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

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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 =

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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

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THE SERPENTINE Chester county, except George Henderson, who is from Philadelphia. With the Board thus constituted it is easy to obtain a quorum at their meetings and to have the majority of the members personally acquainted with the direct interests and needs of the school. From the time when Ezekiel H. Cook was made the first Principal, in 187 1, presiding over a property and equipment valued at ninety-one thousand dollars, and with an enrollment of 170 students, to the year 191 5, with Dr. G. M. Philips the Chief E.xecutive, a property valued at nearly a million dollars, and an enrollment of almost one thousand students, the school has had a steady growth, due to the wise administration of able Trustees, and intelligent and devoted Executives. Not a little of its success is doubtless due to the fact that the school was situated in a community that fa ' ored higher education, at a time when any thing more than an elementary education was the e.xception. This institution was the outgrowth of. and successor to, one of the leading ac- ademies which gave educational distinction to this community. The West Qi es- ter A cadem v, an institution incorporated for the education of youth in the English and other languages, in the useful . rts, Sciences and Literature, dated back to March 27th i8i2. In 1 869 its B oard o f Trustees voted to sell the property and terminate its long and prosperous career in order that they miglit found a new insti- tution l etter suited to the needs of the times. The proceeds of this sale, amounting to twenty-nine thousand dollars, subscriptions from the citizens of West Chester and vicinity aggregating forty-two thousand dollars, an appropriation from the State of fifteen thousand dollars, and a loan of twenty thousand dollars, constituted the neu- cleus of the proposed new Normal School. In 1870, a portion of this fund was used for the purchase of a tract of ten acres in the southern part of the borough. This land was the property of Hon. Wayne MacVeagh. Upon this site the original building, comprising the central portion of what is now known as the main buildiajg, was erected and opened its doors for the enrollment of students ( n the 25th of September, 1871. Prof. Cook, the first Principal, served the school but one year, and was suc- ceeded by Dr. William A. Chandler, who remained less than one year. In 1873 Professor George L. Maris, of West Chester, was elected to the Principalship, and ably guided the affairs of the school for eight years, when he retired to accept a pro- fessorship at Swarthmore College. Dr. George Morris Philips, the incumbent, was made Principal in 1881, and has filled the office with rare skill since. Graduating from Lewisburg University, now Bucknell University, in 1871, Dr. Philips began his teaching career as Pro- fessor of Mathematics in Monongahela College, in ' estern Pennsylvania: this posi- tion he filled for two years, when he resigned to accept a similar position at this school. In 1878 he left West Chester to become Professor of Mathematics and As- tronomy at his Alma Mater. Upon Prof. Maris resignation in 1881, Dr. Philips was recalled to the Normal School to act as its head. 16