Southwest Texas State Teachers College - Pedagog Yearbook (San Marcos, TX)

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Brown finished the Normal as a senior', in 1910 and received a permanent teacher's certificate. Later, when a fifth year of work, approximately the present junior year, was added, Miss Brown came back to finish that and to receive another permanent certificate. With the authorization in 1916 of the Board of Regents making the Normal a senior college able to grant degrees, Miss Brown came back to the Hill and received her third permanent teaching certifi- cate. XWhat single woman could live down three permanent cer- tificates?', asks Miss Brown, who is now a member of the faculty at Texas A 8: I. By 1919 Miss Ruby Henderson had completed her first year of work as supervisor of the fifth and sixth grades in the Training School and started on a teaching career which was to earn her so many friends and admirers. Mrs. Gates Thomas, then Miss Lillian Johnson, was teaching her first Hill classes in art, and Miss Ethel Davis, who came to the Hill the year before, was assistant librarian. The History Department was strengthened with the addition in 1919 of Miss Retta Murphy, whose store of knowledge and sharp humor has delighted and still delights students. And Dr. Alfred H. Nolle, who was to do perhaps more than any other single person on the Hill to build and maintain high academic standards, not only for this college, but for other colleges and universities in the South and Southwest, joined the faculty. 4 NOLLE IOINS FACULTY Dr. Nolle, a 1915 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and the first doctor on the Hill, came to San Marcos in'September, 1919, as professor of foreign languages. In 1923 Dr. Nolle was ap- pointed Dean of the College, succeeding A. W. Birdwell, who had been elected president of Stephen F. Austin. Dean Nolle's worth to the College and to education in general may be measured partly by the positions entrusted to him. A member of the committee on Standards for the Association of Texas Colleges since 1942, he has been chairman of that committee since 1936. For two terms, 1944-46, he was president of the Association of Texas Col- leges and in 1940 was chosen as chairman of the Conference of Aca- demic Deans of the Southern States. He has never missed a meet- ing of the Texas College Association or of the Conference of Deans. The year after the war saw the beginning of the Bobcat band, 22 members strong under the direction of D. D. Snow. Its first greatxmoment came on March 12, 1921, when the band broadcast over the San Antonio Light radio station, closing the program with The Old Gray Mare. It was 1923 when director R. A. Tampke took over his duties and five years later the band received uniforms, ma- roon and gold with capes and caps, the band costume so many thou- sands of exes remember. ' THE REBELLIO US TWENTIES The 1920's were the rebellious years for students all over the na- tion. It was the day of the Charleston and It Ain't Gonna Rain No More. Flaming youth, flappers, Red Grange, Jack Dempsey, and Bobby Jones and Rudy Valle crooning My Time is Your Time. Sinclair Lewis was picturing American life and business in Main Street, and Babbitt. Here on the Normal campus at the end of the war the use of tobacco was still forbidden for both girls and- boys. Practically the entire student body was campused for threeidays when students, disobeying regulations, attended a dance that the Fire Department gave on the San Marcos Square. Boys and girls slipped away from the Hill to the Blue Moon, a downtown confectionary with a victorla hidden behind a bamboo screen. A football player and his girl friend were threatened with expulsion from school because he took the girl for an auto ride-with his family along as chaperones. Dr. Evans, when he proposed to let students dance after World War I, was cautioned to wait a while. He evidently had to wait quite a while as the first College dance was delayed until 1926. This entertainment milestone was held in the Boy's Gym and 72 couples attended. During this period swimming regulations also were relaxed. Clara Bow was the It girl of the movies but Hill students found time in 1928 to make a movie of their own. Called the San Marcos Shiek, it starred Eleanor Parke as heroine and Boody johnson as the hero. Other college students appearing in the pro- duction were Lynette Dailey, Annie Marie Barnes, Frances Parke, Lauris Serur, Cotton Brannum, Sloppy Shelton, Albert Harzke, and Lynn Cox. The movie was made by a Hollywood cameraman and shown to capacity crowds downtown. A host of now-familiar faculty faces first appeared on the cam- pus during the twenties and early thirties. With the celebration of the Golden Anniversary of the College these faculty members will all have completed 20 or more years -of service on the Hill. Lack of space forbid s the individual recognition they deserve. Faculty members and the schoolyear they joined the staff are: 1920-21 Miss Irma Bruce ' 1922-25 Dr. Carroll L. Key, Miss Georgia Lazenby, Dr. E. O. Wiley, Fred Kaderli 1923-24 H. M. Green, H. E. Speck, Dr. R. A. Tampke 1924-25 Miss Alma Lueders 1925-26 Miss Sue Taylor, Dr. David F. Votaw, Dr. L. N. Wright, Yancy P. Yarbrough 1926-27 J. R. Buckner, Dr. Leland E. Derrick, Tom Nichols, D. J. Lloyd Read 1927-28 Dr. Dorus A. Snelling, Miss Elizabeth Sterry 1928-29 R. R. Rush 1929-50 Mrs. Verna L. Deckert 1930-51 Dr. Claude Elliott, Dr. Buford W. Williams Charles S. Smith Alfred H. Noole

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carriages used the space in front of Main,- and L. A. for a turn around: Horses, as many as 30 or 40 each day, were tied down the slope where the I. A. Building now stands. English teacher Gates Thomas parked his little bay pony and buggy there each morning' after giv- ing students a lift halfway up the 'back of the Hill, which was as high as the road went then. Early roads around the Hill were built largely of adobe, which turned into a fine dusty powder in dry weather and into slippery mire in rainy seasons. Visitors often had to walk up the Hill in rainy weather when Mose Cheatam's team couldn't pull the slope. Captain Fred Coche With the coming of cars, Dr. Evans bought the first one, a Dodge. In 1916, the road up to the Quad was enlarged so that two cars could pass. - HILL RACE TRACK Unfortunately this widened road became a proving ground for San Marcos motorists, who didn't feel that their car had been tested until it had shown that it would pull Normal Hill. Gay young blades drove up to Main Building to whistle at co-eds until President Evans called in maintenance worker Rufus Wimberley, told him to close the road'to the Quad 'and build a road around the Hill. Building problems were nothing new to Wimberley, who has been shifting rocks, dirt, and former dwellings since 1915 to make room for the expanding college. Hill roads were built with picks, shovels and wheelbarrows. On the day of a big debate against the school's arch rival, Denton, the student body and faculty paraded to the station to meet the Denton debaters. A float with decorated chairs for de- baters and coaches was fixed on a wagon bed, and the contestants hauled in high style to the Main Buildings where immediately an assembly was held with rival teams boasting from the stage of what they would do to their worthy opponents that evening. William A. Rasco and R. H. Porter in 1916, debating the af- firmative side of Resolved--That immigration into the United States should be further restricted by the imposition of a literacy test licked their North Texas opponents by 3-0. Such a victory called for a torchlight parade around the square and a series of parties of dances. Beginning in 1912 another attraction was the Senior Play. Mem- bers of the German Club, Germanistiscbe Gesellschaft, also presented a play each spring. A Lyceum course, with season tickets for one dollar, entertained students and townspeople. Dramatic ,work in 1919 was largely taken over by director G. H. Sholts and his Rabbit's Foot Dramatic Club, which presented The Admirable Crichton, The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary, and Seventeen. Educationally the Normal was making great progress during the war period. The Science Building was enlarged in 1915, a Manual Arts Building, now the Student Union, erected in 1912, a brick Pow- er House in 1915, and the Education Building, an 385,000 building, completed in 1918. President Evans was in the middle of his long campaign to raise the status of the Normal Schools to the position of colleges. CSee Guidepostsl . FIRST PRACTICE TEACHING At the beginning of 1914 a Training School was opened to give practice teaching to students under the supervision of A. W. Bird- well, W. I. Woodson and A. C. Burkholder. The practice school bears the same relation to the profession of teaching as the laboratory does to science, or the work shop does to Manual Training, stated the Normal catalogue of 1915. For training rural teachers an ar- rangement was made with one-room school in the Westover sec- tion to take practice teachers. One other project dear to the hearts of College students was begun during the World War I period. In 1916 D. S. M. tAffedtionately known as Froggy behind his backl, Dr. C. S. Smith, then coach and science teacher, P. T. Miller, chemistry teacher, and Dr. Evans agreed to locate a new college swimming pool on four acres of land west of the fish hatchery. College workers with mud scrapers and mule teams, again under the direction of Rufus Wimberley, cleaned the river. Rock and grav- el and cinders built up the banks and by the summer of 1917 the College had its Riverside Park. Later this name was changed to Sewell Park in honor of Dr. Sewell. Land has gradually been added to this, both from private sources and through purchase from the government, until now the park contains almost 23 acres. Concrete retaining walls were built and the island, low and marshy, was filled in with soil. Regulations that would seem strange to present-day swimmers were strictly enforced at the opening of the pool. No white or light colored suits were permitted. A matron was hired in 1917 to see that bathers met all requirements of decorum. Shoulder straps on bath- ing suits had to be wide enough to hold three buttons. Hose were sewed or pinned to suits, and girls' suits had to have skirts or bloom- ers. The matron also checked on male attire and made certain that boys and girls swam in different parts of the pool and did sit to- gether on the grass while clad in swimming suits. Even these clothing regulations were not modest enough for some. Friends recall that Dr. Sewell cut the legs off a pair of trous- ers and sewed them to the bottom of his suit for more protection. One event in connection with Sewell Park that has become traditional is the annual Water Pageant, which got its start on the 4th of July, 1920. Several students wanted to go swimming on that holiday so Dr. Evans gave permission for the pool to remain open for a swimming-diving show to be staged. From this has grown the annual pageant which now attracts thousands of visitors. 1 FIRST DEGREE AWARDED Miss Mamie E. Brown made Normal history in June, 1919, when, clad in the first bachelor's rob and cap to be used at a Nornfill commencement, she received the first bachelor's degree to be issued on the Hill. Daughter of J. S. Brown, teacher of mathematics, Miss REGULATIONS OF NORMAL i l. School will be in session from 8:45 1-LM. t.l1 2 P.M. on each Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Home study periods will be from 3:30 P.M. till 5:30 P.M. and from 7 P.M. till 10 P.M. each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, From 2 P.M. on Saturday till noon Monday students may devote their time to rest, ap- propriate exercise and recreation, attendance on Sunday School and Church services and other duties. 2. The hours designated above as study periods are to be spent by all students in their own rooms, or in the library, or in the laboratory, in the prosecution of school work . . . 3. In all boarding homes the use of the telephone by students must be limited to the giving or receiving of important information in regard to school work, or to communication with parents, guardians, or mem- bers of the faculty . . . 4. Students will not without special permission from some member of the faculty, go to the post office either to post or to call for mail or for any other purposes . . . 5. During the afternoons and evenings of Saturday and Sundays. stu- dents may, within proper bounds, make and receive social visits, but such visits may not extend later than 10 P.M. and the proprietors of boarding homes are directed to see that their parlors are in all cases vacated by students not later than this hour. The purpose which justifies the existence of the Normal is the preparation of young men and women to teach, not to afford opportunity to marry. Any marked indica- tions that students are spending their time in courting, or in being courted, or in trifling about such matters, will be deemed sufficient for the prompt removal of such students from the Normal. .U

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Other important things were happening during the '20's, too. The name of the College officially became Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1925. The Science Building, costing 3150,000, was erected in 1926, taking the place of the older building which had formerly occupied that spot. The Allie Evans Demonstration Cottage was added for the benefit of the Home Economics Department, which had started back in 1910 with 80 girls. The Industrial Arts Building was added to the Power Shop in 1924, the first Men's and W0n1en's Gymnasium built, and a 40-acre Demonstration Farm for agriculture students purchased. DEPRESSION YEARS Enrollment reached a peak in this period before the crash of 129. More than 2,000 students were registered here in the fall and spring terms of 1927 and 1928 but after that came the big decline. By 1955 only 701 students were registered the fall semester. The National Youth Administration put out a helping hand at this time. Under the campus direction of H. E. Speck, dean of men, as many as 300 students a month were given employment. Ap- plications poured in for jobs that paid from 25 to 30 cents an hour, and many a student worked his way through school in the depression years with the help of the nine to fifteen dollars he could earn under NYA. Main difficulty was finding legitimate jobs for everyone. Stu- dents mowed lawns, painted houses, compiled research papers. A host of student librarians provided book-seekers with the best and most rapid service ever seen on the Hill, and almost every teacher had a sccretary. Enrollment began to cimb again after the mid ,30's, and Dr. Evans' building program, helped by US grants, never slackened. The Atfditorium-Laboratory School was completed in 1929 at a cost of S145,000. The Boys, Gymnasium, finished in 1952, was enlarged and remodeled in 1937. That same year the Girls' Gymnasium was com- pleted at a cost of S65,000. The old Music Hall building was renovated and enlarged in 1958, and Southwest Texas State Teachers College got its first dormi- tories during these years. Sayers Hall, first occupied in 1936, and Harris Hall, which received its first men in 1957, were added to the C3mpuS. The building of dormitories on the campus had been approved by the Legislature in March, 1929, but it was not until the 1950's that money became avail- able at a reasonable rate of in- terest to permit construction. During the '50,s Cliffside, Pick- ard, Northside and Hines Halls for girls were opened, and Low- man Hall provided room for 30 members of the Hill athletic squad. The period of expansion be- gun during this period has nev- er slackened, except for war- time restrictions on building ma- terials. In 1942 Dr. Evans re- Ex-Student tired, after 51 years of faith- Senator Lyndon lohngon ful service. lSee Presidents of the College J. Events of the 19403, the war years, the decline of college en- rollments and the swift rise after war with the return of the HG. I.'s to the campus, the inauguration of the postwar building pro- gram, the passage of Gilmer-Aikin laws and their effect upon our entire public school system are too well known to justify lengthy description here. This story of growth will be seen by the ex-student visitor as MAIN ENTRANCE TO LIBRARY stands on the steps in front of historic Old Main and gazes over a hill that has suddenly sprouted new buildings its length and breadth. To mention all of the Southwest Texas State Teachers College exes who have won fame, would be a tremendous taskhand would require many more pages than appear in your 1952 Golden Anni- versary Pedagog. But the editors decided to scan old Pedagogs and Stars in an effort to compile a list of a few of our outstanding for- mer students. Everywhere we looked information relating to promi- nent exes was found. There was the 1915 PEDAGOG ad telling the word that Roy J. Beard and R. H. Montgomery were campus agents for Hollands, Ladies Home journal, and the Texas School Magazine. Now Roy's head of the Star Engraving Company and Dr. Montgomery, whose picture we also found as a member of the Hill track team, is a member of the University of Texas faculty along with Doctors Hob Gray, Clarence Alton Wfiley, Auline Raymond Schrank, and Alfred Wilson Nolle. Certainly the Gaillardians must be mentioned, declared the PEDAGOG searchers, and they hauled out the 1926 PEDAGOG, first year the annual favorites were picked. There were the pictures. Ray Dickson, Janie Ivey, Ben Brite, Vera Lee Cook, Geneva Lancaster,