Morgan State University - Promethean Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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To JOHN OAKLEY SPENCER, LL.D Who, by his unselfish devotion for thirty-five years as our President, has carved for himself a niche in the hearts of all those Morgan students who have come under his influence, we respectfully dedicate the 1937 Spencerian The Board of Editors DEDICATION $ i s s s s J I ) s

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DR. JOHN OAKLEY SPENCER Practically the entire life of Dr. John Oakley Spencer has been spent in carrying out the ideals and principles embodied in the noble calling of teaching. He has studied, labored, sacri- ficed and suffered in order that worthy products might be sent into the world testifying to the noble and ennobling influence of this great profession. Born near Lynn, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, July 11. 1857, he was educated in the public schools of Susquehanna County, at Keystone Academy in Factoryville, Pennsylvania; and Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsyl- vania. Dr. Spencer’s reputation as a scholar and a man well-versed in affairs of the world is fruit borne of his years of study at Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois; at Colum- bia University, New York City, and at Oxford University, Oxford, England. He began his career as a teacher in the public schools of Pennsylvania, and was a principal in Kingston. Pennsylvania, and then at Sherburne Academy, New York. He went to Japan to do educational work, and even in that far-away land of the cherry- blossoms there is a tradition built up around him at the Tokyo Anglo-Japanese School or Aoyama Gakuin of the Japanese Methodist Church, where he labored arduously and untiringly for fifteen years. Those of us who have come into contact with him do not doubt that he made a lasting impression upon the Japanese youth who knew him. In 1902, Dr. Spencer became the fifth President of Morgan College. At that time the assets of the College totaled $103,000 in buildings, grounds, equipment and endowment at the College proper and at the branch schools. Princess Anne Academy and Virginia Collegiate and Industrial Institute. Other conditions which he found were not so desirable either: laboratory, class-room, and library facilities were meagre and inadequate, and although the administrative and teaching staffs were very efficient, the task they had before them was gigantic and drew greatly upon every ounce of their resourcefulness, energy and ability. Today the assets of the College Corporation amount to over one million dollars; modern equipment has been installed in the buildings; there has been an increase in the student-body from 150 to 487; thirty-four university trained specialists carry on the work of the classes; the library facilities of the school have been increased, and there are fourteen buildings on Morgan’s beaut if id 85-acre campus. Such great improvement could have been effected only by the most untiring, painstaking and determined effort; Dr. Spencer was the man who had all of this to give, and more. All the time that he was carrying out this stupendous job, he was winning a never-to-bc relinquished place in the hearts and lives of his fellow-officials, the faculty and students at Morgan College. He shared their victories, joys, triumphs, blessings, as well as their defeats, sorrows, disappointments and hardships. His concern with the problems of Negroes, however, has not been confined to his work at Morgan College. He was appointed Chairman of the Maryland Inter-racial Commission in 1925 by the late Governor Albert C. Ritchie, and here rendered sincere, ardent, worthwhile service. He is also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Urban League, both of which are organizations that are striving for the social, economic, and political progress of the Negro in America. The Class of 1937 considers itself fortunate in having been able to complete its course in Morgan College with the saintly, guiding presence of Dr. Spencer hovering over it. It is hard to imagine what the College will be like without his presence. It is true that someone will take his place, but there will never be another who can fill the place in our lives and hearts which he has occupied for these four years and which he will continue to occupy for all time. Thoughts of dear, fair Morgan will always be accompanied by fond memories of him. True greatness cannot be hidden nor forgotten. The greatness in John Oakley Spencer has been revealed time and time again throughout his stay at Morgan; as long as any members of the Class of 1937 remain alive he will always be remembered and adored. Then, when they too shall have passed on, the achievements of Morgan’s sons and daughters will live as reminiscences of a great character, a scholar, a Christian, and a man.

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FOREWORD This, the first issue of the Spencerian is presented in an attempt to serve a double purpose. The aim has been to commemorate the two anniversaries of our school year, the Seventieth Anniversary of the founding of the college, and Dr. Spencer’s thirty-fifth year as President of the college. At the same time an attempt is made to present the happenings of the school year in such a way as to make the book a priceless treasure in the years to come.