Meredith College - Oak Leaves Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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halls, plans for a gymnasium and swimming pools, well-organized athletic teams, and the first college Annual. Now we begin our march through strange and wonderful lands, a band of eight, soon to be parted right and left to complete our journey all alone. Did I say alone ? Perhaps not all alone, for one member of the class will most likely be accompanied by a captive chieftain from the land of Science. May the bond be such that no succeeding class may have to surmount the obstacles that we have climbed over, or come so near the limit of the pass. The way has been dark, but with magic lights some have made their way, while others groped in darkness. Many provinces have been conquered, namely: Algebra, Geometry, Trig- onometry, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, French, German, Latin, Greek, History, Literature, and Philosophy, with unsurpassed honor for some one, and in many cases for all, in each province. But the nearer the end the more diffi- cult the way, for cuts can not be bridged ; but those who pass the cuts will wear the stately robe, and as a merit of success and fame the ivy planted by the Univer- sity walls will ever grow and cling. 18

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Glass History of ' 04. U ' HEN the news flashed over the State of North Carolina that the doors of the B. F. U. were at last opened, the Class of ' 04 checked baggage for Raleigh, and in September, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, four of the merry members of that class promenaded the long corridors of the Baptist Univer- sity and planned for the future. When darkness settled down over the city and everybody was tired and worn- out by the question, Who are you, and where are you from? the first silvery peal of a bell rang out, Go to your room! and away we went; but lo! no beds were found, and so we passed the night on the floor ; but slumber was sweet, and we slept and dreamed that she who makes her bed hard must lie on it. But now we hum on flowery beds of ease. Thus began the history of the Class of ' 04, closely interwoven with the history of the University. We have grown up with the institution, have passed through the Dark Ages with her, and heard her groans, not without sympathy and prayer ; but to-day the Class of ' 04 sees her supremacy and glories in her ever-increasing strength over all the female schools of the South, with the banner of progress and knowledge floating high. As the Class of ' 04 belongs to the University, so the University belongs to the class by a bond of esteem, honor and love, which no class can ever claim but the Class of ' 04. Yet the class has a history all its own, developed out of the battles and victories of college life. We were never taunted by those horrible names of freshman and sophomore, but were juniors and seniors from the day of our organization. We did not enter preparatory ; we have not followed in the footsteps of the preceding class, or inherited wisdom and fame from them, but keeping ever before us the thought, higher education for women, we put aside the prevailing idea of a three-year or a four-year college course as sufficient for North Carolina women, and have spent five years in college halls and classrooms. The Class of ' 04 were charter members of the literary societies, the first edi- tors of the University journals, first leaders in the devotional meetings, which have developed into a Young Woman ' s Christian Association, and first and last in the hearts of the Trustees, Faculty, and students. The Class of ' 04 will leave the University in her first glory, with grave ques- tions settled for all succeeding classes ; college colors fixed, magnificent society 17

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Glass Poem. The worthy struggle ' s o ' er, The victory we have won, All glory crowns the class of nineteen four, Tho ' our lives are just begun. High our standard has been, Excellence or nothing, In our school-days, midst their rush and din, From the top our voices ring. To great heights we shall soar, Great aims we ' ll have in life, The members of the class of nineteen and ' four, Fully equipped for the strife. Let it be our watchword, Now and forever more, Our deeds shall always be nobler when are heard Those grand words nineteen four. A flash of blue and gold, Magic colors that they are, Shall always bring back to us days of old, When we view them from afar. To our Alma Mater dear, To her all credit ' s due, For our pleasures and achievements here, At grand old B. F. U. We ' ll rally ' round her standard, To recall the days of yore, When each, older grown, will turn her regard Towards the day of nineteen four. 19