Oglethorpe University - Yamacraw Yearbook (Atlanta, GA)

Page 14 text:

MAC ' W But the Oglethorpe tradition was not dead — such fine tradi- tions never die. Dr. Jacobs can tell you how, in the late eighties of the nineteenth century, an aged grandfather used to visit his son in South Carolina. For over eighty years he had lived the life of a professor and preacher and even now would read his testament in the original Greek. There was a little grandson who often sat near his great arm-chair to ask ques- tions and to hear stories; and one of the stories which he re- members with the greatest distinctness is that of a school which was founded many years ago, when even the grandfather was a youth, and in which he had taught when he became a man. The little boy learned to picture the classic outlines of its white Doric columns and to imagine the great college chapel which was reputed to be the finest in the United States; and more than once he said: Grandfather, when I get to be a man I am going to Ogle- thorpe, too. ' The answer was always the same, spoken in tones which were full of sadness: No, my boy, you will never stand on the Oglethorpe cam- pus. Right, but wrong! For the Oglethorpe tradition handed down from grandfather to grandson, was too beautiful to die. The boy grew to be a man, and his love for the tradition grew into a desire to refound the college. In 1910 he commenced the work, and aided by thousands of people whom he touched with the magic wand of the tradition, Oglethorpe reopened her doors in 1916 — reopened her doors to the young men of the South whose grandfathers she had taught before them. And see! The mists are lifting! Behind the first two build- ings of limestone and granite appears a level and beautiful campus. Facing the campus in the distance is a noble, towered Gothic building. It is the School of Expressive Arts, the home of Literature, Art, Music, Poetry. To the right appears the

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C: The Oglethorpe Tradition IMERGING proudly and nobly from die mists of half a century our two buildings face the stream of busy life which flows along Peachtree to and from At- lanta , and point toward our unfinished Quadrangle where their brothers and sisters will some day be erected. Built with the finest materials that the world can offer and under the highest ideals that God can inspire, they speak to us of the future and of the past. They tell us of the day when Sir James Oglethorpe was a student at Corpus Christi College in the English town of Ox- ford, absorbing the traditions which were even then many cen- turies old. They tell us how this Englishman, liberator and philanthropist, founded our State of Georgia; and how, with deep insight and faithful Christianity he was the first Governor in the new world who prohibited slavery and who barred the sale of whisky from his State. They tell us why after a hun- dred years the Synod of Georgia founded a college in his name on a long, low ridge called Midway, near the town of Milledgeville. Begun in 1835, the college grew rapidly in size and impor- tance. It was the only Presbyterian college for men south of the Virginia line and became the center of a brilliant assem- blage with such names as Leconte, Woodrow, Talmadge, Beman and Baker on its roll. Among her alumni were governors, justices, discoverers, and — Sidney Lanier. She imbued in her students the traditions of Oxford, the love of Oglethorpe, and the spirit of New America. Then, in ' 61, the war. With all the fervor of her teachings she threw herself into the defense of the Confederacy. Her boys marched out to war, her money went into Confederate bonds; and she died at Gettys- burg. Died fighting.

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MAC W chapel, once again reputed to be the finest in the United States. It is flanked by other majestic buildings, the counter- parts of which appear on the left of the campus green. Stu- dents move in and out of the Gothic doorways, which are cov- ered with evergreen ivy. The very buildings, grand and ever- lasting, have fallen heir to the traditions of Oxford, the love of Oglethorpe, and the spirit of old Georgia, enobling the lives of thousands in the land of Oglethorpe ' s dream. Oglethorpe was founded for a tradition, and through tra- dition she was refounded. Tradition and the hand of God! By J. L. J., ' 23.