Perkiomen School - Griffin Yearbook (Pennsburg, PA)

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History of Perkiomen Seminary N THE year 1875 Rev. C. S. Wieand of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, founded Perkiomen Seminary, a school destined to fill a large place in the ranks of the leading preparatory schools of the country. At that tin1e the influences X ,fig affecting private school education in this section of the State were unfav- lxl 11 orahle and very discouraging, but, perseverance prevailing, the school T, i flourished, and to Rev. Mr. Wieand Perkiomen Seminary owes a great debt of gratitude for the promising beginning he made of attainment and success. During the ten years of his principalship a large number of stu- dents of different grades were enrolled in the institution, many of whom occupy positions of honor and high standing. Rev. Mr. Wieand resigned because of his ministerial duties, and the Seminary passed into other hands. The school changed management several times, and finally, because of lack of suffic- ient patronage, was obliged to close its doors, until favorable circumstances should again allow the work to continue. After theSeminary had undergone several years of decline, the Schwenkfelder Church, at a conference held in the fall of 1891, decided to purchase the building and grounds, and open the school as an incorporated institution the following year. It was decided to remodel the building and furnish it with new and improved equip- ment, and a committee was appointed to make all necessary arrangements. Rev. O. S. Kriebel was elected Principal, and, at the spring conference, a board of trustees was chosen. The work of fitting the building as a modern school continued all summer. Finally, on the 3d of October, Perkiomen Seminary again opened wide her doors. Be- fore the end of the calendar year. on the 5th of December, the school was incorporated as a college preparatory institution of learning. The first year witnessed a rapid growth in the development of the School. On the opening day there were but nineteen students and four teachers. By the close of the fall term the number of students had increased to twenty-nine, and the whole year showed a total enrollment of ninety-six. a large portion of whom were day students. That spring there was one graduate, and commencement was held in what is now the day study. The fall of 1893 opened with bright prospects. The most noteworthy event of the season was the founding of the Perkiomen Literary Society, the fore-runner of the two large, fiourishing, and competing literary societies of to-day. The meetings were held every Friday afternoon at 12:15. At the Commencement of 1894 one student again graduated, but by the following year, there was a graduating class six times as large. The number of undergraduates also had increased, and Perkiomen's narrow quarters were crowded to overfiovrin g. Some good friends shook their heads, when, in the summer of 1895, it was decided 11

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REV. C. S. WIEAND

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to erect an addition to the building. They considered the original Seminary large for a school of its kind, and thought the overflow did not warrant a new building. The addi- tion begun in 1895 was the present main building, and it seemed large enough to last for all time. Indeed some doubted that it would ever be filled, but in ten years their doubts were settled by the revelation that not only the entire main building, but also every available room in the houses along :the street were needed to accommodate the growing family of students. Perkiomen Seminary continued to make rapid strides in size and development. By Commencement time in 1902 the number of her alumni had reached l75, and wonderful progress had been made in every department and in every phase of school life. During that Commencement season the decennial of the reopening of the school in 1892 was cele- brated. Large numbers of alumni and friends thronged to the Seminary to hear the addresses delivered by John Wanamaker, Dr. M. D. Learned of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. J. M. Anders, Dr. J. M. Morgan of Dickinson College, and President Spangler of Ursinus College. During tl1e summer of 1904 the court between the old and the new buildings dis- appeared, and where it formerly stood was placed the present library. The old reading- room was converted into two pleasant reception rooms. In the fall of the same year a fine gymnasium, the need of which had been felt for a long time, was erected across the street from the main building. It is hard now to imag- ine how the Seminary could have gotten along without the gymnasium. Besides the ordi- nary uses of physical culture and athletic sports, it furnishes room in its dormitories for nearly forty boys, and accommodates audiences in the main room for Commencements and other large occasions. In the Commencement Annual published by the Junior class in 1894, is found the following remark made in connection with the newly-founded Perkiomen Literary Soci- ety: If the number of students keeps on increasing at its present rate, the near future will undoubtedly see two literary societies here contending in friendly rivalry. Ten years later that prophecy came true, and, in the fall of 1904, the old Perkiomen Literary Society was divided by the Faculty into the Philomathean and Adelphian Literary Societies, which met alternately on Saturday evenings. Every year an inter-society debate is held, and at all times both friendly rivalry and good society spirit prevail. This year both societies have adopted the plan of having weekly meetings, each assembling in the chapel on alternate weeks in turn. In the spring of 1907 Perkiomen Seminary was fortunate in receiving, after many disappointments, the offer of a Carnegie library. During the past three years, the con- ditions attached have been over half fulfilled, thanks to the subscriptions of wealthy friends and alumni, and it is the hope of every Perkiomenite that in the near future the longed-for library may become a reality. From a school of one small building and less than a hundred students, from a school representing but two or three counties of but one State, and one sending graduates to only one or two colleges, Perkiomen Seminary has grown and enlarged and developed in every way, until she has filled to overflowing her old and new buildings, gymnasium, and annexes, drawn students from thirty-five different counties in this State, from seventeen States and from seven foreign countries, and has sent graduates to forty-two higher insti- tutions of learning. If all this has been accomplished in eighteen years of the past, what may the future not bring forth? All hail to Perkiomen, her past, her present, her future, her alumni, her faculty, and her students! 12