FULL AND RICH MEASURE 100 years of Educating Women at Agnes Scott College, 1889-1989 by M. Lee Sayrs and Christine S. Cozzens "Colleges and universities play a major role in helping to shape values. Agnes Scott has traditionally found ways not only to provide the best possible education for women, but also to emphasize things like honor, spiritual growth and personal values. I think Agnes Scott is a special school because the College teaches the traditional values and encourages women to get involved in issues, to work for their beliefs, and to stand up for the things that are important to them / have been trying for years to get people involved, and when I came to Agnes Scott s community service fair, I saw how much the women in this College are doing. That was exciting!" Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Distinguished Lecturer at Agnes Scott College and recipient of the College's Centennial Award of Distinction "The student who comes through Agnes Scott is one of the brightest, and her education ranks among the best. She is smart, resilient, special. It is no accident that Agnes Scott is one of the preeminent women 's colleges in this country. The institution has sustained its dedication to the highest academic standards for 100 years. In our time, the promise of the college is ours to keep." Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. Trustee and former chairperson and recipient of the College's Centennial Award of Distinction Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/fullrichmeasure100chri FULL AND RICH MEASURE 100 years of Educating Women at Agnes Scott College, 1889-1989 bvM. Lee Sqyrs and Christine S. Cozzens Copyright e 1990 by Agnes Scott College Publishing Services: Susan Hunter Publishing. Inc. Atlanta Georgia Design: Barbara Holcombe Front cover photograph courtesy of Flip Chalfont. Back cover photograph courtesy of Flip Chalfont. Manufactured in the United States of America ONTENTS CHAPTER ONE A SCHOOL OF HIGH CHARACTER. The Founding of A gnes Scott College / CHAPTER TWO WHEN MIND SPARKED MIND: The A cademic Life 13 CHAPTER THREE BEYOND THE COLLEGE GA TES: A gnes Scott College in the Community and in the \\ orld 29 CHAPTER FOUR A FINE SPIRIT: Organizations, Clubs, and Traditions 41 CHAPTER FIVE COMMUNITY OF COOPERATION: Life on Campus 57 CHAPTER SIX VISIONS FOR THE FUTURE: Agnes Scott College at 100 77 GNES SCOTT COLLEGE TIMELINE, 1889-1989 1889 Decatur Female Seminary founded 1890 School renamed Agnes Scott Institute 1891 Agnes Scott Hall ("Main") built Christian Band founded with emphasis on Christian missions Mnemosynean Literary Society founded 1897 Agnes Scott Institute accredited as a secondary school Aurora first published 1898 Dr. Howard Arbuckle joined faculty as first Ph.D. Propylean Literary Society founded 1902 Silhouette first published 1903 George Washington Scott died Samuel M. Inman chaired the Board of Trustees A gymnasium and classroom building added 1905 Rebekah Scott Hall built Christian Band reorganized as YWCA chapter 1906 Agnes Scott Institute renamed Agnes Scott College First Bachelor of Arts degree awarded Student Government Association organized 1907 Athletic Association founded Agnes Scott College accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. First college or university in Georgia to gain accreditation 1908 Glee Club founded Investiture observed for first time 1909 First successful financial campaign launched Typhoid epidemic erupted. The well housed in original gazebo was capped. 1910 Carnegie Library built 1911 Inman Hall and Lowry Science Hall built Home Economics course added 1913 First public Investiture Little Girls' Day initiated 1914 J.K.. Orr chaired the Board of Trustees Home Economics course discontinued 1915 Samuel Inman died James Ross McCain appointed registrar Black Cat activities arranged as a competition between first and second year students Blackfriars founded Student newspaper, Jlte Agonistic, began publishing BOZ and Folio established as creative writing groups 1917 Agnes Scott Students joined YWCA Patriotic League Drama troupe entertained soldiers at Camp Gordon First debate tournament with Sophie Newcomb College 1918 Founder's Day celebrated for first time Dr. McCain appointed Vice President 1919 Students gave up their yearbook and contributed funds to the war effort 1921 Alumnae House built. It was the second such building in the nation 1922 Pi Alpha Phi. a debate society, organized with merger between Mnemosynean and Propylean Societies 1923 Dr. Gaines died Dr. McCain elected president 1924 Camp at Stone Mountain opened to student use South Decatur Stone Mountain trolley moved to Dougherty Street from a path that cut through the present-day athletic field to land now occupied by the president's home and Winship Hall 1925 George Bucher Scott Gymnasium built 1926 Beta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa organized League of Women Voters chapter founded Founder's Day radio broadcast initiated 1928 Participation in a Junior Year Abroad program approved Steam plant and laundry constructed 1929 Practice teaching available 1930 Buttrick Hall completed 1931 HOASC became chapter of Mortar Board recognizing achievement in leadership, scholarship, and service First Alumnae Weekend held in the fall 1937 1938 1932 Footstool first used for Investiture and Commencement First McKinney Book Award offered 1934 Current Agnes Scott ring design adopted 1936 New Carnegie Library opened; in 1951 renamed to honor President McCain Quarter system adopted Old library building designated Murphey Candler Building later known as the Hub Louise McKinney retired after forty-six years in the English Department Class cut system adopted on a trial basis Dean Nannette Hopkins and J.K.. Orr died George Winship chaired the Board of Trustees Samuel Guerry Stukes named Dean of the Faculty Carrie Scandrett appointed Dean of Students University Center established Christian Association organized as College broke ties with the national YWCA Students protested Saturday classes 1939 Agnes Scott Celebrated its Semicentennial 1940 Presser Hall built; $10,000 Dogwood preserved 1941 Pension plan introduced War Council organized 1943 Agnes Scott students participate in USO College sponsors a day-long conference on the war to increase student awareness 1946 Art and Music Departments offer majors 1948 Wallace McPherson Alston appointed vice president and president-elect 1948- Evans Dining Hall, Bradley Observatory, Campbell 1951 Science Hall. Walters Infirmary, and President's Home constructed and dedicated 1950 Honors Day established Smoking on campus permitted 1951 James Ross McCain retired Wallace M. Alston assumed the presidency Library renamed McCain Library in honor of retiring president Black Cat became campus-wide celebration 1953 Hopkins Hall built 1954 A Man Called Peter filmed on campus 1956 Walters Hall built Hal L. Smith chaired the Board of Trustees 1958 Fine Arts Festival held 1962 Students sought shelter in Alston home during Cuban Missile Crisis 1965 Dana Fine Arts Building dedicated First black student enrolled 1966 Agnes Scott team won College Bowl competition with Princeton 1971 First black student graduated 1972 First Writers' Festival held 1973 Wallace M. Alston retired Marvin Banks Perry elected to presidency Alex P. Gaines chaired the Board of Trustees 1974 Return to College program began 1976 McCain Library renovated 1979 Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. chaired the Board of Trustees 1980 Buttrick Hall renovated 1981 11a Burdette, Georgia's first female Rhodes Scholar graduated 1982 Marvin B. Perry retired Ruth A. Schmidt elected to the presidency Campbell Science Hall renovated 1987 Quadrangle renovated and named the George and Irene Woodruff Quadrangle; Gazebo restored and relocated on the Quad 1988 Wallace Alston Campus Center opened; Robert W. Woodruff Physical Activities Building completed; Presser and Dana Fine Arts Buildings renovated 1989 Agnes Scott College Centennial celebrated Elizabeth Henderson Cameron '43 elected Chairperson of the Board of Trustees To the students of Agnes Scott College past, present, and future. E OREWORD Every educational institution has a life of its own one that is distinctive and unique. It is made up of individual persons but is always larger than any one person. Faculty, students, staff, and trustees, as well as presidents and deans, put their stamp on the institution's collective being, some in ways which are highly visible and others by their quiet influence. How can such a multiform world be chronicled fairly and clearly? It is surely a daunting task. There is no way to include everyone's favorite professor or most cherished tradition. Nor can the excitement kindled in a classroom, or the whack of a hockey stick hitting a ball, or the joy of friendships formed be recaptured on paper. The authors of this centennial history, alumna and College Archivist Lee Sayrs and Assistant Professor of Eng- lish Christine Cozzens, have, however, chosen to describe the College's life through the century by providing their readers with the flavor of this campus community rather than a detailed record. Through their words, we catch a glimpse of Miss Latin (Lillian) Smith, coming into her classroom each day and carefully adjusting the transom for ventilation, never realizing that it contained no glass. We experience some sense of what it was like to be on this campus when the coun- try was at war, or what it took to keep the place going in times of economic hardship. And we celebrate the high moments, the milestones, the creative innovations, and the accomplishments. It is our sincere hope that this history of the remark- able institution which is Agnes Scott College will bring pleasure and inspiration to the Agnes Scott family and to all the readers of these pages. This is a college blessed by God and brought to a second century of service through the investment of the lives and talents and resources of people who believed in and worked for its mission. Ruth Schmidt President GEORGE WASHINGTON SCOTT, 1829-1903 George Washington Scott's commitment to pro- viding the best facilities to Decatur 's fledgling school for young women earned him recognition as the founder of Agnes Scott College. Born in Pennsylvania, he came south because of his health and arrived in Decatur in 1850 on his way to Florida, where he became a prosperous merchant and planter. He fought for the Tallahassee Guards in the Civil War and rose to the rank of colonel, u Like many Southerners, George W. Scott suffered from the political and economic , conditions in the South after the Civil War. Highly respected in Florida, he ran for governor there in 1868 but met defeat at the hands of Reconstruction Republicans. In 1870 he moved to Savannah, where he prospered as a cotton merchant, but political and economic conditions led again to financial failure. Moving to Decatur in 1877, he built a third fortune in commercial fertilizers, cotton mills, and real estate. Misfortunes like those Col. Scott suffered made many men cling more tenaciously to later wealth. To the end, however, George Washington Scott remained one of Agnes Scott s most avid and generous supporters. i CHAPTER ONE A SCHOOL OF HIGH CHARACTER: The Founding of Agnes Scott College In nineteenth-century America as the future founders of Agnes Scott College were growing up the posi- tion of women both at home and in society was a frequent if not always explicit subject of public concern. Educators and community leaders eager to support schools debated ques- tions as to the nature, extent, and purpose of female educa- tion. By the 1830s, the growth of the American republic, with its demand for an educated electorate, had contributed to a corresponding expansion of public education. Unlike the private academies for boys of the colonial period, public schools that were supported financially by townships and counties did not exclude girls. Young women who gained the rudiments of reading, writing, and figuring in these settings soon began to search for greater educational opportunities. The growth of public schools during the first half of the century also created a need for teachers that could not be satisfied by the male work force. Beginning in the 1830s, educational opportunities for young women expanded. Private girls academies began to offer high school or even college level courses, though none provided the type of college education that was avail- able to men. Between 1830 and I860, institutions across the country moved toward offering full collegiate courses for women, though considerable private and public debate accompanied this change. After the Civil War, an increasing number of women's and coeducational institutions in the North and West began to offer college level courses to women. In the South, political and economic conditions during the War and Reconstruction retarded expansion of educational oppor- tunities until the 1880s, when southern educators turned their attention to the serious lack of good schools. The founders of Agnes Scott College joined this movement in 1889 when they 1 proposed "to establish at once a school of high character" for "young ladies and girls" in Decatur, Georgia. In 1889 Frank Gaines, pastor of the Decatur Pres- byterian Church, surveyed the educational services available in his community and found them to be inadequate, espe- cially for girls. Pastor Gaines approached several members of his congregation with the idea of establishing a school under church auspices, and they responded enthusiastically to his proposal. Within six weeks of the first organizational meet- ing at Pastor Gaines' home on 17 July 1889, the Decatur Female Seminary later to become Agnes Scott College opened its doors to sixty-three students and four teachers in a rented house on the south side of the Georgia Railroad tracks. The original concept behind the Decatur Female Seminary promised to provide "a liberal Curriculum fully abreast of the best institutions of this country" and to ensure that "all the influences of the College [would be] conducive to the formation and development of Christian character," as Pastor Gaines wrote in that first year. During those early years, the school offered elementary and grammar school courses to girls who, like most students in the area, had little or no preparation. A provision by the founders that boys twelve and under would be admitted suggests the inadequacy of other educational options in the area and the doubts these men must have had about the school's prospects as a female institution. A few small boys did attend that first year. As the school matured, however, the founders raised their curricular goals and focused their efforts exclusively on the education of girls and, ultimately, of young women. In 1890 one of the founders, George Washington Scott, offered to finance a building for the school, which would then be renamed to honor his mother, Agnes Irvine FRANK HENRY GAINES, 1852-1923 This pastor of Decatur Presbyterian Church envisioned providing high quality Christian education for young women. His passion for lofty ideals found expression in the high standards he set and maintained for the College. Frank Gaines was born in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, earned a B.A. from C umberland I niversity, and studied medicine and theology before his ordination. He served Presbyterian churches in Kentucky and V irginia and came to Decatur in 1888. After serving as the school's first chairman of the board of trustees, Dr. Gaines accepted the presidency in 1896. From that time on, he supervised the growth of the campus, the expansion of the faculty, and the development of the curriculum. Long-time campus employee John O. Flint worked under the first four presidents. He remembered that all four were fine men but that President Gaines was a bit too strict. "He built a fence around the campus and would not allow dogs or boys to pass through. " Scott, who had died in 1877. Colonel Scott wrote of his desire to "benefit my fellow beings" with his newly attained wealth and said of his mother, In viewing my life over one thing stands out promi- nent above all others and that is that I am indebted to my mother for all the good impulses of my heart and for all my hopes for the future. 2 His determination to build for the school an architectural masterpiece with all the most modern conveniences such as electric lights, steam heat, and full plumbing paralleled the vision of Dr. Gaines and the other trustees to make Agnes Scott Institute "as good an institution of this kind as there is in this land." Over the next few years, the trustees hired more highly qualified faculty and raised the course levels as they gradually eliminated elementary and grammar school courses. In 1898, for example. Howard B. Arbuckle joined the faculty as the first Ph.D. A chemist by training. Dr. Arbuckle taught all the sciences in his first years at the Institute. That same year, Agnes Scott Institute was accre- dited as a college preparatory school by the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States. AGNES IRVINE SCOTT, 1799-1877 Agnes Irvine Scott, mother of George Washington Scott, was born in Ballykeel, Ireland, in 1799. When she was seventeen, she came with her mother and sister to A merica, though during the thirty-six day voyage, her sister became ill and died. I pon their arrival, Agnes and her mother traveled to Alexandria, Pennsylvania, where they joined relatives. There Agnes metJohnScott, a widower with five children. They married in 1821, and she bore seven children. One son, John, remembered his mother's character and teaching as a determinative influence in the Pennsylvania home. Agnes Irvine "was a Presbyterian and loved her church. She believed in the sovereignty of that God as devoutly as in His goodness and mercy . . . and diligently went about her duties and saw to it that no child of hers should go out into the world ignorant of the Shorter Catechism." Agnes Irvine Scott died in 1877 at the age of seventy-eight. George M ashington Scott honored his mother when he asked that the Decatur school should be named A gnes Scott Institute. College tradition names the White House as the school's first structure. Rented in 1889, it sat on the present site of Main, from which it was moved when construction of Main began. Subsequently the College bought it, and Miss Louise McKinney and Dr. Mary Sweet moved in along with sixteen students. Nicknamed the White House after Miss McKinney identified herself at a costume party as the Lady of the White House, the building provided dormitory rooms and a dining hall until the 1940s. Agnes Scott Hall was built in 1890 and soon became known as "Main." Sixty students had helped lay the bricks in the "Dieckmann Corner." During its first years. Main housed offices including that of the president, class rooms, art studios, music practice rooms, and dormitory rooms for all the boarders. The Dean 's office occupied the same space as does the Dean of Students office today. The School dining room was in the basement along with a small gymnasium. TheMcKinney and Dieckmann Parlors formed one large room in which chapel was held ztgtfk^ Q lis* As women began to enter institutions of higher learning in greater numbers in the late nineteenth century, educators were reassessing the content and purposes of a liberal education for both men and women. The classical curriculum which included Greek, Latin, mathematics, philosophy, science, and English had begun to give way to faculty and student pressure for a modernized course of study that would gradually embrace the newer social scien- ces, the influence of Darwin's theory of evolution on the biological sciences, the concept of electives, and even voca- tional courses. The debates surrounding this transition posed particular questions concerning the education of women. What did it mean to be a liberally educated woman? What lay ahead for her when she completed such a course of study? Should women follow the same curriculum as men? In addi- tion to their concerns about the uses women would make of their education, parents and educators questioned women's physical and mental abilities to perform college work. The founders of Agnes Scott, like the leaders of many women's colleges during this period of curricular trans- formation, chose to offer a classical liberal arts education that would prove female students' intellectual abilities in the same ways that had long been traditional for male students. Advertisements and college catalogues from the Institute's first decade demonstrate a commitment to the belief that women could benefit from a rigorous classical education, even while acknowledging the southern tradition of genteel womanhood that placed women in a separate social sphere from men. These publications emphasized the teaching of art and music, for example, as skills that young ladies must acquire. By touting Decatur's healthful climate, early cata- logues also addressed parents' worries that a taxing scholastic program might endanger their daughters' health. The site, they claimed, was sheltered from the cold winds of the more northerly sections by the Blue Ridge range of mountains, and yet at an altitude far beyond the malarial lowlands of the South Atlantic and Gulf states. The 1892-93 catalogue assured parents that the physical health of their daughters would be as closely guarded as their social contacts. A description of the College's advanced phys- ical education facilities was prefaced by this alarming observation: In these days, when public thought is so constantly directed to physical training, it seems scarcely neces- sary to mention the importance of the subject. But the stooped shoulders, weak backs, poor lungs, and shat- tered nen'es of many of our girls show that the subject has not yet received the attention it deserves. Agnes Scott women lived up to and perhaps sur- passed expectations regarding their intellectual and even their physical abilities. In 1890 courses fell into ten classifica- tions or schools that included English, mathematics, natural sciences. Biblical instruction, history, moral science, Latin, modern languages, music, and art. In 1897 the Institute began offering instruction in Greek, thus completing the classical liberal curriculum. NANNETTE HOPKINS, 1860-1938 ISannette Hopkins was the first person Frank Gaines hired to teach in the new Decatur Female Seminary. Born in 1860, she had graduated from Hollins Institute and intended to go on to Bryn Mawr or I assar to complete her undergraduate degree after working in Decatur for a year or two. She never left. Serving first as Lady Principal, she later became the College's first dean, a position she filled until shortly before her death in 1938. Miss Hopkins influenced the school immeasurably during its first forty- nine years. Early curricular development at A gnes Scott followed that of Hopkins' alma mater, i pon her suggestion as soon as the school had attained collegiate status, student government was established. Between 1929 and 1954, the Hopkins Jewel, an amethyst pendant or ring, was awarded to the senior who most closely exemplified Dean Hopkins' ideal of scholarship, service, and gentility. Changes in the faculty reflected an increasingly sophisticated and diverse curriculum. From the first year, when two teachers divided the academic subjects between them, the faculty grew in size and specialization and soon included a number of men and women with advanced degrees. In 1905 Lillian Smith, known as Miss Latin Smith, arrived as the first woman faculty member to hold a Ph.D. This growth of the faculty, the development of an advanced liberal arts curriculum, and the establishment of standard entrance and graduation requirements prepared the way for full accreditation. With the support of Dr. Gaines, who had assumed the presidency in 1896, and the steady encourage- ment of Colonel Scott, who then chaired the Board of Trus- tees, Professor Arbuckle guided the Institute towards this goal. In 1906 the school became legally two institutions, with Agnes Scott Academy taking over all secondary education and Agnes Scott College conducting the collegiate course. Later that year, the College awarded its first Bachelor of Arts degrees. In 1907, the Southern Association awarded full accreditation, and the eighteen-year-old school in Decatur became the first accredited college or university in Georgia. During the Institute's early days, many students lived at home and came to the school as day students. However, there were always a number of students who boarded. Faculty women lived with the students and were responsible for social activities as well as academic programs. * T ed the College variously as registrar, as professor of Bible, history, and sociology, and as vice president. Upon Dr. Gaines ' death, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name Professor McCain Agnes Scott s second president. 12 His organizational skills in a number of associations advanced higher education in the the South. He played a key role in founding the University Center of Georgia, ser\>ed on the Rockefeller Foundation s Gen- eral Education Board for seven years, and occupied re- sponsible positions in many other regional and national educational associations. His presence on campus was felt by students and faculty. He taught a campus Sunday School class every week, and students believed that his connections to God were such that for forty years May Day was rainless. He participated in student I faculty hockey games and in all campus activities. CHAPTER TWO HEN MIND SPARKED MIND: The Academic Life The achievement of college status in 1907 was an extremely significant moment, but it did not end the debate among faculty and administrators as to the purpose of an Agnes Scott education or the content of the curriculum. For the first half-century, college publications and other official statements emphasized women's responsibilities to the home and to God, but portrayed these ideals in terms that went beyond duty or service to suggest both strength and self- determination. A student from the 1920s finds a quiet place to study. 13 While acknowledging that properly educated young ladies must be accomplished in art and music, for example, the founders insisted on a rigorous classical liberal arts curriculum for the new school in Decatur and recognized the pressing social need for informed and educated women. The catalogue of 1906-07 stated that Agnes Scott College cultivated "true womanliness, which combined strength with gentleness and refinement." In 1946^17 an Agnes Scott gradu- ate was expected to be "a power in blessing the world and glorifying God." By the 1950s, the College regularly men- tioned a variety of careers including business, medicine. and research in addition to teaching and social service in statements about the purpose of an Agnes Scott education. In 1972 the College added to its vocabulary of purpose the affirmation that a liberal education acted as a humanizing force to produce thinking women who can quickly acquire the skills needed for any occupation. But even as late as 1932, biology professor Mary Stuart MacDougall had to justify a liberal arts education for women in relation to their duty to home and family. As she told the students at Senior Investiture of that year: The primary career of woman is in the home, but the responsibility of training a girl for practical house- keeping does not lie with the college. The ability to make social and intellectual contacts, to live in har- mony with humanity, to lead a happy and useful life is aided in its development by four years of concentrated study at a liberal arts college. The mind is quickened, the imagination fired, the intellectual capacity devel- oped by education. This is assuredly true of women as well as men. Sex has nothing to do with education. These two apparently contradictory impulses, acceptance of women's domestic destiny and recognition that their intellec- tual capabilities equaled those of men. both contributed to the early successes of the school and were played out in a number of curricular changes over the years. During the Institute days, for example, students could acquire certificates in art and music as part of the College's effort to appease those who believed that a woman must be accomplished in these abilities to be truly educated. The College dropped the certification program upon accredi- tation in 1907, and art and music remained in the curriculum as electives until 1946, when the faculty voted that both should become majors. So carefully did the College guard its status among institutions of higher learning for women that almost forty years passed before art and music could take their places as central to the humanities component of the liberal arts curriculum. Students taking instruction in art at the A gnes Scott Institute in 1892. 14 The inclusion of vocational courses in the curricu- lum also illustrated how the College's commitment to the liberal arts ideal gradually became a commitment to prepar- ing women for careers. As early as 1895, the school recom- mended that students who wanted to teach should take a fourth year of mathematics that included "arithmetic studied from the teacher's standpoint." Upon accreditation as a degree-granting institution, the College added courses to prepare students for teaching math and Latin at the second- ary school level, and by 1916 the curriculum included seven education courses, four of which were required for the state teacher's license. The earliest form of practice teaching became part of the curriculum in 1929. Agnes Scott faculty also debated the role of formal home economics courses in the education of young women. Added to the curriculum in 1911, home economics courses lasted only until 1914, though both President Gaines and his successor. President James Ross McCain, continued to lobby for their reinstatement for many years. When a new science building was planned in the late 1940s, President McCain hoped that a Department of the Home would be included, but the faculty resisted efforts to install home eco- nomics as a scholarly venture. Professor Louise Hale sum- marized this resistance in her 1940 Investiture address about self-discipline and the Agnes Scott ideal of high intellectual standards by affirming that the College should "keep the B.A. degree only for those subjects that would definitely attain those ideals." Home Economics Class between 1911-1914. The curriculum for the course covered food products and their preparation, foods and food value, household chemistry, household sanitation, nutrition and dietetics, advanced work in foods, and a course to prepare students to teach home economics. 15 t'W* :. McCain Library, built in 1936, was named to honor President McCain upon his retirement in 1951 . 16 Along with the expansion of the student body, the changing demands of the curriculum fostered the physical growth of the campus through the years. When Agnes Scott Hall ("Main") was built in 1891 it served as dormitory, class- room building, administrative center, and even library. The College's first library was located in a glass bookcase in President Gaines' office in Main. Each evening students would sprawl on the office floor to prepare the next day's lessons. As the collection of books grew and services increased, the library moved to its own room in the school building. Finally, in 1910 a grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation enabled the College to build a separate library building. By 1936 the collection had already outgrown the capacity of the Carnegie Library, and a new building, later named McCain Library, took its place. Agnes Scott's early emphasis on the sciences in the education of women brought the first Ph.D. Dr. Arbuckle to the school in 1898 and resulted in the building of Lowry Science Hall in 1911 as one of the earliest additions to the campus. Lowry Hall housed the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology for more than forty years until expansion of the programs and changing needs led to the erection of Campbell Science Hall in 1951. A complete renovation of that facility in the early eighties and the efforts of faculty members to update equipment through govern- ment and corporate grants demonstrate the College's contin- uing commitment to the scientific education of women and to research. For many years A gnes Scott 's dress code required students to wear skirts in the library. Students supported this code because they thought that more casual dress might encourage rowdy behavior. Moreover, wearing pants to the library might lead to students draping themselves over the furniture, which would offend visitors. Chemistry laboratory in Lowry Science Hall circa 1912. Biology laboratory in Lowry Science Hall circa 1912. IS Kenan Professor of Chemistry A lice J. Cunningham, with the College since 1966, observes a student's work. For many years the gymnasium of the George Bucher Scott building served as the campus meeting place and as the theater for music and drama performances. Music and art faculty offices and practice rooms were scattered across the campus, and both departments needed facilities in central locations. Presser Hall, built in 1940, met some of these needs, but the expansion of the studio art program and the need for galleries and a fully equipped theater required still more space for the arts. The College acknowledged the importance of art and drama to the curriculum and the community with the opening of the Dana Fine Arts building in 1965 and its subsequent renovation in 1988. Gaines Chapel in Presser Hall, built in 1940. Throughout the College's history, the faculty's commitment to teaching has inspired these improvements and the memories of generations of Agnes Scott graduates. As Catherine Wood Marshall LeSourd, an alumna of the class of 1936, recalled: T/iere were those shining moments in classes, when mind sparked mind, as if a spark from a teacher 's mind fell on the dry grass of mine, and caught fire. How well I remember the thrill of that, and the intui- tive knowledge that at that moment I had broken through to reality. 20 Professors as well as students experienced those "shining moments." English professor George P. Hayes described the teacher's perspective: "We are fellow beings whose spirits interlock with yours as we search, without us and within, for beauty, holiness and truth." He thought of this mutual discov- ery of knowledge as "a glorious secret in the breast that makes the heart dance, the step light, and keeps one youthful beyond the days of youth." / Economics Professor William H. Weber, a member of the faculty from 1971-1985, responded to spring's call and moved his class outdoors. Campbell Science Hall, built in 1951 and renovated in 1982, houses faculty offices, classrooms, and laboratories for biology, chemistry, and physics. Legend tells us that biology Professor Mary Stuart MacDougall, who taught at Agnes Scott for thirty-three years, rooted a cutting from a Christmas decoration and planted it at this corner of Campbell against the building. A tall cedar grows there now. 21 Many alumnae who went on to careers in teaching remembered influential college teachers and credited their own success in the field to the Agnes Scott example. "I think 1 got a lot of my enthusiasm from listening to teachers who were enthusiastic themselves . . ." wrote one former student. "I just won a teaching award at my university, and I owe a lot of that to the teachers 1 had at Agnes Scott." Another alumna spoke of a professor's commitment to her as a student as "the core of what 1 think education at Agnes Scott is all about." The commitment of professors and students to the academic program often made the classroom experience intense and demanding. A 1940's graduate remembered that medical school had been easy compared to her Agnes Scott classes. One day in English class Professor Emma May Laney asked her to identify a character in a play by Shakes- peare. The student knew the answer but hesitated to speak the appropriate word. She finally began by saying "he was the illegitimate son of..." Before she could complete the sentence. Miss Laney slammed her book down and said, "If you are old enough to be a sophomore at Agnes Scott, you are old enough to say 'bastard.'" In another rigorous course on Shakespeare, a pop- ular faculty member demanded thorough knowledge of the plays. In 1949 a production of Hamlet came to campus shortly after the class had studied the play. The actors in the company must have been puzzled to hear their lines accom- panied by an echo from students who had learned lines by heart. Occasionally, an indignant whisper from the audience would proclaim, "He left out a line!" The faculty traditionally expected no less of the students than they did of themselves. As one Agnes Scott professor observed: / must have taught Don Quixote more than a hundred times in the past 20 years, but there I was at 5:00 a.m. reading the section for the next day. Every time I assign a piece of literature, I read it all again before every class even though I know it by heart. You cannot teach literature without freshness. You read it word by word, line by line, page by page. You must have the whole thing in your head at once to see it as art and to be a good interpreter of the literature. Visitors to the campus often commented on the quality of the faculty and students and the special atmos- phere of the College. The poet Carl Sandburg visited Agnes Scott in 1937 and wrote On looking back toward my visit to Agnes Scott College when I try to get at what made it unusually memorable, I find that I go to several circumstances: an extraordinarily personal hospitality: an introduc- tion to an audience made so quietly yet lavishly that it would be sure to draw out the best in any speaker: a warmth from the audience as though its members had somehow met the speaker beforehand whether in per- son or not: and in the dewy morning hours driven to an airport by a highly companionable and democratic college president: not forgetting a view of the library having architectural equivalents of Bach music. To this ensemble I would subscribe myself. Norman Cousins, editor of the Saturday Review and author, spoke on campus in 1944 and said of his visit: "I came back with a pack full of pleasant memories One thing that impressed me especially was the alive and stimulating quality of the students." From the beginning Agnes Scott honored academic achievement. For many years, the school printed 'The Blue Book, " a publication presented at Commencement honoring those students who had excelled in various subjects. The faculty's respect for students' academic achievement contributed to the stimulating intellectual atmosphere on campus. During the Institute days students who earned an average above ninety received Certificates of Distinction. President McCain established the practice of recognizing fine academic records by placing students on an honor roll that was read aloud in Saturday chapel at the beginning of each school year. President-elect Wallace 22 McPherson Alston instituted Honors Day as it is celebrated today and made it "an impressive day on campus, a day devoted to emphasis upon intellectual excellence and fine scholarship." In 1938 the Academic Council adopted stringent guidelines for graduation with honors. Students aspiring to this status had to read for honors during the senior year, pass a six-hour written and a two-hour oral examination on the major and minor fields, meet a minimum standard in grades, and be approved by the faculty. At present the College requires that to be eligible for high honors, students must complete an Independent Study course and maintain a high grade point average. Early in its history, Agnes Scott welcomed to its campus two honorary societies that recognized academic achievement. In 1914 the faculty organized Gamma Tau Alpha as an honor society that would eventually join Phi Beta Kappa. The name for the Agnes Scott group was taken from the first Greek letters to a passage in John 8:32, "You will know for yourselves the truth." When all the criteria for the national society were met. Gamma Tau Alpha became the Beta chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1926, the second Phi Beta Kappa chapter in Georgia and the ninth among women's colleges. In 1976, the Beta Chapter celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on campus with a series of talks on the theme of women and work. Phi Beta Kappa plays a vital role on campus by bringing noted speakers to address the college community. In the fall of 1989, for example, the Society sponsored a lecture by Alexander Dallin, Spruance Profes- sor of International History and Professor of Political Science, Stanford University. Professor Dallin addressed the issue of "The Gorbachev Reforms: Problems and Prospects." History Professor John L. Gignilliat, a member of the faculty from 1969 to 1989, frequently sprinkled his lectures with amusing anecdotes. A s part of Commencement ceremonies in the 1940s, seniors with their academic hoods on their shoulders process through the quadrangle followed by the faculty in full regalia. The faculty also wanted to recognize those stu- dents who contributed to the life of the College through scholarship, leadership, and service and the important con- nections among these qualities. In 1916 they founded the Honorary Order Agnes Scott College (HOASC), which became associated with the national Mortar Board organiza- tion in 193 1 . Through the years, M ortar Board has performed many services essential to campus life from supervising stu- dent elections and communications between students and the administration to promoting the Independent Study pro- gram, the Scholarship Trophy, and student participation in faculty and college committees. In the 1930s Mortar Board abolished "Rat Week," an initiation rite when sophomores ruled over freshmen, and furnished the Murphey Candler Building, which became the student hangout affectionately known as the Hub. In the 1940s the society published a campus etiquette booklet entitled Campus Code and advo- cated changing the grading system from merit, pass, fail to letter grades. In the 1960s Mortar Board broadened its areas of interest to include the promotion of course evaluations, increased financial aid for students, and a more heterogene- ous student body. President J.R. McCain (right) poses with J. K. Orr (left) who chaired the Board of Trustees from 1915 to 1938. ^ With them stands Dean Nannette Hopkins and an unidentified guest. ^ 25 Commencement is the culminating event of the academic year. In this picture Professors Mary Virginia A lien, Marie HuperPepe, Margaret W. Pepperdene and Michael A. McDowell enjoy meeting the commencement speaker. 26 W. BURLETTE CARTER S2 During the fall of 1980, Burlette Carter participated in the Washington Semester program working with South Carolina Senator Ernest F.Hollings. "/ really am enjoying my job tremendously, " she reported in The Profile. "I feel that I am contributing something to this office and at the same time gaining in valuable experience. "Ms. Carter was named a Truman Scholar in 1981. Karla Nell Vaughn '86 and Joy Elizabeth Howard '91 also have been named Truman Scholars. ILA L. BURDETTE "81 I la Burdette became the first woman in Georgia to be named a Rhodes Scholar. She studied at Oxford University during the tenure of her scholarship and later became an architect. Agnes Scott's academic resources have long included those of a number of other institutions of higher learning in Atlanta, thanks to its membership in the Univer- sity Center, a consortium of colleges and universities that was established in 1939. President McCain played a leading role in the founding of the University Center, which organizes student and faculty exchanges among the member institu- tions, as well as the sharing of speakers and other resources and committees focused on the disciplines. The first Agnes Scott students to take advantage of the cross-registration program enrolled in classes at Emory University in 1941 and reported that it meant dealing with more people on campus and their fears of appearing to know too much in front of boys. In 1948 the first Emory student to attend classes at Agnes Scott was an eighty-one year old man who came to study nineteenth-century English history with Professor Catherine Sims. In 1972 Agnes Scott and Georgia Tech joined together to offer a dual degree program which allowed the student to attain both the B. A. and the B. S. degrees from the two schools. Today, the special resources and atmosphere of each member institution reach a wider audience as students from Agnes Scott and other schools travel to other campuses. Maryanne Gannon Deaton '81 summed up the academic experience of many Agnes Scott students when she wrote of her own college years: "Agnes Scott establishes and fosters in its graduates growth, eagerness to learn, and an excellent attitude that there is a place in the world for women and that we can handle it." 27 Between 1905 and 1940, daily chapels and special events were held in the Rebekah Scott chapel. 28 CHAPTER THREE JJ EYOND THE COLLEGE GA TES: Agnes Scott College in the Community and in the World During the early years of Agnes Scott's history, attending college set a young woman apart from most of her contemporaries, especially if she left home to go to school. While a college education did not necessarily lead to a career outside the home, it exposed women to professional interests and to opportunities for service and gave them broader knowl- edge of the world than they might otherwise have gained. In so attentively guiding the new school in Decatur through the transition from seminary to institute to college, the founders affirmed a woman's right to such an education and to the possibility that she might use it to accomplish goals other than the accepted ones of raising children and manag- ing family life. At Agnes Scott, a Christian tradition of service influenced the College's attention to social issues and to the mission of educating women, and speakers and events on campus even in its early days covered a broad range of political, social, and economic issues. From the beginning, Agnes Scott was committed to providing a liberal arts educa- tion in a sheltered academic setting while encouraging its students to be aware of and involved in the world beyond the college gates. In the early years, faculty and administrators con- scientiously informed students about issues such as the prob- lems of working people, environmental concerns, or international affairs, but at the the same time they often limited opportunities to translate knowledge to action. The Mnemosynean (1891) and the Propylean (1897) literary socie- ties provided opportunities for students to discuss and debate literary and political topics. Beginning in 1921, the Public Lecture Association brought to the campus many famous speakers whose lives and works would be of interest to the students. As Professor Mary L. Boney Sheats, the chair of the Lecture Association, wrote in 1960: "We believe that one 29 of the most valuable things we can do for the students ... is to confront them with greatness." Sometimes greatness challenged the status quo. In 1917 Anna Howard Shaw, a noted minister, physician, and suffragist, spoke forcefully and humorously to a receptive student audience on women's rights. As the student news- paper reported: Dr. Shaw declared that while men hate to be thought ladylike, yet it is to be noted that whenever a man arrives at the highest dignity and honor he may obtain, be it pulpit, bench, or classroom, he always puts on a gown. Witness the bishop, the judge, and the professor. A fellow member of Dr. Shaw's in the National Woman's Suffrage Association. Carrie Chapman Catt. lectured in 1925 on women's rights and on the responsibility students have to pass their heritage on to future generations. Florence A. Allen, an associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court and the first woman to attain that rank, came to campus in 1924. A tradi- tion of linking course work with experience also began in these early years: in 1917, for example, a sociology class visited a federal penitentiary. The liberal arts community could sanction these activities because they exercised the intellect. Activism that grew out of religious faith afforded Agnes Scott women a means of participating in certain social movements, just as it had enabled women to speak out on abolition earlier in the nineteenth century and on temperance in the decades after the Civil War. During the Institute days, an early school organization called the Christian Band focused on the missionary movement and on the experience of missionaries many of them women in the field. Stu- dents were encouraged to consider mission work for them- College several times. Professor Margaret Pepperdene joins Ms. ^ \ ,.\^ a to 0* /to/p/7 Nader, advocate/or consumer rights, walks across campus with students. Photograph courtesy of Ron Sherman.) selves and to support such religious activities by raising and contributing money. As early as 1916, the College sponsored events that brought racial issues before the student body. Like many white educated Southerners and Northerners, students responded with concern for the condition of Negroes but were unwilling to challenge segregrationist laws and prac- tices. A campus screening of the film Birth of a Nation that year incited a spirited, "wholesome" discussion, as one faculty member noted approvingly. In 1924 the sociology classes heard Dr. T. J. Wofter, a secretary of the Georgia Commission on Race Relations, a voluntary organization aimed at improving the lives of Negroes. The student news- paper reported Wofter's presentation without recognizing his stereotypical portrayal of blacks and concluded that "the commission is doing much to inform the public concerning the race problems, and to aid in bringing about the solution of them through a co-operation of the leaders of both races." Over the years, individual students took up the cause of race relations, and Agnes Scott supported these efforts as long as they did not jeopardize the College's posi- tion within the community. In the summer of 1926, Ellen Douglass Leyburn 27 attended an interracial meeting of the National Student Federation of America (NSFA) at the University of Michigan, while later during that school year the College opposed students attending biracial dinner meet- ings because the state of Georgia prohibited convivial inter- racial events. During the thirties this policy underwent a some- times painful process of evolution. In 1930 Agnes Scott, along with Atlanta University and Georgia Institute of Tech- nology, agreed to host a meeting of the NSFA, where repre- sentatives from student governments across the country- would meet at the Atlanta Biltmore to discuss campus and world issues. NSFA President Edward R. Murrow, the future radio and television journalist, organized the meeting and planned to seat a large number of black delegates. He enlisted Agnes Scott students, as well as women from other colleges, to act as ushers, speculating that the presence of women would deter hotel officials and members of the public from disrupting the meeting. Murrow judged correctly, and during the week-long meeting black and white students mingled with Atlanta society in the posh hotel. In 1935 Professor Arthur Raper of the sociology department took his class to Tuskegee Institute, where the students met George Washington Carver and stayed over- night in Institute housing. Though the trip to Tuskegee had been approved by the College, the students' overnight stay raised opposition both on campus and in the community. A few years later, Agnes Scott faculty and students participated in a group that held interracial and interdenominational meetings to discuss religious and social issues. Mary Price Coulling '49 attended those meetings and recalled that Presi- dent McCain discouraged her from attending a weekend retreat with other participants because social interaction with Negroes by an Agnes Scott student might cause concern in the state government. After the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Board of Education made segregation in public schools illegal, racial issues everywhere became more heated. In Georgia, the debate grew so intense that it threatened the future of the public school system. The Agnes Scott com- munity again faced the difficulties of balancing intellectual support for school integration with fears about the social consequences of interracial living. In 1956 President Alston issued a statement supporting the public schools, and on December 14. 1958. the Atlanta newspapers published a sim- ilar statement signed by seventy-two members of the faculty affirming that the public school system was "essential to the very life of the community." Professor Julia Gary said of this incident, "It was the first time that I had ever done anything as a faculty member that I felt was of great significance." During these years, student interest and participa- tion in the civil rights movement intensified, and Agnes Scott faced questions about racial attitudes on its own campus. Student publications often addressed racial issues, and organizations brought visitors to the campus to speak about the movement. Ralph McGill, the noted editor of the A tlanta Constitution and leader in the civil rights struggle in Georgia, spoke on segregation and the public schools. Professor Anna Green Smith's sociology class surveyed the student body in 1962 and found that though the majority of students sup- ported advances in civil rights, many would not openly socialize with blacks. That same year the College received its first appli- cation from a black high school student, and the Board of Trustees made it clear that fully qualified students would be admitted without regard to race, color, or religion. In 1963 the College rescinded its policy that students attending inter- racial meetings had to have written permission from their parents, and two years later Agnes Scott admitted its first black student. In 1968 an editorial in the student newspaper, proposed that the College more actively recruit black stu- dents and faculty because "only through personal interaction in the routine of daily life can we see the basic similarities which define people as people." 31 A ulhor Norman Mailer lectured at Agnes Scott in October 1980. Most speakers agree to meet with students in small groups. 32 In other areas, the College met less opposition to its efforts to inform students about social, economic, and political issues. Beginning in 1921 and continuing for many years, the Atlanta YWCA sponsored meetings with the Agnes Scott YWCA chapter and the Industrial Girls YWCA to promote good relations between working women and college women; in 1925 members of these groups attended a weekend camp to study YWCA's topic for that year, the history of women in industry. National and international economics continued to capture students' attention during the Depression. In 1932 the sociology department sponsored a film about the working conditions of women in America that argued for improvements such as an eight-hour day, one half day of work on Saturday, and a safer workplace all goals established by the Women's Bureau of the federal government. To extend the work of courses into the com- munity, faculty members regularly arranged tours of prison facilities, mental health hospitals, and rural agricultural areas. AurieH. Montgomery Miller '44 and her family, pictured here, served in the missionfield in Africa. Her two sisters, Virginia Montgomery McCall '42 and Sophie Earle Montgomery Crane '40, also spent their lives doing mission work in Africa and A sia. Agnes Scott's connections with the global com- munity began to develop early in the College's history, espe- cially through awareness of and support for the work of missionaries. Through the years a number of Agnes Scott graduates became missionaries and traveled around the world; through these religious contacts the school began a long tradition of attracting students from distant countries. Philrye Kim Choi '26 came to Agnes Scott as an interna- tional student and returned to her home in Korea to found a school for women based on her experience at Agnes Scott. She was jailed three times during the Korean War, as were many Christian leaders. Biology Professor Mercy Samuel participated in a faculty exchange program with universities in India. During her time at Agnes Scott she taught the community about differences in culture and traditions. (Photograph courtesy of Charles Pugh, A tlanta Journal-Constitution.) 33 By the 1920s, the presence of international stu- dents at Agnes Scott was well established, including repre- sentatives from Europe, the Far East, Africa and South America, and certain schools in these countries regularly sent their students to the college in Decatur. In 1924 Professor Frances Gooch led the first college trip abroad when she took a group of students and alumnae to Europe; Professor Leslie Gaylord conducted several such tours beginning in 1927, and other faculty-led trips followed. By the 1970s Professor Michael Brown had transformed these excursions into study tours in which students could earn academic credit. After World War II, a resurgence of travel opportunities such as junior-year-abroad programs organized by other colleges or organizations, College sponsored trips, and summer work camps in underdeveloped countries gave many Agnes Scott students the enriching experience of living and working in another cultural environment. During each of the world wars, the campus responded with a desire for information and a willingness to become involved in the war effort at home. The International Relations Club, formed in 1920, grew out of interest in the complex international political situation and continued to provide a forum for world affairs through the twenties. In the 1940s, students followed the events of the Second World War through weekly presentations given by history professor Catherine Sims, and a display of war maps in the library charted military events and the areas of occupation. Students participated in the war effort during both world wars by contributing services such as knitting, recycling of metals and paper, or collecting money for relief organizations. Many students and faculty enrolled in First Aid courses, where working side by side in a common effort promoted greater understanding between the two groups. In the twenties and thirties, Agnes Scott students regularly supported programs that helped European students, and in 1944 and again in 1947, campus organizations undertook the financial support of war orphans. Beginning in 1941 students, faculty, and adminis- trators participated in a war council that directed all war- related volunteer activities on campus, supplying each building with blackout curtains and organizing air raid drills among other efforts. One evening after the Junior Banquet, as the students were preparing for bed, bells rang out over the campus signalling a blackout drill. Professor Charlotte Hunt- er, still in her evening gown, gathered up her skirts, grabbed a flashlight, and hurried off to inspect the preparations. Students rushed to lower all the window shades, extinguish the lights, and make their way to their assigned air raid 34 shelters, while their dates huddled in the day students' room. Amid all the confusion, a uniformed figure ran across the quadrangle toward Buttrick. There, Mr. Mell Jones, the long- time campus policeman, found President McCain standing before the bell controls illustrating their use to a visitor; Mr. Jones politely asked the president to ring the bells twice more to release the campus from the accidental blackout. The period during which many American students protested the war in Vietnam passed quietly at Agnes Scott. One alumna remembered that students were "vaguely aware but their own personal world of studying, friends, and getting a date" seemed to occupy their thoughts more than antiwar protests. But as always, activist students on campus made their voices heard. As early as 1965, students circulated a peti- tion protesting the war. The next year, however, Agnes Scott students joined students from Emory University and other Georgia colleges and universities in the Affirmation Viet- nam movement, which expressed support for the United States' government position. In 1968 students held peace vigils on the steps of Evans Dining Hall, and in 1969 the College participated in the National Vietnam Moratorium in opposi- tion to American participation in the war in Southeast Asia. Just as the missionary movement brought early Christian Band members into contact with the world com- munity, the YWCA and later the Christian Association pro- vided students with opportunities for spiritual growth through social activism. In 1913 almost all the students belonged to the YWCA, which sponsored nine mission study groups and popular Bible study groups. In 1925 the Agnes Scott Chapter of the YWCA announced its theme for the year, "The Opportunities of Christians," in a statement that summarizes the connection between faith and service: We hope to take up all possible phases of a Christian 's life, from the simple things we can do in our every day living at home, at school, or whatever we might he doing, to our attitude toward the movingforces which can change the world as interracial problems and problems of war. In 1938 the Christian Association became the primary Christian service organization on campus. As the College matured, religious programs embraced a wider range of activities. In 1942 the College began an annual program that brought distinguished Christian leaders to the campus for intensive religious discussions known first as Religious Emphasis Week and later as Focus on Faith and Community Focus. During this period of study and reflection, instructors were asked to avoid scheduling major exams or assignments k *- lih bi rs ,*WtlM Group M ^l.on of Mr ' "*f the di- (in es ,"' ran "ut. 7 " Mp SUPD , " Uts,de ^ d . 19)3. Mr "" h A Boy s WlII "na P r ac(icat " ipc-f 'arnier -,r ' vfl hav >, dressings, SaIl . -.'"< tan " "" A an'a r eral "- ,e * "or off, ce . ' ana ,niere, a >' Jan. u """ s - Preside"? *'"* Dab cy ."' ej ' Wofc,,,, ' "*, na med ' W *P and b*"""" 0, C P '" n *la,tt S ' ,r ''a* ' nj ' '' 'an, l_h SnSr-' , w,csr v:,;;;.:- :: -' -'";...;:::;;':-.; -S; B ovecn ii, )l V""' ""-M-in-hi"' 1 ?' MU Pcn. 'or ovcryoo r"^'lT""* , " M ' - *uiantijp d~ . ""oired da ''n, i e -i ""-alKis Fou ' J ' .*. " 'o these ^/oii^J an ann a , u - e - '" ''Iw.rt p ro e veo/ Music " 0Ur Pogrom Mr. , J an. 15 a , s _ rocial ''' Hour on / j* pX m '^^r^' Smm 2?s ; ^ '" D m, or T "f la a "d ,,, .,^:- - ffc dbJfl,r ^w'""" s; K , m ;r- i ? ("'""o. n c ,, VV ">o. '/;, -'.,:'/ -* end' *"" tav, w , L^;?*"- o,, "i "".<>- IWfeK ani)il TO as "' J.-ar\ ,, n,ors ria, >' lie ,' * ;,nd "ic c i, "'" T l ' r-d c "a'rman "' "oniora will ,. "'" P"l.i s " Ur "f hi S . "' """* on ?"' nu ' Sonio, ,,,, rrs 'x>ns I b,;,,. " - ,'Z "" "" ( '"" "uar, " s ' olasse, /do [m-M, s of , ^ , ne ,,, arcio s , has MnrribuiM Jv, ' '" " s f '>sl m,.o, Ur " s " * - ho S avod-?o ^ *" t/- " a " a d H dr ;;*' *~-/ t rM ' '' ^ ' 8 '"Pononoos f Novelette." -L ,'"'" Parker R ofa7a" Dv us Tmlaridja.. Mmeii on piio"" 55 ""' "e pre. '""* "ffl be a 0,Ban ' a "d :' i . U "art-GnS Pi *''"P major." e ^onala, f st .IH. po " > Ctarto^/for , a and /, '"" 'hil 6 , /Do to be Saved" t "'"'' " Tobelos,... / Por ,. """Oram ,.L'.' , !._f '**.. organ sew'fT " ec!, ons_"To ccat , -I poured , t ' he m S * Continued on^'^ "' a. La *" G-tana 2a . *"* in cb.pj, ", " events 41 /' dance Sew," *" da, and bo'l / S "^ ,,,'" ,">, n( , _ ,anas and a Coup| a /, ma " offens.v. ,. " pr /Social and " - '-> /smuod... T f no ""<' Baofc': / U r h f """'PP'hin? ""*> *' "total * and ,p *>y Mrs. Ped> . 'h- point. mad o l'X' s '"' tei " ,"'""" e m ""t- J^Emor,. J RC ' "" offonsiVe ""'" P'oson, Gor . '' a,M ' 'ront-C r.t" eh ' f " During both world wars, Agnes Scott students participated in the war effort. The 1918 Silhouette, with its wartime look, showed students knitting for the soldiers, contributing to the Student Friendship H ar Fund, conserving food, and making trench candles. Some alumnae remember running to the college fence to wave at the passing troop trains. In 1919 students decided not to publish their annual, and instead, donated the money to the war effort. f TWO A" ?IH\ Annual &taff 1 "1 l-l Sl.*l K \lmeda III n HESO\ issociate Editor Hi in Lei Esi es Business Manager tssistant Business Manager i itherini Reed Lois Eve t/lirtfi h'.ttttitr-tn i furl Marion Harper tssistonl irt F.tiiinr f ZditOf int ' hlrl Krtirrtl M\m Paixe W i:\iiii. Elizabeth Denman In Editor /.inn/ r.illtnr In 1943 the Student Government A ssociation sold "Red Cross Buns" to make money for the war effort. 36 Sister Cla sseS Ad op* ( OrP hem A6" cS BO****, W o VJal \ort>V s -Th C ^ jo* COM^' \^la< rT nar. ;t* as ' par 1 d Vn c-haif \tatV P W !ot CO"" \ihis 3 c c sVV u *'* Ive < U ' t,4 t0 W * e 4. ac tua* W be .f V twt1 *' arW ia- \se* \cW eS ,f vw c^ 1 . ap- s e\ec' WW ' ,\4 * re iV,e ; e ^ 4 ooi> * "is cel history During World War If, when students and faculty participated together in Red Cross instruction, one student commented "The Ph.D.s have as much trouble with the Red Cross splints as undergraduates do." so that students could participate in the seminars, lectures, and activities. A World Emphasis Week in 1953 brought together the themes of faith and world affairs. In 1961 the College faced an amusing dilemma during Religious Emphasis Week. Students who had seen an art exhibit on religious themes by Joachim Probst helped bring a similar exhibit to campus for the occasion. When the artist unexpectedly decided to visit the campus that week in the company of a woman friend. College officials were puzzled as to how they could entertain the unmarried pair without seeming to condone the relationship, finally deciding upon a room in the Faculty Club as less conspicuous than one at a local hotel. As Dean of Faculty Julia Gary recalled. "This was probably the College's introduction to contempo- rary living." Over the years at Agnes Scott, the evolution of religious practices and a growing commitment to educating women for positions of responsibility in the community and in the world has resulted in increased attention to social issues and more College-sponsored service projects. From 1916 until the late 1940s, students sponsored an annual Christmas party for underprivileged children in Atlanta or Decatur. In 1949, students began spending Saturday afternoons with poor children. By 1955 and continuing for many years, the Christian Association sponsored a much wider range of projects and sent students to work at the Methodist Chil- dren's Home, Hillside Cottages for children with special needs, Scottish Rite Hospital, and Juvenile Court. Circle K, a group affiliated with the Kiwanis and Key Club, formed in 1981 to sponsor student participation in community activities such as the Little Sister Program with Renfroe Middle School, the Girl Scouts, Grady Hospital's problem pregnancy ward, the Atlanta Hunger Walk, the March of Dimes Walkathon, and the World Hunger Relief Program. Community service and awareness of the global community influence activities and even course work on today's campus more than ever before. 37 "" f" 1 '*TSk^ ; The magnificent dogwood located in the little quadrangle next to Presser Hall is known as the $10,000 Dogwood. The architects who developed the plans for the new music building called for the tree to be uprooted. Dr. McCain's veto of that proposal cost the College $10,000 to have the plans redrawn. 38 Bui trick Hall, built in 1930, has served as the main academic building for sixty years. Namedfor Wallace Buttrick, executive secretary of the General Education Board of the R ocke feller Foundation, the building houses classrooms, faculty offices and administrative units. Today Buttrick Drive is a pedestrian way bordering the George W. and Irene K. Woodruff Quadrangle. WALLACE MCPHERSON ALSTON, 1906-1987 Dr. Wallace Alston served as president of the Col- lege from 1951 to 1973. With degrees from Emory Uni- versity, Columbia Seminary, and Union Seminary, he came to Agnes Scott in 1948 as Professor of Philosophy and President-elect. Born in Decatur, he had more reason to know the College than most, as he had grown up on Candler Street where his grandfather lived and had played baseball on the campus grounds. In 1931 he married an Agnes Scott alumna, Madelaine Dunseith of the class of 1928. m Dr Alston involved himself in every aspect of college life and knew each student by name. He cared about students ' lives and per- sonally worked to ease trou- bles they might have. One year he. Dean of Students Carrie Scandrett, and Busi- ness Manager P.J. Rogers went to the Atlanta jail to gain the release of students arrested for sitting in at an all-night hamburger stand to protest segregation. He also cared about staff and faculty. One long-time employee recalled that when her mother was ill. Dr. Alston quietly offered finan- cial help. Both a pastor and a scholar, Wallace Alston combined a belief in academic excellence with love and concern for others. He was also a teacher. For more than fifteen years he taught a philosophy course on the Christian religion, and each year his class was full of the best Agnes Scott students, as well as students from Emory University and Georgia Tech. He particularly enjoyed bringing eminent scholars to the campus. The visiting scholar programs drew art critic Sir John Rothenstein, poet/ novelist May Sarton, theologian George Buttrick, and phi- losopher Theodore Greene. 40 CHAPTER FOUR A FINE SPIRIT: Organizations, Clubs, and Traditions For the first generations of undergraduate women, the experience of founding, joining, or carrying on traditions gave identity and importance to their college years. The enthusiasm for "clubbing" and for creating the mythol- ogies that surrounded events and practices was especially vigorous at women's colleges, where a pioneer spirit and the absence of entrenched male traditions afforded female stu- dents a new freedom of expression. From the 1890s until at least World War II, Agnes Scott experienced a remarkable proliferation of student organizations, clubs, festivals, honors, and rituals many of them quite short-lived and all of them reflecting the students' sense of pride in their school and in their developing intellects and interests. In 1905, for example, in addition to several campus-wide organizations there were at least thirty-nine clubs on campus some with as few as three members and The Pilot Club circa 1910 The Camera Club, 1903 sporting names such as Dames de Qualite, Good Times Club. The Sat Upons, The House of Lords. X.Y.Z., Quarrel- some Quartette, The Midnight Owls, Jolly Rovers, and The Grass Widows, whose motto was "All Women are Born Free and Unattached." So abundant were the opportunities for extracur- ricular activities on campus that administrators and student leaders frequently met to discuss limiting or restructuring these distractions. Most acknowledged the importance of a well-rounded college life, however, both in complementing the academic program and in promoting individual and community growth. Organizations and traditions also pro- vided opportunities for small groups on campus to satisfy special needs and interests and added breadth to the liberal arts curriculum. Dean Nannette Hopkins recognized the value of autonomy and initiative to the development of the mind when she suggested in 1906 that students organize and estab- lish a student government, a practice not yet adopted on many college campuses. Elizabeth Curry Winn '07 remem- bered the day the idea was announced in the new Rebekah Scott Hall chapel and the many long and painful meetings in which students hammered out the details of organization. She served on the first Executive Committee, or Exec, and re- corded her peers' mixed reactions to the new responsibilities: We felt that our freedom was greatly increased under the new regime, and there was a general feeling of rejoicing, as well as much criticism. The criticism became especially strong when the committee had to deal with infringement of the rules, and there were times when all of us would have laid down our official authority and returned to the carefree status of private students. Exec and its successors played an important part in changing life on campus through the years. From the beginning. Exec held regular Open Forum meetings where students expressed opinions that were developed into pro- posals for the administration. In 1926 for example, a meeting of the student body in Open Forum addressed the following topics: telephone problems, mail room policy, dormitory services, dating regulations, class cuts, class schedules, and electric light rules. Through meetings like this one and actions by Exec, students gained concessions about social rules and even about the academic program. 42 Victims of Sophomore Rat Week, 1923. Proposed as a way to control hazing. Black Cat frequently did just the opposite. In 1923 the sophomores held a "reign of terror" during Sophomore Week, as reported in The Agonistic: "Two hundred freshmen trembled in the dark as they listened to their sentence read by the gleam of a flash light. Having heard the orders they were to abide by, the Freshmen began their obedience by marching single file between a double row of Sophomores and doing whatever they were commanded." No matter how the dean and student leaders tried to change them, the fall activities surrounding Black Cat always resulted in sophomores exercising their new ly attained authority at the expense of the incoming class. From its inception. Black Cat caused controversy on campus, with some members of the community arguing that the festivities enhanced school spirit, promoted class unity, displayed student talent, and built friendships while others charged that Black Cat bred hostility, lowered grades, wasted time, and added nothing of value to campus life. 43 With each extension of its responsibilities, student government at Agnes Scott gained further respect from the community and evolved to meet the changing needs of the College. In 1929-1930 Exec appealed to the Board of Trustees for a major expansion of student government powers. The trustees appointed a special committee to study the proposal and eventualy approved the expansion with the following statement: While the powers requested seem larger than most of those exercised by the students of the colleges in our territory, we believe that the spirit of our students is fine and that the conservative ideals of Agnes Scott will be presen'ed and cherished as heretofore. This trust in students' abilities and "spirit" was reflected in Agnes Scott's honor system. In coming to Agnes Scott, each student pledged to abide by the honor system, which governed both academic and social behavior and formed the foundation of their lives on campus and in the community. Today, as in the past, students promise to be bound by honor to develop and uphold high stand- ards of honesty and behavior; to strive for full intellec- tual and moral stature; to realize [their] social and academic responsibility in the community. Until 1962, students who served on Exec exercised both executive and judicial power. In 1944, dissatisfaction with this arrangement led to the beginning of an eighteen-year process of separating the two functions, and in 1962 the renamed Representative Council or Rep Council as it is known today assumed reponsibility for executive and legis- lative actions, while Judicial Council maintained the honor system. Eight years later, the judicial system was divided to allow Dorm Councils and Interdorm to administer social rules, while Honor Court dealt with the appeals process and infringements of the honor code. In the early days of women's colleges, administra- tors and faculty anxiously guarded their school's academic reputation and encouraged student activities that supported this image. For example, Agnes Scott supervised the estab- lishment of chapters of two national honor societies. Phi Beta Kappa and Mortar Board, to recognize students' academic achievements and to foster the links between scholarship and leadership and service on campus (see Chapter Two). As extensions of the academic program. College publications offered young women opportunities to practise journalism and creative writing and to develop their views on a range of campus, national, and international issues. The first Agnes Scott publication grew out of the activities of the Mnemosynean Literary Society, founded in 1891 and deter- mined "to foster a taste for polite literature and to acquire on the part of its members familiarity with standard authors, musicians, and artists." The group met every Saturday eve- ning in its own hall in Main, and that first year began produc- ing The Mnemosynean Monthly, which led in 1897 to the first Aurora, a publication that served both as an annual and a literary magazine. In 1902 The Silhouette took over as the College annual while the Aurora continued as the literary magazine; these student-produced publications have con- tinued to reflect the creative efforts of the College throughout its history. From its beginning in 1916, the student newspaper occupied an important place in the activities of the College and in keeping students aware of national and international events. Information about campus and community events, reviews, and discussions of the interests and pastimes of each generation of students appeared in each issue. Founded in a time of international crisis, the newspaper reported the events and service opportunities of the Great War to an eager student body. Exec ran a contest for the name for this first student newspaper, finally choosing The Agonistic from the word meaning "pertaining to mental combat." The name caused a certain amount of confusion over the years: many people misspelled it to read "Agnostic," which was particu- larly unfortunate for a Christian college, and others tried to associate "Agonistic" with the name of the College. A lengthy debate in the 1930s resulted in changing the name to The Agnes Scott News in 1938. In 1965 the paper took the name The Profile. Theater studies played an important part in women's education from the beginning, though the early goals of such programs were often limited to developing womanly graces in their students. At Agnes Scott the drama program immediately took on more serious challenges. In 1915 two faculty members, Professors J. D. M. Armistead and Mary L. Cady, organized an offical campus drama troupe, Blackfriars, which they named for the Elizabethan theater in London where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed. When Professor Frances K. Gooch arrived later that year to teach "expression," she took over as the group's leader and continued to produce plays with Blackfriars until her retirement in 1951. Miss Gooch had a reputation for being difficult, and no play couy be performed without her losing her temper at least once and "washing her hands" of the whole 44 affair. Alumnae from the 1920s recall that one of her favorite tactics was to pretend to faint from frustration during re- hearsals. During one such episode her students were so alarmed that they ran immediately to Dr. Mary Sweet, the College physician. Miss Gooch and Dr. Sweet did not get along, so when Miss Gooch realized that her nemesis had been called, she quickly recovered and resumed the rehearsal. Under the guidance of Miss Gooch and others, Blackfriars planned an ambitious schedule of performances each year, frequently including one of Shakespeare's comedies and plays adapted or dramatized by members of the campus community. At the 1928 National Little Theatre Tournament in New York City, the Blackfriars' presentation of Pink and Patches, written by Margaret Bland Sewell '20, won first prize for the Best Production of an Unpublished Play. Since no men were permitted to participate in early College productions and no student could wear trous- ers, Agnes Scott actresses played the male roles wearing long black skirts. A 1925 graduate recalled that she broke the ban on trousers when she borrowed a pair from President McCain so that she could play the role of Sir Peter Teazle in School for Scandal. The prohibition against male actors was broken in 1930 and again in 1933 when President McCain's ten-year-old son Charles joined the Blackfriars' cast. Eventu- ally Blackfriars' oustanding reputation drew actors from the community to its casts, and the company cooperated in play production with Emory University and Georgia Tech theater groups. In 1924 Blackfriars performed Conflict by Clarice Vallette McCauley in an intercollegiate competition at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where it won second place. Blackfriars, founded in 1915, is the oldest continuing drama group in the A tlanta area. 45 46 -*# 4 * I With the approval of an administration concerned with "the whole woman," other campus-wide organizations planned activities that promoted college and class spirit. Shortly after the College achieved collegiate status, the Athletic Association was organized to further students' health and fitness and to augment the activities offered by the Department of Physical Education. Besides sponsoring intramural sports through the years sports such as basket- ball, field hockey, swimming, tennis, and baseball the Athletic Association directed activities for the general benefit and amusement of students. During exam periods, for exam- ple, AA ran contests that would encourage students to take 47 care of themselves physically during times of stress. In 1925 the organization awarded points to students who slept eight hours, exercised for one hour each day. ate three regular meals, and avoided sweets. After World War II, a proposal that the College should participate in intercollegiate sports was debated in The Agnes Scott News and elsewhere on campus, but not until the 1970s did the field hockey and tennis teams compete with teams from other colleges. In the 1980s intercollegiate competition expanded, while intramural sports with faculty and staff participation continued to play an important part in promoting fitness and good community relations. 4S As successor to the YWCA in 1938, the Christian Association offered opportunities to students to express their faith through service and campus activities, such as programs in the chapel and community worship. In 1943 CA sponsored World Emphasis Week, during which daily chapels and vespers focused on world affairs. Activities of the association in the 1950s also concerned international affairs. By the 1970s CA operated solely on voluntary contributions but offered an ambitious array of projects including glass recycling, panel discussions on Vietnam POWs, Focus on Faith, and World Wide Communion. While most of the campus organizations spon- sored social activities in support of their other purposes, from time to time groups formed solely to improve the social opportunities for the students. Some of these clubs were exclusive in their membership policies, and a few became full sororities. By 1920 three sororities the Complicators, the Bull Dogs, and Sigma Delta Phi had generated bad feelings on campus and even among alumnae. That year The 5/7- houette staff, the Pan-Hellenic Council, and the Senior Class and other student groups debated the future of such clubs. Unable to reach a conclusion among themselves, the students appealed to the faculty, who accepted a proposal from non- members that the clubs be closed to new members and abolished as their last members graduated. The faculty also prohibited the future organization of exclusive clubs. In the twenties students turned towards campus- wide social activities. In 1921 a time when dancing with men on campus was prohibited the Cotillion Club declared as its goal "To give more pleasure to the girls who dance and to give Agnes Scott more of the social life."The Club sponsored several activities for the student body, and those who attended claimed they did not miss having male partners. Stu- dents tried out for membership in the Cotillion Club and were judged on poise, personality, appearance, and dancing ability. In the years after World War II, a Social Standards Committee was formed to promote social interactions and to reestablish a sense of gracious living. The war had forced cafeteria-style meals and other privations on the College, and Dean Scandrett wanted to return to the tradition of served meals and dressing for dinner. Students resisted her plan, but agreed to freshen up for evening meals and to dress formally for special occasions. In the 1950s, Social Council took the place of the Social Standards Committee in providing for the recreation and social development needs of the campus. In 1960 Social Council sponsored a Social Emphasis Week "to bring Agnes Scott College into a full realization of the proper social graces," which included calling cards, invitations, choices for the dining room, good posture, fashion, and lessons on how to entertain. For fifty-five years, the celebration of May Day with its elaborate costumes and productions absorbed student energies each spring. A traditional part of Southern life in the nineteenth century, the first May Day event at Agnes Scott occurred in 1903. In 1912, the campus YWCA chapter sponsored the May Day celebration as a money-making picnic for which students dressed in pastoral costumes. The maypole first appeared the following year, and within a few years pageants based on classical mythology had become apart of the tradition. By the 1950s interest in making the complicated costumes for the May Day pageant flagged, and in 1958 the College combined May Day with a fine arts festival that included programs of music, dance, and drama. In 1963 a student- faculty committee voted to discontinue the May Day rite. 51 Evans Dining Hall, built in 1950, was financed by Letitia Pate Evans of Hot Springs, Virginia, and some of her friends. Mrs. Evans was an Agnes Scott Trustee from 1949 until her death in 1953. 52 Celebrations of important moments in campus life also contributed to the sense of community by bringing students, faculty, administration and staff together. Since 1908 Senior Investiture and Commencement have been major milestones in the academic year. An alumna of the class of 1913 recalled that on the day before her investiture she and her classmates dressed in gingham dresses and let their hair down in an impromptu effort to celebrate the end of childhood. Since that day and until 1962, when interest in the tradition waned, seniors symbolically bid farewell to their childhood on the Friday before Investiture in a custom called Little Girls' Day. Wearing pinafores and pantaloons and carrying toys, the seniors would frolic about the campus singing children's songs. In the 1930s seniors marked Little Girls' Day by marching around the campus singing "Shoo, fly, don't bother me, I'm going to be invested,"and in 1959 the "little girls" danced around Professor Walter Posey singing "Ring around the Posey." Like Little Girls' Day, another fall tradition Black Cat developed as an outlet for student energies that might otherwise have been spent on pranks and hazing. In 1915, Dr. Sweet became concerned that sophomore hazing of the incoming class during Rat Week might result in emotional or physical harm. She suggested that the two classes compete in producing skits, and the winning class would be able to bell a small ceramic cat. The event was named Black Cat after Dr. Black Cat, begun in 1915, remains one of the oldest, on-going festivals on campus. Originally involving only first and second year students, it became a campus-wide event in 1951. Today it is celebrated in games and dance, with the song competition playing a central role. Sweet's own cat and has existed in some form ever since. In 1951 the traditional Black Cat contest between first and second year students expanded to a campus-wide celebration for the new students. Each class presented its own skit and songs, and at the end of the program the sophomores would present the Black Cat to the new class to welcome them into the community. Today, the weekend begins with a Vdiniimci BlatM {W 5m 5' lqs4 When ik L<^ Tum P* P jfr, , ,i\ , El & feS ; h I r>. 2 co*^ to o"' 1 !->-. t+l 1-1 f f J- jl-i A Utle ""' fei * Jure + ~twt wliicl -pub St*f-~ biCT oil 53 . \M * i^ j ^ ? j.- 'g ns. j: j / 1 p % m J |j Jlj- g h * v J* 1 J: 1 I S lov - 1 M "t^lt erou) 4^4 I .3. hop re- ^iewJe*( *l ' S5L _ uAi*, >. ^-n-sff.! P L^f""' l"" 1 ^ rt-.o^i ^'rdLr-"^ lM ^ yo^- -to mk. o"V (beaws u>t^. -fftt 4t= ma W our drii^ s com -irut. bonfire at the amphitheater; all four classes compete in games, campus decorations, and songs. A junior class skit and a formal dance traditional since 1955 close the weekend. From 1914 until 1968, a group of seniors would write and present an opera parody to the rest of the commu- nity in the spring. Known as Seniorpolitan Opera, these per- formances had become annual events held the week after the Metropolitan Opera would bring its touring series to Atlanta. Seniors performed Luci de Lawnmower in 1923 as a parody of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Read-a-Letter (Verdi's Rigoletto) in 1926, O-Hello (Verdi's Otello) in 1931, and Alarmen Carmen (Bizet's Carmen) in 1949. In 1963 President and Mrs. Alston appeared wrapped in sheets play- ing the roles of the priest and priestess of Dionysus in Orkin and Eureka (Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice). As the academic year came to a close, several traditions marked the end of classes and the coming changes in campus leadership. For many years, the seniors celebrated Class Day on the day before the Baccalaureate Service that opened Commencement festivities. On Class Day seniors would read their class history, prophesy, and will, and would then move to the front of the campus to observe Book Burning by casting their most despised book or class notes into a bonfire. A member of the class of '23 recalled that in her senior year students held Book Drowning because of the con- stant rain that spring. Sometimes seniors read poems to com- memorate the death of a hated course, such as the one that a member of the class of '44 wrote about her genetics class: Ode to a Chromosome This gruesome genetics had ruined me! What do I care for the breed of a flea? The one thing I know and do despise, I'm dead tired of raising flies! In 1942 the seniors burned notes only and brought books to donate to the Victory Book Campaign as part of the war council efforts. Class Day ended with the solemn and secret rite of Capping, when seniors gave their caps and gowns to juniors as a way of symbolically granting them senior status. This tradition has survived, though it is now held earlier in the spring on the evening of the Junior-Senior Banquet. Since 1890, Commencment has closed the aca- demic year at Agnes Scott. The first commencement that spring was as much a celebration of the school's success as a graduation ceremony. Activities on that day included dem- onstrations of free calisthenics, dumb bell routines, songs. S4 duets, recitations, and broom and regimental drills by the students. School officials announced awards of distinction in academic work, as well as the winner of the writer's prize. Parents and Decatur residents came to join in the occasion, and over 200 spectators had to be turned away. By the time the College awarded the first B.A.'s in 1906, Commencement had become a colorful and important occasion including an academic procession, speakers, and the awarding of several prizes. Rebekah Scott Hall. Bucher Scott Gymnasium, and Gaines Chapel in Presser Hall all hosted the ceremonies, but in 1970 Commencement was held outside for the first time, a tradition that continues today. Senior Investiture recognizes the special status of the graduating class and marks their assumption of their senior privileges and responsibilities. Beginning in 1908, Investiture was a private ceremony held in President Gaines' study. At the time, intense class competition encouraged pranks, especially during otherwise solemn events, and it soon became traditional for the juniors to steal the seniors' caps and gowns before the morning of Investiture. In 1913 the ceremony was made public to discourage such pranks. For many years sophomores honored their sister class, the seniors, by presenting them with a Daisy Chain on Class Day which was part of Commencement activities. This tradition faded in the late-sixties. '/* MAR VIN BANKS PERRY, JR., 1918- Marvin Perry served as Agnes Scott College's fourth president from 1973 to 1982. With degrees from the University of Virginia and Harvard University, he taught English at the University of Virginia and Washington and Lee University. From I960 to 1967 he was director of admissions at the University of Virginia, after which he became president of Goucher College. He came to Agnes Scott in 1973. A ccording to College Trustee Donald Keough, President of the Coca-Cola Company, Dr. Perry's aim at Agnes Scott was "to demonstrate to a new generation of students the value of liberal learning and to give to them not just skills, but the values, the ideals, the insight they will need to solve the problems of life today and tomor- row." m In 1981 President Perry reiterated his own beliefs in the College: "We at Agnes Scott are con- vinced that we can still encourage and promote among women the pursuit of any kind of intellectual and career interest, including those traditionally dominated by men. We can pro- vide successful role models among women faculty and administrators." m President Perry inaugurated innovative programs for Honor Scholars, Return to College students, dual degree candidates, and faculty governance during his tenure. In addition, he provided up- dated facilities for learning and planned the renovation of three academic buildings. 56 CHAPTER FIVE c OMMUNITY OF COOPERATION: Life on Campus From the very first meetings in Dr. Gaines' manse to plan the fledgling school in Decatur, Agnes Scott College established itself as a community based on cooperation and regard for the welfare of others. Faculty, administrators, staff, and students valued the intimacy of the campus and tended the atmosphere in which such relationships developed with the same attention they gave to the academic program. The students who attended the Institute were younger than today's undergraduates, and many had come a long way from home to get their education. The school bore almost complete responsibility for these young women, and in those days controlled their conduct, dress, visitors, and daily sched- ules, as well as every detail of their academic programs. The establishment of student government in 1906 began a process by which students gained a greater role in managing their lives outside the classroom. Since that time, the activities of honorary and service organizations, the easing of social regu- lations, and increased student participation in college deci- sions have demonstrated the importance of maturity, responsibility, and leadership to an Agnes Scott education. Students at Agnes Scott Institute circa 1895 57 Agnes SCOTT INSTITUTE, DECAT^I Georgia Railroad. Six Miles Ea S t_of ^-rC Electric Line, elegant 3- with City * /emeGlS: w 5 ClETiriC, UTtMM , A Art specially fine. Advantages in Musk and A P address F- H. G pRESl ,ciDENt, gE ob^ a - 4 College advertisement in the 1897 Au' ora 58 Late night snacks were as popular in the 1890s as they are today. In the early years, the school discouraged parents from sending their daughters food, as "eating imprudently" was a serious breach in an otherwise healthy regimen. 59 Students posing on the steps of Main in the early 1900s 60 <,0 Built in 1905 and named for Rebekah Bucher Scott, Colonel Scott 's wife, "R ebekah " originally housed students and a chapel. In the 1950s, a group of students formed the Second Rebekah Garden Club, which met weekly for long discussions on the health of their flowers. Club members were likely to turn up for campus events elaborately dressed in flowered hats and white gloves. Carnegie Library, 1910-1986, was the first separate library building on campus. In 1936, when a new library was opened, the older structure was renamed the Murphey Candler Building and designated as a student center. Affectionately known as the Hub for many years, it was the scene of thousands of bridge hands and other student gatherings. 61 Cookouts, like the one pictured here, were a popular activity in the twenties and thirties. Later students enjoyed similar outings. In 1968 the students in McCain Cottage invited Dr. Alston to a backyard barbecue. Coming over from his home next door, he enjoyed the hot dogs and s 'mores along with the rest of the party. 62 For many students, relationships with peers and faculty both in and out of the classroom become the most important memories of their college years. As a women's college, Agnes Scott provided an especially supportive atmosphere for the development of female friendships. Stu- dents of the Institute delighted in sharing food packages from home with a group of close friends. An alumna from the thirties remembered "bull sessions in Rebekah"as among the highlights of her college experience. These friendships lasted and provided ties to the campus long after graduation and even when students moved far away. When one alumna returned to the College for the first time in twelve years, her classmates and friends gave a party for her at the Tea Room. Members of the Class of 1941 who live in the Atlanta area still gather each month to have lunch on campus. Other classes including 1979 and 1983 graduates fly their families to loca- tions around the country for annual get-togethers. In the early days, when most faculty members lived on or near campus, their lives were very much inter- twined with those of the students. Professors often enter- tained students in their homes for club meetings, class parties, or other informal gatherings, and faculty wives frequently- held afternoon teas and receptions. Professor Emma May Laney sponsored the Poetry Club and invited the group to meet in her home for many years during her tenure at Agnes Scott (1919-1956). President McCain's freshman Bible class held an annual candy pull and corn popping at his home. In the forties, faculty-student "Bacon Bats," or picnics, were the rage. After C. Benton Kline became Dean of the Faculty in 1957, he and his family held a series of Sunday afternoon open houses each year so that every student had an opportu- nity to visit there informally. President Wallace Alston also entertained groups of students at his home each year. By the 1980s it had become traditional for professors to invite their classes over for dinner or dessert towards the end of the term; the difficulties of scheduling these events in the busy weeks before exams led many faculty members to hold their "end- of-the-year" parties earlier in the semester. In the College's early years, male professors could not always mingle freely with students outside of classes. The administration set aside a table in the dining room for the male faculty members, for example, and as late as 1928 explicitly requested that they not attend student ball games or dances unless invited. Although these rules disappeared in the thirties, male faculty members were sometimes a minority on campus. C. Benton Kline remembered that when he arrived in 1951, the male members of the faculty met for lunch on Tuesdays in the president's dining room, forming in effect a male support group long before such groups were fashionable. By the 1930s faculty members of both sexes joined in many student activities, including hockey, basketball, and baseball games and other special events. The Brown Jug Tournament was an annual basketball competition in which faculty and alumnae participated. At an Athletic Association carnival in the 1940s, a faculty member standing on the sidelines observed that only persons with "empty heads" would ride the rickety carousel; just as he spoke. President McCain dismounted and walked coolly through the crowd. From time to time the faculty would play cameo roles in student performances or present an amusing skit to the campus community. Professor Paul Garber, an ordained minister and Bible instructor, recalled that in one such skit he portayed a devil. During the performance someone prompted his young son to stand up and call out, "That's my daddy," to the merriment of the audience. In 1957 when several years had passed without a faculty skit, the students requested that their professors resume the tradition as an outstanding example of that special characteristic of Agnes Scott, that close relationship betweenfaculty and students, that willingness of the faculty to be a part of the campus as individual human beings beyond the classroom. In 1964 another skit based on the Winnie-the-Pooh stories starred Professor Edward McNair in the role of Eeyore, and he was ever after known as Eeyore among the students. Faculty members present a skit as a spoof on Winnie the Pooh, circa 1964-65. 63 Students always love to tell tales about their teachers, and the intimate atmosphere at Agnes Scott has long fostered such mythologies. Between 1927 and 1938 there were two faculty members named Smith, Miss "Latin" (Lil- lian S.) Smith and Miss "History" (Florence E.) Smith. Miss Latin Smith had begun teaching in 1905 and was always a proper lady. Each morning, she came to class in hat and The Fire Brigade in 1912, when students bore some of the responsibility for protecting the campus. gloves and busily adjusted the transom in her Main class- room. This concern with ventilation always amused the stu- dents because there was no glass in the transom. When Miss Latin Smith waxed enthusiastic about a point she was mak- ing, the flowers in her hat bobbed and bounced as her students tried to contain their giggling. English professor Margaret Pepperdene, who taught at the College from 1956 to 1985, was also famous for her enthusiasm. She usually sat on her desk as she taught, but when she got to an exciting part of her lecture, she would leap down from the desk and sometimes land with one foot in the trash can. The spirit of community extended beyond campus life at Agnes Scott and included physical plant and custodial employees as well as faculty, administrators, and students. When Dean of the Faculty S. Guerry Stukes was preparing to retire in 1957, he planned to give his Biblical Commen- taries to Riley Anderson, one of the College carpenters who was also a Baptist minister known for his moving prayers at College functions in which he would sing and pray for every person on campus by name. Dean Stukes changed his mind when he discovered that Mr. Anderson couldn't read, but soon afterwards, another physical plant employee reported to the dean that Mr. Anderson had his grandson read every- thing to him. The commentaries went to Mr. Anderson. Elsie Doerpinghaus, wife of biology professor Leonard Doerping- haus, thought of Agnes Scott as a "community of coop- eration." She remembered that, when they arrived in Decatur in 1958, College people were there to help them move in. "It was," said Mrs. Doerpinghaus, "as if Doerp was here to use his mind rather than his hands." Today Victoria Lambert and her crew of grounds keepers devote themselves to maintaining the beauty of the campus through the changes of the seasons. Their efforts are particularly appreciated on snowy days when they are out early spreading sand on icy roads and sidewalks. 65 Through the years, many lawn parties and receptions have taken place at the Alumnae Garden and Pool. According to tradition, newly engaged students are ceremoniously dunked in the pool. 66 The early generations of Agnes Scott students found it easy to cooperate with the regulations and practices the College established to govern their lives, for college life gave them a sense of freedom even when the rules resembled those at home. A sample of some rules from the 1892 cata- logue demonstrates the College's concern for the health of students, as well as for their mental and moral well-being and for a high standard of propriety: No pupil is allowed to appear in a wrapper out of her chamber. Pupils will not be allowed to go to Atlanta more than once a quarter for shopping purposes, and then only when accompanied by a teacher. Unless specially excused, pupils must repair to the Study Hall at 7:00 p.m.; at 10:00 the house must be quiet. Pupils are permitted to correspond only with such gentlemen as are specially named in writing by parents. Visitors will not be received during school study hours: nor the visits of young men at any time. A student made fun of the College's concern for health in the Aurora of 1899: You know that among the many qualities men are said to admire in women, are those of a beautiful complex- ion and a fine and healthy figure. It is also a known fact that exercise is one of the best means of obtaining these happy results. Whether the faculty here are train- ing us up especially to become pleasing to the eyes of the other sex, we dare not presume to know, but we are certainly forcibly convinced that they approve of exercise as a means of promoting good health. A daily happening in all eras was the excited rush to check mailboxes. A tower room in Main reflects the tastes of students in the 1980s. (Photograph courtesy of Flip Chalfant.) A street dance behind Rebekah Scott Hall in the 1960s. For fifty-seven years (until 1947) dancing with men on campus was forbidden. Attendance was required at chapel six days a week during this period, and on Sunday students had to be present at both Sunday school and church services. Over the years. College rules evolved to meet changing customs, needs and perceptions of students' maturity. In 1919 students could go to Decatur unchaperoned in the daylight, but freshmen and sophomores were forbidden to talk with a man met by chance for longer than three minutes; older students were permitted to attend afternoon movies with men. By 1930 seniors could date until 11:00 p.m. and freshmen could double-date in cars instead of having to depend on public transportation. The rules were especially strict about riding in cars with men. Shortly after Professor Walter Posey arrived at Agnes Scott, he was driving from Decatur to the campus when he noticed an Agnes Scott student walking back to school weighed down by several boxes. He pulled up beside her and offered her a ride back to the campus. She ignored him and walked on. Dr. Posey pulled up to her again and repeated his offer, and the student continued to ignore him. Finally he stopped along side of her for the third time and said sternly, "Young lady, I am the chairman of the History Department at Agnes Scott. Would you like a ride back to the campus?" "Oh no sir," she replied, "but my boxes would." In another incident demonstrating the College's strict train- ing about men and cars, two freshmen were expecting to meet one's uncle at his black Buick in an Atlanta parking lot. Upon arriving they spotted a black Buick, but since they weren't sure if it was the right one, they began rifling the contents of the glove box for the owner's name. Suddenly a familiar voice behind them said, "Young ladies, may I take you back to school?" The two embarrassed freshmen ran for the trolley line, leaving a bewildered President McCain stand- ing beside his car. 68 For many years Agnes Scott students had to comply with a variety of strict "signing out" procedures when they left the campus or went out at night. These procedures were gradually liberalized, but until then students and admin- istrators tended to take them very seriously. One day in 1941 a student received a funeral wreath from her date, who had brought her back to campus thirteen minutes late the evening before. She was, as expected, "campused" for the infraction. A few years later Mary McConkey Reimer '46 was stricken with appendicitis and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. On the way, and in spite of the pain, she had only one thought: there she was riding in a car with two men and she hadn't even signed out! The rules governing on-campus dancing with men were also strictly enforced for many years. Students danced with each other at campus parties or with men in the private homes of the few of their friends whose parents allowed it. In 1946 President McCain decided to allow dancing with men on campus as long as alternative entertainment was offered for students without dates. A committee with representatives from student government, the Social Standards Committee, and the Cotillion Club drew up the rules that governed dancing on campus, including one that banned jitterbugging. The first formal tea dance was held in the Murphey Candler Building from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in April of 1947, and the following fall the Cotillion Club sponsored the first formal evening dance on Thanksgiving weekend. More widely resented and more frequently broken were the College's rules governing bedtime and lights out. During the early years, the main power switch was thrown at 10:00 p.m. after a warning whistle, and students were expected to be in bed. The faculty normally met from 7:30 p.m. until lights out, and Dean Stukes recalled that the minutes of the meetings often closed with "the whistle blew and the faculty meeting adjourned." As with other rules, seniors were granted special privileges, and by 1921 they had unlimited "lights." In 1930 all students could keep their lights on until 11:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and in 1955 all rules con- cerning lights were eliminated. Some rules grew out of faculty members concern for students' development. In 1920 Professor C. W. Dieck- mann of the Music Department asked the faculty to urge students not to play jazz and ragtime music. He worried that such music could have a depressing effect on students' char- acters. In 1927 victrolas could only be played from 4:10 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and from 10:00 to 10:30 p.m. during the week, from 1:10 to 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays and after dinner on Sundays. Jazz was still prohibited. Students often wore skirts and middle blouses circa 1912. The presence of the chicken is a mystery. 69 Although an official dress code did not appear until 1955, the College assumed authority over student dress as part of its efforts to graduate accomplished and proper young ladies. Approved sports attire in 1891 included a floor length grey flannel suit with a divided skirt; in the mid- twenties the official costume was a middie blouse, bloomers, and long black hose. Students protested the ban on anklets and wore them over their hose until the ban was lifted in 1933. When the hair-bobbing craze hit the nation in 1921, Agnes Scott students were intrigued by the forbidden style, as the following verse from The Agonistic shows: Mama is shocked, Grandma is grieved; Papa sighs deeply. Auntie's bereaved; Sister scolds loudly, Bud doesn 't care All have donned mourning. Since I bobbed my hair. By 1924, more than half of the students had succumbed to temptation and cut their hair. Agnes Scott established its first formal dress code in 1955 as students attempted to push the limits of what constituted appropriate dress for College events and daily life. The seniors in that year made fun of the College's concern when they cautioned the freshmen: Girls, this dressing up for affairs must cease. The approved costume for concerts in Presser is loafers with or without socks; whatever you happen to have worn to class that day; and a raincoat. The raincoat is essential. It makes you feel anonymous as you crawl into the balcony fifteen minutes late. The dress code survived in various forms until 1970 when specific regulations were dropped, but the administration continued to urge that students "dress neatly and appro- priately for all occasions." During the 1950s and 1960s, Agnes Scott students began to question the College s authority over every aspect of campus life, including dating, chaperonage, and dress. In 1957 Dean of Students Carrie Scandrett explained that the College was simply exercising the authority of parents or acting in loco parentis: In so far as it is possible, our social procedures are those of a well-ordered home. They are designed with the welfare and the good times of all the students in mind. Agnes Scott students come from homes where love, care, and interested concern for fine ideals and high standards of conduct are felt and taught. 70 The Silhouette Tea Room was located in the basement of Lowry Science Hall. It was moved to the new A lumnae House in 1921. The Tea Room was a favorite gathering place for students and teachers. But the students continued to challenge the idea of in loco parentis, and gradually they won a number of conces- sions in the relaxing of the rules. Occasionally, something happened to remind them that accessible and concerned administrators and faculty contributed much to the campus community. One Sunday in 1963, some students found a sick collie lying in the bushes near the colonnade and called on President Wallace Alston for advice. "With characteristic kindness and special concern for whatever concerns us, he immediately took the time and trouble to have the dog cared for," one student wrote, pointing out that in this case, in loco parentis worked for the students' benefit. Similarly, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, many students sought consolation in the president's home, and Dr. Alston calmed their fears without showing his own anxiety. At other times, students found refuge in a succes- sion of campus hangouts. The Silhouette Tea Room was one of the most beloved of these social centers. Located first in the Lowry Science Hall, it moved to the Alumnae House in 1922. Catherine Wood Marshall LeSourd '36 wistfully recalled "trailing to the Tea Room in pajamas and robes" with her friends. The Tea Room specialized in soup, dough- nuts, and fifty-seven varieties of salad. The most popular meal was breakfast, when cinnamon toast and coffee could be bought for a dime. Faculty members liked to gather at the Tea Room in the evening for coffee parties, since the College physician had banned the serving of coffee in the dining hall. The campus mourned when the Tea Room closed in 1951 due to financial problems and the opening of Evans Dining Hall. During the 1950s the Murphey Candler Building came in to its own as a student center, and students began calling it the Hub in 1954. Today students congregate in the Wallace M. Alston Campus Center, drawn there by the snack bar, rac- quetball courts, and a television lounge. 71 The dormitories were the center of most students' lives outside the classroom. Each student expressed her per- sonality and interests in the careful decoration of her room, and during the forties, fifties, and sixties there were annual room decorating contests. Until the seventies the College provided laundry service for the students, and much of dor- mitory life was spent filling out laundry slips and rectifying embarrassing mistakes. The panty raid, symbol of campus social life in the fifties, threatened Agnes Scott in 1951-1952, as told in the Class of '55 history: For weeks the campus shuddered under the threat of a panty raid by Emory and Georgia Tech youth. The Decatur and Atlanta police and the Georgia mili- tia must have surrounded the campus, and Dr. Alston and Mr. Stukes walked a nightly beat in front of Main. With policemen playing cards on dormitory porches and having parties in the basement of the dining hall, with threatening calls telling that a line of 1,000 cars filled with hopeful boys was en route to Agnes Scott, and with the advice of the Dean's office to please not wave "things " out of the window, there was a reign of chaos that ended in absolutely nothing but relief for the girls who had sat up all night from fear, and disappointment for those who had sat up all night in anticipation. In 1956 a student government project to make students more aware of neatness and manners briefly threat- ened the pleasant atmosphere of the dormitories. Student leaders conducted secret room surveys and published a list of those who failed inspection under the title "Poor Wives." The campus revolted, and angry students attacked the project, charging that it violated privacy, good taste, and courtesy. The mind-your-manners plan was not continued. In 1970, when the College's social regulations were liberalized, Interdormitory Council was introduced to gov- ern and enhance life in the residence halls. Because the Col- lege requires that most traditional-age students reside on campus, Interdorm largely sets the tone for campus life. The entirely student-run organization builds morale within the residence halls and provides educational programs regarding cultural differences among residents and awareness for per- sonal safety. Dorm Councils and Interdorm have judicial responsibilities and govern most cases of rule violation. These organizations and others like them serve to improve communications among students and the administration and contribute much to life on campus today. Dorm life in the eighties. (Photograph courtesy of Ron Sherman.) 72 A m Dormitory life in Main in 1910. Students romp in an unusual Georgia snowfall in the 1960s. 74 The Agnes Scott College community in 1940. Many alumnae remember kneeling on a small stool during Investiture, when the dean placed the mortar board on the head of each student, and Commencement, when the graduating student received her academic hood. This custom began in 1932 when one of the seniors had been ill and could not kneel to the floor as had been the practice. Students rebelled against the symbolism of kneeling in the 1970s, and since then each senior has stood before the dean. RUTH SCHMIDT, 1930- Dr. Schmidt assumed the College presidency in 1982. A native of Minnesota, she graduated summa cum laude from Augsburg College in Minneapolis. After earning her M. A. from the University of Missouri, she taught Spanish at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and taught at the State University of New York at Al- bany. In 1978 she became provost and professor of Spanish at Wheaton College in Massachusetts where she was acclaimed for her pioneering work in estab- lishing a "gender-balanced" curriculum that integrated information on women into all courses of study. As the first woman president of Agnes Scott College, Dr. Schmidt has expanded interest in international areas by establishing the Global A wareness Program. President Schmidt 's interest in fine teaching led to her establish- ment of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excel- lence in Teaching. Under her leadership the College successfully completed a thirty-five million dollar cam- paign and actually surpassed that goal. The completion of the Centennial Campus during her tenure included the renovation of residence halls, the transformation of the Bucher Scott Gymnasium and Walters Infirmary into the Wallace M. Alston Campus Center, and the construction of the Robert W. Woodruff Physical Activ- ities Building and the Lawrence L. and Mary Duck- worth Gellerstedt Track and Field, m President Schmidt is active in local, regional, and national educational associations. She has chaired the Women's College Coalition and presided over the Association of Private Colleges and Unh'ersities of Georgia. She has serx'ed on the Commis- sion on Women in Higher Education of the American Council on Education, the executive committees of the Southern University Con- ference and the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities, and as a board member of the Association of American Colleges. She currently ser\>es on the Commission on Col- leges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and on the Com- mittee on Higher Education for the Pres- byterian Church U.S.A. 76 CHAPTER SIX ISIONS FOR THE FUTUR E.- Agnes Scott College at 100 During the 1980s, Agnes Scott College anticipated the Centennial Celebration and changes in the student popu- lation and their educational needs with extensive planning activities. The renovation of College buildings and facilities responded to new curricular emphases, as well as to concerns with energy efficiency and with restoring the historic charac- ter of the campus. In 1984-86 the decision to change the academic calendar to the semester system occasioned a re- examination of the curriculum that resulted in the faculty reaffirming their commitment to the liberal arts and sciences, while offering students increased opportunities for choice and some new academic goals. These goals included a revital- ization of the fine arts at the College, the development of the Global Awareness program, the expansion of the physical education program, the study of the formation and transmis- sion of values, the design of a program that would encourage women to enter and excel in the sciences, a new focus on the study of women, and a renewed commitment to the teaching of writing. The renovation of Dana Fine Arts Building, Presser Hall, and of the dance studio in the Wallace Alston Campus Center enhanced the gallery, studio, and perform- ance facilities for the fine arts programs on campus. In addition, an expanded college events series and a visiting artists program brought internationally known performers and artists to teach and work on campus. Building on a long tradition of international con- nections, Agnes Scott entered its second century with a new emphasis on global awareness. Several new programs offer students opportunities to live and study abroad for college credit and give increased attention to international issues and cross-cultural studies on campus. In 1986 students partici- pated in a summer program in India. A member of the class of 1988 remembered her impressions of that trip: 77 / was shocked and horrified by the disease and the poverty about which I had only read or seen pictures. I had never grasped the reality of it, the vastness of it, or how slim are the chances of escape from such a perpet- ual state. I was overwhelmed by feelings of futility and compassion, wondering so often how it is that I find myself living so secluded a life and in such compara- tive opulence. President Schmidt emphasized that each student should have the opportunity to live and study in a culture other than her own. "A liberal arts education liberates us from the slavery of place by curing us of cultural myopia." Since the early travel programs, many students and faculty have participated in Global Awareness trips to a variety of countries on five continents, including Mexico, Germany, England. France, Burkina Faso, Peru and the Galapagos Islands, Greece, Nicaragua, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The students who study abroad in these programs bring their experiences back to campus through formal and informal means. The number of international students who come to Agnes Scott has increased over the years, and new coun- tries are being represented. Whether they come for a year or for their entire undergraduate education, these students bring valuable cultural perspectives to the campus community. As Amna Jaffer '90 from Pakistan said of her experience of being an international student at Agnes Scott: / realized that I can 't help but let my identification as a Pakistani come out in everything I do and say. Agnes Scott is a small school a community. So as interna- tional students in this small community, I know we must be making some sort of mark. Because today's women have a greater commit- ment to physical fitness and more opportunities to participate in sports competitions, the College decided to revitalize its physical activities program. The Woodruff Physical Activi- ties Building opened in March of 1988 with festivities that included a five kilometer race and an appearance by Olympic Gold Medal winner Joan Benoit Samuelson. The new Law- rence L. and Mary Duckworth Gellerstedt, Jr. Track and Field provides facilities for the intercollegiate soccer team, as well as for students, faculty, and staff who run or walk for recreation. The gym houses a basketball court and a swim- ming pool, weight rooms, and offices and classrooms for the Physical Education Department and the newly designated Director of Athletics. Agnes Scott has always found central to its mis- sion the communication of religious, personal, civic, and educational values and the enabling of students to develop values for themselves. Recognizing the fundamental role of faculty in this process, the College sponsored a National Endowment for the Humanities seminar on Teaching Values in the Western Tradition for the faculty during the summer of 1988. Implicit in their deliberations was the belief that educa- tion is more than the transmission of knowledge: it must challenge students to use their knowledge and talents wisely and with care for others. In planning for its second century, the College also undertook a major commitment to becoming a center for the education of women in the sciences. The early stages of this program included the renovation of Campbell Science Hall in 1982, the establishment of academic computing with sev- eral new computer centers on campus, joint programs in the sciences with Georgia Institute ofTechnolgy and Washington University in St. Louis, and faculty grants that increase oppor- tunities for students to participate in research on campus. Plans to expand the writing program within and beyond the Department of English began with the establish- ment in 1988 of the Writing Workshop, where students come to work collaboratively on their writing assignments with trained student tutors. The Agnes Scott Writers' Festival, begun in 1972, continues to bring nationally known poets, fiction writers, and playwrights to campus to read their works and to judge a statewide literary competition. In the past ten years Margaret Atwood, Denise Levertov, and Michael S. Harper have participated in the festival along with published alumnae Memye Curtis Tucker '56 and Jane Zanca '83. The finalists' works are published in Festival, an annual magazine issued by the Writers' Festival. Formal interest in women's studies at Agnes Scott began in 1974, when the College joined with other Atlanta colleges and universities in forming a discussion group to examine and promote the study of women across the curricu- lum. The faculty designed and put in place a number of courses to begin to accomplish this goal, and with the interest and efforts of students, an interdisciplinary program in Women's Studies began in 1989. Today students may minor in Women's Studies, and plans are under way for further course development and for increased opportunities for com- munity service in areas of special concern to women. Many aspects of this academic plan for the future touch on differences within our global world. In recent years, campus organizations, classes, and faculty and adminstrative groups have addressed diversity and its importance in a number of areas of the liberal arts setting, such as hiring, admissions, curriculum, culture, and values. In 1987, Presi- dent Schmidt responded to the community's concerns regarding this issue and to the need for affirmative action in the broadest sense when she created the President's Commit- tee on Community Diversity. "This committee," according to the President, "is charged with recommending . . . steps which will enhance the goal of unity of spirit and diversity of people." In addition to addressing the recruitment of minori- ties within the staff, faculty and student body, the committee seeks to restructure aspects of campus life in ways that will reflect the experiences and contributions of many racial and ethnic groups. The College Events Committee incorporated the cultural diversity theme into programs planned for 1989- 1990. During the summer of 1989, the Committee on Com- munity Diversity sponsored a workshop entitled "Undoing Racism" in which administrators, faculty, staff members, and students shared their ethnic and cultural heritages; dis- cussed the nature, causes and results of racial discrimination; and set goals for expanding the achievements of the work- shop to the rest of the community. In January and February 1990, a series of seminars and presentations for the entire campus addressed issues of race, gender, and ethnicity in the design and teaching of college courses. From 23 September 1988 to 24 September 1989, Agnes Scott College celebrated 100 years of educating women. The year-long Centennial Celebration honored Agnes Scott traditions and explored directions the College will take in its second century with a variety of public and private events. At Opening Convocation on 24 September 1988 former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Distinguished Cen- tennial Lecturer for the year, spoke to the College commu- nity on the "Promise of a Changing World." Throughout the year, Mrs. Carter brought her unique perspective on world- wide social and political conditions to Centennial events, classes, and social occasions at Agnes Scott, where global 7S awareness has become an increasingly important theme in academic and campus life. During the Centennial year, distinguished alum- nae from a wide range of fields returned to campus to lecture about their postgraduate experiences. Bertha Merrill Holt 38, a state representative in the North Carolina legislature, addressed the campus in October on "Women and Politics: The Power The Responsibility." Carolyn Forman Peil '40, the first woman president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Frances Anderson '63, a professor of art and author of several books on art and art therapy, Mary Brown Bullock '66, Director of the National Academy of Science, and Priscilla Sheppard Taylor '55, editor of the Phi Beta Kappa newsletter, all returned to Agnes Scott to lecture on their areas of expertise. (Photograph courtesy of Paul Obregon.) A view of Rebekah (left) and Main (right) across the Woodruff Quadrangle. (Photograph courtesy of Flip Chalfant.) so Many alumnae came home to Agnes Scott during the Centennial year by attending an exhibit of artifacts and photographs held at the Atlanta Historical Society. Encom- passing different aspects of campus life such as academics, community connections, global awareness, social service, the fine arts, and science education, the exhibit brought past, present, and future together by portraying the history of the College as well as alumnae who have excelled in these areas. In addition to the displays, the architectural details of the exhibit created a sense of being on campus. Over eight hundred alumnae and College friends attended the opening gala, and thousands more viewed the exhibit during the following months. After the exhibit closed, a number of the displays were placed in campus buildings. The Centennial planners agreed that Agnes Scott should look to its future, as well as to its past, and Founder's Day 1989 was celebrated with the opening of a symposium entitled "Values for Tomorrow: How Shall We Live?" Martin Marty, a historian of modern Christianity from the Univer- sity of Chicago, Robert Coles, Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities at Harvard University, Rosabeth Ran- ter, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Busi- ness School, three presidents of women's colleges, and others discussed the development and transmittal of values in busi- ness, education, government, and theology. On a Global A wareness trip to Nepal, Elizabeth Buck listens to the children. (Photograph courtesy of Jeremy Green.) 81 A student trains in the pool in the new Woodruff Physical Activities Building. (Photograph courtesy of Bill Denison.) (Photograph courtesy of Flip Chalfant.) In April, the Centennial Celebration turned to the fine arts with a week-long series of events called "Arts Syn- ergy" that examined the influence of arts on each other. Commissioned on-site sculptures by Mary Jane Hasek, Mimi Holmes 78, Lynn Denton '63, and Elaine Williams 77 explored themes from women's lives. Music and dance per- formances were scheduled throughout the week focusing on the world premiere of Echoes Through Time, a commis- sioned musical drama by composer Thea Musgrave and librettist Christa Cooper. The Centennial Celebration built to a climax on 23 September of 1989, the eve of the College's one hundredth birthday. Alumnae, current students, faculty, staff and friends of the College attended one or more of three dances a tea dance in the Rebekah Reception Room representing the forties, a sock hop in the Robert W. Woodruff Physical Activities Building representing the sixties, and a street dance in front of the Wallace M. Alston Campus Center represent- ing the eighties. A spectacular fireworks display at the track entertained guests at the celebration and residents for miles around. The next morning one hundred years to the day since Frank H. Gaines, George Washington Scott, and their fellow churchmen had founded the school for girls in Decatur members of the Agnes Scott community formed a procession from the College to Decatur Presbyterian Church to attend a worship service led by Dr. Wallace M. Alston, Jr., son of the College's third president. A picnic under the trees in front of Agnes Scott Hall with a giant birthday cake in the shape of that building brought the Centennial Celebration to a splendid close. 82 83 irker on Agnes Irvine Scott's grave in Alexandria, Pennsylvania, testifying the connection between the College and the family. K * V CZ2 Snack bar in the renovated Alston Campus Center (Photograph courtesy of Daniel Henninger.) w>rr or JD vy SCOTT. BOM JVK- > S ' ,7 ' C m o October Mrr* (Photograph courtesy of . Cotten Alston) hue ?fCWfRMd 1 The Robert W WOODRL1FF Physical Activities Building GeUerstedt Track and Field (Photograph courtesy of Jeremy Green.) Entrance to Woodruff Physical Activities Buil (Photograph courtesy of ' "enninger.) ... >- ".' ^21 \ m^ u tBESP / v^H jfl It Unity through diversity is one of the strengths that Agnes Scott seeks to build on as members of the College community envision a second century of educating women. This theme, though stated in many different ways, has long been a part of the College's sense of purpose as each class of women has brought its diverse experiences and abilities to the campus and. four years later, graduated to fulfill a wide variety of dreams in every corner of the world. In 1986 Eleanor Hutchens, a member of the class of 1940 and a professor of English at the University of Alabama in Hunts- ville, articulated her own views on the strengths of Agnes Scott graduates: Through the amazing changes that have transformed the world since the late nineteenth century, the lives of Agnes Scott alumnae have shown that liberal educa- tion of sound quality is the best preparation for the unpredictable. They have made and maintained homes through wars and economic crises, they have succeeded in business, the professions, and the arts, and they have enriched their communities with volun- teer initiative. They have met the unexpected with self-confidence, self-reliance, and resilience. Newly diverse opportunities for women have found them ready to choose and carry out new kinds of responsi- bility with distinction. Like their sister graduates of the College's first hundred years, Agnes Scott women of the twenty-first century will be "ready to choose" from a world of opportunities. The original entrance gate to the campus came down in 1950 when Frances Winship Walters funded a new arched entrance in honor of President McCain. Left to the weather for many years, the old gate was recently set up over the pedestrian entrance to the campus off South Candler Street. (Photograph by Bill Denison.) ^^^^MH 86 The book is written by Archivist Lee Sayrs '69 and Dr. Christine Cozzens, Assistant Professor of English, Director of the Writing Workshop, and Director of Women's Studies. Agnes Scott College Decatur, Georgia 30030 (404) 371-6000