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

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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

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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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CLASS NINETEEN FIFTEEN The most rapid growth and the greatest develc)]Miient in the school liave taken place during Dr. Philips ' administration. To .speak of the school, its achievements and characteristics is but to enumerate the traits and qualities of its guiding genius, to whose executive ability, unflagging devotion, rare judgment and indomitable courage, the school owes more than any other person. With a jjower of effective and sustained work that almost surpasses comprehension, he unites an ecpiallv re- markable faculty of divining the needs of the future and an ability of so shaping in- fluences and circumstances as to effect their realization. In 1S78 the growth of the school made necessary an addition to the building, and in that year the north wing was constructed to meet the new demands. In 1882 more room was re(|uired and the south wing was added. Next followed, in 1S85, the laundry and museum. During the succeeding year, 1886-7, the Chapel, Dining Room and Sanitary Towers were built. In i8qo the Gymnasium was erected, to be followed in the next three years, in the order named, by the Principal ' s Residence, Infirmary, Recitation Hall, new kitchen and store room. In 181 ) acti ' e l)uilding operations were again made necessary and a handsome AIndel Schf)ol was erected. Nineteen hundred three witnessed the completion of the beautiful and commodious Library Building. A large central Power Plant and Laundry were added in 1905. Wayne Hall (Boys ' Dormitory), the Annex to the Girls ' Dormitory, and a new Kitclien, including store room, l)akery and serx-ants ' dining room, were completed in 191 1. These extensive Ijuilding operations made necessary the purchase of further building sites. Very early in the history of the school four acres were added to the north end of the original cam]nis. Tlie need of an Infirmary and . thletic Field was met by purchasing, in 1899, a tract of fi ' e acres southeast of the campus. In 1895 the large grounds of the Chester County . gricultural Society (Fair Grounds), lying west of the cam])us, was ])urchased, and christened W avne Field. . portion of the northern end of this was used for the erection of the power plant. L ' pon the central ]K)rtion a fine fjuarter-mile running track and base ball field were built, ad- joining which a spacious Grand Stand with dressing rooms was erected. The south- eastern part of this tract is now occupied by Wayne Hall. These additions of prop- erty now gi -e a school campus consisting of fort -eight acres, which has been taste- fully planted with trees and shrubs, forming a suitable setting for this notable group of green-stone buildings. . side from the many direct and obvious educational features there are number- less indirect, less apparent, but almost eqiiall - potent inlhiences which make for higher culture, and better manhood and womanhood. This school has l)een notable for the number of these valuable accessories to the intellectual and moral uplift of its students. . lmost everv student of the school becomes a member of one of the flourishing literary societies. The older of these, The Moore Literary Society, was organized within a very short time after the school was opened. The birth of the .Aryan So- 17