Troy University - Palladium Yearbook (Troy, AL)

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Page eleven fr ' l I L., .,, ,,,,,,,, ,, ,V ,, ,,, , .e ,.7 ,,..,, Y...?-,,. Y. Y ,-521111-if-i is-if -Q We , D A, sg'-13 I r .i 4-' i '- Day after day till weary quite and worn, They stood upon a tree-crowned ridge one And The F air The The saw below them flashing in the sun waters of a noble river run. was the prospect. thrilling every scene, flowing river and the valley green, stately oaks o'erarching spaces near fl'l0l'l'l, And distant glades where fed the furtive deer. While circling all the panoramic view, The dim horizon slept in hazy blue. Long gazed the chief while ranged about him stood His tired band beneath the sheltering wood. Then his stern features softened with a smile, His watching warriors drawing near the while. Land of my dreams. he cried, here let us rest, No l1'l0l'C enslaved, l'lO m0t'C to be oppressed, Here shall we dwell. here shall our children play About their mothers through the summer's day, Our men and maidens in the moonlit glade May sing and dance with none to make afraid: There by the stream the broad and level field With summer rain shall corn abundant yield, The hills give flesh, the noble river fish, And fowls the woods- what more could mortal wish? Food, freedom. love, and all that we hold best, 'Tis Alabama! It is here we rest!

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Lx ,. fx , 'Q ,A an - af t -3. . f' s- f i1fi1-'is ,241 c vg Vg , ,,UtL,g,. 1:L .t .. j',.- .'fg',i- ,V K , t,t..fl15.-I?ALLAf2.l,Qifl,i t 1 C iilf' 1 L ,wh A-RR 1 Riff' W -13 WALTER S. RICHARDSON Class of 1917 Died in France of typhoid fever, January 27, l9l9. NOTE.-Among the hundreds of splendid young men who have been students with us we apprehend that there yet may remain some whose names should be recorded here, and we have delayed publication for sometime hoping to complete this roll, and we trust our friends will find it so. lf, however, any name has been nrn-MAJ .A ....ll L. ,. I' . , . r Alabama---A Legend Once upon a time back in the vanished years Long ere Desoto and his buccaneers First trod our woods and climbed our mountains bold, Chased the fleet deer or searched for glittering gold, A stalwart Chieftain, beaten in the fray, Led his worn band along the forest way Till they should come, their weary journey done, To some fair land toward the setting sun. Day after day they wandered hopeful on, Their arrows struck the lightly bounding fawn, They gathered haws and luscious muscadines From thorny bush and purple-loaded vines. And heard at night beneath the spreading trees The sleepy soughing of the wayward breeze. The shivering screeching of the ghostly owl, The panther's scream, the wild wolf's lonely howl. Page ten

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ff is-if Vi V H' 'iii if-'i'iZjil5lLi jQf1..T'YY , Y Alabama---lts Settlement and Early Schools LABAMA, as a first magnitude star in the brilliant galaxy of the States, celebrated its first centenary in December of this year. In that time it has passed through crises of experience ranging from eras of glory to those of sorrow, but none that savored of humiliation or shame. It would be a task of pleasure to tell the story, romantic and inspiring as it is, of the days of her pre-statehood, from the legends of her early dawn to the time in December, I8l9, when she became the nineteenth in the great sisterhood, but space will not permit. It must suffice to record briefly the story of her statehood only, and of that only its relationship to the great national and world evolution in education. The year l8I9, like those years which immediately preceeded and succeeded it, saw a steady westward current of immigration, chiefly from Georgia, flowing along the new- made highways, often opened by the axes of the incoming pioneers themselves, but largely following the trails of the Indians. These pioneers almost always traveled in groups of several families, covered ox wagons carrying their simple household belongings, while their livestock were driven by the men and boys. They carried their flintlock rifles needed for self-protection. Reaching a section of the wilderness that appealed to their fancy, the immigrants stopped and usquattedf' that is, built rude cabins and began opening up patches, or little fields, on the public domain. ln time most of them entered these lands, that is, acquired a title to them from the Government. And so the pioneer home was established. Naturally the question of schools soon arose. The more progressive members of the neighborhood united in erecting a pine pole hut, with a stick and dirt chimney, at some ccnvenient place. A teacher, of generally very little qualification, was secured and the work of training the young frontiersman began. The methods were very crude, and the curriculum limited. They used a udefinern for spelling and committed the words to mem- ory. They sang their geography, and used slates and pencils for their figuring They sat on backless, split-log benches and drank water from the spring nearby. The teacher often chewed tobacco, sometimes drank spirits, and was not always tidy. There were no women teachers. The one indispensable article of school furniture was a well-seasoned switch and it was very often in requisition. It would be interesting to further recount the school conditions of those primitive years when Alabama became a member of the sisterhood of states, but space forbids. We have to content ourselves with the insertion of two pictures of the Alabama school architecture- l8I9 and l9l9. Page tw h