Temple University - Templar Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 8 text:

History of traditions « cres of Diamonds is partly reprinted below. It ■ - is the story of the Ali Hafed, who devoted his life in search of diamonds. Not long after his death, fabu- lous diamonds, acres of them, were found on his own land. Russell Conwell returned to America when he heard the story. The young men and women who enrolled in Temple College were Conwell ' s diamonds Temple has expanded to acres of them. . Dr. Con- well ' s lecture, Acres of Diamonds, was first given at a reunion of some of his old Civil War col- leagues. Before he died in 1925, he delivered it to over 91,000 people from England to China, from royalty to countryfolk. A young Conwell, on assignment for a newspaper, learned the story of Ali Hafed from a Turkish guide while enroute from Bagdad to Ninevah. The legend, which Conwell later turned into his famous sermon, is about Hafed, a Persian farmer. Hafed deserted his own land to chase after a mythical diamond mine. He had been quite contented until he learned of the beauty and value of diamonds, then he resolved that he would not be happy until he had a diamond mine of his own. He wandered to Palestine, and then to Europe, until, reduced to rags and wretchedness, he threw himself into the bay at Barcelona, Spain. And so, said the guide to Con- well, after searching far and wide for many years, Ali Hafed, reduced to pover- ty, disappointed and disillu- sioned, died far from home. The statue of Johnny Ring was erected alongside Mitten Hall in the garden off Watts Walk. r m r,. 4 Introduction

Page 7 text:

e seven iityot ctuter Wng terke then Tern- ii,can efive rmers icross eland MS, at A Centmnial Edition after spital toio M - !je of versi- mpus line, ■eoff irtof ersity eople, ntsto niver- ' e,but lussell ndent, . :turet, [ )eople (fell is words ktiold one of ,,He The first Temple classroom on Park Avenue. Introduction 3

Page 9 text:

A CentcHHial Sdition College Hall iin Bmad Street was the first Temple building. Nnw it is the home of the art classes on Main Campus. Introduction 5