Southwestern University - Souwester Yearbook (Georgetown, TX)

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1 5 s i 6 V ' i ,■ ' ■■ j { | | j i p H •% i || II , s|j ■ ' ' ::::::,-■■ the Alethean and Clio Societies, and con- taining essays on such significant themes as Progress of Womanhood, Self-re- liance, and Observations on Hope, Fear, and Disappointment. The JKConthly nicknamed the little paper The Female Clarion or Woman ' s Rights Vindicator. The girls retorted in a manner prophetic of the age of suffragettes. The fact that the new Annex building was nearing completion added piquancy to the repartee, for the girls were already feeling superior, and teasingly interspersed throughout their locals such gibes as O girls, doesn ' t our new Annex present an imposing view from the town! In 1889 the Annex was finished, and for some time its proud occupants looked down upon the young men on the ranches down the hill. As years went by, however, and co-education was gradually introduced, a friendlier feeling grew up, and finally, as if symbolic of the more angelic spirit of the girls, the Annex put out wings. Any history of Southwestern would be incomplete without mention of the Methodist Church at Georgetown, which has always been a large factor in the life of the students. In 1893, to the great satisfaction and and joy of interested friends throughout the state, a beautiful church building took the place of the Old Chapel. A magnificent pipe organ, added in 1908, made it complete. In the 90s the increasing number of students made the need for a laiger build- ing imperative, and in 1894 a campaign for funds was started. Finally, in 1900 the Main Building, so long and long- ingly dreamed of, so fondly set forth for years in wood cuts in all the college publi- cations, became a reality. The college

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14 Five years after the founding of the University, the faculty opened a school for the accommodation and education of young ladies. This school met in the basement of the Presbyterian Church until the completion of its own two-story wooden building, four blocks west of the campus, on the site now occupied by the Georgetown City School. In those days co-education was debated by the Alamos and San Jacintos — and the neg- ative won. Whether the faculty was in- fluenced by this decision or not, the girls ' school remained separate from the main college for many years. In 1881 there was a second occasion for great rejoicing in Georgetown: $7500 had been raised and the building could be completed. A letter in the Texas Advocate dated July 13, 1881, and signed by Dr. Mood, gives us an insight into the feeling of the time: The University is to look out from the dormer windows of a mansard roof and the lofty heights of an embellished tower We invite preachers and laymen to meet us September 26, in our new, enlarged and beautiful building, to join with the throng of new students in singing at our ninth, and what will be our largest and most enthusiastic opening — 1 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. ' In 1 882 the corner stone of the Old Chapel was laid. Here, for many years, all the public exercises of the University, as well as all church services were held. This famous old building, which was removed from the campus some years ago, was never an attractive subject for the photographer ' s art, but the reminiscences, both grave and gay, of the Home Comers in 1909 indicated that many cherished interior views of the Old Chapel were clearly photograph- ically lined on the tablets of the mind. Giddings Hall was built on the north end of the campus in 1 886 and shortly afterwards the various Conference Cot- tages were added one by one. From the early college publications we get interesting sidelights on the middle period of Southwestern history. The Alamo and San Jacinto dTXTonthly, founded in 1 882, with Dr. Cody as its first editor-in-chief, began the great work of preserving the oratory that would otherwise have been lost on the prairie breezes or in the depths of the sympathetic San Gabriel. In 1888 appeared the An-X, edited by

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16 students proudly entered upon their fair possession, and graciously handed down the old building to the little prep brother. Mood Hall, already famous in song and story, not only for its architectural beauty and completeness, but for Short handle and other celebrites, was built in 1908, and was to the Home Comers in 1909 an inspiring indication of the rapid growth of Southwestern in recent years. Thus, in the thirty-eight years that have passed since the pioneer students came into Georgetown by stage-coach, has Southwestern prospered and grown. The old rock fence is gone, and on the bluebonnet fields have grown up the Annex, the Main Building, Mood Hall, and many beautiful homes. There is nothing now in the quiet dignity of the college town to remind the Old Timer of Indians and cowboys except the frequent triumphant yells of rooters down on the ath- letic field. Instead of the chirping of wrens in the quiet class room, the shriek and rumble of one of Georgetown ' s four- teen daily passenger trains now and then breaks in upon the monotony of the hour period. The old historic oak is gone; the fifth and most imposing of the court houses of Williamson County is almost finished. Only the Old Building of hallowed memories, and the still lovely little San Gabriel remain to speak to the Old Timer of the early joys and sorrows, the struggles and achievements of Southwestern and her makers.