University of North Texas - Yucca Yearbook (Denton, TX)

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When zVntfaf d, TresHe up d Ire , V n that Freshie hea j s swred as he an be Then his «V es • ]o Aucj out .- He ' s js cdP«J ihene is no doubt dS Ihis frightened icu see. he hurled one of his po- tent thunderbolts at the rather unsightly old build- ing and made room for the home of the President. Immediately south of the Administration Building there was formerly a wooden structure, used originally as a chapel room, but by 1906 used principally for Music and Reading classes, school receptions and traveling art exhibits. A few years later it was moved to the west side of the campus, where it underwent the degradation of being con- verted into a pesthouse. Still later it was moved entirely off the campus, and, after being renovated, was transformed into a dwell- ing. As a dwelling it exists even unto this day. The fence around the campus and the broad cement peripatos had not been built in 1906. On the campus, only the walk from the Administration Building to Hickory Street had then been constructed. The enrollment of the Normal twelve years ago numbered fewer than five hundred students. There were at that time but two courses, the Latin and the Science, and only three classes, namely, Freshman, Junior and Senior. The Freshman and Junior classes had each four sections ; the Senior, only two. Freshman One and Two, Junior One and Two, and Senior One were the Latin divi- sions ; Freshman Three and Four, Junior Three and Four, and M

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Mitchell and Mrs. Haydn Lewis, History; Mr. F. A. Hauslein, Latin; Mr. E. H. Thompson, Physiology and Algebra; Miss Annie Moore, Psychology and Methods; Miss Mattie Simkins, Drawing; Miss M. Manora Boylan, Music and Reading; and Mrs. Pearl Garden McCracken, Librarian. Of these fifteen men and women, seven are still serving as members of the teaching staff, which now numbers sixty-four. Students of the present generation can appreciate the change that has come over these seven teachers during the past twelve years when they are acquainted with some of the oft-used phrases that formerly echoed in various classrooms. Your proof is all wrong, the timid student of Mathematics was frequently informed. But, though his recitation in History was also far from satisfac- tory, the teacher ' s That will do, thank you, made his imperfect recitation less embarrassing. So much for that, the peripatetic teacher of Psychology and Methods would remark, as she wound and unwound her long watch chain from her finger or toyed with the slide on her chain. Now, get that formula down pat, the lec- turer in Chemistry would advise. Beg pardon, the teacher of English Grammar would entreat, as she gave the student who had classified the verb BE as transitive another chance to correct his error. Oh, now, don ' t be stupid ; wake up ! the other teacher of English would say, as she endeavored to rouse a sleepy class or to extract an intelligent recitation from a faltering student. Of the buildings now adorning the campus, only the Admin- istration Building had, in 1906, been erected. Where the home of the President now stands, the old Normal Building, a red-brick structure erected by Mr. M. B. Terrell and sold by him to the State, then stood. In 1907 Jupiter proved himself a deity of aesthetic taste and a true friend of landscape architecture when, in sportive mood, 13

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Senior Two were the Science divisions. Not yet had the exasper- ating seven-course system been devised for the vexation of sched- ule committees and as a refuge for the undecided student. Imagine if you can this student hotly assembled for chapel in the Audito- rium before a Faculty of fifteen members, who had to spread themselves to fill the ample stage. Talk- ing was then less preva- lent at chapel exercises than now, for even the back row of Freshmen was very slightly behind the middle aisle. Further- more, students hardly ventured to talk for fear of missing a word when such sage counsel as that contained in these phrases culled from the Annual fell from the lips of the Faculty member conducting chapel : Don ' t cut classes ; Don ' t expose yourself to bad weather; wear your overshoes; Don ' t sit on the radiator or stalk noisily through the halls; Young ladies cannot afford to chew gum or talk to young men on the street ; Don ' t fall over the railing of the rotunda ; Always stand during song and prayers ; Please leave the song books in their places ; Don ' t get discouraged. H ow different from the chapel exercises of the present ! Such were the conditions of the school when, late in the winter or early in the spring of 1906, the students of the Normal, at the suggestion and instigation of certain members of the Fac- 15