TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 17. 1959 Student Body Is 100 Years Old FIRST STUDENTS take time from work to pose for pictures. This picture discovered recently by an alumnus shows a group of students plowing in front of the completed wing of Old Main. T kink Try a By 80881 LEVINE Students of today are living lives of leisure according to rec ords showing the daily schedule back in 1859. Records in the show cases in the newest library display, “Penn State Opens as Farmers High Today's Paper To Set Record For Circulation Today’s special edition of The Daily Collegian will have the lar gest circulation of any student publication in the University's history—more than 19,000 copies. In addition to the 7000 copies ordinarily printed for students and paid subscribers, more than 12,000 extra copies are being dis tributed throughout the county by the Centre Daily Times as a ges ture of town-campus good will. Today’s Collegian has been de signed to celebrate the 100th anni versary of the student body and to promote greater understanding between students and the people of State College. Distribution of the paper as an insert in the Times was author ized by Eugene J. Reilly, that paper’s associate publisher and business manager, in the belief that townspeople would be inter ested in examining the student newspaper and reading material on the student body’s 100th anni versary. Old ibain, Earliest Building ; Still Serves Faculty, Students Today marks the beginning of Old Main’s second century of service to students. The trustees of the Farm er’s High School of Pennsyl vania contracted for the main building on May 12, 1856. They stipulated that the structure was to be built for $55,000. Work began on June 24. The first stones, quar ried on the school’s farm, were laid in the foundation on August 18. Numerous difficulties followed this early progress but they failed to keep the school from opening. The first students to enroll in the school arrived by stage on Feb. 16, 1859, exactly 100 years ago yester day. Old Main was the first and almost only building they saw. At that time, only the west wing and curtain were standing. These hous ed laboratories, class rooms and living quarters for the student^. Dr. Evan Pugh arrived’ In Oc- 8 O'Clocks Are Chem Class at School,” show students had to at tend 6 a.m. chemistry, recreation, political economics, rhetoric and composition classes or spend the time doing manual labor. Lists of the amount of labor a student put in in a day were carefully kept and tabulated and students received slips cer tifying performance of labor de tail assignments which helped determine their class standing. A letter from William P. Cot trell, a member of the first group of students admitted, described the type of labor done as: “load ing manure, cleaning stables, chop ping wood, picking, loading and hauling stones . . In this same letter, Cottrell described his room: “I have a fine room on the sec ond floor (of Old Main) which is well furnished. We have a double cottage bed, four chairs, a nice cherry table, bureau with a swing ing glass to it, a spittoon, match box, dust pan and brush, a fine closet, a pitcher and tumbler to drink out of . . There were no toilet accom modations in the building, and the only water supply was a cistern in the North Curtin area and a spring at the eastern end of the campus. The daily schedule of the jun ior class of the day ran: 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., chemistry; 9 a.m. to noon, manual work; noon to I p.m., dinner and recreation; 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., math and land survey; 2 to 3 p.m., botany; 3 p.m. to 4 p m., zoology; 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., moral philosophy; 5 p m. to 7 p.m. recreation; 7 p.m. to 9 p m., pray ers and declamations in Chapel; and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., study hours. A bell woke each student every morning. Everyone was required to attend morning chapel services, tober of the same year to assume the presidency of the school. He described Old Main as “a plain, substantial structure of limestone seated on a pleasant rise of ground.” Step-by-step the character of the building changed until a rebuilt Old Main arose on the site of the orig inal building. Most of the stone used in the reconstruction was again quarried on the campus. Today, after these series of face liftings, the completed building stands as a monument to the vision and foresight of these founders. Since the original building was planned to service 400 students, it is no longer fulfilling its early pur pose as dormitory-classroom-labor atory. Old Main has now become the scene of administrative activity for the University, President Eric A. Walker and his staff use it as official headquarters for a still growing population of 15,000 stu dents. THE DAILY COLLEGIAN STATE COLLEGE PENNSYLVANIA and rooms were inspected every morning after breakfast. Before dinner students were required to feed the stock, and evening chapel was compulsory every evening. A bell sounded “lights-out” at 10 p.m., and since each student was required to pay his own gas bill, lights went out at 10. In 1859, as today, students had Saturday afternoons free. Sun days, students were required to attend chapel services and were forbidden to visit each other’s [rooms or make noise. In one of his many letters to friends describing life at the school, Cottrell said he was here for his health and did not ex pect to graduate. In order to apply for admission i to the school, a would-be student', had to present evidence of good I moral character. Liquor, card playing, and the possession of cards on campus was forbidden. Students then, too, had to pay for their own text books which! were sold to them at “lowest! Philadelphia retail prices.” Eveni in 1859 they had something simi lar to the chemistry breakage ticket _ of today. A student was (Continued on page twenty-four) On 100th Anniversar Student-Town Aid Cited The 100th anniversary of the student body was celebrated yesterday with a renewed em phasis on the importance of good campus-town relations. All-University P r e s i dent Jay Feldstein presented a citation to Burgess Roy D. Anthony in rec ognition of 100 years of student town relations. President Eric A. Walker, writ ing for The Daily Collegian (see ■ page 12), called for greater un derstanding and cooperation be tween “town and gown” to meet problems posed by the Univer sity’s expansion program. In addi tion to performing his duties at the University, Walker has served as a borough councilman for a number of years. The student-town citation read, “Presented to the people of State College by the students of the Pennsylvania State University in recognition of 100 years as ‘Neigh bors Across the Street’, Feb. 16, 1859, to Feb. 16, 1959, and in the hope of mutual friendliness throughout future years.” Anthony said the citation will be displayed in a prominent place downtown. \ r Rough? 6 AM. 69 Students Started Work Feb. 17 # 1859 By BILL JAFFE The student body moves into its second century of existence today. It was 5:45 a.m. 100 years ago today when the first rising bell roused 69 teenage students to begin the educational pro gram of the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania. The first class was graduated! in December 1861 when 11 mem bers who enrolled in 1859 received their diplomas. j Although the University was’ chartered Feb. 22, 1855, it took the! [trustees and administrators four .years of hard work before they could open the doors to students.! The first student to register 1 ! was James S. Reed who en rolled on Feb. IB and completed i his work in 1862. He later be came a practicing physician in j Pennsylvania. The graduates of ’6l returned to the University in 1911 for their 50th anniversary reunion and at that time honorary degrees were conferred upon the entire class. John N. Banks, a member of the first class and later a member of the Board of Trustees, in re sponding to an address by Gen. James A. Beaver, president of the board, at the 50th anniversary re union said the class had no actual commencement exercise and their diplomas were sent home several weeks after they had graduated, "We came to the institution in its infancy when it required great care and attention to pro tect it from possible dangers. We return to find it has grown beyond our expectations—hav ing attained a high place among the leading institutions of learn ing in our land and attracting attention of nations of the world," Banks said. The University had no Dresi dent when it first began. Banks said, and Professor David Wilson jtook over the duties of an ad ministrator and friend of the stu- j dents. The nresiding officer was |William C. Waring, who acted as [general suoerintendent. The students came to the Farm jers’ Hi eh School bv stage coach (from either Spruce Creek or Lew jistown where the Pennsylvania (Railroad trains left them off. The students ate their meals in a small |one-room building on cairrous. iNothincr but farm lands could be iseen from the first buildings, 'Banks said. j The school was closed for va j (Continued on page four) —Colftgfan Photo by Bob Thompson 100 YEARS AS NEIGHBORS—AII-University President Jay Feld stein presents a citation to State College Burgess Roy D. Anthony in recognition of the 100th anniversary of student-fFtvn relations. PAGE THREE Grads Hold jTop Jobs iin Country By DENNY MALICK The end product of the Univer sity “factory”—its alumni—has been one of the best indications of Penn State’s increasing influ ence throughout the country. The alumni have spoken well for the University’s quality of graduates. Their positions include top jobs in industry, government and entertainment. Hershey Chocolate Corp., Corn ing Glass Co., National Can Corp., Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co, and Campbell Soup Co. are among the major national corporations head ed by “alumni. The Class of 1922 is one of the top classes as far as having distinguished members in the business world. Samuel F. Hin kle is president of the Hershey Chocolate Corp. and William C. Decker, holds the presidency of the Corning Glass Co. Another member of the class is Fred Waring, internationally known orchestra and choral direc tor. Two 1917 graduates hold top positions in industry. They are Robert W. Ostermayer, president of Pennsylvania Industrial Chem ical Corp., and Harvey B. Jordan, executive vice president of United States Steel Corp. Ostermayer has been qeneral chairman of the Alumni Fund fox several years. Van 11. Leichliter, Class of ’3O, is another U.S. Steel Corp. execu tive. He is president of the Amer ican Steel and Wire Division of the corporation. George H. Deike, Class of ’O3, has been very active in University affairs in addition to serving as chairman of the board of the Mine Safetv Appliances Co. Deike is a (Continued on page twenty-four)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers