Wittenberg University - Witt Yearbook (Springfield, OH)

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Q)ay or night, with moon or sun arising, shadows creeping through the campus, flicking morsels off the leaves, that fall in showers like dew drops, glimmering o’er the eartluj tinted carpet that spreads so greenly o’er the valleys, that shimmers silvery in the sunlight, that seems so mystical in the dew time, that calls for couples to slowly amble, to walk silently under the verdure, that makes men and women falter, slow to go to sordid classes. The CAMPUS

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Over the Campus In Davjs Gone Bcj RECITATION HALL Was the second building on the campus. At the present time it holds half of the daily classes and the college offices, tot. WITTKXB ERG COLLEGE had a date as a forerunner to tell of its coming and that was May 12, 1812. the birthday of Rev. Ezra Keller. After the Rev. Keller was graduated from Gettysburg, Pa„ college, he came to the re- gion of Ohio. Indiana, and Illinois as an itinerant missionary. The synodical conference of the Lutheran church held in Washington. Guernsey county. Ohio, in 1842. passed a resolution which provided for the establishment of a Lutheran educational institution in the state. On March 11. 1845. the state of Ohio granted a charter for a college which was to he named after Wittenberg in Germany. So over the hills on a long and tedious journey came the itinerant mis- sionary to Ohio from his Pennsylvania home. With him he brought an old trunk and a walking stick which are now in the possession of the college along with an old diary, the chronicle of Dr. Keller's early experiences. Dr. Keller had wandered almost to Indiana when he reached Springfield, and. journeying a mile farther, he sighted a hill covered with trees, elm, ash. sycamore, and ironwood. So much was he taken with the sight that he immediately resolved that here the memorial to his religious sect would be built. Work was begun at once. Six students attended the first classes which were held in the First Lutheran church. Days were very trying for Wittenberg's only professor, loyal and true though lie was, but he kept on patiently with a vision that some day this Wittenberg would be a great school where students would come from afar. By virtue of his efforts Dr. Keller lived that motto, never to be forgotten by her followers, “Having light we pass it on to others.” The construction of the college building, now the central portion of Myers Hall, begun in 1846, was completed two years later. In 1847, the Freshman and Sophomore classes were organized and a professor was added to the ad- ministrative board. The whole campus was a dense forest and there was no direct road to the college. To go to and from Springfield was like picking one's way through dense undergrowth. The nearest road to the col- lege was what is now Limestone street, with a crude bridge spanning Buck creek. A little later on college authorities saw the necessity for a shorter road from the college to the village and with the help of residents built the first bridge over the creek at Fountain avenue. Years after it was replaced by the first iron bridge in this section of the country. Walks to the city were made by students who were com- pelled by the state to work two days without pay each year. In 1852. the students built a foot bridge across Buck creek. City authorities took a notion that it was unsafe, and Dr. I!. F. Prince, having traversed it once while going to town, found it missing on his return. Bridges at that time were so narrow that it was necessary for the male escort to jump off and wade in the water to help the girls across. Dr. Prince says. In 1848, literary societies were started as one of Wittenberg’s outstanding activities. Much enmity there was between them. too. Every Wednesday afternoon these societies met instead of going to school, for. as Dr. Keller said, they were worth as much to the students as two days of study. In 1849. the first college catalogue was published. No student was allowed to matriculate until he was sixteen years of age, the catalogue stated. Two public examinations were given each year and reports were made to parents of the students in regard to their behavior, diligence, and scholarship. Commence- ment day was the third Wednesday in August, and the school session was held between October 7. and the third Wednesday in March. In 1874 it was decided to admit girls to Wittenberg College as well as men, and in 1879. Miss Ella f 1927 WITTENBERG F. R 1 I Page Nine J