Salem College - Sights and Insights Yearbook (Winston-Salem, NC)

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W5 s Ht r . . . Ill a word, ,i; j, Hume simply says thai When men have had experience enough lo observe Ihal, whatever may he the consequence of any single act of justice performed by a single person, yet the whole system oj actions concurred in by the whole society is infinitely advantageous to the whole and to every pari, it is not long before justice and properly take place . . . three the courses offered us rank with those of the leading women ' s colleges in the country. In an era of vocational colleges, Salem affirms the strength of the liberal arts program as the basis of life as an individual and as a contributing member of society. Specialization is reserved for our later years of study, and a wide field is available to us from which to choose. Some of us come to Salem with many scholastic interests, some with only a few, and .some with none. For the first two years we are given an opportunity to take a wide variety of courses and thus be exposed to many fields of study. In our third year here we choose the field we like best and concentrate on it. But some of us have a fitness for and interest in a profession when we arrive. For us there are available the fields of music. science, home economics, and teaching. And we are aided in our search for our areas of We ' re given an Opportunity study through a careful testing program and to learn our own interests. thorough counseling and guidance. We. the .Salem girls, often seem to take our privileges for granted. But within each of us is a prayer of thanks to those who help us. 21 ■aaHBHH mUt

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■i :iy ,AC- . . . Aren I electric lights ivotjderful? I don ' t know how we could learn to sew withnul litem . . . The hardships of log houses determine first curriculum. In the early days when three girls composed the student body and one teacher the faculty, the curriculum was small but practical. The founders of Salem, the community, and Salem, the Academy, saw that the school would have to prepare its students for a new life in the New World Wilderness or be useless. Therefore, the courses were designed to equip the young ladies for living amid the hardships of log houses, tallow candles, and hand-woven cloth. Besides reading, writing, and arithmetic; music, drawing, and needlework early appeared in the curriculum. The select classes considered themselves greatly favored in being allowed to sit around a table on benches without backs in advanced classes. This was the reward for pursuing extra studies, such as reciting French to the principal at seven o ' clock in the morning. In the nineteenth century, Annual E.xamina- tions prior to Commencement Week were big features. Throngs of relatives arrived to see the exhibitions in the Church galleries. There were paintings, embroidery designs, footstools, and what- nots designed at school. After roll call there were various exercises, musical exhibitions, dialogues, etc., in which groups of girls named parts of flowers or worked algebra on a blackboard. The compulsory sewing hour known as ' plain needlework was abandoned — with joy — at the turn of the century. Courses were added as the needs arose, and a gradual streamlining of the curriculum took place. Today in nineteen hundred and tifty- 20

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„ 2i -. ii ' iii We Learn Outside of Classes We meet some of the Lab- lings ' Bowman Gray friends rl Our molders of velvet spend hours ripping and stitching. With scientific discoveries being made daily, the Labhngs, Salem ' s own scientists, kept us informed on the latest findings. Numerous Bowman Gray doctors talked to us informally once a month at the meetings in the science building. Joanne Moody, president, and other club members planned the programs and kept us well fed with re- freshments. Another project of the lablings was to keep the science bulletin board decorated. We looked in awe at it all year and wondered where the girls could possibly have found such realistic pictures of people ' s insides. When Dr. Hubert Alyea came to lecture, the group helped entertain him. We learned at his lecture that the scientist was a man of brains and wit. He startled his audience by spraying carbon dioxide on them in addition to talking learnedly about atomic energy. While the science devotees were listening to lectures or working on the lower two floors of the science building, the Home Economics girls were busy upstairs. They were making clothes, preparing foods, and slip-covering furniture. Food, costumes, dances, and fashion shows only started the Home Ec. group on its yearly schedule. With snack-loving dorm friends always around when the food was ready, Martha and her cohorts were the objects of constant but flattering pleas for handouts. After becoming experts on decorating cakes, flowers, and in- teriors, the girls then showed their art with the needle. The hours of stitching, ripping out, and stitching again proved that Nettie Rosenstein could profit from our seamstresses ' efforts. These moulders of velvet varied their household duties by sponsoring the Gingham Tavern dances. After weeks of planning, the girls watched with pleasure as the night club atmosphere put the proper touch on one of their most successful projects. . . . Why, Mr. Campbell. It ' ml are you doing willi so 7nany girh? . . . IJ she ' d known we were coming, Sara Sue would have baked a cake . . . 22