Macalester College - Quid Nunc Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

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NINETEEN THIRTY-TWO i 1 l W , 1 , i , l l l l i l l 1 i l 1 1 l 1 l 1 l l 1 c We eu.. 1 J Frederic Gibbs Axtell RQFESSOR FRIEDERIC GIIHIBS AXTELT., Librarian of Macalester College, graduated from XYesleyan University in 1888, and received his degree of Master of Arts there in 1891. In 1901 and 1902 he did gradu- ate work at the University of lierlin, and in 1903 he came to Macalester College. Professor Axtell has the true scholarly spirit and he is generous with his inexhaustible knowledge and ever patient with freshman English students. True, there are few classics he does not know, few great characters in history with whom he is unacquainted. but he is not unaware of this utilitarian age for he con- tinues to find things of interest in all current literature. Do not think of Professor Axtell solely and simply in a bookish environment. XVhen you catch him, for a moment unencumbered with the cares of the library, he will tell you fascinating things about Germany, Scotland, and England. about the Passion Play at Oberammergau, and the works of art at the Louvre. He has not stopped with booksg he has gone back to the things from which books ori- ginate. There are books of all kinds. There are books which are only tools and books which are works of art, the enjoyment of which is a pleasure in and of itself. Professor Axtell has cultivated the students' taste for the best. Among all their book desires and needs he standsg these he controls and satisfies-we know no one more worthy. Page I3

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THE MAC BIENNIAL Grace Bee Whitridge ROFESSOR GRACE DEE VVHITRIDGE came to Macalester in 1901 as director of the, Department of Dramatic Art and Physical Education for XVomen. Her first office was a small room off the Recreation Room at XVal1ace Hall. XVhen the new chapel was built, Miss VVhitridge moved her ever-growing library and art collection to the old chapel on the third Hoor of Old Main. ' The Studio that now forms so basic a part of our college heredity is solely and wholly a reliection of her personality and artistic temperament. All that is in it is expressive of beauty and harmony in form and color. It is the room in which the Freshmen are first introduced as a class, at the Mixerg she is there lending a warm note of welcome with her dignified, gracious presence. In its quiet atmosphere the girls of the Y. VV. C. A. hold weekly devotional services, grateful to Miss XVhitridge for such a place of harmony and worship. Students in the Dramatics Department are fortunate in their contacts both with the Studio and its creator. K'The Macalester 'Playersu work under Miss XYhitridge,s splendid direction. Each year in conjunction with the Y. M. and Y. VV. she presents a Christmas service, unique in its spiritual value. lly her work and by her personality she has added a charm to the social life of Macalester which will live as long as the college lives and remain forever in the hearts of her students. Page I

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THE JWAC BIENNIXII. 1 ll 1 l l l . , 1 1 Hugh S. Alexander ROFESSOR HUGH S. ALEXAXDER was graduated from Macalester College with the Class of 1899. He received his Master of Arts degree at the University of Minnesota in 1915, and, in the following year, he re- turned to Macalester to teach physics and geology. He now devotes his full time to the Geology Department. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was granted him by the University of Minnesota in 1931. Professor Alexander is able to carry our thoughts back through still un- counted millions and hundreds of millions of years., His outlook is necessarily a broad and a deep one, and 'his students are enabled to see the world as it was. There is something mysterious and wonderful in the contemplation of such a development as that of our earth and the life upon it. The step to spiritual and metaphysical considerations from the contemplation of such vast changes in nature is a short one. Professor Alexanderls open-mindedness which results from having to consider two theories, equally possible, equally plausible, neither proved nor disproved, is a thoroughly desirable quality. It would be extremely difficult to say whether he is more interested in the processes or in the architecture of the world-the mechanics, or the design. Wfe realize that in Professor Alexander we have an admirable instructor and more, one who studies and has the courage and humility of a man who knows. Page I4