University of Wisconsin Oshkosh - Quiver Yearbook (Oshkosh, WI)

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OSHKOSH NORMAL SCHOOL TOAST We hail thee dear Normal! To thee we raise our song. Our pride, our allegiance, Our faith shall e'er be strong. May time serve thee kindly, The gracious years bring strength, Thy hopes find fulfillment, Thy days fruitful length. Send on, ever onward Thy constant stream of life, To bear forth thy message In ways pf peace or strife. Tho walls shake and crumble. Thy courage ne’er shall fail, Thy hope spring eternal Dear Normal! All hail! Rose C. Swart Hannah M. Cundiff MISS ROSE C. SWART Honored Member of the Faculty From 1871 to 1922. • • To the thousand students, this annual volume is designed as a record of a swiftly moving college year. Few of the thousand had the honor of personal acquaintance with Miss Rose Swart. But the spirit of the school is not the result of one year,- rather its traditions accrue from the hopes, purposes, and achievements of the many who have associated in its being. In this sense, all students of Oshkosh State Teachers College have known Miss Swart. For fifty years, she gave a rare devotion and wisdom to the direction of its teachers. Her passing at her home in Washington in December, 1939, closed a remarkable life. Few persons have lived more usefully; few have been more trusted. Ten years of rural and grade teaching by Miss Swart preceded her coming as primary teacher to the new Normal School at Oshkosh. While during her tenure she held several positions, her major service for thirty-one years was as Director of Training. She was an associate of each of the five presidents of the College, and her life work reflected the history of education in this State. Miss Swart was the first woman to be chosen President of the Wisconsin Teachers Association. In 1906 the University of Wisconsin conferred upon her the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In June, 1929, the Training School Building at Oshkosh was named The Rose Swart Training School. Miss Swart attended the exercises as the quest of honor, and listened, probably with many and varied memories, to the words of dedication: These simple exercises have a great spiritual significance for all of us. We have been given an opportunity to see a great teacher witness her own immortality.” 6

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5 • This year our annals encompass the passin9 of two former teachers who sturdily fashioned the old Normal School quite as much, if not more, than did its administration. It is true that Rose C. Swart held an administrative position for many years but that was only incidental, for her influence was felt no matter where she was or what position she held. She knew the school thoroughly, for she had been a member of its faculty since the day its doors opened far back in 1871; she was a trusted adviser of each president in turn,- and she was a calm, judicious counselor of her colleagues. None ever questioned her sincerity, her impartiality, or her fearlessness. One should acknowledge one s debts: so with gratitude I attest my personal obligation for her sound advice and meritorious example. It will be long before the union of such qualities as made this unique personality comes to a fortunate fruition in this College. Walter C. Hewitt had interests which included his fellow men whether in school or out. President Albee chose with prescience, therefore, when he brought Mr. Hewitt to Oshkosh as Institute Conductor, in which capacity he took wisdom, pedagogy, literature, and love of life abundant to the teachers of the state and brought back a high regard and respect for the Normal. Though his assignments were changed many times, so that he had probably taught more subjects than any teacher ever on the faculty, he accepted each cheerfully and brought optimism, consummate skill, and a wide range of knowledge to his classes. He was the liaison between school and public, functioning without obvious propaganda and with the harmonious confidence of both. The life work of these two devoted teachers has been an inspiration to countless persons,- we know that those who receive this QUIVER will have been influenced through the legacy of fine qualities and skills left this school by them, as will generations to come. FORREST R. POLK The President at his desk

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ALMA MATER Dear Alma Mater, Mother of Ours We raise our song to thee,-Thy children stand a loyal band, Though far they scattered be. Dear Alma Mater, Mother of Ours We raise our hearts to thee,-And hold thee close by night or day, In reverent memory. Dear Alma Mater, Mother of Ours, What e'er the years unfold; Keep true our hearts in duty done, Beneath the White and Gold. White for thy light, so pure, so bright; The Gold for thy garnered grain. —W. C. Hewitt MR. WALTER C. HEWITT Mr. Hewitt was a native of Wisconsin, having been born in Milwaukee, May 17,1859. His early life was spent in Michigan. He graduated from Ypsilanti Teachers College in 1882, and in 1902 that college conferred on him the M.A. degree. He was superintendent of several Michigan school systems in his first ten years of teaching and then came to the Oshkosh Normal, where he served for forty-four years. At the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1892, Mr. Hewitt was superintendent of the Michigan educational exhibit. It was there that President Albee met him jnd recognized in him the qualities that were needed for the position of Institute Conductor in the Oshkosh Normal. He was by nature and through training an outstanding teacher. As Institute Conductor, he wielded great influence among the teachers of Eastern Wisconsin. His fluency as a speaker, his broad sympathy and understanding of young people, his keen sense of humor, and his wide range of information made him a favorite speaker at all sorts of gatherings. When the position of Institute Conductor was abolished, he continued a heavy program of addressing clubs, societies, conventions, and commencements. His appreciation of the humor to be found in the ordinary relations of life made his lecture on this subject a favorite. Five weeks before his death, he gave this lecture, for the last time, before the Traffic Women s Club of Chicago. He was an author as well as a lecturer and classroom teacher. His book on Humor and another on Civics had wide distribution. For many years, he was active in community affairs, being a Mason, an Elk, a member of the Library Board and a charter member of the Candle Light Club. Students who never knew him in person will remember him through the words of our Alma Mater which he wrote. 7