Nebraska Wesleyan University - Plainsman Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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1889 Before the Creeks The first catalog lists four literary so- cieties: Orophilian, Theophanian, Willard and Everett. At first no spacious hall in the university building was prov ided for the Willards, and they were compelled to hold their meetings in the afternoon. Finally the Everetts persuaded the faculty that it would be safe for the Willards to meet in the evening, and promised themselves as pro- tection. 1890 Before the Streetcar, the Bus, the Automobile, the Thumb At first the Herdic . a long, low cab with lengthwise seats and rear entrance, horse-drawn, was the only means of com- munication with outside civilization; but later there were street cars, because the catalog instructs: Students coming to the University will take the street cars at the B M Depot or at any point on O street directly to the University. Students should time their arrival in the city so as to avoid the expense of a hotel at night. The last car arrives at University Place at 7 p. m. If parents will inform us of the arrival of their daughters at unseasonable hours, we will see that they are provided with proper escort. And the daughters were properly escorted to University Place, a splendid suburb just outside the city and accessible to all parts of it. No town in the West affords a better place in which to enjoy the advantages of an educational, social, and religious com- munity. It IS rapidly growing and bids fair to become an Evanston m a very few years. The air is pure, the water plenty, and the haunts of vice and crime relegated to other places. Wesleyan Papers First editor-in-chief, Fred Stuff. (Note: Dr. Frederick A. Stuff, professor of literature at the University of Nebraska.) The Hatchet , first Wesleyan news- paper! Eccretian , later name. The editor of the Eccretian was F. L. Winter, and his personal column was called the Wintry Blast. All copies of these and other publications which may have been issued prior to the Wesleyan are lost. 1893 The Nebraska Wesleyan The four literary societies who had issued publications seem to have gotten together by ' 93 under the title The Wesleyan Pub- lishing Association . They issued the first Wesleyan . The paper was in magazine form, and seems to have been a real forward step, for the editor of one of the former publications writes: Sample copies of the ' Wesleyan ' have just been received. I can- not express in words my appreciation and approbation of the spirit manifest in the columns of the issues sent. Having been in the habit of closely scrutinizing every col- lege journal which came to my notice dur- ing my college life, I desire to say that I have never seen an issue with a neater makeup than the numbers of Vol. IV of the ' Nebraska Wesleyan ' . It is with delight akin to pride that I see the ideals of the first editor-in-chief of the ' Nebraska Wes- leyan. so far fallen short of, now being realized because of the fraternal spirit of a united student body. My heartiest con- gratulations and best wishes to yourself and each of your esteemed associates. I hope all factions can say what Bancroft tells us that the Mohawk Indians said when the French treaty was made: ' We have thrown the hatchet so high in the air, and beyond the skies, that no arm on earth can reach to bring it down. ' When the Nebraska Wesleyan University is clothed in the beau- tiful garments of peace, she is armed cap-a- pie. Very truly yours, Fred A. Stuff, ' 93. Football Wesleyan ' s first football game was a practice game with Cotner on Saturday. October I 1. Our team had no uniforms. Only two of our men ever played previously, and some of them actually never saw a game before. The score was 20- 1 in favor of Cotner. Football was not actually abandoned at Wesleyan until 1898, but other forms of sport were quite as important. For instance, at 6 a. m. September 23, 1904, 45 men lined up to run to Lover ' s Alley and back for amusement and exercise. 1894-5 The Military Military drill was compulsory with all gentlemen students and optional with ladies. nE. .v .11. .ii;. si:. niiki ' ..f Wt ' .v.?, Ill ' N.-linisU.i: irli. ' l si; It was taught not so much to make soldiers as to make gentlemen, and since the aims were educational young ladies were eligible. Later, however, the situation seems to have become more militant. When the call was made for volunteers for the Spanish-Ameri- can war 50 Wesleyan boys responded. Four fell on the battlefield. Fire! The Haish Manual Training school, one of the best buildings in the country if indeed it had any rival was completely destroyed by fire. Mr. Jacob Haish had spent over $50,000 just one year before to build and equip it. 1896 There were only two alumni who were not subscribing to the Wesleyan . Sub- scription to students and alums, $1 per year. Elocution Recital — November 18 Burglars — Miss Sharp. The Beles — Tulin. Music. Spartans to the Gladiators — Mr. Law- son. The Jiner — Miss Cearheart (Bess Cear- heart Morrison). Music. The Old Clock on the Stairs — Mr. Lemon. How Pat Went Wooing — Miss Mickey. Music. Ninety and Nine — Miss Coolbaugh. Miss Sharp spoke with force and natural- ness. Miss Mickey was perfectly at home in her dialect selection ' Pat ' s Wooing ' and increased her popularity with Wesleyan audiences. Closing recitation by Miss Cool- baugh. It is difficult to describe Miss Cool- baugh ' s style, but she has an individuality that IS very pleasing. Her performance on this occasion was fully up to the expecta- tions of her audience. Now there were evidently some dullards who failed to appreciate this recital and the editor spoke his mind. At elocution recital the other evening we noticed some very ill-mannered people keeping up a lively conversation in the back part of the room, during some of the numbers, especially the music. It IS generally shallowheads that do the most chattering, but even a shallow- head, if it had nothing in it but skimmed rain water, would have more sense, it seems to us, than to display its idiotic tendencies in public this way. Why such freaks go to an entertainment that they cannot appreci- ate IS a mystery to us! One Complaint the Years Have Completely Redressed The great bane of student life is the formation of habits of study which hold the students to his books 1 to 13 hours a day. 1897 The Subject of Electric Lights Before City Council Action favorable! (Electric hansom, horse- less carnage, is now the most used vehicle in New York City. It is run at rates of 1 5 miles an hour.) 1900 First Yearbook The Sunflower is a thin leather-bound volume of literary gems . 1901 The first college quartet to gain the dis- tinction of being engaged by the Central Lyceum Bureau of New York was the Ne- braska Wesleyan Male Quartette. The Bureau said of them: This is unquestion- ably the most popular quartet in the field today. So great was their popularity in New York and New England that in many cities they returned for third and fourth concerts in their four winters of concert touring. Directed by Prof. E. L. Locke, the per- sonnel of the quartet was; C. J. Ireland, tenor and whistler; F. W. Farmer, second (ruiiliinu ' d ou pngP 4. ) (10)

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Xr.r.ltASKA WKSLKYAN ' S FIKST IIASK imi A 1,1, ■| ' IO. M. n i; c; A . I , E T l. lv.i-«. StMinlhi ; : s. K. I LAIIK, ri)r v:iiil ; FKA.NK V. WTLK. Icrwiird. Miil- 1-1. w: , I,Ki:i:i) ritACo. nn:,!-,!: u. ]•:. SMI ' I ' II. i-iip- t:llil. Kl-cilil low: !■• ( )l.s ' l ' l )N. -uMliI ; I!. .1. .• L. TEK. ci ' lilcr; E. I ' , STlOI ' IMONSll.N. iiijii;m.r Tliere was onlv one rhree-fourths-finished building lutting from the virgin prairie, a gaunr, proud, defiant silhouette against the autumn sky. For sur- rounding landscape there were 100 haystacks supplemented by three houses. To You. Mr, Business Manager and Treasurer! From student sources the University income was; Tuition. $10.00 per term. Incidental fee. $4.00. payable in advance. (Note: The Board of Trustees wanted to make the living expenses in University Place, called simply The Place , equivalent to nothing because the tuition was so high. To You, Members of the Faculty! The members of the first faculty seem to have had as much work to do as the present staff. Reverend C. F. Creighton. Chancellor, taught Christian Ethics and Metaphysics. Prof. A. R. Wightman. A. M.. instructed in Latin. He had previously been acting president of York College and before that time had taught in Good Union college, New York. Rev. W. T. Cline. with 12 years of experience in high school and college, taught history and English. Prof. I. L. Lowe. Ph. D.. formerly president of New Orleans university, taught modern languages. His wife, Mrs. Ella Lowe, had also been a member of the faculty at New Orleans, and was now made principal of the art department at Wesleyan. Prof. H. G. Sedgwick, M. S., from Ithaca, N. Y., had been an instructor at Griswold college, Davenport, la., and now with one of the ' finest scientific outfits in the United States ' was made professor of technology and microscopy at Wesleyan. Prof. C. M. Ellinwood, with the degree Ph. M. from Northwestern university and four years ' experience as instructor at the same institution taught physics and chemistry. Miss Helen Almena Parker, also from Northwestern university, was in charge of the elocution department. At the time of the publication of the prospectus there were no professors selected to teach Greek, natu- ral history, and mathematics. A director of the department of music was also yet to be secured. The faculty met and elected officers to assist in the organization of their work. Prof. ' Wightman was made dean of the college of liberal arts; Professor Ellinwood, registrar and treasurer. Professor Lcwe, secretary; and Professor Cline, librarian. To You, President of the Board of Trustees! There were 21 members of the first board of trustees which served Nebraska Wesleyan university. And St. Paul ' s church was the first meeting place for Wesleyan friends; they gathered there on the evening of the day on which the corner stone was laid to finish the day ' s rejoicing. The names of those men who were Wesleyan ' s first trustees are sealed within the corner stone. They are: John B. Maxfield C. F. Creighton David Marquette F. W. Small N. R. Persinger C. A. Atkinson. Secretary A. J. Anderson Thomas B, Lemon J. W. Phelps Allen Bartley Alfred Hodgetts P, C. Johnson L. H. Rogers George W. Martin F. L. Mayhew W, C. Wilson J. ]. Imhoff. Treasurer L. Stevens, Vice-President C. C. White T. C. Webster W. C. Miller, President To You, Chancellor! The first Chancellor had to ad ni lister a faculty of eight, himself, a student body of 96, a little school with a soul . -eluding

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Homecomin Homecominn; Day, Friday, Novem- ber 4, began with a chapel program: Welcome by Chancellor Schwartz ; re- sponse by Gregg McBride, alumni president. A football rally and a matinee performance of Spring Dance by the Plainsman Players, en- tertained returned alums. Despite a gray morning and a cold drizzly rain, the five sororities and three fraternities set up and flood- lighted house decorations, nearly all constructed around Doane ' s tiger motif. Crescent fraternity won perm- anent possession of the cup with its third consecutive award. Elected by the W club as a popu- lar representative girl interested in sports, Miss McAfee was awarded the Sweetheart medallion at the half of the Doane-Wesleyan game, and in- troduced as W club sweetheart at the Homecoming dance after the game. W Club Sweetheart Helen McAfee Lincoln (11)