Loyola University - Wolf Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

Page 25 text:

built to hold a seismograph, a device for detecting and measur- ing earthquakes. The ground was broken in March, 1910. It is one of the two seismographie observatories in the South, the other located at Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. William Burke con- tributed the building in memory of his son Nicholas D. Burke, who died while attending Loyola in 1909. This and subsequent edifices were built in the Tudor-Gothic architectural motif, con- structed of oriental brick and sandstone. In July of 1910 the foundation for the present Marquette hall was begun and in November the cornerstone of the hall was blessed. Costing more than $400,000 it was ready for the first session in 1913 under the new charter. Also in Julv, 1910 the ground was broken for Thomas hall, named for Mrs. Stanley O. Thomas, university benef actoress, and was dedicated May, 1912. Thomas hall is now used as a rectory for the priests. The present Church of the Most Holv Name of Jesus had its beginnings in 1914 when Miss Katherine McDermott gave the Jesuits $100,000 to build a church in memory of her brother, Mr. Thomas McDermott. After a second donation of $50,000 work was begun. To curtail expenses the Jesuit brothers aided in the work. Completed in 1918 the first occupants were soldiers quar- tered on Loyola ' s campus during World War I. A few months after the Armistice it Avas opened to t he public, and dedicated Dec. 9. 1918 by His Excellency, the Most Rev. John W. Shaw, D.D., then archbishop of New Orleans. Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Bobet were among the many benefactors to the school. Mr. Bobet donated $12,000 in 1912 ' for Loyola ' s arts and sciences library. This library was located until 1950 in Marquette hall on the second floor where the present dean ' s of- fice is. He also donated the marble altars in Holy Name, along with Mrs. William P. Burke. Mrs. John Douglas, Mrs. Josephine Burke Palmer and Mrs. George Swarbrick. Mrs. E. J. Bobet gave the 13 bells in Holy Name ' s tower and the carved pulpit which stands in the chancellory. Mr. and Mrs. Bobet were re- sponsible for the building of Bobet hall which opened for classes in 1924. The wooden stadium, used when Loyola had football, was com- pleted in 1918 where the drill field is now. Lights were added in 1937 at a cost of $14,000. The construction of the present library was begun in 1948. It was erected at a cost of $800,000 and dedicated April 2, 1950 21

Page 24 text:

the public and an urgent request from His Excel- lency, the Most. Rev. James J. Blenk, then arch- bishop of New Orleans. Sixty-nine students registered when Loyola opened as a university. The original faculty, with the exception of Father Biever, was gone. New fac- ulty members and the first officers of Loyola, as a university, were the Rev. Patrick A. Ryan, S.J.. vice-president; the Rev. Louis G. Baslmal, S.JL secretary; the Rev. Paul Faget, S.J., treasurer; the Rev. Louis Le Blanc, S.J., chaplain; and the Revs. Augustine C. Porta, Joseph B. Frankhauser, Peter P. O ' Sullivan, Henry R. Fleuren, Joseph Gerlach, Robert M. Brooks and Michael J. Walsh, all members of the Society of Jesus. The degree of master of arts was conferred on Mr. Francis T. Gouaux, A.B., M.D., and Mixime J. Perret, A.B. William A. Tonglet was the high man in his class for the degree of bache- lor of arts and Carl E. Ramos was top man earning his B.S. degree. Valedictorian was Joseph J. Gerache of Vicksburg, Miss. Early in 1912 the university applied for a charter from the Louisiana General Assembly to be recognized as a university. After hearing that some members of the legislature were say- ing that the Jesuits had not shown themselves capable of con- ducting a university, Father Biever, himself, stood on the senate floor and delivered a fierv speech in defense of the Order. The sun does not set on any part of the universe in which there is not a Jesuit university, he declared. The assembly granted the charter first in April and gave its final approval July 10. Thus Loyola was authorized to grant all university degrees. The class of 1912, because the charter was not finally approved until the summer after its commencement, did not receive degrees under the charter. At the 1912 exercises Fred Grant was saluta- torian and Lawrence Knobloch was valedictorian. The first de- grees under the charter were conferred in March, 1913. As a result of the earlv and complicated evolution of Loyola Univer- sity, she welcomes 1911 and 1912 graduates as alumni. FIRST BUILDING Jie first building on Loyola ' s campus, as we know it to- day, was the small Burke Memorial Seismographical observatory located between Marquette hall and Holy Name church. It was 20

Page 26 text:

by the Very Rev. Thomas J. Shields, S.J., president from 1945 to 1952. Before this time each school and college had individual libraries, located in their respective buildings. The library houses over 200,000 volumes, plus periodicals. SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES ,he first professional school especially planned for Loyola was the school of law. The Hon. John St. Paul, A.M.L.L.B., former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, and a prominent group of Louisiana lawyers campaigned for the school in 1913. With Judge St. Paul acting as dean, the school offered a three-year course of studies. In order to cooperate with the students the lectures were to be offered in the evening so that they could work during the day to finance tuition and have an opportunity of employment in a local attorney ' s office. The first session began on Oct. 5, 1914 and classes were held in the Pere Marquette building on Baronne. After September of 1915 they were held on the St. Charles Ave. campus. In 1925 a regular day division of the school opened. Classes have been held in the present law building since June 3, 1942. Dr. Phillip Asher was responsible for the present college of pharmacy. Incorporated as the New Orleans College of Pharmacy May 14, 1900, it was located in Dr. Asher ' s home on St. Charles Ave. near Lee Circle. In 1911 it asked to become a part of Loyola and subsequently became affiliated with the university Jan. 16, 1913 when classes were held at 725 Camp St. In 1919 pharmacy moved to its present site on the fourth floor of Bobet hall at which time Loyola assumed all rights and privileges of the old New Orleans College of Pharmacy. The college of music was founded in 1919 by Dr. Ernest E. Schuyten and called the New Orleans Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art. It was situated at Felicity and Coliseum Sts., and later moved to the corner of Jackson Ave. and Carondolet St. ( bartered by the state legislature in 1922, it began to grant de- grees of chancellor of music, master of music and doctor. It was incorporated into the university in 1932 and the following year was moved to its present site, McDonald hall, on St. Charles. In the spring of 1914 a faculty of dentistry was organized. This group consisted of 26 doctors of medicine and dental sur- gery, organized under the leadership of Dr. C. Victor Vignes, first dean. The school was opened on Oct. 6, 1914. It remains today the only dental school in Louisiana and its neighboring states. The dental school conducts clinics on campus which ad- 22