Wilmington College - Wilmingtonian Yearbook (Wilmington, OH)

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bottom center is the Holbrook Memorial, a building which never passed out of the proposal stages. Along College Street (extreme right) is the old grand- stand ond football field. In the back campus view, there is a track. Main Building has a bannister around the tower. The old tennis courts (near the grandstand) have since been removed. South Hall has no front porch. in the first class, that of 1875, and began service as a teacher of Latin, Greek, and English grammar. She was secretary of the faculty for many years and served under eight presidents. She taught her classes in the room which is now the office of Miss Sarah Castle, dean and registrar. Her chapel talks were always a source of inspiration and delight to col- lege students. She and her brother, J onathan, who taught science, together with President James Unthank, were the backbone of the college for many critical years. She served the college for over forty years, giving her life to its upbuilding. Teacher Ellen lived in the home at the corner of Fife Avenue and John Street, recently purchased by the College. There is no tangible memorial erected to the memory and service of this noble character. She gave substantially of her possessions to the college in that the two cottages near Denver Hall were her gifts. It is time that a memorial room be included in some of our new buildings, ney, aes.

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Studenis of 1949 may see in this picture something of what the Wilming- ton College of the past looked like. No Music Building is included in the drawing, just as Douglas Hall has been eliminated. The Library was not yet built. The several faculty apartments and men’s barracks are con- spicuous by their absence along Whittier Place and Douglas Street. In the dinner in the College gymnasium, at which President Clyde Milner, of Guilford College, and Dr. Marble were the speakers. There is a financial campaign being carried on at present to raise the funds for the erection of a much-needed college auditorium-chapel and more class rooms. It is too early to evaluate the work of Dr. Marble, as he has only begun. He is a man of dynamic personality and is able to place forcibly before the public the value and the needs of the college. Teacher Ellen Wright No history of Wilmington College would be complete without men- tion of the life and work of Teacher Ellen Wright. This lady was reared near Highland and came to Wilmington Col- lege in the days of the first president, Lewis Estes. She was graduated — oA

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wher e pictures and bronze tablets of our benefactors can be displayed. In Wilmington College’s hall of fame, the name of Teacher Ellen Wright should be placed first and highest. The Campus The Campus was originally the fair grounds for Clinton County and vicinity. The original site, seventeen and one-fourth acres, was pur- chased in 1866 by the Garvin brothers, and a short time later sixteen acres more were purchased from Thomas C. Morris. Unfortunately the early trustees sold off a considerable part of the campus for building lots, many of which have been repurchased by succeeding trustees. The campus has always been a grove with many trees. Only a few of the original trees remain. There were many oaks, beech, elm, and walnuts, most of which have fallen. The two oaks, one east of the library and the other in front of the president’s home on College Street, belong to the original flora. A major portion of the trees are soft maple, which have been set out from time to time. The double row of maples on the south side of the campus were planted by the students and faculty. Un- fortunately, in the beginning, there was not an overall plan for the loca- tion of buildings. Such a prospectus is now made but it will take many years to carry it to completion. The earlier campus had a fence built in front with a turnstile at the northwest walk leading to College Hall. The turnstile remained there for a time unused, serving as a relic of the past. There were fences on the southern half of the campus so that cows could be pastured. A group of indignant students once tore the fences down so that their campus could not be used as a cow pasture! The athletic field was located on the southwest section of the campus for many years. The field was rolling, with a gully through the middle, until the field was graded in 1910. There were many trees which were in the way of football and baseball. Occasionally a tree would be mys- teriously cut down, causing protest by the faculty and trustees. Wide gravel walks leading from Fife Avenue to College Hall and from the east door of College Hall to Twin Ash Hall served the pedestrians up to 1906, when cement walks were made. The college oval was surrounded by a narrow, muddy, gravel drive for many years, until it was widened and hard surfaced only a few years ago. The campus has a natural topog- raphy and flora which makes it one of the beauty spots in Ohio. College Hall The first and most important structure on the campus is the College Hall, which was erected by the founders in the period of 1866-1871. It was an incompleted building in the period of Franklin College, only the first floor being finished. In 1870-71, after the purchase by the Society of Friends, it was completed and remains much the same as the original structure with rearrangement of some rooms. The original building had a large auditorium on the third floor with a large stage, provided with dressing rooms on the west side and with a seating capacity of 750 people. This auditorium was used for special college chapels, college commence- ments, college plays, lecture courses and other public gatherings. It was pa,» He