Page Eight
Penn State First Founded
As Farmers' High School
(Continued front page one)
State College was passing through its
darkest days.
However, a new leader, the second
great president, Dr. George W. Ather
'ton, had been found, destined to serve
nearly a quarter of a century. He
received an institution of one building,
Ohl Main, completed in December,
1863, a massive but forbidding struc
ture, with a dark, almost prison-like
interim• ; a student body so depleted in
numbers that it scarcely exceeded the
faculty, and with a reputation and
name over the State (however unjust)
of an educational failure and not en
titled to the proceeds of the Land
Grant. With rare determination and
insight, he placed the work of the in
stitution squarely upon its charter,
won the people of the Commonwealth
to its support, found in Governor
James A. Beaver, a life-long friend
of the College, a tower of streng'M
and enthusiasm.
A revamping of Old Main was be
gun, over-crowded departments be . -
gan their exodus to new buildings.
The schools were organized in 189 G,
dormitories were erected, a University
Inn, and the first buildings by private
donors, the Carnegie Library and'
Schwab Auditorium. Agriculture be
gan its modern development with a
building program and expansion of
facilities under the aegis of The Al
lied Agricultural Societies in 1000.
Engineering owes its first adequate
housing to Governor Pattison who be
came a 'warm friend of Penn State
during his second administration;
- while most caustic in his denuncia=
Lions in his vetoes of the bills of 1883
and 1885.
Liberal studies were strengthened
W. R. Hosterman
ANNOUNCES
The removal of his business
to 116 McAllister Street in
the building formerly oc
cupied by Ruhl's Garage.
We will appreciate serving
you at our new location.
KNEW BARBER SHOP
Haircutting a Specialty
35c
Miller, Sensor and Snyder
Operators •
105 1 / 4 East Beaver Avenue
(Second Floor)
State College, Pa.
STUDENTS
Very Reasonable Rates
For Board
See Mrs. W. H. Kaufman
520 East College Avenue,
Before Making Other
Arrangements
All Home Cooking
and Baking
MR. FRESHMEN:
We Invite You to Dine With us at the
Campus Green Room
142 College Avenue Phone 734
To the.Studente of Penn State
We extend a hearty invitation and
welcome to inspect at any time our
always new and changing line of gifts.
The Blair Shop of Gifts
146 ALLEN STREET
College
Diner
departments of .physical education,
forestry, home economics, the calori
meter and research activities were
established, a Summer School and
Farmers' Institutes fostered. Dr.
Atherton left the institution firmly
I established in the hearts of the peo
ple of the Commonwealth as the
crown of the free public school sys-
I tem. an institution of nearly one
thousand students, thirty buildings,
nineteen four-year courses, and (with
surprisingly few omissions) all the
major lines of development of a mod
, ern State university, at least in em
bryo.
Thus the College groped its way
during the first quarter century. It
"found itself" under President Ather
ton during the second quarter cen
tury. Its rapid development has come
during the third quarter century, and
peculiarly so in the last five years.
iPresidents Sparks, Thomas and Het
!zel are three different types of execu
tives. Under Dr. Sparks the student
body grew almost phenomenally, pop
ularizing and extension activities were
'greatly increased, the Summer School
established on a new basis in 1910.
Comprehensive building plans were
outlined, and genuine additions to the
plant made. More adequate support
was provided in which the active co
operation of Governor Terser should
be noted. President Sparks bore a
huge burden during the Great War—
s burden which sapped his strength
to the breaking point, leading to his
retirement in 1020. Dr. Sparks hand
ed over to President John Martin
(Thomas an institution with 370 on the
Ifaculty and a resident student body
of 4,016.
The service of Dr. Thomas of four
years was marked by plans for a
greater Penn Stato, a better physical
plant; mode adequate legislative sup
port. The College campaign to raise
$2,000,000 for welfare buildings was
organized and vigbrously carried on.
The $2,000,000 bond issue was prc
posed although not realized since the
revenues of the State were assured
adequate to meet the new building
program.. Four permanent buildings
were erected and the School of Edu
cation and the Graduate School estab
lished.
September 24, 1926, Dr. Ralph Dorr.
Hetzel was called to the presidency
and a new Penn State began rapidly
to realize itself. An adequate campus
plan and the, following new buildings
which were dedicated as part of .the
Seventy-Fifth Celebration tell some
thing of the external story: Recrea
tion Hall,. Engineering Building, Min
eral Industries, Old Main, Feear and
!Grange Dormitories, Liberal Arts, and
Chemistry units, PoWer Plant, Bot
any Building, Hospital Service Build
ing, and other permanent units.
The inward history of change and
! development is even more significant.
A. new freedom to teach, a more lib
teral environment in, which to learn,
a continuous search for avenues of
service to the Commonwealth—these
are , some' o 9 ithe spiritual factors
whiCh are moulding a new and inner
Penn State while the campus is un
dergoing an, almost complete trans
formation.
VOCATIONAL ADVICE OFFERED
Guidance along vocational lines has
been offered for the past two yeari
to freshmen and other students by a
service in charge of Prof. Robert G.
Bernreuter, of the School of Educa
tion. This service will probably be
continued this year.
EAT - THE :DINER WAY
Cheerfully Served
College Historian
Dr. Erwin W. Runkle, who as
the College historian and professor
of philosophy, has spent a great deal
of time in recent years compiling a
history of the institution since its
founding seventy-eight years' ago.
College Catalogue
Describes Campus
Of 50. Years Ago
The Penn State campus of 1881-82,
with all its class rooms, laboratories,
the library, the chapel hall, and . nu
merous dormitories in Old Main, pre
sented a vastly different picture than
the campus of the present. A des
cription of the College at that time is
given by the College catalogue for
that year.
Tho catalogue or calendar was a
sixteen-page booklet, three by five and
P. quarter inches. The faculty consist
ed of thirteen men and two women,
headed by James A. McKee, M. A.,
Acting President. Miss Anna M.
Cooper, B. S. was "Lady Principal,"
while Miss Hattie I. Foster was "In
structor in Music."
In its description of the campus, the
calendar says that the main building
"contains the public rooms, such as
chapel, library, cabinets, laboratories,
class-rooms, and social halls, and a
large. number of dormitories . . . The
other buidings are professors' houses,
barns, engine-houses, etc."
At that time; the College provided
a bedstead, mattress, washstand, and
a chair for each student who roomed
in Old Main. However, all other ar
ticles such as bedding, , wash-bowl,
pitcher, mirror, and lamps had to be
furnished by the student himself.
' The College provided no boarding
facilities at that time, students being
obliged to eat in town. However,
meals were served at about half the
present rates, since schedules is the
bulletin show.
"'The College does not maintain a
boarding hall," the catalogue states,
"and most students depending on the
boarding houses in the vicinity, the
regular charge being $3 per week.
The College offers special facilities
to those who board themselves singly,
and also to the College Boarding club,
which supplies its members, now num
bering about twenty, with good board
ing at about $2 per week."
At that time, all students were re
quired to take military training three
times a week, but seniors and juniors
had to attend only half the classes as
signed to members of the two lower
classes. The uniform was made of
cadet gray cloth in a standard pat
tern.
The semester type of college year
was not in force fifty years ago. The
year was diidded into a fall session of
* sixteen weeks and winter and spring
sessions of twelve weeks each.
At that time, the College also main
tained a preparatory school for stu
dents coming front districts where
there were no advanced schools. In
this division, the student could select
a course either in general science or
one in the classics.
At the end of his sophomore year,
the student might continue in his
chosen course or enter one of four
"technical" courses. The curricula
which he might enter included agricul
ture, natural history, chemistry and
physics, and civil engineering.
-According to the catalogue, General
Science was probably the most pop
ular course, embracing German and
French, mathematics, and an outline.
of . , the natural and metaphysical
sciences. The Classical course com
bined the components . of an old-fasa
ioned "college course" with a large
amount of scientific knowledge and
practical training.
- The- predecessor of the modern win
ter courses in agriculture existed in
the -Farmers' Institute of 1882. This
was a series of lectures given during
a ten-day period in the month of Jan
uary.
TEE PENN STATE COLLEGIAN
2 HONOR SOCIETIES
REWARD FRESHMEN
. (Continued from intge one)
Members of all classes who have dem
onstrated their ability along literary
lines arc elected to membership.
Along musical lines, Kappa Gamma
Psi and Phi Mu Alpha, national pro
iessional and honorary societicA,
award membership for outstanding
achievement in. any' campus musical
organization. Among women stu
dents, the 'Louise Homer club is the
honorary musical group. In dra
matics, Theta Alpha Phi has as its
eligibility requirement the playing of
two major' or four minor roles in a
student production or the demonstra
tion of proficiency along some other
phase of dramatic art.
5 Groups in Agriculture
Five honorary or professoinal fra
ternities reward achievement in the
various curricula of the School of Ag
riculture. These include Gamma Sig
ma Delta, the honor society of agri-.
culture; Alpha Tau Alpha; agricul
tural education; Pi Alpha Xi, floricul
ture; Xi Sigma Pi, forestry; and Al
pha Phi Omega, scouting.
In the School of Chemistry and Phy
sics Phi Lambda Upsilon recognizes
high scholarship among men in the
chemistry curricula, while Sigma Pi
Sigma does the same for men and wo
men in physics. lota Sigma Pi is the
national women's honorary and pro
fessional .chemistry fraternity, and
Alpha Pi Mu is a local pre-medical
society open .to students preparing to
study medicine.,
.Kappa Delta :Pi and Kappa Phi
'Kappa, both national organizations,
'are the:chief honorariea in the School
'of Education. 'The. former is open to
both men and women in the two upper
Classes, while 'the latter restricts its
membership to upperclass men enroll
ed in the schbol. Psi Chi encourages
.scholaiship in psychology, and Omi
cron Nu honbrs . high standing junior
and senior women in the home eco
nomics curriculum.
Engineering Has 7 Groups
Seven honorary or professional
groups recognize achievement in the
School of Engineering. Tau Beta Pi
elects from the upper fifth of the jun
ior and seniors in the school. Sigma
Tau requires marked ability along tha
professional lines of its members and
First Students at College
Helped Complete Building
"Every college has a legend
In seventy-fiy,avears, Penn State
has gatheredqiihny..memories, record
ed in old volumes and dusty printS
for each 11.3 W class to read and won
.
What were freshmen like seventy
five
years ago? They had no cus
toms, no upperclassmen to look up to:
they had .little,• in fact, but classes.
and long hours. of work. The sixty-.
nine students who arrived at Penn
State as the .first freshmen class in
February, 1859, found Old Main in the I
process of construction, and to them
was delegated . the task of finishing
the building. .
The undergraduate of today would
look askance at - these pioneers. In
those early days when Penn State was
still the "Farmers' High School," stu
dents rose at 5 o'clock each morning, I
and began their study or work befo^c~
6 o'clock. Their classes lasted until
6 o'clock at night, and all lights were
out before 10 o'clock.
Freshmen: Treated Harshly
Old Main housed the entire College
in 1859, and until 1886, dormitories,
classrooms and administrative offices
alike were contained in the same
•structure.' , Even after that time stu
dent!: lived there for many years.
Around this ancient building, now
replaced by , a ,modern administrative
i building:, hover, many of the legends
which have passed on from class t , )
class. Battles between classes. and
'factions have become historic, and the
"Old Main rats," whose haunts were
in the upper stores, numbsr many
alumni still.„..
Many grey-haired will
, gentlemen
remember with' a sigh of regret th.
episode of. the, attic cave-in. Befor ,
prohibition, one student beer part
was rudely interrupted when the liquic
refreshment crashed to :the floor be
low. There was. a suicide window
Nerhood's Garage
West College Avenue
Efficient Repair Work on
All Makes of Cars
Phone 405
Quality .and Service
GOOD FOOD
Registers Freshmen
WILLIAM S. HOFFMAN
Pi Tau Sigma electi on a- basis of
mechhnical engineering ° ability'.; Chi
Epsilon promotes' scholarship ° among
the civil engineering' students,
° while
Eta Kappa. Nu encourages: electrical
engineering. Scarab is a professional
group of students :in . architecture as
is Pi Gamma Alpha in. fine arts: •
In the School of Liberal 'Arial:Pi
Gamma Mu is a national social science
honorary which elects juniors and' San
iors on the basis of scholastic records
in social science subjects.. Delta Sig
ma Pi is. a national professional So
ciety for students in the donainerce
and finance curriculum, while Pi
° Mu
Epsilon- encourages high scholarship
in mathematics, regardless of-school.
Pi Lambda Sigma- is the- local pre
legal society, and Phi Sigma lota is a
group for students interested and pro
ficient in the •romance languages and
literature.
High ranking students in the min
ing and geology curricula are eligible
for Sigma Gamma Epsilon, a national
professional fraternity.. Gamma , Al
pha Mu is a local honorary fraternity
whose memberahip is Milted 'Mem
b2rs of the gymnastic team.. To mary
of the students taking advanced-R.-0.
T. C. Scabbard and Blade, a national
group, offers membership; while Per
shing Rifles does the same for under
classmen proficient in military, drill.
too, out of which an English, instruc-.
for fell before breakfast one morning
in 1907.'
In early days "semester:, shirts"
were common; and .arrayed in these
rough flannel garments,' with corduroy
trousers, students considered ' their
wardrobe for the year complete.' .
There were less pleasant' moments
for freshmen who arrived shortly-:af,
ter the turn Of the century, than for
those of 1933. The Old Main bell
ringer could tell about •
"Believe- me, those - boys'.don't' Idiom
how easy they have it," he.said.', "In
1902 when the boys, came into-town
they were started off .with a bang.
No sooner had they stepped,froin the
drays that hauled them from Lemont,
but some rowdy sophomores got 'a
hold of them and made 'cm walk-the
chalk line."
"It wasn't anything for the freshies
to be greeted with a lot of Old toma
toes or eggs thrown at them."
Pleasanter memories surround the
banquets which- each class held, and
the scraps which surrounded their oc
currence with an added savor. To
Williamsport, to BsllefOnte, 'or some
other nearby town, t he classmates
would go, pursued by -other classes.
.
7 t T.
The INittany Lion
t STATE COLLEGE,
the Campus . FA.
We Welcome the Freshman to State . College
Visiiing families will find it pleasant •
•
and reasonable to stay at the Inn .
L. G. TREADWAY JOHN D. LEE
Mgr. Director Res.' Mgr.
Moderaelk Piiced
ORATORS ADDRESSED 2,600
:IN AUDIENCES LAST YEAR
—o—
from page Ono)
the form of a key, given by the Col
lege to 'any student who participates
in five intercollegiate debates in one
year.
'For the administration of debating
affair's, there is a Ferinsic 'Council
of nine' members appointed' by the
president of the senior class from stu
dents in the three upper classes. A
president of the group is elected and
holds membership in the Student
Council. The ^Forensic Council spon
sors the intramural debate contest and
aids in conducting the extemporane
ous speaking contest for which all
students are eligible.
911 ,
4-4 Cr olVr
-•
~` '~~~
Save the: ieces and we can
duplicate your glasses.
Many becoming styles of
mounting to select from
Various occasions call for
different styles of glasses
WE. WILL. AEWISE, .YOU
Mrs. Eva 13-Roatt
East College .4ventie
• , WELCOME: CLASS 01"
. .
• . • GET STARTED RIGHT
Keep • Your ClotheS'..Clenned and Pressed
• ' Follow the "gang" to •
BALFURD,
(Under the Cotner)
. .
We Eon for and Deliver. 1 Phone 811
KNOW YOUR CLEANER
Welconie Freihmanand'Upperclassmen
Meet and Eat'at the -
laocust Lane Sandwich Shop
BOARD AND ROOM
MEAL TICKETS—SS.SO for $5.00 -
FOUNTAIN SERVICE
All Our Pies, Cakes, Rolls, Baked Beans, •
Soups Are Home Made •
(We Are Located Near the Locust Lime Frriternity Section)
• •
Friday, September 8, 1933
THE HOME OF STYLE
AND QUALITY
' Society Brand
Braeburn
Hart Schaffner
. and Marx
SaXon-Weave
Campus Togs
Clothes
Arrow- and Mohawk
Shirts
Beau Brummel and
Superba Neckwear
STETSON AND DALTON
HATS
FLORSHEIM
NUNN-BUSH
FORTUNE AND
FRIENDLY SHOES
For Men
RED CROSS .
ENNA JETTICK
NATURAL-BRIDGE
- SELBY AND
MODERN MISS
SHOES
For Women
OFFICIAL
R.O.T.C.
ARMY I-lOES
FROMM'S
'Opposite Front Campus
• _
State
Diner