Southwestern College - Moundbuilder Yearbook (Winfield, KS)

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l-lil. BOOK ONE The Story o By Dean SOUTHWESTERN is the locale of The Master's Degree by Margaret l-lill Mc- Carter, only she calls it Sunset College. l-ler novel has caught something of the romance, the elan vital, the pioneer spirit that characterizes our alma mater, the temperamental mood ofthe Western prairies snow swept by the fresh, invigorating breezes that incite to tremendous upsurge of activity, now sun-balced under hot Southern sl4ies, half- asleep, yet dreaming of days when these brown and bar- ren plains shall mean more to the world than they do today. A survey of the first fifty years of Southwestern brings the ineluctable con- viction that here is an institu- tion destined for greatness. for what else can be the meaning of those dreams and visions of presidents, profes- sors, and studentskyes, and of many a humble farmer and busy house- wife all over the Southwestmof unre- mitting labor, sacrifices, tears, prayers, faith, with which, though discouraged with toil and unfulfilled longings, one genera- tion after another has talcen up the worlc with wornout tools to build again what drought and disaster have torn down? And each time the college emerges stronger, more sure of her mission, and still she calls to the heights all who lift up their eyes to the hills to find inspiration to wider views, nobler aims, more significant living, Three years after its founding, the Southwest Kansas Conference in 1885 elected a board of trustees to start the new institution. Une of these was Val- entine Cartwright, son of the peter Cart- wright who carried the Gospel all over the West and whose Bible, after its saddle- bag career, reposes at last in the college library. A committee was appointed to Page 5 f Southwestern Leroy Allen select a location, and seven ambitious towns sent invitations. The committee vis- ited all and selected Winfield, because its offer of fB60,000, 40 acres, stone for the building, water for its construction, and all other materials at cost, was the best received, and because it believed that Winfield was the best location. Qne of the reasons is said to have been the wonderful view from Sunset Qf this view Bishop Dean Allen the exc COLJ tiful WGS fami of cam Sou A s Qua yle, standing one day at top of the Seventy-Seven, aimed, Doubtless, God d have made a more beau- scene than this, but l-le never didln n 'l886, Dr. John lf. Earp elected first president. on tells the story of the yfs arrival: K'Qn the sixth July, 1886, our family e into Winfield over the t hern Kansas Railroad, and as the train passed in view of College l'lill we eagerly gathered about the car windows to see the new building which we understood was to be ready for use in the Fall. Alas, the foundations were there, but no sign of life or progress. This was the first of a series of disappoint- ments which followed thiclc and fast. We were met at the station by Professor Wood, who was conducting a successful business school in the city and afterwards became the first professor of mathematics. . . . . The day was scorching and the hot winds blowing over the plains of the lndian Territory blistered face and hands. But the lovely hospitality of pro- fessor Wood's home stands out in grateful remembrance. September came and the building was still not ready. So temporary quarters were foundein McDougall l'lall, on the second floor of Baden's general store at Main and Tenth. These quarters opened upon

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M' A --r: ' ggi? ' '00-.,,,....-0'- ,. T JM, E rw CONTENTS BOOK CNE HISTORY BUCK TWO CDRGANIZATIONS som mais FEATURES BGOK rom ATHLETICS SOCK FIVE SQCIETIES BOOK 5:14 PERSQNALITIES

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an alley where a Flourishing poultry busi- ness was carried on. l-lere on Wednes- day morning, September 7, 1886, amid the unacademic quaclcing oF duclcs, and caclcling oF hens, Southwestern opened with 43 students. By New Years day, the enrollment had increased to WQQ. The First Faculty consisted oF Four members. If these Figures seem small, just remember that in the First FiFty years oF l-larvard the total attendance was never over twenty, and usually there was but one Faculty memberl Southwestern has done better than that, and has had much more com- petition than l-larvard hadl President Earp loolced over the student body and ex- pressed doubt as to ever making a note- worthy institution out oF the material in hand. J. Nl. Cottingham says oF the social liFe: ul doubt if there were a half dozen oF us who could spend a quarter without The Story oF Feeling the stress oF it. The girls belonged to the Methodist Church, and, as a result oF revival meetings held periodically, none oF them would go to a theatre or ride a street car on Sunday. What a boon that wasAour little school world lived pretty much to itsell. We wanted nothing and were not disappointedlu Dr. Earp was a notable scholar. When a man came one day to apply For the chair oF Latin, Dr. Earp tool4 down a volume oF Cicero and read several passages. The candidate aFterwards declared it was the First time he had ever heard l.atin read as literature. Dr. Earp had a reading lcnowl- edge oF thirteen languages. At the beginning oF the second school year, the new building was ready. It was a long vvay out oF town. Une had to cross meadows, cornFields, and vast vistas oF Kansas sunFlowers. lrue, iF one had plenty oF time, there was the an- cient mule car with its semi-periodical visits and its deliberate and uncertain movements. OFten the car would jump the traclc and then it was the custom For the second-class passengers fthe boysb to Hpile oFF and push until the wheels condescended to climb the traclcs again. The mules soon learned to stop and very patiently wait For the unloading and pushing process. Forty-nine was the record number oF times the car left the traclc on any one tripl Whenever a student was in a hurry to malce a classfhis saFest route was through the sunFlowersl The mule car was replaced by a trolley car, dubbed by the students the Yellow l3eril.H -lhough it was built For Q0 passengers, Q50 could easily ride, the girls inside, the boys on top. -lhis ancient vehicle stayed on the traclc Fairly well in spite oF Flat wheels, but the boys thought it irresistibly Funny to pull the trolley oFF the 'wire. But science is wonderlull len years ago the trolley was replaced by Speed Page 6