Potomac State College - Catamount Yearbook (Keyser, WV)

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Qofcfen rqnnia 1 ! A X' Catamount Staff Editor-in-Chief . . . ................... Norma Alt Assistants. . . .......... Anna High, Wilma Stuth Business Managers. ..... john Olnoryshko, Ray C. Coffman .Assistants ....... Marguerite Bennett, Charles Workman Advertising Manager ..................... Anne Wilson Assistants ,......... James Chambers, Margaret Eagle. Dolores Vlfillhide, Mary Mosser, Jeanne Ludwig Art Editor ....... ...................... R obert Davis Sports Editor .... .................. B illy Ray Dunn Make-up Editors. . . ..., Peggy ,Io Crane, Wilhelmina Bailey Assistants. . . . . .Sharon Young, Patricia Armstrong Sponsors ...... .... M r. and Mrs. David Cu. Nuzum

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n THE CATAMCDUNT I952 Geffen 4

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p IN THE FOOTHILLS of the Allegheny Mountains at Keyser in the eastern pan- handle of West Virginia is Potomac State School of West Virginia University, one of over 650 junior colleges in the United States and the only publicly supported one in this state. Potomac State, in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of its founding, points with pride to the fact that this milestone in its history is a contribution to the life and growth of education in the state as a whole. Of the 22 institutions of higher education in West Virginia, Potomac State is one of four junior colleges, -the others being Beck- ley, Greenbrier College for Women, and Greenbrier Military School. Potomac State has been a junior college since 1921. In 1935 the legislature placed it under the management of the Board of Governors of West Virginia University and its name became officially Potomac State School of West Virginia University. The origin of the school, however, goes back fifty years. At the turn of the century, West Virginia was still a young state and its educational development was undergoing a period of transition. High schools were inadequate and preparatory schools were almost nonexistent. The growing population of the state called for the establishment of more secondary institutions of learning. Judge Francis Marion Reynolds of Keyser, a member of the House of Delegates, framed and introduced a bill which was passed February 15, 1901, establishing the Keyser Preparatory Branch of West Virginia Uni- versity. He had the support of several other men, both in the Legislature and in Keyser. One of these men, Colonel Thomas B. Davis of Keyser, donated 16 acres of land on Fort Hill for the erection of a school building. By spring 1902 the school building was under construction, and that fall 80 students enrolled with Lloyd Lowndes Friend as prin- cipal. He served as principal from 1902 to 1905. His successors at the Keyser Prepara- tory School were Thomas Haught 11905- 1908l, Loraine Fortney 11908-1909r, J. D. Muldoon 41909-19111, and J. C. Sanders, vice- principal since 1903, who served as acting principal until the appointment of Joseph Webster Stayman in 1911. During Mr. Stayman's regime 11911-19361 the school grew in two major respects. First, the physical plant expanded to meet the demands of increased enrollment: and second, the school became a junior college and received changes in name. During the first 12 years of the school's existence, the original administration build- ing was the lone structure on the campus. Young men were given living quarters in the old Keys House several blocks from the school and young ladies from out of town lived in private homes. A dormitory building later named Davis Hall was completed in 1914 on an additional grant of land from Colonel Davis. It housed men in one wing and women in the other but is used today for men only. Tragedy struck the school May 3, 1917, when a fire of uncertain origin destroyed the Administration Building and all the records. Another administration building, containing offices and classrooms still in use today, was erected on the same site in 1919. During World War I and the years imme- diately following, the Keyser Preparatory Branch of VVest Virginia University found itself struggling to justify its existence. Efforts were made to strengthen it with the addition of a course in home economics and the purchase of 125 acres of land for ex- perimental farming with not too great success. By 1921 it was felt that local high schools were adequate to meet the demands for secondary education in the area, and in that year the Legislature changed the scope of the Work to that of a junior college, at the same time changing the school's name to Potomac State School. Mr. Stayman became the first president. D. A. Christopher was the first dean, suc- ceeded in 1922 by Frank Mauzy, who served until 1936. k J 9 4 W I' F401 imxxx XX, j J l WZ 0.9