Union College - Stespean Yearbook (Barbourville, KY)

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Union College Union College is a descendant of old Augusta College, the first college west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was conceived in the mind of Mr. A. H. Harriet. It was built by a corporation formed in 1880. Union College received its name because it was made possible by the united efforts of the people of Barbourville, under the leadership of Mr. W. W. Sawyers. This corporation built the old Administration Building. There were but three teacherstograce the rostrum. In 1886 Union College was bought by the Kentucky Conference at the recommendation of Rev. S. F. Kelly. The first President under this new connection was Dr. Daniel Stevenson, under whose master hand it grew to be a College. In 1906 a stroke of lightning and a peal of thunder announced the destruction of the Administration Building, but out of the ruins rose another fairer than the first, our present school building. Oymnasium Our gymnasium is the newest and most popular building on the campus. It is still in its infancy and hasn ' t even been dedi- cated yet. This gym was a thing of the imagination for so long, we could hardly believe our eyes when it first came into being. It originated in the minds of some of those who love the college best, when it was thought barely possible. Since then it has grown gradually into existence. The first decisive step was taken when a body of students, led by Horace Barker, went before the school board and very eloquently pleaded for a gymnasium. This re- quest, very much to our astonishment, was granted and real plans for the building were begun. The financial side was the first con- sideration and after a lengthy campaign by students, town people and others interested in us. $55,000 was contributed. The gym was about a year in building and everybody on the campus watched eagerly every brick that was laid. At last in the fall of 1920 it was finished to the last detail, and now that we enjoy the fine swimming pool, ropes, rings and horses we can hardly realize what a long, hard struggle was necessary to bring it all to pass.

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STAFF OF THE STESPEAN Violet Humfleet, Associate Editor. W. D. Archibald, Editor-in-Chief. Flora Burroughs, Assistant Editor. James F. Blair, Business Manager. Cheslie Franklin, Assistant.

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Speed Hall Speed Hall was erected in 1903. It was named for Mrs. Fanny Speed, w ho ga ' e her money to Union College in the in- terest of higher education of the mountain boys and girls. Speed Hall was planned for a spacious southern home for girls. It was first occupied in 1905. The room which is now ' used for laundry was then the kitchen, the domestic art room was the dining room which held four long tables, and the [ resent Dean ' s living room was the office of the Institution. Speed Hall corner on second floor was used for the Fanny Speed Literarj ' Society. Sometimes there were joint programs with the Philonikians. The corridor on third floor was used for the girls ' gymnastics. There was no plumbing system in the building. All the water that the girls used was drawn with a bucket and rope from the well at the northwest corner of the hall. There were ten girls, and ten teachers, three of them men, besides the President and his family, in Speed Hall the first year. Stevenson Hall Stevenson Hall was a new thing on the campus of Union College in 1907. Stevenson Cottage, Fanny Speed Hall, the power house and the old Administration Building were its predecessors. Before 1907 only a few boys made their school home on Union College campus for Dr. Stevenson ' s cottage was too small to accommodate many. In the fall of 1907 when the doors of the boys ' dormitory were thrown open, about seventy boys were ready to make their school home within its walls. Each room in the building had two boys and the large corner rooms more. There were two professors in the Hall, Professor Coats and Professor Jones, who were in charge of the building. In 1918 the boys ' domitory as it was generally called, was officially named Stevenson Hall, in honor of Dr. Daniel Stevenson, under whose wise direction the college received many of the strong principles, which have helped to make it the institution which it has grown to be. Union College can never forget what he did here.