Taylor University - Ilium / Gem Yearbook (Upland, IN)

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Dratnatic Art Historical Sketch So far as historical data is available the work of speech instruction in Taylor began under the direction of W. C. Dennis in the fall of 1901. Mr. Dennis, then a gradu- ate of Ohio Wesleyan and the Cumock School of Expression, came to teach part time and work out his degree of Master in Arts. The pictures in the old T. U. Gems indicate that Professor Dennis ' department was one in which many people became inter- ested. For six years this man held his classes on the third floor of the administration buildmg m rooms still used by the speech department. In the fall of 1909 Florence E. Cobb took up the speech work at Taylor, which had been carried on during the years between 1906 and ' 09 by Sarah D. Ulmer and Laurie Johnson. Miss Cobb stayed with the school for nine years and contributed much to the aesthetic and cultural training of her students and the school at large. During the years of her stay, the institution was very successful in oratory. Three times in four years Taylor men won the State Inter-Collegiate Prohibition Oratorical Contest. The winners were N. E. Christensen, Roy Ellinghouse and Barton Rees Pogue. The latter also won in the Interstate Prohibition Contest and ranked third in the National at Des Moines, Iowa, in 1920. In 1921 Barton Rees Pogue, having done graduate work in Boston, came back to Taylor to assume responsiblity for Taylor ' s speech work. Miss Lulu R. Walton and Miss Pearl Mallory having directed the classes in the two years after Miss Cobb ' s resignation. The development under Professor Pogue has been chiefly a contribution to the physical equipment of the department. From one room in 1921 the quarters for the departmental activities spread out and now include all the space on the third floor of the administration building. Speirs Hall, named for Miss Ruth Speirs of the 1923 class, rep- resents the salvaging of the old chapel into a well-appointed recital room, and work- shop for the classes in dramatics. Into this room and its equipment Professor Pogue has put almost two thousand dollars, the greater part of which he has made through his own efforts. Speech work in Taylor is marked by the services of three people: Dennis, Cobb and Pogue, these three having given to the school since 1901 a total of twenty-three years service. Continued and unbroken labor on the part of these persons must have of neces- sity given a stability to speech work in Taylor that will make for continued success in years to come. i i i ■=1333=3 Tiifuty-oiic ■Mum. WM Mm m