Minnehaha Academy - Antler Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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CATALOG, MINNlEHAH'A ACADEMY crease in the number of students. It provides class rooms, study rooms, cloak rooms, offices, music studios, chapel, dining hall, laboratories, library, and a girls rest room. The building is modern in every respect and is well equipped. The home of the President of the school is on the campus, directly across the street from the main building. The New Building When this catalog goes to press, plans are definitely un- der way for a new building fully as large as the present one. It will contain a larger chapel, a larger dining hall, a gym- nasium, class rooms, etc. Provisions will also be made so that the entire first floor can be converted into an audi- torium to be used for large gatherings, such as the annual conference of the Northwestern Young Peoples Covenant. The Library The library is located in a particularly pleasant room on the first floor, and is open to all the students. As a result of several generous donations it is well furnished, and has the beginning of a valuable collection of books. The Board of Directors has appropriated a sum of seventy-five dollars annually to be used for the purchase of new books. Among the reference works already in possession of the library may be mentioned the New International Encyclopedia, the Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia, Nelsonis Loose Leaf Encyclopedia, and the Standard Reference Work. Valuable works of history, biography, and literature have also been secured, such as Tarbellis life of Lincoln, Plutarchis Lives, Gi'bbonls Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, The Har- vard Classics, Groteis History of Greece, Riverside History of the United States, American Church History t13volumesy. Hartis American History told by Contemporaries, and edi- tions of the complete poetical works of Lowell, Scott, Long- fellow, Topelius, Tegne'r and Runeberg. There are also books for reference work in the various classes. An increas- ingly large number of periodicals is regularly received. hGiftS for the library will be gratefully received by the so 00. Historical Outline Minnehaha Academy has just completed its seventh year, but the educational work it represents has a history of more than a third of a century. The beginning of the movement 12

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CATALOG. MINNEHAHA ACADEMY regularly receives a large number of students from both St. Paul and Minneapolis. It also makes the school very acces- ible to out-of-town students, as they can leave their train or board it at the station in either city. The Selby-Lake car going west runs directly past the Union Station in St. Paul and goes directly toward the Academy, running within a block of the school. This is the simplest way to reach the school, as it involves no transfer from one street car to another. The location of Minnehaha Academy in the Twin Cities gives it many other advantages. It enables the student to visit churches, libraries, museums and art galleries, to hear good music and good lectures, and also to attend various conferences and conventions. All these privileges are an education in themselves. There are also good chances for the student to secure employment when he is ready for a position. The Campus The campus of the school consists of twelve acres of ground, including a block of frontage on the boulevard along the brink of Mississippi River leading to the famous Minne- haha Falls. The huge dam recently constructed lby the United States government two miles below the school gives this whole stretch of the river the appearance of a lake. The beauty of the campus, sloping gently toward the river, is en- hanced by the large number of trees, to which the writer of the school song refers thus: Oaks majestic. ages old, Wave your branches proud and free, With your shelter kind enfold Minnehaha Academy! The grounds contain a tennis court, basket ball appa- ratus and a general athletic field. A big event every spring is the Campus Day, when all the teachers and students are mobilized and armed with spades, rakes and other weapons and the day is spent in a systematic effort to make the en- tire campus as clean and attractive as possible. The Main Building The school building, a handsome brick structure. was erected in 1913 and enlarged in 1916, due to the rapid in- 11

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CATALOG, MINNEHAHA ACADEMY dates back to 1884, when Rev. E. Aug. Skogsbergh founded a school in his own home 011 Eighth Avenue South, Minnea- polis. Swedish immigrants were thronging into the North- west at this time and the school was designed to give them an opportunity to learn the English language, study the Bible, and fit themselves for practical life. The number of students was large and increased from year to year. The school was moved several times but was located in the Swe- dish Tabernacle most of the time. On January 11, 1905, seventeen men met in Minneapolis and began a new chapter in this history. Led by D. Magnus, they organized a school association and purchased the ground on which Minnehaha Academy is now located. In 1910 this property and a considerable sum of money were presented to the Northwestern Mission'Society, the organiza- tion uniting the Swedish Mission Churches of the North- west. The third chapter in the annals of this movement begins in 1911. At the annual conference of the Northwestern Young Peoples Covenant, held in the summer of that year on the school site, the so-called Corps of Collectors was formed under the leadership of A. L. Skoog. This organiza- tion gathered a sum of over $27,000, by means of which the school building was erected. The first school year began September 15, 1913. Helping H ands Early in 1914, at the suggestion of the Board of Directors and under the leadership of Mr. A. L. Skoog a group of loyal friends of Minnehaha Academy formed an organization which bears the unpretentious but beautiful name of Help- ing Hands. This is an association whose members pledge to the school the sum of five dollars or more annually for a period of five years. The purpose is to defray as far as possible the current expenses of the school. Beginning with only a handful the membership has grown rapidly, and now exceeds fifteen hundred. A quarterly bulletin published in the interests of the organization is sent free to all the mem- bers. Any person who realizes the importance of Christian education and Wishes to have a share in it'as centered at Minnehaha Academy is invited to enlist in these ranks. Blanks for membership will be sent on application to the schooL 13