Wilmington College - Wilmingtonian Yearbook (Wilmington, OH)

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physical plant and improving its appearance. The following additions and changes were made in the physical plant: The campus was improved in appearance by trimming the trees and removing many unnecessary ones. Twin Ash dormitory was remodeled and a third story added; Douglas Hall was purchased; Kathryn Denver Memorial Hall was built; the third floor auditorium of College Hall was made into its present form; the old study room was equipped with opera seats for chapel; the music building was pur- chased from Samuel Glass; the Yearly Meet- ing Auditorium was made into a gymnasium; Wright Cottage and the house next to it were given to the college by Ellen Wright; the three small houses to the south of South Hall on Whittier Place were purchased; the property at the southwest corner of Douglas Street and Whittier Place were purchased; the property at the southwest corner of Douglas Street and Whittier Place (now the home of Coach Shelly) together with two acres of land—now the athletic field—were purchased from Jacob G. Hunt; eight acres of land on which the Industrial Arts building is located were purchased from Domino Griffin; and the former frame gymnasium near College Hall was removed. It was in 1917 that Lebanon National Normal University was merged with Wilmington College. All the records of that school were brought to the latter school and have since been administered by Wilmington for the benefit of Lebanon students. No property except a few mounted birds and some books were received from that school. The merger of this normal school, together with new state laws which required more prepara- tion for teachers, caused an increased emphasis to be placed on teacher training. The summer school, which had an enrollment of 62 in 1914, had an attendance of 546 in 1927. President Jay purchased and remodeled a house on the corner of Ludovic Street and Fife Avenue and lived there until he purchased the large white brick building on Rombach Avenue, now known as Jay Hall. President Jay’s son, Howard, was graduated from the College. President Jay was a man of vision and purpose and did much for the college in his twelve years of service. | Henry G. Williams Eighth President, 1927-28 Henry G. Williams, a graduate of Lebanon National Normal Univer- sity and former Dean of Education at the Ohio University, came to the presidency in the summer of 1927. His ambition was to effect a per- panent and lasting merger between Wilmington College and Lebanon Na- tional Normal University. This he proposed to do by erecting a Holbrook Memorial on our. campus. Architectural plans were drawn up and the work laid for raising $150,000 for the building, but his untimely death in

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sity was at that time on the semester system, and that, being the institution to which many of our students transfer, caused the faculty to decide on the semester plan. Ohio State later adopted | | the quarter plan. : | The Home Economics department and the Department of Education were first introduced by Samuel Hodgin. A summer session with 62 students was held in 1914. Dr. O. J. Thatch- er, a member of the college faculty, was a member of the Ohio Legislature at that time and was instrumental in getting Wilmington College approved for teacher training. Wil- mington was one of the first colleges in the state to receive this privilege. The two joint boards of the college, the Board of Managers and the Board of Trustees, were merged into a single Board of Trustees of nine members. A new charter was received by the college in 1914 changing the manage- ment of the college from Center, Miami, and Fairfield Quarterly meetings to that of the Wilmington Yearly Meeting, which had been organized snice 1892. President Hodgin started the idea of a Living Endowment in 1914, in which he had individuals pledge the interest on a given sum of money, rather than give the full amount of the principal sum. He left too soon afterward to give the plan a fair trial. This plan was later used suc- cessfully by Dr. S. A. Watson. ' The construction during this administration consisted of equipping a laboratory for the Home Economics Department, in the basement. of Bailey Hall and the addition of a cement veranda to Twin, Ash. Samuel Hodgin resided on North Lincoln Street. In the spring of 1915, he resigned to:take.over the management of a southern agency for the Farquhar Furnace Company. =| a J.‘ Edwin’ Jay Seventh President, 1915-1927 To succeed Samuel Hodgin, Edgar Lewellen, a prominent educator of Indiana, was employed. He came to commencement, was announced as president, but asked for one year of time to finish his contract as a school superintendent. John Edwin Jay was employed as acting president and field secretary for this period. Mr. Lewellen decided to remain in public school service, and Mr. Jay was made president with full authority in 1916. President Jay was a graduate of Earlham College and Yale University and was a former professor in Guilford College, North Carolina. The ad- ministration of President Jay was a fruitful one, with the college rising to a new level. He conducted two successful financial campaigns, one in 1917 and the other in 1923, which raised the endowment from $80,000 to $231,000. He possessed a rare ability for remodeling old structures and erect- ing new ones. He has an outstanding record for increasing the size of the oy fs

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June, 1928, put an end to the project. Dr. Williams was a man of dynamic personality and was much in demand as a public speaker. As owner and editor of the magazine, THE OHIO TEACH- ER, he was well versed in the methods of pub- licity and able to place the value of college effectively before the public. This magazine, on his death, issued a special edition praising the state-wide work of its capable editor. Dr. Williams’ funeral was held in the College gym- nasium. “Tt is not sufficient to say of this man— that he was a good man; he was more than that—he was a most useful citizen, endowed with great capabilities which he employed to the fullest for the advancement of the cause of education and good citizenship in our State.” This is an excerpt from the June, 1928, issue of THE OHIO TEACHER. Beverly O. Skinner Ninth President, 1928-1931 Beverly Oden Skinner, graduate of the University of Chicago and Ohio University and superintendent of the Marietta Schools, came as president of Wilmington College in the fall of 1928. President Skinner’s ambition was to raise the standards of Wilmington College to meet the requirements of accrediting agencies. To achieve this goal he carried out two finan- cial campaigns. The first campaign in 1929 was for a $100,000 sustaining fund, which was successfully completed, having been headed by him personally and assisted by his faculty and Board of Trustees. The second campaign in 1930, for $500,000 endowment, was not suc- cessful because of the national financial crash which came in full force at that time. President Skinner lived at..Peterson Place. He resigned in 1931 to accept the appointment of Director of Education for the State of Ohio. During the period that intervened between the leaving of President Skinner and the coming of his successor (1931-1932), Dr. O. F. Boyd, of the Department of Chem- istry, served as acting president for the school. Dr. Walter L. Collins Tenth President, 1932-1940 Dr. Walter L. Collins, graduate of Lebanon National Normal Univer- sity, Wilmington College, and the University of Cincinnati, and supervisor of graduate training in the University of Cincinnati, took over presidential duties in the summer of 1932. Dr. Collins came to the college during the Biot