Memphis State University - DeSoto Yearbook (Memphis, TN)

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First post-secondary graduates. The first class to begin and end their post-secondary education at WTSNS surround their instructors, including President J. W. Brister. (Photo from the Mississippi Valley Collection) state normal school ) 66RAD! !AT1N6 ClKSl? H LiiJi ■I n Out of Cottonfields Grew a University n the beginning there was nothing, just wide expanses of field used primarily for cotton growing. The Tennessee education community looked down and said, This is not good. So they decided to build a post secondary school in the middle of a cotton field. That school was the West Tennessee Stat e Normal School. The doors opened Sept. 10, 1912. A lot happened before that though. The cotton belonged to Joseph H. Creath. The state purchased the fields for $25,000 in 1911. It was not, as they say, the hub of the city. As a matter of fact, the land that now is the center of Memphis State University wasn ' t annexed into the city until 1929. But back then, when it was all beginning, the cotton stalks ended at the threshhold of the new institution, but that didn ' t matter. There weren ' t really roads back then, just trails. They had to be smoothed over to accomodate the pedestrians. Traffic as today ' s students know it had not yet been invented. A railroad depot had been built on the Memphis-Charleston railroad. It had a freshly painted sign that read Normal. The principal entrance into the school lead from this depot to the Normal School which had a small parking lot. Students who lived outside city bought railroad tickets to get to the new Normal School. Students with cars were.. .well, they just weren ' t. In the beginning the three buildings were the Administration building, Mynders Hall and the president ' s residence. There was also a water tower. (continued on page 4) MSU History

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It ' s About Time 1987 DeSoto Volume 71 Memphis State U niversity Memphis, Tennessee 38152 is Ceeping an eye on the clock in Brister tardiness. The clock is a familiar landmark Square is a must for students prone to of the campus. (Photo by Bill Thompson)

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%6t« - I . The beginning of a university. Still under construction, Joseph H. Creath ' s cottonfield formed the border of the West Tennessee State Normal School. There were only three buildings on the campus at that time: the Administration building, Mynders Hall and the president ' s house. There was also a water tower. (Photo from the Mississippi Valley Collection) A complete campus. In 1924, WTSNS ' s campus growth. (Phcto from the campus was completed by the president ' s Commercial Appeal archives, courtesy of residence. No longer in existence, the MVC) building was destroyed to make way for A Passing Parade