Wartburg College - Fortress Yearbook (Waverly, IA)

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c ( ( + when in 1920 they presented, for the use of the institution, the Wartburg Gymnasium and Auditorium. Without this building the activities of Wartburg would be harmfully restricted. It was in this same year that a fourth branch, the Junior College department, was added to the school. This course is to provide an opportunity for students to secure the first two years of college work under religious guidance and influence. It is to guide young men and women through the dangerous period of transition from high school and academy into college and university life. Since class room again was becoming inadequate, a portable building was erected in 1921, in which some of the larger classes meet. Recitation periods in this building merely foster the dreams of the new administration building. 4 Thus we behold Wartburg as it is today. In addition to the four chief branches that have been noted in the course of the development; namely, the Academic, Com¬ mercial, Proseminary and Junior College, we find also the Music Department as a separate branch of the school. Besides offering an education in any of these five courses equal to that of state schools, Wartburg offers a religious education. The problems of life and the demands of the day are met and solved from the viewpoint of a Christian. During these forty-six years of development, four directors have served the institution; namely, Director Grossmann, Director Lutz, Director Bergstraesser and the present Director Engelbreclit. The successes of the school can certainly, to a great extent, be credited to the sacrificing and faithful service of these men. Instead of the one and two professors of the first year’s existence, we now find an able faculty of eighteen members. Organizations and publications of the students, under the direction and with the help of members of the faculty, render various interesting and instructive entertainments during the school year, thus also drawing the attention of other people to the work and ideals of this school. Everyone interested in Wartburg is with anxious anticipation looking forward to the completion of the new administration building. This will not only enable Wartburg to carry on its present work in a more satisfactory manner, but will also foster a continued growth of the institution. Above all,however, it forms the flower of a sound, thriving plant, crediting the work done in the past and urging a continuance of efforts for the welfare of Wartburg. % -♦-— Wartburg’s Song There’s a grand old institution, With memories so dear, It fills our heart with gladness, 01d Wartburg without peer! Tho’ time has left its traces On books and seats and halls, It ne’er can banish knowledge We gained within those walls. Chorus: Then be up and cheer for Wartburg, Her colors we’ll defend, Fotf her sons are staunch and sturdy, And faithful to the end. Many years of earnest study, ’Mid scenes we love so well, And the pranks and plots of co-eds, Or the words we fain would spell. The victories in baseball, The literary night, Oh, these were times of gladness, At Wartburg, our delight. When the years have dimmed our eyesight, And streaked our locks with gray, If our fondest hopes have failed us, Or cares obstruct the way, Then memories of Wartburg, And dreams of former years, Will banish all our sadness And fill our hearts with cheer. [Page Seven] a

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History of Our School The bud of a thriving and prosperous plant is unfolding. In our imagination we can already see, as the flower, the new administration building, as it will adorn Wart- burg’s campus in a very short time. This marks but another mile-stone in the growth and development of Wartburg. The very germ of the present Wartburg Normal College we find in the Orphan’s Home at Andrew, Iowa, when in 1879 Director Grossmann privately instructed several students there. Seeing the possibilities pf this little sprout, the authorities in the same year transplanted it to Waverly, Iowa, its present location. At this time it also received the name Wartburg Teachers’ Seminary, which it retained for many years. A rented house on South Water Street was the first home of this newly formed organization. Very soon, however, it was moved into the old Cedar Valley Hotel, near the Illinois Central tracks. This also was only a temporary home. In the following fall, after having donated much work and time to the cause, the thirteen students en¬ rolled were permitted to enter a permanent home, the present Old Main. At the time it was certainly a wonderful building, and well could these few students be proud to live in it. It has faithfully served the institution all these years and will stand as a memorial of Wartburg’s past when it must be abandoned for the new. Besides pro¬ viding the home and classrooms for the students, Old Main housed the two professors, Director Grossmann and Professor Eichner, and their families. In 1885 a branch, as it were, was grafted onto the stock of this growing plant, when the College department from Mendota, Ill., was moved to Waverly. Realizing the need for more room, because of the increased enrollment, a friend of the synod erected a building, half of the present North Hall, which was used as kitchen, dining hall, quarters for two professors, and classrooms. Since, however, space was still inadequate, the College department was again removed to Clinton, in 1894, and per¬ mitted to enter the new building erected there for it. This change left Wartburg with but seven students and one teacher. Director Lutz was called in this same year and the enrollment again increased to twenty-five, including those enrolled in the evening class. It is at this time that the two permanent branches, the academic and commercial departments, were formed. In 1905 we find a third definite branch taking form, when the Proseminary Department was added to this institution. This has grown to be one of the strong branches of the school. It serves to prepare young men for entrance into the Seminary at Dubuque. In 1907 the institution became coeducational, thus giving women as well as men an opportunity to secure a religious training. It was as a result of this action in the following years that lady Lutheran parochial school teachers were provided. The following figures show the gradual, yet steady increase in its enrollment: 1884. 7 1910. 86 1920.241 1900.60 1915.158 1925.262 In order to meet the demands of this increase, new buildings were erected and old ones enlarged. In 1910 North Hall had to be enlarged to its present size The second floor was used as a dormitory for boys. In 1913 the girls were permitted te enter the beautiful new Wartburg Hall. Up to this time they had roomed and boardM at various private homes in the neighborhood. In 1910 a house intended as a profeset i residence was erected. It was, however, then, as at present, used to accommodate commercial department of the school. In 1919 the boys were permitted to leavs their “nigger heaven” in Old Main and their quarters in North Hall and move into the new dormitory, Grossmann Hall. The loyalty of the Alumni to their Alma Mater was sfcewiif

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