Wartburg College - Fortress Yearbook (Waverly, IA)

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LATIN AND GREEK SENIOR CLASS OF 1915 As a result, Warlburg Normal College of Waverly was merged with Wartburg College at Clinton in 1933. In the same year Eureka Lutheran College, of Eureka, South Dakota, a former Synod of Iowa institution, was merged in St. Paul with St. Paul-Luther College, a former Joint Synod of Ohio school. Waverly, 1935- Two years later, in 1935, Wartburg College was moved to Waverly, and St. Paul-Luther College in effect merged with it. St. Paul-Luther College had been established as Luther Seminary at Afton, Minnesota, in 1885, by the Joint Synod of Ohio and other States. In 1893 a new campus site had been purchased near Lake Phalen in St. Paul, and the Seminary, with an enlarged curriculum, had been moved to this location. Later the preparatory department had been reorganized as an accredited academy and an accredited junior college. A conservatory of music had been established in 1924, and in 1927 the school had become co-educational. In the same year Luther Seminary had been granted a new charter and the name had been changed to St. Paul-Luther College. Last Spring Hebron Junior College, of Hebron, Nebraska, a former Joint Synod of Ohio institution, closed its doors and trans- ferred its scholastic records to Wartburg Col- lege also. The present Wartburg College, then, represents the merger and continuation of six educational institutions — Wartburg College, 1868; Wartburg Normal College, 1878; St. Paul- Luther College, 1885; Martin Luther Academy, 1909; Eureka Lutheran College, 1910; and Hebron Junior College, 1911. The scholastic records of all these institutions are kept in the office of the registrar of Wartburg College. ANNIVERSARY f f Page 7

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College building was erected there at a cost of $45,913.50. In 1907 the generosity of a citizen of Clinton, Mrs. Emma Lamb, and the untiring solicitations of President Kraushaar made possible the erection of a gymnasium. A modern dormitory, the Cotta Haus, was erected in 1922-23. In the same year a central heating plant was added to the building complex. During its Clinton period of forty years Wartburg College was served by four presidents — the Rev. F. Richter, D.D., 1894-1900,- Prof. Otto Kraushaar, 1900-1907, the Rev. J. Fritschel, D.D., 1907-1919,- and the Rev. O. L. Proehl, 1919-1935. Synod had declared in 1893 and again in 1904 that Wartburg College was to be not merely a pre-theological institution but a liberal arts college giving special emphasis to pre-theological training. The transformation of Wartburg College from the one type of institution to the other was a very slow process, and was not achieved until the end of the third decade of our century. The freshman and sophomore years were accredited in 1928 and the two others in due time. No steps were taken, however, to raise an adequate endowment fund or to finance an adequate building program, and for two reasons. Since 1894, when Wartburg College had been moved to Clinton, the Teachers ' Seminary at Waverly had, under the leadership of President Aug. Engelbrecht, developed into an accred- ited junior college, with normal and also abbreviated pre-theological training . Various buildings had been erected on the Waverly campus. Besides, other academies and junior colleges had been established by the Church to serve out- lying districts more adequately. Eventually a program of retrenchment had been instituted, because it was felt that the Church could not properly maintain and develop all these educational institutions. Already in 1924 the Martin Luther Academy of Sterling, Nebraska, had been merged with Wartburg Normal College at Waverly. The question of again combining the Clinton and Waverly institutions gradually came to the fore. The issue was affected also by the contemplated and eventually consummated merger of the Synod of Iowa with the Joint Synod of Ohio and the Buffalo Synod. The opinion prevailed that the American Lutheran Church had too many educa- tional institutions. Page 6

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Many boys have left us during the past months. For each of these boys we have the warmest feelings of respect and loyalty. The call to the colors, however, is not limited entirely to these gallant fighting men. Wartburg has exemplified this fact in many ways. Our V programs bring technical training for the armed forces within our walls. Our bond drives give moral and financial support to our government. Our pre-theologians are patriotic- ally engaged in preparation to meet the spiritual needs of our country now and later. Our war information center and special programs keep us abreast of history in the making. Our active participation in civilian defense projects has made us a part of the home front. Here at Wartburg we realize that each of us must assume his place in the war effort. TOWARD THIS GREAT ENDEAVOR WE DEDICATE THIS DIAMOND .lUBILEE FORTRESS. Page 8