keep Wes- leyan in Bloomington soon settled the question of removal to the state capital. Wfhether this was en- tirely a genuine danger, or in part a stratagem to enlist new support for the institution, as well as a builder of civic pride among the townsmen, may never be fully known. Although the liberal arts were favored and fea- tured in the original college, instruction in music was offered as early as 1862, under the direction of Professor Harvey C. De Motte. By 1877 a separate division of music had been established. As it de- veloped, most of the work was carried on in down- town studios till 1919, when the School of Music fby this time so-calledl was moved to the campus and fully organized as a regular part of the Univer- sity. The coming of Dean Arthur E. Westbrook meant a quick upsurge of interest in and support for this professional school, and during his time and after his departure no phase of university work was more successful than the music courses and ac- tivities connected with Presser Hall. The School of Music, of course, was the nucleus of the College of Fine Arts, created from 19-46 to 1950. This college has been one of the most am- bitious projects of recent years on this campus. Art, Dramatics and Speech, and Music now parallel the three divisions of Liberal Arts-Humanities, Nat- ural Sciences, and Social Sciences. The new Wes- leyan theatre, scheduled for 1961-62, will pick up and expand along many artistic lines the dramatic talents of a large segment of our student body, and the School of Art, which like the Dramatics program has had a rather migratory existence, when relocated and given new studios and galleries of its own will become more firmly entrenched in the educational and cultural pattern of the campus. Things went along slowly, with some progress XX'esleyan trounced Normal in two football games with scores of 10-0 and 6-0 in 1887. beginning a traditional rivalry. The camera caught the two teams in the midst of the 1958 brawl pictured below. Story of the melee was carried in metropolitan newspapers.

Page 26 text:

'fe and occasional disappointments, but two events that literally flashed across the campus were the begin- ning of another Wforld XVar in 19-11 and the burn- ing of now historic Hedding Hall, used for around seventy years, in 1945. By the spring of 19-12 there were 219 stars on our service flag, three of them of gold. A Navy V-5 unit was installed here on May 1-1, 19115, taking over the reconstructed lower shell of Hedding Hall, all that remained after the great fire of that year. The enrollment fluctuated between sixty and eighty-five cadets, new quotas arriving every four weeks and others being transferred accordingly. Around live hundred men were given training dur- ing approximately a one-year period. The last quota arrived on May 9, 19-1-1. The closing event of the first century was the cen- tennial celebration of 1950, during the whole calen- dar year. A series of related programs was pre- sented, a list of which is entitled to distinguished record here. 17c'f11'1m1'y. lNfIicl-year Convocation, honoring the founders. Alrrrrlv. Town Meeting of the Air, famous na- tional program broadcast locally. Altznlv. A beautiful carillon, with clock and XXfest- minster chimes, the gift of Mrs. Anna Gulick, of Bloomington, first rang out over the campus. 111111. Publication of the Iflizmir ll'V4'.r'frf'3-1111 Sfllilf, a book of nearly three hundred pages, by Elmo Scott Wfatson, of Northwestern University and also part- time teacher at Vifesleyan. june. Commencement, with historical emphasis. Sej1fw11be1'. Fall Convocation. Noi'embe1'. C0lI.1AfcIllf Sim: historical drama of the early years, was produced by the College of Fine Arts, in three performances. Derwzzbw. Educational Conference, with repre- sentatives of many different institutions. Dcremlfer. Alumni dinners throughout the na- tion-approximately one hundred centennial birth- day parties. During the year the Ai'gZI.1' was full of historical Above: Science Hall, built in 1910, largely with funds from the Carnegie Foundation. Left: Colonial Georgian Annie Merner Pfeiffer Hall was opened to freshman women in 1918. There is room for 122 to enjoy the Early American decor. 37