West Chester University - Serpentine Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

Page 24 text:

THE SERPENTINE Friends ' Meeting, of which she is a member, and these stories are now being pub- lished in Scatfcrcci Seeds, a monthly journal of the Friends. Last Christmas time she wrote a little poem, and this, inscribed on cards, was sent out by Dr. and Mrs. Ehinger as a Christmas greeting to their many friends. Dr. and Mrs. Ehinger were married in 1883, at Quincy, but the first two years of their married life were spent in Chicago, where the doctor was at that time prac- ticing medicine. In 1885, however, they returned to Quincy, where for some years Dr. Ehinger continued his work. Finally, thru some friends, he became much interested in the subject of physical training, and growing more and more con- vinced that it was a more hopeful and helpful task to educate people towards the prevention of disease rather tlian to try to cure them when they fell a prey to it, he determined to fit himself for the teaching of gymnastics. Mrs. Ehinger likewise, after pondering much over the matter, concluded to prepare herself for the same work. Accordingly they went for tliis purpose to the Brooklyn Normal School of Gymnastics and studied there under Dr. Anderson. Dr. Anderson ' s school was later moved to New Haven, Conn., and is now very widely known as the New Haven Normal School of Gymnastics. It was at Brooklyn, however, that Dr. Phil- ips, who was looking for some one to take charge of the work of physical culture at the West Chester State Normal School, met Dr. and Mrs. Ehinger, and he very soon engaged them both to fill the positions which for so long and so efficiently they have held. Upon first coming to West Chester they occupied the rooms which Professor and Mrs. Starkey now have. Here they remained for five years, and then re- moved to the house just across the campus, where Miss Martin now lives. In was in that house, in 1898, that their only child was born, and it was there also that the greatest grief of their lives came to them in the death of their little one when only two months old. In 1907, they built their present beautiful home, which was begun in the spring, but it was not until fall that they were able to take possession of it. How- e er, the day when they moved in was doubly a red letter day to them, since they took the first meal in the new home on the twenty-fourth anniversary of their mar- riage. But the loss of their child had left their hearts not only very empty, but also very loving towards all children, and a great desire to be of help to them, and so in 1903 they adopted a little girl, who has been in all respects as their own daugh- ter, and she has well repaid their tender love and care. In her long ' connection with the school, Mrs. Ehinger has made it her duty, as well as her delight, to do all she can to help the girls under her care, for she dearly loves girls, and in her yearly spring talks to the Senior girls she has led many of them to a new view of the more serious duties of womanhood. Often do her girls w rite to her asking for advice and counsel, and many are the expressions of appre- ciation of her faithful work. The dedication of the Class Book of 191 5 to Dr. and Mrs. Ehinger. in recogni- tion of the completion of their twenty-five years of work here, is indeed a fitting trib- ute to their high character, great efificiency, and faithful service, and we trust that their relations with the school may remain unbroken for many years to come. 14

Page 23 text:

CLASS NINETEEN FIFTEEN ftlJ.fhinflpr. J iiogfatiljifal $Mt } by lf.ffl.lftldtotn. |LLA M. long, Mrs. C. E. Ehinger, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but while she was quite a child her parents removed from St. Louis to Quincy, Illincjis, and in this latter place she grew to womanhood. Thoug-h they lived in the West her parents were of good old New England stock, for her father was a native of New Hampshire, and her mother ' s birthplace was in Connec- ticut. Like many other ambitious young people of their time, the lure of the West called them, and leaving their own kindred and their father ' s house, they jour- neyed to that land of promise and of possibility, and there in due time the subject of this sketch opened her eyes upon this world. Her girlhood in Ouincy was a very happy one, and she looks liack with much pleasure to the many bright and joyous days she jjassed there, and still cherishes a deep love for the Mississippi River, upon whose banks and on whose waters she spent many a delightful hour in bygone days. On the wall of her living room there hangs a beautiful water-color i)ainting, her own handiwurk, representing a scene on her ever-loved Mississippi. Mrs. Ehinger was educated in the public schools of Ouincy, and though she was not graduated from the High School, yet in her Junior year she did much Sen- ior work. Considerations of health forljade her graduation, for while she was never really ill, she was at no time very robust. After leaving school she studied music and painting, and became especially proficient in work in water colors and in pastel. She worked at her art very assiduously for some years, as the numerous sketches in her home show, Init for a long time the multiplicit - of her activi- ties, home, school, and social, has precluded any inludgence in this favorite avoca- tion. In her early life at home she assisted her father, who was a jihotographer, in crayon portrait work, and with the money thus earned bought her first piano, an achievement which she regards with much pride. Reading is one of Mrs. Ehinger ' s favorite occupations, and from time to time she writes both in ])rose and in verse. Some years ago she pre])ared a little mono- graph iin instruction in cra ' on work, which was published in pamphlet form, and a copy of which is now in the School Lil)rary. l ' or the past four or five years she has written exery month a story for the i ' irst-day School of the High Street 13

Page 25 text:

CLASS NINETEEN FIFTEEN ulhf Upat (El tstn BinU Normal S tl aal HE history of a great public institution never lacl s interesting and sug- gestive features, but there are always a few that stand out prominently because they mark epochs in the growth and development of its life and progress. The school year including the closing portion of 19 13 and the beginning of 19 14 will always be looked back upon as a memorable one, because it was the beginning of a new era in the annals of the school. It was both natural and fitting that the West Chester Normal School should become the first tnic State Normal School in Pennsylvania. On the 30th of December, 1914, the Commiinwealth consummated the purchase of all the property held by the cor- poration known as the State Normal School of the First District, and it l ecanie a State Normal in fact as well as name. Important and significant as was this transfer of the largest and most prosper- ous educational institution of its kind in the State, from the commercial standpoint, it assumed a far greater importance 1)ecause of the bearings on the orgaiu ' zation and future policy of its Board of Trustees. In the stirring events of this year may be found another example of what has often proved true in the past, namely : that from seeing misfortune and impending disaster may come glorious victory and augmented life. Nothing in the history of the school has so unified the interests and aims of the alumni and student body as the troubles which preceded the [jurchase of the school by the State. It seemed as though its hundreds of students, past and present, but awaited a proper ojiportunity for demonstrating their fullest loyalty and lo -e for their Alma Mater. It is such an occasion as this which creates and strengthens what is known as school spirit. without which no educational institution can possibly prosper. And so it has come about that because of this crisis the school stands to-day on a firmer foundation and looks forward with brighter prospects than ever before. The spirit of the occasion was reflected in, anfl will be perpetuated b -. the api ointment of twt) members of the Alumni on the Board of Trustees. The old Board consisted of eighteen members, nine of whom were elected to represent the Stockholders, and nine appointed by the State Board of Education to represent the interests of the State. Under the new ])lan there are but nine mem- bers on the Board, all appointed by the State Board of Education, each serving a term of three years. Meml ers must live in the district, and it is the policy of the Board to have each countv represented. Iri the present Board Bucks county is rep- resented bv Hugh B. Eastlnirn : Delaware county l)y Dr. Harry Saylor, ' 96; Mont- gomery county by Franklin B. Wonsetler, ' 84. The remaining members are all from 1 =