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LEST WE FORGET 




Agnes Irvine Scott 

for whom Agnes Scott College 

was named 



LEST WE FORGET 

An Account of Agnes Scott College 

by 

Walter Edward McNair 




"Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet 
Lest we forget  lest we forget!" 

Rudyard Kipling, "Recessional' 



Copyright  1983 by Agnes Scott College 
All rights reserved 



Tucker-Castleberry Printing, Inc. 
Atlanta, Georgia 



For 

Wallace Mcpherson Alston 

and 
MARVIN BANKS PERRY, JR. 

whose friendship, understanding, and interest 

have through the years continually 

encouraged and supported this 

writer in his long and happy 

relationship with Agnes Scott College 



in 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Beginnings 1 

Stability and Status 36 

The McCain Era 66 

Girding for Greatness 1 29 

Toward a New Century 22 1 

Observances, Organizations, and Traditions 279 

A Noble Company 325 

Directory 357 



IV 



INTRODUCTION 

The account here presented covers the development of Agnes Scott 
College from its beginnings in 1889 through June 30, 1982. Of course, 
not every single event is set forth, but a conscious effort has been made 
to include all happenings and personalities that have been formative in 
the evolution of the College. 

One will notice that there are no footnotes. Rather, the writer has 
sought to build the necessary documentation into the narrative itself. 

Encouragement and interest have been evidenced by so many that it 
is impossible to thank them all. Special gratitude is extended to 
President Marvin B. Perry, Jr., for unfailing support, to Mildred L. 
Petty, '61, and Juliette Harper, '77, for assistance in reading proofs, 
and to Dorothea S. Markert of the Agnes Scott Public Relations 
Office who has aided this writer in every way that she could. 



I hope very much that Agnes Scott will not be swept by the urge 
to supply what may be temporary needs. We have never planned 
to meet the calls of "our day." We have always tried to think in 
terms of the long future and to establish programs which will be 
good for our children and our children's children, as well as for 
tomorrow or next year. It may take some steadfastness of purpose 
to hold fast to our established program, but I hope that we may be 
able to do so. 

James Ross McCain 
May, 1944 



Historically, the Presidents of Agnes Scott have personified the 
ideals, the hopes, and the dreams of this College. They have set the 
pace; they have pioneered the new paths; they have inspired and 
led. 

Hal L. Smith 
May 18, 1974 



To combine the life of faith with the life of the mind, to fuse the 
intellectual and spiritual dimensions of the life of learning  this 
is the goal we seek. It does not need a particular curriculum; it 
shuns indoctrination. Rather the individual student sees it in the 
lives of those who teach and otherwise participate in the college 
community, in the way those lives are lived and in the values such 
living reveals. It is the quality of this living, day by day and 
through "the passing years," that makes [Agnes Scott's] legacy 
indeed a goodly heritage. 

Marvin Banks Perry, Jr. 
Autumn, 1976 



VI 



Chapter I 

BEGINNINGS 

18891907 



It is a cliche' to say that the American Civil War devastated the 
South. The fact, however, remains that this internal conflict did set this 
region decades behind the rest of the nation. All fields of activity were 
hindered in their development, but this retardation was nowhere more 
evident than in the area of education. Many schools and colleges never 
re-opened after the War, and those that did found their endowments 
either gone or sadly depleted, their buildings and equipment in 
disrepair and disarray, and their faculties scattered. 

Public education at the secondary and elementary level was largely 
nonexistent, and such as could be found was rudimentary in its 
offerings. The one-room school was the rule, and the competency of 
many teachers was just above the level of ignorance. Of course, there 
were notable exceptions to this sorry state of affairs, but in the main, 
education in the South was at a low ebb. 

During this period of the 1 870's and 1 880's, Georgia was in a serious 
plight. For many people money was almost non-existent. Those 
schools that were established had no funds and consequently soon 
died. Education was largely a hit or miss affair. Public instruction, as it 
is thought of today, was in its infancy. The great Gustavus J. Orr, 
considered by many as the father of public education in Georgia, was 
in 1872 just beginning his notable work as the state's second school 
commissioner. In Atlanta, the public school system dates from the 
same year. It was a period of struggle, of some success, and of much 
frustration and failure. 

Rural areas and small settlements found their educational problems 
even more acute than those of the larger communities, and Decatur 
was no exception. The town had been incorporated in 1832, some 
fifteen years before Atlanta achieved similar status, and even though 
the older community was just six miles from the center of its large 
neighbor to the west, Decatur was, up to the turn of the century, rather 
much separated from Atlanta. An unpopulated area of considerable 



size lay between the two towns, and communication was by means of 
either the Georgia Railroad or horse-drawn vehicle. At the beginning 
of the last decade of the nineteenth century, the town of Decatur had a 
population of about one thousand, and its schools, like those of similar 
communities, were at a low ebb. In the year 1888-1889 two schools 
operated in the town, one a private school of elementary level and the 
other a public institution of the primary and grammar school type, the 
latter being far from satisfactory in its work. The private school, 
operated by Miss Kate Hillyer, long ago went out of existence, and the 
public school folded also. For that matter, public education as it now 
exists in Decatur traces its origins from 1902. 

In the year 1889, in the context of this educational and economic 
situation, Agnes Scott College was born. The Rev. Frank H. Gaines 
had in 1888 accepted the pastorate of the Decatur Presbyterian 
Church, arriving in December of that year from the Falling Spring 
Presbyterian Church in Rockbridge County, Virginia. Besides his 
interest in preaching and pastoral work, Mr. Gaines had during his 
sojourn in Virginia developed a very active interest in education, 
particularly education with a strong Christian emphasis. He 
immediately saw the pressing need in Decatur for a quality school  
particularly for girls  , and before the end of his first year in the town, 
he was addressing himself to this need. 

Frank Henry Gaines was born in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, on July 
25, 1852, the son of John Rhea and Sarah Rice Gaines. He received his 
B.A. degree from Cumberland University in 1870, studied medicine 
briefly, and then in 1873 entered Union Theological Seminary in 
Virginia, completing his work there in 1 876. In September of the same 
year, he was ordained a Presbyterian minister and began his ministry 
in Ebenezer Presbytery, Kentucky. Two years later he transferred to 
Lexington Presbytery in Virginia from whence at the age of thirty-six 
he came to the pastorate of the Decatur Presbyterian Church, a 
congregation then numbering approximately 235 members. 

As has already been said, there was a great need in Decatur for a 
good elementary school. Indeed, as the academic session drew to a 
close in the spring of 1889, there was a real question concerning what 
educational arrangements could be made for the next fall. To Mr. 
Gaines, with his keen interest in education, the occasion seemed 
propitious for the opening of a Christian school under the auspices of 
the Decatur Presbyterian Church. Mr. Gaines, ever an activist, 
broached the subject informally to several of the leaders in his 



congregation and met with a favorable response. Among these was 
Col. George W. Scott, who was destined to play a leading role in the 
proposed enterprise, but more of this later. Such was the enthusiasm 
for the idea that by mid-July of 1889 it seemed appropriate to call a 
formal meeting of interested persons. On July 1 7, 1 889, a group met in 
the pastor's study at the manse. Within a period of six weeks from that 
date, a charter had been granted to the Decatur Female Seminary; a 
place of operation had been secured; students had been recruited, and 
a faculty employed. One month later on September 24, 1889, the 
Seminary officially opened with sixty-three students and four teachers 
 a remarkable achievement in determination and speed. So 
important for Agnes Scott are the meetings held in the late summer of 
1889 that their minutes are given herewith in full: 

Decatur, Georgia, July 17, 1889 

According to a previous understanding several members of the 
Presbyterian Church of Decatur met this evening at the Manse. 
Present: Rev. F. H. Gaines, George W. Scott, Milton A. Candler, 
Sr., Dr. Robert C. Word, James W. Kirkpatrick, J. A. Mason, 
John B. Swanton, George A. Ramspeck, B. S. Crane and H. J. 
Williams. 

Rev. F. H. Gaines was called to the chair, and R. C. Word was 
appointed secretary. 

The Chairman stated that the object of the meeting was to advise 
as to the need and feasibility of establishing in Decatur a school 
for young ladies and girls, to be of high order and under 
Presbyterian control and influence. 

After discussion, Col. George W. Scott offered the following 
resolution, which was unanimously adopted, to wit: 

"Resolved, That we determine to establish at once a school 
of high character." 

On motion of George A. Ramspeck, a committee consisting of 
George A. Ramspeck, George W. Scott and E. L. Hanes was 
appointed to canvass the town and report at a future meeting the 
probable number of pupils to be secured for the opening session. 

On motion a committee, composed of Rev. F. H. Gaines, B. S. 
Crane and C. M. Candler, was appointed to prepare and report to 
the next meeting a plan of organization, and also to correspond 
with suitable persons as teachers. 

On motion of M . A. Candler, Sr., it was made the duty of the first 
named committee to ascertain whether or not a suitable house 
could be obtained for the school, and upon what terms. 



On motion it was resolved that the committee appointed to 
canvass for pupils, could say to patrons that the rates of tuition for 
day pupils would be from three to five dollars per month, and that 
a limited number of boys under twelve years of age would be 
received during the first session. 

On motion those present adjourned to meet again at the same 
place on Monday evening next at 8 o'clock. 

(Signed) R. C. Word 
Secretary 



Decatur, Georgia, July 22, 1889 

Pursuant to adjournment members of the Presbyterian Church 
interested in the organization of a female school, met at the 
Manse, Rev. F. H. Gaines, presiding. 

The meeting was opened with prayer by chairman. The 
Committee on Pupils and Building reported that thirty-nine 
pupils had been subscribed, with a strong probability of at least 
ten more. In regard to securing a house, nothing definite had been 
accomplished, though they thought there was a strong hope of 
obtaining the Allen house. On motion this committee was 
continued with the same duties. 

The Committee on plan of organization reported in writing a 
proposed charter and scheme. On motion of Col. George W. 
Scott, M. A. and C. M. Candler were requested to embody the 
suggestion of the committee in a petition to the Superior Court of 
DeKalb County for a charter under the name of the "Decatur 
Female Seminary." 



On motion of M. A. Candler, Sr., J. W. Kirkpatrick, R. C. Word, 
R. F. Davis, W. J. Houston, George A. Ramspeck, and J. A. 
Mason were appointed a committee to apply for said charter. 

On motion the meeting adjourned to meet Saturday afternoon 
next. 

(Signed) R. C. Word 
Secretary 

Decatur, Georgia, July 27, 1889 

Those interested in the objects heretofore stated met at the Manse 
this afternoon, Rev. F. H. Gaines presiding. 

The chairman stated that a number of letters had been received 



relating to teachers, and they were read. The committee had not 
been able to secure the proper person as principal, as yet. 

On motion of George W. Scott the Committee was continued and 
its chairman, Mr. Gaines, authorized to visit Virginia with the 
object of securing a suitable person, as principal. 

The committee on building reported that they had made a 
proposition to lease the Allen house on the south side of the 
Georgia Railroad, but no definite answer had been received. 

On motion the action of the committee was ratified and it was 
continued. 

The meeting adjourned subject to the call of the chairman. 

(Signed) R. C. Word 
Secretary 



Decatur, Georgia, August 24, 1889 

Pursuant to the call of the Chairman, the following persons 
interested in the establishment of a female seminary met at the 
Manse  Present: Messrs. F. H. Gaines, George W. Scott, M.A. 
Candler, G. A. Ramspeck, R. C. Word, J. B. Swanton, G. B. 
Scott, J. W. Kirkpatrick, B. S. Crane, R. F. Davis, C. M. Candler, 
and H. J. Williams. 

M r. Gaines, chairman of the committee on teachers, reported that 
after a visit on his part to Virginia, the committee had secured the 
services of Miss Nannette Hopkins, as principal, for the year, and 
Miss Mattie Cook as assistant, Miss Hopkins at a salary of six 
hundred ($600.00) dollars per annum and Miss Cook at four 
hundred ($400.00) dollars per annum. 

The report was adopted on motion of M. A. Candler. 

On motion George W. Scott, R. C. Word and G. A. Ramspeck 
were appointed a committee to secure a competent matron, and to 
purchase the necessary school furniture. 

The Committee on teachers was continued and instructed to make 
inquiry for suitable teachers in the Music and Art Department. 

On motion of G. A. Ramspeck the meeting adjourned to meet 
next Monday night. 

(Signed) R. C. Word 
Secretary 



At the fifth meeting of these "interested persons," it was 

reported that a matron had been employed and that school 

furniture had been purchased. Then, on the same date, the 

charter was presented and accepted. Here is the record of 

that meeting: 

Incorporation Meeting 

Decatur, Georgia, August 27, 1889 

Pursuant to notice, the Committee of Incorporators, as named in 
the application for charter, met at the manse, present: J. W. 
Kirkpatrick, R. C. Word, R. F. Davis, J. A. Mason and G.A. 
Ramspeck. A majority of the Incorporators being present, J. W. 
Kirkpatrick was called to the chair and Dr. R. C. Word was 
appointed Secretary. 

The charter granted to said persons, as Incorporators of the 
Decatur Female Seminary, by the Superior Court of DeKalb 
County was read and unanimously accepted. It is as follows: 

CHARTER 

Georgia To the Superior Court of said County 

DeKalb County 

The petition of James W. Kirkpatrick, Robert C. Word, Robert 
F. Davis, Washington J. Houston, George H. Ramspeck and J. A. 
Mason show that they desire to be incorporated under the 
Corporate name of the "Decatur Female Seminary." The object of 
their association is to establish an Institution of learning in the 
town of Decatur, in said County, for the moral and intellectual 
training and education of female youths. They desire the amount 
of capital stock to be fixed at five thousand dollars to be paid up in 
cash or its equivalent, twenty per cent annually in such 
installments as may be called for by the Board of Trustees, 
hereafter provided for, with the priviledge [sic] of increasing such 
Capital Stock to an amount not to exceed Twenty-five thousand 
Dollars. 

They desire that the entire management control and direction of 
said Seminary shall be vested in a Board of Trustees, composed of 
five persons to be constituted in the following manner. The Pastor 
of the Decatur Presbyterian Church shall be ex officio, during his 
pastorate a Trustee. Two of the remaining four Trustees, shall be 
elected by the Session of Decatur Presbyterian Church, and shall 
be members of said church, in good and regular standing. At the 
first election therefor, one shall be elected for a term of two years. 



and one for four years. As these terms expire their successors shall 
be elected for full terms of four years. 

The remaining two Trustees shall be elected by the stockholders of 
said Seminary each share being entitled to one vote, and shall be 
members of the Presbyterian church in the United States, in good 
and regular standing. At the first election therefor, one shall be 
elected for two years and one for four years, and as these terms 
expire their successors shall be elected for full terms of four years. 
Vacancies in either division of the Trustees shall be filled by the 
respective election thereof for the unexpired terms. 

The Pastor of the Presbyterian Church shall be chairman of the 
Board of Trustees. The Trustees shall submit annual reports of 
their transactions, together with such information as will fully 
show the conditions of said Seminary to the Session of the 
Decatur Presbyterian Church which report shall be subject to 
approval or disapproval by said Session. Said Session shall also 
have authority, in their official capacity to visit and inspect said 
Seminary as often as they desire, and to investigate fully into its 
conditions, needs and conduct. 

The capital stock of said Seminary shall be devided [sic] into one 
hundred shares of the par value of Fifty Dollars each, and the 
subscribers thereto shall be responsible pecuniarily only for the 
unpaid amounts of their subscriptions. Petotioners [sic] desire 
that all the powers, rights and privileges necessary for the conduct, 
support and maintenance of said Seminary, together with such 
powers as are usually conferred on colleges and seminaries, be 
conferred upon said Board of Trustees, with the right to hold and 
acquire property, to sue and be sued in their corporate capacity, to 
sell, mortgage or otherwise dispose of any property they may 
acquire as may seem to the interest of said Institution, to charge 
and collect tuition fees, employ teachers etc. They desire that as 
soon as their charter is granted and accepted, and the amount of 
its capital stock subscribed the Board of Trustees may be elected 
and said Seminary opened for the reception of pupils. 

The Principal office and location of said Seminary shall be in the 
town of Decatur, said County. Wherefore petitioners pray for an 
order incorporating them as the said "Decatur Female Seminary" 
for the term of twenty years, with the privilege of renewal, and 
with all the rights, powers and privileges as above set forth. 



And petitioners will ever pray. 



Filed in office July 27, 1889. 



Candler, Thomson and Candler 
Petitioners' Attorney 
H.H. Burgess CSC 



ORDER 

Exparte DeKalb Superior Court 

J. W. Kirkpatrick et al August Term 1889 

Application for Charter 

Read and considered, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the 
Court, that the application is legitimately within the purview of 
the code and that all the prerequisites of the law in regard to filing, 
advertising etc. have been fully complied with, it is therefore 
ordered by the Court that the prayer of the applicants be declared 
granted, and that the petitioners their associates and successors be 
and they are hereby incorporated under the name of the Decatur 
Female Seminary, with all the rights, powers and privileges as 
prayed for in said application, with the future government and 
control of the Institution to be established hereunder vested in the 
Trustees to be appointed as therein specified. 



In open Court, this Aug. 27th II 



Richard H. Clark 
Judge S C Presiding 



By the Court 

Candler, Thomson and Candler 
Petrs' Attys 

The charter as above set forth having been accepted, on motion, R 
C. Word, G. A. Ramspeck and J. A. Mason, thereof were 
appointed to receive and solicit subscriptions to the capital stock. 

On motion the Incorporators adjourned to meet on Monday night 
next. 

(Signed) R. C. Word 
Secretary 



Decatur, Georgia, September 2, 1889 

The Incorporators met pursuant to adjournment, a quorum being 
present. . . . 



It appearing that the requisite amount of stock had been 
subscribed, the subscribers were called together, the charter and 
list turned over to them and the Incorporators adjourned sine die. 

R. C. Word 
Secretary 



Copy of List of Subscribers 

Name No. Shares 



Milton A. Candler 


10 


CM. Candler 


5 


George B. Scott 


6 


J. A. Ansley 


2 


T. L. Cooper 


2 


R. C. Word 


2 


J. B. Bucher 


2 


B. S. Crane 


1 


G. A. Ramspeck 


2 


T. R. Ramspeck 


2 


R. F. Davis 


1 


J. W. Kirkpatrick 


1 


J. A. Mason 


2 


N. P. Pratt 


1 


George W. Scott 


40 


Thomas Freeman 


1 


V. R. Sisson 


1 


M. A. Candler, Jr. 


2 


C. W. Ansley 


1 


E. P. Ansley 


1 


H. J. Williams 


2 


Ed L. Grant 


1 


W. M. Kirkpatrick 


1 


J. A. Kirkpatrick 


1 


J. C. Powell 


1 


L. M. Cassels 


2 


Geo. S. Bucher 


2 


E. L. Hanes, Jr. 


1 


John B. Swanton 


2 


J. H. Green 


1 


J. P. Laird 


1 


W. P. Houston & R. R. Billips 2 


T. J. Ripley 


2 


H. C. Austin 


1 


A. L. Pitts 


2 



107 



Amount 

$500.00 

250.00 

300.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

50.00 

100.00 

100.00 

50.00 

50.00 

100.00 

50.00 

2,000.00 

50.00 

50.00 

100.00 

50.00 

50.00 

100.00 

50.00 

50.00 

50.00 

50.00 

100.00 

100.00 

50.00 

100.00 

50.00 

50.00 

100.00 

100.00 

50.00 

100.00 

$5,350.00 



As is set forth in the charter above quoted, the Decatur Female 
Seminary was to be governed by a board of five trustees, two to be 
elected by the Session of the Decatur Presbyterian Church from the 
members of the Church in "good and regular standing," two to be 



10 



elected by the stockholders, with the pastor of the church being the 
fifth trustee and chairman of the Board. The first Board of Trustees 
was constituted as follows: 

F. H. Gaines, Chairman 

C. M. Candler 

B. S. Crane 

George W. Scott 

E. H. Barnett, D.D. 

Dr. Barnett was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of 
Atlanta, and thus begins Agnes Scott's close association with that 
congregation, every pastor of the church from Dr. Barnett to the 
present pastor emeritus having served as a trustee of the institution. 

As has been said, the Seminary officially opened on September 24, 
1889. There were sixty day students, three boarding students, and four 
teachers. Miss Hopkins and Miss Cook have already been mentioned. 
The other two teachers were Miss Fannie Pratt who taught piano and 
Miss Valeria Fraser who taught art and calisthenics. The year was a 
good one, and the school promptly earned the support of its 
constituency. One cannot overemphasize the importance of these first 
four teachers in winning the confidence of the citizens of the town and 
of the patrons of the school. Had they failed, another defunct 
institution would be on the list of such schools. But they did not fail, 
and Agnes Scott College stands as a lasting testimonial to their 
effectiveness. Apparently Miss Pratt and Miss Fraser were not long 
related to the institution, but Miss Cook remained for twenty years, 
and the tenure of Miss Hopkins was forty-nine years  the longest to 
date of any administrative or faculty member in Agnes Scott's history. 

A hallmark of Agnes Scott College is that it has always been sure of 
its purpose or mission. Early in the first year, Chairman Gaines 
realized this need and set down what he called the "Agnes Scott Ideal." 
Col. George W. Scott endorsed this statement, and it was issued in a 
booklet. So important and formative was this statement that it has 
been called the "Magna Carta" of the College. Commenting on this 
Ideal, Dr. Gaines (He received an honorary D.D. degree from 
Davidson College in 1896.) wrote in 1921 as follows: 

What the architect's plans are to the future building, this Ideal was 
to the institution. The great principles here announced were to 
guide and control in the building of the institution. This Ideal 



II 



dominated in the development of the institution, was strictly 
adhered to in all its struggles, and is still its Magna Carta. 

In 1939, when Agnes Scott celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, 
President James Ross McCain reaffirmed this Ideal; President 
Wallace McPherson Alston in his inaugural address in 1951 
committed his administration to these same principles, and President 
Marvin Banks Perry, Jr., explicitly and implicitly espoused these time- 
honored commitments. In a real sense then this statement of principle, 
announced in the institution's first year, has been the controlling frame 
of reference for everything at Agnes Scott. Here is this Ideal as Dr. 
Gaines framed it: 

1. A liberal Curriculum fully abreast of the best institutions of 
this country. 

2. The Bible as a text-book. 

3. Thoroughly qualified and consecrated teachers. 

4. A high standard of scholarship. 

5. All the influences of the College conducive to the formation 
and development of Christian character. 

6. The glory of God, the chief end of all. 

Another document of great importance from the early days of 
Agnes Scott is the prayer covenant which eight of the leaders signed. 
Convinced that the institution was an instrument of God's purpose, 
they bound themselves together in a mutual prayer agreement  an 
agreement which is unchanged and still living in that through the years 
others have signed it, there being one currently at Agnes Scott whose 
signature is affixed to this document, the original copy being still in 
existence. Here is this prayer covenant and its original signers: 

We, the undersigned, believing the promise of our Lord 
concerning prayer {Matt. 18:19), and having at heart the largest 
success of the Agnes Scott Institute in its great work for the glory 
of God, do hereby enter into covenant with each other to offer 
daily prayer in our 'closets' for the following specific objects: 

1. For each other in our work in and for the Institute 

2. For the Board of Trustees and Faculty. 

3. That God would convert every unconverted pupil before 
leaving the Institute. 

4. That He would graciously build up in the faith, and prepare 
for highest usefulness all who are His. 



12 



5. That He would baptize the institution with the Holy Spirit, and 
make it a great fountain of blessing. 

6. That He would give it so much of endowment and prosperity 
as He sees would be for His own glory. 

7. That He would have the institution constantly in His own 
holy care and keeping, that His name may be glorified. 

F. H. Gaines 
Nannette Hopkins 
Patty B. Watkins 
George W. Scott 
E. H. Barnett 
J. G. Patton 
Theron H. Rice 
Milton A. Candler 

Toward the end of the first year of the Decatur Female Seminary, a 
development occurred which perhaps was the single most important 
event in the history of Agnes Scott College. Col. George Washington 
Scott, having invited Dr. Gaines into his parlor, said to him: "Mr. 
Gaines, the Lord has greatly prospered me in my business and I don't 
want it to harden my heart; I have decided to give forty thousand 
($40,000.00) dollars to provide a home for our school." One condition 
was placed on this gift, namely, that the school be named for the 
donor's mother. Understandably, the Trustees promptly accepted this 
gift and immediately launched the procedures necessary to amend the 
charter, altering the name of the institution from the Decatur Female 
Seminary to Agnes Scott Institute. In this same amendment to the 
charter, the number of trustees was increased to six. Dr. G. B. 
Strickler, pastor of Atlanta's Central Presbyterian Church, was 
promptly elected to this additional post. 

The year 1890-1891 saw a greatly enlarged number of students  a 
growth from sixty-three to 138, with 22 of these being boarders. An 
additional house had to be rented, and as Dr. Gaines has written, 
"Another successful session gave assurance of the permanence of the 
work." 

At the end of the 1 889- 1 890 session a little pamphlet of twenty-three 
pages was issued, this pamphlet being the first in the annual series of 
Agnes Scott catalogues. In it one finds the listing of trustees, faculty, 
and students, as well as the course offerings. There likewise is 
information on history, location, buildings, purpose, and rules  the 
usual information one finds in college catalogues today. The course 



13 



offerings were divided into two major departments  preparatory and 
collegiate, the former being of the elementary level and the latter that 
of the secondary school. The collegiate course of study was distributed 
into ten "schools," namely, English, mathematics, natural sciences, 
Biblical instruction, history, moral sciences, Latin, modern languages, 
vocal and instrumental music, and art. Both Dr. Gaines and Miss 
Hopkins taught, and the faculty for the second session lists eleven 
others as well, some of them part-time, of course. To complete the 
work of the collegiate department, a student had to secure a 
"certificate of graduation" in eight of the disciplines. The passing grade 
was 80. Board and tuition for the 1890-1891 year was $185.00, with an 
extra charge for instruction in music or art. Day students paid $7.50, 
$10 00 or $12.00 per quarter depending on what grade they were in. It 
is interesting to note that this first "catalogue" sets forth the following 
statement of what the school considered the proper work of the 
teacher: 

The true educator should seek to develop and train the intellect, 
not by the cramming process, but train it to think by giving it 
proper food for thought, proper methods of thought and proper 
stimulation to thought. 

The true educator should seek to cultivate the taste, to lead the 
pupil to recognize and admire the beautiful in nature, in art, in 
literature, in the home, in all life. The true educator should seek 
very carefully and properly to train the moral faculties. 

This same first official publication further proposes to achieve this 
"proper" education by utilizing "the best teaching talent" with the 
"most approved text books and methods of instruction." And then 
comes the clincher  that commitment to standards which has ever 
been a hallmark of Agnes Scott: "We propose to require that each part 
of the course shall be mastered before the pupil shall be permitted to 
advance." 

Col. Scott spent much of this second year in carrying out his 
intentions for the building which he proposed to erect. Among other 
things, he took a northern trip to see school buildings. As a result, he 
became convinced that the amount he intended to give would not 
provide the building he wanted. Consequently, he increased his gift 
such that by the time the land was purchased and the building erected, 
he had contributed $ 1 1 2,250, the largest gift ever made to education in 
Georgia up to that time. The site chosen was five acres on the south 
side of the Georgia Railroad, easily accessible to Decatur and to the 
railroad station, primary considerations in those days. (The first 



14 



catalogue even states that there "are fourteen daily passenger trains" 
between Decatur and Atlanta.) The new building was named Agnes 
Scott Hall but through the years has been popularly known as "Main." 
It was in 1891 the "last word" in a modern college building, being 
lighted with electricity, heated with steam, and having hot and cold 
running water and sanitary plumbing  these being conveniences 
seldom found in college buildings before the turn of the century. That 
Col. Scott built well is evidenced by the circumstance that more than 
ninety years later his building is in full use as one of the principal 
structures on the campus. It is difficult today to assess how important 
it was for Agnes Scott Institute to have a fine building. It represented a 
firm confidence in the future of the institution. Dr. Gaines, in 
commenting on Col. Scott, has written the following about this 
structure and its significance: 

Then too, the kind of building he [Col. Scott] erected produced a 
powerful effect. It was a large structure, beautiful in architecture 
and built of selected material. It would do credit to any college 
campus. This building expressed Col. Scott's great vision of the 
future of this school. It testified to his confidence in the enterprise. 
It expressed his estimate of the importance of the work of 
Christian education. It attracted wide attention. It made a 
profound impression upon the Synod and upon the entire 
Presbyterian Church in Georgia, and, indeed upon other 
churches. It is interesting to conjecture what would have been the 
effect if Col. Scott had put up a plain ordinary building only 
sufficient for a local day school. 

Who were George Washington Scott and his mother Mrs. Agnes 
Irvine Scott? Perhaps this is an appropriate place to pause in this 
narrative and say something of these two persons whose names are 
inseparably linked with Agnes Scott College. In February, 1951, 
President Wallace M. Alston delivered an address on the occasion of 
the dedication of the George W. Scott Memorial Park in Decatur. In 
this address he included the following excellent summary of the lives of 
George Washington Scott and of his mother: 

George Washington Scott was born in Alexandria, Pennsylvania, 
on February 22nd, 1829. He was the fourth child of John and 
Agnes Scott, both of whom were of Scotch and Scotch-Irish 
extraction. 

John Scott was a native of Adams County, Pennsylvania, where 
his ancestors, after emigrating from Ireland, had established 
themselves as farmers on Lower Marsh Creek as early as 1740. 



15 



The father of George Washington Scott was a successful and 
prosperous business man whose interests included a tannery and 
an establishment where shoes and boots were manufactured. He 
later served in both the Pennsylvania State Legislature and the 
Congress of the United States. 

Agnes Irvine, mother of George Washington Scott, was born in 
Ballykeel, County Down, Ireland, on June 15th, 1799. When she 
was seventeen years old she came with her mother to America. 
The voyage in a sailing vessel required thirty-six days. This trip to 
a new land had its tragic aspect for Agnes Irvine, for en route her 
sister Susanna became ill and died at sea. Upon their arrival in 
America, the mother and daughter made their way inland two- 
hundred miles to the town of Alexandria, Huntingdon County, 
Pennsylvania, where some of their relatives who had preceded 
them from County Down, Ireland, resided. There John Scott and 
Agnes Irvine met, fell in love, and married on October 29, 1821. 
John Scott had been previously married and was a widower with 
five children. Seven children were born to John Scott and Agnes 
Irvine - Susan, John, James Irvine, George Washington, 
William, Mary Irvine and Alfred. 

The boyhood of George Washington Scott was spent in 
Alexandria. There he received his education. From early 
childhood he was instructed in the Scriptures and was taught to 
revere them as the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith 
and practice. Religious truth as set forth by the Westminster 
Confession of Faith, particularly by the Shorter Catechism, 
constituted a fundamental part of the early discipline of mind and 
heart. Habits of prayer, Bible reading, church attendance, 
Christian stewardship, and Christian service were normal and 
integral to the home in which George Washington Scott grew up. 
As a young boy he made a profession of his faith and became a 
member of the Presbyterian church in Alexandria. Thus began a 
long and faithful experience of loyal service to Jesus Christ 
through the Presbyterian Church whose doctrine, polity, and 
program he supported with unwavering conviction. 

The most determinative influence in that Pennsylvania home 
seems to have been the character and teaching of Agnes Irvine 
Scott. Her son John in an address at the Dedicatory Exercises at 
Agnes Scott Institute, November 12, 1891, paid this tribute to his 
mother: "It is not for the spirit of mortals to be proud; but if men, 
yea, men whose hairs are whitened with the light of years, may 
justly, at any time, feel any pride, I am sure it is when they mingle 
with that pride the gratitude, reverence and affection which are 
due to an intelligent, conscientious, good Christian mother. That 
pride and gratitude, reverence and affection, speaking for my 
brother, we express of and to that mother whose name this 



16 



Institute is to bear. She is worthy of our pride, gratitude, reverence 
and affection and of your commemoration. She met the duties of 
her sphere with the sublimest faith and trust in the goodness of 
God, and in His overruling providence. 'There is a God who rules 
and reigns in the armies of heaven, and who doeth His will among 
the inhabitants of the earth,'' was one of her daily utterances to her 
children. She was a Presbyterian, and loved her church. She 
believed in the sovereignty of that God as devoutly as in His 
goodness and mercy; and did not waste her time in metaphysical 
disquisitions, attempting to reconcile them, but 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. Her early 
education had awakened in her the love of the true and the 
beautiful; hence, the first of all books to her was the Bible; and 
after this and her devotional books she appreciated Shakespeare 
and Burns. I have two treasures from her hand, both presented on 
the 14th of April, 1840  a copy of Shakespeare and a Bible. In 
the latter, written with her hand, is an admonition which was the 
reflection of her own life: Proverbs c. 3; v. 5, 6. Trust in the Lord 
with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding'. 
'In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy 
paths. . . .' And thus it was that in her home alike in pleasure, in 
sorrow, in the midst of the ever-recurring duties of wife, mother, 
friend, and counselor, she seasoned all her lessons with the truths 
of inspiration." A beautiful reflection of the character and 
spiritual life of Agnes Irvine Scott is found in a prayer written in 
her own handwriting in her Bible: "Heavenly Father, I leave all 
that belongs to me to Thee. Undertake Thou for them (her 
children). Bless them and make them blessings. Hide them under 
the shadow of Thy wings and direct their steps. May the grace of 
the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." 

When he was twenty-one George Washington Scott left 
Pennsylvania because of his health. He had not been a robust boy, 
having had frequent trouble with his throat. It was believed that 
the milder climate of the South would be beneficial to him. He left 
his home in Alexandria on October 4th, 1850, and defrayed his 
expenses as he moved southward by selling jewelry on the way. 
This trip was probably made with horse and buggy. On his way to 
Florida, George Scott visited Decatur and Atlanta for a brief 
period. In a personal diary we find some notations that relate to 
the first visit made by George W. Scott to Decatur and Atlanta: 
"Wednesday, October 30, 1850. Arrived at Decatur about 5 
o'clock in the evening; received a letter from John (his brother) 
and also one from Daniel Evans  did not get one from Mother as 
I expected. Am a good deal disappointed; stopped at Dr. 
Calhoun's hotel. Read Isaiah 14. 



17 



"Thursday, the 31st. Left Decatur about half past seven and 
arrived in Atlanta about 8 o'clock  very warm and pleasant. 
Stopped at the Atlanta Hotel. This is the most stirring place for 
the size that I have ever seen. I suppose I saw between two and 
three-hundred wagons in the town today, principally all hauling 
cotton. Some were drawn by horses, some by mules and a great 
many by oxen. Met a Mr. Orme, said he was raised near 
Harrisburg; he told me he came to this place four years ago and 
there were then but two houses on the ground where the town now 
stands. The Georgia Railroad, Savannah and Macon Railroad, 
and the Georgia State Railroad all terminate here. . . . Had a long 
talk with a young man who spent last winter in southern Georgia. 
He gave me an account of his deer hunts in that region which were 
very interesting. Read Isaiah 15." 

Young George W. Scott remained in Atlanta until Tuesday, 
November 5th, 1850. He went to Griffin, to Columbus, into 
southern Alabama, then eastward into Florida where he settled in 
Quincy for approximately a year. He moved to Tallahassee where 
he entered a mercantile business in 1852, establishing the firm of 
George W. Scott and Company. This business prospered from the 
beginning. In addition, George W. Scott became a plantation 
owner where likewise he made a success of a business venture. 
Here in Tallahassee he made and lost his first fortune. The 
outbreak of war depleted his financial resources and elicited from 
him personal sacrifice and unselfish service. 

At the beginning of the War Between the States, George W. Scott 
(in the language of an editorial in the Tallahassee, Florida, 
newspaper of October 9th, 1903) "shouldered his musket with a 
saddened heart, but with a resolute front, and went with the 
Tallahassee Guards to the battle line. He was a soldier without 
fear, as he had been a citizen without reproach. He rose over every 
battlefield to a higher rank, and at Olustee he wore a full colonel's 
uniform, commanded his regiment side by side with Colquitt and 
Finley, and shared in full the honor and the credit of that famous 
field." He entered the military service of the State of Florida in 
May 1861, determined to give his full allegiance to his adopted 
state and the South  even though he was born and reared in the 
North, with strong ties of kinship binding him to that section. 

When the Tallahassee Guards were mustered into the Confederate 
service as Company D, Second Florida Cavalry, George W. Scott 
became the captain. In 1863 the Secretary of War of the 
Confederacy directed him to organize the Fifth Florida Battalion, 
known as "Scott's Cavalry," commanding this unit with the rank 
of lieutenant-colonel. In October, 1864, Col. Scott was made 
commanding officer of "Middle and West Florida and Southwest 



Georgia." He was engaged in the battle of Olustee and Natural 
Bridge, serving with distinction and bravery. On May 13, 1865, 
Col. Scott surrendered his command to General McCook of the 
Union Army and was paroled on May 23, 1865. The "Cross of 
Honor" was bestowed upon Col. Scott by the Tallahassee Chapter 
of the Daughters of the Confederacy in recognition of his 
dovotion to the cause of the South. 

At the end of the War Col. Scott was unanimously nominated, 
despite his repeated protests, as Democratic candidate for the 
governorship of Florida. This was in 1868 during the 
reconstruction era when such turbulence obtained throughout the 
South. The election, conducted under military rule, extended 
throughout the period of three days. The Negroes, now 
enfranchised, voted the Republican ticket and Col. Scott was 
defeated. He was never again willing to run for public office  a 
tremendous loss to his state. 

In 1870 George W. Scott left Florida and made his home in 
Savannah where he engaged in a very successful cotton "factorage 
and commission business." After accumulating a large fortune in 
Savannah Col. Scott, through no fault of his own, lost his wealth, 
and in 1877 moved to Decatur with a small sum of money 
advanced by friends and business associates in Savannah - 
persons who had great confidence in his integrity and ability and 
who believed that he would succeed again as he had so many times 
in the past. 

George Washington Scott bought his home in Decatur and with 
his family began a residence in this community that was to 
continue until his death twenty-six years later. Here, as a pioneer 
in the commercial fertilizer business, Col. Scott made an 
outstanding contribution to the industrial development of the 
southeast. He was one of the first industrial leaders to see the 
possibilities of the use of Florida phosphate rock in the 
manufacture of commercial fertilizers. In addition to this large- 
scale operation, Col. Scott gave considerable attention to the 
purchase and development of central real estate in Atlanta and to 
the organization of such industries as the Scottdale Mills. In the 
October 9, 1903, issue of the Atlanta Journal, appears the 
announcement of George W. Scott's death. This account includes 
some significant statements concerning the importance of his 
business achievements: "He has been prominent in everything 
looking toward the upbuilding of Atlanta, and in the business 
world he was known all over the South as one of the most wealthy 
men in this section of the country . . . .Though an aged man, Mr. 
Scott was very active up to the time of his death and took a keen 
interest in business. His last great work was the building of the 
skyscraping Century Building at the corner of Whitehall and 



19 



Alabama which stands as a monument to his belief in Atlanta as 
the coming metropolis of the South. 

"Mr. Scott many years ago founded the George W. Scott 
Fertilizer Company, which he conducted with great success. 
Several years ago this company was merged with the great Comer 
Hull Company of Savannah, under the name of the Southern 
Fertilizer Company. About five years ago this company was 
bought up by the great Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company, by 
which company it is now managed. 

"When he sold his fertilizer plant Mr. Scott founded the George 
W. Scott Investment Company and began purchasing central real 
estate in the city of Atlanta. At the time of his death this company 
owned some of the finest central real estate in the city of Atlanta. 

"He always took a pride in Atlanta and believed that its 
possibilities were boundless." 

In all of his varied business, church, educational and 
philanthropic enterprises, Col. Scott was ably supported by his 
wife. During his young manhood George W. Scott returned at 
intervals to his old home in Alexandria, Pennsylvania. In 1854 he 
was married to Miss Rebekah Bucher, of Bucher's Mill near 
Harrisburg. Mrs. Scott graced the home in Tallahassee, then in 
Savannah, and from 1877 to 1899 the home that [they made 
together in Decatur]. 

* * * 

Col. Scott gave devoted service to his church through many years. 
While a resident of Tallahassee he served as a deacon in the 
Presbyterian Church there. Upon removal to Savannah, Col. 
Scott was elected an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in that 
city. For approximately twenty-five years he served as a ruling 
elder in the Decatur Presbyterian Church. His many ecclesiastical 
responsibilities included membership on the Board of Trustees of 
Columbia Theological Seminary and on the Assembly's Home 
Mission Committee. 

In the McCain Library at Agnes Scott College are two letters written 
in 1890 by George W. Scott to his brother John. In these letters Col. 
Scott sets out his plan to honor his mother by establishing a school in 
her memory. While the entire text of the letters makes interesting and 
pertinent reading, one commitment that he makes has set the path for 
the institution that he founded. Here is the statement: "If I am spared 
and prosperity continues with me it is my desire to make it [Agnes 
Scott] as good an institution of this kind as there is in this land." From 
that day to this Agnes Scott's goal has been excellence  to be as good 



20 



an institution of its type as there is in this land. Hence the founder 
enunciated as early as 1890 a determinative characteristic of the 
institute and subsequently of the college, namely, dissatisfaction with 
the status quo  the desire always to be better than now. Never 
satisfied  this phrase has mirrored and continues to mirror Agnes 
Scott. 

Before this account moves forward, a fuller word needs to be said 
about one other person related to the establishment of Agnes Scott 
College. It has been noted that at some point between the meeting of 
the "founders" on July 27, 1889, and that on August 24, 1889, Dr. 
Gaines went to Virginia where he employed Miss Nannette Hopkins as 
principal. He first approached the Rev. A. R. Cocke, a Presbyterian 
minister in Waynesboro, Virginia, and offered the post to him. Mr. 
Cocke was unable to accept the proposed position; however, he said 
that if he were looking for a person for such work he would go 
immediately to Miss Nannette Hopkins of Staunton. Although Dr. 
Gaines did not know Miss Hopkins at all, he took Mr. Cocke's advice 
and sought out this young woman, offering her the principalship, 
which she accepted. In many respects this development is rather 
remarkable. Dr. Gaines offered the post to a person of whom he had 
no first-hand information. She, in turn, accepted a job in a school 
which then existed only in the minds of a few interested supporters. 
Nannette Hopkins was born on December 24, 1860, in Sangersville, 
Virginia. Her father was a physician who had several other children. 
She had graduated at Hollins Institute (now Hollins College) and had 
taught in the Louise Home School and at the Valley Seminary in 
Waynesboro. At the time Dr. Gaines approached her, she had plans to 
go on to Bryn Mawr or to Vassar to complete her undergraduate 
degree. When she accepted the offer to come to Decatur, it was 
apparently with the thought of staying one year and then continuing 
her education. She was then in her twenty-ninth year, and she was 
destined never to leave Agnes Scott until she retired forty-nine years 
later. A reading of the early minutes of the Board of Trustees reveals 
that for a year or two after 1889 there was still some discussion of 
finding a man to be principal of the Institute, but soon this matter must 
have been dropped, and Miss Hopkins was routinely re-elected 
annually to her post - eloquent testimony that the Trustees were 
highly pleased with the way she discharged her work. Her particular 
field was mathematics, and for a number of years, in addition to her 
administrative duties, she taught the classes in this discipline. 



21 



Agnes Scott Hall (Main) was dedicated on November 12, 1891, with 
the Synod of Georgia present as an official body. The minutes of the 
Trustees show that an effort was made to have the Rev. B. M. Palmer, 
first moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, give 
the dedicatory address; however, he found it necessary because of 
"feeble health" to decline the invitation. A second invitation was issued 
to the Rev. John L. Girardeau, then a professor in Columbia 
Theological Seminary and moderator of the General Assembly in 
1874, but he also was unable to accept. Happily the Trustees then 
turned to the Rev. G. B. Strickler, who did give the dedicatory address. 
His subject was "True Culture." At the time Dr. Strickler was an Agnes 
Scott trustee as well as pastor of Atlanta's Central Presbyterian 
Church. He had served as moderator of the Presbyterian Church, 
U.S., in 1887 and was to become in time the Profesor of Systematic 
Theology at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. A second 
address at the dedication was given by the Rev. (later Bishop) Warren 
A. Candler, then President of Emory College in Oxford, Georgia, who 
chose as his topic "Another Christian College in the South." Others 
participating in the program were Dr. E. H. Barnett, who reviewed the 
history of the institution to date; Col. George W. Scott and the Rev. F. 
H. Gaines, who presented and received deeds, respectively; the Rev. J. 
C. Barr, who offered the dedicatory prayer (He had been Mrs. Agnes 
Scott's pastor at the time of her death.); and the Hon. John Scott, who 
gave a biographical sketch of his mother. 

Agnes Scott began its third session on September 3, 1891. Dr. 
Gaines has written that "the wide publicity given by the press to the 
dedication of the new building attracted a large number of students." 
In fact, the official "catalogue" shows an enrollment of 292 for the 
1891-1892 session  98 of these being boarding students. Dr. Gaines 
further observes that some of these came because they were "attracted 
by the new building and the success of the school." A subsequent 
settling down in enrollment was therefore understandable. 

A review of the early minutes of the Board of Trustees makes clear 
that initially these men concerned themselves with the intimate, almost 
day-to-day operations of the Institute. All sorts of administrative 
matters were attended to by the Trustees. Miss Hopkins as principal 
looked after the routine life of the students, and Dr. Gaines as 
chairman of the Trustees served as the part-time chief executive 
officer. Indeed, the first catalogue states that he would "visit the school 
and advise with the Principal almost daily." In 1891 Dr. Gaines began 



22 



regularly to teach the courses in Bible; however, he was still the pastor 
of the Decatur Presbyterian Church with the primary responsibility of 
serving that congregation. Also during this same period the minutes 
record the recurring actions in which the stockholders were requested 
to make good varying percentages of the amounts which each had 
subscribed. In this way the Institute was financed if funds other than 
those derived from charges were needed. 

In this fashion Agnes Scott's administration and finances moved 
along until 1896-1897 when some major changes took place. The first 
of these changes had to do with administration. Sometime in the 
spring of 1896, Col. Scott and Dr. Strickler, acting as a committee of 
the Trustees, waited on Dr. Gaines, requesting that he resign his 
pastorate and accept the presidency of the Institute. After careful 
consideration, Dr. Gaines acceded to this request and left the pastorate 
and gave the remainder of his life to Agnes Scott. 

The second noteworthy change of this period was a major revision 
of the charter. After Dr. Gaines became the President of the Institute, 
Col. Scott was on May 17, 1896, elected Chairman of the Trustees, and 
Dr. Gaines became the Secretary. During the ensuing year President 
Gaines took up with Chairman Scott the limitations and 
disadvantages of the stock arrangement as a source of control. As a 
result, it was decided to eliminate the stock aspect of the Institute, and 
Col. Scott purchased all the shares of stock still outstanding and 
cancelled them. At the same time it was concluded to terminate the 
provision whereby the Session of the Decatur Presbyterian Church 
elected some of the Trustees. These changes are reflected in an 
amendment to the charter granted by the Superior Court of DeKalb 
County on April 10, 1897. The amended charter annulled the 
stockholding feature of the original charter and vested full and final 
control of Agnes Scott Institute in a Board of Trustees of not less than 
eight and not more than thirteen persons. It also provided that the first 
eight trustees be George W. Scott. Rev. F. H. Gaines, D.D., Rev. E. H. 
Barnett, D.D., C. M. Candler, Rev. James G. Patton, Rev. Theron H. 
Rice, George B. Scott and Milton A. Candler. These trustees were 
elected for life, unless removed by a majority of the Board and were 
authorized to increase their number to thirteen, "provided that no one 
shall be qualified to hold said office who is not a member of the 
'Presbyterian Church in the United States' in good and regular 
standing, and provided further that any vacancy in said Board, 
however created, shall be filled by the remaining Trustees." Thus, 



23 



Agnes Scott Institute was now controlled by a self-perpetuating 
independent Board of Trustees. In this connection Dr. Gaines has 
written, "It was the intention of the founders that the Institution 
should ever [italics mine] continue under Presbyterian control, but not 
under ecclesiastical control." 

After the granting of the amended charter, the first action of the 
Trustees was to organize themselves on a permanent basis. Col. Scott 
was elected president of the Board; the Rev. James G. Patton, who had 
succeeded Dr. Gaines as pastor of the Decatur Presbyterian Church, 
was named vice president, and President Gaines was made secretary. A 
committee of two was appointed to bring in recommendations of by- 
laws. Approximately two weeks later on May 17, 1897, the Trustees 
met and unanimously adopted bylaws as follows: 

BYLAWS 

Board of Trustees Agnes Scott Institute 

I. 

Officers 

The officers of the Board shall be a President, a Vice President 
and a Secretary, and shall be elected annually at the meeting of the 
Board held during commencement. 

The President 

shall preside at Board meetings, and shall sign all deeds, 
conveyances, mortgages, bills payable, or other financial 
obligations incurred by the Board. 

The Vice President 

shall discharge the duties of the President in the absence or 
disability of the latter. 

The Secretary 

shall keep accurate minutes of the proceedings of the Board and 
shall countersign all deeds, conveyances, mortgages, bills payable, 
or other financial obligations authorized by the Board and to 
which the President's signature is required. 

He shall, also, be authorized to call special meetings of the Board 
when in his judgment desirable or when requested to do so by the 
President. He shall be the custodian of all deeds, insurance 
policies and all other legal documents belonging to the Board. 



24 



II. 

Committees 

The following standing committees shall be appointed annually 
by the President, to wit: (1) Finance; (2) Buildings and Grounds; 
(3) Faculty and Officers; (4) Scholarships, Library, and 
Apparatus; (5) Endowments; (6) Advisory. 

The Finance Committee 

shall have general supervision of the financial condition and 
conduct of the Institute; shall fix all fees and determine the 
financial policy of the Institute and shall examine and audit the 
accounts and expenditures of the President, at least, once a year. 

The Building and Grounds Committee 

shall have general supervision of the buildings and grounds of the 
Institute, insurance, additions, changes, repairs or improvements 
thereto. It shall, also, in connection with the President of the 
Institute, employ the electrician and watchman. 

The Faculty and Officers Committee 

shall be charged with the duty of nominating to the Board the 
officers and faculty of the Institute, investigation as to their 
character, qualifications, conduct, efficiency, etc., and 
recommendations as to salaries and compensation. 

The Scholarships and Library Committee 

shall be charged with the duty of making recommendations for the 
award of all scholarships, under such rules for the awarding 
thereof as shall be fixed by the Board. This Committee shall have 
the supervision of the library, laboratories, apparatus, etc., and of 
all additions thereto. 

The Endowment Committee 

shall be charged with the duty of soliciting and securing 
endowment funds for the Institute either in the way of general 
endowment, or the endowment of special chairs, professorships or 
scholarships and the investment thereof. This Committee shall 
also be especially charged with the important work of securing 
funds for the erection and equipment of a new building for the use 
of the Institute. 



25 



The Advisory Committee 

shall consider and act upon all questions or inquiries as to the 
conduct, management or discipline of the Institute submitted to it 
by the President of the Institute and as to which he may desire 
counsel or advice. 

Reports of Committees 

Each standing committee shall submit to the Board annual 
reports of its work. Such committees as shall have need of special 
funds during the year shall submit estimates of probable needs for 
reference by the Board to the Finance Committee. 

III. 

Organization of the Institute 

The general organization of the Institute shall be as follows, to 
wit: 

a President 
a Lady Principal 
and Faculty 
All shall be elected by the Board for terms of one year. 

The President of the Institute 

shall be the executive officer of the Board and the financial agent 
and manager of the Corporation. He shall have, under the Board, 
charge and control of the Institute and its policy, and of all its 
officers, teachers and pupils, and the management and direction 
of the business details and affairs of the Corporation. He shall 
keep or have kept accurate books of accounts showing all receipts, 
expenditures, assets and liabilities of the Institute, and shall 
submit annual reports to the Board. 

The Principal 

under the President's direction, shall be charged with the 
discipline and internal management and conduct of the Institute. 

The Faculty 

The members of the Faculty shall perform such duties as may be 
assigned them by the President or Principal, under such rules and 
regulations as they may establish. 



26 



Board Meetings 

The Board shall meet, at least, twice a year, at the Institute, to wit, 
on the first Monday in March for the annual election of officers 
and faculty of the Institute, and on Wednesday of each 
commencement. 

A review of these first bylaws reveals that they made no provision 
for an executive committee. This committee did not come into 
existence until the Board meeting on October 15, 1901, when this 
action was taken: 

On motion it was resolved to appoint an executive committee of 
five with authority to act upon such matters as may be presented 
between the meetings of the Board. 

For the first years of Agnes Scott's existence the Trustees had no 
stated time for meeting. They assembled, apparently on short notice, 
whenever any matter arose which needed their attention. For 
approximately eight years this practice prevailed until bylaws were 
adopted in 1897; however, on October 15, 1900, the minutes show that 
a change was adopted calling for a "regular stated meeting twice a year 
viz: First Tuesday in March and first Tuesday in October." Of course, 
called meetings could be held any time. 

As one would expect, finances were of great concern in these early 
days. The first bequest received by the Institute is recorded under the 
date of March 3, 1892. Mr. William A. Moore, a ruling elder of 
Atlanta's First Presbyterian Church, willed to Agnes Scott the sum of 
$5,000 to be used for endowing scholarships. Mr. Moore's will 
specified that his bequest become a permanent fund; however, the 
Trustees were "authorized to change any investment of this fund as its 
security and preservation may require." Agnes Scott's second 
permanent "named" fund came through a gift from Mr. A. B. Steele 
who in 1900 gave the Institute $5,000 to establish "The Rebecca Steele 
Fund" in memory of his mother, "the income (only) from which should 
be devoted to the education of poor country girls at the Agnes Scott 
Institute." In the letter which Mr. Steele wrote informing the Trustees 
of his gift, he included this statement: "I desire to say that this donation 
is made to the Institute especially, because it has practically 
demonstrated its worth." 

The first mention of raising money for capital purposes is recorded 
in the winter of 1899 when President Gaines was requested to explain 
to the Trustees "the movement to raise $100,000 for a building and 
endowment fund." The Trustees "unanimously resolved that this 



27 



movement has the endorsement and authority of the Board" and then 
the group immediately shifted to President Gaines the responsibility 
for raising this amount, allowing him "to be absent from the Institute 
as much as he may deem necessary provided his absence is not 
detrimental to the interest of the school." Apparently Dr. Gaines had 
some success, for in the minutes of June 22, 1900, it is noted that he 
reported $50,249 subscribed of which nearly $5,000 had been col- 
lected. At this same period, the Board was conscious that a more 
pointed effort was needed to raise money in the New York area, for 
action was initiated which led to the engagement of Dr. Wm. A. Rice 
of Newark, New Jersey, as Agnes Scott's agent to secure endowment in 
New York. This first venture in utilizing what one would today call a 
"fund raiser" was ill-fated. The minutes of March 12, 1901, indicate 
that Dr. Rice had secured no money. The Trustees thereupon 
discontinued his salary of $50.00 per month but agreed to continue 
paying his expenses and to give him ten per cent of any amount he 
might secure, his expenses to be deducted from the 10% if he raised any 
funds. During these days Agnes Scott operated with a deficit, and had 
it not been for Col. Scott, financial difficulties might well have brought 
an end to the venture. In 1900, for example, the Institute owed the 
George W. Scott Investment Company $11,658.50 which had been 
borrowed to pay the deficits for the 1898-1899 and 1899-1900 sessions. 
Col. Scott personally paid $2,000 of this debt, and a note was executed 
for the remainder. But this instance is only one example of his 
generosity. 

In its efforts to secure funds, Agnes Scott from its earliest days had 
understandably looked to Presbyterians in Georgia. Soon, however, 
the Synods of Alabama and Florida were in the forefront of the plans 
which the Trustees were formulating. In the summer of 1900 the first 
two trustees from outside the Atlanta and Decatur area were elected, 
these being the Rev. Russell Cecil, D.D., of Selma, Alabama, and the 
Rev. Albert B. Curry, D.D., of Birmingham. President Gaines 
meanwhile, with the approval of the Board, was visiting both the 
Synods of Alabama and Florida with the invitation that these groups 
participate "in maintaining and building up Agnes Scott." In the 
spring of 1901 Mr. T. V. Porter of Jacksonville was elected the first 
trustee from Florida. About this same time (autumn of 1900) Col. 
Scott, recognizing that it would facilitate raising funds if the Institute 
were free of indebtedness, addressed the following letter to President 
Gaines: 



28 



Decatur, Georgia, October 16, 1900 

Rev. F. H. Gaines, D.D. 
President Agnes Scott Institute 
Decatur, Georgia 

Mr dear Dr. Gaines: 

In view of the fact that you and Dr. Curry have been authorized to 
invite the Synods of Alabama and Florida to join our Synod and 
the Board of Trustees in the effort to raise an endowment fund for 
the Permanent and perpetual support of the Institute, it has 
occurred to me that you ought to be able to say to the brethren of 
these Synods, that the Institute is entirely free from debt and that 
consequently all funds given will inure solely and directly to the 
benefit of the Institute. 

For these reasons I have decided to assume the payment of the 
notes of the Institute for something over $9,000.00 in favor of the 
Geo. W. Scott Investment Company  and have directed our 
Secretary and Treasurer to cancel and hand you these notes. 

Very Sincerely, 
Geo. W. Scott 

Thus again Col. Scott rescued the Institute and further assured its 
continuance. Indeed, the contribution of this devoted Presbyterian 
layman is incalculable. Money, time, interest, energy, and work  all 
these things and more - - made up what Col. Scott meant to the 
Institute in its formative days. It is not too much to say that but for this 
man there would be no Agnes Scott College now. Altogether his gifts 
amounted to $1 70,000  a sum which by the monetary standards and 
purchasing power of approximately three-quarters of a century ago, 
was a quite sizeable amount. 

In academic matters the Institute was making much progress. A 
review at five-year intervals of the early catalogues reveals a steady 
growth in faculty and staff (full-time and part-time): eleven in 1890- 
1891, twenty-one in 1895-1896, twenty-four in 1900-1901, and twenty- 
eight in 1905-1906. Obviously a similar growth in students and 
facilities occurred. In 1898 the first teacher holding the Ph.D. degree 
joined the faculty. Dr. Howard Bell Arbuckle was no ordinary faculty 
member. Verbal reports indicate that because of his excellent 
academic training he became President Gaines's "right-hand man" in 
the important negotiations leading to Agnes Scotfs accreditation as a 
college. Howard Bell Arbuckle was born in 1870 in Lewisburg, West 



29 



Virginia. He received his undergraduate degree from Hampden- 
Sydney College and his doctorate from The Johns Hopkins 
University. Dr. Arbuckle's special field was chemistry, but when he 
came to Agnes Scott he taught all the sciences. Before coming to 
Decatur, he had served as an assistant in chemistry at The Johns 
H opkins University for one year and as a professor at the State College 
in Florida for four years. He continued in the faculty of Agnes Scott 
until 1913 when he resigned to become Professor of Chemistry at 
Davidson College, a post he held until his retirement. Professor Louise 
McKinney has written that "Dr. Gaines counted on him for advice and 
support in all his plans for the school." The year 1905 brought the 
appointment of the next two permanent faculty members with the 
Ph.D. degree: Professor J. D. M. Armistead in English and Professor 
Lillian S. Smith in Latin and Greek. 

As has been observed, Agnes Scott began as a grammar school, and 
the process by which collegiate status was achieved was a gradual one. 
The minutes of the Trustees show that the Primary Department was 
discontinued at the end of the 1900-1901 session. The same source 
reveals that the first year of the academy was discontinued at the close 
of the 1904-1905 year. The catalogues of the early 1890's indicate that 
the curriculum was separated into three divisions: primary, 
preparatory, and collegiate. It was this last division that increasingly 
claimed the attention of the faculty, and gradually it was expanded and 
strengthened as emphasis shifted from the elementary and preparatory 
divisions. This shift was made intentionally as Agnes Scott up-graded 
its work. By 1905 the Executive Committee of the Trustees could take 
the following action: "The Faculty was authorized to separate the 
work of the Academy and Collegiate Department and to make such 
changes in the latter as will make it conform to the standard of a 
college as prescribed by the Southern Association of Colleges and 
Preparatory Schools. The faculty was also authorized to arrange for 
offering the B.A. degree, beginning with the Session of 1905-06." To 
make possible the achieving of college status, the Trustees in March, 
1906, petitioned the Superior Court of DeKalb County to amend the 
charter changing the name of the Institute to "The Agnes Scott 
College." This petition was granted, and in a special term of the court 
the charter was on May 12, 1906, so amended, and Agnes Scott 
College came into being. 

This whole process by which Agnes Scott developed from a small 
grammar school into a recognized four-year college has been well 



30 



delineated by President Gaines himself: 

At the beginning of the session 1891-1892, the faculty was 
enlarged and some high school work was offered, but there was no 
separation between grammar school and high school. Gradually 
the work became better organized. A little later began the peculiar 
and difficult process of discontinuing each year the lowest grade 
and adding a higher. This was continued until all grammar school 
work was eliminated and the institution became a college 
preparatory school. Our purpose was to make this of the highest 
standard. We, therefore, set about arranging to have it conform to 
the standards of "The Association of Colleges and Secondary 
Schools of the Southern States." We then applied for admission 
into the Association, and the Institute was admitted [as a 
secondary school]. Very soon thereafter it was recognized as an 
accredited college preparatory school by some of the best Eastern 
Colleges for Women. How proud we were of this recognition of 
the high standard of our school! 

In the year 1898, H. B. Arbuckle, Ph.D., came to the Institute as 
Professor of Chemistry and remained for fifteen years. In the 
development which followed, Dr. Arbuckle was of the greatest 
assistance. He knew much about college curricula and standards. 
He represented the Institute at the meetings of the Association 
and ascertained what the requirements were for admission of 
Agnes Scott as a college. We then entered another period of 
development from a college-preparatory school into a college of 
standard grade. We gradually arranged our curriculum, our 
faculty, our requirements for admission to the Association as a 
college, and our requirements for the B.A. degree to conform to 
the standards of the Association. In 1905 we made application for 
admission as a college. Action on our application was postponed 
for two years. Each year we ascertained what our deficiency was 
and corrected it. One thing of some consequence and difficulty we 
were informed must be done, namely: the complete separation of 
college and preparatory work. This was to be a separation in 
faculty, student body and all educational work. Hence we 
organized Agnes Scott Academy as a secondary school and made 
the separation required by the Association. At length in 1907 
Agnes Scott College was admitted to the Association and Agnes 
Scott Academy enrolled as the successor to Agnes Scott Institute 
as a secondary school. 

Thus, Agnes Scott College granted its first degrees in 1906 and was 

awarded collegiate accreditation by the Southern Association in 1907 

- the first college or university in Georgia to be accredited. The 

Southern Association of College and Schools was established in 1895. 

A review of its proceedings shows that in the eleven-state area 



31 



presently comprising the Association, Agnes Scott was the fifteenth 
college to be accredited and the first one to receive accreditation after 
only one year of existence as a college! 

The growth of Agnes Scott, of course, confronted the Trustees with 
the problem of increasing the physical facilities of the Institute. An 
early photograph taken not long after the completion of Agnes Scott 
Hall in 1891 shows that immediately to the south, almost where the 
principal quadrangle entrance to Main now is, stood a small one-story 
brick structure which must have been some sort of utilities building; 
however, for the first ten years the Institute was limited to Agnes Scott 
Hall. The minutes of the Trustees record that on July 2, 1901, the 
Board took the action that led to the purchase of the first land to be 
acquired subsequent to Col. Scott's initial gift. The Pattillo property 
which adjoined the Institute could be bought for $10,000. It comprised 
three acres on which stood "a commodious dwelling containing 8 
rooms thus providing for at least 1 2 additional boarders." The $ 1 0,000 
would have to be taken from endowment funds; however, a letter was 
in hand from Mr. Samuel M. Inman, who had been elected a Trustee 
on February 3, 1899, which gave authority "to use the entire amount of 
my subscription of $5,000 to the endowment fund in the purchase and 
development of the Pattillo property." A similar letter was in hand 
from Mrs. Josephine Abbott giving permission to use her subscription 
to the endowment fund for this purchase of property. Recognizing 
both the pressing need of the Institute for more room and the fact that 
income from boarders housed on this property would be greater than 
the interest yielded by the purchase price as presently invested, and 
fortified with the authorizations from Mr. Inman and Mrs. Abbott, 
the Trustees unanimously named a committee of George W. Scott, M. 
A Candler, and F. H. Gaines "to purchase the Pattillo property at a 
price not exceeding $10,000." Thus, the house later known as West 
Lawn and the land on which Rebekah Scott Hall now stands came into 
Agnes Scott's possession. 

In connection with this purchase, it should be noted that the consent 
of donors was involved. Several instances in the early minutes show 
that the Trustees were scrupulously careful to use gifts precisely as the 
donors intended, and if it seemed wise to use funds in a way different 
from what the donor designated, the consent of the contributor was 
assiduously sought. Thus, funds given for endowment were not 
arbitrarily used for buildings or vice versa. So begin a policy and 
practice that still characterize Agnes Scott. 



32 



The acquiring of the Pattillo property and house was only a 
temporary relief from the pressing need of more facilities. In the 
autumn of 1902 the Board arranged to rent the White House from the 
George W. Scott Investment Company. This house stood where the 
present parking area is between Inman Hall and College Avenue. 
Unauthenticated reports claim that this house was the Allen house in 
which the first sessions were held in 1889 and that it once stood where 
Main now is. Apparently when Col. Scott gave the five acres of his 
initial gift, he had the Allen house (known later as White House) 
moved a few hundred feet to the northeast where it stood at the time 
the Institute rented it in 1902. 

In the same year (1902) an effort was made to purchase the Conn 
property to the West of the Institute, possibly an effort to extend the 
campus as far as South McDonough Street, but at that time the owner 
was unwilling to sell. 

Meanwhile, internal physical improvements were being made. It 
would seem that sometime earlier a laboratory building and a kitchen 
had been erected, for the minutes of October 14, 1902, show that the 
Trustees approved "the enlargement of the laboratory building and an 
addition to the kitchen." In the improvements to the laboratory, Dr. 
Arbuckle had been quite active even to the extent of raising among 
friends the funds for a "modern gas plant" ($500). 

The date of February 9, 1905, is an important one for Agnes Scott. 
The Trustees met that day and took the necessary action to finance and 
erect Rebekah Scott Hall, the second permanent structure to be built 
on the campus. The Scott family took the initiative in making $20,000 
available from the Rebekah Scott Memorial fund and $30,000 more 
was subscribed by the following: 

S. M. Inman 
G. B. Scott 
Mrs. B. F. Abbott 
Miss Jennie Inman 
J. W. English 
R. J. Lowry 
H. M. Atkinson 
Mr. F. M. Inman 
J. W. English 

At the same meeting another action freighted with future importance 



$15,000.00 


5,000.00 


5,000.00 


1,000.00 


1,000.00 


1,000.00 


1,000.00 


500.00 


500.00 


$30,000.00 



33 



was adopted when Mr. Inman was "requested and authorized ... to 
approach Mr. Andrew Carnegie with a request for a donation of Fifty 
Thousand dollars for the erection of a library and music building." 

About this same time Mr. G. B. Scott, the son of George W. Scott, 
gave Agnes Scott "two lots and house adjoining [the] Institute grounds 
on the South." On June 4, 1906, is recorded a request from the Trustees 
"to the town council of Decatur to close Scott Street." Contingent on 
the closing of this street (It apparently ran between Main and where 
Evans Dining Hall and Inman now stand.), the Trustees gave 
authorization to the Finance Committee "to purchase the 'White 
House'' property from the Geo. W. Scott Investment Company at 
$15,000 and the home of F. H. Gaines at $5,500, payment for said 
properties to be made in bonds of the College, said bonds to bear 
interest at the rate of 6%." The Gaines house stood where Evans 
Dining Hall now is. 

There was at this same period great need for better facilities for an 
infirmary. In the late summer or early fall of 1904, the Institute 
purchased from M. A. Candler for $4,000 the property at the southeast 
corner of the then campus. Fifteen hundred dollars was paid in cash 
and annual notes for $500 at 6% were signed for the balance. The plan 
for the payment of these notes is significant, for it represents one of the 
first alumnae projects for Agnes Scott. The Alumnae Association had 
been organized in 1 895 and had already set up a scholarship fund and a 
Reading Circle. Concerning the infirmary the minutes read this way: 
"It was reported to the Board that the Alumnae had with great 
unanimity undertaken to provide the Infirmary, that they were 
working to this end and hoped to be able to meet the deferred 
payments. Whereupon the Board expressed its gratification at the 
action of the Alumnae, and by unanimous vote decided that all 
subscription [sic] should be creditted [sic] to the Alumnae and if the 
Association succeeded in its purpose the name of the addition thus 
secured should be The Alumnae Infirmary." 

Professor Louise McKinney has written that at this period a 
"dummy car line" came into the campus from the south and 
terminated in the area between Main and the White House. Later this 
line was known as the South Decatur car line, and for many years 
served the south part of the campus. Miss McKinney also comments 
on several "cottages" which the Institute acquired and used in these 
years. 



34 



In the midst of the growth, development, and changes that were 
taking place at Agnes Scott around the turn of the century, Col. 
George Washington Scott died on October 3, 1903. He was in his 
seventy-fifth year. The last Board meeting at which Col. Scott presided 
was on June 26, 1903. At this meeting final action was taken 
authorizing the erection of a gymnasium-classroom building. Dr. 
Gaines has written that "Col. Scott took a very deep interest in this 
building. When the matter was before the Board he insisted that we 
should not put up any 'make-shift,' and the swimming pool was his 
suggestion. He was chairman of the building committee and carefully 
scanned the plans and assisted in letting all the contracts." Thus, 
almost up to the very end of his life Col. Scott was busy on behalf of 
Agnes Scott. Indeed, he was present for the opening exercises of the 
Institute in mid-September, only days before his death. Appropriately, 
Agnes Scott took Col. Scott's death as occasion to record its gratitude 
to this good man. The Board of Trustees on October 1 3, 1 903, adopted 
a suitable memorial. The faculty and students in a body attended the 
funeral. The Institute issued a special memorial number of its Bulletin 
in which the following tributes were included: 

"A Biographical Sketch" by C. M. Candler 
"Christian Business Man" by S. M. Inman 
"Col. George W. Scott  An Appreciation" by F. H. Gaines 

These papers are full and glowing. Perhaps, however, the simple, 
almost terse, tribute contained in the Catalogue for 1903-1904 best 
summarizes Col. Scott: 

Our loyal friend, wise counselor and generous benefactor. 

George Washington Scott has been officially designated as the 
founder of Agnes Scott College, as indeed he was. Since 1918, his 
birthday, February 22, has been celebrated by the college as Founder's 
Day  a time for looking back in gratitude, but, as Col. Scott would 
have it, also a time for looking forward with vision. 

The Board of Trustees at its meeting on October 1 3, 1 903  ten days 
after Col. Scott's death  elected Mr. Samuel M. Inman as chairman. 
He did not accept the chairmanship officially until the semi-annual 
meeting of the Trustees on February 9, 1904, and then for only one 
year "with the understanding that at the expiration of that time he 
might desire to resign" because of another commitment. Fortunately 
for Agnes Scott, he did not resign but for a decade filled with great 
distinction the post of chairman of the Board of Trustees. 



35 



Samuel Martin Inman had been elected a trustee of Agnes Scott on 
February 3, 1899. He was born in Danbridge, Tennessee, on February 
19, 1 843. He received his education at Maryville College and Princeton 
College and, after serving in the Confederate Army where he rose from 
private to first lieutenant, he settled in Atlanta in the spring of 1867. 
Here he entered the cotton business, and according to one associate 
Mr. Inman ultimately headed the largest cotton enterprise in the 
South. He was, however, related to numerous other concerns. He was 
associated with the organization of the Southern Railway and with the 
establishment of the street car system of Atlanta. In real estate 
development, he Was a prime mover in promoting Inman Park, then 
one of Atlanta's more desirable residential sections. He had banking 
interests through his directorships in the Altanta National Bank and 
the Lowry Banking Company, forerunners of the present First 
National Bank of Atlanta. He also served on the city Board of 
Education. He was the chairman of the Board of the Young Men's 
Christian Association and was a director of the Atlanta Constitution. 
He was also a trustee of the Grady Hospital and of the Confederate 
Soldiers Home. Perhaps his most signal civic contribution is related to 
the Cotton States and International Exposition which was held in 
Atlanta in 1895. He was chairman of the Finance Committee of this 
enterprise and personally contributed $50,000 to it when it looked as if 
it might fold in its planning stages. Mr. Inman was an active 
churchman and served as an elder in Atlanta's First Presbyterian 
Church. 

Such then was the man who succeeded Col. Scott and who joined 
leadership with President Gaines as Agnes Scott received 
accreditation as a college. Ahead now lay the struggle for stability and 
status. Mr. Inman and Dr. Gaines comprised a formidable team for 
this achievement. 



36 



Chapter 2 

STABILITY AND STATUS 



The years 1908-1909 loom as very important in the development of 
Agnes Scott College. Prior to that time the institution's permanent 
assets consisted only of land, buildings, and equipment. There was no 
endowment; hence, the operation of the college was entirely dependent 
on charges and gifts. During the early years, as has already been noted, 
Col. Scott repeatedly assumed any deficits. Understandably, this kind 
of financing fostered uncertainty and greatly hampered planning. 

Enrollment was likewise very unstable. President Gaines has noted 
that Agnes Scott's high standards created a problem in getting and 
holding students. It was a period when higher education for women 
was considered a luxury and was not taken seriously. Students with- 
drew at almost any time, and a large number had no ambition to take a 
degree. Financial crisis was a constantly recurring spector. At one 
point Col. Scott said he could no longer underwrite the deficits. 
Writing of this occasion, President Gaines said: 

The collapse of the enterprise [Agnes Scott] seemed imminent. 
Something had to be done. In this crisis the President appealed to 
the Synod of Georgia which met that year [1899] in Marietta. In 
an address to the Synod he plainly laid before that body the 
serious condition of the school and appealed to them to come to 
the rescue. The Synod acted promptly. It endorsed the Institute 
and commended the President to all the churches. It went still 
further and made a subscription to the Institute at once. The 
members of the Synod subscribed $3,200. When the President 
returned home and reported to Col. Scott what had been done he 
[Col. Scott] was greatly encouraged and said at once that he 
would join in the movement. 

But after 1903 there was no Col. Scott "to come to the rescue." Mr. 
Inman recognized the urgency of getting Agnes Scott on a more stable 
fiscal basis, and the record of the years of his chairmanship of the 
Trustees documents his concern. However, the years 1908-1909 stand 
as a watershed in the college's fiscal stability. That is the period when 
the General Education Board of New York evidenced its first interest 



37 



in Agnes Scott. For a continuation of approximately thirty years, this 
agency was to provide a series of challenge grants which served as the 
motivating spur to move Agnes Scott toward financial soundness. 
There would have been no Agnes Scott without Col. Scott, Dr. Gaines, 
and Miss Hopkins. It is also not too much to say that without the 
active support and interest of the General Education Board, Agnes 
Scott would never have become a recognized and distinguished 
college. Who or what, then, was the General Education Board? 

This particular agency was founded by Mr. John D. Rockefeller, 
Sr., in 1902 and was incorporated by an act of the United States Con- 
gress on January 12, 1903. Before 1902 Mr. Rockefeller had mainly 
directed his educational gifts toward Baptist Institutions, utilizing the 
American Baptist Education Society as the channel for these gifts. 
However, as is set forth in The General Education Board: An Account 
of its Activities, 1902-1914, ". . . as Mr. Rockefeller's fortune in- 
creased, his interest in education broadened, and with it a sense of 
public duty and responsibility which transcended alike denomina- 
tional, sectional, and racial lines. To provide an agency through which 
the broadest possible interest in education throughout the land could 
find a fitting expression, the General Education Board, long existing 
as an ideal in his office, finally came into being. Without limitation the 
funds of the General Education Board were to be distributed to insti- 
tutions of any denomination or no denomination." The charter 
granted by Congress was couched in broad terms and stated the pur- 
pose of the corporation to be "the promotion of education within the 
United States of America without distinction of race, sex, or creed." A 
major interest of the board was "the industrial and educational up- 
building of the South." The General Education Board continued its 
activities until 1964. During the more than half century of its existence, 
it distributed $324,632,958, much of its benefactions being directed 
toward Southern education. In 1908-1909 this agency became a deter- 
mining force in the development of Agnes Scott College. 

The minutes of the Board of Trustees for September 28, 1 908, make 
the first official reference to the General Education Board. Following 
an entry concerning the pressing need for raising funds, the minutes 
read as follows: 

He [President Gaines] then reported that Dr. [Wallace] Buttrick, 
Sec. of Genl Ed. Bd. N.Y. had visited the college and offered to 
recommend that his Bd. give $75,000. toward a fund of $250,000. 
or $100,000. toward a fund of $300,000. A letter was then read 



38 



from the chairman, Mr. S.M. Inman [He was not present in this 
meeting.] cordially endorsing a movement to raise $300,000. Mr. 
J.K. Orr[who had been elected a trustee on February 9, 1904, and 
who was to have a definitive role in Agnes Scott's affairs for the 
next thirty years] earnestly supported the proposition to enter 
upon a canvass to raise $300,000. He also reported that a 
guarantee fund to pay the expenses of the canvass amounting to 
$4,000 had been almost completed and was practically assured. 

The upshot of the subsequent discussion resulted in the naming of a 
committee "to estimate very carefully the condition and needs of the 
college and report back to this Board what sum we should attempt to 
raise . . . ."Thus, the action was taken which led to Agnes Scott's first 
major financial campaign. 

As background for this decision by the Board, President Gaines has 
written that one day he received a telephone call from Dr. Wallace 
Buttrick asking for an appointment. Dr. Gaines had previously met 
Dr. Buttrick and knew of his connection with the General Education 
Board, but he did not know why the appointment was requested. On 
arrival, Dr. Buttrick made careful inquiry into the College and its 
financial condition. Characteristically, Dr. Gaines was quite honest 
and answered all questions including telling Dr. Buttrick of Agnes 
Scott's debt of $60,000, mostly for property. Dr. Gaines has written 
that when the questions were completed his visitor commented "sub- 
stantially" as follows: 

Dr. Gaines, this is an honest debt. You have a promising work. 
The General Education Board has noticed your high standard and 
that you are doing good work. I am willing to recommend to the 
Board to make a donation to the College of fifty thousand 
($50,000) dollars, sixty thousand ($60,000) dollars, or one hundred 
thousand ($100,000) dollars, provided the College raise a pro- 
portionate amount. 

By October 27, 1908, the General Education Board had made a firm 
offer to give Agnes Scott $100,000 provided the College raise at least 
an additional $250,000 by December 31, 1909. The terms of this offer 
specified that 

1. $25,000 already given by Mr. Andrew Carnegie be used for a 
library building 

2. $50,000 already donated by Mr. S.M. Inman be used for a resi- 
dence building 

3. $15,000 be used for additional land 

4. $25,000 be used for "additions and improvements" 

5. $60,000 be used to pay off Agnes Scott's indebtedness 



39 



6. $175,000 (the remainder of the total of $350,000) be "invested 
and preserved inviolably" for endowment 

No legacies were to be counted in meeting the conditions of the grant, 
and the General Education Board would not pay any money to Agnes 
Scott so long as the College had any debts. Finally, if Agnes Scott did 
not meet the terms of this grant by December 31, 1911, any remainder 
would be void. 

Less than two weeks following this offer, the Agnes Scott Board of 
Trustees on November 9, 1908, accepted this pledge of the General 
Education Board and its conditions. Mr. J.K. Orr was appointed 
chairman of the committee "to make and execute plans for raising 
the . . . sum required." A new day was dawning for Agnes Scott. 

Before this account proceeds further, it seems appropriate to make a 
brief comment about Dr. Wallace Buttrick for whom Buttrick Hall on 
the Agnes Scott campus is named and who played such an important 
role in the developments just described. Born in 1853 in Pottsdam, 
New York, Wallace Buttrick graduated from Rochester Theological 
Seminary in 1883 and was ordained to the Baptist ministry the same 
year. He served successive pastorates in New Haven, Connecticut, St. 
Paul, Minnesota, and Albany, New York, before becoming Secretary 
and Executive Officer of the General Education Board in 1902, a post 
he filled until 1917 when he became President of this same agency. 
From 1923 until his death in 1926 he served as chairman of the Board. 
Thus, for a quarter of a century, he was one of the determinative fig- 
ures in all of the Board's activities. In The General Education Board, 
Review and Final Report 1902-1964, he is characterized as "a man of 
sturdy judgment with a large share of practical common sense . . . 
warm and affable." Such was the man who for many years was one of 
the most effective friends Agnes Scott has ever had. 

In the action of November 9, 1908, naming Mr. Orr chairman of the 
committee to raise the sum to meet the General Education Board's 
challenge, Mr. Inman was made an ex officio member of the commit- 
tee; otherwise, Mr. Orr himself was authorized to select his associates. 
Apparently during most of 1909 this committee must have worked 
quietly and diligently, for by November of that year $140,000 of the 
required $250,000 had been raised. Included in this total was Mr. 
Inman's $50,000 pledge as well as the one for $25,000 from Mr. 
Andrew Carnegie. At some point during 1909 Col. Robert J. Lowry, 
President of Atlanta's Lowry National Bank (a forerunner of the 
present First National Bank of Atlanta), had subscribed $25,000 



40 



toward Agnes Scott's campaign. At any rate, as November, 1909, 
arrived, $1 10,000 still remained to be raised. Those in charge decided 
to wage a whirlwind campaign in Atlanta and complete the entire 
effort in two weeks  from Wednesday, November 17, through 
Tuesday, November 30. This effort was more than successful and 
merits an account of some detail  an account drawn from a rather 
full folder of newspaper clippings available in Agnes Scott's McCain 
Library. 

All of Atlanta got behind this effort, and excitement increased as all 
three of the newspapers {Constitution, Georgian, and Journal) gave 
almost daily coverage of the campaign. A large clock recording day- 
by-day progress was installed on the Anderson Hardware Building at 
Five Points, and an atmosphere of intense anticipation was evident. 

After an appeal in all the Presbyterian churches on Sunday, Novem- 
ber 14, a workers' dinner was held at the Piedmont Hotel on Monday 
evening, November 15, to announce plans and organization. The list of 
just a few of those present reads like a veritable Who's Who of Atlanta 
at that time. The Alumnae Association took over a vacant space in the 
Grand Opera House (later Loew's Theater), decorated it in Agnes 
Scott colors, and served lunch every day until the campaign was con- 
cluded. The students made boutonnieres to be given to all who sub- 
scribed to the fund. Daily rallies for workers were held. 

On the first working day, Wednesday, November 17, $6,000 was 
secured. On the next night, Thursday, November 18, a mass meeting 
for citizens of Decatur was convened in the Pythagoras Masonic 
Lodge under the leadership of Mr. Charles D. McKinney. On that very 
evening a resolution was adopted to raise $25,000 in Decatur, and 
$18,000 of this total was subscribed on the spot. 

Leaders from all denominations helped. Involved in one way or 
another were Bishop Cleland Kinloch Nelson of the Episcopal Diocese 
of Atlanta, Dr. J.W. Lee of the Park Street Methodist Church, Dr. 
John E. White of the Second Baptist Church (now Second-Ponce de 
Leon) as well as pastors of what were then Atlanta's three leading 
Presbyterian churches: Dr. Walter L. Lingle (First), Dr. Dunbar H. 
Ogden (Central), and Dr. Richard Orme Flinn (North Avenue). 

Atlanta women joined in the crusade, and many prominent ladies 
canvassed office buildings. A newspaper clipping setting forth these 
assignments reads as follows: 

Empire Building [now C. and S.], Mrs. Hugh Willett; Equitable 
building [old Trust Company], Mrs. J.S. Hamilton; English- 



41 



American building, Mrs. Archibald Davis and Mrs. Ernest 
Kontz; Prudential building, Mrs. Woods White; Century 
building, Mrs. R.L. West; Fourth National Bank building, Mrs. 
Albert Cox; Peters building, Mrs. Frank Orme; Candler building, 
Miss Rosa Woodberry and Mrs. Frank Smith. 

By Friday, November 19, ninety thousand dollars still remained of 
the $1 10,000. Eight days later $50,000 was still needed and only three 
days remained before the predetermined deadline. Now begins one of 
the most dramatic episodes in Agnes Scott's entire life. 

The Agnes Scott campaign in a real sense became an Atlanta cam- 
paign  almost a "cause celebre." The newspapers fanned the flame. 
The Atlanta Georgian on Saturday editorialized about how much the 
students at Agnes Scott meant to the financial life of the city. On the 
same day the Atlanta Journal sounded a similar note. On the next day, 
Sunday, November 28, the Journal headlined an article "Raise $50,000 
in Fifty Hours; Is Atlanta's Supreme Opportunity," and then went on 
to say 

In order to secure the contingent appropriation of a hundred 
thousand dollars, which the general education board will give to 
Agnes Scott College, provided our own people raise two hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars, we must raise  

FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS IN FIFTY HOURS! 

THIS MEANS THAT WE MUST RAISE A THOUSAND 
DOLLARS AN HOUR UNTIL TUESDAY AT MIDNIGHT! 

There is something inspiring about the very thought. 

It is a challenge to the resourcefulness and patriotism of 
Atlanta. It is one of those high, heroic aims which sends the red 
blood coursing through the veins, stirred with a determination 
which only such causes can inspire. 

The question is no longer in the subjunctive. This money 
MUST AND SHALL BE RAISED. 

OTHERWISE A BLIGHT AND BLEMISH WILL REST 
UPON THE NAME OF ATLANTA FOREVER MORE. 

On Monday, November 29, one newspaper carried an open appeal 
from the campaign committee to all Atlantans, followed by a subscrip- 
tion form which one and all were urged to cut out, fill in, and send to 
the committee. On the same day the Journal proclaimed in a bold 
page-one headline that only $30,000 more was needed to reach the 
goal. Tuesday the final day dawned with $30,000 to be raised before 
midnight. The climax was arranged as a mass meeting at 8:00 p.m. in 
Taft Hall of the Auditorium-Armory (until recently the Municipal 
Auditorium at Courtland and Gilmer Streets). The Georgian's 



42 



headline that day read "ALL FOR AGNES SCOTT!" Diligent 
activity went on all day, and Dr. Gaines has written that the entire 
student body and faculty joined a host of friends and wellwishers at the 
mass meeting. Mr. J.K. Orr presided, and a number of prominent 
Atlanta leaders spoke. Subscriptions continued to come in as they had 
done all day. At 10:55 p.m. a tally revealed that only $4,500 was 
needed. At that point Mr. Orr announced that the Georgia Railway 
and Electric Company had given $5,000. In Dr. Gaines's words, the 
crowd "went wild." The Atlanta Constitution's headline on 
Wednesday morning, December 1, read "AGNES SCOTT 
CLINCHES MILLION ENDOWMENT FUND." Agnes Scott had 
won, and so had Atlanta! The whole activity was Agnes Scott's first 
great thrust to become fiscally sound, and it heralded many 
subsequent similar efforts to secure the funds necessary for a college 
aspiring to greatness. 

Of course, the reason for all this activity was Agnes Scott's earnest 
desire and avowed purpose to be a college of high academic quality. A 
review of the regular reports which President Gaines made to the 
Trustees during this period documents the College's commitment to 
standards of excellence  a commitment which in the first decade of 
this century posed real problems for a woman's college in the South. 

One of the recurring difficulties which faced Agnes Scott in its first 
years as a college was the poor preparation being given prospective 
students during their secondary school experience. It was this defi- 
ciency, more than any other circumstance, that prompted the Trustees 
to continue Agnes Scott Academy after the College was established in 
1906. In various entries of the Board's minutes, mention is made of the 
importance of the Academy as a "feeder" to the College. As has been 
noted earlier, the Southern Association had required complete sepa- 
ration of the Academy from the College as a requisite to collegiate 
accreditation. This step, of course, was taken, and the Academy func- 
tioned under its own principal and faculty, completely apart from the 
academic life of the College itself. Both institutions were under the 
control of the same Board of Trustees and occupied one campus, but 
there the commonality ended. Separate graduation exercises were 
held, and even though a sizeable number of Academy students entered 
Agnes Scott College, others elected to attend college elsewhere. 
President Gaines's report to the Board for the 1909-1910 session con- 
tains this paragraph: 



43 



During the session Miss Ella Young, the Principal of the 
Academy, applied to a number of Eastern Colleges for certificate 
privileges and the following high grade institutions responded 
favorably to this application by placing Agnes Scott Academy 
upon their accredited list: Mount Holyoke, Smith, Vassar and 
Randolph-Macon Woman's College. This was recognition of the 
grade of work done by the Academy which was most gratifying. 

Even though the Academy did serve as a useful "feeder" to the 
College, President Gaines and the Trustees became increasingly con- 
vinced that it was unwise for them to operate two institutions. As early 
as June, 1907, there is an entry in the Board's minutes concerning an 
offer from a Professor G.H. Gardner "proposing to take off of our 
hands our Academy." Interestingly there was an abortive overture in 
1908 that the Agnes Scott Trustees take over the Young Female 
College in Thomasville, Georgia, to serve as another "feeder" to the 
College. In 191 1 the President in his annual report made the following 
presentation to the Board concerning "a system of College-Prepara- 
tory schools correlated within Agnes Scott": 

It is suggested that steps should be taken, if possible, to organize a 
system of Christian education for young women in our Southern 
[Presbyterian] Church of which Agnes Scott shall be the head and 
crown. This system should consist of College Preparatory Schools 
in different parts of the South with courses carefully correlated 
with Agnes Scott College. These schools would thus become 
feeders to our College and secure for us well prepared students. 
The effect would be to unify our forces throughout our 
[Presbyterian] Assembly. It would be possible then to have true 
educational ideals and standards adopted throughout the entire 
system. Such a system would also do much to stimulate the young 
women of our Church and of the South to secure a college 
education. It is not recommended that Agnes Scott assume 
financial responsibility for such a system, but that this Board use 
its influence and its leadership in forming such a system. 

Even though a committee was appointed to "investigate" this sug- 
gestion, nothing ever came of it. It is evidence, however, that the 
Trustees were committed to getting good students for the College and 
that they recognized that Agnes Scott Academy was a good prepara- 
tory school. It further shows that they were concerned about what to 
do with the Academy. There was, in addition, the constantly recurring 
problem of not enough facilities on one campus for both institutions. 
The College was "crowding out" the Academy. Finally on December 
31, 1912, the Board, on the recommendation of the President, took 



44 



action "to discontinue the Academy at its present location with the 
expiration of the present scholastic year" and "the President [was] 
directed to give due notice of this action to the present patrons [of] the 
Academy." In the same meeting a committee was appointed "to ascer- 
tain the feasibility of transplanting the Academy." This move was not 
found to be practicable, and Agnes Scott Academy was discontinued 
on May 24, 1913, after serving a highly useful purpose for seven years. 
The same period around the end of the first decade of the twentieth 
century saw Agnes Scott determined to take its place as a first-class 
institution of collegiate rank. Entrance requirements and standards 
were in primary positions of emphasis. The President's annual report 
for 1907-1908 contains this paragraph: 

Since the last report the entrance requirements have been so 
changed as to require hereafter in Latin four additional books of 
Virgil, and in Mathematics Plane Geometry. Besides major and 
minor requirements have been introduced in French and German. 
With these changes Agnes Scott College now requires for entrance 
to the Freshman class 14 Carnegie units, thus placing it in the class 
of the best colleges. For our B.A. degree we require 60 hours of 
college work. We thus have the standard entrance requirements of 
the best colleges and also the required number of hours of work 
for the recognized B.A. degree. There is often a wide difference 
between the requirements offered in the catalogue and the 
requirements actually made of students. In the case of Agnes Scott 
the catalogue requirements are rigidly adhered to. So I am glad to 
report that your college is dealing fairly in maintaining its 
standards. 

In the President's report for the next year (1908-1909), there is a 
statement that the size of the student body "has been unquestionably 
reduced by our high entrance requirements," but the statement is 
followed by an affirmation that adherence to high standards "is not 
only right and honest and necessary to the highest interests of students, 
but that it will win in the long run." And indeed this stress on standards 
did win. Five years later (1913-1914) President Gaines was able to 
inform the Trustees that during the session just ended the College had 
experienced "the largest gain [in students] in any year since 1892, the 
year of the opening of the present Main Building." He goes on to ob- 
serve that this gain "clearly indicates the wisdom of the action of the 
Board in discontinuing the Academy," and then writes 

The reputation of this College is growing every year. This reputa- 
tion rests upon its standards. Because of its standards it attracts 



45 



the most earnest and desirable students . . . who gives [sic] 
promise of the largest usefulness. Our standard, therefore, is our 
greatest asset. 

That Agnes Scott's academic standards were of a high order is at- 
tested by other than internal evidence. Lucian Lamar Knight, who 
founded both the Department of Archives and History of the State of 
Georgia and the Georgia Historical Association, wrote in the Souvenir 
Book of General Assemblies (1913) of Agnes Scott's being the only 
college in the South approved by the United States Bureau of Edu- 
cation. 

The Trustees and the President were indeed committed to standards 
of excellence, but it was the faculty who set and maintained them. Dr. 
Gaines recognized this circumstance when in his report for 1906-1907 
he wrote "that any college is very largely what its faculty makes it." 
From the beginning in 1889, great care was exercised in choosing 
teachers. In the same report just referred to the President makes this 
further statement: 

No pains or expense has been spared in filling vacancies [in the 
faculty] as they have occurred. The first indispensable 
qualification has always been Christian character; the next has 
been the finest qualification for teaching special subjects. In 
selecting teachers of modern languages only those were 
considered who had had the best training in this country and then 
had had foreign residence and instruction in the countries in 
which each language was spoken. As a result of the extreme care 
taken in the selection of teachers, your College has a very finely 
trained and able faculty. The following colleges and universities 
are represented by graduates or those who have taken graduate 
work in them: Johns Hopkins, Hampden-Sydney, Washington 
and Lee, Cornell, Radcliffe, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, University of 
Berlin, University of Leipsic, University of Paris. 

This statement was made concerning the second year of Agnes Scott as 
an institution of collegiate rank. Eight years later in 1915, these faculty 
requirements were reaffirmed and strengthened when it was required 
that a department head "must have a graduate degree form [sic] a 
college or university of approved standing, and in Modern Language 
Departments foreign training in addition." It was further stated that 
"All candidates in order to be eligible must be members of one of the 
protestant evangelical churches." Finally no faculty member would be 
employed whom the President had not interviewed personally. The 
Trustees in formal action taken on May 25, 1915, stressed even more 



46 



the Christian requirement for faculty members when they took action 
that 

. . . the Christian character, spirituality, and interest in the Chris- 
tian ideals and work of the College, be stressed in the election and 
retaining of teachers. 

Thus, as Agnes Scott advanced, there was no watering down of 
entrance requirements, of academic standards, or of high faculty 
requisites. But there was also no relaxation of the Christian emphasis. 
Agnes Scott at its origin was dedicated to the glory of God. In 1906 
President Gaines again affirmed divine blessing as attendant to every 
success, and then he said: "This institution was founded in prayer for 
His glory, and we have gone forward step by step relying upon His 
blessing." Central to Agnes Scott's purpose were academic excellence 
and the Christian faith. In the judgment of the Trustees and the Presi- 
dent, the achievement of this dual thrust resided in the training and 
character of the faculty. 

During these initial years in Agnes Scott's life as a college, there was 
a third activity under the authority of the Agnes Scott Board of 
Trustees, namely, the School of Music, Art, and Expression. The 
principal faculty member in this School was Joseph Maclean, who had 
come to Agnes Scott in 1893 and who remained in charge of music 
until 1918. It is interesting to note that for more than a decade Mr. 
Maclean was, after the President, the highest paid member of the 
entire staff. "There is no small demand for these ornamental branches 
in a College for young women," wrote President Gaines in 1909, and, 
typical of Agnes Scott, he could also say "... the work done has 
been considered of a high order." Music drew the largest number of 
students, with art next, and expression last. For several years the Presi- 
dent advocated a separate building for the School of Music, Art, and 
Expression. Practice rooms were crowded on the fourth floor of Main 
or scattered about the campus. The art studio was also on the top floor 
of Main. An entry in the Trustees' minutes for November 24, 191 1, 
shows that during the 1910-1911 year a revision of the curriculum had 
permitted "the Scientific and Literary part of Music" to be counted 
"under conditions" for the B.A. degree. 

There was also a Professorship of Home Economics added during 
1910-1911, and the teaching of science was separated with a professor 
in chemistry, one in physics and astronomy, and one in biology and 
geology. The elective system of courses had already been established. 



47 



About a year later (1912), the President reported to the Board that the 
faculty had changed the teaching schedule from a five-day to a six-day 
week. 

As a result of the successful financial campaign of 1909, three new 
buildings were erected in the next two years: a dormitory, a library, 
and a science hall. The erection of these buildings was not free of diffi- 
culty. In all three instances the contractor failed in business after con- 
struction had begun, and the special building committee of the Board 
had to superintend the completion of the buildings. Problems to the 
contrary notwithstanding, the structures were completed, and imme- 
diately following the commencement in June, 1911, dedicatory exer- 
cises were held. The dormitory was the gift of Mr. Samuel M. Inman, 
and he named it Jenie D. Inman Hall in memory of his first wife. The 
Carnegie Library (presently the Murphey Candler Building) was the 
gift of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, and Lowry Science Hall was the gift of 
Col. Robert J. Lowry. This last structure served until Campbell 
Science Hall was erected in 1951. Lowry Science Hall, a three story 
building plus basement, stood where Walters Hall now is. 

In 1906 Agnes Scott purchased the "White House" from the George 
W. Scott Investment Company and the Gaines house from the Presi- 
dent of the College. In the same general period Mr. Inman bought the 
Crockett property and three other lots on behalf of the College. This 
Crockett property was supplemented in 1908 by the Ansley plot 
through the good offices of Mr. G.B. Scott (Col. Scott's son), and these 
parcels gave the College frontages on South Candler Street. Part of 
Winship Hall now stands on the Crockett piece, and the Ansley plot is 
now part of the parking lot between Evans Dining Hall and Winship. 
Both of these parcels (Crockett and Ansley) contained houses which 
the College rented out. Later ( 19 1 1) in the same report which officially 
informed the Trustees of the completion of Inman, Lowry, and the 
Library, this statement occurs: 

The Committee also superintended the opening of a broad avenue 
through our campus to Candler Street .... 

Thus, Agnes Scott now had entrances both on East College Avenue 
and South Candler Street. Access to South McDonough was to come 
a few years later with the acquisition of the Conn property on the west 
side of the present campus. 

The year 1909 saw not only the first successful financial campaign 
but also a devastating typhoid epidemic which almost closed the 



48 



College and which had adverse effects for several years thereafter. This 
epidemic came in November, the very month set to finish the cam- 
paign. On November 2, the Trustees met to hear a report on the situa- 
tion but decided, on the advice of Dr. W.S. Kendrick, the College's 
consulting physician and also a trustee (Dr. Kendrick was at the time 
one of Atlanta's most distinguished physicians.), not to take any steps 
beyond empowering a committee of Dr. Gaines, Dr. Kendrick, and 
Dr. Mary Frances Sweet, the resident college physician, to move in 
such ways as seemed wise to them. Six days later on November 8, the 
Board met in special session to deal with serious developments in the 
interval. There were now twenty-two diagnosed cases of typhoid and 
four others suspected. A number of students "in health" had been 
called home, and circumstances were indeed grim. Looking back on 
this trying ordeal, President Gaines in 1921 wrote as follows: 

While the plans for the campaign were being made, and just before 
the time appointed for the canvass, a great calamity overtook the 
College. A serious outbreak of typhoid fever came among the 
students. There were thirty cases in all. A number of students were 
called home. Everything possible was done to meet the serious 
condition. And yet nothing but the guiding hand and blessing of 
God prevented a panic. Daily bulletins telling the exact truth were 
mailed to parents. Fortunately there were no deaths and we were 
able to hold the body of students together. The morale was 
wonderful. The cause of the outbreak was found to be a broken 
sewer contaminating the drinking water. This epidemic increased 
the debt of the College by eleven thousand ($11,000) dollars. 
Coming as it did just before our campaign, we feared it would be 
disastrous, but happily it was not. But the effect of the typhoid 
epidemic was felt for several years in our attendance, causing 
recurring deficiencies. 

In 1913 the General Assemblies of four major Presbyterian denomi- 
nations met in Atlanta simultaneously  the Presbyterian Church in 
the United States, the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
America, the United Presbyterian Church, and the Associate Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church. One of the delightful occasions of these 
meetings was an afternoon social gathering at Agnes Scott for all the 
commissioners  possibly the largest social function at which the 
College had entertained up to that time. 

This chapter began by referring to 1909 as an important year for 
Agnes Scott. President Gaines in his annual report for the 1908-1909 
year pointed up, among other things, a real internal need of the 



49 



College. The administration of the institution had been from the 
beginning almost exclusively in the hands of Dr. Gaines and Miss 
Hopkins. She had charge of the daily life and routine of the students 
and faculty, and the President took care of practically everything else. 
He had used Professor H.B. Arbuckle from time to time as an 
assistant, and Professor J.D.M. Armistead had helped in the heavy 
correspondence relative to securing students. By the summer of 1909, 
it was becoming apparent to Dr. Gaines that he needed some full-time 
administrative help  particularly in the area of business affairs, so in 
February, 1910, he asked the Trustees to consider this possibility. As 
usual, a committee was appointed (S.M. Inman, G.B. Scott, CM. 
Candler and F.H. Gaines). In November, 1910, the Board took action 
authorizing the employment of a business manager. At the meeting of 
the Trustees on November 24, 1911, the President reported that on 
July 1 of that year Mr. R.B. Cunningham had been engaged and "had 
entered upon his duties." Mr. Cunningham came from Winthrop 
College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and continued with Agnes Scott 
until his retirement in 1943. 

Along with Col. Scott, Dr. Gaines, and Miss Hopkins, there is no 
more important person in the first quarter century of Agnes Scott's 
development than Samuel Martin Inman. It was Mr. Inman's great 
contribution that he started the college on the road to fiscal soundness. 
Like Col. Scott, he was generous with his own fortune, which was 
considerable. Over all, he personally gave Agnes Scott more than 
$100,000  a sizeable sum in the first years of this century. But 
different from Col. Scott, Mr. Inman saw to it that his gifts motivated 
other gifts. When he offered $15,000 toward the construction of 
Rebekah Scott Hall, his gift was contingent upon certain other funds 
being made available also. As has already been pointed out, his gift of 
$50,000 for Inman Hall was part of the campaign of 1909. Even though 
this campaign was a notable success, the College was soon in debt 
again, such that by 1914 this indebtedness has accumulated to $50,000, 
a circumstance which sorely troubled all the Trustees and Mr. Inman 
in particular. On June 11, 1914, he wrote the following letter to 
President Gaines: 

My dear Dr. Gaines: 

The $50,000 debt of Agnes Scott College gives me a great deal of 
anxiety. With this removed I feel there is a great future of Chris- 
tian usefulness for the College. 



50 



I will soon be seventy two years old. I must lay down as far as I 
can, places of responsibility that bring care and anxiety. Provided 
the Board of Trustees will accept my resignation as Chairman and 
that Mr. J.K. Orr will accept the Chairmanship, and that I be 
called on for no more money for three years for the support of the 
College, I am willing to contribute $25,000 toward the extinguish- 
ment of the debt, on the condition that the friends of the College 
contribute the same amount ($25,000) in good and solvent 
subscriptions, and that I am to pay in dollar for dollar as the other 
contributors pay in their subscriptions. 

This offer is open until January 1st, 1915, when it will expire, if 
the terms of this offer are not fully complied with. 

Yours sincerely, 
(Signed) S.M. Inman 

The Trustees were understandably deeply grateful to Mr. Inman; 
however, they asked that he extend the time limit to January 1, 1916. 
Mr. Inman declined to grant this request, but he did state that he 
would be "willing for three annual payments, without interest, the first 
payment to be January 1st, 1916." So on November 17, 1914, the 
Trustees adopted a resolution accepting Mr. Inman's challenge offer. 
Then and there Mr. Orr offered to give not only $5,000 but also much 
of his time to make the necessary canvass. Accordingly, the Board had 
approximately six weeks to raise the sum which would again make 
Agnes Scott debt free. This time Mr. Orr ran a quiet campaign con- 
fined to a limited number of people. When the Board convened on 
December 31, 1914  one day before the deadline, it was reported that 
twenty-seven subscriptions were in hand totaling $25,000. Agnes Scott 
had won again! 

In the meantime on December 26, 1914, the Trustees had accepted 
Mr. Inman's resignation and had unanimously elected Mr. Orr as 
chairman. Mr. Inman was named chairman emeritus. All the terms of 
Mr. Inman's offer had been met on time. 

It was good that the Board moved fast, for Mr. Inman was already 
on his deathbed. He did survive long enough to hear the fine report 
from Agnes Scott and to make appropriate provisions for the payment 
of his offer. Death came for S.M. Inman on January 12, 1915. 

The Trustees met on January 26, 1915, and adopted appropriate 
resolutions in tribute to Mr. Inman. Three sentences in these resolu- 
tions are here quoted: 

He gave himself without stint, and cheerfully, to the advancement 
of every enterprise of the College. Indeed, it is impossible to over- 



51 



estimate what his interest, his leadership, and his efforts meant to 
the institution. During the term of his chairmanship [1903- 19 14] it 
made very remarkable advance in the enlargement and 
improvement of its plant, more than doubled its assets, and 
developed from a secondary school to a college of standard grade. 

James Ross McCain, Agnes Scott's second president, has written of 
Mr. Inman, "It was he who lifted the college from a local to a national 
basis." 

In 1914 Agnes Scott was twenty-five years old, and the anniversary 
brought a considerable celebration. According to the minutes of the 
Board, the celebration took place during Commencement Week and 
was in three parts. The first part was on Monday afternoon, May 25, 
and took the form of a pageant which involved students and faculty. 
Professor Louise McKinney has written that she and Miss Mary E. 
Markley originated the idea which developed into the pageant made 
up of tableaux, dramas, etc. Miss McKinney recalls that the Depart- 
ment of English presented a St. George play. Other departments had 
their presentations. Special costumes and music were featured, and the 
event took place out-of-doors under the oaks in front of Inman Hall. 
The pageant was designed to illustrate "the progress of education in 
Georgia, and the development of the College." 

The second event of the celebration was a historical address given by 
the Hon. C. Murphey Candler on Tuesday, May 26. This address dealt 
with "the founding and development" of Agnes Scott. Representatives 
from other institutions were present to bring greetings, among whom 
was Chancellor James H. Kirkland of Vanderbilt University, one of 
the most distinguished educators the South has ever produced. Also 
during this same event the College received the handsome portraits 
painted by E. Sophronisba Hergesheimer of President Gaines and 
Dean Hopkins which continue even now to be among Agnes Scott's 
most treasured possessions. 

The final part of the celebration was on Tuesday evening, May 26, 
when Agnes Scott presented the Hon. Thomas R. Marshall, Vice 
President of the United States. His address was for the whole metro- 
politan community, and the assembly convened in the Atlanta Theater 
located on Exchange Place across from the Hurt Building. The Vice 
President remained until May 27 and gave the Commencement ad- 
dress in the College Chapel, then on the first floor of the east wing of 
Rebekah Scott Hall. 

Joseph Kyle Orr, who succeeded Mr. Inman as chairman of the 



52 



Agnes Scott Board of Trustees, was to occupy that position longer 
than anyone has before or since  almost twenty-four years. Born in 
New York City in 1857, he had come to the South early in life and 
began his business career in Columbus, Georgia. In the mid-1890's he 
moved to Atlanta where for many years he was President of the J.K. 
Orr Shoe Company. For approximately forty years he was allied with 
practically every good cause that was part of Atlanta. He served as 
president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, was campaign direc- 
tor of the effort that raised the funds to erect the building for the 
central Y.M.C.A. in downtown Atlanta, and played a major role in 
establishing the Atlanta Freight Bureau. Franklin M. Garrett in 
A tlanta and Environs points out that Mr. Orr was active in the drive to 
purchase Piedmont Park for the City of Atlanta and that he also 
chaired the committee which successfully brought about the estab- 
lishment of the Federal Reserve Bank in Georgia's capital city. He was 
a distinguished leader in the Knights Templars and achieved the top 
national position in that organization. In addition to his relationship 
with Agnes Scott, he was also a trustee of the Berry Schools and of 
George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. 
Orr was likewise a long-time member and an elder in Atlanta's North 
Avenue Presbyterian Church. He was unquestionably one of the lead- 
ing citizens of the Atlanta area during the first third of the twentieth 
century, and his association with Agnes Scott for thirty-four years 
(1904-1938) was to be a period of great advance for the College. 

From the time that Agnes Scott was chartered as a college in 1906, 
the members of the faculty were keenly interested in having a chapter 
of Phi Beta Kappa, but, in keeping with a well-established campus 
policy, they decided to make no active effort to secure such recognition 
until they themselves were convinced that the institution fully 
measured up to all the high requirements of Phi Beta Kappa. On May 
19, 1914, an important step looking toward a chapter of Phi Beta 
Kappa was taken when the faculty voted to establish an honor society 
to be known as Gamma Tau Alpha. The first members of this 
organization were the six members of the faculty who were also 
members of Phi Beta Kappa, namely, J.D.M. Armistead, Mary Cady, 
Mary DeGarmo, J. Sam Guy, C. P. Oliver, and Lillian S. Smith. At the 
organization meeting of Gamma Tau Alpha, it was determined that 
the general plan of the society would be modeled as nearly as possible 
on the principles of Phi Beta Kappa. This local organization continued 
to function until the Agnes Scott Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was 



53 



established in 1926. Gamma Tau Alpha held up high standards of 
scholarship, electing to its membership undergraduates and alumnae 
of outstanding scholarly attainments and at its open meetings 
presenting to the community addresses by distinguished visiting and 
local scholars. The society also worked diligently toward securing a 
Phi Beta Kappa chapter for Agnes Scott. Professor Louise McKinney 
has written that the name Gamma Tau Alpha was suggested by 
Professor C.P. Oliver because at the University of Virginia, his alma 
mater, these "three Greek letters were the initial letters of an 
inscription over a certain building." This inscription is from John 8:32: 
yv< oeode ti?u aXfjdeiav which translated into English means "You 
will know for yourselves the truth." What an appropriate name for the 
forerunner of Agnes Scott's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa! 

In 1916 a second society was established which continues to the 
present. HOASC (Honorary Order Agnes Scott College) was the 
predecessor of Mortar Board, and it recognized students on the basis 
of leadership, character, and scholarship. The founding members of 
HOASC were ten students from the Class of 1916: Nell Grafton Frye, 
Eloise Gaston Gay, Ora Mast Glenn, Evelyn B. Goode, Maryellen 
Harvey, Margaret Ray Harrison, Martha G. Ross, Jeannette Victor, 
Alice S. Weatherly, and Louise W. Wilson. 

By the spring of 1915, it was clearly evident that additional endow- 
ment was mandatory if Agnes Scott intended to maintain its respected 
place in educational circles; thus, on May 25 of that year the Trustees 
adopted a recommendation of President Gaines that a target goal of 
$500,000 be set. Subsequently, a committee of J.K. Orr, J.J. Eagan, 
L.M. Hooper, J.T. Lupton, and F.H. Gaines was appointed to make 
plans for the effort to raise this money. Regardless of where these 
funds might ultimately come from, it was understandable that the 
Board would think of the General Education Board as a potential 
source for at least part of the total. Accordingly, at the next meeting of 
the Agnes Scott Board (October 22, 1915) a resolution was adopted 
authorizing an application to the General Education Board for a 
"donation." Over the next two or three years there were several down- 
ward changes in the total goal, and the effort did not move into final 
focus until 1919. Not surprisingly, it was the General Education Board 
that brought matters to a head. As the result of negotiations, President 
Gaines was able to announce to the Trustees on May 27, 1919, "that a 
telegram had been received from the General Education Board of New 
York offering to contribute the sum of $1 75,000 toward the total sum 



54 



of $500,000 which the Board recently agreed to raise." This challenge 
offer pushed the Board back to its original high goal. Dr. James Ross 
McCain has written as follows about this incident: 

When the Board of Trustees met to consider the offer, there was 
great hesitation about beginning so large a campaign. After a 
silence of some length, one member of the Board suggested that he 
hesitated to make a motion of acceptance but he would be willing 
to second such a motion if made. Dr. Gaines promptly made the 
motion of acceptance and it was unanimously carried. 

Thus, Agnes Scott was launched into its second major financial cam- 
paign. Fortunately, some pledges were already in hand. Members of 
the Board and their families had pledged $66,000 and there was also a 
subscription of $5,000 from the Alumnae Association. It was in this 
effort that Agnes Scott had its first "campus campaign." Under the 
leadership of Professor Anna I. Young, the students set a goal of 
$20,000 and actually raised $22,000. Dr. McCain, who had much to do 
with the direction of this drive, has written that a "vigorous campaign 
was made throughout Georgia and the South, and subscriptions were 
secured to meet the supplemental sum by May 1, 1920." In one year 
Agnes Scott had met its goal! But this result was not the end. Long 
before the pledges on this campaign could be paid, the College was 
precipitated into another financial effort. The minutes of the Trustees 
show that on May 25, 1920, a further challenge offer of $100,000 had 
been received from the General Education Board contingent upon 
Agnes Scott's raising an additional $150,000. President McCain has 
written that this second challenge offer came about because Mr. John 
D. Rockefeller had just made a large cash grant to the General 
Education Board "to assist in increasing the salaries of teachers" sorely 
pressed by the inflationary prices resulting from World War I. 
Fortunately, about this same time the Carnegie Corporation of New 
York gave the College $75,000 which could be counted toward the 
General Education Board's grant. The Trustees accepted the 
challenge; the goal was reached, and Agnes Scott in the two campaigns 
achieved $750,000 in new money. 

There was great need for salary improvement as these two juxta- 
posed campaigns were completed. As a matter of information the 
minutes of the Trustees show that for the 1920-1921 session the overall 
salary scale was as follows: 



55 



President 


$5,000.00 


Vice President 


4,000.00 


Dean 


3,000.00 


Treasurer 


2,400.00 


Business Manager 


3,000.00 


Professor 


2,500.00 


Associate Professor 


2,000.00 


Assistant Professor and Instructor 


1,400.00 



By this time Agnes Scott had been able for some years to operate 
without a deficit. One of the main contributors to this fortunate state 
of affairs was J.C. Tart, who had joined the Administration in 1914as 
treasurer and who was destined to hold this strategic post until 1962  
forty-eight years. The minutes of the Board for the initial years of Mr. 
Tart's tenure frequently record appreciation of his performance. He 
was gifted in handling investments, could hold a financial line, and had 
no difficulty in saying "No!" to any expenditure that he thought 
unwise. During Mr. Tart's first year the Board's minutes record an 
action which this writer firmly believes was sponsored by the newly 
appointed Treasurer. Here is the action: 

That the Treasurer be directed within 30 days after rendering bills 
to close up all accounts by notes payable within 30, 60 or 90 days 
as may be agreed upon. 

Incidentally, Mr. Tart was over the years an expert in collecting every 
penny that was owed to the College. 

In May of 1916, the Trustees began a series of changes (amend- 
ments) in the charter of the College with a view to relating Agnes Scott 
more organically to the Presbyterian Church in the United States. 
There was never any idea of putting the College under the direct 
control of the Church, but there were many who thought that some 
form of relationship would be avantageous. From its beginnings 
Agnes Scott had been avowedly Christian and strongly Presbyterian. 
Initially all the Trustees had to be members of that Church, and it was 
many years after the founding before any change was made in that 
requirement. However, some relation to various Synods of the 
Presbyterian Church, U.S., now seemed wise. Accordingly, the neces- 
sary charter revisions were undertaken. The finalized plan authorized 
the Board of Trustees to elect certain of their number from the bounds 
of a specific Synod, subject to ratification or confirmation by the 
Synod. The Synods could not ratify anyone whom the Board had not 
nominated. The Synod could reject, but it could not initiate. If a 



56 



nominee were rejected, the Board would make another nomination 
until someone was ratified. If a Synod failed to act within a specified 
time, the Board's nominee was automatically confirmed. The Trustees 
were careful that less than half their members were subject to Synod 
ratification. Members elected directly by the Board were designated as 
corporate trustees to distinguish them from Synodical trustees. A 
similar arrangement to that with the Synods was made for two trustees 
to be ratified by the Agnes Scott Alumnae Association. Thus, for all 
practical purposes the Board continued to be self-perpetuating. 

It took until the early 1920's for this Synod arrangement to be fully 
worked out because there was some flux as to which Synods were to be 
included and how many trustees were to be allotted to each. Initially 
there were eight Synods included (Alabama, Appalachia, Florida, 
Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee), 
and on October 17, 1917, the Board actually elected trustees repre- 
senting these Synods. Over the next several years the charter was so 
amended that ultimately only three Synods were represented on the 
Board (Alabama, Florida, and Georgia), and this arrangement con- 
tinued for approximately the next fifty years. The provision that the 
Agnes Scott Alumnae Association ratify two trustees is still in force. 
Under the plan that went into effect in 1917, the number of trustees was 
increased to twenty-four. When the plan was finally stabilized (August 
23, 1922), there were twenty-seven members of the Board  14 corpo- 
rate, 1 1 Synodical (Alabama: 4, Florida: 3, Georgia: 4) and 2 alumnae. 
This arrangement continued for many years  until the late 1950's 
when the charter was amended authorizing five additional corporate 
trustees. As a result of these changes in the charter, Agnes Scott be- 
came a college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, U.S., as op- 
posed to those institutions of higher education controlled by the 
denomination. Of this arrangement President James Ross McCain 
wrote in 1939 that it "gives a close and sympathetic relationship to the 
Church, so that Agnes Scott is listed as an 'affiliated' Presbyterian 
college; but in a legal and technical sense it is non-sectarian and inde- 
pendent. It asks no place on the church budgets for current support, 
but it serves the Presbyterian Church as fully as if ecclesiastically 
controlled. The plan has proved eminently satisfactory to all con- 
cerned." 

On October 17, 1917, the Trustees for the first time elected women to 
membership on the Board. Two of these were alumnae, and one was 
the wife of the late chairman of the Trustees. These three were Mrs. 



57 



S.M. Inman, Mrs. C.E. Harman, who was a daughter of George 
Washington Scott, and Miss Mary Wallace Kirk. Each of these three 
women was to serve on the Agnes Scott Board of Trustees for the 
remainder of her life  Mrs. Harman until 1937, Mrs. Inman until 
1946, and Miss Kirk until 1978, this last tenure being the longest of any 
trustee who has ever served Agnes Scott  over sixty years. Further 
distinction was afforded Mrs. Inman when on May 21, 1926, she was 
elected vice chairman of the Board, a post she filled until her death 
more than twenty years later. 

Like all the rest of the United States in 1917-1918, Agnes Scott felt 
the effects of and was engaged in activities related to World War I. 
Issue after issue of The Agonistic (the student newspaper) contained 
one or more items concerning the war effort. Many students were 
active in the Patriotic League, an organization sponsored nationally 
by the Junior War Council of the Y.W.C.A. Through this agency they 
knitted socks and other articles for service personnel and made trench 
candles. The dramatic troup journeyed to nearby Camp Gordon to 
entertain soldiers stationed there. Among other things, students par- 
ticipated in a great patriotic parade down Peachtree Street in Atlanta. 
Then there was the constant effort to conserve food, and many became 
affiliated with the program directed by Herbert Hoover as President 
Woodrow Wilson's Food Administrator. The Class of 1 9 1 9 went so far 
as to forego publishing an annual and gave the savings to war relief. 
One of the "spark plugs" in all this patriotic fervor was Miss Mary 
Cady, who was Professor of History. Apparently she had unlimited 
energy and enthusiasm which she communicated to many others. 
Professors Joseph Maclean and S. Guerry Stukes entered military 
service. In his own inimitable way, Dr. James Ross McCain has made 
this interesting comment about the World War I period: 

One of the problems was to get "dates" for our girls. Camp 
Gordon had plenty of soldiers, but some of them were not too 
acceptable, and it was hard to know them well. Agnes Scott had 
never had a divorce among its Alumnae, but in this war some 
hasty marriages were made, and a few divorces got started. 

Professor Llewellyn Wilburn, who was in the Class of 1919, 
remembers that there was also considerable interest among the 
students in going overseas after graduation to do Red Cross work. 
When Armistice Day finally came, the students twice engaged in a 
"snake dance" around the Court House in Decatur. 

Mention has been made earlier of various College activities involv- 



58 



ing Agnes Scott alumnae; however, the Alumnae Association as it is 
known today dates from 1921. Miss Mary Wallace Kirk, '11, was 
president of the organization at that time, and she led the way in mak- 
ing the association more than just a local club for the Atlanta-Decatur 
vicinity. With the assistance of Fannie G. Mason and Carol Stearns 
Wey and with copies of the constitutions of alumnae associations of 
several eastern colleges, Miss Kirk drafted a constitution intended to 
make the Agnes Scott Alumnae Association national in scope. This 
constitution was ratified and met with a fine reception, both near and 
far. The Alumnae Association was on its way. 

Also in this same year ( 1 92 1 ) the Trustees provided the funds for the 
erection on campus of an alumnae house. Vassar College already had 
such a house, and the one at Agnes Scott was the second such building 
in the United States and the first one in the South. The Board resolu- 
tion which authorized this building was adopted on May 28, 1 92 1 , and 
reads as follows: 

Whereas the General Education Board in its first conditional 
pledge of $ 1 75,000 to the College allowed us to use $ 100,000 of the 
total sum which we raised . . . for land and buildings; and whereas 
only $34,000 has been so expended as provided in the pledge of the 
General Education Board; and whereas the Alumnae Association 
of the College desires to be placed in a position in which it can 
maintain a more effective organization and better cooperate in the 
advancement of the College, 

Therefore, Resolved that this Board hereby appropriate 
$20,000 for the purpose of erecting an Alumnae house on the 
campus under the following conditions: 

(l)The appropriation will not be available until this amount 
has been collected on subscriptions not made under specific 
terms, and until the Treasurer of the Endowment Fund shall 
notify the Chairman of the Finance Committee that the said 
sum of $20,000 is in his hands and available for said purpose. 

(2) The house must be constructed within the appropriation. 

(3) Of said $20,000, the sum of $ 1 5,000 shall be a gift and $5,000 
shall be a loan to the Alumnae Association to be covered by 
a subscription to the Endowment Fund, and paid in 
installments of $1,000 per year for five years. 

(4) The money herein appropriated shall be paid only on the 
requisition of the Building Committee and the approval of 
the Chairman of the Finance Committee of this Board. 

(5) The construction of the house shall be in the hands of the 
Building Committee composed of an equal number of 
Trustees and Alumnae. The members of the Committee 



59 



from this Board shall be appointed by the Chairman. The 
members from the Alumnae Association shall be appointed 
by the President of the Association subject to the approval 
of the Executive Committee of said Association. The 
Building Committee shall be authorized to select plans, 
solicit bids, award contracts, and generally superintend the 
building. 
(6) The house herein provided for shall bear such name as the 
Alumnae Association shall select. It is to be known as the 
Alumnae House. While it shall be the property of the 
College, it shall be turned over to the Alumnae for their 
exclusive use and management. 

By the time the Board met on October 7, 1921, it could be reported 
that much progress had been made on the construction of the Alumnae 
House and that completion could be expected by Thanksgiving of that 
year. At this same meeting a slight change was made in the original 
arrangements so that management of the house would be under a joint 
committee of the Trustees and the Alumnae. 

The house was named for Miss Anna Irwin Young who taught 
mathematics at Agnes Scott from 1 895 until her death on September 3, 
1920. Miss Kirk has written that the first hostess or manager of the 
house was Martha Bishop, an alumna who had completed her degree 
at Agnes Scott in the Department of Home Economics. In addition to 
an office for the hostess, the house contained a parlor, dining room, 
and six bedrooms. A large room at the back on the first floor was used 
as a tea room. The hostess "also served special breakfasts, luncheons, 
dinners, and afternoon teas for any faculty member, alumna or student 
who wished to entertain there. The house soon became the center of 
the social life of the college"  so writes Miss Kirk. One of the bed- 
rooms was set aside for special guests of the College. 

The Trustees also at their meeting on October 7, 1921, took an 
action which was to affect academic procedures at Agnes Scott for 
more than the next half century. The bylaws of the Board were so 
amended "as to provide for an Academic Council. . .consisting of the 
heads of the various departments, to act on several matters which 
[had] been hitherto considered by the Faculty as a whole. "This Coun- 
cil, in addition to the department heads, consisted of the President and 
the Dean. Its specific functions were officially as follows: 

Subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees, the Council 
shall have power to determine the academic policy of the College, 
to fix requirements for admission and for the degree, and to 



60 



approve the courses of instruction offered by the various 
departments. 

As is obvious, this action quite effectively removed from the faculty 
practically all control of educational policy and lodged it with the 
Academic Council  an action which insured that academic matters 
would be in the hands of seasoned faculty members but which at times 
tended to thwart the initiative of younger professors. 

In the spring of 1922 a decision was made which was of tremendous 
importance for the future of Agnes Scott. This decision was to con- 
tinue the College at its present location rather than move to a new site. 
Some of the Trustees, supported by out-of-town friends, proposed 
acquiring "some two hundred acres in the Druid Hills section" and 
relocating the College there in a completely new plant. At that time 
there was a considerable amount of undeveloped land on the Decatur 
side of Druid Hills where an ideal campus could be developed. Dr. 
McCain has written that there was, moreover, a group of Atlanta 
people who were prepared to make a bid for the then present campus 
and facilities in order to start a private school for girls. The proposal 
came to nought because, as Dr. McCain says, "we could not unite 
whole heartedly on that plan." Two present alumnae who were in 
touch with the College at that time say that the proposed move was 
abandoned because of the opposition of the Scott family. 

On Saturday morning, April 14, 1923, President Frank Henry 
Gaines died quite unexpectedly. He was in his seventy-first year. Three 
days before, on Wednesday, April 1 1, he had conducted chapel, and no 
one sensed that his life was near its end. On the next day, Thursday, he 
felt enough unwell to go to Atlanta by street car to consult his physi- 
cian, who that afternoon put him in the hospital for observation and 
therapy. On Friday Dr. Gaines was in good spirits with the expectation 
of soon returning to Agnes Scott. However, early on Saturday, his 
heart started to fail, and he died quietly around noon. With his death, 
an era closed at Agnes Scott. 

Shortly after President Gaines's death, a booklet was prepared in his 
memory and the following paragraphs are quoted from this pamphlet 
giving a contemporary account of the events of his funeral and burial 
as well as various tributes to his life. 

As soon as the first shock of surprise and grief had passed, the 
faculty and students planned memorial services in his honor along 
just the lines which they thought would have pleased him most. It 
was the unanimous desire that his body should lie in state in the 



61 



chapel for a day and that a special service of worship should be 
held for the college community before the formal and public 
ceremonies. On Sabbath morning, when the body was brought 
from the undertaker's, the students dressed in white received him 
in double columns from the campus gate to the chapel; and the 
casket was borne by his closest associates to rest on the platform 
where for almost numberless days he had read and prayed for the 
college and his girls. 

It was with the feelings of deepest reverence and love that the 
faculty and students gathered that Sabbath morning for the 
memorial service in his honor, as his body lay in state. It was very 
simple and was conducted by the girls themselves. The first song 
was "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" which was a favorite 
hymn of Dr. Gaines and which he nearly always used on Saturday 
mornings. Miss Hilda McConnell, President of Student 
Government, spoke briefly of the love of the students for Dr. 
Gaines and of their appreciation for being allowed to conduct the 
service. Miss Eloise Knight, President of the Young Women's 
Christian Association, read the Scripture passages which had 
been used scores of times by Dr. Gaines himself in conducting 
memorial services. Miss Mary Goodrich, President of the Senior 
Class, led the prayer, asking that all might take to heart the lessons 
taught by Dr. Gaines and show in true lives the influence he 
exerted, and seeking also for comfort in the great bereavement. 
The service closed with the singing of "My Faith Looks Up to 
Thee" by Misses Frances Gilliland and Lillian McAlpine. 

All during the Sabbath and on Monday morning, there was a 
student guard of honor in the chapel, and during the night the men 
of the faculty kept watch. Hundreds of friends came quietly and 
reverently to look once more on his face so strong and peaceful in 
death, or to sit in the chapel and meditate on his wonderful 
achievements for the Kingdom of Christ. 

On Monday morning, April 16, 1923, the funeral services for 
Dr. Gaines were held at the Decatur Presbyterian Church. Dr. 
B.R. Lacy, Jr., Pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church of 
Atlanta; Dr. D.P. McGeachy, Pastor in Decatur, and Dr. J. 
Sprole Lyons, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta [all 
Agnes Scott trustees], were in charge of the exercises. The Board 
of Trustees of the college formed a special honorary escort, and 
the whole faculty and student body were in attendance. The 
building was entirely inadequate for the throng who gathered to 
do him honor. 

The service was simple, but very impressive. By request of the 
family, all eulogies were omitted; but all realized that none were 
needed. The great work of Dr. Gaines was itself so eloquent that 
mere words would seem empty. The Holy Scriptures, beautiful 
gospel hymns, and sincere, heartfelt prayers drew the whole 



62 



audience very close to Him, in whose service Dr. Gaines spent his 
life. 

After the church service, the body was taken to its last resting 
place in Westview Cemetery, in Atlanta. Through the courtesy of 
the Decatur Chamber of Commerce, automobiles were provided 
to take the entire faculty and student body to the place of burial. 
There again all hearts were touched as the members of the Senior 
Class in special token of their love and sorrow dropped each a rose 
into the open grave, and it was a satisfaction to all to have the 
closing words of Dr. Lyons to be those of hope and thanksgiving 
rather than of grief or despair. All felt that here was a fitting close 
of a marvelous life. 

President Gaines was survived by his wife, the former Mary Louise 
Lewis of Augusta County, Virginia, whom he had married in 1 877, and 
by one son, Dr. Lewis McFarland Gaines, a prominent physician of 
Atlanta. 

All the records at Agnes Scott about Dr. Gaines testify to his single- 
ness of purpose. His life was controlled by two great passions: ( 1) utter 
and complete surrender to God in Christ and (2) a devotion to the 
highest ideals attainable by a human being. Agnes Scott College pro- 
vided him with a channel for both of these passions. 

Time and time again he stressed that the glory of God was the only 
reason for the College's existence, and in report after report to the 
Trustees, he expounded on both the academic and the religious life of 
the campus. That the faculty recognized his commitment is illustrated 
in some sentences from their resolutions at his death: 

Fundamental in the structure of that character was his faith in 
God. Before he began his work as an educator he was widely 
known as a preacher of the Gospel  an evangelical preacher of 
great power. He carried with him into his work for the founding 
and development of the college this same evangelical spirit  a 
spirit of faith and enthusiasm which fashioned all his acts with one 
end in view as stated in his formulation of the Agnes Scott "Ideal" 
to accomplish in every activity of the institution the Glory of God. 

His insistence on Christian character as an indispensable 
qualification for all members of the teaching force; his constant 
effort to preserve the spirit of Christ in every activity of the student 
body, whether academic or otherwise; his unhesitating loyalty to 
his faith in every policy of the college; his unfailing effort to be j ust 
in every decision; his fearless integrity in small matters as well as in 
great; and withal his tender sympathy, which all who have found 
themselves in trouble have experienced, these are the traits which 
will give him a permanent place in the affectionate memory of 



63 



every member of this faculty; these are the traits which we wish to 
place on record for future generations of faculty members. 

President Gaines' passion for lofty ideals found expression in the 
high standards which he set and maintained for the College. He never 
wavered during a period when education was a great luxury for any- 
body and when demanding standards meant small enrollments. Once 
again attention is directed to what his faculty said about him in this 
regard: 

It was his faith in God that enabled him to hold steadfastly to 
the admission standards as stated in the catalogue, year after year 
in those trying days of a decade and more ago when the very life of 
colleges appeared to depend on their ability to attract large num- 
bers of students. Knowing full well that adherence to the standard 
of admission would probably mean a deficit to be reported to the 
Board of Trustees at the end of the year, he never yet let himself be 
turned a hair's breadth from his purpose to maintain an honest 
standard, despite the mental worry that would inevitably result 
from his action, and the ease with which he might have doubled 
the student body by making concessions which most institutions 
similarly situated were making freely. No one who did not live 
through those years can fully appreciate the greatness and 
steadfastness of the man in these trying circumstances. 

This same single-minded tenacity of purpose caused President 
Gaines to require unyielding commitment to standards in the aca- 
demic work of the College once a student was admitted. It also led him 
in taking the utmost care in choosing members of the faculty  men 
and women who were competent and well prepared in their disciplines 
and who were committed to the Christian faith. "Once chosen, they 
were free always to do what seemed best to them in their respective 
departments  a policy the wisdom of which has been abundantly 
proved in the gratifying advancement that has steadily marked the 
growth of the college," so say the same resolutions of the faculty. 

For more than a third of a century, Frank Henry Gaines personally 
directed every facet of Agnes Scott's life. In many instances there was 
nothing except struggle, but the President never faltered in his belief in 
the importance and Tightness of his work. That he was privileged to 
experience some of the success of his indefatigable labors gives one 
much satisfaction now. From a rented house in 1889, the College in 
1922-1923 had grown to twenty acres of land and twenty-one build- 
ings. For the same period the students had increased from 63 to 435, 
and the officers and teachers had enlarged from 4 to 54. Assets had 



64 



grown from a subscription list of $5,000 to $1,586,344. The institution 
itself had developed from an elementary and grammar school to a re- 
cognized four-year college of highest standards. 

It is little wonder, then, that The Atlanta Journal, editorializing at 
the time of his death, could say: 

A great educator he truly was, a builder, a leader, a benefactor; a 
man strong in the strength that comes from a lofty purpose and a 
valiant faith; a doer of the noble, and immortal work. 

The students through their weekly, The Agonistic, put their feelings 
this way: 

But our sadness is touched with the light of a great thankfulness  
thankfulness for the life which he lived in simplicity, in strength, 
and in sincerity; for the college which he dreamed of, and toiled 
for, and loved into being; for his spirit that is inseparable from the 
spirit of Agnes Scott. 

The Board of Trustees in their meeting on May 25, 1923, adopted a 
full tribute to their deceased comrade and said in part: 

His life was preeminently one of service, service to God, and 
service to fellow men .... His life and character command our 
admiration and love .... 

The Alumnae Association at its gathering in May following Dr. 
Gaines' death heard Miss Mary Wallace Kirk, '11, who served as a 
trustee of the College from 1917 to 1978, speak for them: 

. . . we would pause to honor him . . .who in his passing, as in life, 
has left us rarer gifts than gold  a noble heritage of those best 
things of which the spirit of man is capable .... Truth, honor, 
integrity, scholarship, character  were the things he held of 
dearest worth and as being essential factors in attaining man's 
chief end  the glory of god. 

. . . Such was the first president of our Alma Mater, and such are 
the characteristics which because of his life are a part of the warp 
and woof of our college. 

The twenty-year period between the death of Col. Scott in 1903 and 
that of President Gaines in 1 923 was a time of struggle and striving for 
stability and status. To the everlasting credit of many people, these 
goals had been achieved by the end of Dr. Gaines' presidency. 

A firm financial foundation has been established. Through a series 
of campaigns, greatly assisted by the General Education Board, a sub- 
stantial endowment by the criteria of that time had been accumulated. 



65 



The campus had been expanded, and a number of buildings had been 
erected. The annual deficits which had plagued the College for so long 
were now only a memory, and the nagging indebtedness of former 
years was no more. The student body had stabilized, and there were 
more young women seeking to attend Agnes Scott than the College 
could accommodate. The salary scale for the faculty and administra- 
tion adopted on March 2, 1923, (just over a month before President 
Gaines's death) showed the following growth: 

President $6,000 

Vice President 5,000 

Dean 3,600 

Professor 2,750 - 3,000 

Associate Professor 2,075 - 2,300 

Assistant Professor . 

Instructor I 1,050 - 1,550 

Assistant ' 

At the same time academic standards of the highest order had been 
maintained, and educational recognition had been assured. Accredi- 
tation by the regional accrediting agency had come in 1 907. In 1 9 1 2 the 
Bureau of Education of the United States Government placed Agnes 
Scott in Group I of the classification and rating of educational in- 
stitutions. In 1920 the College was included in the approved list of the 
American Association of Universities, and the next year (1921) Agnes 
Scott become a charter member of the American Association of 
University Women. The most coveted recognition was to come just 
two years after Dr. Gaines' death when the United Chapters of Phi 
Beta Kappa voted to established a chapter at Agnes Scott. 

Stability and status had been achieved, and no one deserves more 
gratitude for this accomplishment than Samuel Martin Inman, Joseph 
Kyle Orr, and  most of all  Frank Henry Gaines. 



66 



Chapter 3 
THE McCAIN ERA 



On April 20, 1923, just six days after President Gaines's death, the 
Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees met and appointed Dr. 
James Ross McCain to be acting president of Agnes Scott College 
pending action by the Board of Trustees itself. Approximately one 
month later, on May 25, 1923, the Board convened in its annual meet- 
ing and confirmed the action of the Executive Committee by formally 
electing Dr. McCain Agnes Scott's second president. No other candi- 
date was considered. Since Dr. McCain was a trustee, he was asked to 
retire from the meeting while the discussion of his election to the 
presidency was being held. After the vote, which was unanimous, three 
trustees were named to escort the new president back to the meeting 
where Chairman J.K. Orr formally notified him of his election. Dr. 
McCain then and there accepted his presidential duties and responsi- 
bilities, and a new era began for Agnes Scott. 

James Ross McCain was born in Covington, Tennessee, on April 9, 
1881, the oldest child of John Irenaeus and Louisa Jane Todd McCain. 
In the summer of 1882 John McCain moved his family to Due West, 
South Carolina, where he had accepted a professorship in Erskine 
College, his alma mater. In the rural setting of this small college town, 
James Ross McCain spent his childhood and youth. The home in 
which he grew up was characterized by the strict and rigorous virtues 
of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian communion. Understand- 
ably, many of the strong, unbending, almost stern traits which were so 
evident in President McCain's maturity can be traced directly to his 
father and mother and their home and surroundings in Due West. 
Three incidents related by James Ross McCain himself will suffice: 

When I was about eight years old, my mother taught me a 
valuable lesson in stewardship. She gave me a dime for filling the 
box with stove wood. I had often done it without any pay. That 
day, however, she said to me, "If you will take one penny out of 
this dime and give it to Jesus in the collection tomorrow you will 
be a titherand will be a partner of God Himself." It seemed to me a 
fine bargain, and I gave the penny gladly, and I think that I have 



67 



never had a dime since then that I did not give at least one penny. 
Of course, I had put money into the collection plate for many 
years  money given me by papa, but this was my own money and 
was given with a special thought of the Lord. It was a good lesson 
for which I have been grateful. 

The second incident is of a somewhat different nature: 

Not everything was sweetness and light between my parents and 
me, however, for they whipped me often for various things, and I 
think I [did] not get any licks amiss. For some reason, mother had 
told us children [There were five children altogether.] not to eat raw 
sweet potatoes. Really they are very healthful and taste good. One 
day as she crossed the yard, I was eating such a potato, and she 
asked, "James Ross, aren't you eating a potato?" Without any 
hesitation I replied, "No, mama." She said firmly, "Let's go into 
the house and talk this over." I knew that I was in for something 
bad. She said, "I want to teach you the difference between man- 
made rules and God-made laws. I am your mother and have a 
right to make rules about potatoes and other such things, and you 
ought to obey me because I am your mother, even though no 
morals are involved; but you told a lie, and that violates the laws 
of God, and that is quite a wrong thing to do. I want you always to 
remember the difference." She then gave me the hardest whipping 
she had ever administered, and I remember it all quite well after 
some 70 years. 

The third incident from James Ross McCain's growing-up also reveals 
something of the canniness for which he is remembered in later life. 
After writing of the various and limited avenues open in Due West for 
a boy to earn money, he says: 

I found that I could make much more income from memorizing 
Scripture than in any other way, and it could be done winter or 
summer, by day or by night. My Grandmother Todd would pay 
one cent a verse for memorizing. She preferred that we learn 
Psalms in the metrical version, and I liked that. On one occasion I 
got $1 .76 for the 1 19th Psalm at one sitting! She allowed only her 
immediate family this privilege, and it was a great family blessing 
to me, as I remember now in old age many of the passages learned 
as a boy. Modern educationalists who insist that memorizing is 
poor training and that rewards ought not to be given have never 
been convincing to me. 

Something of the character of President McCain's father can be 
gleaned from a comment which the son made when an old man: 

Papa had a custom of asking at each evening meal the same 



68 



question of each of the older ones, "Did you keep up the reputa- 
tion of the family today?" It was a rather searching question. 

In the fall of 1 896, James Ross McCain at the age of fifteen entered 
Erskine College. Four years later, in the spring of 1900, he graduated 
with a straight A record. The following autumn he matriculated in the 
Law School of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and subsequent- 
ly in 1 90 1 successfully passed the bar examination and was admitted to 
practice both in the state and U.S. courts. He began his practice in 
July, 1901, in the firm of Johnson and Nash in Spartanburg, South 
Carolina; however, he could not receive his license in South Carolina 
until April, 1902, when he was twenty-one years old. He was paid 
$35.00 per month and was permitted to pick up any outside practice 
that he could. President McCain has noted that one of his uncles of- 
fered to provide him with $25.00 monthly as needed, but he remarks 
that he "never found it necessary" to draw on this source. 

Young Mr. McCain did not find the practice of law satisfying, and 
after two years he decided to try another field. In his own inimitable 
way, he observed in later years that his experience was that no one 
came to consult a lawyer unless he was in trouble or wanted to get 
someone else in trouble. So he decided that he would seek a more 
rewarding work. For a brief time he considered both the ministry and 
teaching and ultimately chose the latter. In the fall of 1903 he accepted 
a teaching post in Covington, Tennessee, at a salary of $75.00 per 
month for a nine-month term. After a second year in Covington, 
young McCain was re-elected for a third term, but during the summer 
of 1905, he was approached by Mr. J. P. Cooper of Rome, Georgia, 
about becoming principal of a school there. This contact led to James 
Ross McCain's move to Rome and to his becoming the first 
headmaster of what was to develop into the Darlington School. 
Meanwhile, he realized that if he was to continue in teaching, he 
needed graduate training; thus, in 1905 he enrolled for the summer in 
the University of Chicago, a move which led to his receiving his M.A. 
degree there in 1911 and ultimately to his going on to Columbia 
University from which he received the Ph.D. degree in 1914. 

During 191 1-1912, Mr. McCain took a year's leave of absence from 
Darlington and completed his residency and language requirements at 
Columbia. He then returned home to take up his work and write his 
dissertation. The topic of Mr. McCain's dissertation was "The Execu- 
tive in Proprietary Georgia." When he began his research, he discov- 
ered that the material he had to have "was largely in manuscript form 



69 



and stored in the State Capitol with no access to it without legislative 
approval." Fortunately the Hon. Lucian Lamar Knight, who had 
recently been named Custodian of Records for the State, agreed to be 
of assistance. The help of Governor Joseph M. Brown was enlisted, 
and an enabling resolution was passed by the legislature permitting 
Mr. McCain to have access to the appropriate records. These records 
were handwritten and had been copied in London. At any rate, the 
research was done, and the dissertation was written  all of this being 
accomplished while young Mr. McCain was fully employed and in- 
volved as headmaster at Darlington! 

At Christmas of 1 900 James Ross McCain met Miss Pauline Martin 
who was a student at the Women's College in Due West. During the 
same season two years later, the couple became engaged, and three and 
a half years later on June 12, 1906, they were quietly married in the 
home of the bride's parents in Newton County, Georgia. This marriage 
continued with great happiness until Mrs. McCain's death in Decem- 
ber, 1953. The McCains had seven children, six of whom survived 
them. 

After ten successful and fruitful years at Darlington, Dr. McCain in 
1915 accepted the invitation to join the faculty and administration of 
Agnes Scott College as Registrar and Professor of Bible at a salary of 
$2, 100 per year plus a house. He had been recommended to Dr. Gaines 
by Chancellor James. H. Kirkland of Vanderbilt. In order to accept 
the call to Agnes Scott, Dr. McCain had to decline the presidency of 
Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, to which post he had been 
unanimously elected almost simultaneously with the offer from Agnes 
Scott. 

Dr. McCain began his duties at Agnes Scott on July 1 , 1915. One of 
his responsibilities as Registrar was to secure students, a somewhat 
difficult assignment at this particular time when war was raging in 
Europe and the economy of the South was rather unstable. He also 
found his teaching of the Bible courses quite "strenuous" since this 
field was not his specialty. The catalogue for 1916-1917 shows that he 
had been transferred to American History and Sociology. However, 
Dr. McCain himself has written that while "I was employed as a 
teacher and registrar, Dr. Gaines and the Trustees really wanted me to 
help raise money for the College." By 1918 he had been relieved of his 
teaching and had been made Vice President and Registrar of Agnes 
Scott. In the financial campaigns of 19 19 and 1920, the new Vice Presi- 
dent played an increasingly important role. In other ways also he was 



70 



moving into a position of strength at the center of the College. In his 
unpublished memoirs Dr. McCain has written that about 1920, 

Dr. Gaines was not very well and felt that a long vacation in the 
summer, plus one in the winter in Florida, would be of help to 
him. I had been elected a member of the Board of Trustees, and he 
turned more and more jobs over to me, such as getting teachers 
and dealing with the Faculty in educational matters. It was 
excellent training for me, and I learned a great deal about all 
phases of college problems. 

When in the spring of 1923 James Ross McCain found himself in 
charge of Agnes Scott College, he was already well prepared. In his 
own words, here is the way he put the matter: "It was not burdensome 
as Dr. Gaines had taught me a great deal as to his ideas of a good 
college and how to run it." 

President McCain goes on to say further 

The taking over of the management of Agnes Scott was made 
much easier by the fine staff which Dr. Gaines had collected. Miss 
Nannette Hopkins, the Dean, was the first person employed when 
the school opened in 1889, and she had been the Principal for 
seven years. Mr. R.B. Cunningham had been with the school since 
1911 and knew the business management. Mr. J.C. Tart, the 
Treasurer, had come in 1914, and was efficiency itself. Mr. S.G. 
Stukes, who was made Registrar, had come in 1913 and was 
familiar with all the academic work. All these had been with the 
College longer than I, and had its good at [sic] much at heart as I 
could myself. 

In 1923-1924, the first year of President McCain's administration, 
Agnes Scott had a faculty of forty- four people (some part-time). There 
were 493 students, 345 of them being in residence on campus. The 
charge for a resident student was $600 per year (tuition: $185, main- 
tenance fee: $25, medical fee: $10, board and room: $380). The charge 
for a non-resident student was $200 per year. The disciplines constitu- 
ting the curriculum were art, astronomy, Bible, biology, chemistry, 
economics and sociology, education, English, French, German, 
Greek, history, Latin, mathematics, music, philosophy, physical edu- 
cation, physics, psychology, and Spanish. Sixty-two semester hours 
were required for a B.A. degree, two of these being in physical educa- 
tion. The remaining 60 hours were divided into 30'/$ required and 29'/2 
elective. The prescribed 30'/2 hours were as follows: 



71 



English 6 hours 

A modern language or Greek 3 hours 
Latin 1 or 2 or a modern language or Greek, or 

advanced science, or additional mathematics 3 hours 

Mathematics 3 hours 
Two of the three sciences, Biology, Chemistry, 

Physics 6 hours 

History 3 hours 

Bible 3 l A hours 

Psychology 3 hours 

30'/2 hours 
Students were expected to take the required courses in the first two 
years, and all courses, including electives, were planned with the Com- 
mittee on Admissions or the Committee on Electives. A major subject 
was chosen by the end of the sophomore year. "With the advice and 
approval of the head of the department in which the major subject 
[was] selected, a minimum of nine hours in that department [had to] be 
taken, together with six additional elective hours also approved by the 
professor. Work in the major subject [was required to] be continued in 
the Junior and Senior years." Majors were available in the following 
disciplines: Bible, biology, chemistry, economics, English, French, 
history, Latin, mathematics, philosophy and psychology, physics, and 
psychology. Elementary language courses and those in art history, 
music, and spoken English could not fulfill major requirements or 
those in related hours. Another interesting requirement set forth in the 
1923-1924 catalogue prohibited a student from taking more than six 
hours from the same professor in any semester. 

Just as Dr. McCain was assuming the presidency, Agnes Scott was 
in the process of receiving the largest legacy that the College had had 
up to that time. Through the will of Miss Jane Walker Inman, which 
was probated on August 2, 1922, Agnes Scott became the legatee for 
approximatey $150,000 with an additional $50,000 which ultimately 
came to the College. This gift from Miss Inman, who was the sister of 
the late Samuel M. Inman, was used to establish a memorial 
endowment fund honoring her brother. 

Also, on April 30, 1923, the College sustained the death of Professor 
J.D.M. Armistead, longtime chairman of the Department of English 
and greatly beloved and respected faculty member for eighteen years, 
one who was a moving force "in building up the high standard of 



72 



Agnes Scott." He was a founding member of Gamma Tau Alpha and 
worked untiringly in the effort looking to a local chapter of Phi Beta 
Kappa. Quite appropriately, his personal library became part of the 
collection in the College library  each book being identified by a 
special accession symbol and number. 

Rather early in his administration President McCain began to give 
attention to long-range campus planning, and the effects of this in- 
terest and emphasis have been felt ever since in the development of the 
physical plant. In the fall of 1922 Dr. Ralph A. Cram of the 
architectural firm of Cram and Ferguson in Boston had visited the 
campus and had prepared plans and given advice. A study was de- 
veloped to serve as a guide for the future. This study was later modified 
by the Atlanta firm of Edwards and Sayward and actually controlled 
the location of a number of new buildings. 

The three most pressing campus matters facing the new president 
were (1) the acquisition of more land, (2) the erection of a new gym- 
nasium, and (3) the re-location of the South Decatur car line. During 
the first year of Dr. McCain's administration six additional lots were 
bought at a total cost of $45,000, and in his annual report for 1923- 
1924 the President told the Trustees that "In planning for growth for 
twenty-five years even, we are sure we ought to extend our holdings to 
Dougherty Street between Candler and McDonough Streets." 

The need for a larger gymnasium was urgent. The physical edu- 
cation facility then in use had been built for approximately 200 stu- 
dents, and by the middle of the 1 920's the enrollment was approaching 
500. This old building stood between Rebekah Scott Hall and the 
present location of Buttrick Hall. In articulating this need President 
McCain wrote as follows to the Trustees: 

Since it [the old gymnasium] was built methods of teaching 
physical education have changed, and the arrangements are out of 
date. The swimming pool is a joke among the girls, and we are 
ashamed to take visitors to see the building. 

And then "to kill two birds with one stone," Dr. McCain continues: 

Another need of almost equal importance is a large auditorium. 
We have about 560 officers and students, and our chapel will hold 
only 467. We have not sufficient room for ordinary exercises and 
worship, and we cannot invite visitors without fear of their having 
to endure discomfort. 

It looks as if the time has come to build a gymnasium and to so 
arrange it that it can be used as a temporary auditorium until a 
permanent one can be provided. 



73 



On December 1, 1924, work was begun on a new gymnasium- 
auditorium with the completion date set for September, 1925. The 
structure cost over $150,000, "more than any two other buildings on 
the campus" had cost up to that time. Of course, one of the major units 
in the new building was to be a swimming pool, and in order to get the 
funds for this facility, the College engaged in its second campus cam- 
paign to raise $25,000 to finance this particular enterprise. Almost 
$30,000 was raised, and the swimming pool became a reality. The new 
building was named for George Bucher Scott, a son of George Wash- 
ington Scott. Bucher Scott was for many years a trustee of the College 
and also served as chairman of the Board's committee on buildings and 
grounds. This combination auditorium-gymnasium could seat 1,600 
and removed the necessity of Agnes Scott's holding its baccalaureate 
services in the Decatur Presbyterian Church. Until 1940, when Presser 
Hall was built, all large campus functions were in the Bucher Scott 
Gymnasium. 

Perhaps one brief anecdote relative to the new "gym" will not be out 
of place here. In his unpublished memoirs, Dr. McCain writes: 

The girls enjoyed it [the swimming pool] a great deal, and some 
of them broke into the pool room one night and enjoyed the 
swimming about 3 o'clock in the morning. We had no real rules 
against such. We had "Academic Probation" and "Social Proba- 
tion," but neither one of these seemed to fit the case; and so I 
invented the term "Administrative Probation, "and put these girls 
on it. 

During the year 1924-1925 the South Decatur-Stone Mountain 
trolley line was moved to Dougherty Street where it remained for 
many years. In fact, when buses replaced the trolleys, the bus route 
continued for some time to operate on Dougherty Street. Prior to 
1924-1925 this carline, which was a continuation of the old dummy line 
that came into the campus at the time Main was built, entered the 
campus through the woods behind the present steam plant. It crossed 
Dougherty Street and ran along the west side of the present athletic 
field. At a point about the northeast corner of the present Campbell 
Hall, the track made a right angle turn to the east, crossed what is now 
the athletic field, and entered South Candler Street between where 
Winship Hall and the President's House now stand. It is easy to under- 
stand the importance of getting this transportation artery relocated. 
With the new gymnasium and an expanded physical education pro- 
gram, a larger athletic field was a pressing need, and this carline ran 
right through the site where the athletic field should be. In crossing the 



74 



present athletic field, the carline ran along what was then Ansley 
Street. Thus, the College needed not only to have the carline moved 
but also to get Ansley Street closed. This process involved the City of 
Decatur and the Georgia Railway and Power Company, and as would 
be expected, the community got involved also. Finally, to get the 
carline moved, Agnes Scott had to buy some additional property on 
Dougherty Street and provide an easement along the College side of 
the street and then pay for the moving of the tracks. All in all this 
removal cost Agnes Scott between $20,000 and $25,000. This new 
route ran between the present tennis courts and Dougherty Street from 
the present steam plant to South Candler Street. Once the carline was 
moved, the College petitioned the City of Decatur to close Ansley 
Street and College Place (This latter street paralleled the west side of 
the present athletic field.), but the town, prior to giving its consent, 
required the College to improve Dougherty Street to be a "good 
thoroughfare." However, all of this effort and expense were necessary 
if Agnes Scott was to have an appropriate athletic field; consequently, 
the Trustees approved the project. 

Mention has already been made of Gamma Tau Alpha and of its 
purpose to be the forerunner of Phi Beta Kappa at Agnes Scott. The 
years 1924, 1925, and 1926 saw this dream become reality. Here is the 
account as set forth in the Anniversary Booklet published when the 
Chapter observed its fiftieth birthday in 1976: 

On March 3, 1924, President James Ross McCain . . . received 
notification from Secretary Oscar M. Voorhees of the United 
Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa that Agnes Scott had been placed on 
a tentative list of colleges that might be considered for a chapter. 
President McCain was also advised to send information concern- 
ing Agnes Scott to the Phi Beta Kappa chapters in the South 
Atlantic District. This information was sent in the form of a report 
from President McCain setting forth the special claims of Agnes 
Scott to recognition at that time. The action of the South Atlantic 
chapters was favorable, and on October 24, 1924, word was re- 
ceived that Agnes Scott had been placed in nomination. On the 
advice of Secretary Voorhees, Agnes Scott on November 13, 1924, 
forwarded its petition for a charter to the Senate and National 
Council. Much investigation through reports and questionnaires 
followed. Also Secretary Voorhees and President Charles F. 
Thwing of the United Chapters made visits to the campus. On 
September 9, 1925, the Council of the United Chapters of Phi Beta 
Kappa, meeting in New York, took action granting a charter to 
Agnes Scott. The College was the one hundred and second insti- 



75 



tution to receive a charter and the ninth college for women to have 
this recognition. 

The actual installation of the chapter took place on March 23, 1926. 
On the night before, the Atlanta Phi Beta Kappa Association gave a 
dinner at the Piedmont Driving Club honoring the installation of the 
new chapter. The program at this dinner is of interest: 

Presiding Officer  Dudley R. Cowles, President of Atlanta Phi 
Beta Kappa Association 

Welcome  Clifford M. Walker, Governor of Georgia 

"Why Agnes Scott Was Selected for Phi Beta Kappa"  Dr. 
Oscar M. Voorhees 

Response: "The Pledge of Agnes Scott in Maintaining Phi Beta 
Kappa Standards"  President J.R. McCain 

"Phi Beta Kappa as a World Force for Scholarship"  Mr. 
Harold Hirsch 

"The Obligation of Scholarship to Citizenship"  Hon. John M. 
Slaton, Former Governor of Georgia 

"Woman's Contribution to Scholarship"  Miss Rhoda 
Kauffman 

"The Spirituality of Scholarship"  Dr. Plato Durham, Emory 
University 

The installation of the Beta of Georgia Chapter was conducted by Dr. 
Voorhees. Twenty-one chapters sent representatives. The charter 
members of the Beta of Georgia Chapter were the six members of Phi 
Beta Kappa who were then in the Agnes Scott faculty, namely, Lady 
Coma Cole, Edith Muriel Harn, Cleo Hearon, Robert Benton Holt, 
Lillian Scoresby Smith, and Samuel Guerry Stukes. Prior to the 
establishment of the chapter, President James Ross McCain was 
elected a foundation member. At the first meeting of the Chapter, held 
on the day of installation, six alumnae from the classes of 1 906 to 1 9 1 1 
were elected as were five members in course from the class of 1926. 
This election and initiation were followed by a formal dinner in the 
Anna Young Alumnae House at which Professor Robert B. Holt, 
President of the new Chapter, presided. Mr. Dudley Cowles of the 
Atlanta Association brought greetings from other chapters in the 
South Atlantic District. Exercises were then held in the Bucher Scott 
Gymnasium where Secretary Voorhees publicly presented the charter 
of the Beta of Georgia Chapter and spoke about the significance of Phi 



76 



Beta Kappa. At this same occasion Professor R.E. Park, Chairman of 
the Department of English at the University of Georgia, gave an 
address entitled "The Responsibility of the Scholar in the 
Community." From that day forward Phi Beta Kappa has been a 
formative force at Agnes Scott. 

Also in connection with recognition of scholastic achievement, M. 
Rich and Bros. Company (now Rich's Inc.) of Atlanta began in 1925 
making a prize available to the member of the freshman class who 
made the highest grade average during the year. This prize is still 
awarded except that it now goes to the freshman with the second high- 
est average. Since 1957 the top student has been designated a Stukes 
scholar  but more of this later. 

In the same year (1925) the Trustees authorized the President to 
make financial assistance available to faculty members desiring to 
engage in advanced study, provided the College had the funds. A 
teacher holding the rank of professor could receive $1,000 per year 
while away and those below that rank might expect $500. Thus, an 
initial step was taken toward faculty-study leaves of absence. 

The 1925-1926 year saw a rather careful study conducted to ascer- 
tain whether Agnes Scott students were overworked, particularly to 
the extent that their health was being endangered. A committee con- 
sisting of the Dean, the College physician, and three faculty members 
was appointed to conduct this study. A questionnaire providing for 
confidentiality was devised and responses came in from 350 students 
(63.5% of the student body). The way a student used her time was 
analyzed. In the area of academic work 62% spent less than fifty hours 
per week and 38% spent more than fifty hours per week on their stud- 
ies. Time used in recreation and extra curricular activities was harder 
to tabulate. The report observes 

The work of Y.W.C.A., Student Government, Departmental 
Clubs, Athletic Association, etc. is fairly well distributed by the 
Point System [a device that limited the number of activities in 
which a student could be involved] so that few cases of overstrain 
can be attributed to such activities. Most of the time spent in recre- 
ation is either devoted to games on the campus or to movies, 
shopping, etc. in Atlanta. Nearly every student goes to Atlanta on 
Saturday afternoons, and the majority of them get off for week- 
end visits several times a year. The Camp at Stone Mountain, built 
and maintained by the students, proves to be one of the most 
helpful provisions for change and relaxation, and has been used 
nearly every week-end this year. That and the swimming pool in 



77 



the gymnasium furnish the chief means of healthful recreation in 
the College. 

The report also probed the feelings of day students about their lack of 
involvement in campus life. A general complaint was that "the greatest 
need of the College ... is more provision for social life among the 
students." So far as overstrain was concerned, it was evident that some 
courses were too demanding for the usual run of student  a finding 
not at all surprising. President McCain summed up the matter by 
making the following observation in his annual report for 1925-1926: 

As far as it exists this strain seems to come from two sources: 
namely, a feeling at the end of any given period that not all of the 
work that should be done has been accomplished, and a certain 
constraint due to the fact that in so large a crowd it is very difficult 
to have much time to one's self. 

He then goes on to note that most people in general have more to do 
than they can complete and concludes by saying, "We regard it as not a 
bad sign for students to have tasks that cannot be fully accomplished 
provided they do not allow the matter to worry them unduly." He also 
states that more adequate "recreational opportunities" were being 
provided. 

At the Board meeting on May 21, 1926, a policy still in force was 
adopted, namely, that "the retiring President of the Alumnae Asso- 
ciation [would] be nominated by the Trustees as one of the Alumnae 
Representatives on the Board of Trustees for a two year term, if the 
way be clear." The same action also invited the active President of the 
Alumnae to sit with the Board except when it was in executive session. 

In 1925 Agnes Scott published a pamphlet setting forth the growth 
needs of the College for the next ten years. The total assets at that time 
amounted to approximately $2,000,000, and there was now real ur- 
gency to expand many areas and facilities. This pamphlet states that 
much "pressure is brought each year for Agnes Scott to take more of 
the hundreds of young women who wish to enroll." At the end of the 
1924-1925 year there were 355 resident students and 148 non-resident. 
Plans were projected to handle 500 residents and a greatly increased 
number of day students. In addition to endowment, the two most 
urgent needs were for a new heating plant and laundry and for a new 



78 



administration-classroom building. The old heating plant and laundry 
were completely outmoded, and they also occupied the exact site where 
the Trustees wished to build the new administration-classroom structure. 
The most obvious obstacle was money; consequently, the gears began 
to mesh for another capital funds campaign. On December 8, 1925, the 
Trustees approved a ten-year goal of $2,924,000 and "instructed the 
President to proceed as rapidly as possible in securing funds." 

This particular financial effort increasingly occupied Agnes Scott's 
attention for the next six or seven years. As usual in such campaigns, a 
large gift was needed to spur interest and enthusiasm, but the President 
was at a loss where to turn. The natural action to take was to go again 
to the General Education Board  after all Agnes Scott had a good 
record with that agency. However, beginning in 1922, it became gen- 
eral knowledge "that the Board [had] discontinued gifts to the colleges." 
Moreover, Agnes Scott's great friend Dr. Wallace Buttrick had died 
on May 27, 1 926. The chief executive officer of the General Education 
Board was now Wickliffe Rose, and the principal officer in the Divi- 
sion of College and University Education was Halston Joseph 
Thorkelson. President McCain has written that Dr. Thorkelson 
"could not see the least value in a college for women. He would not 
even allow an appeal to be made." Apparently Dr. Rose concurred in 
this position. Dr. Thorkelson had been Professor of Engineering and 
later business manager at the University of Wisconsin, and under- 
standably his orientation was not toward the small liberal arts college 
for women. At this point when the Agnes Scott Trustees were per- 
plexed as to what to do, a series of events occurred which President 
McCain subsequently affirmed were in his judgment the workings of 
Almighty God on behalf of Agnes Scott  an institution which had 
been established for His glory. 

In the general elections of 1928 Walter J. Kohler, a leading indus- 
trialist, was chosen Governor of Wisconsin. As a result, Mr. Kohler 
asked Dr. Thorkelson to return to Wisconsin and take a major posi- 
tion in the Kohler Company, an offer which Thorkelson accepted. 
Meanwhile Dr. Rose retired and Dr. Trevor Arnett became the Pres- 
ident of the General Education Board. Dr. Arnett knew and appreci- 
ated Agnes Scott and was sympathetic toward the College's appeal for 
funds. As a result of negotiations between Dr. Arnett and President 
McCain, the Agnes Scott Trustees took action asking the General 
Education Board to help in the current financial effort, especially in 
funds for the administration-classroom building. Negotiations 



79 



continued, and on August 28, 1928, the Trustees approved a revised 
application specifically asking the General Education Board for 
$500,000 toward a total goal of $1,500,000. In the spring of 1929 the 
good news came that Agnes Scott's request had been granted. The 
offer was in two parts: $300,000 was given provided Agnes Scott raise 
$600,000 by July 1, 1929, and an additional $200,000 was granted on 
the condition that the College secure $400,000 by July 1, 1931. The 
total grant would be forfeited unless all conditions were met by July 1 , 
1934. 

At the time of this grant the College already had $600,000 in sight 
and was almost immediately able to claim the first $300,000 from the 
General Education Board. Plans were now set in motion for securing 
the remaining $400,000. The financial start of the whole effort had 
been a campus campaign in 1928 in which faculty and students had 
subscribed approximately $80,000. Now the same group "requested 
the privilege of initiating this final effort with a campaign to increase 
their subscriptions to a total of one hundred thousand dollars." This 
campus effort raised $30,000 so that the whole faculty-student part of 
the campaign came to a total of $110,000. This successful campus 
campaign closed on October 17, 1930, and on the same day an Atlanta 
campaign opened, chaired by George Winship in cooperation with 
J.K. Orr. President McCain writes that under the leadership of these 
two men "there was organized a group of one hundred and twenty men 
and another of ninety women" to carry out the solicitation in Atlanta. 
By October 27  ten days after the Atlanta campaign began  
$1 ,468,000 of the objective of $1 ,500,000 was underwritten. There were 
still eight months to secure the remaining $32,000. One can't help being 
amazed at this achievement when it is realized that these results were 
occurring just as the economic depression of the thirties was begin- 
ning. Incidentally, the total subscriptions required were in hand by 
July 1, 1931. 

As already noted, all subscriptions were due by July 1, 1934, if 
Agnes Scott was to meet the full requirements of the General 
Education Board. Fulfilling this obligation became ever more difficult 
as the depression deepened and lengthened. Many people simply could 
not pay their pledges as soon as they had originally planned. But, 
thanks to the sympathetic understanding of the General Education 
Board, even this difficulty worked to Agnes Scott's advantage. Dr. 
McCain put it this way: 



80 



The Board very generously allowed an extension of one year 
and offered the College a special grant of an additional $ 100,000.00 
if the College would collect in full the supplemental sum of 
$1,000,000.00 which had been proposed in 1929. This was too 
stimulating a challenge to go unmet, and a special campaign was 
launched to secure approximately $200,000.00 which must be 
obtained in order to make a complete success of the whole effort 
to secure the additional $100,000.00. 

As in previous efforts, the campaign was launched among the 
faculty and students, and more than ten per cent of the needed 
money was immediately pledged. Many alumnae and local friends 
came to the rescue with sacrificial gifts, and by July 1, 1935, the 
required amount was provided in cash and the General Education 
Board paid their full amount, which brought their grants to that 
date up to $975,000.00. The various gifts of the Board had been 
the means of encouraging others to give more than twice that 
amount, and the whole growth of the College had thus been great- 
ly stimulated. 

The first tangible result of this campaign was the construction in 
1929 of the new steam plant and laundry. These two buildings were 
erected on the southwest corner of Dougherty Street and College Place 
at a cost of $130,000, a total which also included a tunnel system be- 
neath much of the campus through which underground steam lines 
and other connections could be run. At this writing fifty years later, 
this steam plant (with later conversions to gas and oil) continues to 
serve the campus, and whereas the College has ceased to operate its 
own laundry, the laundry building still is in use housing the physical 
plant office. 

The removal of the steam plant and laundry cleared at long last the 
site where the Trustees wanted to build the greatly needed administra- 
tive-classroom building. Since $300,000 of the cost of this new building 
(total cost including equipment: $301,743.41) had come from the 
General Education Board, the Trustees chose to name the new struc- 
ture Buttrick Hall in grateful memory of Dr. Wallace Buttrick, Agnes 
Scott's loyal friend who first interested the General Education Board 
in the College. Buttrick Hall was designed by Edwards and Sayward, 
architects of Atlanta. The new building was "a four-story structure, 
fire-proof, having steel, reinforced concrete, brick, limestone, and a 
roof of antique tile as its chief materials." It continues to this day as the 
central facility of the campus, containing administrative and faculty 
offices as well as numerous classrooms. The corner stone of Buttrick 
Hall was laid on May 30, 1930. The Hon. Charles Murphey Candler, a 



81 



founding trustee of Agnes Scott and at the time chairman of both the 
Executive Committee and the Buildings and Grounds Committee of 
the Board, made the address of the occasion. Dean Nannette Hopkins, 
who was then completing forty-one years of service to Agnes Scott, 
placed in the corner stone a metal box containing appropriate docu- 
ments. The new building was ready for occupancy by September, 1930, 
and the dedication took place on December 5 of that year, an occasion 
planned to coincide with a meeting in Atlanta of the Association of 
Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States. President 
McCain has observed that "more than two hundred educators from all 
parts of the South" were in attendance. Also present was Dr. James H. 
Dillard of the General Education Board who gave a review of the life 
and achievements of Dr. Wallace Buttrick. Mr. Paul Buttrick, "worthy 
son of a distinguished father," was likewise present. The principal 
address of the occasion was given by President William P. Few of 
Duke University who spoke on "Improving the Quality of College 
Education." In addition, brief remarks praising Dr. Buttrick were 
given by the Hon. George Foster Peabody, an educator and philan- 
thropist of note and formerly a member of the General Education 
Board. The dedicatory prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Richard 
Orme Flinn, a trustee of Agnes Scott and for forty years pastor of 
Atlanta's North Avenue Presbyterian Church. How much Buttrick 
Hall meant to Agnes Scott was summed up by Dr. McCain when he 
wrote: "For the first time since Agnes Scott became a college, do we 
have room enough for all our classes and for adequate administrative 
work." 

Other results of the successful financial effort of the late 1920's and 
early 1930's were evident in new walks, the placing underground of 
electric and telephone lines, the planting of new shrubbery, and the 
installation of a white-way system, greatly improving outdoor lighting 
on the campus. Also, now that classrooms were no longer in Main, 
that building received a "face-lift" and became increasingly the social 
center of the campus. Efforts leading to the development of the 
Alumnae-sponsored formal garden between Inman Hall and the Anna 
Young Alumnae House likewise date from this same period. Almost at 
the same time as the erection of Buttrick Hall, the old Gymnasium and 
Philosophy Hall were torn down. These two structures, which had 
served the College well but which were completely outmoded, stood on 
a line with the Murphey Candler Building in front of the present 
McCain Library and Buttrick Hall. 



82 



Two important anniversaries occurred in 1929. In that year both 
Dean Nannette Hopkins and Mr. Charles Murphey Candler cele- 
brated forty years of continuous service to Agnes Scott. As already 
noted, Miss Hopkins came in 1889 as Agnes Scott's first teacher and 
principal. On the occasion of her fortieth anniversary, the Board 
recorded its appreciation of her long service and presented her with a 
new automobile. Mr. Candler, a leading local lawyer, was one of the 
five original trustees and in numerous ways had given unselfish service 
to the College, such as through his chairmanship of both the Executive 
Committee and the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board. 

By this time President McCain was well settled into the presidency 
and was having much success at Agnes Scott. However, these very 
successes were bringing him to the attention of other colleges. In 1927- 
1928 the Trustees of Winthrop College made a strong bid to move him 
to the presidency there, and a year or two later he had "feelers" from 
Davidson, Hampden-Sydney, and the University of Alabama. His 
comment concerning the Winthrop offer was, "I had cast my lot with 
Agnes Scott and did not wish to move." Regarding the other three, he 
says, "I never gave any consideration to any of these." 

When Dr. McCain was elected president in 1923, he was provided 
the same salary that the Trustees had been paying Dr. Gaines  $6,200 
annually plus a house. In 1929, realizing what a valuable asset the 
College had in its President, the Board took action raising his annual 
compensation to $ 1 0,000, plus an additional $500 as an entertainment 
or contingency fund. The minutes of the Board show that President 
McCain tried to dissuade the Trustees from making this increase "until 
further remuneration could be made for the teachers also." But the 
Board refused to heed his request. Commenting in his unpublished 
memoirs concerning this incident, Dr. McCain says, "I thought this 
too much, and as a matter of fact I gave back to the College an average 
of $2,500 a year for nearly 10 years." 

Several brief passages from the 1929-1930 and 1930-1931 reports of 
the President to the Board of Trustees will illustrate that even though 
change and growth were taking place, Agnes Scott continued, never- 
theless, to hold fast to its initial commitments to academic excellence 
and fiscal soundness  all for the glory of God. In May, 1930, Presi- 
dent McCain wrote as follows: 

As we view the Session 1929-1930 in comparison with others, it 
does seem to be really, not conventionally, "the best" we have had. 



83 



The first test we apply to our results is on the spiritual basis. Agnes 
Scott has no excuse for existence unless we maintain a strong 
Christian atmosphere. This year we have enjoyed fine leadership 
in all our religious activities among the students, and the results 
are gratifying. 

In educational matters, the year has been characterized by 
earnest work on the part of both faculty and students. We have 
had fewer interruptions on account of sickness than for several 
years; and our Freshmen, for example, show more merit grades 
and fewer failures than any other class that has ever entered. 

Our financial difficulties keep us humble and mindful of what is 
needed yet in order to run Agnes Scott on a basis equal to that of 
the best institutions for women in the country, but we manage to 
stay out of debt and we do without things until we find the money 
to pay for them. 

Then in the annual report for 1930-1931, President McCain comes 
to grips once again with what the founders viewed as the central and 
controlling purpose of the College: 

The ultimate test of the value of Agnes Scott, as viewed from the 
ideals of the founders, is the religious element. We have a mission 
in preparing young women to fill worthy places in life; we have a 
missionary program in raising the standards of education in the 
South; but we agree with the Founders that if our College does not 
make a vital contribution to the advancement of the Kingdom of 
God there is no need for the sacrifice and labor so many people are 
putting into Agnes Scott. We believe that the results fully justify 
all that has been invested here either in time, or life, or money. 

The minutes of the Board of Trustees for January 18, 1927, show 
that Agnes Scott was recognizing more and more the importance of 
faculty members' having the Ph.D. degree. On that date authority was 
granted to the President "to make some distinction in salaries of teach- 
ers in favor of those who hold the Ph.D. degree." A few months later, 
in May of the same year, the concept of probationary appointment to 
the faculty received the attention of the Trustees. Here is their action: 

That new appointments to the Faculty be made on a temporary 
basis until the appointees prove satisfactory, and that other offi- 
cers and teachers be chosen for tenure "at the Pleasure of the 
Board of Trustees," it being understood that before such tenure is 
announced to any given person the President be assured that the 
individual is in harmony with the standards and ideals of the 
College. 

At the annual meeting of the Trustees in May, 1929, the question 



84 



was raised as to the advisability of granting "honorary degrees to 
outstanding women whom we might desire to honor." The matter was 
referred to the Executive Committee and two years later in 1931 the 
Committee recommended "that for the present the College do not 
exercise its privilege of granting honorary degrees"  a recommenda- 
tion which was approved unanimously. 

At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees on May 25, 1928, an 
apparently routine action was taken which was freighted with tre- 
mendous significance for the long-range development of Agnes Scott. 
Here is the action: 

The Finance Committee was authorized to invest endowment 
funds of the College in high grade common [italics mine] stocks if 
the Committee should desire to do so. 

The annual reports of the Treasurer prior to this authorization show a 
limited investment in stocks; however, in the light of the 1928 action 
just cited, it is reasonable to assume that these stocks were in the pre- 
ferred rather than common categories. At any rate, the Treasurer's 
report for 1929-1930 shows that Agnes Scott during that year acquired 
80 shares of Coca-Cola Co. "A" stock, a small beginning from which 
has developed the major part of the College's present very respectable 
endowment. 

At the meeting of the Board on May 24, 1929, the Student Govern- 
ment Association, through Dean Nannette Hopkins, requested of the 
Trustees a restatement of the powers and duties of Student Govern- 
ment. At the time of this request, the students made "certain sugges- 
tions as the basis for a new statement"  these suggestions having 
already been approved by President McCain and Dean Hopkins. "The 
Trustees were quite surprised at the extensive powers which were 
expected, and felt that it would be unwise to grant the petition without 
a thorough study of the matter." Therefore a committee of five trustees 
including President McCain and Dean Hopkins (She had been elected 
a trustee in 1 927.) was named "to investigate the whole situation and to 
report later." In this entire process the faculty also had opportunity for 
input through review and suggestion. The following autumn on Octo- 
ber 1, 1929, the Board formally adopted the following statement 
delineating the powers of the Student Government Association of 
Agnes Scott College: 

1. The maintenance of a high standard of honor in all academic 
matters. 



85 



2. The enforcement of the regulations and of the ideals of the 
College regarding order and decorum. 

3. The supervision in the dormitories of the registration of ab- 
sences and of chaperonage. (Not to affect such matters as are 
now handled in the Dean's office.) 

4. The control of the Point System, subject to the approval of a 
Faculty advisor. 

5. The direction of fire drills. 

6. The supervision of church attendance. 

7. The investigation of offenses and the giving of penalties, except 
that in flagrant cases the decision reached is subject to review 
and approval by the Faculty. 

8. Such other powers as may hereafter be granted by the Ad- 
ministration and faculty. 

9. It is understood that this grant of power may be modified or 
revoked by the Faculty, but any increase in authority is to be 
approved by the Trustees. 

Agnes Scott, like every other institution, felt the effects of the severe 
economc depression of the early 1930's. However, in this time of 
adversity, the integrity of the College and the sacrificial devotion of its 
personnel set an example for all succeeding years. The Board of Trus- 
tees was determined to take any steps to avoid a deficit or indebted- 
ness. This resolve first became officially evident in 1931. Up until that 
time Agnes Scott had made no reduction in salaries or personnel, but 
by way of indicating their position and policy, the Trustees on May 29, 
1931, took the following action: 

That the President of the College arrange for the budget to be 
balanced, even if it should mean the reduction of staff members or 
their salaries. . . . 

For the 1931-1932 session President McCain was able to report that 
the faculty showed "the finest co-operation possible during this period 
of financial difficulty, voluntarily offering any reduction in salaries 
that may be necessary. . . ."During that year there were no salary cuts, 
but for 1932-1933 a ten per cent cut across the board was imposed. This 
reduction was not the end, for in the 1933-1934 session additional cuts 
were necessary such that salaries were approximately 19% below the 
normal level. Part of this cut was caused by the need to increase 
scholarship assistance to beleaguered students whose parents were 
likewise caught in the toils of the depression. The enrollment for 1933- 
1934 was down to 441 students, and significantly the number of day 
students was larger than the enrollment of residents  23 1 to 2 10. For 



86 



this same year the report of the Treasurer shows that the nightmare of 
a deficit was just barely avoided. Receipts exceeded expenditures by 
only $355.30. This particular year was the financial nadir of the 
depression so far as Agnes Scott was concerned, but a deficit was not 
incurred! At this same time the Treasurer could report that the 
College's investment portfolio remained stable, "that of all 
investments held, on which there is any possible way of obtaining 
markets, we could liquidate our entire holdings at a small profit over 
their original costs to us." What an accolade for the Board's Finance 
Committee  and in the depths of the depression! Happily the heavy 
second salary cut was in force only one year, but it was a longer period 
before the pay scale returned to normal. Commenting on this trying 
period, President McCain writes that 

The faculty and officers have shown a degree of loyalty and of 
love for the College that excels anything I have ever found or 
heard of in any college. 

Apparently everyone contributed toward Agnes Scott's maintaining 
its fiscal integrity  a policy which continues to be  along with 
academic excellence  a hallmark of the College. In his financial 
report for 1934-1935, Treasurer J. C. Tart put it this way: 

... it is one of the traditions of our institution, to live within its 
income regardless of what the income may be. This policy has 
proven a very wise one and has enabled Agnes Scott to stand out 
in her business management as well as in a scholastic manner, and 
the excellent credit standing of the institution has been worth 
thousands of dollars in our ability to purchase supplies at the very 
lowest cash prices. 

It is interesting to note that all through this period Mr. Tart main- 
tained his long record of 100% collections on every penny that anyone 
owed Agnes Scott. Also too much praise cannot be given to President 
McCain. His determination, firmness, and almost Spartan economy 
coupled with an uncanny ability to handle financial affairs were of 
inestimable value to the College. It should be observed once again that 
Agnes Scott through all the early years of the depression was also 
engaged in collecting and soliciting subscriptions to a capital funds 
effort which was eminently successful. 

On July 9, 1935, the Board of Trustees, recognizing that President 
McCain's "proverbial modesty" would almost prevent him, as Secre- 
tary of the Board, from recording any praise of himself in the official 



87 



minutes, ordered that the following tribute be included in the Board's 
records: 

The Board of Trustees of Agnes Scott College hereby would 
record their appreciation of the high efficiency, patience, courage, 
faith and perseverence of our honored President, Dr. J.R. 
McCain, in the leadership of our latest campaign for additional 
equipment and endowment at a time when conditions apparently 
made the success of such an effort almost impossible. Through his 
tact and ability not only has he been able to secure the payment of 
large amounts but he has also been able to arrange for the under- 
writing of the uncollected amounts so as to meet the terms within 
the given time and to secure in full the sum offered by the General 
Education Board. 

We desire further to express our gratitude to God for the favor 
with which He has followed the efforts made in behalf of this 
institution founded for His glory, and for His grace in furnishing 
one so gifted both in mind and in spirit for its leadership. 

Before this account proceeds further, it should be noted that in 193 1 
HOASC (see p. 53) became affiliated with the national Mortar Board 
organization, still, however, carrying forward the emphasis on leader- 
ship, scholarship, and service. 

Two of the structures included in the development program of 1 929- 
1930 were an additional dormitory and an auditorium and fine arts 
building. It was generally thought that one or the other or both of these 
buildings would be the next to be constructed after the completion of 
Buttrick Hall. Circumstances, however, altered these plans consid- 
erably. The Presser Foundation of Philadelphia, which was com- 
mitted to providing a major amount for the auditorium-music build- 
ing, asked that this structure be postponed for a time. Further, a gift of 
$15,000 for books from the Carnegie Corporation made the then 
present library, built in 1 9 1 0, increasingly inadequate for the needs of a 
growing college. As early as the President's annual report for 1931- 
1932, the suggestion surfaced that a new library might be preferable to 
a new dormitory. After all, some of the houses which the College was 
purchasing could be converted to "cottages" for students; whereas, no 
such arrangement was possible for the library. Since funds which 
could be used for a dormitory or library were in hand from the finan- 
cial effort of the early thirties, the Trustees on May 24, 1935, author- 
ized the construction of a new library. The site chosen was between 
Buttrick and the Gymnasium where West Lawn Cottage then stood. 
Edwards and Sayward, the same architectural firm used for Buttrick, 



was engaged to draw plans and supervise construction. A grant of 
money from the Carnegie Corporation made possible using outside 
librarians and architects as consultants in perfecting the plans. Agnes 
Scott's librarian, Edna Ruth Hanley (later Mrs. Noah E. Byers), who 
became librarian in 1932 and who remained with the College until her 
retirement in 1969, was herself an expert on library buildings. In 1939 
under the auspices of the American Library Association she published 
a definitive volume entitled College and University Library Buildings. 
It is not surprising then that she was of untold assistance all during the 
planning and construction of Agnes Scott's new library. The finished 
building completely equipped cost $233,000. The new library was 
ready for use in the autumn of 1936 and was officially dedicated on 
December 12 of that year. This writer was privileged to be present for 
this dedication and clearly remembers the large assemblage in the 
Gymnasium where Professor William W. Bishop of the University of 
Michigan made the address, followed by open house in the new 
library. Also participating in the dedication was Dr. T.W. Koch of 
Northwestern University. This dedication was held during the same 
weekend that Emory University was observing its centennial, and as a 
result, representatives of many institutions who were at Emory came 
to Agnes Scott for the library opening. Gothic in style, the new 
structure was built of brick and Indiana limestone. It contained two 
wings, one being two stories high and the other four. The bookstack 
tower of six floors was located at the inside angle of the wings. It 
afforded ample room for growth beyond the holdings of 
approximately 35,000 volumes which constituted the collection in 
1936. The fourth level of the new library was intended to be used as a 
museum, but nothing ever came of this plan, and the area was used for 
storage until it had to be claimed in 1977 for stack purposes. The new 
building carried forward from the old library the name of Andrew 
Carnegie, a name which continued until the building was redesignated 
in 1951. 

After the library moved into the new structure, the old building was 
remodeled to serve as a student center. It was re-named in memory of 
Charles Murphey Candler who, as already pointed out, was a charter 
trustee of Agnes Scott and who served continuously for forty-six years 
from 1889 until his death in 1935. However, the students through the 
years since 1936 have called this building the "Hub." Although it was 
never designed to be a student center, it has served this purpose use- 
fully for over forty years. 



89 



Through President McCain's stature in the educational world, two 
distinct honors came to Agnes Scott in 1936 and 1937, respectively. In 
the former year he was elected to the presidency of the Association of 
American Colleges and served the customary one-year term in that 
office. Then in September, 1937, he was named a senator of the United 
Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. 

Turningto other matters, on October7, 1935, the Academic Council 
took action changing Agnes Scott's academic calendar from the 
semester system to the quarter system. This new calendar became 
effective with the 1936-1937 session and has continued ever since. The 
specific action is as follows as set forth in the minutes of the Academic 
Council: 

That we change from a semester basis to a quarter basis. 

That we require for graduation 180 quarter hours plus present 
requirement in Physical Education. That major and minor re- 
quirements, merit requirements, etc. remain unchanged but stated 
in terms of quarter hours. 

That present year courses remain just as they are now as to num- 
ber of hours per week. 

That each department be asked to refer to a special committee a 
plan for semester courses now offered. Some of our present 
semester courses should be offered four hours per week for a 
quarter (the same time now given to those courses), while other 
semester courses should be given three hours per week for a 
quarter (equivalent of two semester hours). To avoid confusion in 
schedule each department should offer some four hour and some 
three hour quarter courses. 

That each department be permitted to suggest a limited number of 
five or six quarter-hour courses. 

That a special committee be appointed to coordinate the courses 
to be offered by the various departments. 

A little later during the spring quarter of 1936-1937, the Academic 
Council established on an experimental basis a "cut" system for class 
attendance. Students on the honor roll had unlimited "cuts" except for 
classes on days immediately before and after holidays. All other stu- 
dents except those on the ineligible list and those having been officially 
warned because of poor academic work were granted "one cut per 
credit hour per quarter in each course." Except for illness all students 
were required to be present for regularly scheduled tests. Absence from 
a laboratory class counted as two cuts. Of course, absences could be 



90 



excused by the Dean or the College Physician. Any student not com- 
plying with the "cut" regulations lost the privilege of the system and 
was required to attend all classes. Faculty members were called on to 
make a report of all absences by 5:00 p.m. each day. This system, 
modified from time to time, continued until "voluntary" class attend- 
ance was established many years later. 

The end of the session in 1937 brought the first formal retirements 
from the faculty and the naming of Agnes Scott's first emeriti. Pro- 
fessor M. Louise McKinney and Dr. Mary Frances Sweet chose to 
retire at that time. Miss McKinney had come to Agnes Scott in 1891 
and had been a member of the English Department for forty-six years. 
Fortunately, she continued to live on the campus until her death in 
1965 when she was in her ninety-eighth year. Thus, Professor 
McKinney was at Agnes Scott for a total of seventy-four years, the 
longest time that anyone has been continuously on this campus before 
or since her time. Dr. Sweet had come to the College in 1908 as College 
Physician and Professor of Hygiene and in these crucial roles had 
touched the lives of every student for twenty-nine years. Since in 1937 
Agnes Scott had no retirement program, the Trustees very appro- 
priately provided a "small annual allowance" for Professor McKinney 
and "retained" Dr. Sweet in an "advisory" status. 

Quite suddenly on September 18, 1938, Mr. J.K. Orr died. He had 
presided over a meeting of the Trustees on September 7, just eleven 
days before his death, and even though he was in his eighties, there was 
no warning evidence that his life was nearing its end. On October 4, 
sixteen days after his death, the Board met and elected Mr. George 
Winship to succeed Mr. Orr as chairman. At this same meeting, 
appropriate resolutions concerning Mr. Orr were adopted which read 
in part: 

Mr. Orr became interested in Agnes Scott Institute, as it was 
then called, through his friendship with Mr. Samuel M. Inman, 
and he was elected to membership on the Board of Trustees 
February 9, 1904. He became Chairman of the Board on 
December 26, 19 14, and for nearly twenty-four years has been the 
unquestioned leader in the development of the institution. 

When Mr. Orr became the Chairman, there were many diffi- 
culties to be faced. It was during the first year of the World War. 
Economic problems were numerous. Agnes Scott was not able to 
secure the needed number of students. Her total assets were less 
than $700,000. With characteristic energy, he assisted Dr. Gaines, 
the President, to balance the budget, to promote the recognition 



91 



of the College throughout the country, and to increase both its 
student attendance and its financial resources. 

During the twenty-four years of Mr. Orr's leadership, a great 
deal has been accomplished. The reputation of the College has 
been widely established. It has received all of the recognition, both 
in this country and abroad, that can be given to a college or uni- 
versity. The student body has reached the capacity of the plant, 
and is as large as the Trustees desire. The faculty and officers have 
likewise been increased in number, and their training has been 
decidedly improved. 

During his administration, the assets of the College have 
increased five-fold being now appropximately $3,500,000. The 
buildings, grounds, and equipment total $1,700,000. The 
endowment is nine times what it was in 1914  $1,600,000. Most 
of the increase in financial strength has come through special 
campaigns, in all of which Mr. Orr was either the active or 
honorary Chairman, and in which he was a very active 
participant. 

During the first twenty-five years of the history of Agnes Scott, 
there were only 132 graduates. During the twenty-four years of 
Mr. Orr's administration, there have been 1 ,75 1 college graduates 
whose diplomas he has signed. 

Aside from helping with the material achievements, Mr. Orr 
has rendered notable service for Agnes Scott. He has had the 
utmost confidence of his fellow Trustees, who have been pleased 
with his leadership and happy to be associated with him. His ready 
wit and good humor have often banished discouragement and 
pessimism. 

He has been much interested in the spiritual life of the College, 
and has used every effort to promote right attitudes of the students 
toward the finer things of life. His messages at the opening 
exercises of each session and on Commencement occasions were 
always heard with interest and appreciation and profit. He will be 
greatly missed by Trustees, faculty, students, alumnae, and 
friends of Agnes Scott. 

Present-day alumnae who remember Mr. Orr's talks to students recall 
that on almost all occasions he worked the following lines into his 
remarks: 

The truest test of woman's worth, 
The surest sign of gentle birth 
Is modesty. 

George Winship, who succeeded Mr. Orr as Board Chairman, had 
been elected a trustee on May 29, 1931, and served faithfully until his 



92 



death on June 20, 1956. He was born in Atlanta on June 30, 1884, and 
received his education in the Atlanta Public Schools and at Emory 
College (Oxford, Georgia) and the Georgia School of Technology. 
Records at the Atlanta Historical Society show that in 1905 Mr. 
Winship joined the Continental Gin Company where he remained for 
eleven years. However, in 1914, while still employed by Continental 
Gin, he formed the Fulton Supply Company of which he became the 
president. This business was a distributor of mill supplies and 
machinery. Under his leadership this enterprise flourished greatly. Mr. 
Winship was active in many Atlanta organizations including the 
Chamber of Commerce and the Atlanta Freight Bureau. His greatest 
civic contribution was through the Y.M.C.A. of which he served for 
five years as president. He was also an elder in Atlanta's Central 
Presbyterian Church. 

The last Trustee meeting at which Mr. Orr presided was called to act 
on the resignation of Dean Hopkins. During the 1937-1938 year her 
health had failed for the first time in all her long tenure at Agnes Scott, 
and she had found it necessary to spend most of her time in her room in 
West Lawn. It was fervently hoped that her health would improve so 
that she could be in her usual active place during the 1938-1939 session 
and thus complete fifty years at Agnes Scott. However, as the autumn 
of 1938 approached, it became evident that Miss Hopkins could not 
continue her work, and she herself insisted that the Board accept her 
resignation. This action was reluctantly taken on September 7, 1938, 
and she was named Dean Emeritus and given a quarterly stipend for 
the remainder of her life. Seven weeks and two days later on October 
28, 1938, death came for Nannette Hopkins. She was in her seventy- 
eighth year. So ended a life of service to Agnes Scott the constructive 
impact of which is incalculable. For almost half a century she was the 
epitome of everything that the College stood for and sought to 
accomplish. 

On November 14 following Dean Hopkins' death, the Trustees 
adopted a memorial, the concluding section of which reads as follows: 

Force of character and an ideal spirit met in her, and those of us 
who come after her can but rejoice that in some measure at least 
we may follow her example and, drawing upon her Sources, 
imitate her virtues. Her school and her church, her girls and her 
Lord, her ideals', and her daily round  these were the walls that 
bound her seventy-eight years, but they were walls that opened 
onto eternity and the crown that is for those who love God's 
appearing. 



93 



The faculty, who perhaps knew Dean Hopkins as few other groups 
could know her, recorded their tribute in one of the most remarkable 
set of resolutions that this writer has ever read. Selected excerpts from 
these resolutions are here quoted: 

In the death of Miss Nannette Hopkins, our beloved dean, we, 
her friends and fellow-workers of the faculty, feel unutterably the 
great loss to us and to the College. At the same time, we remember 
with gratitude our association with her; we are daily aware of her 
continuing influence among us, an influence that is gracious and 
fortifying; we rejoice in the rare quality of her spirit and in the rich 
completeness of her life. 

Miss Hopkins' long association with this college is the moving 
record of mortal life putting on immortality through the 
identification of personal hopes and satisfactions with the large 
impersonal aims and achievements of a great cause. The college 
was Miss Hopkins' very life; it was the channel of her creative 
energy; it nourished her spirit with joy and disciplined it to 
fortitude; it deepened and enriched the experience of maturing 
life; it was her being's heart and home. She gave herself to the 
college, and she took its high ideals and its far-reaching purposes 
for her own. 



For generation after generation of students she blended the past 
and the present, preserving tradition that enriched the life of the 
campus and yet welcoming innovation that stimulated it. And so 
the college at every stage of its development during the past fifty 
years has been inseparable from this woman who loved it. 

* * * 

Her strength was inner peace. Hers was a serenity that 
communicated itself to all who came near her. The flurried 
committee chairman, the overbusy instructor, the deeply troubled 
student or teacher felt her tranquilizing power. Often we sought 
her presence merely for the quietness that it imparted to us. And 
her peace of spirit evoked trust. We could rely on it. There was 
granite back of it. Its source was independent of human beings: 
abundant, secret, remote. Its source was God. 

Her life was "hid with Christ in God." In this truth lay her 
simple persuasive power. Here is gathered the wisdom of her long 
life; here, the compassion that made her a refuge for troubled 
souls, the humility that gave her grace, the courage that sustained 
her. This was her spirit's deep repose. This was the invisible sun 
within her, in whose clear light she lived and in whose radiance she 
died. 

So testified the Agnes Scott faculty about their Dean. 



94 



Anne Hart Equen, '21, President of the Agnes Scott Alumnae 
Association, representing all her fellow alumnae, after observing that 
Dean Hopkins was the "one common tie" that bound all former 
students to Agnes Scott, said that 

Miss Hopkins was to the manner born, one whose nature was 
quiet dignity, whose spirit was graciousness, and whose sympathy 
and understanding reached out abundantly to all who stood in 
need of her help or counsel. 

Jean Bailey, '39 (now Mrs. Edward W. Owen), speaking for the 
students, commented on how Miss Hopkins' presence continued to 
pervade the campus, on how "her force for good, her spirit of 
unselfishness, her generosity, her enthusiasm, devotion and 
sympathetic understanding, have remained" at Agnes Scott. 

President James Ross McCain in his customarily incisive way 
summed it all up, even for present times, when he said: 

On the walls of Buttrick and also among the mottoes in the 
Library you will find a Greek inscription to this effect: "Having 
received torches, they pass them on from one to another." Some of 
us may not realize that we have received torches at Agnes Scott, 
but as we look back over the long years, we realize that Miss 
Hopkins and others have been passing them to us and perhaps we 
have been carrying them unconsciously. 

At the next commencement season following Dean Hopkins' death, 
at a special service held in remembrance of many Agnes Scott people, 
the College received a handsome marble bust of Miss Hopkins carved 
by the well-known sculptor Steffan Thomas. The bust is a remarkably 
fine likeness and for many years adorned the foyer of the McCain 
Library. It is now on display in the Special Collections Room of the 
Library. 

Fifteen years later in 1953, Hopkins Hall, a new dormitory was 
dedicated to the memory of the late Dean. That her influence 
continued to live in the lives of her associates was the ample testimony 
of all participating in the dedication. Dean Carrie Scandrett spoke for 
all when she said: 

When I think of Miss Hopkins there come to my mind such 
qualities as strength and gentleness, selflessness and self-control, 
dignity, poise, charm, graciousness, a delightful sense of humor. 

Such was Agnes Scott's first dean. 



95 



As a result of the resignation of Miss Hopkins, the Board amended 
its bylaws to change the administrative organization of the College. 
Miss Hopkins had been the "dean of everything." Now her responsi- 
bilities were divided between two offices  dean of the faculty and 
dean of students, respectively. The amendment to the bylaws described 
these two new offices this way: 

Dean of the Faculty 

Under the President, this officer shall have general charge of the 
academic work of the College, advising with members of the 
Faculty in regard to instructional methods and results, making 
studies of testing procedures and grades, assisting students in 
getting adjusted to their work, and striving to maintain sound 
standards in the making and administering of the curriculum. 

Dean of Students 

Under the President, this officer shall keep in close touch with the 
students and endeavor to assist them with personal, social and 
other problems. She shall advise with the various organizations as 
to policies affecting students. She shall have general charge of the 
social calendar of the year and shall make out the examination 
schedules. 

In the same action which amended the bylaws to create these two new 
offices, the Board elected Professor Samuel Guerry Stukes to be Dean 
of the Faculty and Miss Carrie Scandrett to be Dean of Students. 
Professor Stukes had joined the Agnes Scott faculty in 1913 and at the 
time of his election as Dean of the Faculty was also Registrar and Pro- 
fessor of Philosophy and Education. He continued until his retirement 
nineteen years later as Dean, Registrar, and Professor simultaneously. 
Miss Scandrett had graduated from Agnes Scott in 1924 and had for a 
number of years been serving as Assistant Dean under Miss Hopkins. 
Thus, the administration of the College moved forward without 
interruption. 

Agnes Scott was fifty years old in 1 939. Although President McCain 
has written that plans began by 1935, the first official reference to the 
approaching semi-centennial occurs in the minutes of the Trustees for 
June 4, 1937, when the Board authorized the appointment of a plan- 
ning committee consisting of the following persons: S.G. Stukes, 
chairman, George Winship, Mrs. S.M. Inman, J.J. Scott, Miss Louise 
McKinney, Miss Llewellyn Wilburn, Philip Davidson, Miss Carrie 
Scandrett, Mrs. D.B. Donaldson, Mrs. Crawford F. Barnett, Mrs. 



96 



Samuel Inman Cooper, and Mrs. J.F. Durrett. As appropriate the 
committee was authorized to enlarge its membership and did so by 
adding Mrs. Murdoch Equen, Miss Emma May Laney, and Miss 
Annie May Christie. This listing shows that the committee was drawn 
from trustees, administration, faculty, and alumnae. Understandably 
the Trustees chose this anniversary occasion to set and work toward 
financial goals for strengthening the College. Although all of these 
objectives were not immediately realized, they show the continuing 
confidence and foresight of the Trustees. Here are the semi-centennial 
financial goals: 



Fine Arts Building and Auditorium 




$150,000 


Additional Science Hall 




200,000 


A New Dormitory 




150,000 


Modernizing Present Dormitories 




100,000 


Faculty Apartments 




50,000 


College Infirmary 




50,000 


Additional Land and Improvements 




90,000 


Equipment, Art, Music, Laboratory, etc. 




85,000 


Additional Endowments 






Department of the Home 


$150,000 




Upkeep of Buildings 


300,000 




Better Salaries 


675,000 


1,125,000 


Total 


$2,000,000 



As a second part of the semi-centennial, the College, starting with the 
Commencement season of 1939 and extending through the corre- 
sponding period a year later, offered an exceedingly impressive array 
of speakers and artists. Beginning with Dean Ernest C. Colwell of the 
University of Chicago as baccalaureate preacher and President 
Emeritus Mary Emma Woolley of Mount Holyoke College, who gave 
the Commencement address, the series of presentations continued 
during the next session when in November the Honorable Alfred Duff 
Cooper, former First Lord of the Admiralty in the British Cabinet, 
spoke on "The Survival of Liberty"  a most timely subject in the 
autumn of 1939 as World War II was just beginning. In December the 
Lecture Association sponsored an all Beethoven piano recital by 
Ernest Hutcheson, who was at that time president of the Juilliard 
School of Music in New York. On January 25, 1940, in connection 
with the Phi Beta Kappa initiation and dinner, the honor guest and 
speaker was Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman, editor of the Richmond 
News Leader and author of the Pulitzer-prizewinning biography on 



97 



Robert E. Lee. Dr. Freeman's topic was "Adventures in Biography." 
The distinguished astronomer, Dr. Harlow Shaply, Director of the 
Harvard Observatory, spoke in March on "Exploring Stars and 
Galaxies," and then in May the American poet Robert Frost returned 
for one of his early visits to Agnes Scott and read his poetry. All of 
these events were offered free of charge to the general public  not 
Agnes Scott's usual practice at that time. The year ended with the Rev. 
Wade H. Boggs, later to be moderator of the Presbyterian Church in 
the United States, as baccalaureate preacher and President Harmon 
W. Caldwell of the University of Georgia as commencement speaker. 

Another facet of the fiftieth aniversary observance was a project to 
collect "as many mementoes as possible" of Agnes Irvine Scott and of 
her son George Washington Scott. This effort was, of course, open- 
ended and still continues. Since no record is extant of what was se- 
cured in 1939-1940, it is impossible to determine how successful that 
effort was, but the College does now have books, pictures, letters, and 
other memorabilia of Col. Scott and his mother. Among treasured 
possessions are Agnes Irvine Scott's spinning wheel and one of her 
bonnets as well as a suit of clothes which she made for George when he 
was a small boy. 

One of the long-term developments that surfaced as Agnes Scott 
approached and observed its semi-centennial was what is now known 
as the University Center in Georgia. This idea first appeared officially 
in the minutes of the Board for May 26, 1933, when it is recorded that 
President McCain reported "as to the progress that has been made 
regarding a survey of the educational institutions of the Atlanta area, 
with a view to seeing whether Emory University, Agnes Scott College, 
and Georgia School of Technology may not together work out plans 
for better cooperation." Three years later (1936) in his annual report to 
the Trustees, the President wrote as follows: 

Steady progress is being made in closer cooperation between 
Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and various units of the 
University of Georgia System. It is absolutely necessary that we 
keep definitely in mind that our program does not call for co- 
ordination or merging or any close or integral relationship. The 
word "cooperation" expresses the extent to which we feel that our 
institution ought to participate. 

It is not planned, for the present at least, that there will be any 
exchange of students between the institutions unless we should 
decide that we would like to have our Practice Teaching or some 
other professional element of the curriculum done at Emory 



98 



rather than to try to carry on the work here. However, in the re- 
arrangement of our program on a quarter basis [see p. 89], in the 
facilities with which we can exchange teachers where classes are 
small, in a joint library catalogue for all of the institutions of the 
community, in planning for summer work, and in other particu- 
lars, we feel that progressive and yet conservative ideas are being 
worked out. 

President McCain follows these paragraphs by noting that Emory is 
celebrating its centennial in 1 936 and that Agnes Scott will be "endors- 
ing" Emory's appeals to the leading foundations for funds for a de- 
veloping graduate school because such a school would be of much 
usefulness to Agnes Scott. 

In reality it was James Ross McCain who was the "father" of the 
University Center idea. In his unpublished memoirs he sets forth his 
role: 

As early as 1935 there was a small luncheon of educators and 
business men sponsored by Cator Woolford, a public spirited 
business leader, to honor Edwin R. Embree, President of the 
Rosenwald Fund in Chicago. The latter made an impressive 
speech, in which he said, for example, "We have just granted to an 
Agnes Scott graduate a large sum as a fellowship to study social 
conditions in Ga., but she had to go 700 miles to Chicago to study 
these conditions under a Ga. born professor (W.F. Ogburn). You 
ought to have a university in Atlanta for such work. And you can 
have it if you unite your forces and pool your interests." I caught 
the point and asked him to suggest someone who might make a 
survey and he named George Works of the University of Chicago. 
I got in touch with him, and he suggested that it might take 
$10,000 to get a really great committee and to make a survey. I 
talked with Dr. H.W. Cox, President of Emory University, and he 
was agreeable to making an effort. We got the Beck Foundation of 
Atlanta to make the cash available; and a really good survey was 
made and it was suggested that Agnes Scott, Emory, Ga. Tech, 
Columbia Seminary, University of Georgia (though 70 miles 
away) and Atlanta Art Association (though it was received with 
hopes as to what it might become) unite for joint purposes; and 
this was done at a dinner at the Biltmore sponsored by Harmon 
Caldwell, then President of the University of Ga. I had had almost 
the entire load of getting the folks together, and this was appre- 
ciated by the General Education Board, who had kept in close 
touch with our plans. 

During the 1938-1939 years plans were formalized into a "general 
agreement" which was signed by the six institutions that initially 
formed the University Center. Here is the text of this agreement: 



99 



We, Agnes Scott College, Columbia Theological Seminary, 
Emory University, High Museum of Art, and the University of 
Georgia System (the University of Georgia and the Georgia 
School of Technology), wishing to cooperate more effectively 
toward the end of making a greater contribution to the educa- 
tional development of Georgia and of the South, and, specifically, 
for the purpose of establishing a University Center in Georgia, 
agree upon the following points, subject to the laws of the State of 
Georgia and the regulations of the Board of Regents of Georgia 
and of the other authorities concerned. 

1 . It is understood that our principal efforts will be centered on 
the development of graduate work of a high order so that the 
Ph.D. degree may be offered under conditions of high effi- 
ciency. For this purpose, we realize that there may need to be 
exchange of students as well as faculty. 

2. We will seriously undertake to make available for one another 
as many of our resources and facilities as may be practicable  
including an exchange of library books, laboratory equipment, 
faculty services and the like. 

3. In order that there may be a continuous study of admissions, 
curriculum problems, advanced standing, educational costs, 
and the needs of students, we hereby set up An Advisory 
Faculty Council, with representatives from each of the 
cooperating institutions, and with the responsibility of making 
suggestions and recommendations. However, it is clearly 
understood that such will not be binding on any institution. 

4. An earnest effort will be made to avoid needless overlapping 
and duplication of effort and of expense. To this end, we agree 
to give careful study to the programs of study now in operation 
among our group, and to study our own offerings in the light of 
what our neighbors are attempting. 

5. Realizing the need for a Joint Committee from the Boards of all 
the cooperating institutions to consider the broader aspects of 
joint undertakings, to promote the idea and spirit of 
cooperation, to bring the need for higher education before the 
State and the South, to assist in raising funds for particular 
needs, and to distribute undesignated gifts, we agree to appoint 
representatives to such a joint committee. It is understood that 
this committee, which will have advisory powers only, may 
associate with itself other distinguished people not now offi- 
cially connected with any of the cooperating institutions. 

6. It is definitely understood that no attempt will be made to 
merge the institutions involved. Each is to maintain its identity; 
each will operate under its own regents or trustees or directors; 
and each will keep separate and distinct its own assets of every 
kind. 

Mutually agreed to this 15th day of October, 1938. 



100 



In addition to this agreement among six institutions, there was a 
second one signed between Agnes Scott College and Emory 
University. For Agnes Scott this agreement with Emory was at the 
time of much more importance than the general one inasmuch as it set 
forth in considerable detail how the two institutions proposed to 
cooperate. The text is as follows: 

This agreement, entered into on the date below named, between 
Agnes Scott College and Emory University, both institutions 
chartered under the laws of the State of Georgia, and located in 
DeKalb County, Georgia, 

WITNESSETH, as follows: 

I. 
OBJECTIVES 

It is intended that the joint efforts of the two contracting institu- 
tions shall accomplish some very definite results, namely: 

1. The strengthening of the basic work at the undergraduate 
level in each insitution. 

2. Economy in operation through the elimination of duplicate 
courses and the combining of other courses with very small 
enrollments. 

3. Economy through a general exchange of services between the 
institutions, including faculty and students. 

4. The elimination of competition as far as possible. 

5 . A ugmenting the facilities for graduate work at the higher level 
with a view to raising the educational standards in the South- 
east. 

6. Improving the quality of work in the professional schools 
now operated by Emory University. 

7. The combining, merging, or eliminating professional schools 
within the State so as to have only one medical school, one 
law school, and one engineering school. 

8. Creating opportunities for professional training of a high 
order in fields where such is now not available, including 
business administration, social service, the fine arts, and 
possibly others. 

9. A very distinct emphasis on quality in higher education and a 
joint effort to secure funds for the maintenance of quality 
work in the Southeast. 

II. 
SPECIFIC STEPS ALREADY TAKEN OR APPROVED 

1 . The change of the Agnes Scott calendar to correspond to that 
of Emory. 



10 



2. The organization of the Agnes Scott work on the quarter 
basis so as to fit in with the Emory program. 

3. The adoption of the Emory Summer School by Agnes Scott 
on an official basis, and the giving to it a unique status so that 
it is the only summer school of any institution whose credits 
Agnes Scott will accept at par, or count for "merit" grades. 

4. Emory accepts the Agnes Scott student for summer work 
without a matriculation fee and for such programs as are 
arranged by the Agnes Scott faculty and committees. The 
reports are sent directly to Agnes Scott. 

5. Both institutions have appointed a joint Faculty Committee 
on Summer School Work so as to consolidate and unify the 
programs, and to make possible fuller offerings for students. 

6. Emory University is discontinuing the enrollment of women 
for undergraduate degrees, and all of these must matriculate 
at Agnes Scott College to be eligible for Emory courses. 

7. The closest cooperation has been arranged by the library 
committees of the two institutions with particular reference to 
purchases, inter-institutional loans, joint catalogue plans, 
and free use by the students of either institution of the facili- 
ties of the other. 

8. Both institutions will push as rapidly as possible the securing 
of a union catalogue for all the libraries in the Atlanta area. 

9. The giving to Emory and Agnes Scott faculty members the 
same financial consideration for the education of their chil- 
dren that Emory now permits to its faculty, and an effort to 
work cooperatively, providing for both faculties hospital 
insurance and retiring facilities. 

10. The appointment by both institutions of a joint Faculty- 
Student Committee on extra-curricular activities and student 
organizations. It is intended that there be inter-student 
privileges and opportunities on both campuses for such 
organizations as the Lecture Association, the Glee Club, the 
Dramatic Club, and others. 

1 1 . The continuance of joint sponsorship by Agnes Scott, Emory, 
and the Georgia School of Technology for the Institute of 
Citizenship, which for a long time Emory sponsored alone. 

12. The assumption by Emory of the responsibility for develop- 
ing a graduate school of a high order, capable of giving the 
Ph.D. degree on a sound basis. It is understood that, while 
this responsibility is centered at Emory, Agnes Scott will use 
its resources as far as possible to make the development a 
success. 

13. Agnes Scott accepts the responsibility for planning develop- 
ments in the Fine Arts on an undergraduate basis on the 
Agnes Scott campus, with the understanding that Emory 
University students may share in the facilities provided; and 



102 



the College further agrees to promote, when funds are avail- 
able, a Fine Arts program which may include several institu- 
tions of the vicinity and which would be open to others 
besides the regular undergraduate students. 

14. For allocation of emphasis on undergraduate subjects, it is 
tentatively agreed that Emory will give particular attention to 
Archaeology, Economics, Geology, Journalism, and Phi- 
losophy. Agnes Scott will give emphasis to Latin, Greek, 
French, Education, and the Fine Arts. It is understood that 
both institutions will undertake jointly the promotion of 
other departments not specifically named herein. 

15. In undergraduate work, it is agreed that the objective will be 
to give the individual student the program most nearly con- 
forming to his or her individual need (in accordance with 
sound educational policy), regardless of the institution in 
which the particular courses are offered. 

1 6. Both institutions will encourage the work of the Joint Faculty 
Committee, with a view to the development of continuous 
cooperation within the departments as well as between the 
institutions in general. 

17. Agnes Scott agrees to accept a division of 20% for itself and 
80% for Emory in the case of gifts that are undesignated, 
provided the resulting efforts will make possible the very 
much desired graduate school of a high order. 

18. Both institutions will seek to promote a hearty spirit of co- 
operation not only between themselves but also with the 
University of Georgia, Georgia School of Technology, 
Columbia Theological Seminary, and the High Musuem of 
Art. 

19. It is definitely understood that no attempt will be made to 
merge the two institutions. Each is to maintain its identity. 
Each will operate under its own Board of Trustees. Each will 
keep separate and distinct its assets of every kind and such 
affiliations as have hitherto been maintained. 

In token of the acceptance of both institutions of the terms 
above outlined, the signatures of the presidents of the institutions 
are herewith attached, and the seals of the contracting parties are 
herewith affixed, this 15th day of October, 1938. 

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE 

President 
EMORY UNIVERSITY 

President 



103 



The signatures on this joint agreement were of course those of J.R. 
McCain and Harvey W. Cox for Agnes Scott and Emory, respectively. 
This agreement with Emory was in force until 1952-1953 when a new 
pact was negotiated. An account of this second arrangement will be 
given subsequently in its appropriate time sequence. 

When the University Center was inaugurated, its overall program of 
education was in the hands of a Faculty Advisory Council made up of 
representatives from each of the cooperating institutions. Agnes 
Scott's representatives on this council were Dean S.G. Stukes and 
Professor Philip Davidson, Jr., who was chairman of the Department 
of History. By 1941 Professor George P. Hayes, chairman of the De- 
partment of English, was also a member of this Faculty Advisory 
Council. In the total University Center picture, the top policy-making 
group was (and is) the Council of Presidents, composed of the chief 
administrative officer from each of the participating institutions. 

As has already been noted, it was through the generosity of the 
Lewis H. Beck Foundation of Atlanta that an initial grant was made 
which enabled a study to be conducted leading to the conclusion that 
the Atlanta area with the institutions already there was the logical 
location for a major university center in the South. Subsequently, the 
General Education Board made a grant of $22,500 to underwrite the 
work of the Faculty Advisory Council for its beginning years. How- 
ever, for Agnes Scott and Emory there was the need of more 
substantial funds to undergird their enlarged programs. Thus, the 
stage was set again for another financial campaign  this one, so far as 
Agnes Scott was concerned, to be meshed into the College's semi- 
centennial goals. 

In early 1939 the General Education Board offered Agnes Scott and 
Emory jointly a grant of $2,500,000 provided an additional $5,000,000 
be raised. Emory was designated to receive $2,000,000 of this General 
Education Board grant because of the large expense involved in ex- 
panding work and facilities for graduate and professional education. 
Agnes Scott's share was $500,000, and the College understandably had 
to raise its proportionate share of the joint total. Agnes Scott itself 
made the proposal that Emory receive 80% of all undesignated gifts 
and that the College receive 20%. One of the plusses of Agnes Scott's 
excellent record with the General Education Board was that the Board 
made an immediate outright donation of $100,000 to the College. This 
money was placed in the endowment portfolio, a circumstance which 
after the first year freed for other purposes undesignated funds, the 



104 



income from which had been used for activities normally financed 
from endowment. 

Agnes Scott's semi-centennial campaign committee consisted of 
George Winship, T. Guy Woolford, John A. Sibley, J.J. Scott, and 
J.R. McCain  all trustees. The joint overall campaign with Emory 
was chaired by Preston S. Arkwright, President of the Georgia Power 
Company and one of the most distinguished citizens the Atlanta area 
has ever had. Suffice it to say, the total campaign was a success, as was 
Agnes Scott's specific part. The University Center in Georgia was on 
its way, and the College moved confidently into its second half 
century. 

What did the Agnes Scott faculty think of all these developments 
and the attendant campaign? Professor Philip Davidson, Jr., chair- 
man of the Department of History and subsequently, in turn, provost 
of Vanderbilt University and president of the University of Louisville, 
wrote as follows in the Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly in April, 1940: 

The present campaign for a million and a half dollars will ob- 
viously have important academic effects upon Agnes Scott 
College. The previous campaigns certainly have. As we look over 
the really inspiring campaign records, it is easy to see the results. 
Each campaign may be identified, of course, by the buildings it 
produced  Bucher Scott Gymnasium, Buttrick Hall, and the 
new library  but these buildings themselves have had a strong 
influence on the academic life of the college. Buttrick Hall has 
made possible much more effective teaching, and the new library 
has changed the whole atmosphere of study on the campus. Im- 
proved physical equipment, indeed, can have direct academic 
effects. A new dormitory, for example, can be constructed to be 
conducive to study. 

But previous campaigns have done more. The intellectual 
growth of the college is intimately connected with them. The 
steadily increasing endowment has meant better salaries, and 
hence a more highly trained faculty. The financial growth of the 
college has been, in fact, immediately and directly reflected in its 
intellectual growth. 

If Patrick Henry's lamp of experience can guide us here, you 
will see the same intellectual invigoration as a result of this cam- 
paign. Concretely, what will it mean to the academic life of the 
institution? 

In the first place, the campaign will mean a strengthening of the 
present program. Agnes Scott is a good college, and its standards 
are unquestioned, but the faculty is far from convinced that it is 
doing the job that ought to be done. The objective of its efforts is 



105 



the best possible B.A. degree that it can give. That will mean, 
among other things, higher standards of faculty salaries, addi- 
tional instructors, greatly increased library facilities, enlarged 
collections in the fine arts, and better laboratory facilities. These 
additions to our present resources must be made in order to 
strengthen the present program, not to expand it; we must first do 
outstandingly well what we are now attempting. 

In the second place, the campaign in relation to the cooperative 
University Center movement will mean the enrichment of the 
Agnes Scott degree. 

As funds are available, offerings in new fields will surely come 
as they have in the past. The strengthening of our present program 
must come first, however, and it must come principally through 
strengthening our own resources; the enrichment of our program 
in the immediate future can come principally through co-opera- 
tion with our neighboring institutions. Agnes Scott students 
already have open to them the larger program at Emory with its 
work in many subjects that we cannot offer, and as additional 
funds become available to Emory, others will be added. Further- 
more, by strengthening graduate work at Emory University and at 
the University of Georgia and by increasing opportunities for 
professional work in social service training, public administra- 
tion, as well as in many other fields, the campaign will mean a 
great deal to Agnes Scott students. 

The very process of the campaign itself is stimulating to the 
academic life of the campus. Faced with the opportunities the 
campaign will present, faculty members will re-study and clarify 
their objectives and examine their work for its points of weakness 
and strength. The work is more enthusiastically undertaken be- 
cause there is tangible hope that those weaknesses will be over- 
come and those points of strength strengthened. 

To the intellectual life of the campus, then, this campaign will 
mean, as previous campaigns have meant, first strengthening; 
then, enrichment; and throughout, stimulation. 

The immediate tangible evidence on the Agnes Scott campus of the 
results of the financial efforts of the late 1930's was the erection of 
Presser Hall. For many years the Trustees had wanted to have a build- 
ing for music, and ever since President Gaines's death in 1923, there 
were plans to build a chapel in his memory. At first the chapel was to be 
a separate building, and the College still has copies of the architect's 
rendering of how this chapel might look. However, as the years passed, 
the idea grew that the memorial chapel and the music building could be 
incorporated into one structure. Such was the case when Presser Hall 
was built. The new building was named for the late Theodore Presser 



106 



of Philadelphia, who established the distinguished Theodore Presser 
Musical Publishing Company and who in 1916 founded the Presser 
Foundation, an agency which contributed $65,000 toward Agnes 
Scott's new building. Presser Hall was completed in the autumn of 
1940 at a cost of $275,000, and the dedication of the building took 
place on November 1 of that year with President James Francis Cooke 
and Secretary John L. Haney of the Presser Foundation participating. 
On January 12, 1941, Gaines Chapel was formally dedicated with 
addresses by the Rev. Henry H. Sweets, Secretary of Christian 
Education for the Presbyterian Church, U.S. and by President Walter 
L. Lingle of Davidson College. The chapel was an all-purpose 
auditorium seating 900. One of its most important features was (and is) 
a four-manual Austin organ. In addition to Gaines Chapel, teaching 
studios, faculty offices, and practice rooms, Presser Hall also contains 
a small 300-seat auditorium named for Professor Joseph Maclean, 
who headed Agnes Scott's department of music from 1893 to 1918. 
One of the stories that grows out of the construction of Presser Hall 
has to do with Agnes Scott's $10,000 dogwood tree. Many alumnae 
and others who have been on the campus will remember the giant 
dogwood tree that grows just outside the east wall of Gaines Chapel. 
The original plans for the building called for the felling of this tree. 
(These first blueprints are still in the possession of the College, and the 
writer has seen them.). However, these plans were altered, and the tree 
was saved and continues to glorify the campus each spring. According 
to President McCain, this alteration cost an additional $10,000 in the 
erection of the building  hence Agnes Scott's $10,000 dogwood tree. 
From the time that Agnes Scott was established in 1889, the insti- 
tution had been controlled, except for the two alumnae trustees, by 
Presbyterians  never by the denomination as an ecclesiastical entity, 
but by Presbyterians as individuals. To be a trustee of Agnes Scott, 
other than an alumnae trustee, one had to be a Presbyterian. At the 
annual meeting of the Board on May 31, 1940, the initial action was 
taken to alter somewhat the denominational constituency of the Board 
of Trustees, and a year later on May 30, 1 94 1 , the following resolutions 
were adopted authorizing a change in the charter of the College: 

1. That the paragraph' giving the qualifications of Trustees be 
amended so as to read as follows: "The Board of Trustees shall 
consist of not exceeding twenty-seven members, of whom at 
least three-fourths shall be members of the Presbyterian 
Church in the United States, but all of whom shall be members 



107 



of some evangelical church and sympathetic with the funda- 
mentals of the Christian religion. The President of the College 
shall be ex-officio a member of the Board and counted as a 
Corporate Trustee." 
2. That the President of the College take necessary steps to have 
the Charter as amended renewed for so long a time as the laws 
of the state now permit. 

The "necessary steps" were taken, and on Octber 23, 1941, the Supe- 
rior Court of DeKalb County, Georgia, amended the Charter to 
incorporate the recently requested provisions concerning the denomi- 
national affiliation of Trustees. The charter was also renewed for a 
period of thirty-five years "unless otherwise amended." 

In 1939 Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., having reached the age of 
sixty-five, retired from membership on the General Education Board, 
and Dr. James Ross McCain, at the request of John D. Rockefeller, 
III, was asked to fill the unexpired term. When the unexpired term was 
completed, President McCain was re-elected to the Board and con- 
tinued to serve until he himself was sixty-five in 1946. Dr. McCain's 
becoming a member of the General Education Board was, of course, a 
great tribute to him, but it assuredly was a recognition of the record of 
fiscal soundness and academic excellence which Agnes Scott had so 
consistently maintained. 

Until 1940 the finance committee of the Trustees and the President 
and the Treasurer of the College were the principal agents in handling 
investments for the Board. However, on November 14, 1940, the 
Board of Trustees began an association which still continues and 
which through the years has been of significant value to the College: 
Agnes Scott employed the Trust Company of Georgia "as custodian of 
its bonds and as general advisor as to investments." 

A perusal of the minutes of the Board of Trustees for the decade of 
the thirties reveals that on a number of occasions during this period the 
Trustees were concerned to set up a retirement plan for the faculty and 
principal administrative officers. The annual reports of the President 
frequently support this concern of the Board. However, because of a 
lack of funds and a determination not to incur a deficit, the Trustees 
delayed consideration of any official retirement program. Finally at 
the Board meeting on May 30, 1 94 1 , the following resolution from the 
Trustee Committee on the Faculty was adopted: 

The Committee recommends that the President and Treasurer of 
the College be empowered to make arrangement with some well 



108 



known insurance company for the inauguration of a pension plan 
for faculty members having the rank of Instructor and above and 
for major officers of administration, with the following provisos: 

1. Participation in the plan may be optional for those who have 
been in the employ of the College for two years or more, but it 
will be compulsory for those who hereafter enter and stay for 
that length of time. 

2. The time of retirement for faculty members and officers will 
ordinarily be at 65 years of age, but the Board of Trustees may 
re-elect from year to year such members of the staff as it feels 
should be retained; but no re-election is to be held after an 
individual has attained 70 years of age. 

3. The College will deal with older members of the faculty (for 
whom there will not be time to accumulate a retiring program) 
on an individual basis as heretofore. Those who are now 70 
years of age will be retained for the session 1941-1942 and, by 
special action of the Board, maybe retained for 1942-1943, but 
not for a longer time. 

4. The College will plan to contribute 5% of the annual salary of 
each officer or faculty member who will participate in the 
pension plan; each such person shall likewise contribute at least 
5%, but may contribute more if he or she desires to do so. The 
College reserves the right to discontinue its payments at any 
time by vote of the Trustees. The Treasurer will collect the 
faculty payments. 

5. It is hoped that the retirement plan may be later worked out for 
all employees of the College if it proves to be satisfactory for the 
limited group now recommended, but no commitment is to be 
made about any extension of the program. 

6. It is expected that the formal inauguration of the pension 
program will begin on October 15, 1941. 

On August 29, 1941, the College entered into a trust agreement with 
the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford, 
Connecticut, as the agent of the pension plan. Here is the trust 
agreement: 

PENSION TRUST AGREEMENT AND 
DECLARATION OF TRUST 

WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of Agnes Scott College did 
on May 30, 1941, adopt a Pension Plan for faculty members hav- 
ing the rank of Instructor and above and for major officers of 
administration and did set out in detail the provisos governing 
said Pension Plan; and, 

WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees of Agnes Scott College has 
completed arrangements with Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance 



109 



Company of Hartford, Connecticut, for the adoption of said 
Pension Plan  all as set out in the letter dated June 6, 1941, of 
Dr. James R. McCain, President of Agnes Scott College: 

NOW, THEREFORE, in order to carry out said Pension Plan 
(which shall be known as Agnes Scott Pension Plan) a trust is 
hereby created and the following provisions for the management 
and operation of said trust shall govern Agnes Scott College and 
the Trustees and the Beneficiaries: 

1. The control, management and the administration of Agnes 
Scott Pension Plan are hereby vested in a Board of Trustees to 
be known as the Trustees and said Board shall consist of three 
members, namely, the President of Agnes Scott College and the 
Treasurer of Agnes Scott College and the Dean of the Faculty 
of Agnes Scott College and their successors in office. 

2. James R. McCain, President of Agnes Scott College, and J.C. 
Tart, Treasurer of Agnes Scott College, and S.G. Stukes, Dean 
of the Faculty of Agnes Scott College, shall constitute the first 
Board of Trustees and their successors in office from time to 
time, as above provided, shall constitute said Board of Trustees. 

3. Reference is hereby made to the resolution of the Board of 
Trustees of Agnes Scott College, passed on May 30, 1941, 
adopting said Pension Plan and reference is also made to the 
said letter of Dr. James R. McCain, President of Agnes Scott 
College, dated June 6, 1941, to the Faculty and Staff of Agnes 
Scott College, and the said resolution and the said letter of Dr. 
McCain shall constitute a part of the Trust Agreement herein 
set up. 

4. The Trustees may adopt such other and further rules, regula- 
tions, requirements and provisions as in their judgment seem 
necessary and proper for the control, management and ad- 
ministration of the Pension Plan. 

5. All policies of insurance issued under the Pension Plan shall 
contain a clause known as "Exercise of Privileges," providing 
as follows: 

"The right to receive the endowment benefit, all cash values, 
loans, dividends, and other benefits accruing hereunder, to 
change the beneficiary, to assign this Policy, to exercise all 
privileges and options contained herein, and to agree with the 
Company to any release, modification or amendment of this 
Policy, shall, unless herein otherwise specially provided, be- 
long and be available without the consent of any other person, 
to the Insured, with the consent of the Agnes Scott College; 
except the right to 'Change the Beneficiary' or to elect 'Optional 
Settlements at Maturity' shall belong and be available to the 
Insured alone." 



110 



IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Agnes Scott College and the 
Board of Trustees named herein have hereunto set their hands on 
this 29 day of August, 1941. 

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE, 

By Geo. Winship 

Chairman, Board of Trustees 
Attest: 

J.R. McCain 



Secretary, Board of Trustees 

Meantime, on June 6, 1941, President McCain had addressed to the 
Faculty and staff the following letter explaining the pension plan and 
how one could participate in it: 

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE 

Decatur, Georgia 
Office of President 

June 6, 1941 

To the Faculty and Staff of Agnes Scott College: 

The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the successful 
completion of arrangements with the Connecticut Mutual Life 
Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, for adoption of an 
Agnes Scott Pension Plan, the effective date for beginning the 
Plan to be October 15, 1941. 

Installation of the Plan will begin immediately under the direc- 
tion of Mr. Bealy Smith, General Agent of the Connecticut 
Mutual, with Mr. J.S. Brail and Mr. Pete Mackey conducting the 
individual interviews with each of you. The College offers its 
fullest cooperation to these gentlemen in installing the Plan and 
each of you will be approached by one of these representatives in 
due course. The Student Government Room, No. 100 Buttrick 
Hall, will be used as a temporary office. 

Participation now is optional for those who have been in the 
employ of the College for two years or more, but it will be com- 
pulsory for those who hereafter enter and stay for that length of 
time. While the Plan is optional now, it is, nevertheless, definitely 
encouraged for your consideration. 

The College has agreed to contribute 5% of the annual salary of 
each officer or faculty member who will adopt the Plan; each such 
person shall likewise contribute at least 5%, but may contribute 
more if he or she desires to do so. 

The pertinent facts of the Plan are: 

1 . The Plan is singular in that it carries a death benefit in addi- 
tion prior to maturity, but those of you who either are unin- 



Ill 



surable or desire the straight Pension Plan, can adopt the 
Plan without this benefit, provided the required percentage is 
met. 

2. The retirement date shall ordinarily be age 65, but the Trus- 
tees may re-elect from year to year such members of the staff 
as it feels should be retained; but no re-election is to be held 
after an individual has attained age 70. The fact that figures 
are based on the age of 70 does not at all insure employment to 
that age. 

3. While the anniversary date of the Plan will be October 15, the 
Plan may be binding on the Company for each of you from 
the date you adopt it to October 15, 1941, if you wish to make 
a small temporary deposit. This will be explained in more 
detail by the Company representative. 

4. In event of your withdrawal from the employ of the College at 
any time after adoption, the College's contribution is given to 
you for continuance or for a paid-up annuity policy. You shall 
have the right with the Company of continuing all or part of 
the program regardless. 

5. Rights to the cash values, annual dividends, dividend 
accumulation, or collateral rights shall be obtainable only 
with the proper consent of the College authorities, during 
your tenure of service with the College. 

6. Beneficiary designations, and changes, and methods of pay- 
ment to the beneficiary shall vest in you, prior to your death, 
or in the beneficiary so designated after death. This pertains 
to that portion purchased by the contribution of the College 
as well. 

7. Disability benefits will be offered in connection with a con- 
tract including the death benefit only, providing for waiving 
of all subsequent premiums by the Company for the one so 
disabled. This benefit, however, is restricted to those able to 
qualify according to the Company's standards. Under such a 
circumstance all rights to the contract shall vest immediately 
to the insured. The contract shall continue uninterruptedly 
with no payments to be made by either you or the College. A 
small extra charge is made for this benefit. 

8. Individual contributions shall be deducted from your salary 
by the College monthly, the first such deduction to begin 
October 15, 1941. 

9. Once the plan is adopted it cannot be dropped or discon- 
tinued without consent of the College; but it reserves the right 
to discontinue its contribution, with proper notice. 

10. Salary increases as applicable to increases in the Pension Plan 
on the part of the College shall be handled on an individual 
basis if such occur. 

1 1 . There are several options for retirement payments available 



112 



and selection of such option can be made upon beginning of 
retirement; options such as an income for self and wife, or self 
and husband, or the principal held at a guaranteed interest 
rate, subject to withdrawal, etc., make the contract an ex- 
tremely flexible and individual retirement plan, to suite the 
individual situation. 
12. The Company can arrange for voluntary retirement before 
age 65 or for retirement by request before that age, the benfits 
to be adjusted according to what has been jointly invested by 
the College and the Individual. 

Those who are generally over the insurance attained age of 61, 
will be dealt with on an individual basis by the College as here- 
tofore (since there will be little or no time to accumulate a retiring 
program). I wish we could be sure that some provision can be 
made. The matter will have to be determined later. 

It is hoped that the Retirement Plan may be later worked out 
for all employees of the College if it proves to be satisfactory for 
the group now recommended and qualified to participate. No 
commitment, however, is to be made now about such extension of 
the program. 

This type of plan was chosen after careful study. The proposals 
of many other companies were considered, but it is felt that the 
Connecticut Mutual offers the variety of choices which will suit 
the different needs of our staff; and the Company has been well 
and favorably known for nearly a hundred years. 

We heartily endorse and commend the Plan to you. 

Respectfully, 

James R. McCain 
President 

Thus at long last, Agnes Scott had the beginnings of a retirement 
program. Notice that the word "beginnings" is used. Since 1941 this 
program has grown and evolved so that now virtually every employee 
at the College has some sort of retirement arrangement  in addition 
to the federally required social security. 

It was during the period under consideration that Agnes Scott, like 
all people and agencies in the United States, felt the effects of World 
War II, though perhaps less markedly than many other institutions 
since Agnes Scott was a college for women. All during the war years 
enrollments remained stable and even increased. Thus, there was no 
necessity for the College to seek government training programs such as 
those which were found on many campuses  particularly on those of 
men's colleges. For that matter, President McCain in his annual report 
dated May 26, 1944, when the war was at its height wrote as follows: 



113 



The Agnes Scott campus is probably as free from the strain and 
stress of war as any other place in our country. The activities of 
both faculty and students are largely routine. The session (1943- 
1944) has been unusually free from war tragedies among the kins- 
people of the college community. The students are very busy with 
their educational and social life and do not take much time for 
reading the newspapers or listening to radios. There are minor 
inconveniences of all kinds which remind us that something 
unusual is in progress, and there are difficulties as to travel; but, 
on the whole, we have had a very quiet and peaceful year. 

We have been somewhat disturbed lest the students become too 
oblivious to international affairs and so we have had a series of 
discussions in chapel; we have brought speakers from many war 
activity centers; and we have had representatives of the WAC, 
WAVES, and other groups to offer enlistments to our students. 
Our religious services have also kept in mind the sufferings of 
people in other lands and our responsibility for some type of 
ministry. 

The Agnes Scott faculty have been giving serious study to the 
impact of the war on our curriculum and on the College as a 
whole, and they have had more study groups among themselves 
this year than at any time since I have been connected with Agnes 
Scott. 

In other sections of this report, references will be made to some 
of the problems that are involved; but, on the whole, we feel deep 
gratitude to God that Agnes Scott has been so little burdened and 
so little upset by present-day world events. 

The problems which President McCain referred to were really com- 
paratively minor. It was increasingly difficult to get adequate help for 
the dining hall and for other such jobs. The College simply could not 
compete with the wages paid by war-oriented enterprises, and many 
long-time employees left. Mr. J.C. Tart in his report for the 1943-1944 
year is characteristically forthright and plain spoken in his assessment 
of the situation: 

. . . there has never been a time in the history of the College where 
labor has been so hard to obtain and when obtainable the 
efficiency was at an almost zero point. The turn-over in servants 
has been at such a rapid rate that few weeks during the session 
have the same names appeared on the payroll. 

To meet the situation somewhat, Agnes Scott for the first time began 
to use student help in the dining room, a circumstance about which 
President McCain made favorable comment, although Dean Scan- 
drett remembered that the procedure had real drawbacks. 



114 



Because of the scarcity of help and supplies, the dining hall in White 
House was closed and never opened again. All food service was con- 
centrated in the Rebekah Scott facility, and the necessary equipment 
was installed to change to the cafeteria method of serving meals  a 
procedure which the College followed with reluctance. 

Lest one think that Agnes Scott was an oasis of quiet during the 
traumatic war years, let it be said that much worthwhile patriotic work 
and many notable contributions to the national effort were part and 
parcel of campus life. In January, 1942, just a month after Pearl 
Harbor, the Faculty-Student War Council was organized and con- 
tinued as the coordinating agency for a whole series of endeavors 
during the next several years. Money was raised for the Red Cross, for 
the World Student Service Fund, and for the Community War Fund. 
The sale of war bonds was promoted at every opportunity; first aid 
classes were offered as were courses in home nursing; conservation was 
emphasized, and tin cans were collected and flattened for the de-tining 
plants. (In the 1942-1943 session almost four tons of such cans were 
collected.) Much knitting of sweaters, gloves, etc. was the order of the 
day. Public instruction was a major thrust of the War Council. Every 
other week in chapel Professor Catherine S. Sims reviewed current 
happenings. Other speakers also addressed themselves to timely war 
topics, and the Public Lecture Association brought outside national 
figures to enlarge the understanding of the students. For example, in 
the 1943-1944 session Henry Wolfe lectured on the theme "The Next 
Act in Europe"; Kirtley Mather, esteemed Harvard geologist, spoke 
on "Strategic Minerals in War and Peace"; and Norman Cousins of the 
Saturday Review addressed the topic "Planning for the Post-War 
World." Also visiting the campus in that same session was the great 
philosopher-theologian Reinhold Niebuhr who spoke on "The Total 
Crisis of Civilization." Air raid drills, black-out preparations, and 
other mundane but necessary activities claimed the attention of the 
students. In the early part of the War (February, 1943), the College 
sponsored a day-long War Conference. Under the leadership of Pro- 
fessor Susan Cobbs of the Department of Classics, this Conference 
was well attended and applauded. Perhaps a paragraph from the 
yearly report of the War Council will give an idea of the ambitiousness 
of this Conference: 

The program of the conference began Friday Evening, Febru- 
ary 26, when Miss Billie A. Larson, head of the department of 
mathematics and acting dean of Randolph-Macon Woman's 



115 



College, spoke in Presser Hall. Her lecture, "The Whole Armor," 
was a discussion of the place of the liberal arts college in a world at 
war. On Saturday morning, February 27, the meetings opened 
with a lecture by Miss Ernestine Friedman of the regional edu- 
cational services of the Office of Price Administration in Atlanta. 
Her subject was "The Challenge of the Economic Home Front." 
Next, Miss Ruth Scandrett, of the United States Department of 
Labor, division of labor standards, in Washington, D.C., dis- 
cussed "Some Labor Problems." "A Right Attitude Toward 
Racial Minorities" was the topic of the next address, delivered by 
Dr. Herman L. Turner, of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in 
Atlanta. The last session Saturday morning was a panel 
discussion on labor and racial minorities in which Miss Scandrett, 
Dr. Turner, Miss Friedman and Mr. William B. Stubbs of Emory 
University, participated. Mr. J.J. Carvey, Jr., economist on the 
War Manpower Commission in Atlanta, spoke at the first Satur- 
day afternoon meeting on "The Role of Women in War 
Production." "Opportunities for Women in the Enlisted Services" 
was the topic of the next talk by First Officer Florence C. Jepson, 
acting personnel director for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, 
Washington, D.C. Mr. Malcolm Henderson, British consul in 
Atlanta, spoke on "British Women and the War." The last meet- 
ing of the conference was under the auspices of the student lecture 
association, which presented a lecture by Miss Margaret Mead, 
assistant curator in the department of anthropology of the 
American Museum of Natural History in New York. Her subject 
was "Laying the Groundwork for a Constructive Peace," and her 
lecture, which was given Saturday evening, closed the conference. 

But Agnes Scott students were touched by the War in unnumbered 
ways that President McCain apparently did not know about. One 
alumna in the Class of 1946  a student who was on campus for 
almost the whole period  has emphatically stated that students were 
aware of the outside world. Their boy friends were in military service, 
and the only young men available for dates were in the V-12 or army 
and navy R.O.T.C. programs at nearby colleges. This alumna spoke of 
the absolute horror which permeated the entire campus when a student 
received news of a war casualty in her family. There were two young 
women enrolled at the time whose father was among those taken 
prisoner on Bataan and who remained a prisoner for most of the War. 
Occasionally letters would get through from him and the whole 
campus would suffer with these young women. Professor Walter B. 
Posey and Professor Mildred R. Mell and their associates in the 
Departments of History and Economics and Sociology, respectively, 
saw to it that their students were aware of the War. Rationing was the 



116 



order of the day, and day students had no food at home to which they 
could invite their on-campus friends to give them a change from the 
limited offerings of the dining hall. There was no gasoline; a girl's 
wardrobe was limited; austerity was everywhere. Agnes Scott students 
did know a war was going on  so says this alumna of 1946. Times 
were grim, and the Agnes Scott campus felt the times. 

But the War to the contrary notwithstanding, the academic "wheels" 
of the College continued to turn. The first formal public announce- 
ment of a program of "reading for honors" is found in the catalogue 
dated January, 1944; however, the minutes of the Academic Council 
indicate that the faculty was experimenting with such a program as 
early as 1938. By the spring of 1 94 1 the Academic Council adopted the 
following action embodying Agnes Scott's honors program and 
directed that this program become effective with the 1941-1942 
session: 

The object of the Honors Program at Agnes Scott College is to 
enable students who have already demonstrated unusual ability in 
academic work to achieve intellectual values not possible in the 
routine plan of courses. 

These students should benefit from a program which, by a 
distinctive method of study, permits them to develop their 
individual interests and abilities and to increase their knowledge 
and comprehension of their major fields. 

The actual content of the honors work may differ with each 
student. She may read to cover subjects in her major not now 
offered at Agnes Scott; she may read in subjects in her major now 
offered but which she was for some reason unable to take; or she 
may be allowed to read widely in a special field which has 
attracted her interest, doing more intensive reading than is 
possible in the course or courses covering that subject. In every 
case the program must necessarily be arranged by the head of the 
department with the individual needs of the student in mind. 

Whatever the content, the honors program will involve a 
distinctive method of study calling for greater individual 
initiative, greater ability in the organization of materials, greater 
maturity of judgment in the interpretation of subject matter, than 
are expected in regular course work. 

Regulations 

1 . Not later than September 1 5th of each year the highest 10% (on 
basis of merit points) of the incomingseniors shall be invited by 
the Dean of the Faculty to read for high honor during the 
succeeding academic year. The list of those to be invited 
together with the total merit points of each shall be certified to 



117 



the Dean of the Faculty by the Committee on Electives. In 
counting 10% of the class a fraction shall be counted as a whole; 
and in case two or more students are tied for the lowest position 
within the 10%, all of those tied shall be included in the list. 
Both student and major professor are to be notified; in case of 
double majors the student shall be asked to select the depart- 
ment in [which] she wishes to do the reading. 

2. The honors program shall consist of not more than three or less 
than two hours per week throughout the year, with specific 
time allotted for systematic review for the comprehensive 
examinations. Each student is expected to carry an average of 
fifteen hours, including the honors work. 

3. At the completion of this work, and within the period of senior 
examinations, the student shall take an examination consisting 
of two parts, a written examination not less than six hours long 
and an oral not less than an hour long. The exact time of the 
examination shall be set by the committee on honors work 
provided for below. 

4. The written examination shall cover the field of the major. It 
may consist in part of a laboratory experiment or of a written 
report on the reading done for honors. 

5. The oral shall cover the major subject, including both course 
work and honors reading. At each oral examination there shall 
be present representatives from the major department and one 
or more persons to be named by the Dean of the Faculty. It is 
strongly recommended that the head of the major department 
invite a representative from at least one of the co-operating 
institutions to participate in the examination. 

6. Students undertaking the honors program shall be exempted 
from all course examinations in the spring quarter. 

7. Upon the basis of the quality of the honors work, the written 
examination and the oral examination, the head of the 
department may recommend the student for graduation with 
high honor. No student may be graduated with high honor who 
has not completed the above program, who does not have the 
recommendation of the head of the major department, or who 
does not meet all present requirements for graduation with 
high honor. Graduation with honor is to be automatic upon the 
basis of merit points. 

8. It is recommended that the President appoint annually a 
committee on honors work to consist of not more than five 
persons, of which the Dean of Faculty shall be ex officio a 
member. This committee shall have authority to approve 
examination programs and programs of study for honors and 
to set the time for written and oral examinations. It shall also 
pass finally upon all matters of detail arising under this 
program. 



118 



9. A copy of the proposed honors program of each student shall 
be filed with the committee on honors within two weeks after 
the opening of the fall quarter, and a copy of the questions for 
the written examination shall be filed with the committee 
before the end of the spring quarter. 

In May of 1945 a new statement was issued somewhat expanding and 
refining the above procedures, and again in 1950 there was further 
revision. This honors program remained in force until 1954 when the 
College initiated the program of Independent Study which is still 
operative  a program which will be discussed at the appropriate 
time. 

In 1943 President McCain completed twenty years as the chief 
administrative officer of Agnes Scott. In his annual report to the 
Trustees for the 1942-1943 session, he understandably reviewed the 
progress which the College had made under his leadership  progress 
that was indeed impressive by anybody's standards. However, he also 
characteristically looked ahead and projected his hopes for the next 
ten years: a new science hall, another dormitory, a dining hall, a new 
infirmary, greatly increased endowment, as well as an enriched 
curriculum. Interestingly, with the exception of the dormitory, all 
these goals were achieved by the time President McCain retired in 
195 1 . He did not neglect to comment on the spritual thrust either. Here 
is what the report says: 

It is not possible to tabulate the development in spiritual things 
during the last twenty years or to set specific goals for the years 
that lie ahead. From its earliest days, the College has been 
dedicated to God, and it has no real excuse for existence if it does 
not fulfill this high mission. We feel that religious objectives are 
best reached through careful selection of faculty, officers, and 
students. The planning of the curriculum is also a contributing 
factor. 

All indications are that we are coming to a great period of moral 
decadence and of spiritual laxness. We are very anxious that 
Agnes Scott College be a great power for good in standing for the 
highest things. 

Another of the priority items mentioned in President McCain's 
plans for the remaining years of his administration was the erection of 
a practice home for the Department of the Home. In the late 1930's 
Agnes Scott published a special brochure setting forth the reasons and 
plans and goals for such a department. This brochure points out that 
the establishment of a Department of the Home had been before the 



19 



Trustees since 1920 when President Gaines first proposed it. In the 
interim the College had had a Department of Home Economics, but it 
had been dropped because it was not being operated at the same high 
standard as were other departments. The Department of the Home 
was to be, however, much more than a home economics department. 
Its offerings would encompass, for example, human physiology, home 
hygiene, child training, home management, dietetics, budgeting, 
religious life, etc. A practice home was to be built where students could 
put into use what they had learned. Moreover, it was suggested that the 
College might sponsor a baby clinic as well as a nursery school  again 
as laboratories for putting learning into practice. Anyone familiar with 
Agnes Scott knows that a Department of the Home was never 
established although it is highly likely that President McCain never 
relinquished the idea. This writer has heard him, long after his 
retirement, continue to talk about his dream of and the need for such a 
department. 

In 1944 a major change occurred in the workings of the Alumnae 
Association. Under the leadership of Miss Margaret Ridley, '33, 
President of the group and of Mrs. Crawford F. Barnett, '32, alumnae 
representative on the Board of Trustees, a report was made to the 
Trustees recommending a full reorganization of the alumnae program, 
a discontinuance of dues, and the setting up of an annual gifts program 
to take care of alumnae expenses and hopefully leave a surplus for the 
College. In order to implement this program, the Trustees on May 26, 
1944, adopted the following resolution: 

Resolved that the Trustees approve the general reorganization 
plans of the Alumnae Association and that the following specific 
steps be approved toward the working out of details: 

1 . That a grant of $2,000 from the current funds of the College be 
made, payable at the end of each quarter in equal installments. 
It is not expected that this be repaid for the year 1944-1945. 

2. That the President of the College be authorized to direct an 
"Alumnae Fund Campaign." This will probably take most of 
the time of the Alumnae Secretary, but the College will guar- 
antee $3,000 from the campaign office to the Alumnae budget, 
payable in equal installments at the end of each quarter. It is 
understood that this $3,000 will be repaid to the College from 
the proceeds of the campaign if these are sufficient for the 
purpose. 

3. That the president of the College and the President of the 
Alumnae Association be authorized to work out details as to 



120 



the exact time to be used by the Secretary for this purpose, or 
by secretaries if more than one should be employed, and as to 
the objectives which will be presented to the alumnae for their 
gifts. 

So begins Agnes Scott's annual giving program  a program which 
over the years since 1944 has brought untold dollars to the College. 

With the arrival of the mid 1940 's, the attention of the Trustees was 
increasingly directed to choosing the third president of Agnes Scott. 
President McCain would be sixty-five in April, 1946; and although the 
Board could elect him President on an annual basis until he reached 
the mandatory retirement age of seventy in 1951, it seemed 
appropriate for the Trustees to prepare for this administrative change 
well in advance. The Board wanted the President to recommend his 
successor, but he requested that a committee be appointed to assist 
him; consequently, the Trustees, at their annual meeting on June 1, 
1945, authorized the following members to constitute a presidential 
search committee: George Winship, chairman, Mrs. S.M. Inman, 
John A. Sibley, J.J. Scott, and C.F. Stone. This committee was not 
ready to make its recommendation until the spring of 1948; meantime 
President McCain, having passed his sixty-fifth birthday, was being 
annually elected to continue as President. 

On March 19, 1948, the Board met in specially called session with 
twenty-two of the twenty-seven trustees present. It is little wonder that 
the attendance was so good, since the members knew ahead of time the 
business of the meeting, namely, that the presidential search commit- 
tee was ready to report. Here is the resolution which was unanimously 
adopted: 

Resolved that Dr. Wallace McPherson Alston be elected Vice 
President and Professor of Philosophy at Agnes Scott College, 
with the understanding that he is to succeed to the presidency no 
later than July 1, 1951, the actual details to be worked out by the 
President and the Finance Committee. 

This action by the Trustees made possible an orientation period for 
Dr. Alston prior to President McCain's mandatory retirement at age 
seventy and at the same time meant that the new president had already 
been named should any contingency develop before 1951. 

In connection with the election of Dr. Alston, the Trustees took an 
unusual action providing for the new president to sign a declaration 
whenever he assumed the presidency. The adopting of this declaration 
required a bylaw change. It was introduced at the March meeting in 



121 



1 948 and adopted on May 2 1 of the same year. The vote for adoption 
was by secret ballot and was divided 1 2 for to 8 against. The new presi- 
dential requirement read as follows: 

On taking office, the President shall subscribe to the declarations 
stated below, which shall be inscribed in the Minute Book of the 
Board of Trustees and signed in the presence of the Chairman of 
the Board: 

1. I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be 
the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. 

2. I sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and the 
Catechisms of the Prebyterian Church in the United States as 
containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures. 

3. I promise that in the selection of teachers, officers, and other 
helpers I will endeavor to find those who are active members of 
some evangelical church and who believe in the fundamental 
doctrines of [the] Christian faith including the deity of Jesus 
Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, and the atonement for sins. 

4. I further recognize that the College has been dedicated to the 
glory of God from its earliest days, and in all its work I will try 
to maintain its Christian ideals and standards. 

This declaration was in force until May, 1968, when it was determined 
by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees that the Presi- 
dent was no longer restricted by its requirement because on October 
12, 1965, the Board had adopted new bylaws which did not include this 
declaration. 

As President McCain moved into what were to be the last four years 
of his administration (1947-1951), there was no relaxing of his ener- 
getic leadership. On March 19, 1948, the minutes of the Trustees show 
that Agnes Scott had recently received from an anonymous founda- 
tion a grant of $500,000 for endowment provided the College raise an 
additional $ 1 ,000,000 by December 3 1 , 1 949. The President cheerfully 
and enthusiastically led the College into this campaign which was 
completely successful within the time limit. As usual the campaign 
began on the campus, and the students, faculty, and administration 
raised in ten days more than $40,000, over twice the goal that had been 
set for this campus effort. Mrs. Frances Winship Walters, Vice Chair- 
man of the Board of Trustees, contributed $180,000 to build a new 
infirmary. Mrs. Letitia Pate Evans of Hot Springs, Virginia, and some 
of her friends provided the funds to erect a new dining hall. The W.C. 
and Sarah H. Bradley Foundation of Columbus, Georgia, made a gift 
sufficiently large to assume the construction of the observatory to 



122 



house the recently acquired 30-inch reflector telescope, funds for 
which had been given by the Lewis H. Beck Foundation of Atlanta. 
Also on Founder's Day, 1949, Mrs. Annie Louise Harrison Waterman 
of Mobile, Alabama  an alumna and a trustee  gave the College 
$100,000 to endow a professorship in speech. Funds were secured to 
build a new home for the incoming president, and at long last, after 
more than a decade of planning, a new and adequate science hall was 
erected. Thus, in three short years (1948- 1951) five new buildings were 
constructed  more than have ever been built in a comparable period 
before or since. In addition the new archway entrance to the campus 
on College Avenue was built at this same time. 

The campaign of 1948-1949 saw the organization of alumnae 
spouses into a Husband's Committee to solicit Atlanta businesses, an 
effort which raised approximately $65,000. However, as in Agnes 
Scott's first campaign in 1909, the final goal was not achieved until the 
deadline day itself. Of this day President McCain wrote as follows: 

As the 31st of December (1949) approached and it was realized 
that this was the very last day of the campaign, our friends were 
much in prayer and very active in work .... An anonymous 
donor pledged $10,000 about noon of the closing day. More than 
400 alumnae gifts came in that day, and by three o'clock in the 
afternoon the final goal was reached. It was a time of very great 
rejoicing on the part of all of us who had been working in the 
campaign. 

More will be said later about Mrs. Frances Winship Walters, who 
was to become in the judgment of many the second founder of Agnes 
Scott. However, it seems appropriate to pause here to comment on 
Letitia Pate Evans, Annie Louise Harrison Waterman, and John 
Bulow Campbell, for whom the new science hall was named. 

Mrs. Evans was a trustee of Agnes Scott from 1 949 until her death in 
1953. Jointly with her two sons, who predeceased her, she inherited a 
large fortune from her first husband, Joseph Brown Whitehead. How 
wisely and unselfishly she used this inheritance is attested to by her 
many benefactions. Hospitals, colleges, and universities, both in her 
native Virginia and in her adopted Georgia, were recipients of her 
generosity; moreover, she gave liberally to the church, particularly to 
causes sponsored by the Episcopal Church in Virginia. Helping war 
victims of World War II also claimed her attention, and for this last 
work she received recognition from countries abroad. She was inter- 
ested in Agnes Scott over a period of years, and the outstanding evi- 




Agnes Scott's Founder, 

George Washington Scott, 

in his thirties 



Presidents of Agnes Scott College 




Frank Henry Gaines 
1896 - 1923 



James Ross McCain 
1923 - 1951 



Presidents of Agnes Scott College (con't.) 




Wallace McPherson Alston 
1951 - 1973 




Marvin Banks Perry, Jr. 
1973 - 1982 




Dean Nannette Hopkins, 

a major administrative 

officer for forty-nine years, 

1889 - 1938 



Chairmen of the Board of Trustees 








Frank Henry Gaines 
1889 - 1896 



George Washington Scott 
1896 - 1903 



Chairmen of the Board of Trustees (con't.) 




Samuel Martin Inman 
1903 - 1914 





Joseph Kyle Orr 
1914 - 1938 



George Winship 
1938 - 1956 



Chairmen of the Board of Trustees (con't.) 





Hal L. Smith 
1956 - 1973 



Alex P. Gaines 
1973 - 1979 




Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. 
1979 - 




Campus about 1900 




Campus in 1923 



v*-' f -^'^^f- 



Campus in early 1940's 




Campus in 1970's 



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Agnes Scott diploma from 1893 




President Gaines' house which stood 
where Evans Dining Hall now is 




Dean Hopkins near the 
end of her career 



V -'- ffi i '"iM 


1 WmiT 1 ' <' 'it i-#t 


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The Golf Club 




The Chafing Dish Club 



123 



dence of this interest is the College's dining hall which bears her name. 
In her will she left Agnes Scott $ 1 00,000 to serve as an endowment for 
the dining hall. More recently the foundation which she established 
made a further grant to the College  a grant which made possible the 
air conditioning of Evans Dining Hall. 

Annie Louise Harrison Waterman attended Agnes Scott Institute 
from 1 894 to 1 896. Although she did well in all her work, her particular 
interest was speech. On April 3, 1896, she gave her graduating recital, 
the program of which was included in the College catalogue for that 
year. Her husband was the founder of the Waterman Steamship Cor- 
poration, and from him she inherited considerable wealth which she 
used in many benefactions, principally those dealing with child welfare 
or stemming from the Church. She was elected a trustee of Agnes Scott 
in 1947 and served until her death in 1953. She was constantly "boost- 
ing" her alma mater. For that matter, the President of the College, 
received from her a letter written the day before she died which said in 
part: "Any news of progress is of interest to me, and I am always di- 
recting young women in your direction. In fact I am an animated 'Ad' 
for Agnes Scott." 

John Bulow Campbell was elected a trustee of Agnes Scott on May 
21, 1926, and served continuously until his death on June 28, 1940. 
During this period he held membership on several of the Board's most 
active committees and for a number of years was chairman of the all- 
important Finance Commiteee. A Christian businessman in the high- 
est sense of that term, he was active not only in the affairs of Agnes 
Scott but also in those of the Berry Schools (now Berry College), of the 
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, of the University Center in Georgia, 
and particularly of Columbia Theological Seminary. Indeed, it was 
Mr. Campbell, more than any other person, who was instrumental in 
effecting the move of the Seminary from Columbia, South Carolina, 
to Decatur. He was active in three of Agnes Scott's campaigns, and in 
the one of 1939-1940, the joint University Center campaign, he was the 
largest subscriber who designated his pledge for Agnes Scott. So out- 
standing was his service to the College that in 1943 the Trustees took 
action to name the science building for him whenever it could be built 
 a construction that was not to be accomplished until more than 
seven years later. Mr. Campbell's great continuing contribution to 
education and religion was his establishment through his will of the 
John Bulow Campbell Foundation, an agency which through the 



124 



ensuing years has been one of Agnes Scott's most supportive friends. 
When the John Bulow Campbell Science Hall was dedicated on Octo- 
ber 23, 1951, one of the speakers on the program was Agnes Scott 
Trustee John A. Sibley. Here is part of what he said about Mr. Camp- 
bell: 

I consider it a privilege to speak here today. My talk will be in 
the nature not of eulogy but of testimony about the life of a friend. 

I have had a rather broad acquaintance with men, some of them 
of unusual endowments and talents. I have had occasion to speak 
of the character and accomplishments of many of them in terms of 
sincere admiration. 

Yet, in describing the life of John Bulow Campbell, the life that 
we are here to honor today, I will use some words that I have never 
used before in describing the quality of other men. 

In fact, I will use a vocabulary that is almost obsolete even 
among the scholarly and the learned. 

When have you heard it said of a man that he was God's noble- 
man, that he possessed that elevation of mind and spirit that we 
associate with nobility? When have you heard it said of a man that 
his life was characterized by purity, meaning that he was free from 
the taint and suggestion of evil? When have you heard it said of a 
man that he had great natural dignity, meaning that his bearing 
reflects those innate qualities of mind and soul that command the 
respect of all? 

We are not living or thinking or speaking in such terms today. 
Our lives and our thoughts are on a different and lower plane and 
our manner of speech is adjusted to our lives. 

But I am glad I knew a man to whose life these great words are 
appropriate. 

I can testify with truth and sincerity that John Bulow Camp- 
bell's life was noble, was pure, traits which were reflected in his 
great dignity of bearing and person. 

When I meet a man who has these rare qualities I always want to 
know why the difference between such a man and others. 

In the case of John Bulow Campbell the answer is simple. 

He believed in a living and loving God. He knew that he did not 
have to walk the pathway of life alone; every step of the way he 
had the companionship and the guiding hands of the Master. The 
light of truth revealed in the Holy Word illuminated his pathway. 

Now I want to turn to the vocabulary of today in describing the 
qualities of the men we know. We say that a man is a great success, 
that he is honest, able, courageous, and constructive; that he is a 
good citizen. Those are significant and meaningful words. They 
are the measure or the standard by which we judge men today. 
They are the vocabulary of the modern man. 

Each of those words is applicable to the life of John Bulow 



125 



Campbell. He had marked success in business, he was able, 
honest, and constructive. He abhorred things that caused failure 
to men and institutions, extravagance, waste, and self-indulgence. 
He required high standards of performance of himself and of 
others and would countenance nothing less. He was careful, 
frugal, and industrious. 

He had a keen sense of values, material, human and spiritual. I 
have known many men who had the sense of material values. 
Seldom have I known the same man who equally understood 
material, human and spiritual values. 

John Bulow Campbell was such a man. He knew the interde- 
pendence of material, human and spiritual values. And he knew 
that to achieve stability and permanence, material values must be 
sustained and supported by human and spiritual values. Upon the 
foundation of such qualities his success in life was built. 

John Bulow Campbell's philosophy of life, his allegiance to 
God, his desire to serve his fellowman, led him to consider himself 
a trustee of the things he had accumulated and possessed. During 
his life he administered his affairs as a good trustee, using his 
talents and his wealth to help institutions and causes that honor 
God and serve men. 

In his Last Will and Testament he made the solemn declaration: 
"There is nothing more worthwhile or of more lasting benefit to 
humanity than the development and preservation of a love for 
Jesus Christ. " 

In that great document he established a trust and foundation 
that is to be administered in the interest of those causes that honor 
God and serve men. 

Not only religion but public health, education, public welfare 
are all included within the scope of his benevolences. 

Through his life and through the foundation that he created the 
develoment of an entire section of the country has been advanced. 
The arm of the church has been made more far reaching; the 
standards of education have been improved in our institutions; 
the suffering of the weak and the helpless has been relieved; the 
processes that make for new wealth have been stimulated; all these 
things will continue for years to come and I hope in perpetuity. 

As President McCain approached the close of his administration, he 
decided to lift the ban on smoking which had been in force on the cam- 
pus from the beginning in 1889. This action in no way implied that he 
approved of smoking  far from it. This writer's contacts with Dr. 
McCain over a period of years were convincing that he was thoroughly 
opposed to smoking  especially in women. For that matter, in the 
early 1930's, the College published a small pamphlet in which the 
President explained why Agnes Scott prohibited smoking on the 



26 



campus. However, Dr. McCain was also a realist, and by 1950 it was 
evident to him that sooner or later the smoking ban would be lifted; 
thus, so that the responsibility for making this change would not rest 
on his successor, he took the necessary action himself. Lest anyone 
think that smoking immediately became campus-wide, it should be 
said that lifting the ban meant that one could smoke in the basement of 
the Hub (Murphey Candler Building) and there only  nowhere else, 
an arrangement which continued for a number of years thereafter 
before smoking was permitted elsewhere on the campus. 

On April 9, 1951, James Ross McCain was seventy years old, and 
under the rules of the Board of Trustees his retirement became manda- 
tory on June 30 of that year. This birthday was celebrated with a sur- 
prise party in the new Letitia Pate Evans Dining Hall. Every consti- 
tuency of the College was represented in this recognition of Agnes 
Scott's long-time leader. President-elect Alson presided; John Flint, 
who had worked at the College since 1910, was the bearer of the lighted 
birthday cake; the President-elect made the formal announcement of 
the McCain Entrance on College Avenue  a tribute given by Mrs. 
Frances Winship Walters; John A. Sibley brought greetings from the 
Board and announced that the Trustees had named the library in 
honor of President McCain; Dean S.G. Stukes presented a book list- 
ing the names of those who had established the McCain Library Fund, 
the income from which was to purchase books; Miss Eleanor N. Hut- 
chens, Alumnae Director, presented the honoree with a bound volume 
of 1,000 letters from wellwishers everywhere; George Winship on 
behalf of a group of friends gave Dr. McCain the keys to a new auto- 
mobile; Professor Emma May Laney spoke in tribute from the faculty; 
and Mrs. Catherine Baker Matthews, President of th Alumnae Asso- 
ciation, brought greetings from that group. The students sang an 
original song which recalled Dr. McCain's many years at Agnes Scott. 
The whole program was recorded for Mrs. McCain, who for reasons of 
health was unable to be present. The day was a high event in Agnes 
Scott's history. 

One of the greatest honors to be accorded President McCain came 
in the last month of his tenure as President. In June, 1951, he was 
elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church in the United States  the highest honor that this denomina- 
tion can accord to any person. 

In Book IV, Section VIII, of John Brown's Body, Stephen Vincent 
Benet writes of the Army of Northern Virginia. One of the vignettes 



127 



which Benet gives is of Stonewall Jackson, and about halfway through 
this portrait are two arresting lines which not only are applicable to 
Jackson but also epitomize James Ross McCain  at least in this 
writer's judgment. Here are the lines: 

The skilled man, utterly sure of his own skill 

And taking no nonsense about it from the unskilled. 

Such was President McCain. This it not to say that he was not kind and 
sympathetic, for indeed he was. However, he was a man who was able 
to do his own thinking, make his own decisions, and then act. For 
more than a quarter of a century he dominated Agnes Scott. He did the 
planning and supervised the execution of his plans. So confident was 
the Board of Trustees in his abilities that there is no record that they 
ever questioned his leadership. Dr. McCain was mild-mannered, but 
aloof. He was usually terse and direct, but when the occasion called for 
it, he could be as subtle as Machiavelli. He had an uncanny way of 
getting immediately to the heart of a problem and of grappling with it. 
He had iron self-control and led a life of disciplined simplicity. Once a 
matter was decided, he closed the door on it and did not drag its weight 
into the next problem. Fortunately, he had abounding good health, 
else he could never have discharged the numerous responsibilities he 
took on. Aside from his devotion to Agnes Scott, he was in the fore- 
front of many other endeavors. He was probably the most highly 
respected and effective layman in his denomination for almost half a 
century. He was in the vanguard of every worthwhile community en- 
deavor, and the mere mention of his name was an open sesame to many 
a business inner sanctum. His leadership in southern education is 
legendary. As leader of the committee on reports of the Commission 
on Higher Education of the Southern Association of Colleges and 
Schools, he perhaps did more than any other single person to raise 
institutional academic qualifications in the South. 

During his administration at Agnes Scott, the endowment tripled; 
the worth of buildings and grounds multiplied more than eight times; 
annual income rose from $265,000 to $600,000, and salaries increased 
from $85,000 annually to $298,000. 

No thoughtful person would ever say that Dr. McCain was a scholar. 
He had an excellent mind, but his interests were administrative. At the 
same time, he was a consistent champion of high academic standards 
and demanded that Agnes Scott be at the forefront of educational 
excellence. In 1965 President Alston wrote as follows: "Dr. McCain in 



128 



the years from 1923 to the date of his retirement in 1951 remarkably 
developed Agnes Scott, lifting it into the front rank of colleges for 
women in America. With courage, unselfishness, and clear-headed- 
ness, he did more than any one person to shape the character of the 
college. He was brought to the college to lead  and he led!" 

He was a man who sincerely believed in God, whose prayer life was 
meaningful, and who took his faith into every decision. For him the 
circumstance that Agnes Scott was founded for the glory of God had 
real significance. Likewise the fact that the College was an educational 
institution had similar significance. He saw no barrier to merging on 
this campus both of these emphases, and the thrust of his presidency 
with all its material accomplishments was to unite the Christian faith 
and academic excellence in one dynamic, viable whole. It is appropri- 
ate that the years of his administration be called the McCain Era. 



129 



Chapter 4 

GIRDING FOR GREATNESS 



When in 1973 Wallace McPherson Alston retired from the 
presidency of Agnes Scott College after having served in that office for 
twenty-two years (1951-1973), he could look back on almost a quarter 
of a century of unsurpassed achievement. In a very real sense the Agnes 
Scott of 1973 was the creation of Wallace Alston. Of course, he 
received from his predecessors an excellent foundation on which to 
build, but the remarkable way in which, during his administration, he 
personally molded every aspect of the College was indeed significant. 

Over 75% of the trustees in office in 1973 had been elected during 
President Alston's administration, and he had been a leading 
participant in the choice of each one. At the time of his retirement 
every major administrative officer had been selected for and installed 
in his or her position by him. Every secretary and clerical person had 
been employed by him, and 84% of the faculty had been engaged 
during his administration. In each instance he had made the final 
decision on each one. 

During the years of his presidency, the number in the faculty 
increased from fifty-seven to more than eighty-five. In 1973 the 
endowment (book value) was more than twelve times larger than when 
he took office. The value of buildings, land, and equipment increased 
by almost $7,000,000 under his leadership, and the size of the campus 
doubled. Moreover, the number of students rose by approximately 
35% between 1951 and 1973. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson in "Self-Reliance" wrote that" An institution 
is the lengthened shadow of one man." Agnes Scott in 1973 was the 
"lengthened shadow" of Wallace McPherson Alston. Who was this 
remarkable man, and what is the record of his administration at Agnes 
Scott? This account now directs itself to answering these questions. 

Wallace Alston was born at 184 South Candler Street, Decatur, 
Georgia, on July 16, 1906, just across the street from the Agnes Scott 
campus. His mother, the former Mary McPherson, had attended 
Agnes Scott Institute in 1891-1892, and the future president was 
named for his maternal grandfather, Wallace McPherson, who lived in 



130 



Decatur when his daughter was enrolled at the Institute. President 
Alston's father, Robert Augustus Alston, was a local business man 
who was born in the same house as his son. Young Wallace grew up in 
Decatur and as a boy played on the Agnes Scott campus. He has 
laughingly observed that on more than one occasion he was chased off 
the campus by the night watchman. In 1924 he entered Emory 
University, from which he subsequently received both the B. A. and the 
M. A. degrees. Emory did not have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa when 
Wallace graduated, but in 1944 his alma mater elected him to alumni 
membership in this prestigious society. He is also a member of 
Omicron Delta Kappa. Because of need for funds, he interrupted his 
college career to teach in Avondale Estates, Georgia, where he served 
as principal of the high school. In 1929 he entered Columbia 
Theological Seminary and received his B.D. degree there in 1931. 
During this period at Columbia he also did some part-time teaching in 
New Testament Greek. On April 29, 1931, the Presbytery of Atlanta 
ordained Wallace Alston to the Presbyterian ministry and thus began 
one of the most distinguished ministerial careers of any person ever 
ordained by that demonination  a career that continues with great 
influence even as these lines are written. President Alston's first 
pastorate was in the Rock Spring Presbyterian Church of Atlanta 
where he remained from 1931 to 1933. He then moved to a two-year 
pastorate at the Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church in Lexington, 
Kentucky, where his work was so outstanding with the students of the 
University of Kentucky that he was in 1935 called to Richmond, 
Virginia, to direct the youth work for the entire Presbyterian Church 
in the United States. The pull of the pastorate was not to be denied, 
however, and in 1938 he accepted a call to the First Presbyterian 
Church of Charleston, West Virginia  then and now one of the 
largest congregations of the entire denomination. After over five very 
happy and fruitful years in Charleston, Wallace Alston returned to 
Atlanta in 1944 to become the minister of the Druid Hills Presbyterian 
Church, from which he came to Agnes Scott in 1948. In 1937 he 
received his Th. M. degree from Union Theological Seminary in 
Virginia and in 1943 his Th.D degree from the same institution. Thus, 
President Alston holds five earned degrees including his doctorate in 
theology. He also was awarded three honorary doctor's degrees from 
Hampden-Sydney College, Davis and Elkins College, and Emory 
University. On May 27, 1931, Wallace Alston married Madelaine 
Dunseith of Agnes Scott's class of 1928. Miss Dunseith was the older 
daughter of the Rev. Dr. David Arthur Dunseith, who served as an 



131 



Agnes Scott trustee from 1928 to 1936. President and Mrs. Alston 
have two children: the Rev. Dr. Wallace McPherson Alston, Jr., who 
was elected a trustee of Agnes Scott on May 11, 1979, and Mary 
McNall, the wife of John O. Leslie, Jr. The Alstons have four 
grandchildren. During the years at one time or another, President 
Alston served in the following educational, civic, or religious groups: 
DeKalb County Merit System Council 
Board of Sponsors, Atlanta School of Art 
Board of Directors, Georgia Association of Phi Beta Kappa 
National Commission on Accrediting 
President, Southern University Conference 
President, The Georgia Association of Colleges 
President, Southern Association of Colleges for Women 
President, Presbyterian Educational Association of the South 
President, Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges, Inc. 
Board of Trustees, The Westminster Schools, Atlanta 
Board of Trustees, the Protestant Radio and Television Center, 
Inc. 

Board of Trustees, Columbia Theological Seminary 
Commission on Religion in Higher Education, Association of 
American Colleges 

Board of World Missions, Presbyterian Church, U.S. 
Board of Christian Education, Presbyterian Church, U.S. 
General Council, Presbyterian Church, U.S. 

In 1961-1962 Wallace Alston served as Moderator of the General 
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States -- the 
highest honor that that denomination can give to any person. He is 
also the author of three books: The Throne Among the Shadows 
(1945), Break up the Night (1947), and Mirrors of the Soul (1953). 

Prior to 1951 Agnes Scott had never had a presidential 
inauguration. When Dr. McCain became president in 1923, there was 
some thought of having a formal inauguration, and an invitation to be 
guest speaker was extended to President Emeritus M. Carey Thomas 
of Bryn Mawr. In his memoirs, Dr. McCain has this comment: "Her 
[Miss Thomas's] reply was characteristic of her. In effect it was, i do 
have another appointment at the time you suggest, but I would not 
wish to come anyway, because I feel that no man ought to be president 
of a woman's college.' That put a quietus on any inauguration, and I 
was glad of it," wrote Dr. McCain. 

No such "quietus" was placed on President Alston's inauguration, 
however, and it is remembered as one of the most significant events in 
Agnes Scott's history. This writer was present, and he can testify to the 
appropriateness of each aspect of the occasion. The event began on 
Monday night, October 22, 1951, and continued all day on Tuesday, 



132 



October 23. On Monday evening President Howard Foster Lowry of 
the College of Wooster gave a superb address entitled "The Time 
Beyond the Tower." Dr. Eleanor N. Hutchens, '40, who was the editor 
of the Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly in 1951, has this comment 
about Dr. Lowry's speech: "This address, made on the evening before 
President Alston's inauguration, was felt by many of the faculty and 
students to be one of the most memorable talks ever made at Agnes 
Scott. The Editor of the Quarterly, having read it four times in the 
process of preparing it for the printer as well as having heard it 
delivered, has been more deeply impressed with its quality and flavor 
with each reading." 

More than two hundred representatives of other colleges and 
universities and learned societies attended the actual inauguration 
itself  48 of them being the presidents of their respective institutions. 
President Sarah Gibson Blanding of Vassar College was the principal 
speaker and used as her provocative subject "As a Man 
Thinketh ... So Is He." At the delegates' luncheon following the 
inauguration, the speaker was President Theodore Henley Jack of 
Randolph-Macon Woman's College. President Jack had taught 
President Alston when the latter was an undergraduate in college, and 
it was particularly appropriate for him to speak from his experience to 
his former student on the topic "The Task of a College President." In 
the early afternoon Agnes Scott formally dedicated the John Bulow 
Campbell Science Hall (see p. 124) and at 4:00 p.m. gave a reception 
honoring President and Mrs. Alston. 

Of course, the high point of the inauguration was President Alston's 
address of acceptance. This writer still remembers the thrill that he 
experienced as Wallace Alston eloquently dedicated himself and his 
administration to continuing and strengthening Agnes Scott's great 
heritage a heritage which he delineated as three-fold and yet 
inseparable: First, Agnes Scott had always placed emphasis on the 
liberal arts as the best means for equipping one to live a rich, full life. 
"The type of education offered at Agnes Scott is predicated upon the 
conviction that a mind trained to think is essential if life is to be 
unfettered, rich and free," said the President. Secondly, quality in the 
work done had always been a hallmark of Agnes Scott's academic 
credo. The new President stressed the need for an aristocracy of 
competence if a democratic society is to realize its potential. Finally, 
the President recommitted the College to its long-standing Christian 
moorings, stating unequivocally that he would have no interest in 



133 



being at Agnes Scott "if it were not for the fact that [the College] is 
determined to remain a Christian institution, not simply in name but in 
fact." Emphasis on the liberal arts, work of high quality, and an 
unashamed commitment to the Christian faith  the union of these 
three strands into a unified whole had been the factors which had made 
Agnes Scott a distinguished College, said the new president; and as has 
already been stated, he dedicated himself and his administration to 
continuing and strengthening these emphases. 

In the first few weeks of his administration, President Alston made 
two appointments which in their excellence and permanence revealed 
the uncanny judgment of people that was to characterize his 
presidency. After Mr. R. B. Cunningham's retirement in 1943 from the 
post of business manager, the duties of that office for the remainder of 
President McCain's administration were combined with those of the 
treasurer, and Mr. J.C. Tart functioned in both capacities. However, 
because the new president saw the wisdom of having two posts and 
because Mr. Tart was in poor health, Dr. Alston, almost immediately 
upon assuming office, relieved Mr. Tart of his duties as business 
manager and appointed to that position Mr. P.J. Rogers, Jr., who for 
several years had been Mr. Tart's assistant. No more felicitous 
appointment was ever made at Agnes Scott than was that of Mr. 
Rogers, and for the next eighteen years until his sudden and untimely 
death at age 48 in 1970, he functioned with amazing efficiency and 
good humor in one of the most varied and difficult posts in the entire 
College. The second major appointment made by President Alston 
was that of Miss Laura Steele, '37, to be Agnes Scott's first director of 
admissions, a position which she was to fill with marked success for the 
next twenty-two years. She continued to serve also as assistant 
registrar until Dean Stukes's retirement in 1957 when she became both 
registrar and director of admissions. Both of these people were far 
more to President Alston than mere administrators. They became his 
confidants whose advice he sought and whose judgment he listened to. 
Such was also true of Dean Stukes and Dean Scandrett, who were 
continued in their respective offices. Indeed, during President Alston's 
administration, his principal administrative officers, no matter who 
they were, became a team working harmoniously with him and with 
one another  each one devoted to the President and fiercely loyal to 
Agnes Scott. For them, with the President setting the example, the 
College became a way of life. 

President Alston at the beginning of his administration 



134 



understandably asked President Emeritus McCain for a copy of the 
College's operating budget that had been drawn for 1 95 1 - 1 952. To the 
new president's surprise and astonishment, he was told by his 
predecessor that Agnes Scott had no formal budget. It was known how 
much was obligated for salaries and fringe benefits, and from past 
experience it could be estimated what the regular recurring expenses 
would be, but as for having a budget allocating specific amounts to 
definite areas, there was none. Thus, one of the first innovations which 
President Alston initiated at Agnes Scott was the establishment of an 
annual budgeting process and the drawing of an annual budget which 
was approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. 
He himself all through his administration stayed at the center of the 
budget-making process, and the final document was his personal 
handiwork. The budget was administered by the Treasurer, but it was 
created by the President. Thus, in a real sense, Dr. Alston was not only 
the president but also the chief fiscal officer of the College. 

As has already been set forth (see p. 100), Agnes Scott and Emory 
began in 1939 a program of cooperation which proved mutually 
advantageous to each institution in the ensuing years. However, by 
1951-1952 a real need had developed to modify this agreement. 
Consequently, in Dr. Alston's first year as President ajoint committee 
was named to study the cooperative arrangements and make 
recommendations for changes as necessary. Agnes Scott's 
representatives on this committee were President Alston, Dean of the 
Faculty S.G. Stukes, and Professor Ellen Douglass Leyburn of the 
Department of English. Emory was represented by Dean of the 
Faculties Ernest C. Colwell, Dean of the College Judson C. Ward, and 
Professor Samuel M. Shiver of the Department of German. These six 
persons worked diligently and produced a new agreement which was 
ratified by each institution. Here is the new agreement: 

A PLAN FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN AGNES SCOTT 

COLLEGE 
AND EMORY UNIVERSITY 

With a frank acknowledgment of the inadequacies of their 
present inter-relationship Agnes Scott College and Emory 
University agree to establish a more effective pattern of 
cooperation. 

The goals of this cooperation are: 

First, to reinforce the quality of liberal arts education; 

Second, to increase the range of studies within which students 
may follow their special interests; 



135 



Third, to use the resources of each institution for the 
enrichment of the curricula rather than for unnecessary 
duplication; 

Fourth, to establish a community to which the members of both 
faculties will belong. 

I. THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF COOPERATION 
IT IS RECOMMENDED: 

1. That in undergraduate work the objective be to give the 
individual student the program most nearly conforming to 
his or her need, regardless of .the institution in which the 
particular courses are offered; 

1 A. That each institution carry this first principle to the point of 
encouraging a student to take his major subject in the other 
school when to do so is to the student's advantage; 

2. That in undergraduate work the institutions in consultation 
allocate instruction in particular areas; 

2A. That this allocation be any one of the following patterns: 

Type 1: All instruction in the subject be given at only one 
institution; e.g., at present Geology at Emory and 
Astronomy at Agnes Scott. 

Type 2: Instruction in the subject be given in both 
institutions, but one institution assume a larger 
responsibility than the other; e.g., at present Art at 
Agnes Scott, Economics as Emory. 

Type 3: Instruction in the subject be given in both 
institutions with approximately equal 
institutional responsibility; e.g., at present, 
Education. 

NOTE: Identical departments and courses where the need 
exists will be maintained. 
2B. That where a specific allocation of any one of these three 

types is established, the pattern of major and departmental 

requirements for students be worked out on a cooperative 

basis; 

3. That it be definitely understood that no attempt will be 
made to merge the two institutions, but that each will 
maintain its identity, operating under its own board of 
trustees and keeping separate and distinct its assets of every 
kind and such affiliations as have hitherto been maintained; 

4. That each institution arrange its course offerings in such 
credit-quantities that the option offered the student of 
taking work in the other institution is a live option; 

5. That graduate and professional degrees normally be given 
by Emory; 

6. That in the development of this program each school 



136 



recognize the desirability of admitting members of the 
other's college faculty to one faculty community; and in 
pursuit of this goal; 

6A. That a new title (other than Visiting Professor) be adopted 
for faculty teaching in the second institution; 

6B. That the graduate and professional faculties at Emory admit 
qualified members of the Agnes Scott faculty to participate 
in their work when such participation is regarded as 
desirable by the officers of the two schools; 

7. That cooperation be continued between the libraries in 
purchases, loans, catalogue, etc.; 

8. That the institutions encourage cooperation in extra- 
curricular activities; 

9. That all items in the previous (1939) agreement between 
Agnes Scott and Emory not here specifically restated or 
revised be abrogated. 

II. ALLOCATIONS 

IT IS SUGGESTED: 

Type 1 
Geology  Astronomy 
Emory Agnes Scott 

1 . That each dean arrange for course offerings so scheduled as 
to be easily available to students in the second school as an 
option for the satisfaction of the basic science requirement; 
that these courses be advertised on the second campus. 

Type 1 
Anthropology 
Agnes Scott 

2. That Agnes Scott undertake to develop instruction in 
cultural anthropology. 

Type 1 
Librarianship 
Emory 

3. That efforts be exerted to make Agnes Scott students aware 
of the undergraduate offerings in Library Science. 

Type 2 
Economics and Political Science 
Emory Agnes Scott 

4. That Emory assume major responsibility for the continued 
development of these subjects. 

Type 2 
Music and Art 
Agnes Scott (Emory) 

5. That Agnes Scott assume a major responsibility for 
instruction in Music and Art. 



!37 



Type 3 

Education Modern Languages 

Agnes Scott-Emory Agnes Scott-Emory 

Classics Bible & Religion 

Agnes Scott-Emory Agnes Scott-Emory 

Philosophy 

Agnes Scott-Emory 

6. It is to be noted that this type of cooperation is already 
functioning in Education. It is suggested that explorations 
be carried out with other respective faculty groups as to the 
desirability and feasibility of Type 3 allocations. 

III. ADMINISTRATION 
IT IS RECOMMENDED: 

1. That the cooperation between the two institutions be 
supervised by a Liaison Committee; 

2. That the Liaison Committee be directed to review the status 
of cooperation at least once a year; 

3. That recommendations on major changes in or extensions 
of cooperation be sent from the Liaison Committee to the 
presidents of the institutions for report to their Boards; 

4. That adequate notice be given by either institution of desire 
to withdraw from any part of the agreement; 

5. That the annual calendar be set up in consultation between 
representatives of the two institutions; 

6. That the schedule of course offerings be planned in the 
Autumn for the following year on each campus; that each 
school consult the other in the development of these plans; 
and that those who are involved in the making of class 
schedules and the catalogue of course offerings confer in 
some established annual routine; 

7. That each faculty continue to have the authority to arrange 
the course of study which its students take in the other 
institution (including summer work taken at Emory by 
Agnes Scott students); and 

That the reports on such work be sent directly to the 
controlling institution. 

IV. FINANCIAL 

IT IS RECOMMENDED: 

That one institution not charge the other for courses 
taken by its students up to the level of the bachelor's degree 
(except that this shall have no reference to those courses 



138 



taken by Agnes Scott students in the Emory summer 
school); 

That the Liaison Committee work toward an 
approximate equivalence in the instruction which each 
school provides to the other; 

That the improvement of transportation between the 
schools be a joint responsibility; 

That Emory accept the Agnes Scott student for summer 
work without a matriculation fee; 

That each institution continue to give to full time faculty 
members of the other the same financial consideration for 
the education of their children that it gives to members of its 
own faculty; 

That students in one institution may use the other's 
library facilities without charge. 

Two excellent comments, one about the effectiveness of the old 
arrangement and the other concerning the working out of the new, 
were made by Professor Margret G. Trotter and Professor Ellen 
Douglass Leyburn, respectively, in issues of The Agnes Scott A lumnae 
Quarterly contemporary with these happenings (see XXX, No. 3 and 
XXXI, No. 2). Both were highly commendatory in their appraisals. 

One of the provisions in the original agreement which was dropped 
from the new was that which prevented Emory from enrolling women 
in its College of Arts and Sciences. In 1939 Georgia State University 
was really non-existent as a college; DeKalb College did not exist, and 
Oglethorpe's enrollment was not large. With Emory prevented by its 
own agreement from enrolling women in its undergraduate college, 
Agnes Scott was the principal institution, along with Spelman College, 
where a local young woman could go to college and still live at home. 
The new agreement effectively changed this circumstance and directed 
Agnes Scott toward becoming increasingly a residential college with 
more and more of its students coming from outside the Atlanta area. 
In 1951-1952, there were 473 students  317 residential and 156 day 
students. Ten years later there were 650 students  592 boarders and 
58 day students  figures which illustrate one of the results of the new 
agreement. 

Student housing was rapidly becoming an acute problem at Agnes 
Scott. In 1951-1952 there were only three dormitories  Main, 
Rebekah Scott, and Inman  plus six cottages (Boyd, Cunningham, 
Gaines, Lupton, Mary Sweet, and Ansley) accommodating 317 
boarders and all full. To begin to deal with this situation, the Trustees 



39 



in November, 1952, authorized the construction of a new dormitory to 
be known as Hopkins Hall in memory of the College's first dean. Ever 
since Dean Hopkins' death, it had been planned to erect a dormitory in 
her memory, and during the period 1939-1944, the alumnae raised 
$100,000 for this project. Conditions occasioned by World War II 
made it impossible to go forward with the building at that time, and 
although the College added $25,000 to the amount raised, the post-war 
rise in prices continued to prevent starting construction. By 1952 it 
became apparent to the Trustees and the administration that the 
building must be erected. It was estimated that this new dormitory 
would cost $200,000, and although all the money was not in hand, the 
Board authorized the building and named President Alston, President 
Emeritus McCain, and Chairman Winship a committee to supervise 
the building and the raising of the additional funds. Hopkins was 
completed in time for the opening of the College in September, 1953. It 
houses fifty students and a senior resident, and the total cost was 
$227,205, including furnishings and landscaping. The architects were 
Logan and Williams, and the builders were Barge-Thompson. The site 
of the new dormitory is just north of the alumnae garden, which the 
building fronts. In the summer of 1952, White House, which was no 
longer used except for storage purposes, had been razed, and this 
removal had made room for Hopkins Hall. It will be recalled that 
White House (originally the Allen House) had formerly stood where 
Main now is and that it was the building occupied by the Decatur 
Female Seminary in 1889. In 1890 it had been purchased by Col. 
George Washington Scott and moved to a site just north of where 
Inman Hall now stands. 

Hopkins Hall was officially dedicated on September 30, 1953. 
President Alston presided, and the two principal addresses were made 
by Dean Carrie Scandrett and President Emeritus McCain. Dean 
Scandrett's topic was "My Personal Impression of Miss Hopkins," 
and Dr. McCain's address was titled "The Permanent Contribution of 
Miss Nannette Hopkins to Agnes Scott." 

At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees on May 30, 1952, 
President Alston, at the end of his first year in the presidency, made the 
following recommendation which was unanimously adopted: 

That a strong committee from our Board be appointed to advise 
with me about plans for the future development of the college, and 
to chart a long-range program, possibly culminating in the 
seventy-fifth anniversary of the College in 1964. 



140 



Chairman Winship, having been authorized to appoint this 
"Development" Committee, named the following persons: J. R. 
McCain, chairman; George Winship, George W. Woodruff, G. L. 
Westcott, Mrs. Letitia Pate Evans, Mrs. Annie Louise Harrison 
Waterman, John A. Sibley, and Hal L. Smith. A year later on June 5, 
1953, this committee presented its report and recommendations. No 
more important action was ever taken by the Board than when it 
approved this report, for by this action Agnes Scott was launched on 
its Seventy-fifth Anniversary Development Program which by 1964 
was to add more than $ 1 2,000,000 to the assets of the College. As set 
forth in detail, this report was as follows: 

AGNES SCOTTS LONG-RANGE DEVELOPMENT 
PROGRAM 

(culminating in the observance of the seventy-fifth anniversary 
of the College in 1964) 

I. BUILDINGS, GROUNDS AND EQUIPMENT 

Hopkins Hall  construction of new 
Freshman dormitory to house fifty 
students, furnish building and landscape 
area adjacent to Alumnae Garden $ 225,000. 

Modernization and Renovation of 
Buildings  fire-proof stairs and other 
improvements of Inman, Rebekah Scott 
and Main 150,000. 

Large Additional Dormitory to 

accommodate approximately one hundred 
fifty students, enabling us to discontinue 
the use of cottages for student housing 575,000. 

Faculty Center probably a homelike 
one-story building with ample parlor and 
kitchenette facilities 75,000. 

Art Building classrooms, lecture rooms, 

gallery, etc. 300,000. 

Faculty Housing  addition of several 
houses for faculty families, improvement 
of faculty houses now in possession of 
College, and erection of attractive unit of 
faculty apartments 225,000. 

Arboretum, Outdoor Amphitheatre, 
Landscaping improvements on campus 
(i.e. removal of cottages, old science hall, 
etc.) 125,000. 



141 



II. 



Student Center  with recreation rooms, 
offices for student publications, student 
activities, snack bar, etc. 300,000. 





$ 


1,975,000. 


ENDOWMENT 






Scholarships 


$ 


500,000. 


Lectureships 




30,000. 


Frances Winship Walters Infirmary 




185,000. 


Letitia Pate Evans Dining Hall 




500,000. 


History and Political Science 




500,000. 


Biology 




500,000. 


Chemistry 




500,000. 


Physics 




300,000. 


*English 




300,000. 


Astronomy 




250,000. 


Modern Languages  French, German, 


Spanish 


535,000. 


Classics 




250,000. 


Economics 




200,000. 


Sociology 




300,000. 


Anthropology 




175,000. 


Physical Education 




325,000. 


Music 




500,000. 


Art 




500,000. 


Speech 




200,000. 


Bible 




300,000. 


Philosophy 




300,000. 


Mathematics 




300,000. 


Psychology 




300,000. 


Education 




300,000. 






8,050,000. 


Total 


$10,025,000. 



*Our English Department is our largest 
and is the only department for which 
considerable endowment has already been 
secured. 

This total goal of $10,025,000 was subsequently augmented by 
$450,000 to care for a second large dormitory, so that by the time the 
Anniversary Development Program moved into the intensive 
campaign stage, the goal was $10,475,000. Nobody knew where this 



142 



money was coming from; thus, the Trustees took a "leap of faith" 
based on the College's needs. The story of how this goal was more than 
reached will be of concern later in this account. 

As has already been pointed out, Agnes Scott in 1938 began its 
honors program for particularly well qualified seniors (see pp. 1 16). 
However, by the early 1950's there was a growing judgment in the 
faculty that this program needed to be "opened up" so that more 
students could benefit from the experience of doing independent 
research. The possibility of a change was thoroughly studied by the 
Curriculum Committee, and on April 1, 1953, the Academic Council 
enacted a program of independent study to replace the honors 
program which had served for fifteen years. One of the principal 
changes in the new program was the elimination of the written and oral 
examinations which had frightened some capable students away from 
the honors program. Here is the program of independent study as 
enacted by the Academic Council  a program which continues with 
little change to the present time: 

Program of Independent Study 

In lieu of our present 415 and 499 courses we offer Independent 
Study as course 490. 

That the basis for admission to the program be a minimum of 240 
merit points at the end of the second quarter of the junior year. 
The Dean of Faculty will notify eligible students in the third 
quarter of the junior year after prior consultation with major 
departments and will advise them to consult with the major 
department on the advisability of their undertaking the program 
of independent study. 

It is understood that the final decision as to a student's 
participation in the program will rest with the major department 
and that no department should feel obliged to offer independent 
work when staff limitations make it inadvisable. 

That the program of independent study be offered for one, two, or 
three quarters and for three or five quarter hours, at the discretion 
of the major department. However, under no circumstances will a 
student be permitted to take more than ten hours in this program. 

A student may count a maximum often hours of the independent 
study beyond the present major limitations. 

That a copy of the paper or other written work submitted by the 
student be filed with the faculty committee supervising the 
program. 



143 



Each department shall prescribe the methods of testing students 
on the independent work. It is understood that all students will 
take examinations in regular courses. 

That the basis for graduation honors be as follows: 

For graduation With Honor: 

450 merit points, of which at least half shall be earned in the 
junior and senior years, with not more than eighteen hours 
below C in the entire program 

OR 

400 merit points, of which at least half shall be earned in the 
junior and senior years, with not more than eighteen hours 
below C in the entire program, and provided that a 
minimum of six hours, distributed over two quarters, be 
earned in independent study. 

For graduation With High Honor: 

450 merit points, of which at least half shall be earned in the 
junior and senior years, with not more than eighteen hours 
below C in the entire program, and provided a minimum of 
six hours, distributed over two quarters, be earned in 
independent study. 

Three-year students must meet the following requirements: 
For graduation With Honor: 

350 merit points, of which at least two-thirds shall be earned 
in the junior and senior years, with not more than eighteen 
hours below C 

OR 

320 merit points, of which at least two-thirds shall be earned 
in the junior and senior years, with not more than eighteen 
hours below C in the entire program, and provided a 
minimum of six hours, distributed over two quarters, be 
earned in independent study. 

For graduation With High Honor: 

350 merit points, of which at least two-thirds shall be earned 
in the junior and senior years, with not more than eighteen 
hours below C, and provided a minimum of six hours, 
distributed over two quarters, be earned in independent 
study. 

Two-year students must meet the following requirements: 
For graduation With Honor: 
240 merit points, with not more than nine hours below C. 

OR 

225 merit points, with not more than nine hours below C, 



!44 



and provided that a minimum of six hours, distributed over 
two quarters, be earned in independent study. 

Note: two-year students may not graduate With High Honor. 

Every student graduating With Honor or With High Honor must 
be recommended by her major department and must have been on 
the honor roll at least one year, and that the junior or senior. All 
graduation honors must be voted by the faculty. 

That a standing committee on the program of Independent Study 
be created in lieu of the present committee on the honors program. 

Less than two weeks after the action establishing the program of 
independent study, the faculty adopted a report which slightly altered 
procedures in the determining of academic policy as far as the 
curriculum was concerned. 

As previously noted (see pp. 59-60), responsibility for academic 
policy was, under the Board of Trustees, lodged with the Academic 
Council, not with the faculty. Apparently there was some restiveness in 
the faculty concerning this procedure, so much so that President 
Alston appointed a special faculty committee to investigate this whole 
area of academic activity and make recommendations, as appropriate. 
At a faculty meeting on April 10, 1953, the following report was 
submitted and adopted: 

Report of the Special Committee on Academic Policy 

This committee was appointed by President Alston to study the 
problem of the determination of academic policy, specifically the 
organization and procedure by which changes in curriculum and 
academic requirements are effected, with the object of achieving 
greater democracy and more general faculty participation in 
policy formation. We wrote to sixteen liberal arts colleges, and 
received detailed replies from all sixteen, together with printed 
matter from several of them. In each of these there exists a faculty 
committee, elected or appointed from the various divisions of 
learning, to whom such matters are referred for study. In all 
sixteen any proposed curricular changes are brought before the 
entire faculty for discussion, and in fifteen of the sixteen changes 
can be made only by vote of the faculty. At one of these colleges 
only does final action rest in the hands of a committee. 

It is the feeling of this committee that our system under which 
the Curriculum Committee is the deliberative body and the 
Academic Council the executive body has in the past been 
somewhat less than democratic, and has not been conducive to a 
lively interest in matters of curriculum on the part of those faculty 
members who were not members of either of these two bodies. 



145 



Under our present system the constitution and functions of the 
Academic Council are prescribed by the By-Laws of the trustees, 
which state that the Council "shall consist of the President, the 
Deans, and the heads of the various College departments," and 
that "the Council shall have the power to determine the academic 
policy of the College, to fix requirements for admission and for 
the degree, and to approve the courses of instruction offered by 
the various departments." Hence any change in the system would 
require a change in the By-Laws of the trustees, and such action as 
we may propose is only in the nature of suggestion or 
recommendation. 

The committee makes the following recommendations: 

1. That the Curriculum Committee, appointed by the President 
in consultation with the Committee on Committees, shall 
continue as that body to which all suggestions for changes in 
curriculum or academic requirements are brought, whether by the 
Administration, the departments, or individual faculty members; 
that this Committee shall continue to be an advisory and 
deliberative body, whose function it is to consider all problems 
connnected with the curriculum and to study all proposed changes 
with such help from sub-committees as it may deem advisable. 

2. That proposed changes in curriculum, educational policy, or 
academic requirements shall be brought before the faculty for 
discussion in faculty meetings before action is taken by the 
Curriculum Committee, and that the faculty shall indicate by vote 
where it recommends to the Academic Council that such changes 
be adopted or rejected. 

3. That the final decision in matters of the determination of 
academic policy shall rest, as it does now, with the Academic 
Council, and that this Council shall consist of the President, the 
Deans, and representatives of the various academic departments, 
to be appointed by the President in consultation with the 
Committee on Committees. 

Added by faculty action: Final decisions to be reported by 
the Council to the faculty as information. 

4. That the title "Head of Department" shall be changed to 
"Chairman of Department," with the suggestion that in the future 
a system be devised by which the chairmanship may rotate among 
the members of a department. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Muriel Harn 
George P. Hayes 
S.G. Stukes 
Leslie J. Gaylord 



146 



Two comments seem appropriate to this report: (1) The authority of 
the Academic Council over academic policy remained unchanged; (2) 
the term "Chairman of Department" came into use. Prior to this time 
"Department Heads" were appointed, and they served until they 
retired or resigned. Under the new procedure, the President could 
rotate department chairmen. It should be noted, however, that for all 
practical purposes this new procedure was not retroactive; thus, it took 
many years for the procedure of rotating departmental chairmen to 
become fully operational. 

Beginning in the 1953-1954 academic year, under a grant from the 
Fund for the Advancement of Education of the Ford Foundation, 
Agnes Scott became a participant, along with Emory, Oglethorpe, and 
the Westminster Schools, in an activity called the "Atlanta 
Experiment in Articulation and Enrichment." The purpose of this 
experiment, as President Alston stated in his annual report for 1953- 
1 954 was "the enrichment of the curriculum in the last two years at the 
Westminster Schools and the first two years of the colleges involved." A 
steering committee made up of representatives from the four 
institutions (Dean S.G. Stukes and Professor Emma May Laney were 
Agnes Scott's members.) supervised the experiment, and subject- 
matter committees from the disciplines of English, history, 
mathematics, foreign languages, and science worked together to 
coordinate the curricula of the institutions with the purpose of 
enrichment and the elimination of duplication between the last two 
years of secondary school and the first two years of college. In 
addition, observers from the Atlanta, Fulton County, and DeKalb 
school systems also participated. The whole experiment was designed 
to last seven years before being gradually phased out. The program 
was ambitious and freighted with potential, but its ultimate goals were 
never fully realized. To have achieved its purposes the participating 
students at Westminster would have needed to attend college at one of 
the participating institutions, and no way was provided for controlling 
a secondary school student's choice of college. On the plus side, the 
experiment developed a more acute awareness on the part of the 
secondary school and the colleges of the need to coordinate more 
effectively the work of the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth 
years of a young person's education. 

During 1952-54, the faculty was engaged in a rather thorough self- 
evaluation study of Agnes Scott College. This study was undertaken 
on the recommendation of the Committee on Higher Education of the 



147 



Board of Christian Education of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States. It was quite comprehensive in nature, involved a 
sizeable number of faculty members, and preceded by approximately 
ten years, the first decenial self-study subsequently required by the 
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Something of the 
scope of this study can be ascertained from the six major areas to 
which it directed itself: 

1. Objectives of the educational program. 

2. Student clientele. 

3. Adequacy of staff including levels of preparation and 
compensation. 

4. Adequacy of physical plant and equipment. 

5. Efficiency ol business management. 

6. Program of financial support. 

This study involved only the faculty, and the final recommendations 
went to this group. The Trustees were not brought in; thus, the effort 
was not a fully definitive one. As a result of this study, several 
committees were established to work with the President concerning 
the size of the student body, the area of sophomore counseling, and the 
adequacy of the bookstore. Also growing out of this study, the 
curriculum committee was to effect an on-going program for 
evaluating requirements for admission; the public relations area was to 
be strengthened; a student-aid program based on need was endorsed; 
the efforts to improve both faculty compensation and opportunities 
for study leaves were commended; the policy of not allowing a major in 
education was approved; the library committee was asked to seek to 
have the library open for longer hours with trained personnel on duty; 
and a strong recommendation was adopted asking for a "combination 
post-office-mimeo-supply room to be operated under the supervision 
of the Business Manager's office with a competent staff employee and 
service throughout the day." The submitting of annual requests each 
spring for departmental needs also resulted from this study. President 
Alston took all these recommendations very seriously and over a 
period of time found ways and means to implement them, and in many 
instances far exceeded the expectations and hopes voiced in this self- 
study of the early 1950Y 

November 14, 1954, is a watershed date in the history of Agnes Scott 
College  a date of equal importance with July 17, 1889, when the 
little group first met to consider establishing a school in Decatur. On 



148 



November 14, 1954, Mrs. Frances Winship Walters died, and by her 
will Agnes Scott became the residuary legatee of her estate. At the time 
of her death, Mrs. Walters 1 bequest amounted to over four and a 
quarter million dollars more than doubling the College's 

endowment. The Walters Fund, which is maintained as a separate 
entity in Agnes Scott's endowment portfolio, has today a value of over 
$30,000,000. President Emeritus McCain called Mrs. Walters the 
second founder of Agnes Scott  and indeed she was! 

Mary Frances Winship was born in Atlanta on September 25, 1 878. 
She was the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Winship and 
grew up in the Inman Park section of the city. She enrolled in Agnes 
Scott Institute in the autumn of 1 892 and continued for two years until 
the spring of 1894. On October 2, 1900, she was married to George C. 
Walters, and every evidence indicates that this union was a very happy 
one. Young George Walters died after a brief illness in 1914, and 
thereafter his wife remained faithful to his memory and never re- 
married, living as a childless widow for forty years. Mrs. Walters made 
her first gift to Agnes Scott in 1920 when she contributed $1,000 to 
establish the George C. Walters Scholarship -- later augmented to 
$5,000. In 1940 she gave $50,000 to set up the Frances Winship Walters 
Foundation at Agnes Scott. She contributed twice toward the erection 
of Hopkins Hall, provided the funds for the McCain Entrance to the 
front campus, and in 1949 gave the money to build and equip the 
infirmary (see p. 121). The memorial adopted by the Trustees on 
December 13, 1954, reads, "She never waited to be asked for support, 
but always volunteered her generous donations." In 1937 Mrs. Walters 
was elected a trustee of Agnes Scott, and in 1947 the Board named her 
its vice chairman, a post she filled until her death. Dr. McCain has 
commented that during the dark, post-depression days, she called him 
one day to encourage him by telling him that she was including Agnes 
Scott in her will. However, it was the seventy-fifth anniversary 
development program, projected in the first year of President Alston's 
administration, that opened up for Mrs. Walters what a really 
substantial legacy could do for Agnes Scott. She was an "insider" in 
the group that drew up this development plan, and she apparently 
caught a new vision of the kind of college her alma mater could 
become, provided the necessary funds were available. As a result, she 
re-wrote her will and made Agnes Scott her residuary legatee. Mrs. 
Walters very wisely divided her bequest into two equal parts. One part 
came immediately to the College; however, in order to receive the 



149 



second part, Agnes Scott was required to match its corpus dollar for 
dollar with new money. Meanwhile, as this matching process was 
going on, the College received the income from the total legacy. Suffice 
it to say, through gifts received during the seventy-fifth anniversary 
campaign, Agnes Scott met the terms of the matching provisions in 
full. 

Two other bequests that came to Agnes Scott in the early 1950's 
should be noted, particularly in that they came from faculty members. 
On February 27, 1952, death came for Dr. Elizabeth Fuller Jackson, 
who was a member of the Department of History from 1923 until 1952. 
By the terms of Professor Jackson's will, the College was the residuary 
legatee of her estate, a bequest which amounted to more than $78,000. 
In like manner, Agnes Scott received the residuum from the estate of 
Dr. Mary Frances Sweet who served as College Physician and 
Professor of Physiology and Hygiene from 1 908 until her retirement in 
1937. Until her death in 1954 she continued to live on the campus, 
blessing all who had contacts with her. The resolutions adopted by the 
Board of Trustees at the time of her death called her one of the "greats" 
in Agnes Scott's history. By the terms of Dr. Sweet's will the College 
received more than $183,000. 

In late 1955 the Ford Foundation announced a gift of $210,000,000 
to be distributed among America's 6 1 5 fully accredited private colleges 
and universities, the amount each institution received to be 
approximately that of its " 1 954-55 payroll for full-time teachers in the 
Arts and Sciences. In addition, 126 carefully chosen colleges and 
universities [were] given Accomplishment Grants." The statement 
from the Ford Foundation concerning these 126 Accomplishment 
Grant institutions reads as follows: 

The colleges and universities offered grants under the latter 
(Accomplishment Grant) programs are those which appear, 
among the institutions of similar type in their regions, to have 
made outstanding effort throughout the period since World War 
II to raise the economic level of their teachers and to recognize in 
other ways the central importance of the faculty in the educational 
process. 

Agnes Scott was understandably gratified to be the recipient of both 
types of grant, the total amounting to $285,300 to be used to provide 
endowment income for improving faculty salaries. 

In this connection, it is interesting to note that in the first five years 
of President Alston's administration the minimum salaries for each 



150 



faculty rank increased by the following percentages: "professor, 41%,; 
associate professor, 46%; assistant professor, 57.7%; instructor, 
54.7%." It is not surprising then that Agnes Scott was among the 126 
institutions receiving a Ford Accomplishment Grant. 

Another significant step of this period was Agnes Scott's 
introduction of the tests of the College Entrance Examination Board 
as one of the criteria in the admission of students. In June of 1954, 
Dean Stukes reported to the Trustees that all "new students accepted 
thus far for 1954-1955 have taken these national examinations." 

Because of the increasing number of applicants and because of the 
need for housing students in facilities other than the "cottages," there 
was an increasing necessity that the College build another large 
dormitory. Mrs. Walters fully understood this need, and prior to her 
death she had committed herself to provide the funds for this building 
and had even selected its site. Thus, subsequent to her death, the 
Trustees took immediate steps to carry out her plans. On December 
13, 1954, the Board in a special meeting unanimously adopted this 
recommendation from its Finance Committee and the administration: 

In view of the College's critical need for a new dormitory and 
Mrs. Walters' explicit desire and intention, the Finance Commitee 
joins with the Administration of the College in making the 
following recommendations to a special meeting of the Board of 
Trustees called for December 13, 1954: 

1. That we proceed as soon as feasible to erect and 
furnish adequately the new dormitory as planned by 
the Administration working with Ivy and Crook, 
Architects, and Barge-Thompson, Builders. 

2. That the new dormitory be named the "Frances 
Winship Walters Hall," dedicated to the memory of 
Mr. and Mrs. George C. Walters. 

3. That the dormitory be financed by involving part or all 
of the income from the Walters' estate for the period 
necessary to pay for the enterprise, and that the 
Officers of the College be authorized to borrow from 
the Trust Company of Georgia sufficient funds to erect 
the dormitory and acquire the necessary or desirable 
furnishings, and to repay the same from the income of 
the Walters' estate or trust. 

Walters Hall was completed in time to be used at the beginning of the 
1956-1957 session. Its approximate cost was $700,000. It 
accommodated 146 students plus the requisite senior residents. It also 



15; 



provided both a suite for College guests and a large recreation area. To 
make room for Walters Hall, it was necessary to raze both the Lowry 
Science Hall, which was no longer used, and the Mary Sweet Cottage, 
the name given to the old infirmary. The erection of Walters Hall also 
permitted the College to raze both Boyd and West Lawn Cottages as 
well as to convert other cottages for faculty housing and to utilize 
Lupton as a faculty club. 

During this same period extensive renovations were carried out in 
Main, Rebekah Scott, and Inman. These rather costly renovations 
were necessary to bring these three dormitories up to the standards of 
the Fire Marshal of Georgia. Also as a part of general improvements, 
these years saw the conversion of the boilers in the steam plant from 
coal to oil and gas. 

A situation freighted with tremendous significance developed in the 
spring of 1956. President Alston had followed the usual practice of 
inviting the baccalaureate preacher well in advance (in this instance 1 8 
months). For the 1956 commencement the person selected was the 
eminent theologian Nels F.S. Ferre', Professor of Philosophical 
Theology in the Divinity School of Vanderbilt University. Many 
months before Commencement, Professor Ferre' accepted Agnes 
Scott's invitation. Some weeks prior to the Commencement season, 
two long-time Trustees of the College requested that the President 
cancel the invitation to Dr. Ferre' on the grounds that his beliefs, 
doctrines, and writings were not theologically "sound." The demands 
of these two trustees were so serious and insistent that Acting Board 
Chairman George W. Woodruff (Chairman Winship was mortally ill.) 
appointed a special committee "to study criticisms of the writings of 
Dr. Ferre' and to consider the advisability of his appearing for his 
engagement in June." At the annual meeting of the Board on May 1 1, 
1956, this committee presented its findings and recommendations: 

Your Committee has been informed that a request to cancel the 
engagement with Dr. Nels F.S. Ferre, as Baccalaureate Speaker 
for the Class of 1956, of Agnes Scott College, has been presented 
to the officials of the College by two respected Trustees, by a 
petition signed by sixteen alumnae and friends of the College, by 
the urgent demand of a small group of interested friends in the 
Atlanta area, and by a few anonymous letters and telephone calls. 
It has further been informed that this request for the cancellation 
of Dr. Ferre's engagement is on the grounds that he is a 
blasphemer of Christ and a person unfit to appear at Agnes Scott 
College. The Committee has read rather widely distributed 



152 



pamphlets attacking the Christian theology of Dr. Nels F.S. 
Ferre, which pamphlets have been cited by the above-mentioned 
groups. We find them to be, in part, an attack on the National and 
World Council of Churches, which Councils the pamphlets 
declare to be apostate, with the specific criticism of Dr. Ferre as 
one who is 'highly recommended by practically every high official' 
of these Councils. We have read the quotations from Dr. Ferre's 
works, set forth in these pamphlets, and have read them within the 
context in which Dr. Ferre wrote them. It is our conviction that 
the attacks and criticisms of these pamphlets are unjust and 
misleading since the meaning of most of the statements quoted 
from Dr. Ferre's writings is limited or perverted by their being 
lifted out of the context in which they were originally written. We 
recognize that it is easy to lift quotations from writings, which 
quotations thus lifted, completely misrepresent the meaning the 
author intended to convey. 

We recognize that there are elements in Dr. Ferre's thinking 
which may not be in complete accord with the theological position 
of members of the Board, the Administration, or the Faculty of 
Agnes Scott College. However, we in no way agree that Dr. Ferre 
is a blasphemer of Christ, or is in any manner unfit to appear at 
Agnes Scott College as a speaker. We recognize that Agnes Scott 
has been, and continues to be, a Christian liberal arts college with 
emphasis in its curricula and in its devotional life on evangelical 
Protestant Christianity. We also recognize the long established 
policy of academic freedom in which preachers and lecturers have 
been, and continue to be, invited to speak on the campus of Agnes 
Scott, expressing a variety of theological, educational, philo- 
sophical, economic, and political points of view. We believe such a 
policy of academic freedom is consistent with the position of 
Agnes Scott as a Christian college and essential to the adequate 
liberal arts training of our students. We reaffirm our opposition to 
the view that students, in their Christian academic training, must 
be protected from reading or hearing points of view not in accord 
with the particular theological position of members of the Board 
and Administration and of the Church with which Agnes Scott 
College has been long associated. 

We, therefore, recommend to the Board of Trustees of Agnes 
Scott College that the Board support the Administration in its 
refusal to cancel its invitation to Dr. Nels F.S. Ferre to be the 
Baccalaureate Speaker for the Graduating Class of 1956. 

We further recommend that the Board reaffirm its unbroken 
policy of inviting to the campus lecturers and speakers who are 
leaders in their respective fields of endeavor, with the confidence 
that the Administration of the College will exercise all possible 
wisdom and discrimination in such invitations, constantly 
keeping in mind that the College exists to develop Christian 



153 



character to the glory of God. It is specifically understood that (as 
in all the past) such invitations do not imply complete 
endorsement or approval of all that the lecturers or speakers have 
to say. 

Respectfully submitted, 

(signed) J.R. McCain 

(signed) John A. Sibley 

(signed) Harry A. Fifield, Chairman 

As an addenda to the report, Dr. Fifield, who was minister of 
Atlanta's First Presbyterian Church, informed the Board that 
subsequent to the completion of the report, twenty-three elders of the 
Decatur Presbyterian Church had signed a petition "urging the 
cancellation of Dr. Ferrers engagement." Dr. Fifield moved the 
adoption of the report, and Trustee John C. Henley, III, of 
Birmingham seconded the motion. After voting down a substitute 
motion to rescind the invitation, the Board overwhelmingly voted to 
adopt the committee's report (20 votes for  2 against). This action by 
the Trustees was a great victory for the College. It meant that Agnes 
Scott was a place where all points of view might be heard and that 
censorship of the choice of speakers was not to be countenanced. The 
Board's action was also a ringing endorsement of confidence in 
President Alston and his leadership. 

All through this episode Acting Board Chairman George W. 
Woodruff evidenced wisdom of the highest order. His steadying 
influence on the Trustees and his fairness in approaching the whole 
matter place the College forever in his debt. 

On the afternoon of the day the Trustees met, the faculty held its 
regular monthly meeting at which time President Alston informed the 
group of the Board's action concerning the invitation to Dr. Ferre' and 
shared with them the report which the Trustees had adopted. At the 
conclusion of the President's summary, on motion by Professor Emma 
May Laney, the faculty gave a rising vote of thanks. Subsequently, on 
May 17, 1956, the faculty met voluntarily and unofficially, the 
President not being in attendance, and adopted the following 
resolution: 

The faculty of Agnes Scott College wishes to convey to the Board 
of Trustees its profound appreciation of the firm stand which the 
Board has taken on the matter of the invitation to Nels F.S. Ferre'. 
We all rejoice in the strong re-affirmation by the Board of the 
principles of academic freedom, and we as a faculty pledge our 



154 



continuing loyalty to the convictions expressed in the resolution 
of the Board concerning the purpose and function of the College 
as a liberal arts institution with an avowed Christian commitment. 
We are grateful for the privilege of having our part in the life and 
work of the College under such leadership as has been exercised in 
this situation and look forward to continued happy relationships 
under the leadership of the Board of Trustees and the President. 

The committee appointed to communicate this resolution to the 
Trustees consisted of Professors Emma May Laney, chairman, 
Catherine S. Sims, Paul L. Garber, and Henry A. Robinson. 

Prior to the Board meeting on May 1 1, 1956, Agnes Scott had no 
official statement on academic freedom as applied to the faculty. At 
that meeting the Trustees approved the following statement, written 
by President Alston, as the College's position on academic freedom: 

We are proud of a tradition that assumes and safeguards the 
freedom of the faculty members to think, to speak, to write, and to 
act. It is expected that faculty members will exercise this freedom 
with due regard for the purposes and ideals of the College, with 
common sense, and with a maturity that discriminates between 
the irresponsibility of license and the responsibility of true liberty. 

This particular statement of the Board was followed up by an 
equally unequivocal statement by the President concerning his 
conviction that faculty and staff members should support the 
Christian purposes and ideals of Agnes Scott: 

The faculty and staff members at Agnes Scott support 
wholeheartedly the Christian ideals of the College and the 
religious program that is integrated with the whole academic 
procedure. The long-time policy of the College is to choose only 
those who are sincerely committed to Jesus Christ as Lord and 
Saviour, encouraging them to affiliate actively in the church of 
their choice in this community. While it is true that the President 
of the College, under the rules of the Board, is required to sign a 
theological and ecclesiastical credo, there is absolutely no 
theological or ecclesiastical requirement of a member of our 
faculty or staff. It seems to me that this practice is in line with the 
ideals and purposes of the College. It is my recommendation that 
the Board reaffirm this policy and that the President be 
authorized to make use of this statement [the one on academic 
freedom] at his discretion. It is my firm intention, no matter how 
scarce teaching personnel may become, to continue to use this 
criterion (i.e. to find people committed to the Christian faith and 
practice) in the selection of those who are brought to Agnes Scott. 



155 



It is, of course, no surprise that the Trustees endorsed this practice and 
intention of the President. 

As has already been set forth (see p. 34), the birthday of George 
Washington Scott (Februrary 22) was designated as Founder's Day at 
the College. For many years this date was celebrated as a holiday; 
however, the Board at its annual spring meeting of 1956 directed that 
"the College discontinue Founder's Day (February 22) as a holiday, 
effective in 1957, in order that the day be observed in a more significant 
fashion and also to add a much needed day of class work for the winter 
quarter." 

On June 20, 1956, Mr. George Winship died after a long illness. He 
had become a member of the Board of Trustees in 1931 and had been 
elected chairman in 1938, a position he filled continuously until his 
death. The official statement of appreciation of Mr. Winship is quoted 
herewith in full: 

GEORGE WINSHIP 

The death of George Winship on June 20, 1956, removed from 
Atlanta and Georgia one of our great leaders. He was in his 72nd 
year, and his life had been full of service. In his own business he 
had been quite successful, and he had been called to serve as 
director in many other important enterprises. 

He will be longest remembered in the community for his 
services to the church and to several educational institutions. In 
all those relations, he gave unstintingly of his time, thought, 
prayers and his own personaltiy. 

Agnes Scott College has the greatest cause to be thankful for 
him. He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for eighteen 
of its most fruitful years. He was the fifth Chairman in the sixty- 
seven years of the College, and one of the very best. 

Mr. Winship was elected to membership on the Board on May 
29, 193 1 , in the midst of the depression years. Almost immediately 
he was asked to lead one of the most difficult campaigns ever 
undertaken by Agnes Scott, and it was a great success. He served 
as chairman of the other three large campaigns while he was a 
member of the Board, and all of them exceeded their goals. 

On the death of Mr. J.K. Orr, Mr. Winship was chosen as 
Chairman of the Board on October 4, 1938, and continued until 
the time of his death. During this period of 18 years, the assets of 
the College increased from $3,500,000 to $12,500,000, and his 
strong leadership was most valuable in the growth. 

Among the notable buildings erected during his period as 
Chairman are Presser Hall, the Infirmary, Bradley Observatory, 



156 



Evans Dining Hall, Hopkins Hall, Campbell Science Building, 
and the new Walters Dormitory. In addition, Main Building, 
Inman, and Rebekah Scott were thoroughly renovated at a 
greater expense than their original cost. 

The trustees, faculty, students and alumnae enjoyed having Mr. 
Winship as their official head. He took a real interest in all groups 
and in many individuals. He was always on hand when needed, 
never missing a Board meeting or any important function which 
he was to share. He greeted the college community at the opening 
of each session, and delivered the diplomas with a happy smile to 
the graduates at commencement. 

He was quick to express his appreciation of any effort in behalf 
of Agnes Scott and was always steady and dependable in any time 
of stress or discouragement. His connection with the College was 
widely known and was a great asset to the institution. He valued 
the spiritual emphases on the campus and often spoke to others of 
them. 

He was always modest and retiring. He was a man of faith and 
of strong Christian character. His own character gave meaning to 
his efforts in character-building for others. The whole Agnes Scott 
family have lost a true friend and a great leader, and we will long 
honor his memory. 

On November 16, 1956, the Trustees in a called meeting elected Mr. 
Hal L. Smith to be the sixth chairman of the Board of Trustees  a 
post he was to hold until his resignation in 1973. The new chairman 
was a native Atlantan and a graduate of the Georgia Institute of 
Technology. At the time of his election, he was president of the John 
Smith Company, one of Atlanta's major automobile dealerships  a 
business which his grandfather and father had formerly headed and 
over which his son presently presides. Mr. Smith was for a number of 
years active in such local enterprises as the Georgia Tech National 
Alumni Association, the Atlanta Chapter of the American Red Cross, 
and the Community Chest. He also served a term as the President of 
the Atlanta Rotary Club and was for many years an elder in the First 
Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. He was likewise a long time director 
of the Atlanta Citizens and Southern National Bank. Mrs. Smith is the 
former Julia Thompson of Agnes Scotfs Class of 1931. For the next 
seventeen years Hal L. Smith played a major role in everything having 
to do with Agnes Scott. 

At the same meeting in which the Trustees elected Mr. Smith as 
chairman, the Board received a proposal from the Charles Loridans 
Foundation, Inc., offering to establish at Agnes Scott the Adeline 



157 



Arnold Loridans Chair of French in memory of the wife of Charles 
Loridans. The Trustees, with great appreciation, accepted this offer, 
which has been considerably augmented financially in ensuing years 
by this Foundation. Mrs. Loridans graduated from Agnes Scott 
Institute in 1901 and subsequently taught French in the Atlanta Public 
Schools. It was very appropriate that Agnes Scott's first named 
professorship should be in memory of an alumna. The Adeline Arnold 
Loridans Professorship through the years has ordinarily been held by 
the chairman of the Department of French. 

In the spring of 1957 an important change was made in the College 
calendar when Alumnae Day was shifted from commencement 
weekend to a date in April. For years Alumnae Day had been on the 
Saturday preceding baccalaureate Sunday and commencement 
Monday. After a careful investigation by the Executive Board of the 
Alumnae Association, the change of date was made. Understandably 
the seniors and their parents were on "center stage" at the 
commencement season. Also the returning alumnae merited full 
attention. It was, therefore, very difficult for the President, the Deans, 
and the faculty to concentrate appropriately on either group. The 
separation of these two events has proved through the years to be a 
very happy resolution of this dilemma. 

After forty-four years at Agnes Scott, Dean Samuel Guerry Stukes 
reached the mandatory retirement age on June 30, 1 957. Over the years 
Professor Stukes filled many posts, and at the time of his retirement he 
was Dean of the Faculty, Registrar, and Chairman of the Department 
of Psychology. March 29 was S.G. Stukes Day! Plans for this 
celebration had been in formulation since the preceding autumn, and 
everybody was aware of what was planned. The celebration was a 
surprise to him. A "this is your life" skit was presented in Gaines 
Chapel, followed by a luncheon in Evans Dining Hall. Then, after the 
luncheon, he was presented with a new automobile. The whole event 
was one of great fun and appreciation for an Agnes Scott "great." The 
editor of The Agnes Scott News had this comment: 

"We love you, Mr. Stukes." So read the dinner napkins at a 
recent festive occasion, and so run our sentiments. Never has there 
been a friend so consoling, or dean so deserving of love and praise. 
Six hundred strong, united in secret, then openly exultant, wejoin 
to express a portion of our gratitude to one who has ever given 
untiringly of himself in service to students and the college. Truly, 
there will never be another S.G. Stukes! 



58 



Also in tribute to Dean Stukes, the Trustees established three Samuel 
Guerry Stukes Scholarships. These scholarships are awarded each 
year to the "three students who rank first academically in the rising 
sophomore, junior, and senior classes." Receiving one of these 
scholarships is obviously one of the highest honors a student can 
achieve. It is highly fitting that Dean Stukes' memory is perpetuated in 
academic excellence. 

To fill the administrative vacancies occasioned by Professor Stukes' 
retirement, the Board of Trustees, on President Alston's 
recommendation, named Professor C. Benton Kline, Jr., to be Dean of 
the Faculty and Miss Laura Steele to be Registrar. Professor Kline had 
joined the Agnes Scott faculty in 1951 and had already proved to be 
one of the most effective teachers in the College, respected and 
admired by faculty and students alike. A graduate of the College of 
Wooster, he received graduate degrees from Princeton Theological 
Seminary and Yale, earning his Ph.D. degree from the last named 
institution. Miss Steele, an Agnes Scott graduate in the class of 1937, 
with a master's degree from Columbia University, was already 
Director of Admissions and Assistant Registrar. She just added 
another full-time job to those she already had. 

A post World War II development in American higher education 
was the establishment of state associations by non-tax supported 
colleges to appeal jointly to business and industry for contributions to 
the current operating budgets of colleges in their area. Legal 
interpretations of tax statutes had given the "green light" to businesses 
to make benevolent gifts from corporate earnings. Some method was, 
therefore, needed to provide businesses with a unified way to make 
gifts to independent higher education. The state association was the 
answer. Beginning in Indiana and spreading to Ohio and then to 
Pennsylvania, this idea soon caught on in many states. In fact by 1956 
there were such associations in thirty-nine states. The time seemed ripe 
for such an organization to be established in Georgia. Accordingly, in 
the spring of 1956 representatives from the then nine accredited private 
undergraduate colleges in Georgia met at Agnes Scott to initiate action 
looking to a Georgia organization. As a result of this meeting and 
subsequent ones, the Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges 
came into being, with Agnes Scott as a founding charter member. 
President Alston in his annual report for 1956-1957 wrote that the 
purpose of this Foundation "is the solicitation of monetary gifts to be 
shared by member institutions on a fixed formula basis (sixty percent 



159 



on an even basis, and forty per cent prorated on the basis of 
[undergraduate] enrollments at the individual institutions)." Initially 
the nine presidents themselves, in teams of two, did the soliciting. 
Gradually other persons, including business executives, also became 
solicitors. A central office was established, and funds came in and were 
distributed there. A member institution was in no way restricted in its 
own fund raising activities except that solictation for funds from 
businesses to support current operations had to be carried on through 
the Foundation. A college, however, was completely free to solicit 
businesses for capital purposes. Through the years the Georgia 
Foundation for Independent College has served and continues to serve 
a useful function. Agnes Scott has benefited both financially and 
otherwise from this working association with its sister accredited 
private colleges in the state. 

The great upsurge of students desiring to go to college which 
characterized the fifties and sixties was felt very markedly at Agnes 
Scott. Because there were many more applying than the College could 
possibly accommodate, the Admissions Committee was able to 
become increasingly selective. Mention has already been made that 
Agnes Scott had started using the tests of the College Entrance 
Examination Board as a criterion in determining admission. In time, 
the tests of the American College Testing Service were also used. In 
addition to the Scholastic Aptitude Tests, Agnes Scott began early to 
require three subject matter achievement tests, one of which had to be 
in English. Although standardized tests were becoming an important 
factor in a student's admission to Agnes Scott, the high school 
transcript still was the single most important element in the decision to 
admit an applicant. 

Two other developments in admissions are set forth in President 
Alston's annual report for 1957-1958. During that year the College 
implemented the Early Decision Plan which provided for acceptance 
of a limited number of "qualified" students prior to Christmas of their 
senior year in high school, provided up until that time Agnes Scott was 
their first and only choice of a college. This plan was being increasingly 
used by leading colleges and was designed to limit multiple 
applications and to reduce tension and uncertainty among good high 
school students during their senior year. 

At about this same time Agnes Scott also began to grant advanced 
placement to entering freshman who could demonstrate proficiency in 
college-level courses as a result of high school training. This plan 



160 



reduced needless duplication but did not shorten a student's time at 
Agnes Scott. It enabled her, however, to have opportunity to enrich 
her college program by taking additional elective courses. 

In 1957-1958 Agnes Scott became a member of the College 
Scholarship Service, an agency which enabled its member institutions 
to use the same standards in determining the financial need of 
applicants for scholarship aid. The College Scholarship Service has 
been and continues to be of tremendous assistance in enabling the 
College to apportion scholarship funds equitably on the basis of need. 

Too much praise cannot be accorded to Miss Laura Steele and the 
Admissions Committee as they coped with the augmented number of 
applications and tried to select those students who would do well at 
Agnes Scott. The whole application process was conducted on a highly 
personal basis. Each item of correspondence was handled in an 
individual way, such that many students came to think of Miss Steele 
as a real friend, deeply interested in them long before they ever entered 
Agnes Scott. 

The reader is aware that this section of this narrative concerns the 
1950's at Agnes Scott. One of the recurring events that made this 
decade memorable at the College was the annual visit of the 
distinguished American poet Robert Frost. He had first been on the 
campus in 1935 when, at the invitation of Professor Emma May 
Laney, he had come for a single lecture. He returned again for a similar 
engagement in 1940, and then beginning in 1945 he came every year 
thereafter through 1962 and was already scheduled to be here in 
January, 1963, the month of his death. All in all, Robert Frost visited 
Agnes Scott twenty times, the last eighteen visits being of several days' 
duration. While here, he would be "in residence" on campus  talking 
with faculty and students, autographing books, and generally making 
himself a felt presence. The high point of his visit was, of course, his 
public lecture when in Gaines Chapel he "said" his poetry to standing- 
room-only audiences. Beginning in 1952 and continuing until his last 
visit in 1962, he was the house guest of President and Mrs. Alston, and 
as a result they came to know him better than anyone else at Agnes 
Scott. After Mr. Frost's death President Alston with keen insight 
wrote of his recollections of the poet. These impressions may be read in 
Robert Frost: Read and Remembered, published by Agnes Scott in 1976. 

Shortly after Mr. Frost's first visit, he sent Professor Laney some 
autographed first editions of his poems  volumes which she very 
generously gave to the College library where they formed the nucleus 



161 



of what has developed into one of the most outstanding collections of 
Frost materials anywhere. The size and quality of the collection are 
largely the work of Edna Hanley Byers, who was the college librarian 
for thirty-seven years and whom Mr. Frost called his "indefatigable 
collector.'" It is highly appropriate that upon Mrs. Byers' retirement in 
1969 the College named the Robert Frost collection in her honor. One 
of the College's most prized possessions is a fine portrait of the poet 
painted by Ferdinand Warren, who was chairman of the Agnes Scott 
Department of Art from 1950 to 1969. Mr. Frost sat for the portrait 
during his visit in 1958, and the finished work was unveiled at Mr. 
Frost's public lecture in 1959, the poet and the artist standing together 
by the portrait at the time. 

In this same period, the Superior Court of DeKalb County in 
November, 1959, amended the charter of Agnes Scott College 
increasing the number of trustees from twenty-seven to thirty-two by 
the addition of spaces for five new corporate trustees. In all other 
respects the charter remained the same. 

Another development of 1959 was the establishment of a major 
medical program for employees of the College. This program ranks in 
importance with the retirement arrangements which had become 
effective some years before. Here are the details of the major medical 
recommendations that were adopted: 

1. That the College enter a new Blue Cross plan  the 30 day 
Preferred Contract. 

2. That the College contract with Home Life Insurance 
Company for a Major Medical plan on the Blue Cross base 
with provisions for $200.00 deductible and $10,000 
maximum. 

3. That the College pay the cost of Blue Cross for all 
individuals on annual contract (faculty status upon 
employment; non faculty after one year service). 

4. That the College pay the cost of Major Medical insurance 
for the same group on the same terms. 

5. That the College pay the cost of Blue Cross for families of 
employees on anuual contract. 

6. That the College pay the cost of Blue Cross for individual 
non-contract employees with 5 years' continuous 
satisfactory service as approved by the Business Manager. 

7. That Employees on annual contract be given the privilege of 
taking Major Medical coverage on their families under the 
terms of the plan. 



162 



8. That retired faculty and staff members who are presently 
subscribing to Blue Cross be covered on the new Blue Cross. 

9. That the Business Manager handle the operation of the plan, 
the Treasurer providing the payments for the College's share 
of costs on the required basis. 

So pleased were the faculty with these new fringe benefits that official 
resolutions were sent to the Board as follows: 

Whereas the new program of medical insurance greatly increases 
the financial and health security of the faculty and staff and their 
families, 

Whereas the new program of medical insurance demonstrates 
once again the great concern of the Trustees for the well being of 
the members of the college community, 

Therefore the Faculty extends heartfelt thanks to the Trustees. 

As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Board 
of Education in 1954, there was aroused, as everyone knows, much 
strong feeling and resistance particularly in the deep South. Georgia 
understandably was caught up in this movement so much so that as the 
decade of the fifties drew to a close there seemed to be a real likelihood 
that the State might abandon its program of public schools. This 
whole matter was of great concern to all, and no group was more 
troubled than those in the teaching profession. The Agnes Scott 
faculty, although not directly affected by the Supreme Court's ruling, 
was nevertheless convinced that the loss of public education would be 
a tragedy of the worst sort. Thus, unofficially and as individuals, 
Agnes Scott's teachers in December of 1958 prepared and signed a 
statement setting forth their conviction of the importance of 
preserving the public schools of Georgia. This statement was sent to 
the Atlanta newspapers, and on Sunday, December 14, 1958, appeared 
as a page-one article in the edition for that date. Here is the statement 
with the names of its signers: 

As members of the faculty of Agnes Scott College and citizens 
deeply concerned for the welfare of the South, we wish to express 
our earnest hope that the public schools will be preserved. We feel 
that closing them would be a major disaster to that region. 

We assent entirely to the warning published by the Emory 
faculty of the loss in people qualified for every sort of work 
demanding special training, which the suspension of public 
education would cause. 

Another even more far-reaching evil would be the spread of 
actual illiteracy. For the past fifty years we have struggled to build 



163 



up the public schools in order to combat exactly this handicap and 
to give every person the educational equipment to function as a 
citizen in a democracy. It seems the height of folly to jeopardize 
now the fruits of the struggle. The substitution of private for 
public schools, haphazard at best, would work a peculiar hardship 
on the children of parents with small incomes, who would be left 
largely without any schooling at all. Since numerically this group 
is far the largest in our population, a great proportion of our 
people would have little or no education. 

Furthermore, illiteracy is now a much more serious economic 
handicap than it was fifty years ago, when the society of the region 
was largely agrarian and much of the work was hand labor. In this 
day of mechanization there are very few jobs which can be 
performed by illiterates. The deterioration of the working group 
because of lack of education would make a still further gap 
between the per capita income of the region and that of the rest of 
the nation. 

We feel also that closing the schools and thus making idle a 
great number of boys and girls would be inviting them to turn 
their energies to mischief or more serious trouble making. This is 
said in no disparagement of our young people. There is real 
danger to the community in depriving any large group of its 
normal fruitful occupation. 

Any dislocation in our educational system would accelerate the 
migration from our region of its most gifted young people. We are 
just beginning to be able to hold them because of the influx of 
industry, which would itself be endangered by uncertainty about 
education and a supply of trained workers. 

It is sometimes said that if the schools close, they can be re- 
opened. But it is wishful thinking to suppose that the re-opening 
would be the simple performance of opening the doors. A closing 
of the schools for however brief a period would bring about the 
loss of the best teachers and of many students who would never 
return. Re-opening would mean starting again the whole arduous 
and costly process of building up the organization and 
establishing standards. 

We urge, therefore, that our public schools be kept functioning 
without any break in the continuity of their service, so essential to 
the very life of the community. 

FACULTY MEMBERS WHO SIGNED THE MANIFESTO 

John Louis Adams William A. Calder 

Mary Virginia Allen Kwai Sing Chang 

Ruth M. Banks Anne M. Christie 

Judith Berson Melissa A. Cilley 

Mary L. Boney Frances Clark 

Josephine Bridgman W. G. Cornelius 

Edna Hanley Byers Elizabeth A. Crigler 



164 



FACULTY MEMBERS Continued 



S. L. Doerpinghaus 
Mrs. Miriam K. Drucker 
Florene J. Dunstan 
Mrs. William C. Fox 
Jay C. Fuller 
Paul Leslie Garber 
Julia T. Gary 
Leslie J. Gaylord 
Lillian R. Gilbreath 
M. Kathryn Glick 
Mrs. Netta E. Gray 
Nancy Groseclose 
Roxie Hagopian 
Muriel Harn 
Irene L. Harris 
George P. Hayes 
Richard L. Henderson 
Marie Huper 
C. Benton Kline, Jr. 
Edward T. Ladd 
Ellen Douglass Leyburn 
Kay Manuel 
Raymond J. Martin 
Michael McDowell 
Kate McKemie 
W. Edward McNair 
Mildred R. Mell 
Timothy Miller 
lone Murphy 



Lillian Newman 
Katherine T. Omwake 
Rosemonde S. Peltz 
Margaret W. Pepperdene 
Margaret T. Phythian 
W.B. Posey 

Janef Newman Preston 
George E. Rice, Jr. 
Mary L. Rion 
Sara Ripy 
Henry A. Robinson 
Anne Martha Salyerds 
Carrie Scandrett 
Catherine S. Sims 
Anna Greene Smith 
Florence E. Smith 
Chloe Steel 
Laura Steele 
Koenraad W. Swart 
Pierre Thomas 
Margret G. Trotter 
Sara Tucker 
Merle G. Walker 
Ferdinand Warren 
Robert F. Westervelt 
Llewellyn Wilburn 
Roberta Winter 
Mrs. J. Harvey Young 
Elizabeth G. Zenn 



Since this statement was an expression from the faculty and not of 
the administration, President Alston was not asked to sign it, but his 
support was a felt force as is evidenced by his reaction: 

This statement, issued by members of the Agnes Scott faculty, 
has my complete approval. It comes voluntarily from honest and 
concerned members of the teaching profession who have 
evidenced their interest in the welfare of young people by their 
sacrificial and devoted service. It is a measured, realistic warning 
that closing our schools will prove to be an ill-considered action, 
destructive of the economic, intellectual, moral, and spiritual life 
of our state. 



165 



Hal L. Smith, chairman of the Board of Trustees, also endorsed the 
faculty's action when he issued the following comment: 

The statement that came from the members of the Agnes Scott 
faculty is a fine one. They have a perfect right to express their 
beliefs in this manner since Agnes Scott stands for academic 
freedom. 

It was not inspired by the administration of the college, but is an 
expression of the deep concern of the faculty members who have 
signed it. Speaking solely as an individual I concur with their 
position. 

President Emeritus McCain, who was at the time chairman of the 
Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, made this observation 
about the faculty statement: 

I quite approve of it. The emphasis is on a single point  the 
importance to education at all levels of the public schools of the 
State. 

There is no group of my acquaintance better qualified to testify 
on educational matters than the Agnes Scott Faculty. In academic 
training, in experience, in all tests of good citizenship, in unselfish 
and devoted service through teaching, and in other ways, they 
have proved to be wise and helpful counselors. 

Georgia's public schools were preserved. In a time of strain and 
stress, Agnes Scott's teachers spoke out with conviction and courage! 

In October of 1959 Agnes Scott was evaluated by a visiting team of 
educators from colleges related to the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States. When the visit was concluded, the Team filed its report 
with the Division of Higher Education of the denominational Board of 
Christian Education. The following paragraph from this report 
expressed the Team's judgment of the College: 

The Visitation Team concluded that the overall effectiveness of 
the college program was not due to the use of special techniques or 
devices, but rather to the honest administration of a simple basic 
curriculum dealing with fundamental matters of learning. As one 
member of the team put it, "There are no gimmicks or frills here." 
An observer hoping to find some unusual educational device 
responsible for the educational success of Agnes Scott would be 
disappointed. At heart it is the harmonious and effective 
combination of three elements: a dedicated and well trained 
faculty and administration, a very carefully selected student body, 
and the advantages of a splendid physical plant, including a fine 



166 



collection of library books and scientific equipment. It was 
evident in all of the discussions that the faculty and administration 
of Agnes Scott College believe in a liberal arts education within 
the Christian context and are dedicated to providing it for their 
students in a full and rich measure. The Team was impressed with 
the intelligence of the planning and the essential soundness of the 
constructive measures taken by administration and faculty. The 
students seemed unusually responsive to the challenge of 
becoming liberally educated; those with whom members of the 
Team talked were aggressive in their attitude toward the academic 
program in contrast to the passivity which is felt on other 
campuses. For the Agnes Scott student, "going to college" seems 
to have a significantly positive and genuine meaning. The care and 
foresight with which the construction of the campus buildings had 
been undertaken was clearly evident. Unusually good provision 
has been made in past years for equipping these buildings in the 
form of ample budgets for library and scientific materials. The 
present richness and variety of these collections is an eloquent 
tribute to the continuing and patient efforts of those in charge of 
the college program. The character of the physical plant was 
impressive, but the Visitation Team came to the conclusion that in 
the final analysis the real strength of Agnes Scott College rested in 
the character and intelligence of those who have been responsible 
for administering the policies of the school. It is to do no more 
than to state a simple fact to declare that they have done a splendid 
job. 

From the early days of the College, instruction in speech and drama 
had been a part of the curriculum of the English Department. By 
action of the Trustees in May, 1 960, this area of the academic program 
was established as a separate department and became the forerunner 
of the present Department of Theatre. 

President Alston in his report to the Board in the summer of 1960 
delineated with great perception the elements that he most desired for 
Agnes Scott's image. These aims and ideals and hopes were set forth in 
the President's own inimitable style: 

I 

Our educational responsibility is to continue to offer the 
bachelor of arts degree to young women in a relatively small 
student body (presently 640 students). 

II 

We are trying to provide a rich curriculum integrating the 
Christian interpretation of life with a high quality of academic 



( 67 



work in an environment where personal relationships among 
members of the educational community obtain. 

Ill 

We undertake to offer a liberal arts training that touches life 
vitally and determinatively. We are convinced that, so far from 
being visionary, vague, and unrelated to life, a liberal arts 
education ought to fit young people to live with themselves; it 
ought to contribute to marriage, to vocational success, and to 
good citizenship; it ought to help with the highest level of 
adjustment  the relationship of man with God. The type of 
education offered at Agnes Scott is predicated upon the 
conviction that a mind trained to think is essential if life is to be 
unfettered, rich and free. Moreover, as a liberal arts college, 
Agnes Scott tries to place at the disposal of the student some of the 
accumulated wealth of the ages, all the while attempting to guide 
the effort to acquire a working knowledge of the clues and the 
tools essential to an appreciation of the intellectual and spiritual 
treasures that so many are neglecting. 

IV 

Agnes Scott has always valued integrity in education. We have 
little faith in pedagogical gadgetry and novelty. We are interested 
in better teaching methods, new equipment, and certainly in 
improved library and laboratory facilities; but we are convinced 
that there is no substitute for the well-prepared student and the 
dedicated, competently trained teacher in the educational process. 
The account of Agnes Scott's rise to distinction as a college is the 
story of a faculty characterized by loyalty, commitment to high 
purposes and ideals, professional excellence, faithful and 
sacrificial service to young people. Good teaching is the 
indispensable heart and core of a great college. 

V 
In all of the procedures at Agnes Scott, academic and 
extracurricular, we are concerned with the whole person  her 
mind, her physical welfare, her social development, and her 
spiritual life. We consider that we have failed a student when we 
merely provide information without insight, facts with little 
increase in wisdom, fragments of knowledge with no real help in 
forming a whole view of reality, and stimulation of the intellect 
with no compelling motivation of will and molding of character. 
We believe profoundly in the validity of offering an academically 
demanding program of liberal studies in a community of 
Christian concern where personal relationships are both creative 
and satisfying. 



168 



VI 

The confrontation of a student with the insights of the Christian 
faith, with no effort at coercion but with respect for the 
personality of the student (which is an essential tenet of the 
Christian faith), is, we believe, an intgral part of our purpose as a 
college. Christian thought and action constitute a live option for 
intelligent people in a bewildering world. For a college with Agnes 
Scott's background and history to be indifferent to the task of 
making possible an acquaintance with classical Christianity and 
an encounter with God in Christ would be unpardonable. 

VII 

We believe that truth is of God and is imperious; that it 
transcends all attempts to codify and delimit it, all forms of 
partisanship, professionalism, and propagandizing zeal; and that 
it requires humility, honesty, courage, and patience of all who are 
concerned to discover it (even in approximation), understand it, 
and follow where it requires them to go in their thinking and 
living. Freedom of inquiry in the college community is a sine qua 
non. We are proud of a tradition that assumes and safeguards the 
freedom of faculty members to think, to speak, to write, and to 
act. It is expected that faculty members will exercise this freedom 
with due regard for the purposes and ideals of the college, with 
common sense, and with a maturity that discriminates between 
the irresponsibility of license and the responsibility of true liberty. 

So wrote the President in 1960. 

Mention has already been made of Agnes Scott's Seventy-fifth 
Anniversary Development Program  a program which the Board of 
Trustees adopted in 1953 and which had as its goal the adding of 
$ 1 0,025,000 to the College's resources by 1 964 (see pp. 1 39- 1 42). At the 
annual meeting of the Trustees in May, 1 957, this goal was augmented 
by $450,000 to make provisions for an additional dormitory, bringing 
the 75th anniversary target to $10,475,000. By the early part of 1959, 
without an intensive financial campaign, $6,500,000 of the total 
anniversary goal had been realized  thanks largely to the munificent 
bequest of Mrs. Frances Winship Walters in 1954. Thus, as Agnes 
Scott moved to the end of the sixth decade of the twentieth century, 
$4,000,000 in round figures remained to be raised, and the Trustees 
officially adopted this figure on March 13, 1959. The catalyst that 
finalized the goal was a conditional grant of $500,000 from an 
anonymous foundation, provided Agnes Scott raise $4,000,000 
between early 1959 and January 26, 1964. So, including this 
anonymous conditional grant, the total amount to be raised in the 
Seventy-fifth Anniversary Development Program now became 



169 



$11,000,000. Suffice it to say, by the College's 75th anniversary 
$12,767,479 was raised  but more of this later. 

Prior to entering an intensive campaign, the College engaged the 
firm of Marts and Lundy of New York to conduct a fund-raising 
survey to ascertain the feasibility for Agnes Scott to conduct a 
financial campaign among its constituency. A representative of Marts 
and Lundy conducted this survey in late 1958 not only on the campus 
and in Decatur and Atlanta but also in Charlotte, North Carolina, 
Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and New York, New York. 
As a result of this survey, Marts and Lundy recommended in early 
1959 "that Agnes Scott College begin at once to organize as fully as 
possible all the fund-raising procedures which will be useful in 
achieving the $4,000,000 fund to complete the 75th Anniversary 
Program." 

The Board of Trustees met on March 13, 1959, and 

. . . unanimously voted to set the goal for the capital funds 
effort of the next five years in the amount of $4,500,000. This 
decision was made in view of: 

a. The $4,000,000 balance to be raised in order that the 
college may complete the original development 
program that was begun in 1953 and 

b. The conditional grant from [an anonymous] 
Foundation in the amount of $500,000. 

As already stated, Agnes Scott was more than successful in reaching its 
anniversary goal. This account now directs itself to the way this goal 
was achieved. 

At the same meeting just referred to, the Trustees authorized the 
Development Committee to engage Marts and Lundy, Inc., to provide 
direction and assistance to the intensive campaign to be launched in 

1960. On January 1 of that year Mr. William C. French, a 
representative of Marts and Lundy, Inc., set up his office on the 
campus and remained in residence for eighteen months until June 30, 

1961. About two-thirds of the area campaigns were completed by the 
time Mr. French concluded his stay at Agnes Scott, and the remainder 
of these campaigns were completed in 1961 and 1962 by the present 
writer, who at the time was the College's Director of Public Relations 
and Development. 

Initially, under Mr. French's direction, printed materials were 
published, lists of prospects were compiled, mailing procedures were 



170 



instituted, and a campaign organization was established. Also a very 
effective campaign film "Quest for Greatness" was prepared. 

On invitation from President Alston, Mr. Robert Frost graciously 
consented to be the honorary chairman of this financial effort. Mr. 
John A Sibley, trustee of the College, and Mrs. Catherine Marshall 
LeSourd, '36, trustee and well-known author, were honorary co- 
chairmen; and Mr. Hal L. Smith, chairman of the Board of Trustees, 
served as active chairman of the campaign. Working with Mr. Smith 
were three vice chairmen: Ivan Allen, Jr., R. Howard Dobbs, Jr., and 
J.R. McCain. For the Atlanta part of the campaign the chairman for 
special gifts was Charles E. Thwaite, Jr., and the co-chairmen for gifts 
from business and industry were I.M. Sheffield, Jr., and Paul E. 
Manners. In addition, there was an overall steering committee 
consisting of the following: 

Ivan Allen, Jr. Atlanta, Georgia 

D. Brantley Burns Knoxville, Tennessee 

Marshall C. Dendy Richmond, Virginia 

R. Howard Dobbs Atlanta, Georgia 

Eleanor N. Hutchens, '40 Huntsville, Alabama 

Mary Wallace Kirk, '11 Tuscumbia, Alabama 

Isabella Wilson Lewis, '34 Decatur, Georgia 

J. R. McCain Decatur, Georgia 

J. R. Neal Atlanta, Georgia 

Mary Warren Read, '29 Atlanta, Georgia 

John A. Sibley Atlanta, Georgia 

Hal L. Smith Atlanta, Georgia 

William C. Wardlaw, Jr. Atlanta, Georgia 

G. Lamar Westcott Dalton, Georgia 

Diana Dyer Wilson, '32 Winston-Salem, 

North Carolina 

George W. Woodruff Atlanta, Georgia 

Wallace M. Alston, ex officio Decatur, Georgia 

The campaign began on the campus on April 5, 1960, under the 
leadership of Professor Llewellyn Wilburn, '19, and Mary Hart 
Richardson, President of the Mortar Board chapter and a member of 
the class of 1960. A goal of $75,000 was set. When the campus effort 
concluded on April 20, President Alston announced that the students, 
faculty, staff, and other employees had subscribed approximately 
$104,000. As a reward, a holiday was granted for April 25. 

The campaign then proceeded to forty-five area centers scattered 
over a large part of the United States, wherever there was a 



171 



concentration of Agnes Scott alumnae. In each instance there was an 
area chairman, who, assisted by the campaign director, set up an 
organization of team captains and workers. There were advance 
training sessions and follow-up report sessions. The high point of each 
area campaign was a dinner at which the local chairman presided, and 
the campaign film was shown. President Alston attended and spoke at 
every dinner except two (The death of his mother prevented him from 
being present in these two instances.); Dean Carrie Scandrett 
represented him at these two dinners. It was the good fortune of this 
writer to attend every dinner, except one. These area campaigns were 
spread over a two-year period from the spring of 1960 to the spring of 
1 962. The debt of the College to these area chairmen and their workers 
can only be acknowledged  never repaid. Their service to Agnes 
Scott was tremendous. Here are the names of these chairmen and the 
area for which each was responsible: 



Celia Spiro Aidinoff, '51 

Nancy Parks Anderson, '49 

Augusta King Brumby, '36 

Kathleen Buchanan Cabell, '47 

Marion Black Cantelou, '15 

Anna Marie Landress Cate, '21 

Jane Puckett Chumbley, '52 

Jane Crook Cunningham, '54 

Susan Lawton Daugherty, '48 

Ann Herman Dunwoody, '52 

Frances Bitzer Edson, '25 

Sarah Stansel Felts, '21 

Margaret Powell Flowers, '44 

Julia Grimmet Fortson, '32 

Helen Claire Fox, '29 

Mary Jane Knight Frazer (parent) 

Sybil Annette Grant, '34 

Ruth Conant Green, '32 

Mary Catherine Vinsant Grymes, '46 

Louise Sams Hardy, '41 

Louise Hertwig Hayes, '51 

Mary Helen Phillips Hearn, '49 

Fannie Bachman Harris Jones, '37 
Mitzi Kiser Law, '54 
Marie Geraldine LeMay, '29 
Marjorie Wilson Ligon, '43 
Mary Jane Auld Linker, '43 



New York, New York 
Augusta, Georgia 
Miami, Florida 
Richmond, Virginia 
Montgomery, Alabama 
Nashville, Tennessee 
Asheville, North Carolina 
Charlotte, North Carolina 
Athens, Georgia 
Macon, Georgia 
Birmingham, Alabama 
Chattanooga, Tennessee 
Thomasville, Georgia 
Shreveport, Louisiana 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
Mobile, Alabama 
Washington, D.C. 
Louisville, Kentucky 
Memphis, Tennessee 
Jackson, Mississippi 
Marietta, Georgia 
College Park- 
East Point, Georgia 
Dalton-Rome, Georgia 
Northern New Jersey 
Savannah, Georgia 
Greenville, South Carolina 
Lynchburg, Virginia 



172 



Margaret Hopkins Martin, '40 
Margaret Patricia Home Martin, '47 
Joyce Roper McKey, '38 
Elsa Jacobsen Morris, '27 
Eugenia Slack Morse, '41 
Ruth Anderson O'Neal, '18 

Mary Louise Duffee Phillips, '44 
Betty Brown Ray, '48 
Mary Warren Reed, '29 
Barbara Connally Rogers, '44 
Helen Lane Comfort Sanders, '24 
Jean Robarts Seaton, '52 
Mary Amerine Stephens, '46 
Louise Reid Strickler, '46 
Mary Ellen Whetsell Timmons, '39 
Lura Johnston Watkins, '46 
Margaret Anne McMillan White, '55 
Diana Dyer Wilson, '32 



Jacksonville, Florida 
Dallas, Texas 
Orlando, Florida 
Los Angeles, California 
Decatur, Georgia 
Raleigh-Durham, 
North Carolina 
Columbus, Georgia 
Houston, Texas 
Atlanta, Georgia 
Tampa, Florida 
New Orleans, Louisiana 
San Francisco, California 
Little Rock, Arkansas 
Roanoke, Virginia 
Columbia, South Carolina 
Charleston, West Virginia 
Knoxville, Tennessee 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 



Understandably, one of the most important local campaigns was 
that conducted in Atlanta. After weeks of preparation and of 
recruiting and training of workers, this effort was launched at a gala 
dinner on February 28, 1961. The enthusiastic crowd filled the main 
ballroom of the Dinkier-Plaza Hotel, with student hostesses at each 
table. The College Glee Club performed with skill, and the long 
speaker's table was graced by most of the Board of Trustees and their 
spouses. Mr. Hal L. Smith, General Chairman of the total campaign, 
presided. The high point of the evening was an address by the Hon. 
John A. Sibley, long-time Agnes Scott trustee and the man considered 
by thousands to be Georgia's "first citizen" at that time. Mr. Sibley 
delivered an excellent speech entitled "The Unique Role of Agnes 
Scott College in Education Today" and set the stage for the Atlanta 
campaign, which was highly successful. 

By mid-summer of 1962, when all the area campaigns had been 
completed, Agnes Scott had raised $9,417,848.81 in cash and pledges 
since 1953 when the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Development Program 
began, with a remainder of $ 1 ,082, 1 5 1 . 1 9 to be secured by January 26, 
1964, if the College was to claim the anonymous challenge grant of 
$500,000. During the remaining months of 1962 and for all of 1963 a 
quiet but steady effort was made with individuals, businesses, and 
foundations such that, as 1964 approached, the goal was in sight. It 
was decided to have the final effort on the campus. A whole new 



73 



generation of students from those of the campus campaign of 1960 was 
now enrolled, and there were also a number of new faculty and staff 
members. This time the effort was chaired by Professor Walter B. 
Posey, chairman of the Department of History and Political Science, 
and by Sarah Hodges, president of Mortar Board and a member of the 
Class of 1 964. The campaign began on January 9, 1 964, and concluded 
on January 2 1 . The goal was $64,000. On the morning of January 22 at 
a Victory Convocation, President Alston announced that $83,888.98 
had been raised. This amount put Agnes Scott over the top in its 
eleven-year effort and enabled the College to claim in full the 
anonymous challenge offer. For that matter, when the whole Seventy- 
fifth Anniversary Development Program was totaled up in the 
summer of 1964, it was revealed that between 1953 and 1964 the 
College's assets had increased by $12,156,725.72 with $610,753.44 still 
outstanding in pledges, bringing the grand total of the effort to 
$12,767,479.16. Agnes Scott had won again! 

While the campaign was in full progress, the College in late 1961 
received its first application from a black student for admission in 
September, 1962. Almost immediately thereafter, four more such 
applications were received, and there were several inquiries from black 
students. At this time none of these applications was complete enough 
to be handled by the Admissions Committee. Convinced that the 
advice of the Trustees was needed in this situation, President Alston 
brought this matter before the Board's Executive Committee on 
December 15, 1961. At this meeting the Committee took action 
directing "That this and subsequent applications from Negro students 
be acknowledged and processed in the customary manner." The 
Executive Committee met again on January 4, 1962, and authorized a 
sub-committee to prepare a "clarification" of Agnes Scott's policy 
concerning admitting Negro students. This sub-committee consisted 
of Hal L. Smith, J.R. McCain, Alex P. Gaines, John A Sibley, and 
President Alston. The sub-committee's statement of clarification was 
approved by the Executive Committee on February 8, 1962, and was 
submitted to the full Board of Trustees on February 22 where it was 
overwhelmingly endorsed. Here is the statement: 

Applications for admission to Agnes Scott College are 
considered on evidence of the applicant's character, academic 
ability and interest, and readiness for effective participation in the 
life of our relatively small Christian college community that is 
largely residential. Applicants deemed best qualified on a 
consideration of a combination of these factors will be admitted 
without regard to their race, color, or creed. 



174 



Agnes Scott had never had any prohibitions against applicants on the 
basis of race, color, or creed. By this policy clarification the Board of 
Trustees simply re-stated what had all along been Agnes Scott's 
position. The first black student was admitted in the fall of 1965; the 
first black student to receive a degree from Agnes Scott graduated in 
1971. 

In 1959 the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools began a 
new procedure for evaluating its member institutions of higher 
education. A college or university was required every ten years to 
conduct an exhaustive in-depth self-study, followed by an evaluative 
visit from a team of educators appointed by the Commission on 
Higher Education of the Association. Prior to its visit, the team would 
carefully review the findings and recommendations of an institution's 
self-study and then spend several days at the college or university 
inspecting, probing, verifying. Following such a visit, the team would 
prepare a written report and recommend whether an institution's 
accreditation should be continued. 

In January, 1961, Agnes Scott began a detailed self-study 
preparatory for a visiting team's evaluation in early 1963. Under the 
leadership of Dean of the Faculty C. Benton Kline, Jr., the entire 
Agnes Scott constituency  trustees, administrators, faculty, 
students, alumnae  became involved. Understandably the faculty 
took the leading roll in this evaluation. The results of this self-study 
were published in two sizeable volumes  one the narrative report and 
the other the results of questionnaires and statistics supporting the 
narrative. In volume one of the report, one may read this excellent 
summary of the method of the study: 

Agnes Scott's Self-Study for the Southern Association has been 
planned since the I.S.S.V. program was first announced. The 
steering committee was appointed in the late fall of 1960 and 
began to outline the procedures. Sub-committees in six areas 
[purpose, financial resources, educational program, library, 
faculty, student personnel] were appointed in the winter of 1961. 
All committees were composed of faculty and students as well as 
alumnae. These committees organized their work immediately. 
Departmental self-studies were carried on in the spring of 1961, 
with both faculty members and senior majors participating by 
questionnaires. Special studies of the independent study program 
and of the teacher-education program were made. All student 
organizations made self-studies and prepared reports. The sub- 
committee on purpose prepared a working statement for the use 
of other sub-committees. 



75 



During the summer of 1961, questionnaires prepared by the 
sub-committees were edited. In the fall of 1961, two long 
questionnaires were filled out by faculty members  one for the 
sub-committee on faculty, and one on educational program, 
library, and student personnel. During the same period, two 
extensive questionnaires were filled out by all students  one for 
the student personnel committee, and one on educational 
program and library. The reports and tabulations of these 
questionnaires are available as an appendix to the Self-Study 
Report. Other data were gathered from library staff and 
administrative personnel. A detailed questionnaire was sent to 
graduates of four classes, and a more general questionnaire to all 
alumnae. The winter and early spring of 1962 were devoted to 
study of data and the writing of the reports. Reports from all areas 
except financial resources were reviewed by the steering 
committee in the late spring of 1 962. The reports were edited in the 
summer of 1962 by the chairman, although some sections were 
being revised during the summer and early Fall. Final review by 
the steering committee was completed in the fall of 1962 and 
winter of 1963. 

The visiting team arrived in February, 1963. Its members were: 

John R. Hubbard, Dean of Newcomb College, Tulane University 
Sara L. Healy, Dean of Women, University of Alabama 
Marguerite Roberts, Dean of Westhampton College, University 
of Richmond 

James A. Servies, Jr., Librarian, College of William and Mary 
Edwin R. Walker, President, Queens College 

Dean Hubbard served as chairman of this team. 

After the visit which lasted three days, the visitors prepared their 
report and filed it with the Southern Association. A copy was also sent 
to President Alston for such use as he chose to make of it. Needless to 
say, Agnes Scott's accreditation was completely re-affirmed. For that 
matter, one paragraph in the visiting committee's report well 
summarizes its findings: 

That Agnes Scott is a college for women is self-evident. That it 
is a liberal arts college in the best sense of the term becomes 
quickly evident from an examination of the curriculum leading to 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts, the only degree granted. The 
degree is an honest one; vocational or vocationally oriented 
subjects have not made inroads into the curriculum, and every 
graduate has had experience in depth in the core subject-matter 
areas generally encompassed in a liberal arts program. Breadth is 
assured by the distributional requirements. In brief, the 



176 



Committee feels that Agnes Scott is in a gratifying way pretty 
largely what it sets itself out to be; it is probably a good deal more, 
but there was not the slightest evidence that it is anything less. 

Mention has been made earlier of the College's annual alumnae 
giving program which was begun in 1944 (see pp. 1 19-120). Through 
the years between 1944 and 1960, this alumnae fund developed fairly 
well and brought in welcome revenue. In 1960, however, on the advice 
of Agnes Scott's campaign fund-raising consultant, this annual giving 
program was merged into the capital funds effort for the seventy-fifth 
anniversary campaign. Thus, when the intensive phase of the capital 
funds campaign was concluded, the College was confronted with the 
necessity of almost beginning all over again its annual giving program. 
This time the decision was made to make annual giving a program of 
much larger scope than formerly. A whole series of efforts were now to 
be pulled together in what was to be known as the Agnes Scott Fund. 
Constituent thrusts of the Agnes Scott Fund would be directed not 
only to alumnae but also to parents, friends, foundations, and business 
and industry. Gradually over several years the Agnes Scott Fund 
became fully operative, with class chairmen and class agents among 
the alumnae and with other carefully designed appeals planned by the 
Development Office. The new program has been increasingly 
successful, such that for the 1 980- 1981 fiscal year the amount received 
in gifts and grants for the current operating budget totaled $249,363. 
In this same year (the most recent one for which figures are available) 
Agnes Scott realized from gifts and grants a grand total of $ 1 ,097,4 1 9. 
The Agnes Scott Fund has now become one of the basic sources of 
annual revenue for the College. 

In the midst of the final stages of the campaign, Mr. J.C. Tart 
reached the mandatory age for retirement. His service as treasurer 
spanned the period from 1914 to 1962, forty-eight years  one of the 
longest tenures in Agnes Scott's history. He was succeeded by Mr. 
Richard C. Bahr. 

Also the summer of 1963 saw the completion of a new dormitory 
named Winship Hall "in honor of the Winship family, and particularly 
in grateful recognition of the distinguished service rendered to Agnes 
Scott by the late George Winship, chairman of the Board during the 
years 1938-1956." The building makes provision for 146 students and 3 
residents and also has a large and well-appointed reception area. The 
firm of Ivey and Crook served as architects, and the builder was Barge 



177 



and Company of Atlanta. The approximate cost including furnishings 
was $700,000. 

In the minutes of the Trustees' Executive Committee for May 9, 
1963, there appears for the first time in the official records of the 
College a reference to student agitation to have the regulations 
changed concerning drinking alcoholic beverages and visiting 
unchaperoned in the living quarters of men. The President reported to 
the Executive Committee that questionnaires regarding these two 
matters had been circulated to students, their parents, and the faculty. 
Responses to these questionnaries were in hand, and the Committee 
voted to ask the Board to authorize a committee to study the whole 
question, including the answers to the questionnaires, and make 
recommendations. The records show that this action in no way 
diminished the full confidence which the Trustees had in the President 
and his administration. The committee subsequently named was 
chaired by Mr. Ben S. Gilmer and on August 28, 1963, brought its 
report to the Executive Committee acting for the Board. The report 
was unanimously adopted and was as follows: 

RESOLUTION 

of 

Special Study Committee, Board of Trustees 

Agnes Scott College 

WHEREAS: The students at Agnes Scott College, through their 
duly elected representatives and many as individuals on 
their own behalf, have raised the question of the need for 
revision in the rules of the College with respect to 
consumption of alcoholic beverages and inter-visitation, 
and 

WHEREAS: The administration of the College did circulate a 
questionnaire on this subject among the students, the 
students' parents, and the faculty for the purpose of 
determining the views of these groups on this question, and 

WHEREAS: The Board of Trustees of Agnes Scott College 
appointed a special committee composed of Trustees to 
study this whole matter, and 

WHEREAS: Said committee from the Board of Trustees has 
reviewed the summary of returned questionnaires, many of 
the individual questionnaires themselves, the rules of 
personal conduct included in this inquiry and the 
circumstances surrounding the need for such rules both in 
the past and as conditions obtain today, now therefore be it 



178 



RESOLVED: That the committee of Trustees appointed to study 
the rules of Agnes Scott College affecting personal conduct 
of students with reference to consumption of alcoholic 
beverages and inter-visitation recommend to the Board of 
Trustees of the College that it strongly reaffirm the two 
policies under consideration, these being 

1. that Agnes Scott students are not to drink alcoholic 
beverages while directly under the College's 
jurisdiction; 

2. that Agnes Scott students are not to visit men's living 
quarters (hotels, motels, apartments, etc.) individually 
or in groups (except under circumstances which, in the 
judgment of the dean of students, assure adequate 
protection to the students and to the good name of the 
College). 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That this committee 
recommends to the Board of Trustees that it support the 
administration of the College in the implementation of these 
policies. A suggested statement to this end follows: 

The Board of Trustees recognizes that the reaffirmation 
of these broad policies leaves matters of definition and 
implementation as heretofore, in the hands of the 
Administration, working with Student Government. Such 
decisions as the meaning and extent of "the College's 
jurisdiction" and "adequate protection, etc." will require 
careful consideration and determination, and, under- 
standably re-examination from time to time. The Board 
expresses confidence in the time-honored channels of proce- 
dure at Agnes Scott whereby Administration and Student 
Government define and enforce college policies. 

The Board is convinced that the governing body of a 
college, dedicated to the service of God and committed to 
the Christian education of young people, has the right and 
the duty to determine the policies that are needed in order to 
maintain and strengthen the college's academic, moral, and 
spiritual life and witness. We regard the broad policies 
covering the two matters under consideration as consistent 
with the purposes and standards of Agnes Scott College. We 
urge that students, prospective students, faculty and staff 
members be fully informed of the Board's position on 
drinking while students are under the College's jurisdiction 
and on visiting in men's living quarters. Furthermore, we 
expect good faith and cooperation in making these policies 
effective on the part of all who comprise the college 
community. Membership in Agnes Scott's academic 



179 



community should always be limited to those who willingly 
accept the obligations as well as the advantages of such a 
relationship. 

Since the Trustees' action left "matters of definition and imple- 
mentation ... in the hands of the Administration, working with 
Student Government," President Alston set up a faculty-student- 
administration committee to formulate a new statement of College 
policy concerning the use of alcoholic beverages by Agnes Scott 
students. The committee's statement was unanimously adopted by 
Representative Council of Student Government. On May 25, 1965, 
this statement was unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees 
and is as follows: 

POLICY REGARDING THE USE OF 
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES 

I 

Agnes Scott College does not approve the use of alcoholic 
beverages by students enrolled in the College. The College 
exercises full jurisdiction over the actions of students on the 
campus and on other campuses in the Greater Atlanta area. The 
College shares jurisdiction with parents when the student is away 
from the campus. In all circumstances, the student is responsible 
for her good behavior under the provisions of the Honor System. 

II 

Students are prohibited from the possession or use of alcoholic 
beverages on the Agnes Scott campus and at any function 
sponsored by Agnes Scott College or any organization within the 
College. 

Students are prohibited from the use of alcoholic beverages 
when representing the College or any organization in the College 
in the course of any official activity (conferences, debates, etc.). 

The use of alcoholic beverages by visitors on the campus and 
the possession of such beverages in College buildings is 
prohibited. Each student is responsible for seeing that her guests 
(dates, parents, etc.) abide by this regulation. 

Students are prohibited from the use of alcoholic beverages on 
any college or university campus in the Greater Atlanta area or at 
any event sponsored by these colleges and universities or any of 
their organizations (including fraternities). 

Ill 

Agnes Scott College recognizes that it shares with a student's 
parents the responsibility for her welfare in situations not directly 



180 



involved with the life of the campus or of other campuses in the 
Greater Atlanta area. In such situations, the College must assume 
that parental authority and counsel will be honored by the student 
in decisions concerning social drinking. 

Agnes Scott College expects her students to uphold the laws of 
the state. Under the statutes of the State of Georgia, a person 
under twenty-one can legally neither buy alcoholic beverages nor 
be served alcoholic drinks without written permission from her 
parents for each specific occasion. When a student is away from 
the College, she is expected to know and observe the laws of the 
state in which she is visiting. 

A student carries with her the name of the College at all times 
and is expected to maintain a high standard of conduct so that her 
behavior will not be subject to criticism or be in any way 
deterimental to the College, her fellow students, or herself. 

IV 

The College places reliance upon the honor and goodjudgment 
of students in their social life off campus (in the Greater Atlanta 
area and when visiting in other communities). This means that the 
student is expected to conduct herself in off-campus situations so 
that her behavior will be above reproach. It also means that when 
returning to the campus, she must be fully able to resume a 
normal, responsible place in the community. 

A student who abuses the College's confidence in her forfeits 
the privilege of membership in the Agnes Scott student body. 
Behavior contrary to the provisions of the policy stated above will 
be regarded as a major offense, and the student will be subject to 
suspension or expulsion from the College. 

Agnes Scott's policy regarding the use of alcoholic beverages 
puts major responsibility for a student's behavior in her own 
hands and in the hands of her fellow students, to whom and for 
whom each student has pledged her honor. 

Beginning on Founder's Day, February 22, 1964, and extending 
through the commencement season in the following June, Agnes Scott 
celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary. The expectation of the 
celebration was that its events would "point the college forward" to the 
final quarter of its first century. The observance began with a 
Founder's Day Thanksgiving Convocation. The scripture was Psalm 
1 03 read by Mr. Alex P. Gaines, a trustee of the College and grandson 
of Agnes Scott's first President; Dr. James Ross McCain, second 
President of the College, gave a brief review of the College's history; 
"God of the Marching Centuries" was sung. However, the high 
moment of the Convocation was President Alston's prayer of 
rededication. Here is that prayer: 



181 



Almighty God, our Father, Source of our life, Inspiration of 
our labors, and Goal of all our hopes and purposes - 

We rejoice in the knowledge that in Thee we live, and move, and 
have our being; that Thou hast created us for Thyself, so that our 
hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee; and that in Thy light 
we may see life clearly, and in Thy service find our freedom and 
Thy purpose for us. 

We offer up to Thee in this moment something that Thou hast 
loved and hast committed to us in sacred stewardship  a vine of 
Thine own planting, tended and nourished by Thy providential 
care since the day of small beginnings. 

We humbly and deliberately rededicate this college to Thy glory 
and to the service of mankind in the name and spirit of Jesus 
Christ. We gladly renew the vows of commitment to truth, 
solemnly assumed by those who have gone before us in the work 
of this institution. Grant to us, we pray, a full measure of devotion 
to excellence in scholarship, to integrity of life both in and out of 
the classroom, and to freedom of the mind and spirit in every 
aspect of our experience as a college. Grant to us the courage to be 
and to do what Thou dost expect of us. Forbid that we shall ever 
be afraid of that which is high, or distinctive, or difficult. Keep us 
from false pride in past achievements and from self-satisfaction 
and complacency in present responsibilities. Grant that we may 
continue to be dissatisfied with everything that is tawdry or 
shoddy, with premature arrangements and compromises that 
reduce tensions but that result in mediocrity. 

Help us to live a contemporary life, willing to face new issues 
and to discover new truth, holding fast that which is good out of 
the past, and faithfully conserving and interpreting to young 
people timeless truth and values. Grant that we may place our 
obligation to Thee above every other allegiance, no matter 
whether this appears to be popular or unpopular. May it please 
Thee, Our Father, to sustain and strengthen our intellectual and 
spiritual life so that our witness to the truth may be clear and 
strong. 

Accept our gratitude for every mercy of the past and present. 
Accept all that we have and all that we are, and consecrate our 
offering of this college to Thee that it may be acceptable as a torch 
of light and a means of blessing and hope in Thy Hands for all the 
tomorrows. 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord  Amen. 

Following the Convocation, the assemblage adjourned to Letitia Pate 
Evans Dining Hall where all enjoyed a huge birthday cake. 



182 



Between Founder's Day and Commencement, Agnes Scott, through 
the College Lecture Committee, presented to the campus and to the 
metropolitan community the following series of events which were 
exceedingly distinguished in scope and presentation: 

LECTURE, Wednesday, February 26, by Viktor E. Frankl, head 
of the neurological department at the Polyklinik Hospital at the 
University of Vienna. Dr. Frankl spoke on "Man in Search for 
Meaning." This distinguished Austrian psychiatrist is noted for 
his development of the theory of logotherapy. 

BUDAPEST STRING QUARTET, Friday, March 6. Works by 
Mozart, Bartok, and Beethoven were included in a program 
presented by this world-renowned musical group composed of 
Joseph Reisman, Boris Kroyt, Alexander Schneider, and Mischa 
Schneider. 

LECTURE, Wednesday, April 1, by Margaret Mead, associate 
curator of ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History 
and adjunct professor of anthropology at Columbia University. 
Dr. Mead's subject was "Looking a Generation Ahead." 

LECTURE, Thursday, April 16, by Charles P. Taft, distinguished 
son of the twenty-seventh President of the United States, and a 
leading tax and trial lawyer, churchman, and statesman. Mr. 
Taft's lecture had as its topic, "The European Common Market: 
Threat or Opportunity?" 

LECTURE, Friday, April 24, by Alice Jernigan Dowling, 1930 
graduate of Agnes Scott, who has served with her husband, 
Walter C. Dowling, in diplomatic posts in Oslo, Lisbon, Rome, 
Rio, Vienna, Seoul, and Bonn. Mrs. Dowling was the featured 
speaker of Alumnae Weekend, using the topic, "Women of 
Conscience in a Changing World." 

LECTURE, Tuesday, May 5, by Mark Van Doren, lecturer, 
writer, and teacher. Dr. Van Doren, whose Collected Poems won 
for him a Pulitzer Prize in 1940, read his poems in one of the most 
delightful lectures of the entire anniversary series. 

LECTURE, Monday, May 18, by Sir Charles P. Snow, British 
scientist and novelist. Sir Charles and Lady Snow (Pamela 
Hansford Johnson) were on the campus May 16-20, meeting with 
classes and with groups of students and faculty members. 

The baccalaureate preacher on June 7 was the Rev. George M. 
Docherty of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in 
Washington, D.C., and the commencement speaker on June 8 was the 
Hon. LeRoy Collins, distinguished former governor of Florida. In 
addition, on Friday, April 24, the Trustees gave a dinner in honor of 



183 



the area chairmen who served so admirably in the various area 
campaigns held over a vast part of the United States (see pp. 171-1 72). 
During the 1 963- 1 964 college year, Agnes Scott, along with fourteen 
other U.S. women's colleges, became a participant in the U.S. -India 
Women's College Exchange Program  an endeavor providing for an 
exchange of "outstanding" teachers between women's colleges in India 
and the participating institutions in the United States. The American 
colleges, in addition to Agnes Scott, were Barnard, Bennett, 
Connecticut, Elmira, Goucher, Hood, Mary Baldwin, Mary 
Washington, Mount Holyoke, Queens, Randolph-Macon, Sweet 
Briar, Western, and Wheaton. The cooperating institutions in India 
were Indraprastha College (Delhi), Isabella Thoburn College 
(Lucknow), Maharani's College (Bangalore), Miranda House (Delhi), 
University College for Women (Hyderabad), and Women's Christian 
College (Madras). The project was financed by grants from the U.S. 
Department of State and from the Danforth Foundation, as well as by 
the participating U.S. colleges, who provided the stipends for teachers 
and administrators from India. The broad purposes of the Exchange 
as stated in the promotional brochure were 

To enrich the curriculum offerings in the colleges of both 
countries. 

To identify and cooperate in the study of common educational 
concerns. 

To deepen the understanding and appreciation of faculty and 
students of another culture. 

Agnes Scott's first visiting teacher under this program was Mrs. Aley 
Thomas Philip of University College for Women in Hyderabad who 
taught political science in the fall quarter of the 1965-1966 session. In 
1966-1967 Professor Nancy P. Groseclose of Agnes Scott's 
Department of Biology taught at Miranda House in Delhi, and Miss 
Mercy Samuel of Women's Christian College in Madras was a 
member of the Biology Department at Agnes Scott. Professor 
Groseclose is the only Agnes Scott professor who taught in India 
under this program; however, two additional visitors from India were 
in the Agnes Scott faculty before this exchange program was 
terminated. 

Prior to 1964-1965 there was at Agnes Scott no chapter of the 
American Association of University Professors. From time to time the 
possibility of having such a chapter came up in faculty meetings, but 



184 



although President Alston consistently offered to support the 
formation of a chapter, there was not enough interest in the faculty for 
a group to be organized. However, during the 1964-1965 session, a 
chapter was formally established and became a forum for faculty 
concerns and opinions. 

During the summer of 1965, the College's long-time dietitian, Mrs. 
Ethel J. Hatfield, retired, and the time seemed ripe to experiment with 
having a food-service organization take over providing meals for 
students; thus, beginning with the 1965-1966 session and continuing 
thereafter for three years Agnes Scott used the services of such an 
organization  Campus Chefs, Inc., at first, and then Saga. In the 
autumn of 1 968, the College returned to providing its own food service 
through a college dietitian or food service manager, and Mrs. Barbara 
F. Saunders began her association with Agnes Scott, a relationship 
that still continues. 

The Charles A. Dana Fine Arts Building was dedicated in October, 
1965. Designed by John Portman of the architectural firm of Edwards 
and Portman and built by the J. A. Jones Construction Company of 
Charlotte, North Carolina, the building took more than a year in 
construction and cost $1,100,000. The dedication took place at a 
convocation on October 1 3 with the dedicatory address being given by 
Mr. Richard H. Rich, Chairman of the Board of Rich's, Inc., and in 
1 965 Chairman of the Board of the Atlanta Arts Alliance, Inc. The title 
of his address was "The Arts in Atlanta and at Agnes Scott." Present 
also were Mr. Dana and most of the trustees of the Charles A. Dana 
Foundation, which had made the largest single gift toward the erection 
of the building. From that day to the present, this building has been the 
"show place" on the Agnes Scott campus. Perhaps it is appropriate for 
the designer himself to speak about the building. Here is what John 
Portman wrote in the dedicatory booklet: 

To provide a building of contemporary design to house the varied 
needs of the departments of art and of speech and drama at Agnes 
Scott and to have this contemporary building blend comfortably 
with its predominantly Gothic neighbors was the problem given 
us to solve in the Charles A. Dana Fine Arts Building. The 
functional requirements of the building called for painting, 
sculpture and ceramics studios, a small theater for the performing 
arts  primarily drama  and accompanying galleries, 
classrooms and offices. In addition, it was our conviction that 
since a fine arts building is dedicated by its very nature to the 



185 



world of creativity, the teaching environment should provide an 
inspirational atmosphere for the students. 

Our basic philosophy in design revolves around taking a set of 
conditions and evolving an individual solution that is true to those 
conditions in a natural and uninhibited way  taking the human 
being and his natural reaction to space and space psychology to 
create stimulating, exhilarating buildings, functioning through 
the use of modulated space. The Dana Building brings back into 
architecture the grand, luxurious use of space  in a legitimate 
way  born of the problem  not forced or superficial. 

The Dana Building is a study in the relationship of space within 
space. The concrete folded plate roof over the studios evokes in a 
thoroughly modern manner the spirit of other gabled roofs on 
campus. The building is basically a cathedral to art, and the grand 
Gothic space, which is authentically buttressed, contains the 
floating platforms or studios with the gabled roof opened to the 
north for light. The platforms have further been perforated to 
reveal space flow and interrelated space relationships. The 
columns on the exterior are expressed to reveal the buttressing of 
the grand space. They are working as true buttresses. 

The exterior courts have many varied uses: they provide work 
areas off the sculpture and ceramics studios on the lower level, 
space for sculpture displays and drama activities on the upper 
level, along with rest and relaxation areas. 

To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, "a wall is a wall is a wall," and 
the juxtaposition of the exterior screen wall of Dana with the glass 
and concrete wall inside the courtyard sets up the counterpoint 
which makes the building still a part of the campus and yet a 
distinct entity unto itself. The arched, corbeled, pierced brick wall 
relates in a contemporary manner to the style and texture of older 
buildings on the campus. Its lacyness allows the visitor, as he 
approaches the building, gradually to become aware of the 
excitement that lies beyond. 

Another distinctly new facility of the building is the theater 
which manages to combine many of the new ideas in theater 
design with a spirit and feeling of the Elizabethean theater. 
Designed to be used for new experimental techniques as well as 
conventional productions, the stage breaks into the seating area to 
provide a rare intimacy between audience and actors. 

We believe the Charles A. Dana Building is a functional 
building adaptable to the change and growth that lie ahead. We 
are very pleased that the building has a quiet repose in its 
surroundings and solves the problem without compromising its 
own integrity. It has been evolved naturally from its conditions 
and speaks for itself. 

John Portman/ Edwards & Portman, AIA 



86 



Approximately ten days later, on Sunday afternoon, October 24, 
1965, Agnes Scott officially opened the Dalton Galleries in the Charles 
A. Dana Fine Arts Building. Named in honor of Harry L. Dalton and 
his wife, Mary Keesler Dalton, '25, of Charlotte, North Carolina, these 
galleries form the central public area on the main floor of the building. 
This opening event featured an exhibition of fifty-five fine paintings 
which Mr. and Mrs. Dalton had given to Agnes Scott to augment the 
College's permanent art collection. This Dalton Collection, along with 
other art holdings, has grown through the years to a point where 
Agnes Scott's permanent collection of worthwhile art has increasingly 
become one of the truly enriching dimensions of the College. 

Another special attraction in the building is the little theater, 
designed by James Hull Miller, well-known consultant in theater 
planning. The theater seats 212 on the main level and an additional 100 
in a balcony. This octagonal room utilizes a thrust stage and provides a 
most satisfying intimacy between performers and audience. In 1974 
this theater was named in honor of Professor Roberta Powers Winter, 
who taught speech and dramatic art at Agnes Scott from 1 939 to 1 974. 

Amid all the physical changes that were taking place in the early 
1960's, there was likewise a constant and continuing effort to improve 
and enrich the academic life of the College. Illustrative of these 
changes are the following sentences from the report that Dean C. 
Benton Kline, Jr., made to the Trustees on May 21, 1965: 

Every department has made some change in its program for the 
next academic year. Significant changes have taken place in the 
department of speech and drama (which now is prepared to offer a 
major), in Bible, Spanish, history and political science, 
mathematics, philosophy, German, and English. In mathematics, 
for example, five years ago the course in freshman calculus had 
twenty students; this year we had six sections of calculus and now 
it will become the basic course for freshmen. There were more 
students taking beginning German this fall than we had taking all 
the courses offered in German four years ago. At every turn, we 
must take care of students who, while probably not brighter, are 
each year better prepared when they come to Agnes Scott. 

As a result of the decennial self-study required of Agnes Scott in the 
early sixties by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (pp. 
174-176), the Board of Trustees at its annual meeting in May, 1963, 
authorized a study of the structure and functions of the Board itself. A 
special committee under the chairmanship of J. Davison Philips was 
appointed to conduct this study. On October 12, 1965, the report of 



187 



this committee, as amended, was adopted by the Trustees. After a 
preamble, this report discussed (1) the nature of Board meetings, (2) 
the role of Trustees, and (3) the Agnes Scott Trustee himself or herself. 
The report concluded with a recommended revision of the bylaws of 
the Board including a re-structuring of Trustee committees. This 
report also left open-ended a re-study of the College's relationships 
with its three Synods, a circumstance that would in a few years lead to 
a complete change in these relationships (see p. 205). This action 
revising the bylaws of the College was the first such revamping in a 
number of years, and it was of real significance. 

Quite unexpectedly, on Saturday, October 30, 1965, President 
Emeritus James Ross McCain died in his eighty- fifth year. He had 
seemed to be in his usual good health  the preceding spring he had 
taken a trip around the world alone, and on the day before his death, 
he had addressed a luncheon meeting of a civic club in Decatur and 
then that same evening had attended the Ten Club of which he was the 
"czar." At the time he was stricken with a fatal heart attack, he was at 
his desk. Death came a few hours later in a local hospital. On Monday, 
November 1 , private interment services were held in the early morning 
in the Decatur Cemetery, followed at 1 1 :00 A.M. by a great memorial 
service of worship in the Decatur Presbyterian Church, characterized 
by the singing of Dr. McCain's favorite hymns, the reading of his 
favorite scriptures, and the offering of prayers following the daily 
prayer disciplines which he himself had used. The service was an 
outpouring of thanksgiving for and celebration of his life and was 
attended by a capacity congregation. 

Two days later, on Wednesday, November 3, the College itself at its 
weekly convocation held a memorial service recognizing the fifty years 
that Dr. McCain had been associated with Agnes Scott. Dean 
Emeritus S. Guerry Stukes read the 103rd Psalm; Dean C. Benton 
Kline, Jr., offered the memorial prayer; Mr. Hal L. Smith brought a 
tribute from the Board of Trustees; and President Alston gave the 
memorial address. 

Local newspapers editorialized on Dr. McCain's service to the 
community; the Presbytery of Atlanta and the Synod of Georgia 
adopted resolutions in his memory as did the Agnes Scott Board of 
Trustees at its next annual meeting following his death. 

President Alston in the remarkable memorial address which he gave 
at the College convocation summed up Dr. McCain's greatness in 
these terms: 



188 



If I were asked to select the most impressive qualities in Dr. 
McCain's character and in his service to this college, I think I 
would choose four: 

(1) Self-discipline was one of the secrets of Dr. McCain's 
effectiveness. His was one of the most orderly, habitual, 
regularized lives that I have known. If he was ever late for an 
engagement, I never heard of it. We went many places together, 
early and late. He was always ready and waiting, usually on his 
front porch, sometimes on mine. He had learned self-control, self- 
management, self-discipline; he was thereby enabled to focus his 
enormous energies, even when past eighty, upon the task to which 
he had given himself. 

(2) A second quality of Dr. McCain's life that will stand out in 
my remembrance of him was his faithfulness to his commitments. 
It mattered not what they were, whether the weekly round-robin 
letter to his family, Rotary attendance, some one of a score of 
committee meetings that he scheduled almost every week of his 
later life, or some duty undertaken for the church or the college  
Dr. McCain did what he had agreed to do. I have never known a 
person who surpassed him in this respect. 

(3) Another aspect of Dr. McCain's life that I have particularly 
valued was the youthfulness and flexibility of his mind. He had the 
ability to think, to face contemporary issues, even to change his 
mind. In the past fifteen years, he and I have talked about every 
conceivable thing concerning the present and the future of the 
college. I have never seen him run for shelter in some shibboleth 
about "the good old days." His mind had a growing edge. I came 
to realize that he was probably as youthful, as receptive to change, 
and as realistic a person as any who serve on the Agnes Scott 
Board of Trustees. 

(4) The heart of the matter, when all else has been said is that 
Dr. McCain was a devout man, a genuinely dedicated Christian 
gentleman. He doesn't make sense unless this is understood. God 
was real to him. His faith was quite simple and uncomplicated. It 
was Biblical to the core, with a strong Presbyterian accent. He 
believed it and tried with every power of his being to live it. How 
many times those of us who knew him have heard him close a 
prayer with a phrase that to him was no cliche but rather a 
summary of his faith: "in the all-prevailing name of Jesus." Dr. 
McCain made everything he faced, all that he did, a matter of 
prayer. When I came to Agnes Scott, I was shocked at first by the 
legend that it never rained on May Day, or on one of the other 
days when Agnes Scott scheduled out-of-doors events, because 
Dr. McCain and the Almighty were working things out together. I 
once asked him about this. He didn't claim to have anything to do 
with the fact that we always had good weather on such occasions 



89 



but he didn't deny that he might have been in on it! He simply 
shrugged his shoulders in typical fashion, took a tug at his 
trousers, smiled and answered: "Well, I think the Lord will do 
what He thinks is best." 

A life of great consequence has been lived in our midst. This 
college has been the residuary legatee of wealth  the wealth of 
character, conviction, consecrated service, and faith. Let us thank 
God that we have been thus favored and blessed. Let us thank God 
and take courage for the days ahead! 

Understandably steps were immediately taken to establish at Agnes 
Scott some living, on-going memorial to the late President Emeritus. 
As has already been set forth, the library was named for him and the 
McCain Library Fund was established when he retired, but now it was 
agreed that some new memorial was appropriate. A committee of 
faculty, alumnae, and students considered various possibilities and 
recommended that a fund be raised to establish the James Ross 
McCain Lectureship. In a brief time students, faculty, alumnae and 
other friends of Dr. McCain's contributed to make this lectureship a 
reality. As these lines are written the corpus of this fund totals $30,740. 
The regulations which the originating planners drew up for the 
McCain Lectureship Fund were stated as follows: 

The James Ross McCain Lectureship Fund is established by 
students, faculty, alumnae, and friends of Agnes Scott College in 
memory of President Emeritus James Ross McCain. 

The income from the fund shall be used to provide a lecture or 
series of lectures on some aspect of the liberal arts and sciences 
with reference to the religious dimensions of human life. 
Ordinarily the lecture(s) shall be given annually, but if in the 
judgment of the committee it is deemed wise to omit one or more 
years, the income shall be held to be used for succeeding years. 

The lecturer shall be chosen by a committee composed of the 
President of the College, the Dean of the Faculty, two members of 
the faculty selected in the same manner as members of other 
faculty committees, the President of Student Government, the 
President of Christian Association, the President of Mortar 
Board, and a junior designated by Representative Council. 

When circumstances permit, the James Ross McCain lectures 
shall be published in order that they may have wider circulation. 

The announcement of lectures and any publication of them 
shall carry a statement concerning James Ross McCain and his 
distinguished service to Agnes Scott College and in the 
educational and religious community. 

As indicated above, only the income from this Lectureship would be 



190 



used; thus, it took several years before the Fund was operative. The 
first McCain Lectures were presented in February, 1972, when Agnes 
Scott celebrated the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of John 
Donne. The Lectureship was used again in 1974 for the observance of 
the one hundredth birthday of Robert Frost. Both of these 
celebrations resulted in the publication of the papers and addresses 
which were presented. The Lectureship also sponsored Agnes Scott's 
observance of the Bicentennial of the United States. Accordingly, 
through the James Ross McCain Lectureship, the campus continues to 
be reminded of this distinguished man and his dedication to 
intellectual excellence. 

In passing, it is perhaps appropriate to note that beginning in 1966, 
baccalaureate and graduation were held on the same day instead of on 
two days as formerly. Commencement now occurs on Sunday, the 
baccalaureate sermon in the morning and the graduation exercises in 
the early evening. 

In the waning days of 1966 and the early days of 1967, Agnes Scott 
endured one of the most distressing periods in its entire history. Quite 
erroneously the College and its President were accused of anti- 
Semitism, bigotry, prejudice, and discrimination. This whole situation 
came about because it was mistakenly thought that the President had 
canceled an appointment with a prospective candidate for a teaching 
position because she was Jewish. The truth of the matter is that the 
young woman involved never had an appointment with the President; 
in fact, she had not even applied for a faculty position at Agnes Scott. 
To make a long story short, the "cause" was picked up on the campus 
of a neighboring institution and from there got into the press, both in 
news stories and on the editorial page, and ultimately became a 
concern of the Atlanta branch of the American Jewish Committee. 
The situation soon became so strident that the President concluded 
that the Board of Trustees needed to become involved. The Executive 
Committee of the Board first considered the matter and determined 
that the principle at stake was sufficiently important to be addressed 
by the Board itself. Accordingly, the Trustees met in special session on 
January 27, 1967, and after careful deliberation and discussion issued 
a policy statement on faculty employment which re-affirmed Agnes 
Scott's dual commitment to academic excellence and to the Christian 
faith. Here is this policy statement: 



191 



FACULTY POLICY 

Since its inception in 1 889, Agnes Scott College has been a Christian 
liberal arts college, striving for excellence in the higher education of 
women. As stated in its charter, it was established for the purpose of 

perpetuating and conducting a college for the higher education of 
women under auspices distinctly favorable to the maintenance of 
the faith and practice of the Christian religion, hut all departments 
of the College shall he open alike to students of any religion or 
sect, and no denominational or sectarian test shall be imposed in 
the admission of students. 

In order that the purposes for which the College was founded 
and the principles upon which it has been operated for seventy- 
eight years may be most effectively implemented, it is essential to 
sustain on the campus conditions "distinctly favorable to the 
maintenance of the faith and practice of the Christian religion." 
The Trustees of Agnes Scott College therefore believe it is 
imperative to continue to secure for the faculty of the College men 
and women of the most competent scholarly training and teaching 
ability who are sincerely committed to the Christian faith as it is 
expressed historically in the mainstream of Christian thought and 
action, and in the ecumenical nature of the contemporary 
Christian church. Other than this commitment, the Trustees do 
not require of faculty or administration any theological, sectarian, 
or ecclesiastical preference. 

So stated the Board of Trustees. 

In the early 1920's the Boston firm of Cram and Ferguson submitted 
to Agnes Scott a rather comprehensive campus plan. As has already 
been pointed out (see p. 72), this plan, as modified by the Atlanta firm 
of Edwards and Sayward, became for many years the College's guide 
for campus development. By 1967, however, it was increasingly 
evident that Agnes Scott needed new guidelines for further expansion. 
For that matter, as far back as May, 1964, the Board had approved a 
recommendation of the Buildings and Grounds Committee that the 
Administration be authorized "to employ a landscape architect to 
study our campus and prepare an overall plan." Meanwhile, the 
neighborhood surrounding the campus  particularly to the south 
and west  was in a state of rapid transition with some attendant 
deterioration. Indeed, at the Board meeting on May 5, 1967, the 
chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee told the Trustees 
that the "most pressing matter" facing the Board "has to do with the 
deterioration of the residential areas on the west and south of present 



192 



college property." At this same meeting it was reported that Chairman 
Smith and President Alston were "conferring with Mr. Clyde D. 
Robbins of the Georgia Institute of Technology, a community 
planning consultant, concerning the possibility of a relationship with 
Agnes Scott for a limited period in order that we might have the 
advantage of expert counsel in future campus expansion and 
development." Approximately one month later, on June 14, 1967, 
after Mr. Robbins had made a presentation to the Buildings and 
Grounds Committee, this Committee recommended that the President 
employ Mr. Robbins as Agnes Scott's campus planner. By October 
Mr. Robbins had his findings ready for the Trustees, complete with 
charts, slides, and a fourteen-page report of text and maps. The thrust 
of this study was two-fold: (1) The College for the foreseeable future 
would remain at its present location, seeking to serve as a stabilizing 
agent in a changing community, and (2) plans for campus expansion 
and development were formalized for a number of years to come based 
on growth up to 1,500-2,000 students. (In 1967-1968 Agnes Scott had 
760 students; thus, campus projections were based on gradually 
doubling the size of the student body.) For the expanded campus the 
over-all boundaries would actually be College Avenue and the Georgia 
Railroad on the north, Avery Street on the east, Green Street, Kirk 
Road and Oakview Road on the south, and Adams Street on the west. 
This plan called for altering some streets, the development of a new 
academic center across Candler Street, and the establishment of new 
student residential areas not necessarily adjacent to present 
dormitories. No price tag was attached to these plans, but it was 
obvious that they called for greatly increased endowment and 
additional investment in physical plant. All these plans required the 
cooperation of the community and the local government. After the 
recommendations of the "Robbins Report" were approved in principle 
by the Executive Committee and the Buildings and Grounds 
Committee meeting jointly on October 26, 1967, the "plan" was 
publicly presented on November 2 1 at a breakfast attended by officials 
of the City of Decatur, representatives of county and state boards and 
agencies, other community leaders, and members of the press. 
Subsequently an open hearing was held in the Winnona Park School 
so that any interested member of the community might have input and 
become informed. Agnes Scott constantly emphasized that the College 
in all its plans was seeking to be a responsible citizen of the community 



193 



with both collegiate and community needs sharing in paramount 
importance. The first apparent result of the "Robbins Study" was a 
greatly stepped-up emphasis on the acquisition of property around the 
campus. Mainly through a series of generous grants from an 
anonymous Atlanta foundation, Agnes Scott, over a period of a 
decade following 1967, was able to acquire approximately one 
hundred additional pieces of property within the perimeter of the 
projected campus. These properties were not actively sought, but if a 
parcel became available at a reasonable price, Agnes Scott would 
purchase the piece. Once purchased, some houses were razed; some 
were rented to members of the faculty and staff, and some were 
handled as general rental property available to the community. Thus, 
for more than ten years the "Robbins Study" was the controlling 
element as Agnes Scott expanded its land-holdings and looked to the 
future. 

At the Trustees' meeting on May 5, 1967, Dean of the Faculty C. 
Benton Kline, Jr., reported (1) that Agnes Scott was offering credits 
for advanced placement courses taken in high school, (2) that juniors 
and seniors were being allowed to take "a limited number of hours 
outside their major field on a pass-fail basis with no letter grade or 
quality points being earned," (3) that new standards had been 
established for class promotion, (4) that a committee of the faculty was 
looking into the use of computers at Agnes Scott and the feasibility of 
"buying computer time" at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and 
(5) that a committee was investigating the wisdom of eliminating 
classes on Saturday. This last committee was made up of faculty and 
students and was called the Committee on Academic Problems (CAP). 
This committee's work was not limited, of course, just to the schedule, 
but rather encompassed a large area of academic matters. By the 
spring of 1968 it could be reported to the Board's Executive 
Committee that both the Faculty and the Academic Council had 
approved a plan for a five-day academic week on an experimental 
basis. The Executive Committee approved this plan, and the Board 
subsequently concurred. The five-day academic week became effective 
with the 1968-1969 session. This new schedule continued fifty-minute 
classes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and, 
in addition, provided for seventy-five minute classes on Tuesday and 
Thursday. Understandably, only three-hour courses were affected; 
five hour courses continued to meet for fifty minutes, Monday through 



194 



Friday. The new plan proved quite satisfactory and has been 
continued since. 

From the student standpoint, a matter of real significance occurred 
in 1 966- 1 967 when individual telephone facilities were installed in each 
dormitory room. This development meant that each student could 
have her own direct-line telephone if she was willing to pay the 
telephone company's charges. 

Quite unexpectedly in the summer of 1967, Mr. Richard C. Bahr 
resigned his position as Treasurer in order to accept a post with a local 
business firm. By mid-September Mr. William M. Hannah had been 
appointed to this very important vacancy. During the brief interval 
between Mr. Bahr's leaving and Mr. Hannah's arrival, this writer, in 
addition to his other responsibilities, served as acting treasurer. 

The Board of Trustees on May 17, 1968, formally adopted a new 
statement on academic freedom and tenure for Agnes Scott. This 
statement had been in formulation for some months. It had been 
studied by the faculty and approved by the Academic Council of the 
faculty and the Executive Committee of the Board. President Alston 
stated that the new policy statement was "in essence" what Agnes Scott 
had been following for a long time; however, the formal adoption of 
this statement would affirm that the Trustees, in principle, were in 
agreement with the Association of American Colleges and with the 
American Association of University Professors in their positions on 
academic freedom and tenure. Here is the statement as adopted by the 
Board of Trustees: 

Statement on Academic Freedom and Tenure 

Agnes Scott College endorses in substance the 1940 Statement 
on Academic Freedom and Tenure of the Association of 
American Colleges and the American Association of University 
Professors. The following statements of policy are designed to 
fulfill the provisions of that statement. 

I. Preamble 

Agnes Scott College is dedicated to the free search for truth 
and its free exposition. 

Academic freedom is essential to these purposes and applies 
both to teaching and research. Freedom in research is 
fundamental to the advancement of truth. Academic 
freedom in its teaching aspect is fundamental for the 
protection of the rights of the teacher in teaching and of the 
student to freedom in learning. It carries with it duties 
correlative with rights. 



195 



Tenure is a means to certain ends: specifically, (1) freedom 
of teaching and research and of extramural activities, and 
(2) a degree of economic and professional security sufficient 
to make teaching at Agnes Scott College attractive to men 
and women of ability. This freedom and security, hence 
tenure, are indispensable to the success of the College in 
fulfilling its obligations to its students and to society. 

II. Academic Freedom 

1. A member of the faculty at Agnes Scott College is 
entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing his 
subject, but he should be careful not to introduce into 
his teaching controversial matter which has no 
relation to his field. While the charter of the College 
states that the program of the College shall be carried 
out under auspices "distinctly favorable to the 
Christian faith," no limitations of academic freedom 
are thereby intended. 

2. A faculty member is entitled to full freedom in 
research and in the publication of the results, subject 
to the adequate performance of his other academic 
duties; but research for monetary return shall be 
undertaken only upon the consent of the President and 
the Dean of Faculty. 

3. The faculty member is a citizen, a member of a learned 
profession, and an officer of an educational 
institution. When he speaks or writes as a citizen, he is 
to be free from institutional censorship or discipline, 
but his special position in the community imposes 
special obligations. As a man of learning and as an 
educational officer, he should remember that the 
public may judge his profession and his institution by 
his utterances. Hence he should at all times be 
accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should 
show respect for the opinions of others, and should 
make every effort to indicate that he is not an 
institutional spokesman. 

III. Appointment and Tenure 

1. Tenure is not automatic but is awarded as early as 
practicable following a probationary period during 
which a faculty member has demonstrated his 
effectiveness. At the conclusion of such a period a 
member of the faculty shall have permanent or 
continuous tenure, and his service shall be terminated 
only for adequate cause or, under extraordinary 
circumstances, because of financial exigencies. 



196 



2. The probationary period following initial appoint- 
ment on a full-time basis to the rank of instructor or 
above shall not ordinarily exceed seven years. 

3. The probationary period will take into consideration 
full-time teaching service at other institutions of 
higher education, and when such service has been for 
three years or longer, the probationary period will not 
ordinarily exceed four years at Agnes Scott. 

4. During the probationary period the faculty member 
shall be on annual contract unless otherwise provided. 
In the case of non-reappointment during such period 
notice of termination shall be given in writing by 
March 1 of the first year or by December 15 of 
succeeding years. If tenure is not to be granted, notice 
shall be given one year prior to the end of the 
probationary period. 

5. In special circumstances, by mutual consent, annual 
contracts may be continued beyond the stated 
probationary period. 

6. During the probationary period a faculty member 
shall have the full rights of academic freedom of all 
members of the Agnes Scott faculty. 

7. At the close of the college session in the calendar year 
in which a faculty member attains the age of 65, 
permanent or continuous tenure shall terminate. By 
action of the Board of Trustees the faculty member 
may be approved for service on an annual basis until 
the end of the session in the calendar year in which he 
attains the age of 70. 

8. Termination for cause of a continuous appointment or 
the dismissal of a faculty member for cause prior to the 
expiration of a term appointment will follow the rules 
of procedure set forth by the American Association of 
University Professors and accepted by the Board of 
Trustees of Agnes Scott College. 

9. This statement of policy on academic freedom and 
tenure shall be given to each person being offered an 
appointment to the faculty at the time he is offered in 
writing the terms and conditions of his appointment 
and shall be part of the terms of such offer and of its 
acceptance. 

Note: The provisions for the probationary period herein set 

forth shall not be applied retroactively to faculty 
members in service prior to the adoption of these 



197 



provisions. These faculty members will come under 
the statement of tenure policy previously adopted, 
which sets a probationary period of four years at 
Agnes Scott with the proviso for extension of annual 
contracts beyond the stated period. 

Even though the Trustees had on January 27, 1967, adopted a clear 
policy statement on faculty employment at Agnes Scott, there 
continued to be misunderstanding in some quarters, and some 
Trustees themselves felt that the statement did not completely reflect 
what the Board wanted it to say. Accordingly, over the next year and a 
half, the Executive Committee had a running discussion of this matter 
such that by early autumn of 1968, the Board of Trustees formally 
adopted a revised policy statement as follows: 

The Charter of Agnes Scott provides that the College was 

established for the purpose of 

perpetuating and conducting a college for the higher 
education of women under auspices distinctly favorable to 
the maintenance of the faith and practice of the Christian 
religion, but all departments of the College shall be open 
alike to students of any religion or sect, and no 
denominational or sectarian test shall be imposed in the 
admission of students. 

In selecting faculty and staff, the Board of Trustees, upon 
the recommendation of the President, shall elect those who can 
best carry out the objectives as set forth in the Charter, giving 
consideration to any person who is in accord with these purposes. 

As is readily apparent, this re-statement of policy greatly broadened 
the consideration to be applied in the employment of faculty and staff. 
As everyone knows, the decade of the '60' s was a very difficult time 
on most college and university campuses. Because of the Vietnam War 
and for other reasons, student unrest was highly evident, and although 
Agnes Scott was spared the upheavals that wracked some institutions, 
students on this campus were not immune to the changes in attitudes 
and conduct that were affecting all young people in this entire nation. 
Perhaps the Agnes Scott person who was best able to assess the effects 
on this campus was Dean Carrie Scandrett, whose position brought 
her into almost daily contact with these changes. On September 16, 
1968, Miss Scandrett addressed the Trustees, giving her reactions to 
the '60's, and fortunately a summary of her remarks has been 
preserved: 

Our students, Miss Scandrett stated, in common with students 



198 



everywhere, are vocal, are questioning, are disinclined to accept 
arbitrary authority. While she does not anticipate a riot on our 
campus, or a disruption of the academic program of the College, 
Dean Scandrett said that we must realize that students have 
learned the power of protest, particularly of joint protest. We 
must believe that they want the finest education they can obtain. 
We must believe in them enough to talk with them openly and 
frankly. Stating that she has been here since the fall of 1925, Dean 
Scandrett said that Agnes Scott has always listened to students. 
Students want to be here because on this campus they are people, 
not numbers. Here, they have the opportunity of a fine education, 
and here, they have people who care about them. Working with 
student leaders today is exciting. They want to be a part of 
everything at the College. While emphasizing that we must 
continue to be willing to talk about any requests which students 
might have, Dean Scandrett stated that as long as her position 
gives her responsibility for students, she must continue to be given 
the opportunity to express her convictions and her judgment on 
matters under discussion. Administrative officers have a 
responsibility to maintain the College, Dean Scandrett feels, and 
to try to produce here women, strong in heart, mind, and soul, 
who will be able to make a positive contribution to the world in 
which they live. 

The 1968-1969 year confronted President Alston with the necessity 
of making three major administrative appointments. In the fall of 1968 
Dean of the Faculty C. Benton Kline, Jr., indicated his intention to 
resign effective December 31 in order to become Dean of the Faculty 
and Professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary. Dean 
Kline, an ordained Presbyterian minister, felt that he could no longer 
resist the call to give himself full-time to theological education, an area 
that was increasingly engaging his interest and attention. His 
resignation was deeply regretted by both faculty and students. He was 
an excellent administrator as well as an exceedingly able and popular 
teacher. Upon Dean Kline's resignation, the students initiated a 
movement which led to the establishment of the C. Benton Kline, Jr., 
Library Fund. To fill the vacancy created by Dean Kline's resignation, 
President Alston appointed Professor Julia T. Gary to be Acting Dean 
of the Faculty, a post which she filled for five months until May, 1969, 
when the Trustees, on the recommendation of the President and with 
the concurrence of the Academic Council, elected her Dean of the 
Faculty, a post she was to fill with great distinction until 1 979 when she 
was named Dean of Agnes Scott College, a position which she holds as 
these lines are written. Dean Gary came to Agnes Scott in 1957 as a 



199 



member of the Department of Chemistry. In 1962 she was named 
Assistant Dean of the Faculty and became Associate Dean in 1967. 
Dean Gary is a graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman's College and 
received her master's degree from Mount Holyoke College and her 
Ph.D. degree from Emory University. 

The second administrative appointment to be made in 1968-1969 
was that of Dean of Students. Dean Scandrett had become eligible to 
retire in the summer of 1967 but was persuaded to remain two 
additional years, mainly because it was very difficult to find anyone to 
replace her. President Alston has commented that he couldn't make 
any progress at all until he realized that it was impossible to find 
another Carrie Scandrett. In May, 1969, the Board of Trustees 
adopted a glowing tribute to Dean Scandrett, a part of which is quoted 
on pp. 348-349. 

Dean Scandrett's successor was Miss Robert K. Jones who came to 
Agnes Scott from the position of Associate Dean of Students at 
Valdosta State College, Valdosta, Georgia. A graduate of the 
University of Georgia with a master's degree from Ohio State 
University, Miss Jones had had other professional experience in the 
Office of the Dean of Women at the University of Georgia and as 
Assistant to the Dean of Women and Residence Hall Director at Ohio 
State. 

At a meeting of the Executive Committee on March 6, 1969, 
President Alston recommended that an additional person be brought 
to the campus to be responsible primarily for raising capital funds and 
nominated Paul Moffatt McCain for this post of Vice President for 
Development. The Executive Committee approved this 
recommendation, and the Board gave its confirmation on May 9, 
1969. Paul M. McCain was the son of Agnes Scott's second president 
and for seventeen years prior to returning to Decatur had been 
President of Arkansas College in Batesville, Arkansas. Like his late 
father, he was a graduate of Erskine College. He also earned a master's 
and doctor's degree from Duke University. Vice President McCain 
began his duties in the autumn of 1969 following his election. 

Up until 1969 the College's non-contract employees were not 
included in Agnes Scott's medical program; however, in that year on 
the recommendation of the President, the Executive Committee of the 
Board approved a plan which would admit these employees to the 
program under the same terms as those in effect for contract 
employees. The only limitation was that a non-contract employee 



200 



must have served for one year prior to admission to the program. 

In the spring of 1966, the College sustained the death of Professor 
Ellen Douglass Leyburn who had been a member of the English 
Department since 1934. In all its history Agnes Scott has never had a 
more distinguished scholar-teacher than Professor Ellen Douglass 
Leyburn, '27. Before the year was finished, the Trustees, on the 
recommendation of the Executive Committee and the President, had 
taken action establishing the Ellen Douglass Leyburn Professorship in 
the Department of English, to be funded by friends of the late 
Professor Leyburn and by unallocated funds in the College's general 
endowment portfolio. This action by the Board brought to three the 
number of named professorships at Agnes Scott. In 1969, Professor 
Margaret W. Pepperdene was designated to be the first Leyburn 
Professor. 

About the same time, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Charitable Trust 
gave Agnes Scott $400,000 to establish a named professorship in the 
College. On June 17, 1969, the Board's Executive Committee 
unanimously elected Professor W. Joe Frierson, who had joined the 
faculty in 1943, to be the College's first William R. Kenan, Jr., 
Professor of Chemistry, a post which he held until his retirement in 
1975 when Professor Marion Thomas Clark succeeded to the Kenan 
Professorship. The present occupant is Professor Alice J. 
Cunningham, who was named to this post in 1980. 

In the spring of 1 969 there occurred another development in the area 
of named professorships. The Callaway Foundation, Inc., of 
LaGrange, Georgia, in a laudable endeavor to attract distinguished 
professors to Georgia colleges and universities, offered to establish 
Fuller E. Callaway Professorships in a number of institutions in the 
state. Agnes Scott was honored to be one of these institutions. On June 
17, 1969, the Executive Committee, on President Alston's 
recommendation, agreed to establish a Callaway Chair at Agnes Scott 
but requested a year's delay in naming the Callaway Professor. The 
reason for the delay was that the terms of the Professorship were very 
difficult in that the College would pay from its own funds its highest 
teaching salary to the Callaway Professor and then the Foundation 
would add 50% more in compensation. This circumstance meant that 
the remuneration for the occupant of the Callaway Chair would be 
50% higher than that of any other professor in the College. The 
agreement required that whenever base salaries were raised, that of the 
Callaway Professor would rise proportionately and, therefore, 



201 



continue to be completely out of balance with other Agnes Scott 
compensation. Also, the professorship would not rotate. The 
President and the Executive Committee believed that some very 
distinguished teacher had to be found to fill this post and that, for the 
sake of faculty morale and of the effectiveness of the Callaway 
Professor, it would be unwise at that time to promote someone to this 
new post  hence the request for the delay. Now, more than ten years 
later as these lines are written, the Callaway Professorship at Agnes 
Scott is just now being implemented. In the interim, the Callaway 
Foundation has considerably relaxed its rather rigid requirements 
such that Agnes Scott can now enthusiastically name a Fuller E. 
Callaway Professor, confident that faculty morale will not be 
jeopardized (see p. 269). 

The arrival of Dean of Students Roberta K. Jones in 1 969 seemed a 
good time to re-assess the social rules and regulations which governed 
the lives of Agnes Scott students; consequently, Representative 
Council of Student Government in October of 1969 authorized a 
committee to work with Dean Jones on this task. This committee 
consisted of eight students (3 seniors, 2juniors, and 3 sophomores) and 
was known as the Special Commission on Rules and Policies, more 
popularly called by the acronym SCRAP. The group worked regularly 
and diligently and saw as its responsibility not only a thorough review 
of present social rules and regulations but also the projection of anew 
system. SCRAP proposed to base its new system on giving a student 
the "maximum amount of individual freedom within the framework of 
community." Certain "non-negotiables" were the starting point of the 
Commission's work  non-negotiables such as "academic honesty, 
respect for property and rights of others, and a sense of community." 
The over-arching goal was "the maximization of human potential." In 
its final report SCRAP outlined policies in the following areas: (l)use 
of alcoholic beverages, (2) use of illegal drugs, (3) smoking, (4) sign in 
and out procedures, and (5) appropriate dress. The most noticeable 
changes were in the signing in and out procedures, which were greatly 
simplified, and in the area of parental permissions, which were 
discontinued. Other matters, such as living off campus and parietals, 
were considered but were postponed for later decision. Of course, all 
recommended alterations had to be approved by Representative 
Council and by the Administrative Committee of the faculty. It goes 
without saying that all changes had to be within the broad policies of 
the Board of Trustees. The record of Dean Jones' report to the Board 
on May 15, 1970, reads as follows: 



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. . . Miss Jones talked of the work which she and a committee of 
students have done this year on the social regulations of the 
College. They have tried to look at the existing regulations and the 
reasons behind them, evaluating them in terms of the situation in 
which students live today. Miss Jones and the committee hoped to 
achieve a code of behavior for students which maintains the 
standards of the College and, at the same time, gives students a 
sense of freedom with responsibility. Of particular concern in 
formulating new rules and policies were the physical security of 
students, the enhancement of the academic atmosphere, and the 
protection of the rights and property of others .... Miss Jones 
pointed out that these new rules and policies recognize the fact 
that Agnes Scott cannot watch over a student when she leaves the 
campus nor govern off-campus behavior. The College must rely 
upon the judgment of the students. 

A graphic way to ascertain the extent of the changes in rules is to 
examine the appropriate parts of the Student Handbook for 1969- 
1970 and 1970-1971, respectively. Basic requirements in the main are 
still there, but much of the minutiae is altered. 

Another change that became effective with the 1970-1971 session 
was the decentralization of the office of the Dean of Students. A great 
deal of the detail formerly handled in the Dean's office was shifted to 
the student living units  a circumstance which meant that the Dean 
of Student's Office could now maintain daytime office hours and be 
closed at night and during weekends. 

In January, 1970, Agnes Scott received word that the College had 
been invited to be a part of the Charles A. Dana Scholarship Program. 
Inaugurated by the Charles A. Dana Foundation, this program was 
initially established at ten colleges. The Foundation in the first year 
provided funds for assistance to fifteen sophomores, in the second year 
to fifteen sophomores and fifteen juniors, and in the third year to 
fifteen students from all three upper classes. Freshmen were not 
eligible. The size of the scholarship depended on need and ranged from 
$100 to full tuition. Need was the basis for a grant, but no student was 
to be considered unless in the judgment of Agnes Scott's Scholarship 
Committee she demonstrated "academic promise and leadership 
potential." Continuance of a Dana Scholarship depended on the 
recipient's performance. Phase I of this program was designed to 
conclude in 1975, to be extended to 1980 as Phase II if the Dana 
Directors so chose. In January, 1973, President Alston received 
information that Agnes Scott was to be continued into Phase II. The 



203 



amount received by the College once the program became fully 
operative was $40,000 per year. The continuance of the College into 
Phase II was with the understanding that at the end of the 1979-1980 
session the Collge would carry on this program from its own funds. It 
was the Foundation's hope that this program would "result in a corps 
elite" among the scholars, and Agnes Scott's experience has borne out 
this hope. Selection as a Dana Scholar has been considered a great 
honor and a considerable esprit de corps has developed among these 
students. In various ways they, as a unit, have rendered service to the 
College. 

In March, 1 970, Agnes Scott sustained the unexpected death of P.J. 
Rogers, Jr., who had been the College's Business Manager since 1951. 
No more useful person has ever been at Agnes Scott, and his loss was 
felt by everyone. Mr. Rogers' duties were distributed for the time being 
among several persons with the President himself assuming the 
direction of these people. One of the persons who was of particular 
assistance to the President during this crucial period was Joe B. Saxon 
who was superintendent of buildings and grounds. It was Mr. Saxon 
who took over the important responsibility of supervising non- 
contract employees. For various reasons, it took much longer than 
anticipated to fill Mr. Rogers' post, so much so that it was not until the 
spring of 1974 that a replacement was found. In appreciation of Mr. 
Rogers and his service to Agnes Scott, the Trustees in November, 
1970, named the steam plant in his memory and also established a 
small credit operation for non-contract employees --a group for 
whom Mr. Rogers always felt great concern and whom he personally 
had often helped. 

As early as February, 1970, President Alston reminded the 
Executive Committee that on July 16, 1971, he would be sixty-five 
years old and that the Trustees might well begin to think about his 
successor. This whole matter was further discussed by the Executive 
Committee on May 11, 1970, at which time a resolution was 
unanimously adopted for presentation to the Board itself on May 15. 
Here is the resolution which the Trustees approved: 

WHEREAS, under the policy established by the Board of 
Trustees, normal retirement of faculty members and 
administrative officers of Agnes Scott College is age sixty-five 
which may be extended by resolution annually of the Board of 
Trustees until age seventy, at which time retirement is mandatory. 



204 



BE IT RESOLVED that the eligibility of President Alston to 
continue to serve in the capacity of President of Agnes Scott 
College be and is hereby extended to the mandatory age of 
seventy. 

RESOLVED that it is the wish and desire of this Board that Dr. 
Alston continue to serve until the mandatory retirement age is 
reached unless he requests and insists upon retirement at an earlier 
age. 

This resolution is neither sought nor suggested by Dr. Alston. It 
originated as the unanimous wish and desire of the members of the 
Executive Committee, looking solely to the best interest and 
progress of Agnes Scott College. 

This action meant that the Trustees wanted Dr. Alston to continue as 
President until the mandatory age without the necessity of annual 
election after age sixty-five. The Board's decision expressed unlimited 
approval of and confidence in the President. The Trustees were in no 
mood to consider changing presidents when the College had two new 
deans, a new vice president for development, and the position of 
business manager vacant. President Alston expressed his great 
gratitude to the Board but observed that he felt "it is extremely unwise 
to 'put the face of age' upon this institution." He recognized that the 
Trustees' resolution gave "complete freedom to him and the Board" 
concerning when he might choose to retire. 

Beginning in the summer of 1970 and continuing almost every 
summer thereafter up until the present time, Agnes Scott has offered a 
summer study abroad program sponsored by one or more of the 
academic departments. At least one faculty member has on each 
occasion accompanied a group of students and supervised and 
participated in the program. The work offered has carried academic 
credit for the Agnes Scott degree. Programs have been offered in 
English history, art, classical archaeology, German, and Spanish. In 
this program, students have studied in England, Spain, Italy, and West 
Germany. The whole endeavor has proved most useful and is in reality 
now a regular part of the College's academic program. 

For the second time in one year, Agnes Scott in 1970 sustained the 
death of a major administrative officer. On October 5, Miss Ann 
Worthy Johnson, '38, Director of Alumnae Affairs since 1954, died 
after a brief illness. At its meeting on November 1 6, 1 970, the Board of 
Trustees adopted a special memorial for Miss Johnson  a memorial 
presented by the alumnae trustee who was the immediate past 
president of the national Agnes Scott Alumnae Association. To fill the 



205 



vacancy caused by Miss Johnson's death, the College appointed Mrs. 
Barbara M. Pendleton, '40. 

After more than two years of study by the Board's Executive 
Committee, the Trustees on November 5, 1971, adopted a restated 
charter for the College, a document now termed The Articles of 
Incorporation and officially issued by the office of Georgia's Secretary 
of State on November 11, 1971. The new "charter" made six major 
changes from the document previously in effect. These six changes 
were as follows: 

1. The recently adopted statement on qualifications for the 
faculty (see p. 197) was made a part of Article 2. 

2. The arrangement whereby the Synods of Alabama, Florida, 
and Georgia confirmed certain trustees was abolished. The 
College however, continued its affiliation with the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States. 

3. The terms of "corporate" and "synodical" trustee were 
dropped. 

4. The terms of the alumnae trustees were lengthened from two 
to four years, and these two trustees were to be the two 
immediate past presidents of the Alumnae Association. 

5. Provision was made for the mandatory retirement of 
Trustees at age 72, except that any Trustee who had reached 
this age prior to May 14, 1971, was exempt from this 
requirement. 

6. On nomination by the Chairman of the Board, any Trustee 
retiring by reason of age might be elected a Trustee- 
Emeritus by an affirmative vote of 3/4 of the Trustees. Such 
Trustees-Emeritus would serve for life and would have the 
privilege of attending Board meetings and of participating in 
discussions. Trustees-Emeritus would not have the right to 
vote nor could they be counted in determining the presence 
of a quorum. 

As has already been pointed out, Agnes Scott's retirement program 
was arranged through the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance 
Company (see pp. 108-112). However, in the spring of 1971, the 
Trustees expanded this arrangement by offering participants the 
option of the Connecticut Mutual program or of that provided by the 
Teachers Insurance Association of America (T.I. A. A.), effective with 
the College's 1 972- 1 973 fiscal year. This option meant that new faculty 
members who already had T.I. A. A. retirement arrangements from 
another institution could continue the retirement plan that they had, if 



206 



they so desired. Of course, they had the privilege of choosing the 
Connecticut Mutual plan just as those in the Connecticut Mutual 
arrangement could shift to T.I. A. A. 

For a number of years, the Trustees and certain members of the 
administration had been discussing whether or not Agnes Scott 
needed another group besides the Board itself to serve as an advisory 
body to the College. Finally, on May 14, 1971, on the recommendation 
of the Executive Committee, the Board adopted a motion approving 
"the establishment of a President's Advisory Council and authorized 
the President of the College to proceed with this at his discretion." At 
this same time the Trustees sanctioned the following set of bylaws 
under which this Advisory Council would function. 

BYLAWS 

PRESIDENTS ADVISORY COUNCIL 

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE 

ARTICLE I NAME 

The organization shall be known as the President's Advisory 
Council. 

ARTICLE II PURPOSE 

The purpose of the Council shall be to promote the program 
and objectives of Agnes Scott College by advising with the 
President and other administrative officers. Individually, each 
member shall provide two-way communication between the 
College and its publics and shall serve as a center of influence for 
the College in his or her community. 

ARTICLE III MEETINGS 

The regular annual meeting shall be held in the spring on a date 
determined by the Chairman of the Council and the President of 
the College. These same persons may call a special meeting when 
circumstances justify. 

ARTICLE IV OFFICERS 

The Council shall have as its principal officers, a Chairman, 
Vice Chairman, and Secretary whose duties shall be those usually 
associated with these offices. 

ARTICLE V ELECTION OF OFFICERS 

Officers shall be nominated and elected at the annual meeting of 
the Council. The Chairman shall appoint a Nominating 
Committee prior to the annual meeting. The officers shall be 
elected to a term of one year and shall be eligible to be reelected to 
serve one additional term. 



207 



ARTICLE VI MEMBERSHIP 

The Agnes Scott Board of Trustees shall elect the members of 
the President's Advisory Council for a three-year term with the 
possibility of reelection. Terms shall be overlapping to provide 
continuity. The Council shall consist of twenty-four or more 
members. 

ARTICLE VII AMENDMENTS 

These Bylaws may be amended by the Agnes Scott Board of 
Trustees. 

In subsequent months the President invited a select group of Agnes 
Scott friends to become members of the President's Advisory Council, 
and by May, 1972, the Council was convened in its first meeting. The 
initial twenty-six members of this group reads almost like a "Who's 
Who." Here are the names: 

Martha Eskridge Ayers (Mrs. Nathan M.), '33 
Alumna, Greensboro, North Carolina 

Eugene L. Bothwell 

Architect, Bothwell, Jenkins, Slay & Associates, Decatur, 
Georgia 

Harllee Branch, Jr. 

Former Chairman, The Southern Company, Atlanta, Georgia 

Lawton M. Calhoun 

President, Savannah Foods and Industries, Inc., Savannah, 
Georgia 

Charles S. Daley 

President, The Fourth National Bank, Columbus, Georgia 

Harry L. Dalton 
Chairman, Executive Committee, American Credit Company, 
Charlotte, North Carolina 

Kenneth W. Dunwoody, Jr. 

President, Cherokee Brick and Tile Company, Macon, Georgia 

Edward E. Elson 

President, Atlanta News Agency, Atlanta, Georgia 

Margaret Powell Flowers (Mrs. Langdon S.), '44 
Alumna, Thomasville, Georgia 

Harriet Griffin Harris (Mrs. George), '56 
Alumna, Bartow, Florida 

W. T. Harris 

Chairman, Harris-Teeter Supermarkets, Inc., Charlotte, 
North Carolina 



208 



Raymond A. Jones, Jr. 

Executive Vice President, J. A. Jones Construction Company, 
Charlotte, North Carolina 

Monroe M. Kimbrel 

President, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia 

Bert Lance 

Director, State Highway Department, Atlanta, Georgia 

J. Erskine Love, Jr. 

President, Printpack, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia 

Julius A. McCurdy 

Chairman, Decatur Federal Savings and Loan, Decatur, 
Georgia 

Evangeline Papageorge, Ph.D., '28 

Alumna, Associate Dean, Emory University School of 
Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 

Ida Louise Brittain Patterson (Mrs. Fred), '21 
Alumna, Atlanta, Georgia 

John C. Portman, Jr. 

Architect, John Portman & Associates, Atlanta, Georgia 

Louis Regenstein 

Attorney, Kilpatrick, Cody, Rogers, McClatchey, & 
Regenstein, Atlanta, Georgia 

Dean Rusk 

Distinguished Professor, University of Georgia School of Law; 
Former United States Secretary of State, Athens, Georgia 

Carl E. Sanders 

Attorney, Troutman, Sanders, Lockerman & Ashmore; 
Former Governor of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia 

Miriam F. Smith, M.D. '57 

Alumna, Psychiatrist, Decatur, Georgia 

John W. Thatcher 

President, Banana Supply Company, Miami, Florida 

Pollard Turman 

Chairman, J.M. Tull Industries, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia 

Margaret Weeks, "31 

Alumna, New Orleans, Louisiana 

Mr. Charles S. Daley of Columbus, Georgia, was elected the first 
chairman of this Council, and the whole endeavor got off to a good 
start and continued to function for several years. However, because 
the group was advisory and had no real authority, interest gradually 



209 



began to wane, and in time this Council ceased to function. The real 
problem was that the College never found an effective way to utilize 
the talents and abilities of this "high-powered" group of men and 
women  a circumstance that was a real loss to Agnes Scott. 

In 1970 the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation of Atlanta gave the 
College $50,000 to air condition the dining hall which was named for 
Mrs. Evans, a late Agnes Scott trustee (see p. 121). Thus, this building 
became the first structure to be air conditioned many years after its 
erection. The Charles A. Dana Fine Arts Building was air conditioned 
from its beginning, and since the time that the dining hall was cooled, 
four other buildings have been air conditioned (Winship, Presser, 
Buttrick, and the McCain library), and at this writing plans are under 
way to provide the same comfort for Campbell Hall. 

As the 1 970's opened, Agnes Scott began to gear up for the decennial 
self-study required by the Southern Association of Colleges and 
Schools. However, prior to the actual start of the "official" self-study, 
the faculty initiated a preliminary analysis of most of the thrusts of the 
College. One of the most important groups was the one designated to 
formulate a statement of purpose for Agnes Scott. This committee, 
made up of representatives from the faculty, the students, and the 
alumnae, submitted its report to the Trustees in the fall of 1 97 1 . After 
an introductory section, this report dealt with four aspects of Agnes 
Scott as they related to the purpose of the College, namely, (1) 
academic standards, (2) the liberal arts, (3) the relationship to the 
Christian faith, and (4) the composition of the student body: 

In a rapidly changing world of increasing mechanization and 
complexity, Agnes Scott College continues to put its faith in the 
life of the mind and the spirit and in the liberating power of 
knowledge. As a liberal arts college, our purpose is 

1. to help the student gain a basic acquaintance with each of 
three broad areas of knowledge  the humanities, natural 
sciences, and social sciences  and competence in some 
particular phase of one area; 

2. to develop through such study those qualities of mind  
analytical, critical, and imaginative  which will enable the 
student to use the treasure of the past as well as 
contemporary contributions to knowledge, not only to 
enrich her own life but also to seek solutions to age-old and 
new problems; 

3. to develop an appreciation for excellence and for man's 
creative achievements in all fields; 



210 



4. to encourage the student to find for herself a spiritual 
commitment and a set of values which will give vitality, 
meaning, and direction to her life; 

5. to foster a concern for human worth and needs, and to 
cultivate in the student a sense of responsiblity to the society 
in which we live. 

An important part of liberating the mind is the exercise of liberty 
in the pursuit of education. The student should be accorded that 
independence consonant with disciplined activity. She must be 
invested with the trust that makes her not just a passive receptacle 
for the ideas of others but rather a co-worker in the search for 
truth. It is hoped that a liberal arts foundation will give the student 
the means and stimulate the desire to continue her education 
throughout her life. 

On Academic Standards: 

Agnes Scott has earned national respect as an academic 
institution of high quality; it is generally considered to be among 
the best of its kind. We do not feel, however, that we dare take this 
reputation for granted. In an age of academic compromises and 
confusions, we at this college need to come down hard for 
academic excellence. If we are to continue to remain a small, 
Christian-oriented liberal arts college for women, we must do so 
with pride. We must do what we do as well as it can be done. 
Efforts to hire exceptionally well qualified faculty members, who 
can endorse Agnes Scott's purposes and support her standards, 
must be pursued vigorously by those empowered to do so. 
Energies spent in recruiting promising students need to be 
intensified. As an academic community, we need to stay well 
informed so that we can recognize educational innovations of 
genuine merit, and we need the flexibility to implement them; we 
also need the good sense to continue to reject those notions and 
fads that jeopardize our strong curriculum. We must do whatever 
is necessary to strengthen our standards of academic excellence; 
we cannot afford to let them slip. As one alumna put it, we need to 
measure up to our standards  not change them. 

On the Liberal Arts: 

The intensity of our commitment to the liberal arts is obvious 
from our interpretation of the college's purpose. One aspect of the 
statement that we have formulated may not be clear  our sense 
of the respective yet cooperative function served by each of the 
three broad areas of learning with their distinctive methodologies. 

1. The HUMANITIES acquaint the student with the 
accumulated wisdom that defines the human condition and 
with the artistic expression which man has given to his 
deepest insights and emotions. 



21 



2. The NATURAL SCIENCES involve the student in the 
human activities of observing, recording, and forming ideas 
which foster an understanding and appreciation of the 
conceptual schemes describing the physical world; and they 
make the student aware that the results of such activities 
have had and continue to have a profound effect upon the 
conditions of all human activities. 

3. The SOCIAL SCIENCES afford the student an 
opportunity for speculative and empirical investigation of 
the structural and dynamic properties of persons, groups, 
institutions, and societies as these reflect themselves in 
characteristic responses to situations. 

There are many fervid and well-meant arguments today for 
broadening the traditionally conservative liberal arts curriculum 
to accommodate the pragmatic desires of students to be equipped 
for employment when they graduate. We recognize the plight of 
today's graduates, and we are aware that more and more women 
plan to join the labor force and remain a part of it. We are 
convinced, however, of the humanizing force of a liberal arts 
education; we feel, too, that such an education produces thinking 
men and women who can quickly acquire the skills they need for a 
specific occupation. To impose upon our liberal arts program 
courses which are primarily professional or technical in their 
orientation is to undermine its efficacy. Having recognized that 
each area of the liberal arts has its distinctive method, we do not 
exclude any course which legitimately employs the method of its 
discipline. Courses of a purely practical nature might well be 
available on a non-credit or non-graded basis, and indeed they 
have been from time to time. Good counseling to students who are 
seeking employment opportunities must of necessity be provided. 
But by no means should we as an institution be shaken in our 
dedication to the liberal arts; a student privileged to be enrolled in 
a course of study in the liberal arts should be expected to engage 
willingly in the pursuit of knowledge  because she desires to 
know the truth. 

On the College's Relationship to the Christian Faith: 

The following statement is found in the Charter of Agnes 
Scott College: 

Said corporation is constituted for the purpose of 
establishing, perpetuating, and conducting a College 
for the Higher Education of Women under auspices 
distinctly favorable to the maintenance of the faith and 
practice of the Christian religion, but all departments 
of the College shall be open alike to students of any 
religion or sect, and no denominational or sectarian 
test shall be imposed in the admission of students. 



212 



Agnes Scott continues to affirm this purpose. The College aims to 
implement it in our pluralistic culture with a high degree of 
liberality, tolerance, and flexibility by: 

1. stimulating the student to examine the relation 
between reason and commitment and to develop 
standards for the evaluation of the meaning and 
function of religious symbols, since to ignore the 
religious dimension of human life in education would 
leave the student with an unexamined faith and 
unexamined life; 

2. encouraging the student to find for herself an ultimate 
commitment and a set of values which will give 
direction and meaning to her life through a disciplined 
study of the Judeo-Christian roots of western culture 
and an openness to all interpretations of truth; 

3. cultivating an atmosphere of warmth, concern, and 
support for each individual in the college community; 

4. imposing no religious, ethnic, or racial restrictions in 
the choice of faculty, and staff as well as students. 

On the Composition of the Student Body: 

The Committee believes firmly in the desirability of diversity in 
the student body and in broadening the academic experience of 
the student by cooperation with other institutions. We urge that 
students be recruited from as varied backgrounds as possible. 
Increased cooperation among the academic institutions in the 
Atlanta area is highly desirable for Agnes Scott. Investigations 
into our University Center revealed alack of interchange and the 
absence of any existent channels for this interchange on the 
student and class levels. The Committee strongly recommends an 
attempt to rectify this situation. 

At present there seem few clearly compelling reasons to urge the 
reconstitution of Agnes Scott as a coeducational college. We 
believe that it would be highly desirable, however, for a joint 
committee (composed perhaps of faculty, administration, 
students, and Board mmbers) to continue to study this matter and 
remain alert to any circumstances that might require altering our 
structure in this regard. We suggest an open mind on the question 
of coeducation, and we support programs to bring male students 
on the campus for academic encounters with our students. For 
instance, our committee believes that residential interchange with 
other colleges would be most valuable, and we suggest that the 
question be pursued by the proper authorities to discover which 
comparable institutions would be interested in participating in 
such a program with Agnes Scott, either for the special education 
we can offer or for the attraction of the Atlanta area, or both. 



213 



Some of these suggestions obviously are contingent on the size, 
location, and financial ability of the college; all relate to our 
ability to offer quality education, a course of study which 
preserves the best of traditional approaches and methods but 
which reflects the innovation and updating required to meet the 
student's needs in a changing world. All contribute to our success 
in providing the type of education that gives the private institution 
one edge over the state institution: an education tailored in so far 
as possible to the individual student. We believe, therefore, that 
these recommendations are an appropriate part of a consideration 
of the purpose of Agnes Scott College. 

Prior to coming to the Board itself, this statement of purpose was 
carefully reviewed by the Executive Committee, which at that time was 
also functioning as the Board's ad hoc committee on the purpose and 
direction of the College. The minutes of the Trustees show "that since 
the report [statement of purpose] was originally prepared, a number of 
questions [had] been raised by individuals about it  for example, the 
whole area of physical and social development and well-being of 
students is apparently omitted and there are questions about the way 
in which the College's Christian commitment is interpreted, etc." The 
Executive Committee considered whether the Board (1) should adopt 
the statement, (2) should amend it, (3) should write its own statement, 
or (4) should reaffirm the statement set forth in article 2 of the Restated 
Articles of Incorporation. On the recommendation of the Executive 
Committee, the Trustees chose simply to receive "with appreciation 
and commendation" the joint faculty-student-alumnae statement and 
then reaffirmed the historic charter statement as setting forth the 
official purpose of Agnes Scott College. By way of reminder, the 
central thrust of this statement reads as follows: 

Said corporation is constituted for the purpose of establishing, 
perpetuating, and conducting a liberal arts college for the higher 
education of young women under auspices distinctly favorable to 
the maintenance of the faith and practice of the Christian religion. 

By the autumn of 1971, the decennial self-study required by the 
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools was in full operation 
under the leadership of Professor Myrna G. Young, who served as 
director. In the spring of 1973, the self-study and its attendant 
publications were complete, and during the period April 1-4, 1973, the 
Visiting Committee came to Agnes Scott and made their evaluations. 
This committee consisted of: 



214 



Cecil Abernethy, Professor of English, Birmingham-Southern 
College, Chairman 

Edward Allison, Comptroller, Mary Washington College 

James Clark, Professor of Biology, Radford College 

Gladys Collins, Professor of Education, Virginia State College 

Mildred Iddins, Librarian, Carson Newman College 

Mary Bland Josey, Director of Admissions, Meredith College 

Robert Mills, President, Georgetown College 

Gresham Riley, Acting Provost, New College 

Albert Sanders, Professor of History, Furman University 

When the Visiting Committee had completed its work and submitted 
its report, the accreditation of Agnes Scott was reaffirmed and 
continued. 

On September 2, 1972, the Executive Committee adopted the 
following statement concerning full-time faculty members who may 
engage in employment other than that at Agnes Scott: 

Any member of the Agnes Scott College faculty who is under 
contract for a full-time position will be expected to inform the 
Dean of the Faculty concerning employment other than and in 
addition to the position held at Agnes Scott. It is the responsibility 
of the Dean of the Faculty to counsel with a faculty member who 
is accepting work outside the College, determining that the duties 
of that faculty member having to do with teaching assignments, 
office hours, committee responsibilities, etc. are being 
satisfactorily fulfilled before giving approval to such work. 

President Alston on June 27, 1972, addressed a letter to the three 
principal officers of the Board indicating his purpose to retire no later 
than November 1, 1973, but preferably on June 30 of that year. As 
already indicated, the Trustees had elected him president until the 
mandatory retirement age of seventy, but he chose to retire before that 
age. Here are the pertinent paragraphs of the President's letter: 

Mr. Hal L. Smith 

Chairman, Board of Trustees, Agnes Scott College 
Mr. Alex P. Gaines 

Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, Agnes Scott College 
Dr. J. Davison Philips 

Chairman, Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, Agnes 

Scott College 



215 



My dear Friends: 

This letter is written after months of prayerful consideration. 
This is my official request to the Board of Trustees, through you as 
the principal officers of the Board, to cooperate with me in 
preparing for and effecting my retirement as President of Agnes 
Scott not later than November 1, 1973. It is my desire that the 
1972-1973 session  which will complete twenty-five years at 
Agnes Scott  be my last one. If my successor is found and is 
ready to take office in the summer of 1973, 1 would, of course, be 
pleased. For a number of reasons, I would not be able to continue 
my service to the College beyond November 1, 1973. You know 
my thinking about retirement while I am still able to give the 
College my very best service. I will be sixty-seven years old on July 
16, 1973. I am strongly convinced that it will be in the best interest 
of the College that my retirement shall be planned for and 
arranged during the next twelve to sixteen months. I pledge you 
my complete cooperation in any manner in which you need my 
help as the Board moves to find the person who is to be the next 
President. 

In addition to my strong conviction that retirement at age sixty- 
seven is in the best interest of the College, I think you ought to 
know that there are some rather compelling personal reasons that 
have entered into my decision. I want to try to meet some of the 
needs of my family that require more attention than I have been 
able to give. Moreover, I am hopeful that Madelaine and I can 
travel while we are both in good health. I plan to do some 
preaching, a lot of reading, and some writing. The past twenty- 
four years have been wonderful ones, so far as I am concerned, 
and I cannot conclude this letter without saying that the 
wholehearted support that you and other members of the Agnes 
Scott Board have given me has been a major source of strength 
and encouragement throughout the whole period. Your generous 
provision for my retirement, expressed in the letter from the 
Executive Committee dated November 1 1, 1971, has enabled me 
to make plans for retirement with a clear understanding of what 
will be possible for Madelaine and me. Believe me when I say that 
I am deeply grateful to the three of you  and, indeed, to all of the 
members of our Board. 

With the assurance of my prayers and of my desire to help in 
every possible way as you set in motion the steps that you and 
other members of the Board deem desirable in the selection of my 
successor, I am 

Sincerely, your friend, 

Wallace M. Alston 

WMA:bb 



216 



On September 7, 1 972, the Executive Committee met and with great 
reluctance acceded to the President's request. Subsequently, on the 
next day, September 8, the Board itself convened and "regretfully" 
agreed to President Alston's retirement and in the same action 
recorded "its sincere appreciation for his outstanding service to Agnes 
Scott College." On recommendation of the Executive Committee, the 
Board adopted a resolution establishing a Special Committee to 
nominate a President of Agnes Scott College. By this resolution the 
following trustees were named to this Search Committee: Neil O. 
Davis, Alex P. Gaines, L.L. Gellerstedt, Jr., Ben S. Gilmer, Gene S. 
Morse, '41, Suzella Burns Newsome, '57, and J. Davison Philips. Hal 
L. Smith was named an ex officio member of the Committee. Dr. 
Philips was designated chairman. This same enabling resolution urged 
that the Search Committee "consult with representatives of the 
Faculty, the Study Body, and the Alumnae." As a result, an advisory 
committee representing these constituencies, plus a member from the 
administration, was set up. In the process of finding a new president, 
the Search Committee received more than three hundred names for 
consideration. After careful screening, the Committee began 
interviewing candidates and ultimately narrowed its choice to four 
persons  all of whom were brought to the campus to see and to be 
seen. On March 22, 1973, the Trustees on the unanimous 
recommendation of the Search Committee, unanimously and 
enthusiastically elected Dr. Marvin Banks Perry, Jr., to be the fourth 
president of Agnes Scott College, effective July 1, 1973. 

The last year of President Alston's administration was a good one, 
as indeed all the years of his presidency had been. The President was in 
full vigor of health  both mentally and physically  and his youthful 
outlook and enthusiasm continued unabated. He presided over Agnes 
Scott as if he had an indefinite number of years ahead as President. 

Also in the same year, the Trustees undertook to provide greater 
income from the College's endowment portfolio. Certain stocks with 
low yield were sold, and other stocks providing larger income were 
purchased. By this process the operating income was considerably 
increased, and the value of the portfolio was also augmented. When 
President Alston began his administration in 1951, Agnes Scott's 
assets were $6,684,000; when he retired in 1973, these assets totaled 
$48,646,829. 

The records in the Board's minutes for May 11, 1973, show that 
during President Alston's last year a greatly revised curriculum had 



217 



been approved. All the changes, proposed by the Curriculum 
Committee of the faculty and approved by the Academic Council, 
"were made in an effort to preserve excellence in the liberal arts while 
bringing the curriculum somewhat more in line with that of other 
institutions." Elaborating on this purpose, the minutes continue: 

The new curriculum preserves the integrity of the Agnes Scott 
degree while allowing a greater flexibility to students in meeting 
requirements. A number of outdated rules have been removed and 
additional options have been provided for meeting degree 
requirements. The new curriculum includes, as did the older one, a 
requirement in English composition, foreign language, Biblical 
studies, and physical education. A student must also elect some 
work in literature, historical studies, mathematics or science, and 
social studies. Provision is made for a double major and for 
certain inter-departmental work. 

Another academic development of 1972-1973 was in the area of 
advanced placement. The College "modified its policy concerning the 
acceptance of [honor quality scores on the Advanced Placement 
Examination of the College Entrance Examination Board] and, for 
the first time, a student entering Agnes Scott in the fall of 1972 was 
given sophomore classification on the basis of these examinations." 

In this same year Agnes Scott became a participant in the 
Washington Semester, a program provided by American University 
whereby a limited number of seniors in the fall quarter might spend 
time in the nation's capital studying and observing both the federal and 
international governments at first hand. This Washington semester 
carried Agnes Scott credit as did the internship in the Georgia 
legislature, a program which had been established several years earlier. 

The matter of the use of alcoholic beverages continued to agitate the 
students, but in 1972-1973 no proposal developed which caused the 
Board to consider changing its policy concerning this matter. 

Two important developments occurred in the Alumnae Association 
during the final year of President Alston's administration. The 
Association for the first time established an Alumnae Council made up 
of members of the Executive Board plus regional vice presidents, club 
presidents, class presidents and secretaries, alumnae admissions 
represenatatives, and fund chairmen. Also in this same year the 
Alumnae Association initiated another "first"  a conference of the 
past Association presidents with the President of the College. 

As the year drew to a close, the thoughts of all were on honoring the 



218 



retiring President, and a series of events was carried out. On April 13, 
the evening before the annual Alumnae Day, the Association gave a 
gala reception for Dr. and Mrs. Alston at which time it was announced 
that gifts from former students and other friends had made possible a 
scholarship fund honoring the President and had provided a special 
bank account for him and Mrs. Alston  possibly to be used for 
subsequent travel. The Association also presented Dr. Alston with a 
bound volume of letters from alumnae. 

On May 1 1, the Board of Trustees gave a formal reception for the 
Alstons to which many friends from Atlanta and Decatur were invited. 
Earlier in the day the Board had honored the President by establishing 
the Wallace McPherson Alston Professorship of Bible and Religion 
and by directing that when a student center is built at Agnes Scott, it be 
named the Wallace McPherson Alston Student Center. This naming 
of the proposed Student Center for President Alston honored a 
request that had earlier come to the Trustees from the students 
themselves. The Board also gave Dr. Alston a cash gift and transferred 
to him the College car which he had been using. 

Perhaps the most impressive recognition that came from the 
Trustees, however, was a handsome silver plaque engraved as follows: 



Wallace McPherson Alston 

President 

Agnes Scott College 

1951-1973 

Distinguished Scholar Effective Administrator 

Creative Leader Eloquent Preacher 

Compassionate and Gracious Friend 

Presented by 

The Agnes Scott Board of Trustees 

with Affection, Admiration, and Appreciation 

May 11, 1973 



Engraved beneath this inscription were the facsimile signatures of 
every living Trustee, both active and emeriti. 

Just before the end of the College year, the students honored the 



219 



Alstons at a "Monday-Sundae" party in the amphitheater and 
presented them with rocking chairs for the porch of their new home at 
Norris Lake near Lithonia, Georgia, as well as with other appropriate 
gifts. 

At the final faculty meeting of the year, the President's colleagues in 
the faculty adopted the following resolutions in appreciation of their 
long-time leader: 

Whereas Wallace McPherson Alston has served Agnes Scott 
College with great distinction for twenty-five years, twenty-two as 
President, 

And whereas President Alston has by his example challenged and 
stimulated the faculty, has constantly demonstrated his concern 
for each of us, has always been available for counsel and has 
provided the highest quality of moral, intellectual, and 
professional leadership, 

Therefore, be it resolved, and it is resolved by the faculty of Agnes 
Scott College: 

That we acknowledge our debt of gratitude to Wallace 
McPherson Alston; that we count ourselves fortunate to have 
been at Agnes Scott concurrently with him; that we assure him 
of our admiration and esteem; and that, as he retires from the 
presidency, we wish for him and Mrs. Alston health, happiness, 
and a continuing sense of fulfillment. 

The Faculty of Agnes Scott 
College 

In May, 1973, Agnes Scott published a newsletter paying tribute to 
President Alston and his twenty-two years of outstanding leadership. 
In this newsletter were a number of quotations about the President 
from alumnae, students, faculty, administration, and trustees. 
Perhaps it is in order to cite a few of these quotations: 

In the person of Dr. Alston, all those qualities of excellence and 
sensitivity exist which seem almost too unreal to be the possession 
of one individual. One great word  strength  comes to mind 
when I think of him  strength of character, strength of integrity, 
and strength of purpose and faith. 

President Alston, a scholar, an administrator, and a man of 
deep Christian faith, has unceasingly confronted the Agnes Scott 
College community with excellence in education. 



220 



To Dr. Alston it matters  whether it's your birthday, whether 
your mother is ill, whether you made Mortar Board, whether you 
have a date or don't  to Dr. Alston it matters. 



President Alston epitomizes all that is high, noble, strong, 
courageous, and honest. He is incapable of littleness, meanness, 
or selfishness. His whole personality is cast in a large mold. 



The Dr. Alston I know honestly speaks his mind and also listens 
to opinions. He is unafraid to engage openly in a time of prayer. 
He also enjoys jelly beans, Hershey kisses, and cook-outs. 



President Alston is a warm and sensitive person with a 
delightful sense of humor. His own inspiring Christian 
commitment, coupled with his genuine concern for all those 
individuals with whom and for whom he makes decisions daily 
marks him a giant among men .It is a rare privilege to work with 
one in whose wisdom and integrity I have placed absolute trust. 

If one were to search for one word to characterize the Alston years in 
Agnes Scott's life, that word, in this writer's opinion, would be 
"greatness." His vision for the College was greatness, and he strove and 
inspired others to strive toward that vision. It seems appropriate, 
therefore, that "girding for greatness" be the proper term with which to 
describe Agnes Scott's life between 1951 and 1973. 



221 



Chapter 5 

TOWARD A NEW CENTURY 



Marvin Banks Perry, Jr., who on July 1, 1973, became Agnes Scott's 
fourth president, was born in Powhatan, Virginia, on September 29, 
1918, but almost immediately thereafter came with his father and 
mother to Atlanta where he spent the first ten years of his life. Mr. 
Perry, Sr., a native of Georgia and a graduate of the University of 
Georgia, was in the textbook publishing business and became the head 
of the Atlanta office of D.C. Heath and Company. In the late 1920's, 
Mr. Perry was transferred to the Heath home office in Boston, where 
he rose to be chairman of the board and chief executive officer of D.C. 
Heath. Mrs. Perry, Sr., prior to her marriage, had been a teacher. The 
move to Boston meant that Marvin, Jr., spent his adolescent years in 
Newton, Massachusetts, where he completed his secondary education. 

In 1940 he received his B.A. degree from the University of Virginia 
and the same year entered the Harvard University Graduate School 
where he took his M.A. degree in 1941. This graduate study was 
interrupted by World War II when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In 
1942 he was commissioned and sent to sea where he saw all his 
subsequent military action. He participated in convoy duty in the 
Atlantic Ocean, was involved in the African and Sicilian invasions, 
and later saw action in engagements on Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the 
coastal areas of Japan. He terminated his regular duty in 1946 but 
continued active in the Naval Reserve from which he retired in 1969 
with the rank of Commander. 

On his release from active duty, President Perry returned to 
Harvard to complete his Ph.D. degree, which he received in 1950. His 
doctoral dissertation dealt with the poet John Keats and was directed 
by Professor Hyder Rollins. While at Harvard, Dr. Perry also served 
as student assistant to Professor Douglas Bush. During the time that 
he was doing his research for and writing his dissertation, Dr. Perry 
was an instructor in English at his alma mater, the University of 
Virginia, a post from which he resigned in 1951 to join the faculty of 
Washington and Lee University as assistant professor of English. 
Within the next six years, he advanced to full professor and chairman 
of the Department of English there. In 1960 he returned to 
Charlottesville to become Professor of English and Dean of 



222 



Admissions at the University of Virginia. In 1 967 he was elected to the 
presidency of Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, a position 
which he held until he came to Agnes Scott in 1973. 

President Perry has a number of publications, among which are 
Modern Minds: An Anthology of Ideas, edited with Howard 
Mumford Jones and Richard M. Ludwig, and Nine Short Novels, 
edited with Richard M. Ludwig. Each of these volumes has gone 
through two editions. He has also published reviews and articles in The 
Georgia Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Notes and Queries, 
The Keats  Shelley Journal, Shenandoah, and College English. 

In recognition of his achievements, President Perry has been 
awarded honorary doctorates by Washington College, Washington 
and Lee University, and Oglethorpe University. He is a member of Phi 
Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa. He is a Presbyterian elder and 
an active churchman. He likewise is a member of a number of 
professional and scholarly organizations and societies. Prior to 
coming to Agnes Scott, he was a director of the Chesapeake and 
Potomac Telephone Company of Maryland as well as a trustee of the 
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Gilman and Bryn Mawr Schools 
of Baltimore, and the Maryland Academy of Sciences. He has also 
served as a trustee of Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia. He 
was a founding member of the Maryland Independent College and 
University Association of which he was president. After coming to 
Agnes Scott, he was equally involved in the local scene in the Atlanta 
area where he served as a trustee of the Atlanta Arts Alliance and the 
Lovett School. He was a director of the Association of Private 
Colleges and Universities in Georgia of which he was president in 
1976-1978. During the same two-year period he was also president of 
the Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges. At the national 
level, he has been a member of the Commission on Liberal Learning of 
the Association of American Colleges. 

On April 6, 1950, Marvin Perry married the former Ellen Coalter 
Gilliam of Lynchburg, Virginia. They have two daughters: Elizabeth 
Gray Perry Sweet of New York and Margaret McCluer Perry of 
Atlanta. 

Although President Perry took office on July 1, 1973, his formal 
inauguration did not occur until the spring of 1974. Necessary time 
was needed to prepare properly for this significant event, and it is a fact 
of nature that Decatur weather is better in the spring than in the 
autumn or winter. Plans were in the hands of a committee made up of 
trustees, faculty, administrators, students, and alumnae, chaired by 



223 



Lawrence L. Gellerstadt, Jr., Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees. 
President Perry very much wanted the intellectual life of the College to 
be high-lighted, and, understandably, the committee kept this desire in 
the forefront of its planning. Saturday, May 18, 1974, was the day 
chosen for the actual celebration itself, but a large part of the preceding 
week was taken up with inaugural events. 

On Wednesday, May 15, the College presented as convocation 
speaker Mrs. Josephine Jacobsen, poet, short-story writer, critic, and 
former consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress. Mrs. 
Jacobsen's address was entitled "Beginnings" and was received with 
much applause and praise. The thrust of her remarks was the necessity 
 albeit difficult  of making fresh starts  of breaking with the 
limitations of alignment, of charting a new  or, at least, a different - 
course. 

Two days later on May 17, a second convocation speaker was 
presented  this time a distinguished Agnes Scott alumna, Dr. Jeanne 
Addison Roberts, '46, Dean of the Faculties and Professor of 
Literature at American University in Washington, D.C. Dean 
Roberts' topic was "Shakespeare's Prince Hal as a Model for Career 
Women." This address was also applauded with enthusiasm. Although 
she used the male Prince Hal as the model in her talk, Professor 
Roberts traced with keen insight the remarkable parallels between the 
maturing of the future Henry V and any young person  male or 
female. 

Friday, May 17 was concluded by a program entitled "Invitation to 
Music" which featured the music faculty and the Glee Club of Agnes 
Scott, assisted by the Glee Clubs from Spelman and Georgia Tech. 

The first event on Inauguration Day itself, May 18, was a brief 
chapel service conducted by the Rev. J. Davison Philips, Pastor of the 
Decatur Presbyterian Church and an Agnes Scott trustee. 

The inauguration began about mid-morning in the quadrangle 
between Buttrick and Presser Halls. Alex P. Gaines, recently elected 
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, presided and inducted the new 
president into office. President Emeritus Wallace M. Alston returned 
to the campus for the first time since his retirement to offer the 
invocation and pronounce the benediction. Greetings were brought to 
President Perry from the following constituencies by the persons 
indicated: 



224 



State of Georgia G. Conley Ingram 

Associate Justice 
Georgia Supreme Court 

City of Decatur Wiley S. Ansley, Mayor 

Agnes Scott Alumnae Memye Curtis Tucker, '54 

President 

Agnes Scott Students Mary Gay Morgan, '75 

President, Student Government 
Association 

Agnes Scott Faculty M. Kathryn Glick 

Professor of Classical 
Languages and Literatures 

Agnes Scott Trustees Hal L. Smith 

Chairman of the Board, 1956-1973 

President Perry's address was titled "To What Green Altar ..." and 
will be summarized subsequently. 

Immediately after the inauguration there was a gala luncheon for 
the almost two hundred guests representing various colleges and 
universities and scholarly and professional societies and 
organizations. In the evening an inaugural ball closed the day. This 
writer wrote at the time that it was "a glorious day  a day which will 
be remembered as a high water mark in Agnes Scott's remarkable 
history." 

As has already been stated, the title of the President's inaugural 
address was "To What Green Altar . . ."  a quotation, as many will 
recognize, from the fourth stanza of John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian 
Urn." After appropriate introductory remarks, President Perry 
launched into what this writer perceives as a seven-fold credo for 
Agnes Scott: (1) The College is concerned primarily with moral and 
educational values and only tangentially with political matters; (2) 
Agnes Scott is committed to liberal learning with specific courses for 
job training in addition to, never in lieu of, the traditional liberal arts; 
(3) the College, as it has always been, will be open to academic change 
and innovation; (4) the commitment to academic quality will continue 
as a hallmark of this institution; (5) Agnes Scott's position as a college 
for women was re-affirmed; (6) the importance of educating whole 
persons, and not just minds was stressed; and (7) Agnes Scott was re- 
committed to its Hebraic-Christian principles with strong emphasis on 
its vigorous Presbyterian heritage. This speech was scholarly in 
quality, highly perceptive in approach, and most appropriate to Agnes 
Scott. It set forth the new president's blue print for his administration 
and was lofty in its aspirations. 



225 



It has been noted that Alex P. Gaines, as Chairman of the Trustees, 
inducted President Perry into office. Hal L. Smith, who became 
Chairman of the Board in 1956 (see p. 156), chose to resign his 
chairmanship concurrently with the end of President Alston's 
administration. For seventeen eventful and profitable years Mr. Smith 
headed Agnes Scott's governing body. His leadership, dedication, and 
example were always of the highest order, and Agnes Scott can never 
thank him adequately for his service. With great reluctance and regret, 
the Board accepted Mr. Smith's resignation, grateful that he would 
continue as a trustee. 

To fill the chairmanship, the Board unanimously chose Alexander 
Pendleton Gaines, who had been serving as vice chairman since 1964. 
Alex Gaines has known Agnes Scott all his life. As a child he was 
frequently on the campus, inasmuch as his grandfather, Dr. Frank H. 
Gaines, was the first Chairman of Agnes Scott's Board of Trustees and 
subsequently the first President of the institution. Alex Gaines was 
born in Atlanta on May 27, 1910. A graduate of the University of 
Georgia in 1932, he received his law degree from Emory University in 
1935 and was admitted to the Georgia bar in the same year. From 1942 
to 1 945, he served in the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific Theater 
and was separated from military service with the rank of major. He 
returned to law practice in Atlanta and in time helped form the 
distinguished law firm of Alston, Miller, and Gaines in which he 
continues as a senior partner. In addition to being a trustee of Agnes 
Scott (elected in 1959), Mr. Gaines is or was also a trustee of Berry 
College, the John Bulow Campbell Foundation, the Charles Loridans 
Foundation, the J.M. Tull Foundation, the Vasser Woolley 
Foundation, the University of Georgia Foundation, and the Southern 
Academy of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. He is a member of the 
American, Georgia, Atlanta, and District of Columbia Bar 
Associations as well as of the American Judicature Society, the 
Atlanta Lawyers Club, and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. He is 
likewise a fellow of the American College of Probate Counsel and is an 
elder in Atlanta's Central Presbyterian Church. His mother, his aunt 
(the late Professor Lucile Alexander), and his two sisters graduated 
from Agnes Scott. It is not too much to say that no man on the present 
Atlanta scene has been actively involved in more worthwhile activities 
than has Alex P. Gaines. Such is the person who became the Chairman 
of the Agnes Scott Board of Trustees as President Perry began his 
administration. 

As would be expected the new president started his administration 



226 



cautiously but also with notable vigor. The initial weeks were devoted 
to becoming acquainted with the major administrative officers and 
their work as well as with the chairmen of the various academic 
departments. The first significant administrative change of the first 
year was the decision to separate the work of the registrar from that of 
the director of admissions. For seventeen years since 1 956 the work of 
these two positions had been admirably handled by Laura Steele, '37, 
but it was now determined that admissions was so important that the 
attention of a full-time director was needed. President Perry discussed 
this matter thoroughly with Miss Steele, and she concurred in his 
decision to have two officers. The President then gave Miss Steele her 
choice of which position she would retain, and she chose to continue as 
registrar. Ann Rivers Thompson, '59, who had served as assistant 
director of admissions since 1972, was thereupon appointed to this 
directorship. It should be noted that these changes of function did not 
become effective until the 1974-1975 academic session. 

The second major administrative change of President Perry's first 
year was in the area of business affairs. Since the sudden and untimely 
death of Mr. P.J. Rogers, Jr., in 1970, this part of Agnes Scott's 
activity had been functioning without an overall head, with many 
people reporting to the President. Dr. Alston elected not to make this 
appointment in the closing years of his administration, feeling that the 
new president should select his own chief business officer. After a 
careful and detailed search, President Perry in January, 1974, 
announced the appointment of Mr. R. James Henderson to be Agnes 
Scott's Vice President for Business Affairs. A graduate of the 
University of Kansas with a master's degree from Ohio University and 
a certificate from the Institute of Educational Management of the 
Harvard University School of Business, Mr. Henderson had held 
various positions in business management in several colleges. He 
began his duties at Agnes Scott on March 15, 1974, where he had 
"overall responsibility, directly under the President, for the Business 
Office, the Treasurer's Office, Buildings and Grounds, purchasing, 
security, and such auxiliary services as the dining hall, the bookstore, 
the mail room, telephone service, and general housekeeping and 
maintenance." In President Perry's words Mr. Henderson soon made 
his "skill and energies . . . impressively apparent in the comprehensive 
reorganization and innovations underway in the area of business and 
plant administration at Agnes Scott." A man of unbounded energy 
and self-confidence, R. James Henderson made his presence felt in 
every facet of campus life. 



227 



Two other major personnel changes became necessary during 
President Perry's first year. In September, 1973, Barbara Murlin 
Pendleton, '40, Director of Alumnae Affairs, died very unexpectedly, 
after only three years in her important post. To fill this vacancy, the 
President, assisted by a committee of alumnae, chose Virginia Brown 
McKenzie, '47. Also during this same year Roberta K. Jones, Dean of 
Students since 1969, indicated her wish to resign in order to be 
married. After a careful search and with the assistance of a committee 
of faculty, students, and administrators, the President appointed 
Martha C. Huntington (Mrs. William R. - - Now Mrs. William J. 
Kirkland) to this crucial administrative post. She had graduated from 
the University of Illinois and had earned a master's degree at Georgia 
Washington University. Dean Kirkland came to Agnes Scott from 
Mount Vernon College in Washington, D.C., where she had served 
successively as Chairman of the Department of Physical Education 
(1965-1969), Dean of Students (1969-1971), and Dean of Student 
Affairs (1971-1974). She began her duties on this campus in the 
summer of 1974 and has enjoyed a fine rapport with students and the 
entire College community. 

Near the end of 1973 the Charles A. Dana Foundation gave Agnes 
Scott $250,000 toward the establishment of four Dana Professorships. 
Under the terms of this gift, the College was required to match the 
grant, and the combined income from this fund would supplement the 
usual compensation of those selected to be Dana Professors. The first 
Dana Professorship was in the Department of Art, and the incumbent 
was Dr. Marie H. Pepe, who at this writing continues in this position. 
Subsequently five additional Dana Professors have been named: 
Nancy P. Groseclose in Biology, Mary Boney Sheats in Bible and 
Religion, Michael J. Brown in History, Ronald L. Byrnside in Music, 
and Miriam K. Drucker in Psychology. In this same period, the 
William Rand Kenan, Jr., Charitable Trust chose in the spring of 1974 
to augment by $100,000 the Professorship in Chemistry which had 
been established in 1969 (see p. 200). 

The Executive Committee, on the recommendation of the 
President, took a very significant action on January 22, 1974, when it 
increased the retirement compensation of emeritus faculty members. 
Many of these persons had retired on an income which was pitifully 
small and woefully inadequate for the cost of living index in the mid- 



228 



seventies. Here is the Committee's action: 

That effective immediately, emeritus members of the faculty as 
of December 31,1 973, shall receive a minimum retirement income 
based on a payment of $5.00 per month for each year of service to 
the College. 

By this Trustee action the College committed itself to supplement 
retirement pensions to bring a retiree's income through College 
arrangements up to the level set forth in the Executive Committee's 
resolution. 

The Executive Committee also in the 1973-1974 year approved a 
new policy on sabbatical leaves as follows: 

I. Definition 

A sabbatical leave is defined as release from teaching 
responsibilities for the purpose of engaging in a program of 
scholarly activity other than pursuit of an advanced degree. 

Absences from the College for pursuit of advanced degrees or for 
reasons of health or unusual family responsibility are not 
considered sabbatical leaves and are not covered by this policy. 
Special arrangements for such absences may sometimes be made 
with the President and the Dean when circumstances permit. 

II. Eligibility 

A faculty member becomes eligible for a sabbatical leave after six 
years of continuous teaching at Agnes Scott College or after six 
years of teaching since the last leave. Two years of full-time 
teaching at another institution of higher education may be 
counted toward a faculty member's initial eligibility at Agnes 
Scott, provided there was no break in service between the former 
position and the initial appointment at Agnes Scott. 

Professional leaves will not automatically be granted for the year 
of eligibility if the number of applications in a year exceeds the 
number of absences that the College or the department can 
tolerate, either financially or academically. An applicant denied 
leave during the year of eligibility because of the number of 
requests will be given priority the following year. 

In considering applications for sabbatical leaves, the following 
criteria shall be employed: (1) years since appointment or previous 
leave (2) the nature of the project and its potential scholarly return 
to the applicant and to the College (3) effect on the continuity of 
program in the applicant's department. 

Consideration will be given to applicants outside the eligibility 
schedule when the projected leave involves an extraordinary 
professional opportunity for the applicant. 



229 



A faculty member desiring to be absent from the college for 
reasons other than engaging in a program of scholarly activity 
may, on occasion, be considered for an absence without stipend 
from the College. 

III. Financial Considerations 

When the period of leave is one quarter, the College will pay full 
annual salary; when the leave is for two or three-quarters, pay will 
be one-half of annual salary for that year. A faculty member may 
not accept any employment during a period of leave unless such is 
a central part of the leave project. College travel and research 
funds are not normally available to persons on leave. 

Since it is obvious that the cost to the College of leaves must be a 
factor in considering the number of leaves which can be granted 
for any session, departments are urged to cooperate in minimizing 
the cost of leaves without damaging the academic program of the 
department. The department shall, where possible, be expected to 
handle the load for a quarter's leave or to assume responsibility 
for a year's leave such that the difference in the regular salary of 
the individual granted leave and the leave stipend shall be 
sufficient for part-time replacement. In very small departments, 
exceptions will, of necessity, be made to this expectation. 

Applicants for leave should make every effort to secure grants or 
fellowships outside the College. In the event that the applicant is 
able to secure some assistance from off-campus sources, the 
amount of aid given by the College may be decreased if the sum of 
the fellowship or grant and the College stipend exceeds the normal 
full-time salary. The needs of the individual and the nature of the 
scholarly project will be contributing factors in making the 
adjustment. 

IV. Fringe Benefits 

For faculty members on leave for a quarter with full salary, both 
the College and the individual will continue to pay proportional 
shares of medical coverage and retirement payments. 

For faculty members on leave with part salary for two or more 
quarters, the College and the individual will continue to pay 
proportional shares of medical coverage. The College will 
contribute to the retirement plan an amount equivalent to ten 
percent of the full salary for the current session; the individual will 
pay five percent of the salary for the current session into the 
retirement program. 

For faculty members granted leaves without pay, the College will 
assume no responsibility for medical coverage or for retirement 
plan payments. The College will, however, cover the individual on 
the College group medical plan provided the individual assumes 



230 



responsibility for the total premium. A faculty member who is 
granted a leave to teach at another institution should arrange with 
the other institution for retirement and medical payments. 

V. Procedure 

Applications for leaves should be submitted no later than May 1 
for a leave during the session beginning a year from the following 
September. Applications should be addressed to the Dean of the 
Faculty, as chairman of the Committee on Publication and 
Research with a copy to the President. Each application should 
clearly set forth the value and purpose of the research or study to 
be undertaken. An application must be accompanied by a letter 
from the chairman of the department concerned, approving the 
leave and indicating what arrangements can be made to maintain 
the department's program during the period of the leave. The 
committee will make recommendations to the President who will 
then present his own recommendation to the Board of Trustees. 

In this same vein of seeking to help those who work at Agnes Scott, 
President Perry was able in the spring of 1974 to send out two 
communications  one to the faculty and administrative staff and one 
to the hourly paid employees  detailing improvements in the 
College's benefit programs. These two communications are as follows: 

To: Members of the faculty and administrative staff 

From: Marvin B. Perry, Jr. 

Subject: Announcement of benefit programs 

I am pleased to announce that the Board of Trustees has 
approved alterations and additions to our staff benefit programs 
at Agnes Scott College. You will recall my earlier statements that 
my priorities at the College would be the welfare of the people of 
the College as well as the strength of its academic program. I 
believe this advancement in our personnel program not only 
addresses the first of these commitments but also puts Agnes Scott 
College in a leadership position in terms of its employee benefits 
program. These new programs, to be carried by TIAA-CREF, 
feature the introduction of a retirement plan for the maintenance 
and service employees of the College and new life insurance and 
long term disability insurance programs for all employees. 
Complete descriptions of these new programs, together with 
detailed administrative procedures, are being drafted by the 
Business Office for distribution and publication in the 
appropriate handbooks. In this letter I shall summarize these new 
programs as they relate to our faculty and administrative 
personnel. 



231 



1 . Long-term disability insurance. Effective July 1 , 1 974, all 
full time faculty and administrative personnel are eligible to 
enroll in this program, the entire premium to be paid by 
Agnes Scott College. This plan insures continuation of an 
employee's salary in the case of long-term or permanent 
disability. In the event of such disability the College will 
continue the employee at full salary for six months after the 
date of disability. At that time the insurance plan will 
provide continuing payment of 60 percent of the first $1,500 
of the employee's monthly salary plus 40 percent of the 
monthly salary in excess of $1,500 including income from 
Social Security, Workmen's Compensation or other plans. 
(Total monthly income shall not exceed $1,500.) Such 
payments will continue for the duration of the disability or 
until the employee reaches age 65. 

2. Group life insurance. Effective July 1, 1974, all full-time 
employees will be covered by our new group life insurance 
program. The College will provide, at no cost to the 
employee, one unit of term insurance. Faculty and 
administrative personnel are eligible to enroll at the 
beginning of the quarter following their date of 
employment. This insurance provides decreasing coverage 
with increasing age. To illustrate, estimated coverage of one 
unit of insurance for three male employees is shown below: 

Age Estimated coverage 

25 $11,720 

45 3,820 

65 660 

3. Retirement program. One significant change has been 
made in the retirement program for faculty and 
administrative personnel. Effective July 1, 1974, employees 
participating in TIAA-CREF will be able to treat their own 
five percent retirement contribution (plus any additional 
amount up to the legal limit) as deferred taxable income. By 
electing a "salary reduction" program as opposed to a 
"salary deduction" program, the employee's contribution is 
not taxed until the retirement years. Each TIAA-CREF 
participant will need to study this option carefully to 
determine whether it is advantageous to his/her own 
financial plan. Of course, Bill Hannah or Jim Henderson 
will be happy to provide personal counsel on this option. 

I am very happy that Agnes Scott will inaugurate these new 
benefit programs in the next fiscal year. They are indicative of the 
concern and support of our Board of Trustees for the loyal people 
who serve the College in many different ways. I am confident that 



232 



these programs will be of significant help to all of us in our 
planning for financial security. 

To: Hourly Paid Employees 

From: Marvin B. Perry, Jr., President 

Subject: Retirement and Life Insurance Plan 

It is with great pleasure that I announce the establishment of a 
retirement plan and life insurance plan for our hourly paid 
employees, these plans to become effective July 1, 1974. All costs 
of these new programs will be paid by Agnes Scott College. 

You will become eligible for the retirement plan after five years 
of continuous full-time serivce. The college will contribute the 
equivalent of five percent of your regular time wages to the plan. 
This money is kept in your name by an insurance company 
(TIAA-CREF) until you retire (normally at age 65), and then you 
will begin receiving a monthly retirement pension. 

If you have had ten years or more of continuous full-time 
service when you retire, the college will guarantee that you receive 
at least $2.00 per month for each year of service, including your 
regular retirement plan benefits. Premiums for individual 
coverage for Blue Cross-Blue Shield (not including major 
medical) will be paid by the college after retirement of employees 
with ten years or more of service. 

A life insurance policy will be provided to employees after 90 
days of service to the college. This amount is higher for the 
younger employees where the need is usually greater and 
decreases in amount in each year. For example, the following 
estimated coverage will be provided. 

Man age 25 $11,720 

Woman  age 35 10,100 

Man  age 45 3,820 

Woman  age 55 2,020 

If you have any questions about these new programs, I am sure 
that your supervisor can provide answers or get them for you. This 
is only a brief announcement, and the details will follow later. It 
will be necessary for you to fill out forms in order to participate in 
these programs, and you will receive instructions on this later. 

I recognize that it is the people of Agnes Scott who make it a 
great college. I count you and your associates as a great asset to 
the college, and installing these plans has been one of my primary 
goals. I sincerely hope that they will be of great benefit to you and 
your families. 



233 



During the early part of April, 1974, Agnes Scott presented its 
second Atlanta Environmental Symposium. Of course, other 
symposia had preceded this one on campus  for example, the one on 
The Conscience of a Blackened Street (1967) or the one on Developing 
Nations (1969) or the first Atlanta Environmental Symposium (1973) 
dealing with the limits to growth; but the number of off-campus people 
who came to the 1974 Symposium made it particularly noteworthy. 
For instance, such speakers as Ralph Nader or Stuart Udall drew 
capacity audiences  to mention only two. A third such event was 
presented in 1981 when the The Ethics of Scarcity was the over-all 
topic. Meanwhile in November, 1974, the College presented a similar 
conference on Bio-Ethics. Each of these symposia or conferences was 
characterized by a group of distinguished speakers presented over a 
period of more than one day. In addition to being a stimulus to 
students and faculty, events of this type emphasized Agnes Scott's 
desire to be of useful service to the community-at-large in offering 
programs dealing with pressing contemporary considerations. 

Early on in his administration, President Perry, working with the 
Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees, gave 
much attention to improving the outdoor lighting on campus and the 
installation of directional signs for visitors. In conjunction with this 
latter project, a new College logo was designed and used. New lighting 
and new signs were in place by the summer of 1974. 

Attention was also being given to air-conditioning Winship 
Dormitory as well as the McCain Library and the auditoriums in 
Presser Hall. The first part of this enterprise was completed by the end 
of the 1974 summer, but the magnitude of the library renovations 
stretched over four summers since this facility had to remain 
operational during the academic year. A fuller comment on the library 
will be made subsequently. 

On November 27, 1973, President Perry announced that the 
Carnegie Corporation had made a grant of $290,000 to be shared by 
sixteen women's colleges "to support a program of internships in 
college administration for young women." Agnes Scott was one of the 
sixteen colleges, and beginning with the 1974-1975 session and 
continuing for four academic years thereafter, one of these interns was 
in training on this campus while at the same time an Agnes Scott 
graduate was interning at another woman's college. The program was 
quite beneficial to all concerned. 



234 



From its earliest days, the campus and buildings at Agnes Scott, 
with the exception of administrative offices, had remained unused 
during the summer. Between academic years in 1974, the College 
began making its facilities available for summer conferences, a 
practice which has continued ever since. Room, board, meeting and 
recreational facilities have been provided for a fee and the whole 
endeavor has proved worthwhile. Much of the hourly staff were given 
work for the summer; the visitors became cognizant of Agnes Scott, 
and although the income was negligible, the public relations factor has 
been considerable. Apparently the visitors liked what was offered. 
Many have returned; in fact, one group has been here every year since 
the program began. The approaching summer (1982) bids fair to being 
a busy one with campus conference visitors continuing. 

Beginning with the 1 974- 1 975 year Agnes Scott embarked on a two- 
year experiment of altering the College calendar such that the fall 
quarter began early in September and concluded just before 
Thanksgiving with the winter and spring quarters remaining 
unchanged. This alteration gave students an extended period for 
Christmas jobs and eliminated one round-trip transportation fare 
necessary under the calendar which asked students to return to the 
campus between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It also enabled the 
College to economize on its fuel and utility bills as the winter began. 
After the two years' experiment, the faculty voted to return to the 
traditional calendar, but a few years later, the new calendar was voted 
in again and continues as these lines are written. 

An action of far-reaching significance was initiated at the Board 
meeting on May 17, 1974, when Chairman Gaines announced to the 
Trustees that he had asked Mr. Scott Candler, Jr., to work with him 
and President Perry in formulating recommendations for up-dating 
the Board's bylaws. The upshot of this enterprise was that the Trustees 
on September 6, 1974, unanimously adopted revised bylaws and 
directed that they become effective immediately. Two major 
alterations were reflected in these revised bylaws: (1) changes that had 
already become effective in the administrative structure of the College 
(e.g. the position of vice president for business affairs) and (2) a return 
to the full faculty of the academic life of the College. This last item was 
of real significance. It has already been pointed out that since 1921 
responsibility for the academic activity of Agnes Scott was lodged in 
the Academic Council (see pp. 59-60). This new action of the Board 
abolished this Council and placed responsibility for academic policy in 



235 



the faculty, under the Board and the President. So important is this 
latter change that it is quoted in full: 

Article III, Section 3, Functions of the Faculty 

Under the authority of the Board of Trustees and the 
President, the Faculty shall determine the academic policy 
of the College, establish standards for admission, fix 
requirements for the degree, approve the courses of 
instruction offered by the various departments, and 
administer the curriculum. The Faculty shall have general 
charge of instruction, attendance of students, examinations, 
and the academic discipline of the College. The faculty may 
make rules for its organization and conduct of business and 
may organize councils and committees for the proper 
discharge of its responsibilities. 

As a result of this bylaw change, the faculty, under the guidance of a 
temporary executive committee elected by the faculty, developed its 
own bylaws, committee structure, and procedures to carry out its new 
responsibilities. These new faculty bylaws were thoroughly discussed 
and were ratified by a series of votes in the spring of 1975. 
Subsequently amended from time to time, these bylaws continue to 
constitute the framework within which the faculty functions and does 
its work. Presently there are thirteen committees responsible to the 
faculty as follows: (1) Committee on Academic Standards, (2) 
Admissions Committee, (3) Committee on Campus Development and 
Use, (4) Committee on Committees, (5) Committee on Compensation, 
(6) Curriculum Committee, (7) Executive Committee, (8) Committee 
on the Future of the College, (9) Committee on Independent Study, 
(10) Committee on Professional Development, (11) Teacher 
Education Committee, (12) Committee on Technical Facilities, and 
(13) Grievance Committee. In addition, there are five College 
committees that are not responsible directly to the faculty, namely, (1) 
the Administrative Committee, (2) the Financial Aid Committee, (3) 
the Lecture Committee, (4) the Library Committee, and (5) the 
Committee for Sophomore Parents' Weekend. All of this information 
including definitions, committee personnel, and important legislation 
by the faculty has been gathered together into a faculty handbook of 
more than ninety pages covering almost every conceivable situation 
that might confront a faculty member at Agnes Scott. This change has 
given the faculty a renewed sense of formulating and directing the 
academic policy of the College. 



236 



The Trustees, ever mindful of the welfare of the Agnes Scott faculty 
and other employees, approved in November, 1974, an arrangement 
whereby College personnel could affiliate with the DeKalb County 
Teachers Federal Credit Union  a benefit which the College could 
not offer on its own because of a limited number of employees. The 
DeKalb Credit Union was thoroughly investigated and was found 
worthy of its excellent reputation. Thus, another fringe benefit became 
available to faculty, staff, and other workers. 

By the early seventies it had been twenty years since Agnes Scott had 
engaged in a long-range study of goals. As a result of a 
recommendation from its Development Committee, the Board on 
November 15, 1974, authorized a planning committee "to analyze 
Agnes Scott's position in today's world and to present to the Board in 
due course its recommendations for actions it considers would be 
helpful or necessary in enabling Agnes Scott to achieve its goals." This 
committee, when appointed, was made up of students, faculty, 
administration, alumnae, trustees, and a representative from the 
President's Advisory Council. Through this committee the Board of 
Trustees was looking ahead to the next major thrust which the College 
would make toward new educational and financial objectives (see pp. 
257-259). 

During the 1974-1975 year, the Trustees, on the recommendation of 
the faculty, approved a dual degree program with the Georgia Institute 
of Technology. Under the stipulations of this program, a student may 
attend Agnes Scott for three years, meeting all requirements for the 
B. A. degree, and then attend Georgia Tech for two years. At the end of 
the five-year period she receives a B. A. from Agnes Scott and a B.S. in 
engineering from Georgia Tech. 

Another significant development of the 1974-1975 year was the 
beginning of the program for "women beyond the usual college age." 
Initially called the "Non-traditional Student Program," it in time came 
to be denominated the "Return to College Program." In his annual 
report for 1974-1975, President Perry wrote 

These women range in age from the mid-twenties to the sixties, 
their academic backgrounds vary from high school equivalency to 
a Ph.D., but most have had some previous college work. Most 
have children and are juggling babysitters and car pools in order 
to return to college, and a few are employed full time and have 
worked out arrangements which enable them to come to campus 
for a course. Half of them are receiving financial aid from Agnes 



237 



Scott in the form of work scholarship or tuition grants. They are 
taking a wide variety of courses and some are degree applicants. 
Although most were apprehensive about "returning to college," 
all have done well so far. 

This program has expanded since 1974 from "about a dozen" to a 
total of sixty-nine such students in 1980-1981. Seventeen of these 
return-to-college students received the B.A. degree at the 1981 
commencement. All of these women have added much to campus life 
and have made valuable contributions to class discussions. Already, as 
just noted, some have received their Agnes Scott degree, and there are 
many others who have set receiving the B.A. degree as their aim. This 
program has become so much a part of Agnes Scott's life that it is 
difficult to think of the College without it. 

Two matters of considerable importance to students were enacted in 
1974-1975 to become effective with the 1975-1976 year. The first of 
these had to do with the student health service. For years Agnes Scott 
had operated an infirmary under the supervision of a college physician 
who was on the regular Agnes Scott staff. Now after considerable 
study, in which the Dean of Students, the Dean of the Faculty, the Vice 
President for Business Affairs, and student leaders were involved, the 
College decided to utilize a "cooperative health care program" for 
students and all employees and their dependents. The program chosen 
was one operated by the Emory Community Nursing Service. 
Commenting on this innovation, the President in his annual report for 
1974-1975 wrote as follows: 

It [the new service] will involve no additional cost to students but 
will offer them a broader health program. Our Health Center 
(formerly called the Infirmary) will be staffed 24 hours a day by 
Nurse Practitioners (Registered Nurses with masters degrees) who 
will be qualified and prepared to carry out medication and 
treatment at any hour. Patients in need of specialized services will 
be referred to a staff of consulting internists, psychiatrists, and 
other specialists in the area. In addition to service to students, the 
Health Service will make available to our faculty and staff and 
their dependents for a modest fee, such services as allergy and 
immunization shots, blood pressure measurement, nutrition 
guidance and screening diagnostic tests. 

The second major student matter which saw a change with the 
beginning of the academic session in September, 1975, concerned the 
use of alcoholic beverages by students  a matter which had 
previously been before the Board of Trustees. Perhaps the best thing to 



238 



do is simply to cite the rule change: 

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE: POLICY REGARDING THE 
CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ON 

CAMPUS 

WHEREAS, the majority of Agnes Scott students are 18 years 
or older, and 

WHEREAS, a college atmosphere should lend itself to student 
responsibility in both academic and social policies; therefore, 

RESOLVED, that the Agnes Scott College "POLICY 
REGARDING THE USE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES," as 

stated in the Student Handbook, be amended as follows: 

Alcoholic beverages are permitted, in compliance with state 
and local laws', on the Agnes Scott campus at campus-wide social 
functions held in designated areas, as coordinated and evaluated 
by B.S.A.* and as approved by the Dean of Students. Alcoholic 
beverages which may be served at such functions are beer, wine, 
and "spiked" punches. 

No College or Student Government funds will be used for the 
purchase of alcoholic beverages at any function held off or on 
campus and sponsored by the college or any organization within 
the college. Only a student over 18 years may serve the alcoholic 
beverage, and a non-alcoholic beverage must also be served. 

Alcoholic beverages are not to be transported into or away 
from the designated area of the social function, nor are alcoholic 
beverages to be transported to the function except by authorized 
persons of the sponsoring board. Other violations of this policy 
include falsification of ID to purchase alcoholic beverages, 
purchasing alcohol by those over 18 years of age for a minor, and 
the possession of alcoholic beverages by those students under the 
age of 1 8. Students are on their honor to obey campus policy when 
obtaining drinks at campus functions. 



'Students must comply with Georgia and Decatur laws 
regarding the consumption of alcoholic beverages as follows: 

Georgia: 

1. The legal age for purchasing alcholic beverages is 18. It is 
against the law in Georgia either to sell or furnish alcoholic 
beverages to minors. 

2. It is illegal to appear in an intoxicated condition or to 
evidence boisterous or vulgar behavior on any public street, 
in any public place, in any private residence other than one's 
own, or on any mode of public transportation. 

Decatur: 

It is unlawful to drink in automobiles parked or moving on 
the streets, highways, or alleys of the city. 
*Board of Student Activities 



239 



The student is responsible for exemplifying a high standard of 
conduct so that her behavior will not be detrimental to herself, her 
fellow students, or to the college. Hostessing boards are similarly 
responsible for insuring that guests are aware of the expected 
standard of conduct. 

The first violation by a student of the Policy Regarding the Use 
of Alcoholic Beverages shall be handled by the Dormitory 
Council. The Dormitory Council shall automatically refer to 
Interdormitory Council any case involving a second infraction. 
Any subsequent violations shall be automatically referred to the 
Honor Court. As is the practice with any particularly serious or 
flagrant violations of any policy, Dormitory Council reserves the 
right to refer any such case involving this policy to a higher court 
than the one stipulated above. 

As always in matters of student policy, the Administrative 
Committee has the right to rescind this privilege at any time. One 
year after this policy takes effect, the Administrative Committee 
will automatically review and reevaluate it. 

Suffice it to say, this change was just the beginning of permitting 
alcoholic beverages on the Agnes Scott campus. Other more sweeping 
changes were soon to come. One more thing should be said. At no level 
of the voting process Representative Council, Administrative 

Committee, Executive Committee of the Board, or in the Board itself 
 was the vote unanimous. 

A rather far-reaching action took place in 1974 and 1975 when the 
Board of Trustees took the steps which resulted in amending the 
section of Agnes Scott's Articles of Incorporation (Charter) which set 
forth the qualifications of trustees for membership on the Board. It 
will be recalled that initially all Agnes Scott Trustees were required to 
be members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. In 1941 
the Charter was amended such that only three-fourths of the Trustees 
had to be members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 
the remaining one-fourth being required to "be members of some 
evangelical church and sympathetic with the fundamentals of the 
Christian religion." Now the Articles of Incorporation (Charter) were 
amended again, with only two-thirds of the Trustees being required to 
be members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States "but all of 
whom shall be in sympathy and accord with the objectives of the 
College as set forth in these Articles of Incorporation." Thus, this 
change permitted one third of the Board to be members of any 
evangelical church, of any non-Christian church, or of no church  so 
long as he or she was in sympathy with the objectives of the College. 



240 



This change in the make-up of the Board of Trustees was fundamental, 
and it has resulted in some non-Christian members of the Board. It 
should be pointed out, however, that the Charter purpose or objective 
of the College has remained unchanged, and the phrase that all 
Trustees "shall be in sympathy and accord with the objectives of the 
College as set forth in [the] Articles of Incorporation" would obviously 
require that all Trustees be in sympathy with the Christian religion. 
Here again is the official statement of the purpose of Agnes Scott: 

Said corporation [the Board of Trustees] is constituted for the 
purpose of establishing, perpetuating, and conducting a liberal 
arts college for the higher education of young women under 
auspices distinctly favorable to the maintenance of the faith and 
practice of the Christian religion. 

Change is a part of any viable institution, and changes were coming 
thick and fast at Agnes Scott in the middle 1970's. One change which 
may seem quite radical to some alumnae had to do with parietals or 
having men visit students in their dormitory rooms. After going 
through the various channels of Representative Council of Student 
Government, the Administrative Committee, and the Executive 
Committee of the Board, the following proposal was enacted by the 
Trustees on May 14, 1976: 



AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE: POLICY REGARDING OPEN 
DORMITORIES ON SUNDAY AFTERNOONS 

WHEREAS, a college atmosphere should lend itself to 
responsibility of students in academic and social realms, and 

WHEREAS, such a measure would promote an atmosphere of 
welcome and relaxation, increase social contact on the Agnes 
Scott campus, and share a vital part of our lives with fathers, 
brothers, and friends, and 

WHEREAS, the present policy is inadequate in facilitating this 
atmosphere; therefore, 

RESOLVED, that the Agnes Scott College policy regarding 
male visitation ... be amended as follows: 

Men will be allowed to visit a student's room on Sunday 
afternoons from 1:30 to 5:00 with the following stipulations: 



241 



1) A student must sign her guest in and accompany him to and 
from the lobby. No male may come to a room unescorted; he must 
call for a student from the lobby. 

2) Men must use the men's restrooms in the lobbies.* 

3) Male guests must abide by all our policies in regard to 
alcohol, drugs, fire drills, quiet, etc. It is the responsibility of the 
student to inform her guests of these polices. 

4) Violation of any rules will result in an automatic Dormitory 
Council case. 



This new policy became effective with the 1 976- 1 977 academic session 
and has operated successfully. A safeguard which the Trustees built 
into their action in this matter is an annual review by appropriate 
College officers. As of this writing, the authorization for visitation by 
men in the dormitories has been extended to include Saturday 
afternoons as well as Sunday afternoons. 

At the next meeting of the Board of Trustees after which parietals 
were authorized, a double action was taken establishing a new 
statement on academic freedom and responsibility and setting forth 
revised policies and criteria for appointment, reappointment, 
promotion and tenure in the faculty. This whole package of legislation 
had been before the faculty for some months and had progressed 
through the Board's Executive Committee to two subsequent meetings 
of the Trustees. With the endorsement of the President and the 
Executive Committee, the Board itself on October 27, 1976, approved 
the following: 



*Inman will have to make some concession since it does not have 
facilities for men. 



242 



STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND 

RESPONSIBILITY 

and 

POLICIES AND CRITERIA FOR 

APPOINTMENT, REAPPOINTMENT, PROMOTION, AND 

TENURE 
OF AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE 1 

Statement on 
Academic Freedom and Responsibility 

Agnes Scott College is dedicated to the fostering and preservation 
of the free search for truth and of its free exposition. Academic 
freedom is essential to this purpose: freedom in research is 
necessary to the advancement of truth; freedom in teaching is 
fundamental to the protection of the rights of the teacher in 
teaching and of the student in learning. The free search for truth 
and its free expression carry with them responsibilities correlative 
with rights. 

All components of the Agnes Scott College community have the 
responsibility to exemplify, support, and preserve the intellectual 
freedom of teaching, learning, research, expression, and debate in 
the interest of reasoned inquiry. This responsibility also imposes 
on the students, the faculty, administrative officials, and the 
Board of Trustees the obligation to respect the dignity of others, 
to acknolwedge their right to express differing opinions, and to 
foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry and 
instruction, and free expression by faculty and students both on 
and off campus. 

Every member of the Agnes Scott College faculty, whether 
tenured or on temporary appointment, is entitled to full freedom 
in research and scholarship and in the publication of the results. 
Research for pecuniary return, however, should be undertaken 
only with the consent of the President and the Dean of the 
Faculty. 



'The substance of this statement is taken from the 1940 Joint 
Statement on Academic Freedom and Tenure and 1970 
Interpretive Comments, Statement on Professional Ethics (1966), 
Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students (1968), 
Report on Retirement and Academic Freedom (1968), AAUP 
Council's Statement on Freedom and Responsibility (1970), 1972 
Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom 
and Tenure, and Procedural Standards for appointment, 
reappointment, promotion, and tenure of the American 
Association of Unviersity Professors, found in A A UP Policy 
Documents and Reports (1973 ed.) 



243 



Every member of the Agnes Scott College faculty, whether 
tenured or on temporary appointment, is entitled to full freedom 
in the classroom to discuss any matter relevant to the subject of 
the course being taught. It is the mastery of the subject which 
entitles the instructor to this freedom of presentation, and it is 
improper and, in extreme cases may be a denial of the students' 
freedom to learn, for an instructor persistently to introduce 
material into the course which has no relevance to the subject or to 
fail to present the subject matter of the course as it has been 
approved by the Faculty in its collective responsibility for the 
curriculum. It is the responsibility of the instructor in the 
classroom and in conference to encourage free discussion, 
inquiry, and expression. Evaluation of a student's work and the 
award of credit must be based on her academic performance 
professionally judged and not on matters irrelevant to that 
performance. 

Every member of the Agnes Scott College faculty, whether 
tenured or on temporary appointment, has the rights and 
obligations of any citizen, and there shall be no institutional 
censorship or discipline of a faculty member who speaks or writes 
as a citizen. However, as a member of the academic profession and 
as an officer of Agnes Scott College, the faculty member holds a 
special position of influence in the community and should make 
every effort at all times to be accurate, to exercise appropriate 
restraint, to show respect for the opinions of others, and to make 
clear that he or she is not a spokesman for the College. 

The students of Agnes Scott College are entitled to an atmosphere 
conducive to learning and to fair and even-handed treatment in all 
aspects of teacher-student and administrator-student 
relationships. A student must be free to take reasoned exception 
to the data or views offered in any course of study, but she is 
responsible for learning the content of any course for which she is 
enrolled and for maintaining standards of academic performance 
established for that course. The student shall be protected against 
prejudiced or capricious academic evaluations or disciplinary 
measures and against any exploitation by faculty and 
administrative officials for personal advantage. As a citizen, the 
student has the same rights and obligations of any citizen, and 
there shall be no institutional censorship or discipline of a student 
who speaks or writes as a citizen. However, it is the responsibility 
of the student to make clear to the academic community and to the 
larger community that she is not a spokesman for the College. 

In determining the administrative policies and procedures of the 
College it is the responsibility of administrative officials and the 
Board of Trustees to foster and preserve the academic freedom of 
faculty, students, and administrative officers with faculty status. 



244 



For many years the Board of Trustees has endorsed the policy of 
granting permanent or continuous tenure to full-time teaching 
faculty who have satisfactorily completed a probationary period 
of teaching. Tenure, which gives a degree of economic and 
professional security to the individual faculty member and 
stability to the faculty as a whole, is one of the most effective 
means of fostering and protecting academic freedom. The policy 
of granting tenure also creates a climate of free inquiry and 
expression in which students and non-tenured faculty may share 
academic freedom equally with tenured faculty. The Board of 
Trustees and the administrative officials of the College, together 
with the faculty, support the continued policy of tenure as a means 
of protecting academic freedom. 

The Board of Trustees and administrative officials have a 
particular responsibility to foster and preserve the freedom of 
expression and debate outside the classroom. The right of duly 
authorized committees and academic departments to invite to the 
campus guest lecturers, performers, or exhibitors of their choice 
shall be preserved, and guest speakers shall be given the 
opportunity to be heard and their freedom of speech shall be 
protected. The student press shall be free of censorship and 
advance approval of copy and its editors and managers free to 
develop their own editorial policies and news coverage. However, 
the editorial freedom of student editors and managers entails 
corollary responsibilities to be governed by the canons of 
responsible journalism, such as the avoidance of libel, 
undocumented allegations, attacks on personal integrity, and the 
techniques of harrassment and innuendo. 2 While the charter of 
the College states that the program of the college shall be carried 
out "under auspices distinctly favorable" to the Christian faith, no 
limitations of academic freedom are thereby intended. 

Agnes Scott College can successfully foster and preserve the free 
search for truth and its free exposition only by the affirmation and 
exercise of academic freedom and responsibilities by all members 
of the College community. 



2 The Board of Trustees of Agnes Scott College, on May 14, 
1 976, asked that the Faculty consider amending this sentence and 
the one that precedes it to read as follows: 

The student press shall be free of censorship and advance 
approval of copy and its editors and managers free to 
develop their own editorial policies and news coverage, so 
long as student editors and managers fully accept the 
responsibility to be governed by the canons of responsible 
journalism, such as the avoidance of libel, undocumented 
allegations, attacks on personal integrity, and the 
techniques of harrassment and innuendo. 



245 



Policies and Criteria for 

Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure 

Agnes Scott College Faculty 

I. Initial Appointment 

Initial appointment to the teaching faculty shall originate in the 
academic department concerned, which after consideration of 
qualified candidates shall recommend for appointment the 
candidate of its choice to the Dean of the Faculty and to the 
President. Appointment to the faculty is made by the Board of 
Trustees on nomination by the President of the College. 

In making recommendation for an initial appointment the 
department and administrative officials are selecting a potentially 
permanent member of the faculty. The candidate selected, 
therefore, should be the one who gives best promise of performing 
in accordance with the minimal criteria established by the faculty 
for appointment, reappointment, promotion, and tenure, 
delineated in Article III. 

Initial appointment may carry any faculty rank appropriate to the 
position filled, except that those appointed to the rank of 
Assistant Professor and above must hold the highest earned 
degree in the discipline to be taught; those appointed to the rank 
of Associate Professor and Professor must have successful 
teaching experience in a college or university equivalent to 
experience required for promotion to these ranks in the Agnes 
Scott Faculty; and those appointed to the rank of Professor must 
have achieved distinction in scholarship or, if in the disciplines of 
applied arts, distinction in creative accomplishment. 

Initial appointment to the teaching faculty does not carry tenure 
of office, and newly appointed faculty shall be on one-, two-, or 
three-year contracts until such time as employment is terminated 
or tenure is granted. 

All faculty on temporary appointment shall have the full rights of 
academic freedom accorded tenured members of the faculty. 

II. Reappointment 

Reappointment of a non-tenured faculty member shall originate 
in the department concerned and procedures shall follow those 
used in making initial appointments. 

In recommending a candidate for reappointment the department 
should be fully satisfied that the candidate fulfills the expectancy 
upon which the initial appointment was based in accordance with 
the minimal criteria for appointment, reappointment, promotion, 
and tenure, delineated in Article III. 

If reappointment is not recommended, notice of termination of 
employment shall be given in writing by the appropriate 



246 



administrative official (1) not later than March 1 of the first 
academic year of service; (2) not later than December 15 of the 
second academic year of service; (3) at least twelve months before 
the expiration of an appointment after two or more years of 
service at Agnes Scott. If requested, reasons for non- 
reappointment shall be given in writing. 

III. Minimal Criteria for Appointment, Reappointment, 
Promotion, and Tenure 

Effectiveness in Teaching. In an undergraduate college the ability 
to teach effectively is of first importance in the criteria for 
selection and retention of faculty. Because individuals achieve 
success in teaching in such a variety of ways, no rigid set of 
standards or requirements for measuring this ability is feasible. 
However, there are certain qualifications and characteristics 
which every effective teacher may be expected to possess: (a) 
intellectual alertness and enthusiasm for learning that are likely to 
make teaching more than a mere imparting of information; (b) a 
thorough knowledge of the subject being taught; (c) the ability to 
present this subject at the level necessary to arouse and maintain 
the interest of the students; and (d) a recognition of the various 
academic needs of students and the willingness and ability to meet 
them. 

Scholarship. Of equal importance with effective teaching is a 
continuing interest in new ideas and knowledge in the discipline 
taught by the candidate. Acquaintance with current books and 
periodicals, attendance at meetings of learned societies, 
continuing study in the fields being taught, and the incorporation 
of new discoveries into the material taught are important 
indications of the maintenance of scholarly standards. 
Independent research and publication are desirable and should be 
encouraged, but they are not the only evidence of scholarly 
interest. In the applied arts creative accomplishment may replace 
scholarly activity as an appropriate basis for estimating an 
individual's value to the teaching faculty. 

Professional Responsibility. In addition to evidence of effective 
teaching and of scholarly interest and capacity of creative 
accomplishment, the candidate should display a high level of 
professional ethics in dealing with students, colleagues, and 
administrative officials of the College, should have sufficient 
health and sense of responsibility to meet the academic 
obligations required by the normal teaching load of the 
department, should show a willingness to cooperate and 
participate in the non-teaching responsibilities of the faculty, and 
should foster concern for human worth and needs, physical as well 
as intellectual and spiritual, in accordance with the stated 
purposes of Agnes Scott College. 



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IV. Promotion 

A candidate for promotion in rank must meet the minimal criteria 
for appointment, reappointment, promotion, and tenure 
delineated under Article III. The level at which the candidate is 
expected to fulfill these criteria rises with the level of academic 
rank. 

In addition, for promotion to the rank of Assistant Professor and 
above the candidate must hold the highest earned degree in the 
discipline taught; for promotion to the rank of Associate 
Professor the candidate must have at least six years of full-time 
teaching experience in a college or university; and for promotion 
to Professor the candidate must have substantial full-time 
teaching experience (no less than six years) in a college or 
university and have achieved distinction in all areas of the 
minimal criteria. Promotion to Professor is a recognition of 
professional achievement and outstanding service to the College 
community. 

V. Tenure 

Permanent or continuous tenure of office is not automatic but is 
granted as early as practicable following a probationary period in 
which the faculty member is on temporary appointment. 

The probationary period following initial appointment of faculty 
on a full-time basis to the rank of Instructor or above shall not 
normally exceed seven years. A maximum of three years of full- 
time service in other institutions of higher learning may be 
included within the seven years. In an unusual circumstance and 
by mutual written consent the probationary period may be 
extended, but extension of the probationary period shall not be 
used to circumvent the granting of tenure. 

During the probationary period faculty members shall have the 
full rights of academic freedom accorded tenured members of the 
faculty. 

To be eligible for continuous or permanent tenure following the 
probationary period the candidate must meet the minimal criteria 
delineated under Article III at the level of performance expected 
in the rank held by the candidate. 

Once tenure is granted employment cannot be terminated before 
the age of retirement at 65 except for adequate cause or, under 
extraordinary circumstances, for financial exigencies. 

Termination of employment for adequate cause or for financial 
exigencies or the dismissal for cause of a faculty member on 
temporary appointment prior to the expiration of the period of 
appointment shall follow the rules of procedure set forth by the 



248 



American Association of University Professors and accepted by 
the Board of Trustees of Agnes Scott College. 

At the close of the academic session in the calendar year in which a 
tenured member of the faculty attains the retirement age of 65 
permanent or continuous tenure shall cease. By action of the 
Board of Trustees the faculty member may be approved for 
annual appointment until the end of the academic session in the 
calendar year in which he or she attains the age of 70. Procedures 
for this annual reappointment shall follow those covered in 
Section II. Reappointment. 

One of the happiest events of Agnes Scott's recent life occurred in 
April, 1976, when the College celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the 
establishment of its chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Months of preparation 
went into the observance which stretched over more than two days and 
to which all Agnes Scott Phi Beta Kappas were invited. At a 
Wednesday Convocation Dr. Catherine S. Sims, a Senator of the 
United Chapters, gave the lead-off address, following which newly 
elected members were announced. On Thursday evening at the fiftieth 
anniversary dinner, greetings were brought by Dr. Kenneth M. 
Greene, Executive Secretary of the United Chapters of Phi Beta 
Kappa, and after the dinner the anniversary address was given by Dr. 
Rosemary Park, former President of Barnard College and immediate 
past President of the United Chapters. Then on Friday two seminars 
were conducted and a convocation address was delivered by Dr. 
Juanita M. Kreps, Professor of Economics and Vice President, Duke 
University, later U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The whole event 
highlighted Agnes Scott's continuing commitment to academic 
excellence and to liberal learning. 

A project which concerned Agnes Scott for four summers beginning 
in 1974 was the major renovation of the McCain Library. 
Understandably, this work was restricted to summers because the 
Library could not be out of use during the academic sessions. During 
the first summer the building was completely air-conditioned, 
followed the next year by cleaning and waterproofing plus the 
installation of a new stairway from the ground to the top floor and the 
construction of a new larger elevator shaft. The third summer (1976) 
witnessed much further alteration to the inside of the building 
including new lighting, new furniture and carpeting, increased display 
areas as well as greatly expanded stack space allowing for growth for 
the next ten to fifteen years. The final summer (1977) saw the 
completion of the new board room for the Trustees along with a very 



249 



handsome special collections room and display space on the old 
second floor. Also an improved facility for Agnes Scott's archives was 
provided. Thus, the McCain Library was virtually rebuilt. All of this 
improvement was financed without drawing on regular sources of 
income but was accomplished through gifts designated for this project. 
Henry Howard Smith of Atlanta was the architect for this renovation. 
The 1976-1977 year saw the final working out by the faculty of 
grievance procedures, should anyone feel the need to use them. The 
rules and regulations were approved by the Board of Trustees on 
February 1 1, 1977, and are as follows: 

GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE* 

Functions: 

a. Upon written request the Committee shall investigate 
impartially the complaint of any faculty member who feels abused 
or unfairly treated by a college committee, another faculty 
member, or the administration of the college. These complaints 
should involve serious matters such as salary, reappointment, 
promotion, tenure, violation of academic freedom, sabbaticals, 
and similar concerns; and the complaints should come to the 
Grievance Committee only after the faculty member has pursued 
a resolution through the initial steps of the Grievance Procedure 
(see p. 35 of the Faculty Handbook). If the Committee believes the 
complaint warrants its consideration it shall conduct an 
investigation of the matter. 

b. In cases of non-reappointment, denial of tenure, or dismissal 
of a faculty member, the Committee, following A AUP guidelines, 
as embodied in college policy, shall determine whether the proper 
procedures for such action have been followed.** 

c. In cases of dismissal of a tenured faculty member, upon that 
faculty member's written request, the Committee shall determine 
whether in its view formal proceedings to consider the dismissal of 
that faculty member should be instituted. It shall advise the 
President of its recommendation. AAUP guidelines for formal 
dismissal hearings, as embodied in college policy, shall be 
followed. 



*Because of the nature of this committee, the usual procedure for 
reporting committee actions as outlined in 3.g [of the Faculty 
Handbook] will not be followed. 

**See A A UP Policy Documents & Reports, 1973 edition. 
(Faculty Handbook II, 32, 33) 



250 



d. When a faculty member asks the Committee for a review of 
the decision of another faculty body (a committee or a 
department, for example), the Grievance Committee shall 
determine in its view whether the decision received adequate 
consideration according to the relevant standards of Agnes Scott 
College. The Grievance Committee shall not substitute its 
judgment on the merits of the decision for that of the other faculty 
body. 

e. If the Grievance Committee determines that a faculty 
member's case has not received adequate consideration, it shall 
request in writing that the appropriate faculty body review the 
case and shall inform the President and the Dean of the Faculty of 
its request. 

f. In all cases the Committee shall present a written 
recommendation based on its findings to the aggrieved faculty 
member, the head of any other faculty body involved, the Dean of 
the Faculty, and the President; and it shall discuss its findings with 
the faculty member, the head of the faculty body, the President 
and the Dean of the Faculty. 

g. The Committee shall try to bring the parties involved to a 
mutually satisfactory agreement. 

h. Where its investigation necessitates the Committee's having 
access to a faculty member's personnel file, the Committee shall 
request written permission for such access from the faculty 
member. Material in faculty personnel files prior to the approval 
by the Board of a Faculty Grievance Committee (February 11, 
1977) will be accessible only with the permission of the author. 

i. The Committee shall cease its investigation upon the request 
of the aggrieved faculty member. 

j. The Committee, acting as an agent for the faculty, may 
submit its findings through the President to the Executive 
Committee of the Board of Trustees in cases where it believes a 
faculty member has been grievously treated and where no 
resolution can be effected with the President. 

Membership: 

The faculty shall elect three members of the teaching faculty, 
two tenured and one untenured, each from a different 
department, to serve for three years. No member may serve 
consecutive terms. At the same election the faculty shall choose 
three alternate members of the Committee from three other 
departments to serve if one or more members of the regular 
Committee are involved in a particular case. If it should be 
ncessary to use an alternate, the Committee shall select the 
replacement. The untenured member of the regular Committee 



251 



shall resign at the end of the year during which he or she is notified 
of the receipt of tenure, and a replacement shall be selected at the 
general election of committees in the Spring. 

The Grievance Procedure: 

1. The faculty member should discuss the complaint with the 
chairman of his or her department, with the chairman of the 
faculty committee, with other faculty members, or with the 
administrator whose decision has elicited the complaint, as 
appropriate. 

2. If the issue is not satisfactorily resolved, or if the faculty 
member receives no response in ten calendar days, he or she 
should submit the complaint in writing to the Dean of the Faculty 
and the President. 

3. If there is no response in ten calendar days, or if the response 
is unsatisfactory to the grievant, he or she may solicit the 
participation of the Grievance Committee by a written request for 
help, a copy of the original complaint sent to the Dean of the 
Faculty and the President, and, if necessary, an authorization for 
the Grievance Committee to have access to the faculty member's 
personnel file. 

4. The Grievance Committee shall determine the merits of the 
case in its opinion. If it decides to investigate, it will render an 
opinion within twenty calendar days of its receipt of the grievant's 
request. This opinion will be given in writing to all persons 
concerned. 

5. The Grievance Committee shall, at this point, try to effect a 
resolution between the parties in conflict. 

6. If the Grievance Committee finds the President 
unresponsive to what it considers an egregious violation of a 
faculty member's rights, the Committee, acting as an agent of the 
faculty, may submit its findings through the President to the 
Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees for final 
resolution. 

7. Time limitations at each stage in the procedure may be 
extended by mutual agreement of the parties. 

Reference has already been made to certain changes in major 
administrative officers early in President Perry's administration. Such 
changes continued for several more years. In 1976 Mr. R. James 
Henderson resigned his post as vice president for business affairs to 
accept the position of business manager at Duke University and was 
replaced by Mr. Doyle M. Dillard, who remained one year. In 1977 
Mr. Lee A. Barclay was appointed to this position and is still in office. 



252 



Mr. Barclay brought to his office approximately a quarter of a century 
of experience in college business administration as well as graduate 
training for his particular responsibilities. 

The summer of 1977 also saw the sudden and untimely death of 
Laura M. Steele. To fill her place President Perry appointed Lea Ann 
Grimes, '76 (now Mrs. James Hudson) to be registrar. At this same 
period (1978) Judith Maguire Tindel, '73, became director of 
admissions, replacing Ann Rivers Hutcheson, '59, who resigned to 
give more time to her family. Both Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Tindel had 
had the good fortune to work under Laura Steele, and Mrs. Tindel had 
had further opportunity to serve as assistant director of admissions 
under Mrs. Hutcheson. Both of these appointments have been 
fortunate for Agnes Scott. 

In recent years considerable attention has been given to 
strengthening the College's career planning office. First under the 
leadership of Miss lone Murphy and more recently under the direction 
of Mrs. Kathleen K. Mooney, this activity has taken on growing 
significance both for students and for alumnae. So important has this 
aspect of Agnes Scott's service become that the current catalogue 
statement is quoted in full: 

The Office of Career Planning offers undergraduates and 
alumnae a comprehensive program, the primary goals of which 
are an expanded awareness of career and lifestyle options, the 
ability to make informed career decisions, and the development of 
successful job-search strategies. 

To help attain these goals, the Office provides individual 
counseling, conferences, and workshops on such topics as specific 
career fields, skills assessment, decision making, job hunting, 
resume writing, and interviewing techniques. 

A major component of the career planning program is 
experiential learning, with several options for off-campus 
experiences offered each year. Through the Shadow Program, 
students spend an afternoon or longer during the academic year 
talking with Atlanta-area sponsors who work in career fields of 
interest to the student. By participating in the Extern Program, 
students themselves have a greater opportunity to perform some 
aspect of the job as they spend a concentrated five-day period 
during a school vacation with sponsors and their colleagues. 
Continually expanding internships and cooperative education 
opportunites are an integral part of the program. 

Each student who seeks counseling has access both to self- 
assessment aids and vocational testing, as well as to an alumnae 



253 



advisory network that provides career advisers and role models. A 
number of prospective employers and graduate schools send 
recruiters to the campus each year. Full-time, summer, and part- 
time job referrals are provided for alumnae. 

A Career Resource Room contains books and pamphlets about 
traditional and non-traditional careers, lifestyles, the status of 
woman in the work world, occupational outlook, and 
opportunities with specific employers. Graduate and professional 
school catalogs and directories are available. 

Beginning in her freshman year, each student is encouraged to 
complement her academic work and extracurricular activities by 
participating in career-related activities both on and off the 
campus. Counseling, information, and job placement services are 
available to alumnae as well as to current students. 

It will be recalled that in 1967 Agnes Scott undertook to follow a 
long-range plan of campus expansion looking toward a student 
enrollment of 900 in the near future and of possibly 2,000 by the end of 
the century (see p. 192). However, by the mid-1970's, because of 
declining enrollment  a circumstance not limited to Agnes Scott  
the Trustees concluded that another survey was needed to serve as a 
guide for campus planning in the immediate future. This time Arkhora 
Associates, Inc., Architects and Planners of Atlanta, were engaged to 
make a survey, and their recommendations were ready by the autumn 
of 1976. These planners painted a bright future for Agnes Scott and its 
environs but recommended that the campus projections of the 1967 
study be somewhat reduced and that some of the property acquired in 
the interim be sold. This new study was predicated on a student body 
of 750 possibly rising to 1,000 sometime in the future. After careful 
study, the Board's Executive Committee on February 23, 1978, took 
action revising a previous decision on what constituted the "campus 
core," thereby making available a fair number of campus properties 
for sale. Here is this action which continues as the frame of reference 
for land acquisitions and sales: 

Upon motion, duly seconded, the following "Revised Guidelines 
for the Sale of College Property," as amended, were adopted by 
the Executive Committee: 

A. The College designates as the "campus core" the property 
south from East College Avenue along the west side of 
South Candler Street to East Davis Street, thence west 
along the north side of East Davis Street to South 
McDonough Street, and north along the east side of South 



254 



McDonough Street to West College Avenue. The College 
will hold the property within this area for present and long- 
range needs for campus expansion. The College will move to 
acquire the remaining parcels not owned by the College 
within this core as such property becomes available. 

B. The College may sell certain other properties, described 
below, with a buy-back provision at the option of the 
College. Properties which may be sold with such a buy-back 
provision are those on the east side of South Candler Street 
from East College Avenue to Bucher Drive, on the west side 
of South McDonough Street from West College Avenue to 
West Davis Street; also the property bounded by the south 
side of West College Avenue, south along the west side of 
South McDonough Street, west along the north side of 
Ansley Street, thence north along the east side of Adams 
Street back to West College Avenue. The repurchase under 
the buy-back provision will be at fair market value at the 
time of buy-back. 

C. Property now owned by the College on Adams Street south 
of Ansley Street, on Avery Street, on Bucher Drive, on the 
south side of Davis Street, and on Candler and McDonough 
Streets south of Davis Street may be sold outright with no 
buy-back provisions. 

D. The sale price of all properties will be the fair market value 
as determined by the President. The College will not finance 
the purchase of houses and lots, and financing must be 
obtained through the regular commercial sources. To the 
extent legally permissible, a restriction will be put in all 
deeds limiting the use of property sold to residential use. 

E. Present tenants will have first opportunity to buy the 
property they occupy. Next priority will go to Agnes Scott 
faculty and staff. College houses currently furnished to 
"Agnes Scott employees as part of their compensation will 
not be offered for sale. 

F. Receipts from the sale of college-owned houses will be 
maintained in a separate account to buy the remaining 
parcels within the "campus core." After the remaining 
parcels of land have been bought, the receipts from the sale 
of property can be used for capital expenditures. 

G. Agnes Scott will enter into the sale of property on a low-key 
approach with no advertising so as not to disturb the present 
market status. In order not to disturb the economy, it is 
envisioned that no more than twelve parcels of property 
would be sold within the first year. 



255 



H. The College will continue to adjust rental charge rates for 
houses until the rate reaches the average commercial rate. 
With fewer houses to be responsible for and with a higher 
rental rate, the College can provide better service to the 
remaining properties. 

Eight months later the Board amended this action by altering in 
section B the phrase "buy-back provision" to read "with a first refusal 
buy-back option to the College." 

The Arkhora study also maintained that for the foreseeable future 
Agnes Scott would need no new buildings except a physical education 
structure and a campus center, even suggesting that these two facilities 
could be combined into one building. Should the number of students 
rise above 750, an additional dormitory would, of course, be 
necessary. 

One of the faculty highlights of the 1976-1977 year was a retreat 
conference held at Unicoi State Park, in the mountains of north 
Georgia, on Saturday and Sunday, January 8 and 9. The theme for the 
conference was "The Liberal Arts Tradition and the Changing Status 
of Women." Outside panelists were brought in in addition to Agnes 
Scott professors. There was animated discussion in an informal 
atmosphere amid the invigorating setting of beautiful natural scenery. 
Four panel discussions dealt with (1) The Liberal Arts Tradition, (2) 
The Changing Status of Women, (3) The Liberal Arts Tradition and 
the Changing Status of Women at Sister Institutions, and (4) The 
Liberal Arts Tradition and the Changing Status of Women: Agnes 
Scott College. In a subsequent "President's Newsletter" published 
about a month after this conference President Perry referred to it as 
"one of the best 'happenings' that we have had at Agnes Scott in a long 
time." More recently Professor Michael J. Brown has recalled that the 
idea for what has led to the College's preparatory program for business 
had its beginnings as a result of this conference. So successful was this 
retreat that it was repeated in 1978 and 1979 at Pine Isle, a resort on 
Lake Lanier near Gainesville, Georgia. The theme for the 1978 
conference was "Building a Great Faculty" and featured group 
discussions related to the following three topics: (1) "The Faculty as a 
Community," (2) "Faculty Effectiveness: Teaching Skills and 
Methods," and (3) "Faculty Leadership." President Perry again in his 
annual report for 1977-1978 observed: "From this second annual 
faculty retreat . . . came a number of productive ideas for the future as 
well as an increased sense of mutual appreciation and friendship 



256 



among colleagues." A third faculty retreat conference was held in 
January, 1979, this time under the leadership of the faculty Committee 
on the Future of the College. The general theme was "The Next Five 
Years," and discussion was carried out under the general format of a 
town meeting with three sessions on Saturday afternoon and one on 
Sunday morning. Topics for each meeting were as follows: (1) "The 
Freshman Year," (2) "Student Life Outside the Classroom," (3) 
"Admission and Enrollment," and (4) "The Purpose and Nature of the 
College." Prior to the conference a fifty-three page paper was 
circulated for study  a paper prepared by the Committee on the 
Future of the College. As on the two previous occasions, this retreat- 
conference served a number of useful purposes. 

On January 30, 1978, the Board of Trustees sustained the death of 
Miss Mary Wallace Kirk who had been a trustee continuously since 
1917  over sixty years. For all the years of her relationship with 
Agnes Scott, which began in 1907 when she entered the College as a 
freshman, she had staunchly supported her alma mater. In death this 
support continued, for by her will Agnes Scott received approximately 
$900,000. 

It will be recalled that Buttrick Hall, the major administration and 
classroom building and the nerve center of the campus, was built in 
1930. For over half a century this structure served Agnes Scott 
uncommonly well; however, by the late 1970's it was apparent that the 
building was in dire need of renovation and refurbishment. 
Accordingly, during the 1978-1979 year the ground floor, second 
floor, and third floor were completely closed. Faculty offices were 
scattered about the campus from Rebekah Scott date parlors to the 
second floor of the infirmary to an unused house across Candler 
Street. Classes were held in almost any available place. But professors 
and students endured this year-long disruption cheerfully in 
anticipation of the excellent facilities that awaited them in the "new" 
Buttrick. No major changes were made on the first floor in the 
administrative offices because these had been previously refurbished 
over a period of several years. Duringthis 1978-1979 year Buttrick was 
reroofed, was completely air-conditioned, was rewired and relighted, 
was carpeted wall-to-wall in classrooms and corridors, and was fitted 
out with completely new up-to-date audiovisual facilities and 
equipment. All of this improvement cost over a million dollars  more 
than three times what the building cost initially  but the result was a 
first-rate building capable of giving many more years of constant 



257 



service. Henry Howard Smith of Atlanta was the architect for this 
renovation. 

By the fall meeting of the Board of Trustees in 1 978, President Perry 
was able to report that the dual degree program with the Georgia 
Institute of Technology had been expanded to include a degree in 
industrial management and one in computer science in addition to the 
earlier program in engineering. At this same time it was reported that 
Agnes Scott students were being permitted to enroll in the Naval 
R.O.T.C. program at Georgia Tech in addition to the one in Air Force 
R.O.T.C. which already was an option for Agnes Scott students. 

Reference has already been made to the Long-range Planning 
Committee appointed in 1974 (see p. 236). This committee spent some 
months formulating its report which was referred to the Board's 
Development Committee for review and recommendation. After 
careful study and a preliminary report to the Board, the Development 
Committee on January 26, 1979, recommended to the Trustees a long- 
range plan entitled "Agnes Scott Looks to the Future." This report was 
formally adopted and approved and has become the framework for 
launching the College into a new century. The Trustees have taken no 
more important action since the adoption in 1953 of long-range goals 
which precipitated the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Development 
Program. Here is the action which is even now charting the direction of 
the College: 

Agnes Scott Looks to the Future 

As Agnes Scott approaches its centennial in 1989 and then 
prepares for the twenty-first century, the Long-range Planning 
Committee recommends to the Board of Trustees for its 
consideration the following development program. 

1. Attract and retain a select student body of at least 700 by 
maintaining a curriculum strong in the traditional liberal 
arts disciplines and values, yet responsive to the needs of 
young women interested in professional and business 
careeers. 

2. Attract and retain highly qualified faculty through 
competitive compensation and ongoing opportunities for 
their professional growth. 

3. Encourage the factors which strengthen the College's 
Christian emphasis and heritage, its Honor System, and its 
representative student government. 

4. Plan and construct new physical education and recreational 
facilities as well as a new Student Center and complete the 



258 



renovation and improvement of the present buildings on 
campus. 

5. Organize and launch a financial drive which will provide as 
soon as possible the $50,000,000 Agnes Scott needs to 
accomplish the above objectives. 

During the months since January, 1979, several re-allocations of the 
amounts within the total goal have been made, but the total objective 
of $50,000,000 has remained constant. As of this writing, the time 
frame and the various allocations are as follows: 

AGNES SCOTT LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 1979-2000 

1979-1983 

Endowment $ 1,500,000 

Science Building Addition 3,000,000 

Physical Education Facilities 3,000,000 

Sub-Total $ 7,500,000 

1983-1986 

Campus Center $ 3,000,000 

Building Renovation 3,000,000 

Student Loan Funds 1,500,000 

Sub-Total $ 7,500,000 

1986-1989 

Building Renovation $ 3,000,000 

Endowment 7,000,000 

Sub-Total $10,000,000 

CENTENNIAL GOAL 1979-1989 $25,000,000 

1989-2000 

Endowment $17,500,000 

Building Renovation 6,000,000 

Student Loan Funds 1,500,000 

21st CENTURY GOAL 1989-2000 $25,000,000 



TOTAL GOAL $50,000,000 



259 



Recapitulation 

Endowment $26,000,000 

New Construction 9,000,000 

Building Renovation 12,000,000 

Student Loan Funds 3,000,000 

TOTAL $50,000,000 

The on-campus use by students of alcoholic beverages was by no 
means laid to rest by the action of the Trustees in September, 1975 (see 
pp. 238-239). Discussion and agitation continued since students 
wanted more latitude than the 1975 policy permitted. Finally after 
action by the Representative Council of Student Government and by 
the Administrative Committee, the matter came to the Board where it 
was considered in depth and at length both by the Committee on 
Student Affairs and by the Executive Committee. After the most 
careful and almost agonizing consideration, the Board of Trustees on 
May 11,1 979, by a vote of 1 8 for to 7 against took the action which for 
the first time in Agnes Scott's history permitted liquor in the 
dormitories. Here is the action: 



Policy Regarding the Use of Alcoholic Beverages 

WHEREAS: The majority of Agnes Scott College students are at 
least 18 years of age and are therefore of legal drinking age in 
Georgia, and 

WHEREAS: The inaccessibility of alcoholic beverages on 
campus forces students to leave in order to consume them, thereby 
increasing the risk to the individual by driving or riding with 
someone who is under the influence of alcohol, and 

WHEREAS: The accessibility of alcohol on campus will allow 
each student to exercise responsibility by giving the individual a 
freedom of choice of whether or not to drink, and 

WHEREAS: The present policy does not allow for such freedom 
of choice, but rather fosters an atmosphere not consistent with the 
responsibility accorded the students at Agnes Scott College, and 

WHEREAS: One purpose of the College as stated in the Agnes 
Scott College Handbook, page 7, is "to cultivate in the student a 



260 



sense of responsibility to the society in which she lives, both within 
the College community and beyond." 

BE IT RESOLVED: That the present policy regarding the use of 
alcoholic beverages as stated in the Agnes Scott Handbook, page 
22, be amended as follows: 

Alcoholic beverages are permitted, in compliance with the state 
and local laws, ' on the Agnes Scott campus at campus-wide social 
functions held in designated areas, as coordinated and evaluated 
by the Board of Student Activities, and as approved by the Dean 
of Students, and in the designated areas of the dormitories. 2 
Alcoholic beverages which may be served at campus-wide 
functions are beer, wine, and spiked punch. There are no 
restrictions on the type of alcohol a student may have in her 
private possession. 

No College or Student Government funds will be used for the 
purchase of alcoholic beverages at any function held off or on 
campus and sponsored by the College or any organization within 
the College. Only a student 18 years or older may serve the 
alcoholic beverage, and a non-alcoholic beverage must also be 
served at the function. 

Alcoholic beverages are not to be transported into or away 
from the designated area of the social function, nor are alcoholic 
beverages to be transported to the function except by authorized 



'Students must comply with Georgia and Decatur laws 
regarding the consumption of alcoholic beverages as follows: 

Georgia 

1. The legal age for purchasing alcoholic beverages is 18. 
It is against the law in Georgia either to sell or furnish 
alcoholic beverages to minors. 

2. It is illegal to appear in an intoxicated condition or to 
evidence boisterous or vulgar behavior on any public 
street, in any public place, in any private residence, 
other than one's own, or on any mode of transporta- 
tion. 

Decatur: 

It is unlawful to drink alcoholic beverages in automobiles 
parked or moving on the streets, highways, or alleys of the 
city. 

designated areas of the dormitories are: 

a) dormitory rooms, b) hall-way kitchens, c) a designated, 
public room in each dormitory. 



261 



persons of the sponsoring board. Other violations of this policy 
include falsification of ID to purchase alcoholic beverages, 
purchasing alcohol by those 18 years of age or over for a minor, 
and the possession of alcohol by those students under the age of 
18. Students may not drink alcoholic beverages in any part of the 
dorms or grounds except in the designated areas of the dormitory 
and designated areas at campus-wide functions. When 
transporting alcoholic beverages to the designated parts of the 
dormitories, a student must carry them in a bag or similar 
covering, unless transporting them between dormitory rooms or 
from kitchen to dormitory room. 

The student is responsible for exemplifying a high standard of 
conduct so that her behavior will not be detrimental to herself, to 
her fellow students, or to the College. Students are similarly 
responsible for insuring that guests are aware of the expected 
standard of conduct. 

The first violation by a student of the Policy Regarding the Use 
of Alcoholic Beverages shall be handled by the Dormitory 
Council. The Dormitory Council shall automatically refer to 
Interdormitory Council any case involving a second infraction. 
Any subsequent violations shall be referred automatically to the 
Honor Court. As is the practice with any particularly serious or 
flagrant violation of the policy, Dormitory Council reserves the 
right to refer any such case involving this policy to a higher court 
than the one stipulated above. 

As always in matters of student policy, the Dean of Students 
and/ or the Administrative Committee has the right to rescind this 
privilege at any time. 

This new policy became effective with the 1979-1980 academic session 
and has worked effectively. 

February 22, 1979, marked the 150th birthday of George 
Washington Scott. From his death in 1903, his tombstone in the 
Decatur Cemetery had carried the usual information found on such 
stones, but not a word about his connection with Agnes Scott. His 
150th birthday seemed an appropriate time to rectify this oversight. 
With the permission of the Scott family this inscription was incised on 
his grave stone: 

George Washington Scott 

Founder of Agnes Scott College 1889 

Inscribed by the College in grateful recognition  22 February 1979 

On Founder's Day afternoon a small ceremony was held at the plot at 
which time the inscription was unveiled in the presence of Col. Scott's 



262 



three living grandchildren and of a group representing the College. As 
yet no inscription has been placed at Agnes Irvine Scott's grave in 
Alexandria, Pennsylvania, indicating that the College was named for 
her. 

Beginning with Alumnae Day in 1 975 and continuing thereafter, the 
Agnes Scott Alumnae Association has designated certain graduates as 
"distinguished alumnae." On the first of these occasions, only one 
alumna was recognized  Mary Wallace Kirk, '11, who was born the 
year the College was founded and who served her alma mater as a 
trustee for more than sixty years. Each year since that time, an alumna 
in each of three categories has been recognized, these categories being 
(1) distinguished career; (2) service to the community, and (3) service 
to the College. Any alumna can be nominated, and a special committee 
selects those to receive the awards. Those alumnae so honored through 
1982 are the following: 



1976 
Distinguished career 
Service to the community 
Service to the College 

1977 
Distinguished 
Service to the 
Service to the 



1978 

Distinguished 
Service to the 
Service to the 

1979 
Distinguished 
Service to the 
Service to the 

1980 
Distinguished 
Service to the 
Service to the 

1981 

Distinguished 
Service to the 
Service to the 

1982 
Distinguished 
Service to the 
Service to the 



career 

community 

College 

career 

community 

College 

career 

community 

College 

career 

community 

College 

career 

community 

College 

career 

community 

College 



Patricia Collins Dwinnell, '28 
Carolyn Essig Frederick, '28 
Sarah Frances McDonald, '36 

Rachel Henderlite, '28 

Margaret McDow MacDougall, '24 

Mary West Thatcher, '15 

Page Ackerman, '33 
Bertha Merrill Holt, '38 
Betty Lou Houck Smith, '35 

Goldie Suttle Ham, '19 
Martha Stackhouse Grafton, '30 
Penelope Brown Barnett, '32 

Evangeline Papageorge, '28 
Juanita Greer White, '26 
Carrie Scandrett, '24 

Marybeth Little Weston, '48 
Laura Brown Logan, "31 
Mary Ben Wright Erwin, '25 

Betty Fountain Edwards Gray, '35 
Goudylock Erwin Dyer, '38 
Sarah Hamilton Fulton, '21 



263 



For many years scholarship assistance at Agnes Scott has been 
based on need. However, by the late 1970's, it was becoming apparent 
that the College needed to reassess its financial aid program with a 
view to including in it grants based solely on merit. At the meeting of 
the Trustees on January 20, 1978, President Perry introduced the 
subject, and presentations of the pros and cons of "merit" scholarships 
were given by both the Director of Admissions and the Director of 
Financial Aid. As a result of this discussion, the Board authorized the 
appointment of an ad hoc committee to study this matter and report 
back with recommendations. At the next meeting of the Trustees, the 
ad hoc committee unanimously recommended that the Board endorse 
the initiation of a "merit" scholarship program, the details and 
mechanics to be worked out by the administration and reported back 
to the Trustees for approval. Mr. G. Conley Ingram, Chairman of the 
ad hoc committee, noted in his report "that such a program will 
reinforce Agnes Scott's commitment to the recognition of academic 
excellence." In approving this new program, the Board made it crystal 
clear that "the financial aid budget based on need will not be 
diminished in any way." The new scholarship program would be 
financed by additional funds to be sought and added to the College's 
endowment. The document that the Board approved is given herewith: 

General Objectives of the Scholarship Program: 

1. To improve the academic quality of the student body 

2. To increase the number of applications from students 
applying for the scholarships who might not have applied 
for admission otherwise 

3. To increase numbers of enrolled students through the 
anticipated high yield from scholarship group[s] brought to 
the campus 

4. To increase yield of high quality applicant group[s] who 
previously might have declined our offer of admission to 
accept a merit scholarship elsewhere 

5. To increase the amount of funds from sources willing to 
sponsor merit-based scholarships 

6. To increase national public awareness of Agnes Scott and its 
commitment to academic excellence through public 
relations efforts associated with the scholarship program 

7. To provide alumnae with an opportunity for involvement in 
admissions which may result in beneficial feelings toward 
the College in general 



264 



8. To provide active involvement for faculty members in 
improving the academic quality of the student body 

9. To increase enrollment of students from distant regions of 
the country 

Program Management 

The scholarship program will be administered by a College 
committee appointed by the President and chaired by an 
administrative coordinator. The committee will consist of three 
members of the teaching faculty, the director of admissions, the 
director of financial aid, and the administrative coordinator, the 
Dean of Academic Affairs (ex officio), and the President (ex 
officio). 

Selection Process 

The basic criteria for a student's entering the Agnes Scott merit 
scholarship competition are (1) outstanding secondary school 
record as shown by grades, class standing, SAT scores, etc., and 
(2) evidence of all-round achievement and promise. The student 
must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident alien, as well as an 
accepted applicant for admission to Agnes Scott. In order to 
determine who the applicants for the scholarships are, the regular 
application form will contain a statement such as: 

I am applying as an Agnes Scott Honor Scholar as 

described on page of the Bulletin. 

yes no 

A separate counselor's recommendation form is sent with the 
application material for scholarship applicants. A waiver will be 
needed on the application for scholarship applicants in order that 
application materials can be released to the alumnae selection 
panels and campus interview panel. 

In order to allow sufficient time for the selection process, a 
student's application for admission must be received and 
completed by November 1-15 (specific date to be published). The 
Admissions Committee acts on the applications, and acceptance 
letters are sent out by November 15-December 1 (specific date to 
be published). 

From this point, the selection process involves two stages: 
selection of finalists from all scholarship applicants and selection 
of the Scholars from the finalists. Our proposal is that up to 30 
finalists be chosen from all scholarship applicants by alumnae 
panels in each of four geographical regions (to be determined). 
Three of the regions nominate up to 5 finalists each, with the 
Southeast region nominating up to 15. 

The alumnae selection panels will be appointed by the College 



265 



committee with the advice of the Alumnae Director and the 
President of the Alumnae Association. Each regional panel will 
have a representative from the College (faculty or 
administration). 

The alumnae selection panels will meet in locations determined 
by the Committee in consultation with the Alumnae Director for a 
period not to exceed two days. Expenses incurred by the alumnae 
will be reimbursed by the College. The finalists are to be chosen by 
the end of the 2nd week in December. The College notifies the 30 
finalists by the end of the 3rd week in December. 

The next stage of the process is selecting up to 1 Scholars from 
the 30 finalists by means of campus visits and interview sessions, 
probably in mid-January or early February. Transportation 
expenses up to $300 each will be paid by the College. Through the 
campus visit it is hoped not only to select the 10 Scholars but also 
to give all 30 finalists a good impression of life at Agnes Scott. In 
addition to the interview sessions, such college activities as classes, 
a student panel, an alumnae panel, and tours of the campus and 
Atlanta are to be planned. 

The final interview sessions are to be conducted by a faculty- 
administrative panel which may include alumnae representation. 
(If a single panel proves impractical, consideration will be given to 
two or three smaller panels of similar make-up.). Interviews are 
limited to 30 minutes each. Final selections will be made by 
February 15, and Scholars will be notified immediately thereafter. 
The President will send congratulatory letters to each of the 
winners, and awards will be sent to the high schools for 
presentation at honors day or graduation ceremonies. 

Awards Process 

Students winning merit scholarships will receive grants equal 
each year to the amount charged for tuition and fees. (In 1978-79, 
this amount is $3,250.) Renewal is automatic for those who 
maintain honor roll status and who are members in good standing 
of the college community. Students having at least a 2.0 average 
with no grade below D but who do not meet honor roll criteria will 
have 50% of their scholarship awarded, with the possibility of 
reinstatement in subsequent years. Students whose grade point 
averages fall below 2.0 (at the end of the academic year) lose their 
scholarships for subsequent years. 

Students receiving merit scholarships are apt to receive other 
merit-type awards, and the College reserves the right to adjust its 
merit scholarship when a student's total awards exceed the "cost 
of education." In 1978-79, the "cost of education," as defined by 
the Office of Financial Aid, is $5,275 (excluding transportation) 
for boarding, dependent students. Students, then, can receive 



266 



more than $2,000 in outside aid without having their merit 
scholarship adjusted. 

Wherever the donors' terms of gift permit, present merit award 
funds should be incorporated into the total merit scholarship 
program in order that comparable present merit awards are not 
downgraded in prestige or stipend as a result of the new program. 

Follow-up Provisions 

Recent studies by the College Scholarship Service indicate that 
most institutions do not have a plan for assessing the effectiveness 
of their merit scholarship programs. The Agnes Scott Merit 
Scholarship Program is to have an ongoing evaluation process 
which will measure not only the program's effectiveness as a 
recruiting tool, but also its effect on retention, the classroom 
environment, alumnae affairs, and development. The primary 
means of measuring the effects will be through questionnaires 
addressed to the students themselves (winners and losers) and to 
members of the faculty whose classes they attend. 

The application and screening process for the new Agnes Scott 
Honor Scholars Program became operative in the 1979-1980 session. 
In February of that term 35 finalists out of approximately 85 
applicants came to the campus to be interviewed. From this number 2 1 
were chosen with expectation of a 50% acceptance. Actually 16 elected 
to attend Agnes Scott, entering in September, 1980. Again in the 
session of 1980-1981, 35 finalists from 1 15 applications came to the 
campus. Seventeen of these received Honor Scholarship awards, and 
nine enrolled for the 1981-1982 year. For the year that has just ended, 
43 finalists were interviewed, and 27 were offered scholarships. 
Thirteen of these have signified their expectation to enter Agnes Scott 
in September, 1982. The whole program has in every way lived up to 
expectations, and the College has not only received some good 
students but also gained excellent publicity in many secondary 
schools. 

A further effort of the Admissions Office to attract good students is 
accomplished through OktoberQuest and Applicants' Weekend, 
respectively. OktoberQuest is held in the fall when high school juniors 
and seniors who have indicated an interest in the College are invited to 
the campus for a weekend. Applicants' Weekend comes in the spring 
and is a time when those who have actually applied for admission the 
following September are invited for a visit. 

At the spring meeting of the Board of Trustees on May 1 1, 1979, 
Lawrence L. Gellerstedt was elected Chairman. Mr. Gaines had asked 



267 



that his name not be nominated again for the chairmanship, and the 
Trustees reluctantly acceded to his request. At the next meeting of the 
Board the following resolution was adopted: 

It is always difficult to capture the contributions of a wise and 
effective leader in sentences, paragraphs, or color portraits! A 
language which does this with precision and insight is not yet 
invented. How then, shall we describe the contributions of 
Alexander Pendleton Gaines to the life and mission of Agnes 
Scott College? He has been a Trustee for twenty years and has 
served as Vice Chairman of the Board 1964-73 and as Chairman 
1973-79. 

What prepared him for wise, effective, and progressive service 
during these twenty years? 

For one thing, his heritage did this. His grandfather, The 
Reverend Frank Henry Gaines, D.D., was a co-founder with Mr. 
George Washington Scott of the College in 1889. While pastor of 
Decatur Presbyterian Church, he and Col. Scott shared a vision of 
first-rate education for women to be conducted "under auspices 
distinctly favorable to the maintenance of the faith and practice of 
the Christian religion," as the Charter puts it. Alex Gaines was 
further nurtured in his own educational experience. He graduated 
at the University of Georgia . . . and at Emory University School 
of Law. He was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1 935, in the depths 
of the economic depression of that decade. It was not a fortuitous 
time to begin the practice of law, but no lawyer in Georgia has had 
a more distinguished professional career than has Alex Gaines. As 
a Senior Partner of Alston, Miller and Gaines, he has the respect 
of his colleagues and the admiration of his competitors. 

Most of all, he is motivated by a sense of service which led him 
to agree to devote time, energy and thought to the life of Agnes 
Scott. As a life-long member of Central Presbyterian Church and 
a Ruling Elder, he has led that Church through decisive and 
redemptive years of mission to the City of Atlanta and, indeed, to 
the world. What is more, he has used his time carefully and well to 
strengthen the innumerable boards, groups and organizations 
which bring quality to the lives of all the people of this City. 

At Agnes Scott College, Alex Gaines has led the College 
through significant events and programs. These include successful 
financial campaigns, the revision of the curriculum, the election of 
most of the present faculty and the selection of the present 
President, Marvin B. Perry. His Chairmanship has coincided with 
President Perry's tenure. 

President Emeritus Wallace M. Alston says: "Alex Gaines 
belongs to the succession of dedicated men and women who have 



268 



served Agnes Scott College with unselfish, loyal devotion. He 
deserves the gratitude of all who deeply care about the College and 
who work for its welfare." 

President Marvin B. Perry says: "I am grateful to Alex Gaines 
on three counts: his quietly efficient leadership of the Board in a 
crucial period of Agnes Scott's history, his straightforward but 
always kindly education of a new President, and his unfailing 
support of that President through six happy years." 

On the evening before the meeting at which the above resolution was 
adopted, the Trustees gave a dinner in Chairman Gaines' honor. Also 
the Executive Committee at its meeting on September 27, 1979, set up 
two funds of $50,000 each  one to honor Alex P. Gaines and the 
other to honor Hal L. Smith .The income from both of these funds is to 
be used to support the Honor Scholars Program. 

Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr., the new Board Chairman, has many 
ties to Agnes Scott. His wife, his daughter, and his sister are all 
alumnae. His father was an active trustee for twenty-six years (1944- 
1970) and then served as an emeritus trustee until his death in 1978. 
Lawrence Gellerstedt, Jr., became an Agnes Scott trustee in 1969 and 
served as vice chairman of the Board from 1973 until his election to the 
chairmanship in 1979. A native of Atlanta, he graduated from the 
Georgia Institute of Technology in 1945. After being discharged from 
the U.S. Navy in 1946, hejoined the Beers Construction Company and 
became president of this company in 1960, a position he continues to 
hold. He is a past president of the Georgia Tech National Alumni 
Association and has chaired the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Tech 
Foundation. A simple listing of his responsibilities in the community is 
most impressive: 

Past President, Atlanta Chamber of Commerce 

Director and Past Chairman, Board of Trustees of Central 

Atlanta, Inc. 
Director, Cerebral Palsy Center of Atlanta, Inc. 
Director, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra 
Director, Atlanta Association for International Education 
Past Chairman, Board of Trustees, Atlanta Arts Alliance, Inc. 
Past President, The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta 

Mr. Gellerstedt is also a director of the Citizens and Southern National 
Bank and a trustee of Northwestern Mutual Life Mortgage and Realty 
Investors. He is a director of the Atlanta Gas Light Company and finds 
time to serve as a trustee of Atlanta University, of the Gatchell School, 
and of Wesley Homes, Inc. He likewise is active as an officer in a 



269 



number of organizations related to the construction business. He is 
married to the former Mary Duckworth who graduated from Agnes 
Scott in 1946 and is the father of three children. The Central 
Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, where he is a member, claims much of 
his attention. As a person Mr. Gellerstedt is youthful, dynamic, 
vigorous, and decisive. He is a worthy successor to a remarkable line of 
Agnes Scott Board Chairmen. 

The reader will recall that in 1969 the Callaway Foundation of 
LaGrange, Georgia, offered to establish at Agnes Scott a Fuller E. 
Callaway Professorship but the College for excellent reasons deemed 
it unwise to accept the professorship at that time (see pp. 200-201). By 
early 1980 the terms of the offer had been modified by the Callaway 
Foundation such that Agnes Scott was ready to accept the 
professorship. Accordingly, the Executive Committee on February 28, 
1980, on the recommendation of the President, nominated to the 
Callaway Trust Professor Mary Boney Sheats of the Department of 
Bible and Religion to be Agnes Scott's first Callaway Professor. The 
Dana Professorship which Dr. Sheats already held was thus freed to 
rotate to another faculty member. 

In the area of named professorships, another one developed in 1980- 
1981 raising the number of such "special chairs" at Agnes Scott to 
eleven. Over a period of years Hal L. Smith, former chairman of the 
Board of Trustees, and his wife, Julia Thompson Smith, '3 1 , had made 
gifts to the College toward a special fund, the income from which was 
used for scholarship purposes until such time as Mr. and Mrs. Smith 
saw fit to designate otherwise. In May, 1980, the Executive Committee 
accepted from this couple a gift of property which when sold and 
added to the fund already established brought the Smiths' gifts to 
approximately $400,000. In order to bring this fund to half a million 
dollars, the Trustees on May 8, 1981, added from unrestricted 
endowment the necessary amount to do so and directed that the whole 
fund function as endowment to establish in the Department of 
Economics the Hal L. and Julia T. Smith Chair of Free Enterprise. 
During 1981-1982 the search was conducted to find a suitable person 
to become Agnes Scott's first Hal L. and Julia T. Smith Professor. 

Federal legislation enacted in March, 1979, amended the Age 
Discrimination in Employment Act, raising the mandatory retirement 
age from sixty-five to seventy, but tenured faculty members in colleges 
and universities were exempted from the provisions of the amendment 
until June 30, 1982. For many years tenure at Agnes Scott has ended 



270 



on June 30 of the calendar year in which one's sixty-fifth birthday 
occurs, although an employee could be continued on a year-to-year 
basis to 70 if the Board of Trustees so desired. To deal with any 
changes required by this Federal Act, an ad hoc committee of Trustees 
was appointed to bring in recommendations. Meanwhile the Board 
itself on October 24, 1980, reaffirmed that the "normal retirement age" 
at Agnes Scott is sixty-five. At the request of this ad hoc committee 
President Perry reviewed the publications dealing with the ADEA 
legislation and discussed the matter with some dozen presidents of 
women's colleges comparable to Agnes Scott. Finally following all this 
investigation and after much discussion, the Board on May 8, 1981, 
adopted this resolution: 

That, on the recommendation of the President and with the 
approval of the Ad Hoc Committee on Tenure and the Executive 
Committee of the Board, the following retirement policies be 
adopted: 

1. That Agnes Scott's share of retirement payments to 
employees cease at the present normal retirement age. 
(Under present Age Discrimination in Employment Act 
legislation such reductions are permissible, although this 
policy may be challenged in the courts.) 

2. That faculty tenure, in accordance with present college 
policy, shall cease "at the close of the academic session in the 
calendar year in which a tenured member of the faculty 
attains the normal retirement age of 65." (Agnes Scott 
Faculty Handbook: "Policies and Criteria for 
Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure," 
II, 33, v.) 

3. That, by action of the Board of Trustees on 
recommendation of the President, a faculty member may be 
approved "for annual reappointment until the end of the 
academic session in the calendar year in which he or she 
attains the mandatory retirement age of 70." (Agnes Scott 
Faculty Handbook: "Policies and Criteria for 
Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure." II, 
33, v.) 

4. That present college policy with respect to health benefits, 
life insurance, and workmen's compensation be continued 
until mandatory retirement age. 

5. That present college policy with respect to all benefits for 
retired Agnes Scott employees be continued. 

6. That Agnes Scott continue to study these and other 



271 



pertinent aspects of present ADEA legislation, together 
with possible new college policies providing, where feasible, 
for early retirement and /or phased retirement. 

As the 1970's waned and the 1980's began, the Agnes Scott faculty 
continued strong, able, and highly qualified. For example, for the 
1980-1981 year, out of 71 persons at the rank of assistant professor or 
higher 65 held an earned doctorate. Teaching has remained the central 
interest of the faculty, although research and publication claim a share 
of time of almost every faculty member. Stability and experimentation 
are present in the curriculum. The basic core of the time-honored 
liberal arts program is ever present, but new courses are regularly 
offered. In recent years work in political science has been made into its 
own department separate from history. Economics and sociology have 
also each become independent departments, and the offerings in the 
department of music have been completely revamped. Computer 
science has likewise become a part of the program. Inter-departmental 
majors and double majors are now a frequent part of course offerings, 
and students desiring courses preparatory for professional or business 
careers can make appropriate selections. Desert biology and marine 
biology are offered on location in the summer in addition to those 
courses already provided in Europe in art, history, and language. 

Looking to improving the teaching facilities in the sciences, the 
Trustees on May 8, 1981, authorized the complete renovation and 
modernization of the John Bulow Campbell Science Hall which is 
now completely outmoded. The cost of this renovation is estimated at 
$3,000,000. In June, 1981, the Atlanta architectural firm of Nix, 
Mann, and Associates, Inc., was engaged to prepare the plans and 
specifications for this renovation. As Dean Julia T. Gary pointed out 
to the Trustees, young women are increasingly interested in careers in 
the sciences, and they will seek out those institutions having the best 
facilities, the most modern equipment, and the best qualified faculty. 
The modernization of Campbell Hall is a "must" if Agnes Scott's 
excellent science faculty are to have an adequate place to do their 
work. 

That Agnes Scott does a good job for and with its students is 
confirmed by the circumstance that of the students eligible to return 
each year, over 85% do so. Furthermore, about 65% of each entering 
freshman class remain to graduate  a very high percentage compared 
with that of other colleges and universities. 

In 1979 the National Endowment for the Humanities approved a 



272 



grant of $250,000 to Agnes Scott provided the College raise $750,000 
in a three-year period. This amount to be raised was required to be 
over and above what donors may have given in 1978-1979. Happily, 
President Perry on Founder's Day, 1981, was able to report that the 
NEH challenge had been met. Of this $1,000,000 total, the NEH 
stipulated that one half be used as endowment to purchase library 
books and the income from the other half be used for the professional 
development of faculty members in the humanities. 

The two most pressing physical needs that continue at Agnes Scott 
are for a new student center and for a new physical education facility. 
These needs are not new  both were part of the 75th anniversary 
development program in the 1 950's and 1 960's. Now they have become 
so acute that they may be detrimental to the admissions program. 
Asking entering students accustomed to excellent high school 
gymnasiums, for example, to use Agnes Scott's outmoded, outgrown 
gym is almost a travesty. As for a student center, the present "Hub" 
was built for a library in 1910 and since 1937 has at best been only a 
make-shift for a student center. Hopefully both these needs will soon 
be met through the fund-raising program recently approved by the 
Board of Trustees. 

A circumstance in which Agnes Scott takes justifiable pride 
occurred in December, 1980, when Ila Leola Burdett, '81, was named 
Georgia's first woman Rhodes Scholar. These prestigious scholarships 
were initially opened to women in 1976, and Miss Burdette was the 
first nominee that Agnes Scott recommended. That she achieved this 
signal recognition is a tribute not only to the College but to all her prior 
education. Incidentally, she entered Agnes Scott in 1977 as Georgia's 
top star student. Miss Burdette was a mathematics major and plans for 
a career in architecture. At Oxford she is in Christ Church College and 
will seek her degree in the Final Honors School of English. 

In the late summer of 198 1 , President Perry addressed the following 
letter to the Agnes Scott constituency: 

To the Agnes Scott Community: 

It is with very real regret that I inform you that I have submitted 
to the Board of Trustees my notice of retirement from the office of 
President of Agnes Scott College, effective no later than June 30, 
1982. As most of you know, my health has been uncertain in 
recent months, and, accordingly, I believe my decision is the right 
one at this time, for the College and for me and my family. 



273 



For more than eight years, I have been your president, and 
together we have continued to weather - - with honor and 
responsible progress, I believe  perhaps the most trying period 
in the history of American higher education. We have kept our 
academic program strong in the traditional disciplines while 
adding new courses and opportunities needed by women in 
today's world. We have fashioned a more responsive machinery of 
college governance, with greater voice in policy making for both 
faculty and students. We have entrusted students with virtual 
autonomy over their own social and extracurricular life, and they 
have effectively honored this trust. We have increased 
significantly faculty and staff salaries and benefits for both active 
and retired personnel. Finally, despite the pressures of a period of 
financial stringency, we have maintained each year a balanced 
budget free of debt. In summary, I believe that together we have 
kept faith with the vision of our founders and the efforts of our 
predecessors here, mindful both of our great heritage and of the 
educational needs of women preparing for life in this turbulent 
age. 

Agnes Scott is a great college, and ours is a precious heritage. I 
am convinced that the College has a firm if challenging future. I 
believe that such a future can now be enhanced by fresh and 
vigorous new leadership. Mrs. Perry and I shall always love and 
admire Agnes Scott and its people. We shall leave here a large 
measure of ourselves, and we shall carry with us cherished and 
happy memories of our life here. Let us urge you to continue to 
love Agnes Scott, to support it, and to work for it and for each 
other. 

Good luck, and God bless you all. 

signed/ Marvin Perry 



The Trustees were obviously full of regret at the President's 
decision; nevertheless, they met in September, 1981, to set in motion 
the search for Agnes Scott's fifth president. A special committee of 
Trustees was named to make a recommendation to the entire Board. 
On this search committee were Alex P. Gaines, chairman, Harry A. 
Fifield, Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr., Mary D. Gellerstedt, Suzella B. 
Newsome, Horace H. Sibley, Nancy H. Sibley, and Augustus H. 
Sterne. An advisory group to the search committee consisted of three 
faculty members, two administrators, three alumnae, and three 
students. 



274 



One of the most important developments of President Perry's last 
year in office was the inauguration of the Kirk Concert series, 
honoring Mary Wallace Kirk, '11, who was a trustee of the College for 
sixty-one years. Made possible partly by a generous bequest from Miss 
Kirk, this series brings annually to the campus persons who have 
achieved great distinction in the arts. During 1981-1982 the Kirk 
offerings featured Tomas Vasary, pianist; Abbey Simon, pianist; and 
the Guarneri String Quartet assisted by Lydia Artyniw, pianist. In its 
first year this series was well received by both the students and the 
general public. 

Another major thrust of 1981-1982 was the effort to raise $3,000,000 
for the renovation and modernization of the John Bulow Campbell 
Science Hall (see p. 124). A full-scale financial campaign was 
undertaken under the overall leadership of Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, 
Jr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Others involved in the 
leadership of this campaign were G. Conley Ingram as chairman of 
Trustee solicitation and Edward P. Gould as chairman of special gifts. 
Alumnae heading up various parts of the effort were Suzella Burns 
Newsome, '57, as chairperson of Georgia Lead Alumnae, Nancy 
Thomas Hill, '56, as chairperson of National Lead Alumnae, and 
Dorothy Halloran Addison, '43, as chairperson of Greater Atlanta 
Alumnae. Other alumnae leaders were Jacqueline Simmons Gow, '52, 
and Laura Whitner Dorsey, '35. Chairperson of the Faculty and Staff 
Committee was Judith Maguire Tindel, '75. Of course, President Perry 
was involved in every phase of this effort  making calls on special 
prospects and speaking at numerous campaign functions not only in 
Atlanta but over a considerable part of the country as well. By 
Founder's Day, 1982, $1,000,000 had been pledged, and more than 
half of the total goal was subscribed by the time Dr. Perry's retirement 
became effective. 

A campus theme which pervaded all of the 1981-1982 year was 
"Women and Mind Power." Under the general leadership of Dr. Ayse 
Ilgaz-Cardin, '66, three symposia were held throughout the year and 
involved faculty, students, and distinguished off-campus persons. The 
first emphasis came at Honors Day and dealt with "Women and 
Scholarship." Convocation speaker was President Alice F. Emerson 
of Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, who spoke on "Women's 
History: Education's Biggest Oil Field." The second emphasis 
occurred with Founder's Day. Convocation speaker was Marie W. 
Dodd, chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University System in 



275 



Georgia. Her topic was "Women and Achievement." The third thrust 
on this theme coincided with the Mortar Board Convocation in mid- 
April. Speaking on the subject "Reconstructing Culture: Women and 
the Curriculum" was President Mary S. Metz of Mills College, 
Oakland, California. Other important visitors contributed to these 
symposia, and a general campus emphasis was carried on all through 
the year at faculty table-talk sessions, at special panel presentations, 
and at Hub discussions. Also during most of April the Dalton 
Galleries featured a Women's Invitational Art Show. 

The Board of Trustees as its meeting on May 14, 1982, took two 
significant actions which had to do with the Board itself. The Articles 
of Incorporation (Charter) were amended changing the retirement age 
of Board members from 72 to 70 years of age, except that any Trustee 
who had reached 70 years on or before May 14, 1982, would be exempt 
from this provision (see p. 205). The Articles of Incorporation were 
further amended so that only a simple majority of the Board were 
required to be members of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
States. The Secretary of State of Georgia promptly approved these 
changes which became effective immediately. At this same meeting Dr. 
Perry was named a president emeritus of the College. The Board also 
set aside a sum of money the income from which will be used to fund 
"Perry" scholars in the Honor Scholars Program. 

Understandably, as the spring of 1982 approached, the thoughts of 
the Agnes Scott community turned to how to honor Dr. and Mrs. 
Perry as they closed their official relationship with the College. No 
great financial drive could be undertaken to establish a fund to honor 
the President since the College was already in a financial campaign to 
raise money to renovate Campbell Science Hall. However, a number 
of delightful occasions occurred which gave pleasure to all. On the 
afternoon of April 23, the Alumnae Association entertained at a gala 
party in the Dana Fine Arts Building at which time a beautiful 
illuminated scroll of resolutions was presented to President Perry. 
Also the Executive Board of the Alumnae Association gave him a 
handsome Agnes Scott chair. On the day following at the annual 
meeting of the Agnes Scott Alumnae Association, Mrs. Perry was 
made an honorary member of the group. Also the spring issue of the 
Alumnae Quarterly featured an article of appreciation of President 
Perry. 

The Board of Trustees on the evening before their spring meeting 
honored Dr. and Mrs. Perry at an impressive reception in the Letitia 



276 



Pate Evans Dining Hall. Students, faculty, staff, the Trustees, special 
local friends and supporters of the College, plus a number of the 
Perrys' personal friends were in attendance. On the next evening the 
Trustees honored President and Mrs. Perry at a gracious dinner at 
which time they were given a car and a typewriter. 

Five days later, on May 1 9, the students at their annual spring picnic 
"pulled out all the stops" to show their respect and love for Agnes 
Scott's first couple. A song was composed especially for the occasion; a 
skit was presented depicting some of the humorous incidents of the 
Perrys' nine years on campus; the London Fog, a student jazz 
ensemble, furnished the music; a cassette tape of the students singing 
"God of the Marching Centuries" was among the gifts; however, the 
principal gift of appreciation was a scrapbook setting forth the things 
the Perrys had done for Agnes Scott and for the community-at-large. 
This book also featured letters from trustees, alumnae, faculty, and 
students. The whole occasion was a mixture of happiness and regret  
happiness in memory, yet regret at the nearing separation. 

To show their appreciation, the faculty presented Dr. and Mrs. 
Perry with a woodcut by the late Ferdinand Warren, with a Tiffany 
bowl, and with cash to purchase rose bushes for the garden of their new 
home. At the final faculty meeting of the year, formal resolutions of 
appreciation were read. At a party approximately a week after the 
College closed, the staff members of the various administrative offices 
presented the Perrys with a beautiful Waterford crystal bowl with 
matching candlesticks. 

On June 30, 1982, Marvin Perry retired, having completed nine 
years as President of Agnes Scott. These years were indeed eventful 
ones in American higher education and for Agnes Scott itself. On this 
campus sweeping changes took place in faculty organization and in 
student affairs; however, in every respect the innovations were 
constructive and useful. Seventeen of Agnes Scott's present thirty-one 
trustees were elected during Dr. Perry's administration; over 50% of 
the faculty in 1981-1982 had ultimately been selected by him; total 
assets of the College increased from $48,646,829 in 1973 to $63,840,392 
in 1982, a growth of $15,193,563. Another evidence of the President's 
unremitting attention to improving the lot of the faculty is found in the 
increases he was able to make in salaries. From 1973-1974 through 
1981-1982 faculty average remuneration improved as follows: 
professor  75%, associate professor  66%, assistant professor  
54%, and instructor  54%. The operating budget rose from 



277 



$3,970,000 in 1973-1974 to $7,049,875 in 1981-1982. All of this 
achievement came at a time of rising costs and soaring inflation in 
every aspect of the College's fiscal affairs. Every year Agnes Scott 
staunchly adhered to its long-standing policy of a balanced budget and 
operating "in the black." That President Perry was able to accomplish 
these things and hold Agnes Scott firmly to its basic moorings and 
educational heritage is indicative of the measure of the man  of his 
vision, of his determination and intellgience, of his innate common 
sense, and of his sympathetic concern for everyone and everything 
related to Agnes Scott. He consistently strengthened every facet of the 
College as it moved toward a new century. 



As this narrative concludes, two great texts from Holy Scripture 
seem appropriate for this College in all its ninety-three years of service: 



"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. " 

I Samuel 7:12 

". . . behold I have set before thee an open door, 
and no man can shut it .... " 

Revelation 3:7 



278 



AFTERWORD 



The Agnes Scott Board of Trustees on May 14, 1982, unanimously 
elected Dr. Ruth A. Schmidt to be the fifth president of the College. A 
native of Minnesota, Dr. Schmidt received her B.A. degree (summa 
cum laude) from Augsburg College in Minneapolis and subsequently 
her M.A. degree from the University of Missouri and her Ph.D. degree 
from the University of Illinois. Her field of study is Spanish. 

After teaching in high school in Minnesota for two years, Dr. 
Schmidt was from 1955 to 1958 on the faculty of Mary Baldwin 
College in Staunton, Virginia, and then after further graduate study, 
she spent nine years at the State University of New York at Albany. In 
1978 she became Provost and Professor of Spanish at Wheaton 
College, Norton, Massachusetts. It was from this last position that she 
came to the presidency of Agnes Scott, taking office on July 1, 1982. 




The Chapel in Rebekah Scott Hall 



-" 




Front entrance to the campus 
in the early days 




Ready for academic procession 
(1-r: J.K. Orr, Nannette 
Hopkins, unidentified 
baccalaureate speaker, 
J.R. McCain) 




A gala occasion in the tea room of 

the Alumnae House  Dean Hopkins 

at lower right 




Early science laboratory 




Today's modern sophisticated 
scientific equipment 




Frances Winship Walters 
Agnes Scott's "second founder' 




The McCain Library today 




Commencement 



Agnes Scott's $10,000 
dogwood tree 
(see p. 106) 




Poet Robert Frost 
and artist Ferdinand 
Warren at the unveiling 
of Professor Warren's 
portrait of Mr. Frost 
(see p. 161) 




/ 



Ruth A. Schmidt, Agnes Scott's Fifth President, 
elected on May 14, 1982 






279 



OBSERVANCES 

ORGANIZATIONS 

TRADITIONS 



280 



The Agnes Scott Hymn 

The Agnes Scott hymn, "God of the Marching Centuries," was 
originally written and composed for the centennial of the Decatur 
Presbyterian Church in 1925. However, since the words were written 
by Dr. D.P. McGeachy, Sr., a trustee of the College from 1920 to 1951, 
and since the music was composed by Professor C.W. Dieckmann, 
who was an Agnes Scott faculty member from 1905 to 1950, and since 
the tune is named "Gaines" for the first President of the College, Agnes 
Scott through the years has claimed this hymn as its own. It is sung at 
all high academic celebrations: Honors Day, Investiture, Founder's 
Day, Baccalaureate  to name just a few of these occasions. 



God of the Marching Centuries 

Tune: "Gaines" 
Words by Rev. D. P. McGbachy, D. D. Music by Prof. C. W. Dieckmann 



1. God of the march-ing cen  tu-ries, Lord of the pass - tag years, 

2. Thou art the strength of all the past; teach as to mark it well; 

3. Thank - fol - ly now we cour - age take, bum  bly we pledge onr all, 

4. God of the march- ing cen  tu - ries, Lord of the pass - ing years, 

. T 



m 



s 



-p-r- 



SE 



& 



tr-r 




Lead - ing a peo - pie's vie -to - ries, shar - ing a peo - pie's tears,- 

Ours is the hap - py lot of those who in Thy shad - ow dwell. 

If we may serr - ice find with Thee, if we may hear Thy call; 

Lead - ing a peo - pie's vie - to - ries, shar - ing a peo - pie's tears,- 



^E 



m 



& 



*=? 




Seal ns as now we wor  ship Thee, here on this mo-ment's height; 
Teach ns to com - pre- hend with saints, how Thon dost lead Thine own, 
Here where we see our broth- er's need, here where he must not die,  
Seal ns as now we wor - ship Thee, here on this mo-ment'i height;- 



g 



i 



-a  m  * 



=*=* 



3 



E 



I m f f m 



*=6= 



l=BJJd^^^u-j J I m 



Star of the way onr fa  thers found , be still onr gnid  ing Light. 

Till, thro' the gates of gold - en grace, we meet be- Fore Thy throne. 

There we shall find Thy fel  low - ship and will not pass Thee by. 

Star of tn- way our fa- thers found, be still onr gnid- ing Light. 



281 



The Agnes Scott Seal 

The origin of the Agnes Scott seal is shrouded in mystery. According 
to Professor Louise McKinney, the seal was first used on diplomas in 
1893. (The McCain Library has a diploma from that year.) This seal 
consisted of three concentric circles. The outer circle contained the 
words "Agnes Scott Institute, Decatur, Georgia"; the second circle 
read "A Home School for Young Ladies," and the center circle simply 
stated "Chartered 1889." Apparently this seal remained in use until 
Agnes Scott became a college. 

In the catalogue for 1908-1909, a seal similar to the present one 
began to be used. The text from II Peter 1:15 in Latin filled the outer 
circle, and the center contained the founding date surrounded by the 
words "Agnes Scott College." For some unaccountable reason the 
founding date is given as 1890. 

This seal remained in use until 1914-1915 when the name of the 
College and the founding date (still 1890) were moved to the outside 
circle, the text from II Peter 1:15 was placed in the second circle, and 
the center of the seal consisted of a six-pointed star shining on the open 
bible. 




So far as the official catalogues show, the founding date on the seal 
was corrected to 1 889 in 1 940- 1 94 1 , and the five-pointed star came into 
use in 1950-1951, bringing the college seal into the form currently in 
use. 





One observation more: This writer has found no official action in 
which the Board of Trustees has ever formally adopted a seal for Agnes 
Scott College. 



282 



The Athletic Association 

A review of the back files of The Silhouette reveals that the Athletic 
Association must have had its beginnings concurrently with Agnes 
Scott's becoming a college in the first decade of this century. The 
Annual for 1905 indicates that there were clubs and various groups for 
sports individually, but no over-all pervading organization. By 1907 
there was an Athletic Association with its officers. 

Professor Emeritus Llewellyn Wilburn, who for many years chaired 
the College's Department of Physical Education and who came to 
Agnes Scott as a freshman in 1 9 1 5, recalls that when she was a student, 
there was considerable inter-class rivalry but relatively little inter- 
collegiate competition. The primary activity was basketball, although 
tennis and a limited number of other activities had a following. There 
was some hockey played with what Professor Wilburn calls "shinny 
sticks" and a fair emphasis on track, but no swimming of any conse- 
quence until the present gymnasium was built in 1925. 

From the beginning of the Athletic Association, all students were 
members, and a real effort was made to encourage physical fitness in 
students. 

The Association continues as a viable organization on campus with 
the stated purpose "to promote interest in athletic and recreational 
activities among students, as a means of creating spirit, encouraging 
good sportsmanship, and developing physical fitness". 



283 



Black Cat 

The Black Cat tradition at Agnes Scott traces its origins back to 
1915. Prior to that year there was considerable hazing of freshmen by 
sophomores, resulting in frayed clothes and much misery for the en- 
tering class. Dr. Mary Frances Sweet, College Physician and Professor 
of Hygiene from 1908 to 1937, suggested that a competition of student 
presentations be substituted as a safety valve for the pent-up rivalries 
between the two classes. The sophomore class history in the Silhouette 
for 1916 has this comment: 

Instead of hand-to-hand fight with the new girls, we inaugu- 
rated a new method of deciding the championship which we hope 
the succeeding Freshmen and Sophomore classes will follow from 
year to year. We challenged the Freshmen to a contest of wits 
which we thought more appropriate than a fist fight for college 
girls. 
This "contest of wits" was called Black Cat, so tradition says, in honor 
of Dr. Sweet's pet black cat, and the prize awarded to the winning class 
was a bronze black kitty. 

This presentation of stunts staged only by the freshmen and sopho- 
mores continued until the fall of 1950 when the whole event became a 
sort of community day involving all classes as well as the faculty. The 
athletic events and a picnic prior to the evening of short skits date from 
that year. The song contest for a time resembled a variety talent show 
 a circumstance demanding far less time than the former stunts. The 
competition now involved all classes and was focused on a song con- 
test rather than on the best skit. In the later 1950's a dance became a 
regular feature of Black Cat, which came to take up most of a weekend 
rather than just one evening. 

As an example of how elaborate Black Cat now is, here is the sched- 
ule for the 1980 event: 

Thursday, 9:00 p.m. Black Cat bonfire and song competition 
Friday, 11:30 a.m. Interdorm rap session and surprise Black Cat 

chapel 
Friday, 3:00 p.m. Black Cat field day 
Friday, 5:00 p.m. Black Cat campus-wide picnic 
Friday, 7:30 p.m. Black Cat production followed by campus party 
Saturday, 9:00 p.m. Black Cat dance 
Sunday, 1:30 p.m. "The Day After" dessert 
Black Cat as it is presently observed at Agnes Scott concludes the 
orientation season for new students. All during the autumn there are a 
variety of events to make new-comers feel welcome. Black Cat is the 
final "blow-out" that says to new-comers and old-comers, "Welcome 
to Agnes Scott." It is the College's annual big community day. 



284 



Blackfriars 

Blackfriars, Agnes Scott's dramatic group, traces its origins from 
1915 when the faculty took an action establishing officially a campus 
dramatic organization. Of course, plays had been performed on 
campus prior to 1915, primarily under the sponsorship of the 
Mnemosynean or the Propylean Literary Societies, respectively. Two 
moving forces in these early productions were Professor J.D.M. 
Armistead, the chairman of the Department of English, and Professor 
Mary L. Cady, chairman of the Department of History. At any rate, in 
the autumn of 1915, fourteen students were invited to become the 
charter members of Blackfriars, named for the Elizabethan theater in 
London where many of Shakespeare's plays were presented. 

Also in 1915 Miss Frances K. Goochjoined the faculty as the teacher 
of "expression" and quite appropriately became the director of Black- 
friars, a position she held, with the exception of 1921-1922, until her 
retirement in 1 95 1 . Too much credit cannot be given to Miss Gooch for 
the successful beginning of Blackfriars. She must, however, have been 
a most difficult woman  superbly gifted in her specialty, but 
irrascible, demanding, sour, and ill-tempered. In the official history of 
Blackfriars, prepared when the group was fifty years old in 1965-1966, 
one finds this comment: 

As for long weeks of practice under Miss Gooch, all Blackfriars 
alumnae agreed that "we hated her, we loved her, we worked for 
her," that she was "a temperamental artist," an excellent director 
 and no diplomat. 

Another passage in the same source testifies that in her drive for per- 
fection, Miss Gooch "tried sarcasm, charm, bribery, despotism, and 
tantrums to get performances she considered satisfactory. She accused 
girls of having 'no more concentration than a chicken.' Her pince-nez 
bobbed and flashed when she pounded her cane in anger. She shouted 
and she ridiculed, and once in a while some girl was driven to defy her 
 whereupon all the fury vanished and she bowed quietly to courage 
and to logic." Such was Frances Gooch, but the continuing excellence 
of Blackfriars' performances had their beginnings in her demands. 

Roberta Powers Winter, who graduated from Agnes Scott in 1927 
and who joined the faculty in 1939, followed Miss Gooch in 1951. 
Professor Winter was no less demanding than her predecessor, but she 
achieved her ends by less stringent methods. She was greatly loved by 
her peers and her students and is remembered as one of the most de- 
lightful persons ever to grace the Agnes Scott campus. 



285 



In 1974 when Professor Winter retired, Jack T. Brooking became 
Blackfriars' director. Impeccably trained, Professor Brooking is com- 
mitted to continuing and expanding the excellence of Blackfriars. 

Initially many of the group's productions were Shakespearean plays 
 the first one being A Midsummer Night's Dream, presented under 
the oak tree until recently in front of the present Evans Dining Hall. 
Gradually the repertoire widened to encompass almost every type of 
drama. At first all the roles were played by women, and Dean Nannette 
Hopkins could not bring herself to allow her "girls" to wear men's 
attire. Those playing male roles wore long black skirts. In time, 
members of Blackfriars were permitted to wear men's clothing, and in 
1930 males for the first time played roles in a Blackfriars' production. 

Three coveted awards are given each year in connection with Black- 
friars. Beginning in 1932 the Claude S. Bennett trophy has been an- 
nually awarded to the member of Blackfriars who, in the opinion of the 
judges, turns in the best performance of the year. In 1958 Nancy 
Kimmell Duncan, '58, a leading Blackfriar, and her mother established 
the Harley R. Kimmell trophy in memory of their husband and father. 
The recipient of this prize is determined by a committee of Blackfriars 
to be that person who has been most valuable during the year either in 
acting or technical contributions. The third award was established in 
1962 to honor Professor Winter and Professor Elvena M. Green and is 
a summer scholarship either to the Barter Theater in Virginia or to the 
Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina. 

Blackfriars' first offering was performed out-of-doors. Others were 
in the old chapel in Rebekah Scott Hall. When the Gymnasium was 
built in 1925, it became the Blackfriars' theater. From 1940 to 1964 
performances were given in Gaines Chapel of Presser Hall, and since 
1965 Blackfriars has had its own Roberta Powers Winter Theater in 
the Charles A. Dana Fine Arts Building. 

For more than three-quarters of a century, drama has been an im- 
portant interest at Agnes Scott. For more than sixty-five years 
Blackfriars has been the agent for promoting this interest. 

A listing of dramatic offerings follows: 

1906-1907 Silhouette does not mention any dramatic work. 

1907-1908 Silhouette writes of a "Dramatic Club" organized this year, 
although scarcely a year has gone by without one play or more 
being presented, the matter having never before been under 
definite management, or been an assured feature of the year. 



286 



1908-1909 Nov. 29, 1908 Dramatic Club presents "Elopement of Ellen" 
Dec. 5, 1908 Propylean Society presents "The Land of 

Heart's Desire" 
May 10, 1909 "She Stoops to Conquer" 

by Oliver Goldsmith 

1909-1910 Dec. 15, 1909 Dramatic Club presents "Mr. Bob," "King 

Rene's Daughter," "The Lady of Lyons" 

1910-1911 Dec. 6, 1910 Propylean Literary Society presents 

"Cricket on the Hearth" by Charles 
Dickens 
Apr. 17, 1911 Mnemosynean Literary Society presents 
"As You Like It" 

1911-1912 Dec. 16, 1911 Mnemosynean Literary Society presents 

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" 
Feb. 3, 1912 "A Box of Monkeys, A Farce" 
May 4, 1912 Propylean Literary Society presents 
"Crystella" 

1912-1913 Jan. 25, 1913 Faculty-Student Play: "Deus ex Machina" 

by Winifred Hawkridge. 
Feb. 8, 1913 Mnemosynean Literary Society presents 

"Much Ado About Nothing" 
May 3, 1913 Propylean Literary Society presents 

"The Foresters" 

1913-1914 Dec. 6, 1913 Mnemosynean Literary Society presents 

"Twelfth Night" 

1914-1915 Records do not list productions. 

1915-1916 Nov. 25, 1915 Blackfriars present "The Kleptomaniac" 

Apr. 22, 1916 Blackfriars present "A Midsummer Night's 

Dream 
Apr. 8, 1916 Faculty Players present "Dead Ernest" 
1916-1917 Nov. 30, 1916 "The Oxford Affair" 
Feb. 24, 1917 "Cupid's Partner" 

"Endymion" by Marie J. Warren 

1917-1918 Dec. 1, 1917 "Philosophy vs. Cupid" (a dramatization of 

"The Philosopher in the Apple Orchard" by 
Anthony Hope, by Frances K. Gooch) 
"The Bracelet" by F.E.L. 
Feb. 23, 1918 "Breezy Point" by B.M. Locke 
May, 1918 "Much Ado About Nothing" 

1918-1919 Feb. 21, 1919 "Rise Up Jennie Smith" and "Where 

Dreams Come True" 
Mar. 21, 1919 "The Narrow Path of Good English" and 

"Would You Break a Promise?" 
May 26, 1919 "Twelfth Night" 



287 



1919-1920 Nov. 27, 1919 "The Six Who Pass While the Lentils Boil" 

by Stewart Falker. 
Feb. 8, 1920 "If I Were King" 
May, 1920 "As You Like It" 

Faculty presents "The Ladies of Cranford" 

1920-1921 Nov. 27, 1920 "The Green Moth" by Rhea King, 

"Three Dear Friends" 
Feb. 26, 1921 "Our Aunt from California" by M.D. 

Barnum; "Society Manners" by Celia Stein- 
burger, and "Everybody's Husband" by 
Gilbert Cannan. 
Apr. 12, 1921 "Society Manners," "Three Pills in a Bottle" 
May 28, 1921 "Prunella" by Laurence Housman and 
Granville Barker 

1921-1922 Nov. 26, 1921 "The Rising of the Moon" 

"The Old Peabody Pew" 

Feb. 4, 1922 The faculty presents "Miss Maria" from "Old 
Chester Tales" by Margaret Deland, drama- 
tized by Maude B. Vosburgh, and "Sur- 
passed Desires" by George Cram Cook and 
Susan Glaspell 

Mar. 4, 1922 "The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife" a 
comedy by Anatole France 

May 27, 1922 "Behind a Watteau Picture" by Robert 
Emmons Robers 

1922-1923 Dec. 3, 1922 "The Will O' the Wisp" by Doris F. Halman; 

"Sir David Wears a Crown" by Stewart 

Falker 
Mar. 6, 1923 "For Distinguished Service" by Florence Clay 

Knox; "The China Pig" by Emily Emig; 

"Lima Beans" by Alfred Kreymborg 
May 28, 1923 Selections from "A Midsummer Night's 

Dream" 

1923-1924 Oct. 20, 1923 "The Recompense," anonymous; "Twelve 

Good Men and True" by Bessie Springer 
Breene; "Lima Beans" by Alfred Kreymborg 
Dec. 1, 1923 "The Wonder Hat" by Kenneth S. Goodman 
and Ben Hecht; "The Rescue" by Rita Smith; 
"Fourteen" by Alice Gerstenberg 
'Little Women" 
'The Beaded Buckle" by Frances Gray 

Oct. 11, 1924 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" 

"Neighbors" by Zona Gale; "The Romancers" 
by Edmond Rostand; "Joint Owners in 
Spain" by Alice Brown 



Mar. 


8, 


1924 


Apr. 


10, 


1924 


Oct. 


11, 


1924 


Nov. 


30. 


, 1924 



288 



Dec. 16, 1924 "Conflict" by Clarice Vallette McCauley 

("The Conflict" was presented by Blackfriars 
in intercollegiate contest at Northwestern 
University) 

Apr. 11, 1925 "Thursday Evening" by Christopher Morley; 
"The Beaded Buckle" by Frances Gray 

May 23, 1925 "Follwers" By Harold Brighouse; 
"Nevertheless" by Stuart Walker; 
"Will O' the Wisp" by Doris Halman 

1925-1926 Dec. 5, 1925 "Daddy Longlegs" by Jean Webster 

Feb. 20, 1926 "The Charm of the Hawthorne" by Elizabeth 
McCallie; "The Darned Dress" by Margaret 
Bland; "Aunt Tennie" by Grace A. Ogden; 
"Values" by Polly Stone 
Last three plays given in Charlotte, Mar. 27, 
1926, and at the Atlanta Women's Club, 
April 13, 1926 
May 22, 1926 "Tweedles" by Booth Tarkington 

1926-1927 Nov. 27, 1926 "Anne of Green Gables" a play in six scenes, 

dramatized by Frances K. Gooch. 

Feb. 28, 1927 "Trumpets" by Frances Freeborn; "Black 

Mountain" by Lillian Leconte; "Tinkey Toys" 
by Helen Lewis; "Bishop Whipple's Memo- 
rial" by Robert Winter. 

May 28, 1927 "As You Like It" by Wm. Shakespeare. 

1927-1928 Nov. 28, 1927 "Figureheads" by Louise Saunders; "The 

Trysting Place" by Booth Tarkington; 
"The Purple Dream" by Donald Breed 

Feb. 25, 1928 "Vice Versa" by Josephine Walker; "Kitty See 
It Through" by Emily Kingsberry; "Hero 
Worship" by Frances Hargis 

Apr. 21, 1928 "Hero Worship"'; "Pink and Patches" by 
Margaret Bland; "Dust of the Mines" by 
Janet MacDonald. 

May 7-12, 1928 "Pink and Patches" was presented in the 
National Little Theatre tournament and 
David Belasco Cup Contest in New York 
City. As an unpublished play it won first 
prize. "Hero Worship" by Frances Hargis 
was also presented in New York City win- 
ning second prize for the best presentation 
of an unpublished .... At same time, 
"Hero Worship" was presented 
by the Little Theatre of Savannah. 

May 28, 1928 "The Taming of the Shrew" by Wm. 
Shakespeare (In modern dress) 



289 



1928-1929 Dec. 7, 1928 

Mar. 2, 1929 
Apr. 20, 1929 



1929-1930 Nov. 23, 1929 
Mar. 1, 1930 



Apr. 16, 1930 



Apr. 25, 1930 
May 31, 1930 



1930-1931 Nov. 22, 1930 
Feb. 28, 1931 

Mar. 14, 1931 



June 1, 1931 
1931-1932 Nov. 21, 1931 



Feb. 27, 1932 
May 28, 1932 

1932-1933 Nov. 19, 1932 

Mar. 4, 1933 
May 29, 1933 



"Grandma Pulls the String" by Edith 
Delano and David Carb; "Ever Young" 
by Alice Gerstenberg; "The Will O' the 
the Wisp" by Doris Halman. 
"Far Away Princess" by Suderman; 
"Cinderella Married" by Rachel Lyman 
Field; "Saved" by J.W. Rogers, Jr. 
"The Grate" by Helen Ridley; "Once in a 
Blue Moon" by Polly Vaughan; "Achilles' 
Heel" by Carolyn Pierce Dillard. 

"Expresing Willie" by Rachel Crothers 
"Wisdom Teeth" by Rachel Lyman Field; 
"Cabildo" by Nan Bagby Stephens; 
"Gypsy" by Parker Hord 
"Southern Unlimited" by Cecile Willink; 
"Russian Antiques" by Audria Bandy 
Gray; "Me and Galahad" by Frances 
Freeborn and "All in a Day's Wash" by 
Louise Goldthorpe 
"The Wren" by Booth Tarkington 
"What They Think" by Rachel Crothers; 
"No Good" by Jean Thornwell Alexander; 
"Thinking Makes It So" by Carolyn 
Pierce Dillard. 

"The Ivory Door" by A. A. Milne 

"Little Women," four acts, Marion 

DeForest 

"Op-o'-Me-Thumb" by Frederick Fenn 

and Richard Pryce; "Love Is Like That" by 

Colin Clements and Florence Ryerson; 

"Men Folk" by Colin Clements and 

Florence Ryerson 

"In Love with Love" by Vincent Lawrence 

"The Kings Fool" by Dorothy Clark; 

"At the Wedding Rehearsal" by John 

Wood; "A Pound of Flesh" by T.J. 

Geraghty 

"Pygmalion" by G.B. Shaw 

"Lorena" by Parker Hord 

"Nine Till Six" by Aimes and Philip 

Stuart 

"Quality Street" by James M. Barrie 

"Quality Street" by James M. Barrie 



290 



1933-1934 Nov. 24-25, 1933 "Hay Fever" by Noel Coward 

Feb. 10, 1934 Faculty presented "The Ladies of Cran- 

ford" dramatized by Mary Bernard Home 
from the novel by Mrs. Gaskell 
Mar. 9-10, 1934 "Once There Was a Princess" by Juliet 

Wilber Thompkins 
May 26, 1934 "Her Husband's Wife" by A.E. Thomas 

1934-1935 Nov. 16-17, 1934 "You Never Can Tell" by G.B. Shaw 
Mar. 1-2, 1935 "Craig's Wife" by George Kelly 
May 27, 1935 "Choephoroe" or "The Liberation 

Bearers" by Aeschylus 

1935-1936 Nov. 22, 1935 "Mr. Pirn Passes By" by A. A. Milne 

Mar. 21, 1936 "Bridal Chorus" by Roberta Winter 

May 30, 1936 "Playing the Game" by Alice Gerstenberg 

1936-1937 Nov. 25, 1936 "Double Door" by Elizabeth McFadden 

Feb. 13, 1937 "Spring Dance" by Philip Barry 

May 22, 1937 "Moor Born" by Dan Totheroh 

1937-1938 Nov. 20, 1937 "Mrs. Moonlight" by B.W. Levy 

Feb. 19, 1938 "Pygmalion" by G.B. Shaw 

June 4, 1938 "The Trojan Women" by Euripides 

1938-1939 Nov. 19, 1938 "Stage Door" by Edna Ferber and 

George S. Kaufman 
Feb. 18, 1939 "Dream of an August Night" by Martinez 

Sierra translated by Evelyn Baty 
Apr. 5, 1938 At the home of Mrs. John Slaton 

Blackfriars gave "Just Women" by Colin 

Cambell Clements and "How He Lied to 

Her Husband" 
Apr. 22, 1939 "The Green Vine" by Nan B. Stephens 

1939-1940 Nov. 18, 1939 "Seven Sisters," translated and adapted 

from the Hungarian of Herzog by Edith 
Ellis; "A Woman of Judgment," one-act 
play given for benefit of campaign 

Apr. 20 and 

June 1, 1940 

1940-1941 Oct. 29, 1940 "Episodes in the Life of Lucy Stone" 

Feb. 20, 1941 "Brief Music" by Emmet La very 

May 8, 1941 "The Distaff Side" by John Van Druten 

1941-1942 Nov. 20, 1941 "Ladies in Waiting" by Cyrill Campion 

Feb. 19, 1942 "Dear Brutus" by Sir James Barrie 



'I'll Leave It To You" by Noel Coward 



291 



1942-1943 Oct. 20, 1942 "Hearts" by Alice Gerstenberg, given at 

the Atlanta Theatre Guild's Open House in 
honor of the Blackfriars 
Nov. 20, 1942 "Letters to Lucerne" by Fritz Rotter and 

Allen Vincent 
Feb. 20, 1943 "Time for Romance" by Alice Gerstenberg 

1943-1944 Nov. 26, 1943 "Shubert Alley" by Mel Dinelli 

Feb. 17, 1944 "Rehearsal" by Christopher Morley; 

"Women Who Wait" by Lyda Nagel; 

"Queen of France" by Thornton Wilder 
Apr. 20, 1944 "The Cradle Song" by Gregoric and Maria 

Martinez Sierra 

1944-1945 Nov. 22, 1944 "Spider Island" by Joseph Spalding 

Feb. 28, 1945 "Three one-act plays: Shakespearian 

scenes, "As You Like It," Act I, Scene 3; 
"Romeo and Juliet," Act II, Scene 2; 
"Twelfth Night," Act 1, Scene 5; "Will O' 
the Wisp," a fantasy by Doris Halman; 
"Be Seated," a farce with music by 
Marcelline Sanford and Dorothy Coolidge 
"The Prince Who Was a Piper" by 
Harold Brighouse 

"Feast of the Holy Innocents" 
"Pride and Prejudice," adaptation of 
Jane Austen's story by Helen Jerome 
"Hotel Universe" by Philip Barry 

"Lady Windermere's Fan" by Oscar Wilde 
"Kind Lady" dramatized by Edward 
Chodorov, from a story by Hugh Walpole 

"Pullman-Car Hiawatha" by Thornton 
Wilder 
Nov. 26-27, 1947 "Fashion or Life in New York" by 
Mrs. Kowatt, 1845 
"The Great Dark" by Dan Totheroh 
"Trojan Women" by Euripides 

"Our Hearts Were Young and Gay" drama- 
tized by Jean Kerr from the book by 
Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily 
Kimbrough 
"No Way Out" by Owen Davis 

"Eastward in Eden" 
"Pygmalion" by G.B Shaw 





May 12, 1945 


1945-1946 


Sept. 27, 1945 




Nov. 21, 1945 




Apr. 4-5, 1946 


1946-1947 


Nov. 27, 1946 




Feb. 27-28, 1947 


1947-1948 


Oct. 30, 1947 





Mar. 5, 1948 




Apr. 8, 1948 


1948-1949 


Nov. 19, 1948 




Apr. 7, 1949 


1949-1950 


Nov. 23-24, 1949 




Apr. 20-21, 1950 



292 



"Ladies of the Jury" by Fred Ballard. 
(Directed by Mr. George Neely of Emory. 
Given also Nov. 17-18 at Emory) 
"Heartbreak House" by G.B. Shaw (pre- 
sented at Emory Apr. 12-13) 

"The Servant in the House" by Charles 
Rann Kennedy (presented at Emory 
Nov. 8-9) 

"I Remember Mama" by John Van Druten 
(presented at Emory Apr. 17) 

"Take Two From One" by Martinez Sierra 
"Choephoroe" by Aeschylus 

"The Grass Harp" by Truman Capote 
"Moor Born" by Dan Totheroh 
"Family Portrait" 
"Scenes from Shakespeare 

"The Skin of Our Teeth" by 
Thornton Wilder 

"Twelfth Night" by Shakespeare 

"Antigone" by Sophocles 

"The Would-Be Gentleman" by Moliere 

Scenes from "Pygmalion," "The Glass 
Menagerie," "The Taming of the Shrew," 
"Blythe Spirit," "Cyrano de Bergerac," 
"Our Town." 
"Chalk Garden" by Enid Bagnold 

"The World We Live In" 

"The Tempest"  Arts Festival Production 

"The Enchanted" by Giraudoux 
"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell; 
"Something Unspoken" by Tennessee 
Williams; "Aria Da Capo" by Edna St. 
Vincent Millay; "Happy Journey" by 
Thornton Wilder 

1959-1960 Nov. 20, 1959 "The Heiress" by Ruth and Augustus Goetz 

March 1960 "The Birthday of the Infanta" by Oscar 

Wilde 
May 13-14, 1960 "Electra" by Sophocles, May Day Festival. 



1950-1951 


Nov. 22, 1950 




Apr. 6, 1951 


1951-1952 


Nov. 16, 1951 




Apr. 16, 1952 


1952-1953 


Nov. 20, 1952 
Apr. 10, 1953 


1953-1954 


Nov. 18, 1953 
Apr. 9, 1954 
Apr. 14, 1954 
May 20, 1954 


1954-1955 


Nov. 19, 1954 




Apr. 22-23, 1955 


1955-1956 


Nov. 18, 1955 
Apr. 13, 1956 


1956-1957 


Nov. 15, 1956 




Apr. 5, 1957 


1957-1958 


Nov. 22, 1957 
Apr. 18-19, 1958 


1958-1959 


Nov. 21, 1958 
Apr. 17-18, 1959 



293 



1960-1961 Nov. 11, 12, "The Skin of Our Teeth" by Thornton 

18, 1960 Wilder with Drama Tech. Directed by 

Mary Nell Santacroce 
March, 1961 "The llliuminati de Drama Libre" by 

A. Gerstenberg 
April, 1961 Fine Arts Festival. 

"Uncle Sam's Cabin" by Pat Hale; 
"Refutation of an Old Theme" by Mollie 
Schwab; "Something That Lasts" by Beth 
Crawford; Student one-acts 

1961-1962 Nov. 17-18, 1961 "The House of Bernarda Alba" by 

F.G. Lorca 
Apr. 26-27, 1962 "Ring Round the Moon" by Jean Anouilh 

1962-1963 Nov. 15-16, 1962 "The Bald Soprano" by lonesco; "The 

Measures Taken" by Brecht. 
Apr. 26-27, 1963 "The Gardener's Dog" by Lope de Vega 

1963-1964 Nov. 22-23, 1963 "The Darkness and the Light," Mystery 

plays, and "Everyman"; "The Creation 
of the Heavenly Beings and and the Fall of 
Lucifer '; 'The Creation of Man"; 
"The Garden of Eden"; "The Fall of Man" 
Apr. 17-18, 1964 "Blithe Spirit" by Noel Coward 

1964-1965 Nov. 20-21, 1964 "Royal Gambit" by Hermann Gressieker. 
April 23-24, 1965 "Major Barbara" by G.B. Shaw 

1965-1966 Nov. 19-20 "The Love of Don Perlimplinand Belisain 

the Garden" by F.G. Lorca; "Masks of 
Angels" by Notis Peryalis 

Feb. 3, 1966 "There's Some Milk in the Icebox" by 

Bonnie J. Henderson 

Feb. 16, 1966 Der "Urfaust" by Goethe; presented by the 

German Department, with the coopera- 
tion of members of Blackfriars 

April 22-23, 1966 "The Tragedy of Tragedies, or The Life 
and Death of Tomb Thumb the Great," by 
Henry Fielding 

"The Children's Hour" by Lillian Hellman 

"The Madwoman of Chaillot" 

"Because Their Hearts Were Pure" 

"The Crucible" by Arthur Miller 
"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Jay 
Presson Allen, from the novel by 
Muriel Spark 



1967-1968 


Nov. 21-23, 


1967 




May 16-18, 


1968 


1969 


May 15-17, 


1969 


1970-71 


Nov. 20-22, 


1970 




May 13-15, 


1971 



294 



1971-72 Nov. 18-20, 1971 "Suddenly Last Summer" by Tennessee 

Williams 
May 14-16, 1972 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" 

by Wm. Shakespeare 
May 17-20, 1972 "First Impressions" adapted by Abe 

Burrows from Jane Austen's Pride and 

Prejudice 

1972-1973 Nov. 16-18 1972 "Skin of Our Teeth" by Thornton Wilder 
May 3-5, 1973 "Rimers of Eldrich" by Lanford Wilson 

1973-1974 Nov. 16-17, 1973 "Lady from the Sea" by Henrik Ibsen 
May 2-4, 1974 "Blithe Spirit" by Noel Coward 

1974-1975 Nov. 8-10, 1974 "Grass Harp" by Truman Capote 

May 17 & 18, \ "Earnest in Love" by Anne Croswell and 
May 23-25, 1975) Lee Pockriss 

1975-1976 Oct. 31 -Nov. 1 & "Rope Dancers" by Morton 

Nov. 6 & 7, 1976 Wishengrad 

Feb. 28-29, 1976 "House at Pooh Corner" by A. A. Milne 

May 7 & 8; and "The Milktrain Doesn't Stop Here 

May 13-14, 1976 Anymore" by Tennessee Williams 

1976-1977 Nov. 12 & 13; "Ring 'Round the Moon" by Jean 

Nov. 18-19, 1976 Anouilh 

Feb. 19-21, 1977 "OPQRS" By Madge Miller 

May 13, 14; & "Tartuffe" by Moliere 
May 19-20, 1977 

1977-1978 Nov. 11-12; & "Three Sisters" 

Nov. 17-18, 1977 by Anton Chekov 

Feb. 18-20, 1978 "Puss in Boots" by Madge Miller 

May 12-13 & "Palpitating Passions" 

May 19-20, 1978 

1978-1979 Nov. 10 & 11; & "Ladyhouse Blues" by Kevin O'Morrison 
Nov. 17 & 18, 1978 
Feb. 17-18, 1979 "Cinderella" 

May 1 1-12 & "Babes in Arms" by Rogers and Hart 

May 18 & 19, 1979 

1979-1980 Oct. 26-27; & "Trojan Women" by Euripides 

Nov. 2 & 3, 1979 
Feb. 16-19, 1980 "Annabelle Broom, the Unhappy Witch" 

by Ellen and Ray Harde 
Feb. 27-29, 1980 "Uncommon Women and Others" by 

Wendy Wasserstein 
May 9, 10; & "Appointment with Death" by Agatha 

May 16, 17, 1980 Christie 



295 



1980-198 



1981-1982 



Oct. 31 -Nov. 1; & "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by 
Nov. 7-8, 1981 Wm. Shakespeare 
May 16-17; & "Taken in Marriage" by Thomas Babe 

May 22 & 23, 1981 



Oct. 30-31; & 
Nov. 6& 7, 1981 
Feb. 12-13, 1982 
May 14 & 15; & 
May 21-22, 1982 



"You Can't Take It with You" by Moss 
Hart and George S. Kaufman 
Theatrical Potpourri 
"The Chalk Garden" by Enid Bagnold 



BENNETT AWARD 



The award has been given to 

1932  Amelia O'Neal 

1933  Polly Vaughan 

1934  Betty Lou Houck 

1935  Hester Anne Withers 

1936  Carrie Latimer 

1937  Katherine Printup 

1938  Elizabeth Cousins 

1939  Jeanne Flynt 

1940  Margaret Hopkins 

1941  Laura Sale 

1942  Neva Jackson 

1943  Ruby Rosser 

1944  Zena Harris 

1945  Peggy Willmon 

1946  Margaret McManus 

1947  Pat McManmon 

1948  Grace Durant 

1949  Reese Newton 

1950  Margaret Hopkins 

1951  Adelaide Ryall 

1952  Thresa Kokos 

1953  Ann Allred 

1954  H.J. Hinchey 

1955  Memye Curtis 

1956  Joanne Miklas 

1957  Mildred Lane 



the following: 

1958  Elizabeth Shoemaker 

1959  Janice Powell 

1960  Mollie Dotson 

1961  Brock Hanna 

1962  Marian Fortson 

1963  Myra Morelock 

1964  Susan King 

1965  Malie Bruton 

1966  Malie Bruton 

1967  Cathi Ford 

1968  Cathi Ford 

1969  Carol Ann McKenzie 

1970  Carol Ann McKenzie 

1971  Susi Parks 

1972  Susan Stigall 

1973  Pam Rogers 

1974  Bungi Harris 

1975  Lynne Sommer 

1976  Carol Langston 

1977  Lynne Sommer 

1978  Jennifer Knight 

1979  Carol Tveit 

1980  Sarah Burleigh 

1981  Marietta Townsend 

1982  Cayce Callaway 



296 



THE KIMMEL AWARD: BLACKFRIARS 

The KIMMELL AWARD was first granted in 1959. 

In a letter to President Wallace Alston written from Iowa City, Iowa, on 
October 1, 1958, Nancy Kimmel of the Class of 1958, wrote that she and her 
mother would like to establish for the Blackfriars a trophy as a memorial to 
her father, Harley R. Kimmel. 

The donors wished any Blackfriars member to be eligible for the award, 
whether acting or non-acting member. "This would mean that the stage 
manager, or perhaps the lighting chairman . . . the person who receives the 
Clause S. Bennett Trophy for acting . . . a bit player and prop chairman, or a 
faithful member of the costume committee who is never seen behind the 
footlights. We would like to honor the member of Blackfriars who, at the 
decision of the judges (the directors, president, vice-president, secretary, 
treasurer, and stage manager of Blackfriars) has made the outstanding 
contribution to Blackfriars' productions during the school year in which the 
award is given .... Nominations for the trophy may come from the entire 
club." 

The trophy has been awarded to the following persons: 

1959  Annette Whipple 

1960  Page Smith 

1961  Cary Bo wen 

1962  Marian Fortson 

1963  Brownie Faucette 

1964  Daryle McEachern 

1965  Janice Ford 

1966  Alice Airth 

1967  Jane Morgan 

1968  Marilyn Motton 

1969  Mollie Douglas 

1970  Miriam Corson 

1971  Dolly Martin 

1972  Pat Anshir 

1973  Martha Howard, Pam Rogers 

1974  

1975  Carole Langston 

1976  Elaine Williams 

1977  Mimi Holmes 

1978  Sandra Eichelberger 

1979  Linda Mclnnis 

1980  Karen Whipple 

1981  Anne Douglas Harris 

1982  Jennifer Shelton and Cayce Callaway 



297 



BOZ and Folio 

BOZ was organized in 1915 by Professor J.D.M. Armistead as a 
group to promote creative writing among students of the upper classes. 
The students themselves chose the name "BOZ" from the pen-name of 
Charles Dickens. BOZ met bi-weekly in Professor Armistead's study 
to hear and comment on one another's work. Admission was by try- 
out. After Professor Armistead's death, one of the moving forces in 
promoting BOZ was the late Assistant Professor Janef N. Preston. 

Folio, a writing group open to freshmen, was organized in 1916 by 
Mrs. Emma Pope Moss Dieckmann, '13, who at the time was an 
instructor in English. Like BOZ, membership in Folio was by try-out, 
and the group met bi-weekly. When members became sophomores, 
they automatically withdrew from membership. Folio was a feeder for 
BOZ, but election to the latter group was not necessarily assured just 
because a person was a member of Folio. The late Professor Margret 
G. Trotter was for many years the dynamic spirit in Folio. 

Both BOZ and Folio are no longer active. Much of their function in 
promoting creative writing is now carried on by the courses in creative 
writing offered by the Department of English. At present, seven such 
courses are offered. 



298 



Christian Association 

The Agnes Scott Christian Association had its origins in a group 
known as the Christian Band which was organized in 1891 and which 
was run primarily by students. Aside from holding religious services, 
the principal interest of the Christian Band was the support of foreign 
missions. For several years at the beginning of this century, there was 
considerable discussion concerning whether the Christian Band 
should become affiliated with the national Y.W.C. A. organization, but 
because President Gaines did not approve of an off-campus agency 
having anything to do with an on-campus organization, the matter of 
affiliation was delayed. Finally, however, in the 1905-1906 session, the 
Christian Band was superseded by a campus group of the Y.W. C.A. 
For the next thirty-two years the Y.W. C.A. organization was very 
much a part of Agnes Scott's life, exercising a fine influence on student 
attitudes. The excellent work of this organization is frequently 
mentioned in the President's annual reports to the Trustees. 

In 1938 the close tie with the national Y.W.C. A. was discontinued, 
and the local group became the Christian Association of Agnes Scott 
College. The reason for this change was that the national Y.W.C. A. 
altered its statement of purpose, and Agnes Scott was not in agreement 
with this alteration. There is in the files of the McCain Library a letter 
from President McCain, dated March 8, 1938, to the president of the 
local Y.W.C. A. in which he, acting for the Trustees, approved the name 
change and the revised constitution of the local organization. 

In the days when Agnes Scott had chapel services six days a week, 
Christian Association was responsible for the program every Tuesday 
and brought many excellent speakers to the chapel platform. The 
Association also sponsored religious emphasis week services and 
activities, as well as special observances in the annual religious 
calendar. Through the gifts of members, various benevolent 
enterprises and causes were and are assisted. 

The present Student Handbook states that "Christian Association 
sponsors chapel programs on Fridays, large group meetings, small 
group Bible studies, and a weekend in both the fall and winter quarters 
of intensive Bibly study [called] Focus on Faith, with a week in the 
spring designated for service in the community." 

Christian Association is not the potent force that it once was at 
Agnes Scott, but for many students it is still a constructive influence in 
their lives. 



299 



Founder's Day 

According to Professor Louise McKinney, who was a member of 
the Agnes Scott faculty from 1891 to 1937, the observance of George 
Washington Scott's birthday (February 22) as Founder's Day was 
announced by President Gaines early in the session of 1918. From that 
date until the 1955-1956 session Founder's Day was designated as a 
holiday on the College calendar. Initially for some years there would 
be a festive dinner on campus for which students  especially the 
seniors  would dress in costumes of George Washington's era. After 
dinner all would adjourn to the gymnasium where a special group 
would dance the minuet followed by general community dancing until 
a "reasonable" hour. 

In time, groups of alumnae in various cities began to have meetings 
on or around February 22  a practice that still continues. For many 
years an Agnes Scott Founder's Day radio broadcast originated in 
Atlanta on which President McCain would speak about the College, 
followed by Dean Hopkins' "Dear Girls" message to alumnae. 

During the years of World War II, the annual broadcast was 
abandoned, but in 1945 the campus aspects of the celebration were 
resumed. As the College moved into the 1950's, the students, except for 
the holiday feature, became less and less interested in the purpose of 
Founder's Day, so much so that President Alston and his associates 
decided to discontinue the holiday part of the observance and to 
emphasize George Washington Scott's birthday by other means. 

On February 22, 1957, at the College's weekly convocation (changed 
from Wednesday to Friday), President Emeritus James Ross McCain 
addressed the assembled College community on the life of Col. Scott 
and his part in Agnes Scott's beginnings. This was the first observance 
without the traditional holiday. In 1958 Founder's Day fell on Sat- 
urday concurrently with the College's first Sophomore Parents' 
Weekend; consequently, Founder's Day was not observed on campus, 
although various alumnae groups celebrated the day. In 1959 
President Emeritus McCain again spoke in a Founder's Day chapel on 
February 20. 

There is no record of any special Founder's Day observance on 
campus in 1960; however, beginning in 1961 and continuing to the 
present, an annual College convocation has marked this special 
occasion. Quite early in its present form, this convocation began to be 
marked by all the panoply of academic procession and a distinguished 



300 



speaker. For several years this convocation was on February 22, but 
beginning in 1968 the practice started of observing Founder's Day on 
the Wednesday nearest to February 22. Speakers from 1961 to the 
present, with their topics, where known, are as follows: 

1961 Eleanor N. Hutchens 

President, Agnes Scott Alumnae Association 

1962 Anne Gary Pannell 
President, Sweet Briar College 

"Sense and Sensibility in the Education of Women" 

1963 Ellen Douglass Leyburn 

Professor of English, Agnes Scott College 
"One Great Society" 

1964 75th Anniversary Thanksgiving Convocation 

1965 Susan P. Cobbs 

Dean, Swarthmore College 

1966 Judson C. Ward 

Dean of the Faculties, Emory University 

1967 Rufus C. Harris 
President, Mercer University 

1968 Paul Swain Havens 
President, Wilson College 

"On the Importance of the Inner Life" 

1969 Marvin Banks Perry, Jr. 
President, Goucher College 
"Relevance and Liberal Learning" 

1970 Randle Elliott 
President, Hood College 
"What Do We Stand For?" 

1971 Samuel R. Spencer, Jr. 
President, Davidson College 
"Retreat from Responsibility" 

1972 Dean Rusk 

Former U.S. Secretary of State 

1973 William W. Kelly 

President, Mary Baldwin College 
"Women and the Liberal Arts" 

1974 James G. Leyburn 

Dean Emeritus, Washington and Lee University 
"Excellence" 



301 



1975 John David Maguire; 

President, State University of New York at 

Old Westbury 
"Recovery, Renewal, Transformation: The 
Challenges Facing a Liberal Arts College Today" 

1976 Pauline Tompkins 
President, Cedar Crest College 

"The Legacy of a Liberal Arts College" 

1977 Wallace M. Alston 

President Emeritus, Agnes Scott College 
"Agnes Scott's Founder" 

1978 Clifton Waller Barrett 

1979 Mark A. Curtis 

President, Association of American Colleges 

1980 Edgar F. Shannon, Jr. 

President, United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa; 
Commonwealth Professor of English and Former 
President, University of Virginia 

1981 Rhoda M. Dorsey 
President, Goucher College 

1982 Marie H. Dodd 
Chairman, Board of Regents 
University System in Georgia 
"Women: Achievers in Their Own Way" 



302 



The Glee Club 

Materials in the McCain Library reveal that singing at Agnes Scott 
goes back to the earliest days of the Institute; however, the Glee Club 
per se dates from 1908 when Miss Marian Spangler of the Music 
Department organized the group. In time membership was by try-out, 
and increasingly ambitious programs were undertaken, the annual 
Christmas carol service dating from 1 930. For many years also a spring 
concert by the Glee Club has been a campus tradition. 

Tours to other colleges have been enjoyed as well as joint programs 
at Agnes Scott with similar groups from other colleges and uni- 
versities. In recent years the Glee Club has toured Europe, including 
Russia, where it was received with enthusiasm. 

Being a member of the Glee Club currently demands considerable 
time, much work, and real dedication. The results, however, are a 
genuinely first-class organization. 



303 



Honors Day 

The observance of Honors Day at Agnes Scott dates from 1950. 
Setting aside a special day early in the academic session to recognize 
and honor scholastic excellence was the idea of then Vice President 
Wallace M. Alston. It was President-Elect Alston who enunciated the 
purpose of Honors Day when he said: "We are trying to make 
[Honors Day] an impressive day on campus, a day devoted to the 
emphasis upon intellectual excellence and fine scholarship." 

From 1950 to the present, the first full academic convocation of each 
college year has been the observance of Honors Day. An outstanding 
person in education has been present to give an appropriate address; 
the recipients of major scholarships (including the Stukes scholars) are 
announced; the names of those making the honor roll in the previous 
session are read; announcement is made of those invited to do honors 
work or independent study, and the class scholarship trophy is awarded 
to that class whose over-all average for the previous session is highest 
in comparison with the last three classes at the same level. 

Through the years Honors Day has increasingly become a "high" 
occasion on the annual academic calendar. Visiting speakers who have 
addressed the college community (with their topic, if known) show 
something of the importance of this day. Here is the list: 

October 5, 1950 C. Mildred Thompson 

Former Dean, Vassar College 
"The Scholar's Stake in Freedom" 

September 25, 1951 Ernest C. Colwell 

Former President, University of Chicago 
Dean of the Faculties, Emory University 

September 24, 1952 Douglas Steere 

Professor of Philosophy, Haverford College 
"On the Power of Sustained Attention" 

September 23, 1953 Goodrich C. White 

President, Emory University 
"Values of a Liberal Education" 

September 22, 1954 Alan Richardson 

Professor of Theology, Nottingham University 

Canon, Derby Cathedral 

"The Relation between Religion and Education" 

September 30, 1955 Howard Foster Lowry 

President, The College of Wooster 
"Fifteen Wishes" 



304 



October 10, 1956 
October 2, 1957 
September 24, 1958 

October 7, 1959 

September 28, 1960 
September 27, 1961 
October 3, 1962 

September 27, 1963 

September 30, 1964 
October 6, 1965 

October 5, 1966 
September 27, 1967 
October 9, 1968 
October 10, 1969 



Martha S. Grafton 

Dean, Mary Baldwin College 

"On Being Above the Average" 

C. Benton Kline, Jr. 

Dean of the Faculty, Agnes Scott College 

"Aims of a Liberal Education" 

C. Ellis Nelson 

Professor of Religious Education and Psychology, 

Union Theological Seminary, New York 
"The Education of Conscience" 

A. Hollis Edens 
President, Duke University 
"The Young Intellectuals" 

David A. Lockmiller 

President, Ohio Wesleyan University 

William F. Quillian 

President, Randolph-Macon Woman's College 

Ernest J. Simmons 

Professor of Slavic Languages and Russian 

Literature, Columbia University 
"Education's Challenge to Youth" 

Huston Smith 

Professor of Philosophy, M.I.T. 
"The Nature of Man: Some Recent Evidence from 
Science" 

Theodore Meyer Green 

Former Professor of Philosophy, Yale University 

George Boas 

Professor of Philosophy, The Johns Hopkins 

University 
"Enemies of Education" 

Cleanth Brooks 

Professor of English, Yale University 

"The Poetry of Tension" 

Felix C. Robb 

Director, Southern Association of Colleges and 
Schools 

Waights G. Henry 
President, LaGrange College 
"A Mind to Work" 

Arthus S. Link 

Professor of History, Princeton University 



305 



September 30, 1970 

October 2, 1971 
October 4, 1972 
October 10, 1973 

October 9, 1974 
October 1, 1975 
October 20, 1976 

October 5, 1977 

October 4, 1978 
September 26, 1979 

October 15, 1980 
September 30, 1981 



Edward McCrady 

President, University of the South 

"Where Do We Go From Here?" 

Edward D. Eddy 
President, Chatham College 

Henry King Stanford 
President, University of Miami 

Jacqueline Matfield 

Dean and Assistant Provost, Brown University 

"Prefection of the Life and of the Work" 

Catherine S. Sims 

Dean Emeritus, Sweet Briar College 

Mary F. McPherson 
Dean, Bryn Mawr College 

Frontis W. Johnston 

Dean of the Faculty, Davidson College 

"The Relevance of Irrelevance" 

Hugh M. Gloster 

President, Morehouse College 

"The Modern College Woman  Her Progress, 

Her Problems, and Her Prospects" 

Merrimon Cunniggim 
President, Salem College 

William L. Pressly 

President Emeritus, The Westminster Schools 

"What is Excellence?" 

Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. 

Chairman, Agnes Scott Board of Trustees 

Alice F. Emerson 

President, Wheaton College, Norton, 

Massachusetts 
"Women's History: Education's Biggest Oil Field 1 



306 



The Hopkins Jewel 

The Hopkins Jewel grew out of a suggestion made by the class of 
1922. It was the strong conviction of many that Agnes Scott needed in 
some significant way to recognize the incalculable contribution which 
Dean Nannette Hopkins had made to the College. The recognition 
took the form of an award to the senior "who most nearly embodied 
the ideals of Miss Hopkins for Agnes Scott." Unpublished material in 
the McCain Library gives the following requirements for achieving 
this award: 

To meet this ideal a student must not only fulfill the academic 
requirement for graduation but must also be conspicuous in 
loyalty to the College, in ideals of service, in ability to cooperate. 
She must possess, in addition, physical fitness, poise, and gra- 
ciousness. 

The jewel itself was an amethyst set in white gold  signifying Agnes 
Scott's colors of purple and white. The jewel was first awarded in 1929 
and continued through the Class of 1954. The first eight awards were 
pendants; thereafter, the jewel was in the form of a ring. A committee 
of the faculty determined the recipient. 

After 1954 this award was discontinued. By this time Hopkins Hall 
had been built as a permanent memorial to Dean Hopkins. Also it was 
becoming increasingly difficult for faculty members who had not 
known Miss Hopkins to determine just what her ideals were or would 
be in changing situations. 

Here are the students who received this award: 

Class Name 



1929 


Helon Brown 


1930 


Elizabeth Flinn 


1931 


Marguerite Gerard 


1932 


Andrewena Robinson 


1933 


Margaret Ridley 


1934 


Nelle Chamlee 


1935 


Frences Espy 


1936 


Alice McCallie 


1937 


Julia Thing 


1938 


Nell Hemphill 


1939 


Amelia Nickels 


1940 


Ruth Slack 


1941 


Mary Scott Wilds 


1942 


June Taylor 


1943 


Anne Frierson 



307 



1944 


Josephine Young 


1945 


Margaret Milam 


1946 


Dorothy Spragens 


1947 


Betty Jean Radford 


1948 


Mary Elizabeth Little 


1949 


Julianne Cook 


1950 


Cama Clarkson 


1951 


Marjorie Stukes 


1952 


Sybil Corbett 


1953 


Mary Beth Robinson 


1954 


Judith Promnitz 



308 



Investiture 

Investiture at Agnes Scott had its beginnings in 1908, the third year 
of the institution's life as a four-year college. It is generally believed 
that the practice of capping the Seniors at Investiture as well as that of 
hooding them at graduation was suggesed by Miss Mary L. Cady, who 
was professor of history from 1908 to 1918. At first, the ceremony was 
private and took place in President Gaines' study, where the Seniors 
appeared in academic gowns, knelt before Dean Nannette Hopkins 
who in turn capped each one. It was in 1 9 1 3 that the ceremony became 
a public occasion. Between 1908 and 1913, Investiture came at the end 
of what Professor McKinney has termed "the traditional Freshman- 
Sophomore feud." As the day for Investiture approached, the Juniors 
would try to "steal" the academic robes of the Seniors. To prevent this 
problem, Investiture "went public" in 1913 as it has been ever since. 
The usual date for this event is the last Saturday in October or the first 
one in November. From its beginnings, through the tenures of Dean 
Hopkins and Dean Carrie Scandrett, the seniors knelt both to be 
capped and to be hooded. Since 1969 when Dean Scandrett retired, the 
Seniors have stood before Dean Julia T. Gary for each of these 
ceremonies. At the 1982 graduation, Dean of Students Martha C. 
Kirkland hooded the Seniors. 

The Investiture ceremony involves a full academic convocation with 
the faculty in academic regalia sitting on the stage. An appropriate 
address is given, and then each senior walks individually across the 
platform to be publicly capped. 

In 1943 the annual Sunday worship service on the day following 
Investiture Saturday became a regular part of the weekend. In time a 
reception for the Seniors and their parents and friends was added, and 
beginning in the middle 1960's the President and his wife have on 
Sunday morning hosted a breakfast for the Seniors and their guests. 

For many years, it has been customary for the Senior class to choose 
the speaker for the Investiture service. Ordinarily this speaker is 
chosen from the faculty or administration, and to be selected for this 
responsibility is generally considered to be one of the highest compli- 
ments the students can bestow on a faculty or staff member. By long 
tradition the President of the College selects the Sunday preacher. 

The ceremony of Investiture is the occasion when the seniors are 
formally recognized as the campus leaders that they are. By this cap- 
ping event they are, as it were, singled out as special members of the 
campus community. For seventy-five years Investiture has been a 
regular part of the College's life. The tradition continues to have 
vitality and meaning. 



309 



The Literary Societies and Debating 

In the early days of Agnes Scott, the most important extra-curricu- 
lar activities on the campus centered in the two literary societies, the 
Mnemosynean and the Propylean. The former of these two was estab- 
lished in October, 1891, and according to the catalogue for that year 
was organized "to foster a taste for polite literature and to acquire on 
the part of its members familiarity with standard authors, musicians, 
and artists." This purpose was carried out through the participation of 
the members in "readings, recitations, discussions, essays, and musical 
numbers." Even in its first year, this society was engaged in collecting a 
library of "standard books" and also published The Mnemosynean 
Monthly. 

The Propylean Literary Society was formed in May, 1897. Professor 
Louise McKinney has written that the older group "had become rather 
exclusive and was in need of a rival." The purpose of the new society as 
stated in the Institute catalogue was "to promote the intellectual and 
social interest of its members, and to prove as a nucleus of culture in 
the school of which it is a part." Like the Mnemosynean, the Propylean 
met weekly and offered programs of "readings, debates, and musical 
selections." It also from time to time presented programs on current 
literature and other timely topics. 

Each of these groups had its own meeting room on the fourth floor 
of Main decorated usually in the society colors: blue and gold for the 
Mnemosynean, green and white for the Propylean. The two societies 
were great rivals, and each fall there was "rushing" for new members. 

Another feature of this rivalry was competition for the Shonts Prize 
of $100.00 provided between 1904 and 1909 by Mr. T.P. Shonts of 
Chicago, the father of two students who attended Agnes Scott from 
1899 to 1903. This prize was awarded on the basis of attendance, qual- 
ity of the programs, and the two best essays offered by each society and 
read on Society Night at the annual commencement. The winner of 
this prize spent the money for books for the Society's library  collec- 
tions that ultimately became part of the Agnes Scott library. 

These two literary societies continued until 1922. An entry in The 
Agonistic for September 26, 1922, states that the two have been 
merged into Pi Alpha Phi, a debating group. All of this grew out of the 
following action of the faculty on May 23, 1922: 



310 



Mr. Armistead, for the Committee on Debating Societies, 
made a report of the recent action of the Societies. He stated that 
the Societies had, in joint action, agreed to discontinue their 
organizations, in view of the fact that for some years past there 
had seemed no need for them in the student life. A debating soci- 
ety, known as Pi Alpha Phi, had been formed of those who were 
really interested in debating, for the purpose of stimulating and 
encouraging debating in the College and for the general purpose 
of promoting the welfare of the College. Admission to this society, 
it was stated, is to be by try-outs held in the fall and spring of each 
year; the Debating Council, formed of a student committee and 
the present faculty Committee, are to decide upon the merits of 
applicants for membership. Membership is to be limited for the 
present to thirty-two. 

It was moved that the faculty express to the students its approval 
of this plan. Seconded. Some discussion followed, and the amend- 
ment was finally made to the above motion that an explanation of 
the action of the students and faculty be made to the Alumnae at 
their regular annual meeting on the 27th. With this amendment, 
the motion was put and carried. 

Pi Alpha Phi had been established in 1921 as an honorary organiza- 
tion under the leadership of Professor J.D.M. Armistead. After his 
death in 1923, Professor Cleo Hearon, chairman of the Department of 
History, was in charge until her death in 1928. Subsequently, for many 
years the moving force behind Pi Alpha Phi was Professor George P. 
Hayes who served as faculty advisor and coach. More recently Pro- 
fessor Penelope Campbell has been related to Pi Alpha Phi. 

Around 1970 Pi Alpha Phi ceased to be a viable organization on 
campus. Student interest in debating waned and has not been re- 
kindled. From the beginnings in 1921 of the triangular debate arrange- 
ment with Sophie Newcomb College and Randolph-Macon Woman's 
College through the many years when Agnes Scott hosted the All 
Southern Intercollegiate Debate Tournament, Pi Alpha Phi, as suc- 
cessor to the Mnemosynean and Propylean Societies, occupied an 
important place in the College's extra-curricular life. 



31 



May Day 

The May Day tradition at Agnes Scott goes back to the days of the 
Institute. Professor Louise McKinney has noted in her unpublished 
memoirs that there was a simple May Day celebration as early as 1903. 
Acording to Miss McKinney, it was 1913 that saw a beginning of an 
annual May Day observance with the usual queen and May pole. Ini- 
tially the performance was sponsored by the Y.W.C.A., but in time it 
was taken over by the Department of Physical Education. For a period 
the scenario was based on some mythological character; however, ere 
long the subject matter was drawn from a much broader source. One 
aspect was consistent in that the scenario was written by a student, and 
the performance was student produced. The queen was chosen by 
popular election, and it was a real distinction to be chosen. 

The first queen in 1903 was Eileen Gober, and in 1913, when the 
tradition became an annual event, the queen was Ethel McKay. Be- 
gining from the early twenties, there is in the McCain Library an 
unbroken record of the title of the performance, the writer of the 
scenario, and the name of the queen. In a number of instances, the 
music for the event was composed by Professor C.W. Dieckmann. 
This writer remembers May Day as characterized by drama, music, 
colorful costumes, dancing, and lovely young women. 

The last May Day was in 1960. The queen was crowned in the May 
Day Dell, and then the assemblage adjourned to Gaines Chapel for a 
performance of Sophocles' Electra presented by Blackfriars and the 
Dance Group. 

Here follows a tabulation of May Day information, beginning in 
1922: 



Year Title 



Writer 



Queen 



1922 


Pipes of Pan 


Nell Esslinger 


Mary Lamar Knight 


1923 


The Legend of 


Elizabeth McClure 


Margaret Hansom 




Nacoochee 


McGeachy 




1924 


Psyche and Eros 


Based on classic myth 


Lucy Oliver 


1925 


Sherwood Forest 


Louise Buchanan 


Mary Breadlove 


1926 


The Triumph of Spring 


Carolyn Essig 


Edythe Coleman 


1927 


Endymion 


Evelyn Wood 


Mary Weems 


1928 


The Dawn of Delight 


Carolyn Essig 


Mary Bell McConkey 


1929 


Paris and the Golden 
Apple 


Laura Brown 


Charlotte Hunter 



312 



Year Title 



Writer 



Queen 



1930 


Virgil, the Immortal 
Bard 


Lillian Thomas 


Helen Hendricks 


1931 


Auburn Dell 


Mary Katherine 
Williamson 


Mildred Duncan 


1932 


Spring in Many Lands 


Gilchrist Powell 


Nell Starr 


1933 


The Dance of the 
Hours 


Elaine Heckle and 
Gilchrist Powell 


Ann Brown Nash 


1934 


La Fete du Mai 


Mary Boggs and 
Anna Humber 


Charlotte Reid 


1935 


Peter Pan 


Jane Blick and 
Alice Chamlee 


Laura Whitner 


1936 


Down an English 
Lane 


Charleen Fleece and 
Anne Thompson 


Naomi Cooper 


1937 


Comus 


John Milton, adapted 
by Eloise Alexander, 
and Julia Sewell 


Lucile Dennison 


1938 


A Midsummer Night's 
Dream 


Adapted by Goudyloch 
Erwin, Mary Matthews 
and Anne Thompson 


Myrl Chafin 


1939 


Orpheus and Eurydice 


Adapted by Eleanor 
Hutchens 


Adelaide Benson 


1940 


Heritage of Women 


Committee of Alumnae 


Carolyn Alley 


1941 


On an English Green 


Neva Jackson and 
Cornelia Willis 


Jean Dennison 


1942 


Americana 


Myree Wells 


Anne Chambless 


1943 


The Four Seasons 


Elizabeth Edwards 
and Anastasia Carlos 


Mabel Stowe 


1944 


The Making of the 


Tommy Huie 


Robin Taylor Hoi 



Rainbow 

1945 The Creation 

1946 Festival to Beauty 

1947 May Day Revels 

1948 A May Day Legend 

1949 Irish May Day 

1950 The Net, A Sea Legend 

1951 The Adventure of 

Prince Abdul-Kader 

1952 Chess and Joy Fantasy 

1953 A Flower Fantasy 

1954 "A Knyght Ther Was" 



Martha Jean Gower 
Marybeth Little 
Virginia Andrews 
Nancy Parks 
Peggy Pennel 
Eliza Pollard 
Margie Thomason 

Katherine Hefner 
Florence Flemming 
Katherine Hefner 



Anne Equen 
Gloria Anne Melchor 
Sue Hutchens 
Marybeth Little 
Miriam Arnold 
Beryl Crews 
Margaret Hunt 

Sylvia Williams 
Mary Beth Robinson 
Harriette Potts 



313 



1955 


Mountain May Day 


Harriette Stovall 


1956 


Harlequinade 


Memye Curtis 


1957 


Nezumi No Yomere 
(The Marriage of a 
Mouse) 


Nancy R. Kimmel 


1958 


No May Day Per se  


Combined into first fine 


1959 


Orpheus 


Judith Burson and 
Nancy Trowell Leslie 


1960 


Electra 


Sophocles 



Joann Hall 
Judith Watson 
Cemele Miller 



Runita McCurdy 



Mary Jane Pickens 



314 



Sophomore Parents' Weekend 

Agnes Scott's first Sophomore Parents' Weekend was on February 
21, 22, and 23, 1958. From that time since, this event has been an 
annual event on the College calendar. 

This writer, convinced that Agnes Scott needed some activity in- 
volving parents other than Investiture and Commencement, discussed 
the matter with President Alston and at a faculty meeting on October 
19, 1956, requested the faculty to ask the President to appoint a special 
committee to investigate the feasibility of the College's instituting 
some activity directed primarily at parents. The faculty responded 
favorably to this suggestion, and a committee under the chairmanship 
of Professor Mildred R. Mell promptly began its duties. 

After careful assessment of Agnes Scott's needs and after checking 
into parents' programs at other colleges, this committee on March 8, 
1957, recommended that Agnes Scott inaugurate a special weekend for 
the parents of sophomores. The sophomores were chosen because the 
seniors already had Investiture, the juniors had Junior Jaunt, and the 
freshmen, because of their newness, were receiving special attention in 
a number of ways. The sophomores needed an occasion which was 
uniquely theirs. The winter quarter was recommended as the time 
because during that period students  particularly sophomores  
needed a "shot in the arm." This recommendation of the committee 
was adopted, and the President immediately asked this same commit- 
tee, along with the officers of the Sophomore class, to become the 
steering group for the first Sophomore Parents' Weekend. 

Over the more than twenty years since 1958, the program has been in 
a constant state of evolution, but there are certain elements that were 
in the first program that have been in every program since. Having 
parents attend classes with their daughters has always been popular; 
the Saturday luncheon for sophomores and parents continues, and 
some form of entertainment given by the class members has been a 
regular offering. 

By common agreement, Sophomore Parents' Weekend is one of the 
most meaningful events regularly held on campus. Through the years 
the students have increasingly come to the fore in planning, such that 
at this writing they do all the planning and execution. The faculty have 
cooperated constructively in supporting the weekend, and parents 
have welcomed this opportunity to experience Agnes Scott. One and 
all call Sophomore Parents' Weekend a resounding success. 



315 



Student Government 

The Student Government Association of Agnes Scott College traces 
its beginnings to 1906, the year that the institution became a four-year 
college and granted its first degrees. Although there is no specific 
record in the minutes of the faculty indicating this significant change in 
the regulations pertaining to students, there are entries dating from 
that year evidencing the existence of a student government organiza- 
tion. For instance, the minutes of April 24, 1906, record an inquiry 
from the President concerning the responsibilities of teachers in the 
dormitories and their relationship to student government. Further, 
under the date of May 17, 1906, there is an entry in which Dean Nan- 
nette Hopkins reported the organization of students and the name of 
the first president. There is another item dated October 22, 1907, and 
finally on December 19, 1907, there is recorded a recommendation 
from the Executive Committee of Student Government that a specific 
student be excluded from the college. Also, the official catalogue for 
1906-1907 lists a faculty committee on student government. 

In the files of the McCain Library, there is an interesting account of 
the circumstances which led to the formation of a student government 
organization at Agnes Scott. Rebekah Scott Hall was built in 1905, 
and with the advent of collegiate status in 1906, the college students 
were housed in Rebekah and the preparatory students in Main. Since 
these two groups were separated, Dean Hopkins concluded that the 
time was right for establishing a student government organization. 
Accordingly, she called the college students together in the spring of 
1906 and proposed the new organization. The account then proceeds 
as follows: 

Surprising as it may seem, the girls objected strenuously, on the 
ground that they had all the privileges they wanted without the 
worry of having to assume any of the responsibility! However, 
after much persuasion, Miss Hopkins succeeded in getting the 
student body to sanction the organization of a Student 
Government Association. 

The first officers of Student Government were the following: 

President Sara Boals, 1907 

Vice President Elizabeth Curry, 1907 

Members of the Executive Committee 
from the Senior Class Clyde Pettus, 1907 

Irene Foscue, 1907 

Hall President Rachel Young, 1907 

Marshall (Catherine Dean, 1908 



316 



The vice president, Elizabeth Curry, recalling these early days of 
Student Government, writes as follows: 

My impression is that Dr. Arbuckle presented to the students the 
action of the faculty with reference to the charter. At that meeting 
the president was chosen and other officers and the Executive 
Board or Committee was constituted and chosen. After numerous 
meetings in the old Society Halls we hammered out details of the 
organization, its rules and regulations. And tho' we got a "ready- 
made" form which did not give us too much latitude, we felt that 
our freedom was greatly increased under the new regime and there 
was much rejoicing as well as criticism. The latter became particu- 
larly strong when the Committee was called upon to deal with 
infringement of rules and there were times when we would gladly 
have laid down our official authority and become private 
students. On the whole we felt our emancipation when a proctor 
was chosen from among the girls to preserve order along the halls 
after lights. 

From the earliest days it is apparent that the functions of Student 
Government at Agnes Scott have been divided into the three usual 
categories for such activity, namely, legislative, executive, and judicial. 

In the earlier days legislative power was vested in the Association as 
a whole, with the Executive Committee being the channel through 
which all proposals came to the Association. Executive power with the 
authority to enforce rules was lodged in the Executive Committee. 
This same committee was also the lower court of judicial authority, the 
Association itself being the court of appeal. 

In later developments legislative power was vested jointly in the 
Executive Committee and the Student Council, and apparently the 
Association had only the power to veto the decisions of these two joint 
groups. At this same period, executive power was the prerogative of 
the six officers of the Association augmented by eight other students to 
constitute the Executive Board. This same Board served as the lower 
court injudicial matters, with the right of appeal to the entire Student 
Government Association. The six officers of the Association at this 
period were the president, three vice presidents, a secretary, and a 
treasurer. 

As the Student Government Association evolved, the make-up of 
the Executive Committee was altered from time to time, but the gen- 
eral nature of its functions and authority remained essentially the same 
for many years. 

In the early 1960's a major revision in the operation of Student 



317 



Government came about with the establishment, within this frame- 
work of the Association, of Representative Council, Judicial Council, 
and Joint House Council. Legislative power was initially vested in 
Representative Council and finally in the Student Body. Executive 
power was solely the prerogative of Representative Council. Under- 
standably this group was made much larger and more representative of 
the student body than the former Executive Committee had been. 
Judicial duties and powers were now delegated to the Judicial Council 
as the court of primary jurisdiction with the Association itself continu- 
ing as the court of appeal. However, Judicial Council might, if it chose, 
deny the right of appeal. The House Council was the agency which 
coordinated the activities of the various residential units. 

In the 1970's there was further alteration in the organization of stu- 
dent government when the Judicial Council became Honor Court and 
the House Council was replaced by Interdormitory Council and the 
various Dormitory Councils. Honor Court is the highest student 
judicial body, and its judgments concerning violations of social regu- 
lations are final. In matters growing out of infringement of academic 
regulations, Honor Court's decisions are subject to review by the Ad- 
ministrative Committee of the College. 

Interdormitory Council has both executive and judicial powers. In 
the latter function it is a court of primary jurisdiction in some matters 
and is an appellate court from Dormitory Councils in others. Inter- 
dormitory Council can, of course, refer to Honor Court any violation 
if it chooses to do so. 

Originally the faculty itself was required to take action in matters 
involving serious disciplinary cases referred to it by the Executive 
Committee sitting as a judiciary. However, the faculty has now dele- 
gated its authority in this regard to the Administrative Committee, 
which reviews and approves all cases involving academic probation, 
suspension, or expulsion. The Administrative Committee also must 
approve all recommendations for changes in social regulations and 
changes in policies affecting student life as these changes are initiated 
in Representative Council. 

No review of Student Government at Agnes Scott would be com- 
plete without reference to the Honor System, which is at the very 
center of life on this campus. Any and every student who enrolls at 
Agnes Scott, by this very act of enrollment, accepts the Honor System 
as her way of life and formally adopts the following pledge: 



318 



As a member of the Student Body of Agnes Scott College, I con- 
sider myself bound by honor to develop and uphold high stand- 
ards of honesty and behavior; to strive for full intellectual and 
moral stature; to realize my social and academic responsibility in 
the community. To attain these ideals, I do therefore accept this 
Honor System as my way of life. 

Elaborating on this honor pledge, to which every student subscribes, 
the Student Handbook reads as follows: 

The cornerstone of the entire structure of Agnes Scott life is the 
Honor System, which is founded upon the support, the mature 
judgment, and the personal integrity of every student. By entering 
Agnes Scott, a student voluntarily pledges her support to the 
regulations and to the spirit of the community. As a member of 
this community, she accepts a definite responsibility for herself 
and for her fellow students which leads to a responsible freedom 
within the structure of the Honor System. The Honor System is an 
expression of trust in students and in their willingness to uphold 
the ideals of the community. 

Each student is expected to accept her responsibility to protect the 
Honor System from actions and attitudes which may weaken it. 
The exercise of this responsibility involves a student's reporting 
her own infringements of the policies and regulations and involves 
an obligation for her fellow students' relations to the community. 
This latter obligation may take the form of speaking to the student 
on behalf of the community or of asking another member of the 
community to speak to her. It is impossible to reduce this to an 
unvarying rule of procedure, but the unchanging obligation is to 
prevent the occurrence or recurrence of detrimental actions and 
attitudes. 

Under the Honor System, regulations, both social and academic, 
are based upon their value to the community and to the individual 
student. This basis is one which is fundamental, not merely at 
Agnes Scott but wherever there is a community. 

For over three-quarters of a century (since 1906) Agnes Scott students 
have governed themselves  responsibly, sensibly, effectively. Details 
of this activity have changed through the years, but the major thrust of 
this procedure has remained the same: College students are young 
adults, capable of integrity, responsibility and trust. At Agnes Scott no 
one would have it any other way! 



319 



Agnes Scott College 
Presidents of Student Government 
Class of Name 



1907 


Sara R. Boals 


1908 


Elva Drake 


1909 


Margaret McCallie 


1910 


Mildred Thompson 


1911 


Eleanor Coleman 


1912 


Annie Chapin McLane 


1913 


Laura Mil Towers 


1914 


Charlotte Jacobson 


1915 


Grace Harris 


1916 


Anne McClure 


1917 


Jane Harwell 


1918 


Samille Lowe 


1919 


Lucy Durr 


1920 


Julia Hagood 


1921 


Margaret McLaughlin 


1922 


Eleanor Buchanan 


1923 


Hilda McConnell 


1924 


Carrie Scandrett 


1925 


Mary Ann McKinney 


1926 


Virginia Browning 


1927 


Elsa Jacobsen 


1928 


Janet McDonald 


1929 


Elinor Morgan 


1930 


Martha Stackhouse 


1931 


Ellen Davis 


1932 


Andrewena Robinson 


1933 


Margaret Ridley 


1934 


Mary McDonald 


1935 


Alberta Palmour 


1936 


Adelaide Stevens 


1937 


Alice Hannah 


1938 


Laura Coit 


1939 


Mary Ellen Whetsell 


1940 


Henrietta Thompson 


1941 


Frances Breg 


1942 


Virginia Montgomery 


1943 


Frances Radford 


1944 


Anne Ward 


1945 


Molly Milam 


1946 


Marjorie Naab 


1947 


Jane Meadows 


1948 


Amelia Davis 


1949 


Nancy Parks 



320 



1950 


Sarah Tucker 


1951 


Marjorie Stukes 


1952 


Sybil Corbett 


1953 


Belle Miller 


1954 


Valeria Burnet 


1955 


Constance Currie 


1956 


Louisa Allen 


1957 


Miriam Smith 


1958 


Nancy Edwards 


1959 


Lila McGeachy 


1960 


Eve Purdom 


1961 


Sarah Helen High 


1962 


Violet (Vicky) Allen 


1963 


Mary Beth Thomas 


1964 


Anne Foster 


1965 


Nancy Yontz 


1966 


Deborah Rosen 


1967 


Lynne Wilkins 


1968 


Alice Zollicoffer 


1969 


Martine Brownley 


1970 


Holly Duskin Kenyon 


1971 


Carolyn Cox 


1972 


Sybil Peet 


1973 


Tinsley Swann 


1974 


Susan Skinner 


1975 


Mary Gay Morgan 


1976 


Jane Sutton 


1977 


Cynthia Hodges 


1978 


Katharine Manning 


1979 


Patricia DuPont 


1980 


Kemper Hatfield 


1981 


Laura Kletner 


1982 


Peggy Elizabeth Davis 



321 



Student Publications 

Agnes Scott's first student publication dates from 1891 and was 
called "the Mnemosynean," being issued by the Literary Society of the 
same name. It was a monthly literary magazine. When the Propylean 
Society was formed, this magazine became a joint effort of both soci- 
eties. It flourished as "The Mnemosynean" until 1900-1901 when its 
name was changed to "Aurora," a magazine that still continues to be 
published, particularly in connection with the annual Writer's Festi- 
val. In 1916 "Aurora" became a quarterly publication and more 
recently has been published three times a year. From its beginning this 
magazine has carried the creative literary work of students. Now it also 
serves as a vehicle for student work in the visual arts, and the spring 
issue contains not only work by Agnes Scott students, but that of other 
students in Georgia colleges who are competing in the annual Writers' 
Festival contest. 

The first "annual" was issued in 1897 and was called "Aurora." 
When this name was transferred to the literary magazine in 1900, a new 
name was needed for the senior annual; thus, the designation "Sil- 
houette" came into use in 1 90 1 . This name was suggested, according to 
Professor Louise McKinney, by Miss Anna W. Lytle, who taught 
English in the Institute from 1899 to 1901. The Silhouette has con- 
tinued to be published ever since with the exception of 19 19, just at the 
end of World War I, when the savings from not publishing an annual 
were given to war relief. 

Agnes Scott's weekly newspaper dates from February 11, 1916  a 
publication called The Agonistic. There is no play here on the word 
"Agnes." The dictionary defines "Agonistic" as "Striving to overcome 
in argument; competitive; combative .... Straining to achieve 
effect. . . of or pertaining to contests . . . ."This title was chosen as a 
result of a student contest and seems a happy choice since a student 
newspaper should have a point of view to promote or defend. At any 
rate, this title prevailed until April, 1939, when the name of the paper 
became The Agnes Scott News. Professor McKinney has observed 
that one reason for the change was that "Agonistic" was so often 
incorrectly written. In fact, in one issue of The Silhouette it was 
referred to as the "Agnostic." So the paper became The Agnes Scott 
News and continued so until April, 1964, when the present name. The 
Profile, came into being. 

Early on in the 1963-1964 year, the student newspaper announced a 



322 



contest to choose a new name for this publication. In due time from the 
names suggested, Representative Council chose four to be submitted 
to the Administrative Committee and then to the student body. The 
four names were "The Profile," "The Ascott," "The Panorama," and 
"The Monitor." The name "Profile" prevailed among these four and 
then won again vis-a-vis "The Agnes Scott News. "The change of name 
was effective when the new editor and staff took over near the end of 
the 1963-1964 session. 



323 



The Writers' Festival 

One of the most signifcant events on Agnes Scott's annual calendar 
is the Writers' Festival which occurs each spring. Its purpose is to 
promote and encourage creative writing skills among college students 
in Georgia. 

Begun in 1972 on a financial "shoestring" with funds from student 
organizations, the enterprise has flourished increasingly for a decade. 
For 1973 President Alston provided financial backing from the 
College, and President Perry from the beginning of his administration 
established the Writers' Festival as a regular part of each College 
session. 

Undergraduate students throughout Georgia are invited to submit 
manuscripts (poetry or prose). The manuscripts are screened by quali- 
fied judges, and the work of the finalists is ultimately evaluated by a 
panel of recognized writers who are brought to the campus to partici- 
pate in the festival either by lectures or by readings from their works. 

The cash prizes for the best work in the various categories were 
initially quite small, but in 1976 they were materially increased. More- 
over, beginning in 1977, Dr. Eleanor N. Hutchens, '40, of Huntsville, 
Alabama, began providing funds for the Newman Prizes in memory of 
her grandfather and grandmother. 

The roster of the distinguished writers who have participated in the 
Festival reads like a "Who's Who" of current American literary fig- 
ures. A partial listing includes Eudora Welty, Robert Penn Warren, 
May Sarton, Hollis Summers, Josephine Jacobsen, Richard Eber- 
hardt, Reynolds Price, Guy Davenport, Howard Nemerov, James 
Merrill, Theodore Weiss, Larry Rubin, Tom McHaney, John Yount, 
Donald Davie, Marion Montgomery, Michael Mott, Doris Betts, and 
Margaret Atwood. 

On the local scene, there have been many persons who have helped 
make the Festival the resounding success that it is. For the first few 
years, the late Professor Margret G. Trotter was the director. She was 
succeeded by Professor B.W. Ball, who served until 1980 when Profes- 
sor Margaret W. Pepperdene became the director. Mention must also 
be made of Nathalie Fitzsimons Anderson, '70, and Professor David 
Barton, both of whom participated in ways too numerous to mention. 

Literature and its creation are inherently a part of the liberal arts 
tradition. It is, therefore, highly appropriate that a college like Agnes 
Scott sponsor and promote a Writers' Festival. 



324 



Miscellaneous Observances, Organizations, and 
Traditions 

Other observances, organizations, and traditions which at one time 
or other have flourished at Agnes Scott are listed below. Some of these 
activities have long since passed off the campus scene; others are still 
viable groups or events on campus. 

Arts Council Exam Teas 

Awards Day Faculty Prayers 

Bacon Bat Junior Jaunt 

Book Burning Little Girls' Day 

Class Day Senior Opera 

Daisy Chain Social Council 

Dolphin Club Studio Dance Theatre 
Suppressed Desires Day 



325 



A NOBLE COMPANY 



326 



Chapter 7 

A NOBLE COMPANY 



"There is 

One great society alone on earth: 

The noble Living and the noble Dead. " 

William Wordsworth, The Prelude 
Book XI, 11. 393-395 

Agnes Scott is a many-faceted jewel, but no element in its life is more 
important than the great people who have labored here and who have 
found self-realization and fulfillment through identifying themselves 
with this College. Space does not permit the chronicling of all these 
people; however, fifteen brief vignettes are now offered of persons who 
are typical of all those who have helped make Agnes Scott what it is. 
The writer takes full responsibility for the selection of those who are 
portrayed. Others might have been selected, but those chosen are 
indeed a noble company. Only one is still living. 



327 



Alice Lucile Alexander 

Professor Alice Lucile Alexander was born near Wytheville, Virginia, 
on March 3, 1878; she died in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 7, 1964. 
Her father was a Presbyterian minister who at one time was the presi- 
dent of Plummer College in Wytheville. She came to Agnes Scott 
Institute in the 1890's and graduated with first honor in 1899. For a 
brief time she taught in the Donald Frazier School in Decatur and in 
1902 returned to Agnes Scott where she taught in the Institute until 
1904 when she became a member of the mathematics department of 
Agnes Scott Academy, a post which she filled until 1912. During those 
years Agnes Scott became a college, and Miss Alexander continued to 
take work at the college level such that she received her B.A. degree 
with highest honor from Agnes Scott in 191 1. She then enrolled in the 
Graduate School of Columbia University in New York from which she 
received her master's degree in French in 1913. She was the first Agnes 
Scott alumna to earn an advanced degree. She joined the Department 
of Romance Languages of her alma mater in 1913 where she taught 
until her retirement in 1948. For most of these years she was chairman 
of the Department of French. Subsequent to joining the College 
faculty, she pursued further studies both in France and in the Middle- 
bury French Summer School in Vermont. In 1926 Professor Alexander 
was one of the first five graduates elected to alumnae membership 
when the Beta Chapter of Georgia of Phi Beta Kappa was installed at 
Agnes Scott. 

By any standard Professor Alexander was an excellent teacher, a 
circumstance attested by the number of competent French majors she 
regularly turned out. She was very demanding in her requirements, 
and many students were somewhat afraid of her. She expected first- 
class work, and if she thought a student was particularly capable, she 
increased the requirements so the student's mind would be contin- 
uously stretched. 

She herself was always an over-achiever. As has already been 
pointed out, she graduated first in her class from Agnes Scott Institute, 
and she took her degree with highest honor from Agnes Scott College. 
When she went to Columbia, the Chairman of the French Department 
was skeptical that a graduate of a "little college in the South" could 
take an M.A. from Columbia in one year. But she did it  and with 
honors too. 

Miss Alexander worked for Agnes Scott not only as a teacher but as 



328 



a leading committee person  particularly in the committees on 
curriculum, admissions, and courses. She also served on many ad hoc 
committees as well. Professor Louise McKinney is reputed to have 
remarked that when President McCain looked over the faculty prior to 
appointing a committee, it seemed he never could see anybody except 
'Cile. There's probably more than a modicum of truth in Miss 
McKinney's observation. President McCain also used Professor 
Alexander as a key person in raising funds among alumnae. 

It was Professor Alexander who began the long-time Agnes Scott 
custom of singing carols in French around the community just before 
the College closed at Christmas. After caroling, the singers would 
adjourn to Miss Alexander's house for hot chocolate. She also helped 
promote the French Club and had considerable skill in directing 
dramatic performances. For years as faculty marshal, she was in 
charge of all high academic occasions. 

Professor Alexander fully understood and completely allied herself 
with the kind of education that Agnes Scott has always sought to offer. 
Between 1924 and 1947 approximately half a dozen articles from her 
pen appeared in the Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly supporting the 
relevance and importance of a liberal arts education. She was a woman 
who knew what she believed and loved what she knew. From her 
vantage point as one of the recognized leaders in the faculty, she for 
almost half a century was a dynamic element in Agnes Scott's progress. 



329 



Howard Bell Arbuckle 

Born near Lewisburg, West Virginia, on October 5, 1870, Howard 
Bell Arbuckle received his B.A. degree from Hampden-Sydney Col- 
lege in 1889 and the next year took his master's degree from the same 
institution. Eight years later in 1898, after teaching in Mississippi and 
at the Seminary West of Sewanee (now Florida State University), he 
was awarded his Ph.D degree in chemistry from The Johns Hopkins 
University. Along the way he had done additional graduate study at 
the University of Virginia. His doctoral dissertation was directed 
toward determining the atomic weights of zinc and cadmium. 

In 1 898, just after receiving his doctorate, he joined the Agnes Scott 
faculty where he remained until 1913 when he went to Davidson 
College as Professor of Chemistry, a post which he held until his re- 
tirement in 1937. His death occurred on July 19, 1945. 

In 1896 Howard Arbuckle married Ida Clift Meginniss of Talla- 
hassee, and they had two children: Howard Bell, Jr., and Adele Taylor 
(now Mrs. Thomas S. Logan) who graduated from Agnes Scott in 
1931. 

Beyond his teaching, Professor Arbuckle had great interest in 
breeding sheep and maintained a flock of thoroughbreds at Max- 
welton, West Virginia, where he had a summer home. He founded the 
Continental Dorset Club for registering pure-bred Dorset sheep and 
understandably his research was particularly directed toward agri- 
cultural chemistry. He was also an important figure in the Pi Kappa 
Alpha social fraternity, of which he was the grand chancellor from 
1913 to 1933. Listed in Who's Who in America, Professor Arbuckle 
was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa. 

Howard Bell Arbuckle was the first Ph.D. to become a member of 
the Agnes Scott faculty. Initially he taught all science as well as just 
chemistry. A master teacher  patient, understanding, able to com- 
municate  Professor Arbuckle influenced hundreds of students at 
Agnes Scott and at Davidson. 

Professor Arbuckle's great contribution to Agnes Scott had to do 
with the Institute's becoming a College. As has already been pointed 
out (see pp. 28-29 and p. 30), he was the person who represented Agnes 
Scott in the important negotiations with the Southern Association of 
Colleges and Schools as the institution was effecting the changes 
necessary to becoming a college. Trained as an academician with 
advanced degrees, he was ideally qualified to be President Gaines's 



330 



representative at this period. The circumstance that Agnes Scott 
became accredited by the Southern Association the second year after it 
became a College attests in no small measure to Howard Arbuckle's 
expertise in academic standards and as a skillful negotiator. Agnes 
Scott College stands forever indebted to this man. 



331 



J.D.M. Armistead 

J.D.M. Armistead joined the Agnes Scott faculty in 1905 as Pro- 
fessor of English and chairman of the Department of English. When he 
died eighteen years later on April 30, 1923, he was still in these posi- 
tions. Any review of the records of Agnes Scott during the opening 
years of this century, and particularly in the period when the institu- 
tion was taking its place as a respected four-year college, will reveal 
that Professor Armistead was in the vanguard of those who planted 
the seeds of Agnes Scott's academic excellence. 

He was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on January 9, 1 87 1 . At the age 
of nineteen he graduated from Washington and Lee University and 
three years later received his Ph.D. degree from the same institution. 
He was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa at Washington and 
Lee. Prior to coming to Agnes Scott, he taught in the Lynchburg Public 
Schools. His death came quite unexpectedly. Although he had been in 
declining health, he met his classes as usual on Friday afternoon, April 
27, but died before he could meet them again on the following Mon- 
day. His death occurred just one week after that of President Gaines. 
Professor Armistead wrote the faculty resolutions concerning Dr. 
Gaines' death, but he never lived to hear them read. 

Professor Armistead touched every aspect of Agnes Scott's life. He 
was the secretary of the faculty all the years that he was at the College. 
In the administration, he was one of those on whom President Gaines 
particularly relied; he was respected and admired by his peers and was 
loved and appreciated by his students. He was the moving spirit in the 
founding at Agnes Scott of Gamma Tau Alpha, the forerunner of the 
College's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1915 he established B.O.Z., 
the student organization which encouraged literary achievement and 
which for many years met in his study. For approximately half a 
century B.O.Z. flourished at Agnes Scott. Professor Armistead was 
also the driving force in the establishing of Pi Alpha Phi, the student 
debating society. The Agonistic for May 23, 1923, points out that he 
also "acted as a kind of unofficial faculty member for the staffs of the 
three publications, 'Silhouette,' 'Aurora' and 'Agonistic' " This same 
issue of the student newspaper has this pertinent paragraph concern- 
ing this beloved professor: 



332 



One service performed by Dr. Armistead which is not generally 
known to the students was his urging that they might be allowed to 
attend plays and also to present them. At the time when he first 
came to Agnes Scott only Shakespearan plays were enjoyed by 
Agnes Scott girls, since the theatre was regarded as essentially 
immoral. Dr. Armistead was the first to attack this idea and to 
introduce more liberal views on the subject. Finally through his 
efforts the students were allowed to attend four plays a year and, 
still later, to be free to go to as many plays as they liked. Dr. 
Armistead was also actively connected with Blackfriars and did 
much to encourage amateur dramatics in the college. 

The faculty was, of course, greatly saddened by the death of its long- 
time secretary and colleague, and a full resolution of appreciation is a 
part of the faculty minutes. After pointing out many of Professor 
Armistead's contributions to Agnes Scott, these faculty resolutions 
high-light his most signal quality: 

Great as was Dr. Armistead's service . . ., it was through his 
teaching that his influence was most potent. Here his ardor for 
truth, his fine sense of values, his genuine interest in his students, 
inspired them with enthusiasm. Both by his interpretation of 
literature and by the richness of his personality, he made them see 
scholarship as a desirable end, and so transmitted to them an 
ennobling ideal of sweetness and light. 

In 1907 and in 1913, the seniors dedicated The Silhouette to Pro- 
fessor Armistead. Again in 1924 this publication was posthumously 
dedicated to him. This final dedication takes the form of a verse tribute 
which from all available evidence seems to epitomize J.D.M. Armi- 
stead and what the students felt for him: 

"I think the gentle soul of him 

Goes softly in some garden place, 
With the old smile time may not dim 

Upon his face. 
He who was lover of the spring, 

With love that never quite forgets 
Surely sees roses blossoming, 

And violets. 
Now that his day of toil is through 

With some old volume that he knew 
Upon his knees, 

Watching, perhaps, with quiet eyes 
The white cloud's argosy, 

Or twilight opening, flower-wise, 
On land and sea. 



333 



He who loved companionship, 
I may not think walks quite alone, 

Failing some friendly hand to slip 
Within his own. 

Those whom he loved aforetime, still, 
I doubt not bear him company; 

Yea, even laughter yet may thrill 
Where he may be. 

A thought,  a fancy,  who may tell? 
Yet I who ever prize it so 

Feel through my tears that all is well; 
And this I know 

That God is gentle to his guest, 
And therefore I may gladly say, 

Surely the things he loved the best 
Are his to-day." 

Theodosia Garrison 



334 



Edna Hanley Byers 

For thirty-seven years (1932-1969) Edna Hanley Byers was Agnes 
Scott's librarian. When she came to the College, the library was housed 
in what is now called the Hub and contained 20,000 volumes and 
received 100 periodicals; when she retired, there were 1 15,000 volumes 
and subscriptions to over 600 periodicals. The staff had grown from 
the librarian and one assistant to a total of nine, including the librarian. 
The library had also in 1936 moved to a new and much larger building 
which Mrs. Byers planned. 

Edna Ruth Hanley was born on March 30, 1900; she died on Febru- 
ary 16, 1972. Educated at Bluffton College in Ohio, from which she 
took her B.A. in 1923, she went on to the University of Michigan where 
she received a B.A. in library science in 1927 and a master's degree in 
the same field in 1934. She began her professional career at Bluffton, 
where she was librarian for five years prior to coming to Agnes Scott. 
For three summers in the early 1940's she was Reference Assistant in 
the New York Public Library, and during five summers in the 1950's 
she lectured in the Library School of the University of Michigan. On 
December 16, 1950, she was married to Noah Ebersole Byers. 

In addition to being an expert librarian, Mrs. Byers was a widely 
recognized authority on Library buildings, and her book College and 
University Library Buildings, published in 1939, won national recog- 
nition, so much so that on a number of occasions she served as con- 
sultant to various colleges as they planned new library facilities. For 
her achievements in her profession, she was listed in Who 's Who in 
America. 

Edna Byers was a prodigious worker. Morning, noon, and night she 
was in the library. The phrase "in the library" is the correct one to use 
for her. She was seldom in her office. Rather she was at the circulation 
desk, in the stacks, among the periodicals, at the card catalogue, or in 
the technical services work room. She seemed to be everywhere in the 
library at once, and she never asked a member of her staff to do any- 
thing which she was not willing to do herself. It is not surprising, there- 
fore, that she had the respect and loyalty of all library personnel. The 
faculty also admired her and had confidence in her as did the Presi- 
dents of the College to whom she was directly responsible. 

It has been noted elsewere in this account (see p. 161) that Mrs. 
Byers more than anyone else was responsible for the excellence of 
Agnes Scott's Robert Frost Collection. The poet himself called her his 



335 



"indefatigable collector," and she was just that. She "mothered" the 
Frost Collection, and her sharp eye was always alert for possible addi- 
tions. It is highly appropriate that when she retired the Board of Trus- 
tees named the Frost Collection in her honor. 

Edna Hanley Byers was a warm, caring person, deeply loyal to her 
friends. It is not an overstatement to say that the excellence of today's 
McCain Library is largely due to the foundations which she laid during 
her thirty-seven year tenure as Agnes Scott's librarian. 



336 



John O. Flint 



As these lines are written, John O. Flint is in his ninety-eighth year 
 still very much alive and amazingly active, ram-rod erect in his 
posture, continuing to take early morning walks around his neighbor- 
hood. He recently attended a college function, coming alone on the 
public transportation system. John Flint is a worthy respresentative of 
all the black people who have contributed so much to Agnes Scott. 

Mr. Flint, as he is known on campus, was born in Covington, New- 
ton County, Georgia, in 1883. He first tried farming as a gainful occu- 
pation, but not liking agriculture, he in 1910 decided to move to 
California, but he never got any farther than Decatur where he stopped 
to visit his sister and became associated with Agnes Scott. He began as 
janitor in Rebekah Scott Hall and soon became head waiter in White 
House dining room. As head waiter, he was in charge of the other 
waiters and demanded from them the same meticulousness in dress 
that he practiced  white coat, white shirt, black bow tie, dark 
trousers, and highly shined black shoes. Many former students 
remember Mr. Flint as the person who rang the bell for meals and who 
immediately locked the dining room door when he ceased ringing the 
bell. When the College went to the cafeteria system for meals, Mr. 
Flint became the chief server at the head of the first steam table. 

John Flint worked in the dining hall until he was seventy, in 1953. 
Although he technically retired, he was continued on the maintenance 
staff as a painter. Later he moved from this work to being the recep- 
tionist in the Charles A. Dana Fine Arts Building. Although he ulti- 
mately retired near the end of President Alston's administration, he 
was permitted to come back and work for a brief time after Dr. Perry 
became President of the College. Thus, John Flint is the only person 
who has worked under all of the College's first four presidents. All in 
all, Mr. Flint served Agnes Scott well over fifty years, the longest 
tenure of anyone in the College's history. 

John Flint was and is a constant influence for good. The soul of 
integrity, uprightness, and dependability, he personifies the great 
principles on which Agnes Scott was founded. Always courteous and 
considerate, he is a gentleman in every sense of that term. President 
Alston commenting on John Flint in 1971 said: 

[He] is one of the finest persons in the Agnes Scott family ... a 
gentlemen . . . faithful to duty, loyal to his employer and 
friends ... [a man of] straight thinking . . . and a person of great 
integrity . . . respected by all who know him. 

For more than half a century, John Flint was for Agnes Scott stu- 
dents a daily reminder of excellence. Untold alumnae treasure their 
memories of him. 






337 



Emma May Laney 

Emma May Laney was the most powerfully influential person who 
has ever taught at Agnes Scott  at least that is the opinion of this 
writer. This is not to say that everybody liked Miss Laney. Many 
didn't, and some actually feared her, but no one could ignore her. Even 
after her retirement, she continued to be a felt presence on this campus 
even though she was hundreds of miles away. 

A native Mississippian, Emma May Laney was born on November 
27, 1886. She grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi, where she graduated 
from high school. With a B.A. degree from the Mississippi State 
College for Women and a master's degree from Columbia University, 
she first came to Agnes Scott in 1 9 1 2- 1 9 1 3 as a teacher in the Academy 
 the last year that institution existed. In 1919 she returned to Agnes 
Scott as a member of the Department of English and after thirty-seven 
years retired in 1956. In 1930 she received her Ph.D. degree from Yale 
University. After retirement, Professor Laney lived in Denver, Col- 
orado, until her death on March 25, 1969. She was a member of Phi 
Beta Kappa and of Mortar Board. 

For thirty-seven years Professor Laney dominated the Agnes Scott 
English Department and much of the faculty besides. She was a for- 
midable person, not ever to be taken lightly  one who usually took 
charge of everybody and everything with which she was associated. 
Mr. Robert Frost, whom Miss Laney introduced to Agnes Scott, is 
reputed to have remarked that if she had lived in the thirteenth cen- 
tury, she would have been the Pope. Professor George P. Hayes, long- 
time chairman of Agnes Scott's Department of English, has observed 
that to "enter her class was a searching confrontation." Someone has 
said that everyday Miss Laney demanded everything that her students 
had and a little bit more that they didn't even know they had. Like a 
whiplash she "rejected inaccuracy or sloppiness of any sort." Indeed, 
she gave short shrift to anyone who sought to avoid "intellecutal 
rigor." One alumna, known very well to this writer, has said that she 
trembled through freshman English under Miss Laney; yet this same 
person developed facility and cogency in writing and had a keen 
appreciation of literature. That Professor Laney was an effective 
teacher is beyond question. Such scholar-teachers as Ellen Douglass 
Leyburn or Virginia Prettyman or Eleanor Hutchens proudly claimed 
or claim her as their teacher. Miss Laney's interests were legion, and 
her energy was unbounded. When she was here, the student newspaper 



338 



was called The Agnes Scott News. It is alleged that the morning after 
an issue appeared, the editor could expect to find in her mailbox, a 
copy of the just published paper with every error marked  courtesy 
of Miss Laney. Such markings most likely indicated not only typo- 
graphical and spelling errors but also those in punctuation, grammar, 
and sentence structure. All this effort sprang from a genuine desire on 
Professor Laney's part to help the students put out a better paper. No 
teacher ever cared more for this College or fought harder to enhance its 
standards. It has been said that she was also the constant champion of 
the students in the meetings of the faculty. She always seemed to take 
an almost fierce delight in all she did, seldom giving quarter and never 
asking for any. 

One of Professor Laney's students at Agnes Scott was Miss Janef 
Preston who for forty-six years was a greatly loved member of the 
College's Department of English. Miss Preston, in her volume of 
poetry entitled Upon Our Pulses, includes a sonnet called "Heightened 
Hour" which she admitted is about Miss Laney's teaching and classes. 
This writer has never read a finer tribute from a student about a 
teacher: 

Your class was not mere time from bell to bell: 
It was a heightened hour of quick surprise 
Our pulses measured as you wove the spell 
That gave us ears and unsealed our eyes. 
Chaucer charmed us with a laughing tale, 
Milton summoned us with grandeur's call, 
Spenser sang and Keats's nightingale, 
And Eliot with the hidden waterfall. 
Though wonder was about you, you were formed 
Of other elements than magic's fire: 
With militant delight you daily stormed 
Our sleeping wills, commanding our desire 
To wake and stir and reach and sternly strive 
To be  and be entirely alive. 

By any and all criteria, Professor Laney was a formative force in 
Agnes Scott's growth toward excellence. 



339 



Ellen Douglass Leyburn 

Ellen Douglass Leyburn was the greatest scholar-teacher that this 
writer has ever had the privilege of knowing. At the time of her death, 
one of her colleagues wrote that Professor Leyburn "always managed 
to make something other than excellence in college matters be the 
issue; she made us expect excellence as a given." Another faculty col- 
league wrote, "From the first time I heard of her, in letters more than 
two decades ago from a freshman captivated by her classes, Ellen 
Douglass Leyburn's name has meant to me the utmost in integrity in 
teaching .... She was one of those rare persons whose uncompro- 
mising standards made us all want to do better than our best and 
whose campassion with failure inspired us to get up and start again." 

Born on September 2 1 , 1907, in Durham, North Carolina, where her 
father was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, she moved as a 
child to Rome, Georgia, where she finished high school and from 
which she entered Agnes Scott in 1923. An English major, she grad- 
uated from Agnes Scott in 1927 and the next year received her master's 
degree from Radcliffe. From 1 928 to 1 932 she taught in private schools 
and subsequently entered Yale University from which she received her 
Ph.D. degree in 1934. She then returned to Agnes Scott as instructor in 
English and rose steadily through the ranks until at the time of her 
death on March 20, 1966, she was Professor of English and Chairman 
of the Department. 

Through the years, Professor Leyburn was constantly publishing 
articles in scholarly journals and reading penetrating papers before 
professional societies. In 1956 the Yale University Press published her 
first book, Satiric Allegory: Mirror of Man, and when she died, she left 
a manuscript which was posthumously published by the University of 
North Carolina Press as Strange Alloy: The Relation of Comedy to 
Tragedy in the Fiction of Henry James. 

The tribute adopted by the faculty on May 13, 1966, made these 
observations about Professor Leyburn: 

She dedicated herself fully to the purposes of Agnes Scott and 
worked untiringly for its well-being. Always critical of what was 
unworthy, shabby or less than first-rate, she gave the best re- 
sources of her mind to thought about what would improve the 
College. Over the years she served on many important commit- 
tees. The Independent Study Program was the fruit of a study she 
led, and the statement of its purpose is hers . . . . In the classroom 
she aimed at giving over the discussion to the students. At other 
times when her questioning elicited an inarticulate reply, she 
would rephrase the student's answer so that the student was 
astonished at her own intelligence. 



340 



One alumna who entered Agnes Scott in 1934 and who was privi- 
leged to have freshman English with Professor Leyburn has written: 
"It was she who guided my willing but diffused mind to the joys and 
insights of intellectual excitement combined with scholarly endeavor." 

President Wallace M. Alston has observed that Professor Leyburn 
"was a superb teacher who made vigorous demands upon herself and 
who would not tolerate shabby or tawdry work from her students. 
Teaching was serious business, so far as Ellen Douglass Leyburn was 
concerned. She had an exalted notion of the teacher's role because she 
believed the discovery and imparting of truth to be the most important 
venture in which a human life can be engaged." 

At the memorial service held in Gaines Chapel on June 1, 1966, 
Dean of the Faculty C. Benton Kline, Jr., led the memorial prayer. 
Here is what he said: 

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, 

By whom we are created, in whose love we are kept, and to whom 
we go at our appointed time: 

We remember before thee today, Ellen Douglass Leyburn, our 
colleague, our teacher, our friend. 

We thank thee for her integrity, born out of her singleness of 
purpose and evidenced in all her words and deeds; 

We thank thee for her intelligence, exhibited in classroom and in 
private conversation alike, and illuminating in its brilliance 
every subject to which she turned her mind; 

We thank thee for her humility, that made her a person without 
pretense and found in others the qualities they hardly knew 
themselves to possess; 

We thank thee for her devotion to duty, exemplified in her teach- 
ing, in her response to the needs of students, and in every re- 
sponsibility fulfilled with promptness and with zeal; 

We thank thee for her courage, which made her life through many 
years and especially in its latter months a rare testimony to all 
who knew her; 

We thank thee for her faith, never flaunted but quietly yet vigor- 
ously attested in every moment in her life. 

We thank thee that this College and our lives bear the marks of 
her years here, and we pray that we may ourselves be touched 
with something of the same integrity and intelligence, humility 
and devotion to duty, courage and faith. 

O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen 
and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the 
fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy 
grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

There is no question about it. Agnes Scott has never had a greater 
faculty member than Ellen Douglass Leyburn. 



341 



Mary Stuart MacDougall 

Atlanta's "first woman of the year in education" was Dr. Mary 
Stuart MacDougall  so named when the women of the year awards 
were initiated in 1944. From 1919 to 1952, "Miss Mac" was Professor 
of Biology and chairman of the department at Agnes Scott, and she left 
an indelible impression on all who knew her. In addition to her teach- 
ing, she was a nationally known research biologist, and her textbook 
Biology: The Science of Life, written in collaboration with Robert 
Hegner of The Johns Hopkins University and published in 1943, was 
so popular (It was adopted by 96 colleges and universities.) that many 
additional printings were necessary after the first run was exhausted. 
As would be expected, a stream of scholarly papers also came from her 
research. 

One former student, writing in The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly, 
has characterized Professor MacDougall as "stalking through the 
door" of her office. Then this alumna goes on to observe: 

Few people have the figure or the poise for stalking. Miss Mac 
has both. She is a tall well-built woman with fine wisping hair, a 
resolute mouth and the aristocratic features of her ancestors. As 
she stalks to the swivel chair by the great arched window, you feel 
a wave of that old Freshman awe returning, from the days when 
an assistant called the roll of your biology class, another assistant 
graded your papers, and "the lady of the red robe" entered only to 
lecture  then disappeared again. When she has caught her 
breath, Miss Mac speaks. And the statuesque illusion is imme- 
diately shattered. For her voice is warm and womanly. 

For some students Professor MacDougall could be forbidding, but 
for those who persevered and got beyond first impressions, she could 
become a firm, supportive, interested, life-long friend. She was never 
one to suffer fools gladly; however, for those whom she came to value 
and appreciate, she formed a continuing warm attachment. 

Mary Stuart MacDougall was born in Laurenburg, Scotland 
County, North Carolina, on November 7, 1882. She died in Decatur, 
Georgia, on June 19, 1972, in her ninetieth year. Because of family 
responsibilities, she entered college later than most young women; 
however, she received her B.A. degree at Randolph-Macon Woman's 
College in 1912 and took her master's degree at the University of 
Chicago in 1916. Columbia University granted her the Ph.D. degree in 
1925, and ten years later she received the Sc.D. degree from the Uni- 
versite de Montpellier in France. In the early 1930's, she was the 



342 



recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim fellowship which enabled her 
to pursue her research in Europe. Her special field of biology was 
protozoology. After teaching at Athens College (1912-1914), Shorter 
College (1914-1917), and Winthrop College (1917-1919), she became 
Professor of Biology at Agnes Scott in 1919, from which post she 
retired in 1952. 

Professor MacDougall achieved scientific distinction far beyond the 
Agnes Scott campus. In 1927 she was a research associate at The John 
Hopkins University and in 1931 a Guggenheim Fellow at the Kaiser 
Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. During World War II, she was a consult- 
ant with the U.S. Public Health Service in malaria. In 1927 she was 
president of the Georgia Academy of Science and from 1942 to 1946 
president of the Association of Southeastern Biologists. In 1952 this 
latter organization gave her its award "for meritorious service and 
contributions as a teacher and leader in biology. " She was a member of 
Phi Beta Kappa and was listed in Who's Who in America. 

In addition to her scientific interests "Miss Mac" was skilled in 
needlework  crocheting, needlepoint and petitpoint, and many 
beautiful finished products demonstrated the perfection of her work in 
this area. 

"Miss Mac" was indeed a woman to be admired. Her achievements 
as a scientist brought great honor to Agnes Scott. 



343 



Joseph Maclean 

For twenty-five years, from 1893 to 1918, the Department of Music 
at Agnes Scott and Joseph Maclean were almost synonymous terms. 
First as teacher of music, then as Director of the School of Music, and 
ultimately as Professor of Music and Chairman of the Department, 
Joseph Maclean was for years, after the President, the highest paid 
person in the Agnes Scott faculty or adminsitration. Professor Emer- 
itus Margaret T. Phythian, who as a student knew Mr. Maclean, has 
characterized him as a "great gentleman." He was deeply devoted to 
Dean Hopkins and frequently had an invitation to dine at her table in 
the College dining hall. All students respected and admired him. 

Joseph Maclean was born in York, South Carolina, on October 5, 
1861. He was educated in the schools of his native community, at 
Lenoir Preparatory School, and at Davidson College. He received 
special musical training in New York under Burdett Mason and at the 
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He served as a musical editor of 
"The New Psalms and Hymns," published in 1901, and wrote the 
music for three of the hymns in that volume. In addition, he was 
organist in the North Avenue Presbyterian Church and in the Central 
Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. 

His married life was made tragic by death. In October, 1893, shortly 
after coming to Agnes Scott, he married Miss Elizabeth Graham, who 
died just over ten months later on giving birth to a son who survived his 
mother by just one day. Mother and son were buried in the same grave. 

Mr. Maclean resigned his post at Agnes Scott in order to engage in 
Y.M.C.A. and Red Cross work during World War I. Professor 
Phythian reports that word came back to the College that the soldiers 
loved him greatly. Perhaps his own great tragedy enabled him to be 
more than usually understanding and helpful. At any rate, he rose to 
the rank of major. In 1922 his health broke, and he returned to York to 
live with a cousin. He died on December 29, 1924, and was buried in 
Charlotte, North Carolina, beside his young wife and infant son. 

The name of no former professor is more often used by present 
students than is that of Joseph Maclean. In 1940 when Presser Hall 
was built, the small auditorium on the second floor was named for 
him. Since that time, chapels recitals, lectures, plays, films have used 
this multi-purpose hall which seats 300 people. Perhaps no other single 
facility on the campus is more useful than is Maclean Auditorium. 
Thus, Professor Maclean's name is almost a by-word at Agnes Scott, 
and those here now unconsciously honor the memory of this gentle 
man who laid the foundations for music on this campus. 



344 



Mary Louise McKinney 

For seventy-four years Professor Louise McKinney lived on the 
Agnes Scott campus. She joined the faculty in 1891 when the institu- 
tion was just two years old, and she retired from active teaching forty- 
six years later in 1937; however, in retirement she continued to live on 
the campus until her death in 1965 when she was in her ninety-seventh 
year. Thus, her association with Agnes Scott spans a longer period 
than that of any other person ever connected with the College. 

Mary Louise McKinney was born in Farmville, Prince Edward 
County, Virginia, on December 7, 1868. She died in Decatur, Georgia, 
on January 26, 1965. She was a graduate of the State Teacher's College 
in Farmville, but at the time she finished, that institution did not grant 
degrees; thus, she was a full professor at Agnes Scott for forty-six years 
but never held an academic degree of any kind. She had planned to go 
to Vassar for her degree, but after coming to Agnes Scott, she never 
seemed to find the occasion to take the necessary time off. She did, 
however, go away frequently for further schooling in the summers. 

Miss McKinney was just twenty-two years old when she arrived at 
Agnes Scott. When the telegram came offering her a job, her father 
was considerably upset about his young daughter going so far from 
home and is reputed to have remarked, "Where is this Decatur any- 
way? Obviously they don't even have a telegraph office there. This 
telegram came from Atlanta!" But Miss McKinney did accept the post 
 her first and only teaching position in an active career that covered 
almost half a century. 

Professor McKinney was a demanding and inspiring teacher, and 
years after she retired alumnae would flock to her house on Alumnae 
Day to renew their friendship with her. About her President James 
Ross McCain has written as follows: 

In addition to her teaching, Miss McKinney had many other 
duties. She was a chaperone and house mother. She served as 
Registrar, and some of the best records we have . . . are those 
which she kept. She was Chairman of the Admission Committee 
for many years. When I came to the College fifty years ago, Dr. 
Gaines, who was President, wanted me to get really acquainted 
with the life of Agnes Scott, so he suggested, "I'll appoint you as a 
member of the Admission Committee, and you will learn more 
from Miss McKinney than in any other way." I found this to be 
entirely true. 

It was just fun to watch her work. She was very strict. In a day 



345 



when the catalogues of most institutions were mere window dress- 
ing, she insisted that the Agnes Scott publication must be taken 
literally. If it stated that "Macbeth" were required, it would never 
do to offer "Hamlet." If four books of "Caesar" were required, 
pages from Sallust could not be used. It was such meticulous care 
that won for Agnes Scott a great reputation for fine, dependable 
work. It was tough on the students; but, when the institution 
claimed in 1906 to be a college, it was immediately admitted to 
membership in the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges, 
the first college or university in Georgia to have this honor. Miss 
McKinney had a large part in this. 

In 1891 the west end of Main Building was a chapel. In 1906 
Rebekah Scott Hall was erected, and the Chapel was located 
there. After that, the west end of Main was divided into class- 
rooms, and Room 42, the southwest corner of the first floor, 
where Miss McKinney taught, became a legend. Thousands of 
students found inspiration there, and Room 42 is now named The 
McKinney Room. It is appropriate that her portrait should hang 
in the room now, just over the point where her desk stood and 
where she presided for so long. 

Professor McKinney was a great lover of literature and had the 
ability to impart that love to her students. It is highly fitting that the 
annual Louise McKinney Book Award should perpetuate this excel- 
lency of her long tenure at Agnes Scott. This award is a cash prize given 
annually to the student who from May to May in the opinion of the 
judges accumulates the most discriminating personal library and who 
shows a real knowledge of her books. 

Until the end of her life Miss McKinney's mind was clear, and her 
memory was excellent. Fortunately, under the title "Some Imperfect 
Recollections of the Early History of Agnes Scott College" she set 
down in long hand many of her memories of the College. One day 
when she was well into her nineties, she called the present writer to her 
house and placed in his hands three little loose-leaf notebooks  those 
precious recollections which are a treasure trove of Agnes Scott lore. 
Understandably, he still has them and guards them jealously. 

It is not extravagant to call Professor Louise McKinney a founder of 
Agnes Scott, for along with Col. Scott and Dr. Gaines and Dean 
Hopkins, she was one of the earliest in that noble company who 
charted the course and established the standards and integrity of the 
College. She stands in the front rank of Agnes Scott's greats. 



346 



P.J. Rogers, Jr. 

In 1946 at the age of twenty-five, P.J. Rogers, Jr., joined the ad- 
ministrative staff of Agnes Scott College. Five years later in 1 95 1 in the 
first month of President Wallace M. Alston's administration, Mr. 
Rogers was appointed Business Manager of Agnes Scott, becoming at 
the early age of 30 one of the major administrative officers of the 
College. Thus, for approximately half his life, this man spent himself 
for this institution. 

P.J. Rogers, Jr., was born in Covington, Georgia, on June 22, 1921. 
He died very suddenly in his home on the Agnes Scott campus on 
March 14, 1970. Mr. Rogers grew up in his native community, remain- 
ing there through high school. After attending North Georgia College 
in Dahlonega and prior to joining the Agnes Scott staff, he was asso- 
ciated with the Retail Credit Company and with the Georgia Institute 
of Technology. On November 27, 1941, he married Miss Virginia 
Wallace, and they were the parents of five children. 

In commenting on Mr. Rogers, President Alston has said, "I have 
never known a man who knew so much about so many things." This 
comment is not an overstatement, and many in the faculty could give 
numerous examples of Mr. Roger's vast knowledge and "know-how." 
For instance, if one wanted to employ a painter, a carpenter, a roofer, 
or a plumber, he sought Mr. Rogers' advice. This man knew where one 
could get a car repaired or how to save money on the purchase of 
furniture or linoleun or garden tools. He could give good counsel on 
the preparation of an income tax form or on what one should do to 
meet the requirements of the local housing code. All this great store of 
knowledge was shared with generosity and enthusiasm. Indeed, he did 
more than just share; he participated. One faculty member, needing a 
power lawn mower, spoke to Mr. Rogers about the matter and found 
himself being personally accompanied to a dealer where Mr. Rogers 
helped in the selection of the mower and by his presence assisted in 
negotiating an advantageous price for the purchaser. Such stories as 
this one are legion about this useful man. 

But it is on the Agnes Scott campus itself that he left his most sig- 
nificant mark. As was noted at his funeral service, there's not a build- 
ing, a tree, or bush, or a blade of grass at Agnes Scott that does not 
speak of him. As purchasing agent, he bought almost everything the 
College uses, from paper and pencils to scientific equipment for the 
laboratories or instruments for the studios. As the administrator in 



347 



charge of buildings and grounds, he personally devised and supervised 
every alteration to the campus from the major remodeling of a build- 
ing to the selection of a spot to plant a shrub. As the employer and 
supervisor of all non-contract employees, he was directly involved in 
the lives of a larger number of people than almost any other person in 
the College. It was Mr. Rogers who was the contact person with the 
community in the growth of the campus. He recommended the prop- 
erty that the College should purchase and then was an active partici- 
pant in each step until the final transaction. If a new building was 
erected, Mr. Rogers worked closely with the architect in all planning 
and designing, then with the builder in the construction, next with the 
suppliers of furnishings and equipment, and finally with the occupants 
in their becoming adjusted to the new facility. No person, except the 
President of the College himself, was related to so many facets of 
Agnes Scott's life. 

Amiable in manner, patient in spirit, profligate in the way he spent 
himself, Mr. Rogers' primary interest was people  human beings in 
all walks of life. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week he was 
available to help, to encourage, to sustain  this assistance being 
offered in an unostentatious way that invited confidence and endeared 
him to one and all. 

In 1958 the students of Agnes Scott dedicated the Silhouette to Mr. 
Rogers. Here is what they said of him: 

Mr. P.J. Rogers is the man behind the scenes at Agnes Scott. As 
Business Manager of the College, he has a tremendous task in the 
practical, everyday job of keeping the college going. It is his place 
to supervise the maintenance, the budget, the buying of equip- 
ment and all repair work .... Add to these the many 
miscellaneous jobs which fall to him daily, and it is indeed 
amazing to note the competency, swiftness, and effectiveness with 
which he works. 

The students used the word amazing to describe P.J. Rogers, Jr. For 
those who knew him during his quarter of a century with Agnes Scott, 
that word is exactly the one for him. 



348 



Carrie Scandrett 

Dean Carrie Scandrett was born in Cordele, Georgia, where she 
grew up. In the autumn of 1920 she entered Agnes Scott as a freshman, 
and from that day to the end of her life in June, 1981, with the excep- 
tion of one year immediately following her graduation in 1924, she was 
an integral part of the on-going life of this College  four years as a 
student, forty-four years as a member of the administration, and 
finally approximately a dozen years as an emeritus person living adja- 
cent to the campus. 

As an undergraduate Carrie Scandrett was president of Student 
Government, a singer in the Glee Club, and a member of the varsity 
hockey team. She also took a double major in chemistry and Latin. In 
the Silhouette for 1924, her classmates wrote as follows: 

Dick is, without doubt, the most popular and best-loved girl in the 
College. 

Miss Scandrett spent 1924-1925 away from Agnes Scott working 
with the Y.W.C.A. and returned in 1925 as secretary to DeanNannette 
Hopkins. In 1931 she became assistant dean, and on Miss Hopkins' 
retirement and death in 1938, Miss Scandrett was named Dean of 
Students, a post which she held for thirty-one years until her retire- 
ment in 1969. Along the way she found time to earn an M.A. degree 
from Columbia University. A part of the Trustees' resolution adopted 
in the spring of 1969 reads this way: 

It is as dean of students for thirty-one years that Carrie Scan- 
drett has been a major influence in determining the excellent 
college that Agnes Scott is. Indeed, it is not too much to say that 
she has touched more young people constructively and deter- 
minatively than has anyone else who has ever been at Agnes Scott. 
Miss Scandrett has always been available  twenty-four hours a 
day, seven days a week. Every student has been her individual 
concern, and in countless ways, many of which these young 
women have never been aware of, Miss Scandrett has sustained 
and helped them. 

Dean Scandrett's duties have been legion. No area of Agnes 
Scott's life has escaped her notice, her attention, and her care. She 
has been the guide and stay of students; she has encouraged and 
counselled faculty members, and she has undergirded the 
administration with a strength and integrity that defy description 
and analysis. Devotion to duty, an abhorrence of sham and hypo- 
crisy, a directness of approach, an unerring sense of propriety, 
unbounded energy and ingenuity  these are a few of the char- 
acteristics of this distinguished woman. 



349 



Now as Dean Scandrett retires from active service to Agnes 
Scott, the Board of Trustees registers its lasting appreciation of 
and for her. Indeed, so great is Agnes Scott's debt to Carrie Scan- 
drett that it can only be acknowledged, never repaid. Ours, as a 
Board of Trustees, has been the good fortune to come to the Agnes 
Scott scene concurrently with this lady. We give thanks that we 
have had this privilege. 

When Dean Scandrett retired, the Alumnae Association on the 
Friday evening before Alumnae Day gave her a gala reception where 
there was an outpouring of love and gratitude for the honoree. She was 
presented with funds for a new car and for a color television. Also 
announcement was made of the establishment of the Carrie Scandrett 
Fund which came into reality through the gifts of countless friends and 
admirers. By action of the Trustees, the income from this Fund is used 
for student activities. 

More recently, in 1980, Dean Scandrett was further honored. On 
Alumnae Day she received an Outstanding Alumna Award for dis- 
tinguished service to the College  a recognition richly deserved. 

Carrie Scandrett never sought the limelight. Much of her effective- 
ness was accomplished quietly behind the scenes, but for approxi- 
mately sixty years, she was a moving and constructive force in the life 
of Agnes Scott. 



350 



Laura Mayes Steele 

Laura Mayes Steele was a native of Atlanta and continued to live 
there all her life. She was educated in the Atlanta Public Schools, 
graduating from the Girls' High School in 1933. She then entered 
Agnes Scott where she received her degree with honor in 1937. The 
next year (1938) she became secretary to President James Ross 
McCain, interrupting this term of service to attend Columbia Uni- 
versity from which she received her M. A. degree in college administra- 
tion. In time, she was named assistant registrar to Professor Samuel 
Guerry Stukes. President Wallace M. Alson, in the first year of his 
administration, appointed Miss Steele to be Director of Admissions, 
and when Dean Stukes retired in 1957, she became registrar as well; 
thus, for many years thereafter, she simultaneously filled two full- 
time administrative posts. At the beginning of the second year of 
President Marvin B. Perry's administration, when the positions of 
registrar and admissions director were separated, Miss Steele chose to 
be registrar, a post which she continued to fill until her sudden death 
on June 17, 1977. 

In Agnes Scott's entire history, no person has been more devoted to 
the College or more responsible in her duty than was Laura Steele. 
Whatever job she was called upon to do, she did thoroughly and well. 
The word "overtime" was not a part of her vocabulary. If she was 
responsible, she stayed with her work until it was finished. Early in the 
morning and late in the evening she was busy at Agnes Scott. She was 
even frequently in her office on Sunday afternoons. During the 
twenty-three years that she was Director of Admissions, she had a 
dictaphone at home and departed in the evening with a stack of cor- 
respondence to be handled and returned the next morning with dicta- 
belts ready for her several secretaries. She seemed to thrive on work, 
and she was tireless in discharging her duty to Agnes Scott. 

Laura Steele was also the epitome of high standards. Excellence was 
a hallmark with her. She despised gadgetry and sham and gave such 
short-cuts a wide berth. If an academic requirement made certain 
demands, she was insistent that those demands be fully met. In many 
ways she served as Agnes Scott's academic conscience and thereby 
won the respect of faculty, students, and alumnae alike. 

She believed firmly that good students are essential if a college is to 
be a good college, and to that end in her work in admissions she sought 
the best students she could find, never compromising with mediocrity 



351 



for the sake of expediency. If a good student needed financial aid, Miss 
Steele was that student's champion in the Scholarship Committee. 

Laura Steele was the personification of accuracy. The precision with 
which she kept the College's academic records is legendary. No detail 
was too insignificant for her scrutiny, and her eyes went everywhere. 
Around Agnes Scott it was general knowledge that she was the best 
proofreader on campus. Someone has said that "trifles make perfec- 
tion and perfection is no trifle." Certainly Laura Steele aimed for 
perfection, and the constant excellence of her work attested to her un- 
ceasing attention to detail. 

She was involved in almost everything that mattered at Agnes Scott. 
She was a member of the Academic Council, of the Curriculum Com- 
mittee, of the Administrative Committee, of the Scholarship Com- 
mittee, and of the Admissions Committee, to say nothing of a host of 
ad hoc committees. She was the trusted confidant of her peers, and 
President Alson has often spoken of how much he relied on her 
judgment. 

At the service in her memory, conducted in Gaines Chapel on 
September 23, 1977, former Dean of the Faculty C. Benton Kline, Jr., 
concluded his remarks with this summation: 

Laura Steele is one of a great procession of women  and men 
 to whom this college owes it character and its very being. But 
she was Laura Steele  unique  herself  intelligent and wise, 
charming and compulsive, committed to honesty and truth, to her 
family, to Agnes Scott and to almightly God in whose glory and 
grace and guidance she daily put her trust, and in whose presence 
she does surely abide. 

Such was Laura Mayes Steele. For four decades she served her alma 
mater with uncommon devotion and skill. So effective was her service 
that Agnes Scott may never see her like again. 



352 



Samuel Guerry Stukes 

Samuel Guerry Stukes served Agnes Scott for forty-four years  
first as professor, then as professor and registrar, and ultimately as 
professor, registrar, and dean. One of the most popular and effective 
teachers ever to be at Agnes Scott, he was the friend of all whom he 
met. On meeting a person, he had the happy faculty of making that 
person feel that he or she was the very individual he most wanted to see 
at that time. His sense of humor was infectious, and his laugh could 
frequently be heard up and down the corridor near his office. 

He was born in Manning, South Carolina, on October 1, 1887. In 
1 908 he received his B. A. degree from Davidson College and two years 
later was awarded the master's degree from Princeton University. 
Princeton Theological Seminary granted him the bachelor of divinity 
degree in 1913, and his alma mater, Davidson, awarded him an honor- 
ary doctorate in 1944. He engaged in graduate study at Yale in 1916- 
1917. Professor Stukes was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. During 
World War I, he served first in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and then as 
a cadet in the Air Service Aviation School. In 1924 Professor Stukes 
married Frances Gilliland, an Agnes Scott graduate. They had one 
daughter, Majorie. 

In 1913, Guerry Stukes joined the Agnes Scott faculty and in his 
own words gave his life to the College. He immediately established 
himself as a top-flight teacher. The late President James Ross McCain, 
in his unpublished memoirs, has written that, when he was considering 
coming to Agnes Scott, he expressed apprehension about his ability to 
teach Bible (not his field) and also to use the lecture method in teach- 
ing. Dr. Gaines' answer was to say, "Let me take you to a Bible class 
that is well taught." He then took Dr. McCain to hear Professor 
Stukes teach. And decades later President McCain still remembered 
the excellence of the class which he attended. 

Writing in The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly when Dean Stukes 
retired, Professor Mildred R. Mell observed that as Dean of the 
Faculty, Professor Stukes always held tenaciously "to his determina- 
tion that academic standards at Agnes Scott must be kept high and 
therefore must be subject constantly to critical evaluation and revi- 
sion . . . . " Commenting further, Professor Mell refers to Dean 
Stukes "as guide, as counsellor, as ready-listener, as fellow teacher and 
as friend." 

On three different occasions (1916, 1940, and 1957) the students 



353 



dedicated the Silhouette to Dean Stukes. In each dedication his 
interest in people is highlighted. Here is what the seniors said about 
him the year he retired: 

Because places reflect the people who make them what they are 
and because people we love reveal to us the spirit of the places they 
have helped to create, his [Dean Stukes's] presence will always be 
an inseparable part of the life of our college. In his positions as 
Professor, Counselor, Dean of the Faculty, and Registrar, his 
leadership and service for forty-four years have shown us the true 
meaning of the intellectual and spiritual ideals which we value. 
When time obliterates the problems that we brought to him and 
the jokes we shared, his laughter will voice itself in our hearts, and 
his love and loyalty will shine before us like a star. 

It is also worthty of note that from 1944 to 1971, Professor Stukes 
served as a member of the Agnes Scott Board of Trustees. Thus, an 
official association begun in 1913 lasted for fifty-eight years. 

After Dean Stukes retired from Agnes Scott, he began a whole new 
career when he became Educational Consultant with the Decatur 
Federal Savings and Loan Association. In this new post his expertise 
in education became available to the larger community as he gave 
counsel and advice on any educational problem to students and 
parents alike. Many people gratefully recall the excellence and wisdom 
of his counsel in this new post. 

Samuel Guerry Stukes died on October 23, 1975, at age 88. Summa- 
rizing his funeral service, The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly put it 
this way: 

As the majestic strains of Luther's "A Mighty Fortress" filled the 
sanctuary of the Decatur Presbyterian Church  the church he 
loved so well  friends who came to mourn the passing of Dean 
Guerry Stukes fondly recalled all that he had meant to his family, 
his friends, his church, and to the College he served so long. 

There could be no doubt that this funeral service was that of a 
man whose life was dedicated to his faith and to his beloved Agnes 
Scott College. Following the reading of Old Testament scripture, 
including the Agnes Scott Psalm 103, and New Testament texts 
that included the motto of the College, II Peter 1:5, Dr. Wallace 
Alston, President Emeritus of the College, paid loving tribute to 
his friend and fellow-worker. 

"For 62 years Guerry Stukes meant Agnes Scott to his com- 
munity, for even after his retirement in 1957 he had a close rela- 
tionship to the College, and rendered service after the retirement 
date. His was a ministry of service. Many have invested in Agnes 



354 



Scott. They have invested money, time, and their lives. The in- 
vestments of Guerry Stukes were even more significant, because 
they reflected an inner spirit of caring. 

"Dr. Stukes' life was one of caring. He cared about people. He 
was a great and loving counselor. He cared about everyone with 
whom he came into contact, from the newest student to the 
humblest member of the staff. He was a scholar, but a scholar with 
a heart. 

"Guerry Stukes had an uncanny ability to put himself in the 
background. He ran from publicity; he was modest, humble; a 
gentle man. And he integrated a real concern for academics with a 
genuine, simple Christian faith." 

In a moving letter read by Dr. Alson during the service, and 
written by Dr. Stukes on the day after his formal retirement, 
Agnes Scott's beloved Dean expressed his gratitude to everyone 
with whom he had come into contact at the College: students, 
faculty, staff, alumnae, carpenters, maids, and engineers, and he 
ended the letter, "Thank God for Agnes Scott." To which Dr. 
Alston replied, "God has called a beloved person home. Thank 
God for his life and for his influence." 

(See also pp. 157-158) 



355 



Anna Irwin Young 

Professor Anna Irwin Young was born in the greater Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania, area on November 25, 1873. Her father, the Rev. 
Samuel Young, a native of Ireland, was at the time pastor of the San- 
dusky Street Church in Allegheny just across the Allegheny River 
from Pittsburgh. In the middle 1890's Mr. Young moved his family to 
Atlanta where he lived for the remainder of his life. 

For two years beginning in 1893, Anna Young was a student in 
Agnes Scott Institute, apparently completing her work in 1895. In 
1898 she was appointed to the Department of Mathematics, rising to 
be Professor of Mathematics, a post she held until her death in 1920. 
She also served as Librarian from 1898 to 1902. When Agnes Scott 
became a college in 1905-1906, she continued in the college faculty; 
however, feeling that she should have a degree, she took the requisite 
courses and received her B.A. degree in 1910 although while she was 
pursuing this work she was concurrently Professor of Mathematics. 
Professor Young took a leave of absence in 1913-1914 during which 
time she received her M. A. degree from Columbia University. She died 
quite unexpectedly of pneumonia on September 3, 1920, while visiting 
relatives in Pittsburgh. 

From every evidence at hand, Professor Anna I. Young must have 
been one of the most effective and greatly loved faculty members who 
ever taught at Agnes Scott. Shortly after her death, a little pamphlet 
was published entitled simply "Miss Anna." This pamphlet tells of her 
excellence as a teacher, of her conern that her students do well, and of 
her understanding of their difficulties. One account is of a senior who 
repeatedly failed trigonometry "until the day came when she had the 
last exam that she could have on it. And she'd studied so hard and was 
so scared that in the glare of the classroom and under the sound of the 
thumping of her own heart she forgot everything she knew and didn't 
try to work some of the problems. That night she was sent for and she 
went to Miss Young's room. 'Now,' said Miss Young sweetly and 
firmly, 'I know you know this, and I know you can work these 
problems. Sit down in that chair and work them.' And there in the 
quiet she worked them. And so  she passed." 

The first issue of The Agonistic for the 1920-1921 year carried a 
front page article about Professor Young, part of which reads as 
follows: 



356 



It is hard indeed for the students of Agnes Scott to express our 
grief. Our sense of loss is too great, for Miss Young was everything 
to us that a fine professor, a friend whose sympathy was un- 
bounded, and a Christian character, whose life was all service for 
others could be. In everything that pertained to our college she 
was sincerely interested. An alumna of Agnes Scott herself, she 
was tireless in her activities in behalf of the alumnae of Agnes 
Scott, and always the staunchest supporter of everything that 
could contribute to the welfare and growth of our college. And in 
the students and their affairs, there was none more helpful. 
Whether we went to her for advice in personal affairs or in those 
things that concerned the college community, we found the same 
ready counsellor and willing spirit. She helped us with our little 
tasks that were hard, and again with student government affairs, 
our Y.W.C. A., our united war work drives  in fact, with every- 
thing that demanded real aid. 

The Class of 1920, the last group that Professor Young lived to see 
graduate, dedicated The Silhouette to her with these words: 

To her whose loyal devotion has ever been an inspiration in our 
college life. 

When the Alumnae House was erected in 1923, it was named the 
Anna Young Alumnae House in memory of Professor Young. In the 
main hall of this building hangs a panel which features a profile like- 
ness of Miss Young. Below the likeness is inscribed one of her favorite 
quotations: "Till the day dawns." She undoubtedly was a catalyst for 
excellence and goodness in the early days of Agnes Scott. 



357 



Directory 



358 



Chairmen, Board of Trustees 

Agnes Scott College 

1889-1982 

Frank Henry Gaines 1889-1896 

George Washington Scott 1896-1903 

Samuel Martin Inman 1903-1914 

Joseph K. Orr 1914-1938 

George Winship 1938-1956 

Hal L. Smith 1956-1973 

Alex P. Gaines 1973-1979 

Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. 1979- 



Presidents of Agnes Scott College 
1889-1982 

Frank Henry Gaines 1896-1923 

James Ross McCain 1923-1951 

Wallace McPherson Alston 1951-1973 

Marvin Banks Perry, Jr. 1973-1982 



359 



Trustees of Agnes Scott College, 1889-1982 



Adams, Hilda McConnell, '23 

1930-1932 
Addison, Dorothy Halloran, '43 

1982- 
Aidinoff, Celia Spiro, '51 

1980- 
Allen, Ivan, Jr. 

1959-1977 
Allen, Jane King, '59 

1976-1980 
Alston, Wallace M. 

1946-1973 
Alston, Wallace M., Jr. 

1979- 
Anderson, Neal L. 

1923-1931 
Barnett, Edward H. 

1889-1898 
Barnett, Penelope Brown, '32 

1942-1944 
Bellingrath, W.A. 

1922-1937 
Bernard, Louise Isaacson, '46 

1978- 
Bradley, S. Hugh 

1943-1963 
Bridewell, C.P. 

1900-1906 
Brownlee, E.D. 

1926-1954 
Bryan, John E. 

1944-1949 
Calhoun, Abner W. 

1904-1905 
Cameron, Elizabeth Henderson, '43 

1982- 
Campbell, J. Bulow 

1926-1940 
Candler, C. Murphey 

1889-1935 
Candler G. Scott 

1924-1972 
Candler, G. Scott, Jr. 

1972- 
Candler, Milton A. 

1896-1909 



Cecil, R. 

1900-1902 
Crane, B.,S. 

1889-1896 
Crichton, Ann Avant, '61 

1978- 
Cunningham, John R. 

1927-1928 
Curry, Albert B. 

1900-1906 
Davis, Neil O. 

1966- 
Dendy, Marshall C. 

1945-1975 Emeritus 1975- 
Dobbs, R. Howard 

1959-1970 
Dobyns, W.R. 

1922-1931 
Donaldson, Fannie Mayson, '12 

1926-1929 
DuBose, Warner H. 

1932-1944 
Dunseith, D.A. 

1928-1936 
Durrett, Cora Morton, '24 

1934-1936 
Dwyer, Frances Craighead, '28 

1936-1938 
Eagan, John J. 

1906-1920 
Elliott, William M., Jr. 

1939-1944 
Equen, Anne Hart, '21 

1940-1942 
Evans, Letitia Pate 

1949-1953 
Fifield, Harry A. 

1954- 
Flinn, Elizabeth Blackshear, '38 

1968-1970 
Flinn, Richard Orme 

1920-1948 
Fowler, Mary Prim, '29 

1958-1960 
Frist, J. Chester 

1954-1959 



360 



Gaines, Alex P. 

1959- 
Gaines, Frank H. 

1889-1923 
Gardner, William V. 

1943-1953 
Geffcken, Katherine A., '49 

1975- 
Gellerstedt, L.L. 

1944-1970 Emeritus 1970-1978 
Gellerstedt, L.L., Jr. 

1969- 
Gellerstedt, Mary Duckworth, '46 

1978-1982 
Gilmer, Ben S. 

1960-1978 Emeritus 1978 
Gould, Edward P. 

1979- 
Gow, Jacqueline Simmons, '52 

1982- 
Guy, Allie Candler, '13 

1929-1930 
Harman, Bessie Scott, Inst. 

1917-1937 
Heltzel, Massey Mott 

1961-1976 
Henley, John H., Ill 

1950-1958 
Hollingsworth, D.W. 

1941-1965 
Holt, Francis M. 

1933-1947 
Hooper, L.M. 

1914-1920 
Hopkins, Nannette 

1927-1938 
Hutchens, Eleanor N., '40 

1962-1964 
Ingram, G. Conley 

1977- 
Inman, Frank M. 

1915-1950 
Inman, Mildred McPheeters 

1917-1947 
Inman, Samuel M. 

1898-1915 
Inman, W.P. 

1904-1905 



Jackson, J.W. 

1926-1927 
Kendrick, W.S. 

1904-1917 
Keough, Donald R. 

1975- 
King, George E. 

1920-1934 
King, Harriet M., '64 

1977- 
Kirk, Mary Wallace, '11 

1917-1978 
Lacy, B.R., Jr. 

1920-1926 
LeSourd, Catherine Marshall, '36 

1954-1977 
Lewis, Bella Wilson, '34 

1960-1962 
Lindamood, W.S. 

1917-1919 
Lingle, Walter, L. 

1906-1911 
Looney, Wilton D. 

1964-1982 
Love, J. Erskine, Jr. 

1977- 
Lupton, J.T. 

1914-1933 
Lyons, J.S. 

1914-1942 
MacDougall, Margaret McDow, '24 

1946-1948 
Mandeville, L.C. 

1906-1926 
Matheson, K.G. 

1909-1922 
Matthews, Catherine Baker, '32 

1952-1954 
McCain, James Ross 
1920-1965 
McCallie, J. P. 

1914-1917 
McClure, J. A. 

1936-1945 
McDonald, Sarah Frances, '36 

1964-1966 
McGeachy, D.P. 

1920-1951 



361 



McGeachy D.P., Jr. 

1954-1970 
Mcintosh, H.T. 

1920-1944 
McMillan, John 

1929-1941 
Miller, P.D. 

1952-1972 Emeritus 1972-1974 
Minter, J. A., Jr. 

1959-1978 Emeritus 1978 
Moore, Ansley C. 

1944-1947 
Morse, Eugenia Slack, '41 

1972-1976 
Mountcastle G.W. 

1919-1923 
Neal, J.R. 

1945-1974 
Newsome, Suzella Burns, ? 57 

1970- 
Ogden, Dunbar H. 

1909-1918; 1922-1931 
Oglesby, M. Lamar 

1978- 
Oliver, Jane Meadows, '47 

1970-1972 
Orr, Joseph K. 

1904-1938 
Owen, Jean Bailey, '39 

1954-1956 
Paschall, Eliza King, '38 

1948-1950 
Pattillo, H.G. 

1966-1976 
Patton, J.G. 

1896-1917 
Paxon, C.T. 

1926-1933 
Perry, Marvin B., Jr. 

1973-1982; 
Philips, J. Davison 

1956- 
Porter, T.V. 

1900-1903 
Read, Mary Warren, '29 

1956-1958; 1964-1979 Emeritus 1979 
Rice, Theron H. 

1896-1908 



Ridley, Margaret W., "33 

1944-1946 
Rogers, C.B. 

1978-1981 
Rushton, W.J. 

1931-1944 
Sams, Hansford, Jr. 

1970- 
Scott, George Bucher 

1896-1920 
Scott, George W. 

1889-1903 
Scott, J.J. 

1920-1976 
Shanks, P.T. 

1924-1929 
Sibley, Horace H. 

1977- 
Sibley, John A. 

1936-1972 Emeritus 1972 
Sibley, Nancy Holland, '58 

1975- 
Smith, Betty Lou Houck, '35 

1950-1952 
Smith, Daisy Frances, '24 

1938-1940 
Smith, Edward D. 

1964-1967 
Smith, Hal L. 

1952-1977 Emeritus 1977 
Smith, John E., II 

1982- 
Spencer, Samuel R. 

1975- 
Sterne, Augustus H. 

1971- 
Stoffel E. Lee 

1972- 
Stone, C.F. 

1939-1964 
Strickland, Robert 

1941-1945 
Strickler, G.B. 

1890-1896 
Stukes, S.G. 

1944-1971 Emeritus 1971-1975 
Taylor, J. Randolph 

1977- 



362 



Thatcher, Mary West, '15 

1947-1971 Emeritus 1971 
Thwaite C.E., Jr. 

1959-1964 
Tucker, Mary Emmye Curtis, '56 

1974-1978 
Venable, J.G. 

1917-1920 
Vereen, W.C. 

1914-1939 
Walker, H.K. 

1912-1914 
Walters, Frances Winship, Inst. 

1937-1954 
Wardlaw, William C, Jr. 

1957-1979 Emeritus 1979 
Waterman, Annie Louise Harrison, Inst. 

1947-1953 
Westcott, G.L. 

1939-1970 Emeritus 1970 



Weston, Marybeth Little, '48 

1966-1968 
Wey, Carol Sterns, T2 

1923-1926 
Wilburn, Llewellyn, '19 

1932-1934 
Williams, Thomas R. 

1975- 
Wilson, Diana Dyer, '32 

1954- 
Wilson, John C. 

1972-1982 
Winship, George 

1931-1956 
Woodruff, George W. 

1939-1942; 1947-1974 Emeritus 1974 
Woolford, T. Guy 

1936-1952 



363 



Presidents, Agnes Scott Alumnae Association 

1915-16 Martha Rogers, '14 

1916-19 Emma Pope Moss Dieckmann, '13 

1919-22 Mary Wallace Kirk, '11 

1922-24 Carol Sterns Wey, '12 

1924-26 Fannie Mayson Donaldson, '12 

1926-27 Mary West Thatcher, '15 

1927-28 Allie Candler Guy, '13 

1928-30 Hilda McConnell Adams, '23 

1930-32 Llewellyn Wilburn, '19 

1932-34 Cora Morton Durrett, '24 

1934-36 Frances Craighead Dwyer, '28 

1936-38 Daisy Frances Smith, '24 

1938-40 Anne Hart Equen, '21 

1940-42 Penelope Brown Barnett, '32 

1942-44 Margaret W. Ridley, '33 

1944-46 Margaret McDow MacDougall, '24 

1946-48 Eliza King Paschall, '38 

1948-50 Betty Lou Houck Smith, '35 

1950-52 Catherine Baker Matthews, '32 

1952-54 Jean Bailey Owen, '39 

1954-56 Mary Warren Read, '29 

1956-58 Mary Prim Fowler, '29 

1958-60 Bella Wilson Lewis, '34 

1960-62 Eleanor N. Hutchens, '40 

1962-64 Sarah Frances McDonald, '36 

1964-66 Marybeth Little Weston, '48 

1966-68 Elizabeth Blackshear Flinn, '38 

1968-70 Jane Meadows Oliver, '47 

1970-72 Eugenia Slack Morse, '41 

1972-74 Mary Emmye Curtis Tucker, '56 

1974-76 Jane King Allen, '59 

1976-78 Mary Duckworth Gellerstedt, '46 

1978-80 Celia Spiro Aidinoff, '51 

1980-82 Jacqueline Simmons Gow, '52 

1982- Jean Salter Reeves, '59 



364 



Major Administrative Officers, Agnes Scott College 
1889-1982 

(The persons listed here are those who at some point in the performance of their duties 
reported directly to the Board of Trustees or to the President of the College.) 



Alston, Wallace M. 

Vice President 1948-1951 
President 1951-1973 

Bahr, Richard C. 
Treasurer 1962-1967 

Barclay, Lee A. 

Vice President for Business Affairs 

1977- 

Bachman, B.M. 

Treasurer 1907-1913 

Bolles, Lois, '26 

Librarian 1929-1930 

Bond, Mary Alverta, '53 

Administrative Assistant to the 
President 1960- 

Buchanan, Nell, '22 
General Secretary 
Alumnae Association 1923-1925 

Bucher, Marian 

Librarian 1906-1919 

Byers, Edna Hanley 
Librarian 1932-1969 

Cunningham, R.B. 

Business Manager 1911-1943 

Dillard, Doyle M. 

Vice President for Business Affairs 
1976-1977 

Donaldson, Fannie Mayson, M2 
General Secretary, Alumnae 

Association 1929-1930 
Executive Secretary, Alumnae 

Association 1931-1932; 1936-1939 

Fogartie, Mary 

Librarian 1905-1906 

Gaines, Frank Henry 

Chairman, Board of Trustees 

1889-1896 
President 1896-1923 



Gary, Julia T. 

Assistant Dean of the Faculty 

1962-1967 
Associate Dean of the Faculty 

1967-1968 
Acting Dean of the Faculty 

1969-1969 
Dean of the Faculty 1969-1979 
Dean of the College 1979- 

Hannah, William M. 
Treasurer 1967-1975 

Hayes, Sarah 
Treasurer 1913-1914 

Henderson, R. James 

Vice President for Business Affairs 
1974-1976 

Hopkins, Nannette 

Principal, Decatur Female 

Seminary 1889-1890 
Principal, Agnes Scott Institute 

1890-1906 
Dean, Agnes Scott College 

1906-1938 

Howard, Nelle Chamlee, '34 
Executive Secretary, 

Alumnae Association 1939-1943 

Hutchens, Eleanor N., '40 
Director of Alumnae Affairs 

1947-1954 
Director of Publicity 1947-1954 

Hutcheson, Ann Rivers, '59 

Associate Director of Admissions 

1972-1974 
Director of Admissions 1974-1978 

Hutton, Dorothy, '29 
Executive Secretary 

Alumnae Association 1932-1936 

Johnson, Ann Worthy, 38 
Director of Alumnae Affairs 

1954-1970 
Director of Publicity 1954-1958 



365 



Jones, Roberta K. 

Dean of Students 1 969- 1 974 

King, Mary Jane, 37 

Alumnae Secretary 1946-1947 

Kirkland, Martha C. 
Dean of Students 1974- 

Kline, C. Benton, Jr. 

Dean of the Faculty 1957-1968 

Leatherman, Marian 
Librarian 1930-1932 

Longshore, Alice 
Librarian 1919-1921 

McCain, Paul M. 

Vice President for Development 
1969- 

McCain, James Ross 
Registrar 1915-1923 
Vice President 1918-1923 
President 1923-1951 

McKenzie, Virginia Brown, '47 
Director of Alumnae Affairs 1974- 

McNair, Walter Edward 
Assistant to the President, 

1954-1977 
Director of Public Relations and 

Development 1954-1969 
Director of Public Relations 

1969-1977 

Moore, Floy B. 

Librarian 1903-1905 

Newman, Lillian 

Acting Librarian 1969-1970 

Peltz, Rosemond S. 

College Physician 1958-1975 

Pendleton, Barbara M., '40 
Director of Alumnae Affairs 
1970-1973 

Perry, Marvin Banks, Jr. 
President 1973-1982 

Rhodes, Jane Guthrie, '38 

Executive Secretary, Alumnae 
Association 1943-1944 

Rogers, P. J., Jr. 

Assistant Business Manager- 
Treasurer 1946-1951 
R..ine^ Manager 1951-1970 



Sanders, Nannie G. 
Librarian 1921-1922 

Scandrett, Carrie, '27 

Secretary to the Dean 1925-1931 
Assistant Dean 1931-1938 
Dean of Students 1938-1969 

Sheppard, Mary D. 
Librarian 1902-1903 

Steele, Laura M., '37 

Secretary to the President 

1938-1948 
Assistant Registrar 1948-1957 
Registrar 1957-1977 
Director of Admissions 1951-1974 

Stewart, George 

Librarian 1970-1973 

Stone, Polly, '24 

General Secretary, Alumnae 
Association 1925-1929 

Stukes, Samuel Guerry 
Registrar 1923-1957 
Dean of the Faculty 1938-1957 

Symms, Eugenia, '36 

Executive Secretary, Alumnae 
Association 1944-1946 

Tart, J.C. 

Treasurer 1914-1962 
Business Manager 1943-1951 

Tindel, Judith Maguire, 73 

Assistant Director of Admissions 

1976-1978 
Director of Admissions 1978- 

Tuggle, M. Virginia 

College Physician 1955-1958 

Webb, Alia 

Principal, Agnes Scott Academy 
1904-1905 

White, Genevieve C. 

Librarian 1922-1927; 1928-1929 

Young, Anna I., Inst. 
Librarian 1898-1902 

Young Ella 

Principal, Agnes Scott Academy 
1905-1913 

Young, Rachel 

Librarian 1905-1906 



366 



Agnes Scott Faculty 
1889-1982 



Abbott, Martin L. (1965-1966) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Ackerman, Edna Page (1934-1935) 

B.A., Physical Education 
Adams, John Lewis (1953-1976) 

B.M., M.M., Music 
Adams, Williams S. (1967-1969) 

B.S., M.Ed., Ed.D., Education 
Albrecht, Frank M. (1968-1969) 

B.A., Ph.D., History 
Albright, Thelma (1939-1941) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Alby, Libbie A. (1894-1899) 

Mathematics 
Alexander, Janet (1951-1955) 

B.A., M.D., Physical Education 
Alexander, Alice Lucile (1898-1899, 

1902-1904, 1913-1948) 
B.A., M.A., Chemistry, Biology, 
Mathematics, French 
See Academy listing 
Alexander, Victoria (1946-1947) 

B.A., Biology 
Alkema, Lloyd C. (1942-1943) 

B.S., Statistics 
Allen, Mary Virginia (1948-1951, 

1954-1979) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., French, German 
Almon, Dorothy (1910-1911) 

French, German 
Alston, Wallace McPherson 

(1948-1973) 

B.A.. M.A., B.D., Th.M., Th.D., 
D.D., LL.D., Philosophy 
Ames, Barbara (1944-1947) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Amis, Frances (1924-1925) 

B.A., Spoken English 
Amnions, Margaret Perry (1969- 

B.S., M.A., Ph.D., Education 
Anderson, Helen (1930-1931) 

B.A., Physics 



Anderson, Nathalie Fitzsimmons 

(1972-1976) 

B.A., Education 
Aral, Sevgi O. (1971-1972) 

B.S., M.A., Sociology 
Arbuckle, Howard Bell (1898-1913) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Armistead, J.D.M. (1905-1923) 

B.A., Ph.D., English 
Armstrong, John I. (1906-1913) 

M.A., B.D., Bible and Philosophy 
Ashley, Harriette ( 1954-1956) 

B.A., Physical Education 
Askew, Thyrza (1902-1904) 

Academic Department and 
Physical Culture 

See Academy listing 
Aunspaugh, Eugenia L. (1899-1900) 

English and Elocution 
Auten, Mary (1933-1934) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Aycock, Carol W. (1977-1978) 

B.F.A., M.A., Theatre 

B 

Badger, Blanche C. (1940-1941) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics 
Bailey, Donald B. (1946-1947) 

B.A., B.D., Th.M., Bible 
Baird, Anne C. (1971-1972) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Sociology 
Baker, Anna May (1928-1930) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics 
Baker, Keith E. (1979-1980) 

B.S., M.A. Economics 
Baker, Woolford B. (1922-1924) 

B.A., M.S., (Later earned Ph.D.) 
Biology 
Ball, Bona W. (1967- 

B.A., M.A.T., Ph.D., English 
Banker, Marion (1919-1920) 

B.A., M.A., 

Sociology and Economics 



367 



Banks, Ruth McDaniel (1958-1959) 

B.S., M.A., Spanish 
Bao, Benjamin C-P. (1973-1976) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Barineau, Elizabeth McDaniel 

(1946-1955) 
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., French, Spanish 
Barnes, Sandra L. (1977-1981) 

B.A., M.A., Music 
Barnett, Mary J. (1898-1902) 

History, Geography, 
Physical Culture 
Barnwell, William O. (1897-1898) 

Music 
Barr, Lois Elizabeth (1953-1955) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Barth Raimund (1903-1905) 

Music 
Bartholomew, Eda Elizabeth 

(1907-1912, 1913-1915, 1919-1920, 

1924-1927, 1930-1947) 
Music 
Bartholomew, Marguerite (1907-1908) 

Music 
Barton, David A. (1977-1981) 

B.A., Ph.D., English 
Baskin, Marta A. (1965-1966) 

B.A., M.A.T., Spanish 
Bate, Gwen M. (1975-1977) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Psychology 
Baty, Evelyn (1940-1941) 

B.A., English 
Baver, Marlene (1960-1961) 

B.A., M.S.M., Music 
Baylen, Joseph O. (1953-1954) 

B.Ed., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Bayles, Roberta E. (1971-1972) 

B.S., MEd., Ed.D., Psychology 
Beaver, Bonnie Rose (1967-1973) 

B.A., M.F.A., Art 
Behan, David Paul (1974- 

B.A., Ph.D., Philosophy 
Benton, Mary Lucile (1974-1975) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Berry, Alice F. (1969-1970) 

B.A., M.A., French 



Berson, Judith F. (1957-1959) 

B.A., Physical Education 
Bicknese, Gunther (1966- 

Dr. phil., German 
Bidwell Clair (1891-1898) 

Primary Department 
Bishop, Florence S. (1950-1951) 

Art 
Bishop, Martha (1917-1918) 

Home Economics 
Black, Marian Putnam (1915-1916) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Blair, C. Winifred (1918-1919) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Blair, Marian H. (1945-1946) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Blaylock, Jean Mary (1968-1969) 

B.A., History 
Blitch, Lee Wesley (1970-1971) 

B.S., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Bonkovsky, Elizabeth Leitch 

(1976-1977) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 
Bible and Religion 
Bordner, Martin Alan (1970-1974) 

B.S., M.S., Biology 
Bormann, F. Herbert ( 1953-1955) 

B.S., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Boskoff, Priscilla F. (1971-1973) 

B.A., M.A., M.Ln., Ph.D., 
Classical Languages and 
Literatures 
Boucher, Benedicte ( 1975-1976) 

French 
Bourquin, Helen (1916-1919) 

B.A., M.S., Biology 
Bowden, Sandra T. (1968- 

B.S., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Bowling, Arthur Lee, Jr. (1977- 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Physics 
Bowman, Sarah B. (1932-1935) 

B.A., Biology 
Box, Dorothy M. (1967-1969) 

B.S., M.S., Ed.D., Education 
Boyce, Glendora Lockhart (1954-1958) 

B.S., Physical Education 



368 



Boykin, David W. (1972-1973, 

1978-1979) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Bradham, Jo Allen (1967-1980) 

B.A., M.Ln., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Braunrot, Christabel P. (1976- 

B.A., Ph.D., French 
Bridgman, Anna Josephine 

(1949-1974) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Brinkley Sterling G. (1953-1954) 

B.A., B.D.. M.A., Ph.D., Education 
Britt, Mary Hart R. (1962-1966) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Brittain, Mary McDonald (1963-1964) 

B.A., M.A., Education 
Brock, Sandra (1970-1972) 

B.S., M.A., Physical Education 
Brooking, Jack T. (1974- 

B.A., M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., 
Theatre 
Brot, Adele F. (1950-1951) 

French 
Brown, Agatha (1920-1921) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Brown, Alice E. (1924-1926) 

B.A., Biology 
Brown, Jane B. (1928-1929) 

B.A., M.A., Psychology 
Brown, Jeannette (1908-1909) 

B.A., English, German 
Brown, Michael J. (1960-1962, 1965- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Brown, Robert L. (1978-1980, 1981- 

B.M., M.A., Music 
Brownlee, Janet L. (1923-1925) 

B.A., M.A., Latin 
Brownley. Martine W. (1979-1980) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Bryan, Annie Pope (1915-1916) 

B.A., Latin 
Bryan, Isabel Mawha (1946-1954) 

Music 
Bucek, Anthony J. (1981- 

B.S., M.F.A., Art 
Buchner, Margaret L. (1945-1946) 

B.S., Ph.D., Spanish 



Buck, Emma G. (1896-1900) 

Art 
Buckmaster, Claire (1945-1946) 

B.M., Music 
Bumgarner, Mary K. (1980- 

B.B.A., Economics 
Burgess, Cama (1922-1923) 

B.A., History 
Burns, Margaret Virginia (1944-1947) 

M.D., Physical Education 
Butcher, Carol Lyn (1979- 

B.M., Music 
Buttrick, George Arthur ( 1964-1965) 

D.D., LL.D., Litt. D., D.S.T., 
Bible 
Byrnside, Ronald Lee (1975- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Music 
Butler, Mary Elizabeth (1981- 

B.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., English 
Byrum, Mary Carolyn (1967-1971) 

B.S., M.S., Physical Education 



Cabisius, Gail (1974- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Classical 
Languages and Literatures 
Cady, Mary L. (1908-1918) 

B.A., M.A., Greek, History, 
Political Economy, Sociology 
Calder, Frances Clark (1953-1969, 1974- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., French 
Calder, William A. (1947-1971) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Physics and 
Astronomy 
Caldwell, Lucile (1926-1929) 

B.A., Biology 
Calhoun, Catherine Blue (1967-1970) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Campbell, James L. (1941-1942) 

B.A., M.B.A., Economics 
Campbell, Mary E. (1923-1926) 

B.A., M.A., Latin and Greek 
Campbell, Nancy Morse (1959-1961) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Campbell, Penelope ( 1965- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D. 

History and Political Science 



369 



Campoamor, J. A. (1918-1919) 

M.A., Spanish 
Camus, Elizabeth (1976-1977) 

B.M. Music 
Carlson, Helen M. (1936-1940) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Carruth. Marlene T. (1957-1959) 

B.A.. M.A., 

Speech and Dramatic Art 
Carter, Elizabeth Plummer ( 1948-1949) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Carter, M. Eloise Brown (1978- 

B.A., M.S., Biology 
Cartledge. Samuel A. (1946-1947, 

1948-1953, 1954-1956, 1957-1958) 
B.A., M.A., B.D., Ph.D., Bible 
Cates, Lyn Kilgo (1973-1974, 

1981-1982) 

B.A., M.Ed., Education 
Cauvel, Martha Jane (1959-1960) 

B.A., M.A., Philosophy 
Chance, Catherine Deriseau (1953-1954) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Chang, Kwai Sing (1956- 

B.A., B.D., Th.M.. Ph.D. 
Philosophy, Bible, Religion 
Chapman, Elizabeth Ellison (1964-1975) 

B.A., M.R.E., M.M., Music 
Chateauneuf, Amy (1929-1930) 

M.A., Ph.D. 

Psychology and Education 
Chaze, Francoise (1974-1975) 

French 
Cheatham, Elizabeth (1927-1929) 

B.A., English 
Christian, Lucile Coleman (1930-1933) 

B.S., M.A., Biology 
Christian, Schuyler Medlock (1933-1947) 

B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D. 
Physics and Astronomy 
Christie, Annie May (1925-1962) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Cilley, Melissa Annis (1930-1963) 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
Citrin, Nathan J. (1980- 

B.B.A., J.D., Economics 
Clark, Helen (1896-1897) 

Music 



Clark, Marion Thomas (1960-1961, 
1962-1978) 
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Clarke, Rebekah McDuffie (1946-1950) 

Music 
Clayton, Anne Roselot (1955-1959) 

B.A., Physics 
Cobbs, Susan P. (1941-1945) 
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 
Latin and Greek 
Cochran, Augustus Bonner, III (1973- 
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 
Political Science 
Cole, Lady Coma (1924-1926) 

B.A., M.A., History 
Collins, Eddie L. (1971-1972) 

B.S., M.A., Sociology 
Colton, Susan A. (1907-1911) 
French, Romance Languages 
See Academy listing 
Combs, Diana W. (1980-1981) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Art 
Combs, Lois (1933-1934) 
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 
Latin and Greek 
Connell, Susan Stringer (1978-1980, 198 

B.A., Chemistry 
Cook, Mattie E. (1889-1904) 
History, Geography 

See Academy listing 
Cooke, Francis West (1931-1933) 
B.A., M.S.. Ph.D., 

Physics and Astronomy 
Cooper, Laura Irvine (1916-1917, 
1923-1924) 
B.A., M.A., English, History 
Cope, Charles L. (1956-1958) 

B.S., M.A., Mathematics 
Copple, Lee Biggerstaff (1961- 
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Ph.D. 
Psychology 
Corazzini, Karen McKinsey ( 1966-1967) 

B.A., German 
Cornelius, William G. (1958-1968) 
B.A., M.A., Ph.D. 
Political Science 
Cornett, Linda Bowdoin (1971-1976) 
B.A., M.A.. Ph.D.. Philosophy 



370 



Counts, Charles (1980-1981) 

B.A., M.A., Art 
Courtenay, Mary Ann (1946-1948) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Cousar, Charles Blanton (1963-1964, 

1966-1968, 1969-1970) 
B.A., B.D., Ph.D., Bible 
Cousins, Marguerite Louise (1921-1922) 

B.A., English 
Cox, Hiden Toy (1946-1949) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Cox, Margaret Louise (1967-1974) 

B.S., M.A.T., Physical Education 
Cramer, Ardis Lahann (1968-1972) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Biology 
Crawford, Katherine (1930-1932) 

B.A., History 
Crigler, Elizabeth Aylor (1946-1962) 

B.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Crowe, Martha (1929-1932, 1935-1943) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Culberson, Margaret Augusta, 

(1921-1923) 
B.A., French 
Cumming, Daniel James (1947-1948) 

B.A., B.D., M.A., D.D., Bible 
Cunningham, Alice Jeanne 

(1966-1967, 1968- 

B.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Curry, Ethel (1920-1921) 

Music 
Curry, Eunice W. (1921-1923) 

Music 



D 

Dachary, Marion (1977-1978) 

French 
Daniels, Urmila (1967-1968) 

B.Sc, M.Sc, Biology 
Darling, Marilyn Barfield (1971-1972, 

1973- 

B.S., M.M., Physical Education 
Darrow, Ruth (1906-1908) 

Music 
Davidson, Philip, Jr. (1928-1942) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 



Davis, Elizabeth Lockhart (1926-1927) 

B.A., Bible 
Davis, Jean Scobie (1917-1919, 

1922-1927) 
B.A., M.A., Sociology, Economics 
Davis, June (1949-1950) 

B.A., Biology 
Davis, Margaret W. (1926-1936, 

1941-1943) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Davis, Shirley L. (1970-1972) 

B.S., M.Ed., Education 
de Garmo, Mary C. (1913-1916) 

B.A., M.A., Home Economics 
de Jonge, Alfred Robert W. 

(1928-1929) 

B.A., Ph.D., German 
Dennison, Martha (1917-1918) 

B.A., English 
Denton, William H. (1966-1967) 

B.A., M.Ed., Ph.D., Education 
DesChamps, Margaret Burr 

(1952-1955) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Desquins, Emmanuelle (1978-1979) 

French 
Deveaux, Clint (1981- 

B.A., J.D., Political Science 
Dewitz, Ludwig R. (1963-1964, 

1968-1969, 1976- 

B.D., Ph.D., Bible and Religion 
Dexter, Emily S. (1923-1955) 

B.A., Ph.D., 

Psychology, Education, 
Philosophy 
Diaz, Manuel (1980-1981) 

Music 
Dieckmann, Christian W. (1905-1950) 

F.A.G.O., Music 
Dieckmann, Emma Pope M. 

(1913-1925) 
B.A., English 
Dillman, Caroline Matheny (1978- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 

Sociology, Anthropology 
Doerpinghaus, S. Leonard (1958-1968) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 



371 



Domincovich, Ruth (1943-1945) 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
Donaldson, William J., Jr. (1964-1965) 

B.A., B.D., Sc.M, M.A., Th.M., 
Ph.D., Psychology 
Dotson, Molly Flanary (1965-1967) 

B.A., M.F.A., Physical Education 
Douglas, Lillian (1946-1947) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Douglas, Mary Ogilvie (1924-1929) 

Music 
Dowdell, Annie Kirk (1901-1904) 

Biology, Chemistry 
Downes, John P. (1966-1967) 

B.A., M.A., Education 
Dozier, Eugenie Louise (1934-1957) 

B.A., M.S., Physical Education 
Drake, Lillie Belle (1948-1951) 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
Drake, Richard Bryant (1955-1956) 

B.A., M.A., History 
Drucker, Miriam E.K. (1955- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Psychology 
Duncan, Bingham (1942-1943) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Duncan, Caroline (1912-1915) 

Expression 
Dunstan, Florene J. (1941-1974) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Spanish 
Dwyer, Roy Eugene (1953-1954) 

B.S., M.Ed., Education 

E 

Eagleson, Helen (1925-1928) 

M.S., Ph.D., Psychology 
Edler, Florence (1926-1930) 

Ph.B., M.A., History 
Eldridge, Adda (1910-1911) 

B.A., French, German 
Emery, Julia J. (1910-1911) 

Physical Education 

See Academy listing 
Engle, Margaret (1928-1930) 

B.A., M.A., Bible 
Espy, Jane Stillwell (1942-1943, 

1945-1946) 
B.A., Biology 



Evans, Todd (1981- 
B.A., M.B.A., J.D., 

Political Science 
Evans, William H.C. (1973-1977) 
B.A., M.A., Speech and Drama 



Fahnestock, Rhoda (1917-1918) 

B.S., M.S., Home Economics 
Farrar, Thomas (1901-1905) 

Ph.D., English 
Feldman, Emanuel (1975-1976, 

1977-1978, 1979-1980, 1981-1982) 
B.S., M.A., Ph.D., 
Bible and Religion 
Fenter, Neal R. (1974-1975, 

1976-1977) 

B.S., M.A., Theatre 
Ferguson, Berdie (1929-1930) 

B.A., Physics 
Field, L.A. (1889-1897) 

Latin, French, English, Elocution 
Fillmer, Henry Thompson (1964-1966) 

B.S., M.Ed., Ph.D., Education 
Finlay, Hattie May (1919-1921) 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
Fish, Emma Althea (1891-1892) 

Music 
Fitzhugh, Margaret O. (1920-1923) 

Ph.D., Philosophy 
Fleischman, Rebecca (1975-1982) 

B.A., M.Ed., Ed.S., Education 
Flick, C. Roland (1919-1920) 

Music 
Flournoy, Alice Fitzgerald 

(1949-1951) 
B.A., Biology 
Folsom, George H., Ill (1971-1978) 

B.S., Ph.D., 

Physics and Astronomy 
Forman, Carolyn (1940-1941) 

B.A., Biology 
Forman, Henry Chandler (1945-1951) 

B.A., M.Arch., Ph.D., A. LA., Art 
Forsythe, David P. (1967-1969) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 

History, Political Science 



372 



Fowler, Joanne Ellis (1971-1973, 

1979-1981) 
B.A., M.Ed., Education 
Fox, Mary Walker (1937-1941, 

1942-1944, 1952-1979) 
B.A., Chemistry 
Frame, Paul W. (1978-1980) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Biology 
Fraser, Lowrie Alexander (1969-1970) 

B.A., M.A.T., Education 
Fraser, Valeria (1889-1891) 

Art, Calisthenics 
Freed, Gladys H. (1926-1932) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 
Latin and Greek 
Friedlander, Amy (1979-1980) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Frierson, William Joe (1946-1975) 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Fuller, Jacob Cleveland (1954-1960, 

1963- 
B.S., Music 
Fulp, Ronald (1964-1965) 

B.S., M.A., Mathematics 



Gaines, Frank Henry (1889-1923) 

D.D., LL.D., Bible 
Ganim, Virginia Lynn (1975-1978) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Garber, Paul Leslie (1943-1976) 

B.A., B.D., Th.M., Ph.D. 
Bible and Religion 
Garlington, Octavia (1950-1952) 

B.A., Biology 
Gary, Julia Thomas (1957- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Gash, Annie (1899-1900) 

Science 
Gauerke, Warren E. (1953-1957) 

B.Ed., M.A., Ph.D., Education 
Gault, Catherine (1924-1926) 

Ph.B., Spanish 
Gaylord, Leslie Janet (1921-1968) 

B.A., M.S., Mathematics 
Gear, Felix Bayard (1948-1955) 

B.A., Th.M., Ph.D., Bible 



Gellerstedt, Ann (1942-1943) 

B.A., English 
Gerardin, Marie-Claire (1979-1980) 

French 
Gibbons, Lois Oliphant (1921-1923) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Giberson, David L. (1978-1979) 

B.S., Chemistry 
Giffin, Frederick, C. (1963-1964) 

B.A., M.A., History 
Gignilliat, John Lewis (1969- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Gilbert, Otto (1922-1923) 

B.A., Physics 
Gilbreath, Lillian Rogers (1947-1968) 

B.M., M.A., Music 
Gilchrist, Philippa Garth (1923-1927, 

1928-1946) 

B.A., M.A., M.S., Ph.D., 
Chemistry 
Giles, Judith M. (1965-1968) 

B.A., M.A., Biology 
Gillespie, James Thornwell 

(1930-1947) 

B.A., Th.M., Ph.D., Bible 
Gillespie, Mary (1969-1970) 

B.A., Biology 
Gilroy, Helen (1927-1928) 

B.A., M.A., Physics and Astronomy 
Ginther, John (1954-1957) 

B.Mus., M.Mus., Ph.D., Education 
Glendenning, Gwendolen (1921-1923) 

B.A., French 
Glick M. Kathryn (1938-1974) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Classical 

Languages and Literatures 

Gooch, Frances K. (1915-1921, 

1922-1951) 
Ph.B., M.A., Expression, 
Spoken English 
Good, John W. (1924-1927) 

B.A., Ph.D., English 
Goode, Julia Pratt (1950-1952) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Goodlad, John Inkster (1949-1956) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Education 
Goodpasture, Alice (1925-1926) 

Physical Education 



373 



Goodwyn, Mary Elizabeth (1921-1923) 

B.A., Latin 
Gower, Martha Jean (1945-1946) 

B.A., Physics 
Graham, P.H. (1916-1917, 1919-1920) 

B.A., M.A., Physics and Astronomy 
Gray, Netta Elizabeth (1951-1970) 

B.A., M.A., Biology 
Gray, Virginia (1937-1938) 

B.A., B.S.L.S., French 
Green, Elvena M. (1959-1977) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D. 

Speech and Dramatic Art 
Greene, Theodore Meyer (1964-1967) 

B.A., Ph.D., LL.D., L.H.D., D. Litt. 
Philosophy 
Grier, Lois (1918-1919) 

B.A., Mathematics 
Griffin, Carol Howe (1935-1936) 

B.A., Biology 
Griffith, Stephen John (1977-1979) 

B.A., M.F.A., Theatre 
Groseclose, Nancy Pence (1947-1979) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Biology 
Gude, Mary B. (1911-1913) 

Ph.B., Ph.M., History, Political 
Economy, Sociology 
Guy, J. Sam (1913-1916) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 



H 

Hagopian, Roxie (1950-1964) 

B.A., B.M., M.A., Music 
Hale, Julianne (1954-1956) 

B.A., M.A., 

Speech and Dramatic Art 
Hale, Louise (1921-1951) 

B.A, M.A., French 
Hall, Charles Steven (1978-1979) 

B.M., M.M., Music 
Hamff, Christian F. (1919-1920, 

1920-1924) 

M.A., German 
Hamilton, Leone Bowers (1945-1946) 

B.A., Art 
Hammond, Charlotte (1917-1921, 

1927-1928) 
B.A., M.A., Latin, German 



Hammond, Henry C. (1903-1904) 

M.A., Bible 
Hanson, Gabriel C, Jr. (1969-1971) 

B.A., M.A., Political Science 
Harn, Edith Muriel (1921-1964) 

B.A., Ph.D., German, Spanish, 
Romance Languages 
Harris, Irene Leftwich (1950-1964) 

Music 
Harris, Polly Anna Philips (1951-1952) 

B.A., Physics 
Harrison, Julia Peachy (1916-1918) 

M.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Harrold, Frances Long (1960-1964) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Harwood, Rose (1918-1919) 

B.A., German 
Haskew, Laurence D. (1941-1947) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Education 
Haslock, Clara Whorley (1912-1913) 

M.A., Home Economics 
Hatcher, Ruth Dickey (1950-1951, 

1952-1953) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Haworth, Steven A. (1976- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 
Political Science 
Hayes, George P. (1927-1967) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Healy, Beryl Lucretia (1941-1942) 

B.A., Biology 
Hearon, Cleo (1918-1928) 

Ph.D., History 
Heath, Eugene Schofield (1924-1925) 

B.A., M.A., Botany 
Heckard, Rebecca Beamer (1947-1949) 

B.S., Chemistry 
Heery, Genet Louise ( 1947-1948) 

B.A., Biology 
Heink, Felix (1907-1908) 

Music 
Helmrich, Elsie W. (1913-1914) 

B.A., Ph.D., German 
Hemphill, Nell (1941-1942) 

B.A., Music 
Henderson, Richard L. (1954-1959) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D.. Education 
Hensel, H. Richard (1961-1967) 

B.M., MM., D.M.A., Music 



374 



Hepburn, Lawrence R. (1970-1978) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Education 
Hepp, Louise (1912-1913) 

Music 
Herbert, Lucy Goss (1936-1937) 

B.A., M.S., Chemistry 
Herbert, Mary Eloise (1954- 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
Hetherington, Norriss, S. (1967-1968) 

B.A., M.A., Astronomy 
Hill, Ida Lee (1904-1905) 

Biology 
Hill, Jacqueline C. (1973-1974) 

B.A., M.Ed., Ph.D., Psychology 
Hilsenrad, Linda Marva (1978- 

B.A., M.A., Media Services 
Hodgson, Hugh (1940-1946) 

B.S., Music 
Hodgson, Newton C. (1954-1958) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Education 
Hogan, Thomas W. (1965- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Psychology 
Hoke, Elizabeth (1923-1924) 

B.A., Mathematics, Physics 
Hollingsworth, Roberta J. (1926-1930) 

B.A., Spanish 
Holt, Robert B. (1918-1946) 

B.A., M.S., Chemistry 
Holt, Venable (1892-1894) 

Preparatory Department, 
Physical Culture 
Hoogendyk, Marianna van. R. 

(1955-1956) 
B.A., Art 
Hopkins, Nannette (1889-1938) 

Mathematics, History 
Howard, Mattie Cobb (1900-1901) 

Biology 
Howell, Miriam M. (1955-1961) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Education 
Howson, Emily E. (1920-1931) 

B.A., M.A., 

Physics and Astronomy 
Hoyt, Dale L. (1980-1982) 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Biology 
Huber, Angelika (1964-1966) 

B.A., German 



Hubert, Claire M. (1964- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., French 
Hubner, W. Whitney (1910-1912, 

1920-1921) 
Music 
Hudson, Gue Pardue (1974- 

B.A., M.A.T., Education 
Hudson, Hendrik Reynolds 

(1959-1963) 

B.S.M.E., Physics and Astronomy 
Hunt, Anna E. (1895-1899, 1912-1917) 

Music 
Hunter, Charlotte (1943-1944, 

1947-1948) 
B.A., M.A., English 
Hunter, Floyd (1947-1948) 

B.A., M.A., Sociology 
Hupe, Chantal (1973-1974) 

French 
Hutchens, Eleanor Newman 

(1961-1967) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Hutcheson, Almeda (1919-1921) 

B.A., History 
Hutchings, Berte (1917-1918) 

Music 
Hutchins, William W. (1974-1975) 

B.A., M.F.A., Music 
Hyde, Robert S. (1978- 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D. 

Physics and Astronomy 

I 

Ilgaz-Carden, Ayse (1978- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Psychology 

Illien, Anna Belle Haizlip ( 1966-1969) 
B.S., M.A., French 



Jackson, Elizabeth Fuller ( 1923-1952) 

B.A., Ph.D., History 
Jackson, Sarah Evelyn (1960-1961) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Jennings, Pauline ( 1897-1898) 

Music 
Johnson, Annie Barnes (1925-1927) 

B.A., Sociology 



375 



Johnson, Denni Kathleen ( 1967-1973) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Johnson, Edward C. (1965- 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Economics 
Johnson, Gussie O'Neal (1910-1912, 

1914-1917, 1925-1934) 
Music 
Johnson, Lewis H. (1910-1950) 

Music 
Johnson, Mary Landrum (1947-1948) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Johnson, Sterling (1926-1927) 

B.A., History 
Jones, Anais Cay (1928-1930) 

B.A., History 
Jones, Constance Anne (1973- 

B.A., M.A.T., Ph.D., Sociology 
Jones, Eugenia Cuvillier ( 1940-1943, 

1947-1949) 
B.S., M.A., D.Sc, M.D. 
Physical Education 
Jones, William H. (1955-1956) 

B.S., M.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Jordan, Helen Berry (1953-1954) 

B.A., M.A., M.S., Ph.D., Biology 
Joyner, Jeannette (1916-1917) 

B.A., Latin 

K 

Kahan, Betsy Berk (1972-1974) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Psychology 
Kaiser, Hugette D. (1969- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., French 
Kamerkar, Mani D. (1971-1972, 

1978-1979) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History, 
Political Science 
Kane, Maria C. (1959-1962) 

M.A., German 
Kase, Judith B. (1956-1957) 

B.A., M.A., Speech and Drama 
Keach, Everett T., Jr. (1962-1964) 

B.A., M.Ed., Ed.D., Education 
Keaton, Ruth (1964-1965) 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
Keenan, Nannette W. (1970-1971) 

B.S., M.A., Speech and Drama 



Kelly, Mary Thalia (1973-1974, 

1975-1976) 
B.A., Biology 
Kennedy, Katharine D. (1981- 

B.A., M.A., History 
King, Harriet M. (1979-1980) 

B.A., LL.B., LL.M., 
Political Science 
Kirby-Smith, Virginia (1969-1970) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Klaus, Virginia R. (1959-1960) 

B.A., M.A., Psychology 
Klebs, Margaret (1896-1898) 

Music 
Kline, C. Benton (1951-1968, 

1970-1971, 1976- 

B.A., B.D., Th.M., Ph.D., 

Philosophy, Bible and Religion 
Kockert, Erika H. (1967-1970) 

German 
Kramer, Dewey Weiss (1972-1974) 

B.A., M.A., German 
Krebs, Sylvia H. (1981- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Kuznesof, Paul Martin (1979- 

Sc.B., Ph.D., Chemistry 



Ladd, Edward Taylor (1958-1969) 

B.A. M.A., Ph.D., Education 
Lamb, Reginald C. (1917-1918) 

M.A., Physics and Astronomy 
Lammers, Helene Norwood (1928-1930) 

B.A., Biology 
Lance, Catherine G. (1975-1978) 

B.M., Music 
Laney, Emma May (1919-1956) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
See Academy listing 
Lapp, Harriette Haynes (1923-1927, 

1928-1964) 

B.A., M.A., Physical Education 
Latimer, Carrie Phinney (1936-1939) 

B.A., Speech 
Leflcoff, Merle S. (1972-1973) 

B.A. M.A., Political Science 



376 



LeGate, Helen (1911-1921) 

B.A., M.A., Romance Languages 
Leinbach, Emma L. (1901-1905) 

Music 
LeMaster, Larry (1976-1977, 

1978-1980) 
B.M., Music 
Lemonds, Jean (1978- 

B.M., Music 
Leonard Charles Alexander, 111 

(1973-1975) 

B.S., M.F.A., Art 
Leonard, Virginia Arnold (1969-1976, 

1977-1978) 
B.A., M.A., Mathematics 
Leslie, Robert Arthur (1970- 

B.S., M.A., Ph.D., Mathematics 
Lester, Edith (1898-1900) 

Music 
Levine, Alice L. (1979-1982) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Classical 

Languages and Literatures 

Lewis, Ada Evelyn (1904-1905) 

Expresion 
Lewis, Helen (1927-1928) 

B.A., History 
Lewis, Louise Garland (1900-1943) 

Art 
Lewis, Nannie M. (1899-1902) 

B.S,. Mathematics, Physics, 
Astronomy 
Leyburn, Ellen Douglass (1934-1966) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D.. English 
Lieberman, Janice Runde (1972-1973) 

B.A., M.A., Sociology 
Lindner, Georg (1937-1943) 

Music 
Lineberry, Ruth (1925-1926) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics 
Lipps, Lewis (1943-1944) 

B.A., Biology 
Little, Arthur Reginald (1899-1900) 

Music 
Little, Vivian (1926-1929) 

B.A., French 
Little, Warren (1978-1979) 

B.F.A., Music 



Lobeck, Priscilla (1946-1949) 

B.A., B.F.A., Art 
Logan, Charles A. (1927-1928) 

B.A., B.D., D.D., Bible 
Loring, Janet (1952-1954) 

B.S., M.A., Speech 
Lovelace, Mary Wyatt (1908-1910) 

Music 
Lowe, Lamar (1927-1928, 1929-1930) 

B.A., Latin 
Lowrance, Robert S., Jr. (1943-1945) 

B.S., M.S., Music 
Lupo, Patsy (1918-1920) 

B.A., Biology, Chemistry 
Lunz, Elisabeth ( 1 980- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 
Bible and Religion 
Lycett, William (1890-1892) 

Art 
Lynn, Elizabeth (1927-1929) 

B.A., Physics 
Lyon, Margery (1947-1948) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Lyons, Maysie Sloan (1945-1947) 

B.A. Chemistry, Biology 
Lytle, Anna W. (1899-1901) 

B.A., English 

M 

MacArthur, Lillian (1907-1908) 

Music 
MacDougall, Mary Stuart 

(1919-1952) 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Sc.D., Biology 
MacGreggor Clementine (1904-1913) 

Music 
Maclean, Joseph (1893-1918) 

Music 
MacSwain, Josephine (1903-1907) 

B.A., French, German 
Magee, Lucy (1891-1897) 

Natural Science, Elocution 
Manuel, Kathryn Ann (1958- 

B.S., M.A., P.E.D., 
Physical Education 
Marini, John (1979-1980) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Political Science 



377 



Markley, Frances Charlotte 

(1921-1922) 
B.A., History 
Markley, Mary E. (191 1-1919) 

B.A., M.A., Latin, English 
Martin, Anne Harold (1920-1922) 

Ph.B., Economics, Sociology 
Martin, Charles F. (1960-1963) 

B.A., M.A., Economics 
Martin, David V. (1979-1982) 

B.S., M.S., Ed.D., Education 
Martin, Mary T. (1906-1908) 

M.D., Physiology, Hygiene 
Martin, Raymond Jones (1950- 

B.S., M.S.M., S.M.D., Music 
Martinez, Aleida Garrido (1975-1977) 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
Marxsen, William B. (1972-1973) 

B.A., Economics 
Massie, Nannie R. (1890-1910) 

History, French 
Mathews, Theodore Kenneth (1967- 

B.A., M.A.T., Ph.D., Music 
Matsen, Patricia Paden (1968-1969) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Classical 
Languages and Literatures 
Matthews, Hester Poole (1951-1954) 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
Matthews, Jeanne (1938-1939) 

B.A., Biology 
McBryde, Maggie S. (1890-1892) 

Music 
McCaa, Fanny Dargan (1921-1923) 

B.A., Biology 
McCain, James Ross (1915-1951) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., Bible, 
History, Sociology 
McCall, Carolina (1927-1928) 

B.A., English 
McCalla, Frances L. (1936-1944) 

B.A., Biology 
McCallie, Margaret Ellen (1912-1917) 

B.A., Ph.B., German 
McCampbell, Marguerite (1923-1924) 

Physical Education 
McConnell, Ann Elizabeth (1974-1979) 

B.S., M.S., Physical Education 



McCracken, Katherine Mason 

(1968-1969) 
B.A., Biology 
McCrory, Pearl (1911-1912) 

Biology 
McCullough, Johnny Armstrong 

(1943-1944) 

B.A., M.D., Physical Education 
McCurdy, Sarah Carter ( 1921-1923) 

B.A., Chemistry 
McDonald, Laura M. (1981-1982) 

B.A., Physical Education 
McDowell, Mary Ella Hammond 

(1964-1965) 

B.A., M.A.T., Mathematics 
McDowell. Michael A. (1950-1975, 

1976-1977) 

Ph.B., M.A., Music 
McGehee, Terry S. (1976- 

B.A., M.F.A., Art 
McGinty, Emma (1943-1946) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Mcllvaine, Alice M. (1898-1899) 

Music 
McKee, Adele Dieckmann (1974-1975) 

B.A., M.S.M., Music 
McKee, Dean Greer (1963-1964) 

B.A., S.T.B., S.T.M., Th.D., Bible 
McKemie, Kate (1956- 

B.S., M.A., Ed.D., 
Physical Education 
McKenzie, Kermit E. (1966-1968) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
McKinney, Beverly Cox (1964-1970) 

B.S., M.S., Physical Education 
McKinney, Mary Ann (1937-1938) 

B.A., M.A., M.D., Biology 
McKinney, M. Louise ( 1891-1937) 

English 
McMillan, Daniel R. (1953-1955) 

B.S.M.E., M.S., Ph.D., Physics 
McMillan, Rosamond (1957-1958) 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Biology 
McNair, Walter Edward (1952-1977) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
McNeel, Betty S. (1964-1965) 

B.A., M.S., Mathematics 



378 



McNeer, Gordon E. (1978- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Spanish 
Meinhardt, Emilie A. (191 1-1913) 

B.A., M.A., German, French 
Meleen, Nancy S. (1957-1958) 

B.S., M.A., Education 
Mell, Mildred Rutherford (1938-1960) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Economics, 
Sociology 
Melson, Marianne M. (1894-1899) 

B.A., Preparatory Department, 
Physical Culture, English 
Meral, Jean (1977-1978) 

D.E.S., Ph.D., French 
Meroney, Geraldine M. (1966-1982) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Merriman, C. Ina (1909-1910) 

Physical Director 

See Academy listing 
Messick, J. Frederick (1945-1946) 

B.A., Ph.D., Mathematics 
Messick, Jo Ann (1979- 

B.S., M.S., Physical Education 
Meyer, Gustav (1890-1892) 

German, Music 
Michaelis, Emil Bruno (1908-1910) 

Music 
Miller, Blanche (1930-1943) 

B.A., M.S., Biology 
Miller, Carol Golden (1975-1976) 

B.A., M.S., M.F.A., Art 
Miller, Gerald J. (1974-1976) 

B.S., M.S., Biology 
Miller, Helen Mar ( 1935-1936) 

B.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Miller, Laura L. (1900-1901) 

Music 
Miller, Mary (1917-1918) 

Music 
Miller, Robert S. (1974-1976) 

B.A., Ph.D., Psychology 
Miller, Timothy (1957-1961) 

B.A., B.Mus., D.Mus., Music 
Mills, Paul R., Jr. (1972-1978) 

B.A., M.S.S., Ph.D., Sociology 
Mitchell, Carlotta P. (1923-1924) 

Spoken English 



Mitchell, Elisabeth (1935-1942) 

B.A., Physical Education 
Mitchell, Evelyn M. (1974-1975) 

B.A., M.A., Art 
Mitchell, Shatteen (1897-1899, 

1906-1911) 
Elocution, Expression 
Molho, Raphael (1973-1974) 

French 
Montgomery, A. Maud (1907-1908) 

Physical Director 

See Academy listing 
Moomaw, Wilmer Edmund 

(1969-1973) 

B.A., Ph.D., Political Science 
Moon, Cyris H. (1968-1969) 

B.A., B.D., Bible 
Moore, Nettie Terril (1914-1917) 

Ph.B., Romance Languages 
Morenus, Constance Gay (1949-1950) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Morgan-Stephens, Theodora 

(1899-1908, 1918, 1919, 1921-1923) 
Music 
Morphy, Odette Marguerite 

(1964-1966) 
M.A., French 
Morrison, Clara (1941-1943) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Morrow, Maude (1897-1905) 

B.A., M.A., Latin, Greek 
Morse, Chester William (1950-1951) 

B.A., M.D., Physical Education 
Morton, Cora Frazer (1924-1927) 

B.A., Mathematics, Physics 
Moses, Edith W. (1921-1922) 

B.S., M.A., English 
Moses, Jane (1940-1941) 

B.A., Music 
Moye, Elizabeth Reynolds (1981-1982) 

B.A., M.A., Psychology 
Murray, James (1891-1892) 

D.D., Mental and Moral 

Philosophy, Higher Mathematics 



379 



N 

Naderi-Movahed, Georgia (1981-1982) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Spanish 
Natusch, Gertrude E. (1945-1947) 

B.A., Economics 
Neilson, Annie B. (1895-1896) 

Music 
Nelson, Jack L. (1962- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Nelson, Narka (1936-1941) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Latin, Greek 
Nelson, Robert E.R. (1961-1965) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics 
Newcomb, Rose A. (1913-1915) 

B.A., Chemistry, Biology 
Newton, Irene (1908-1910) 

B.A,. Chemistry 

See Academy listing 
Newton, Janet (1917-1918, 1919-1921) 

B.A., French 
Newton, Mattie (1908-1909) 

Biology 
Nitchie, Carl E. (1977-1981) 

B.M., Music 
Norris, Margaret Van Antwerp 

(1974-1975) 

B.A., M.A., Spanish 
North, Estelle (1927-1928) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Nuhfer-Halten, Bernice M. (1977-1978) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Spanish 

o 

O'Bannon, Joan Elizabeth (1964-1965) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D. Economics 
Oglesby, Lydia A. (1974-1975) 

B.M., M.M., Music 
Oliver, Charles P. (191 1-1914) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 

Physics and Astronomy 
Oms, Luis A. (1967-1968) 

B.S., Physics 
Omwake, Katharine Tate (1928-1929, 

1930-1972) 
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Psychology 
Orr, David W. (1971-1976) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Political Science 



Ortega, Maria deLeon (1955-1956) 

Spanish 
Osborne, Kay Marie (1961-1965) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Ottzen, Lorentz (1976-1981) 

B.M., Music 
Overbeck, Lois M. (1981- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 



Painter, Henry L. (1920-1921) 

B.A., M.E., E.E., Mathematics 
Palumbo, Kathryn E. (1979- 

B.S., M.S.S.A., Sociology 
Parrish, Fred K. (1960-1965) 

B.A., M.A., Biology 
Parry, Maude Montgomery 

(1913-1918) 

Physical Education 
Parry, Richard D. (1967- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Philosophy 
Pendergrast, Martha A. (1944-1946) 

B.A., Biology 
Pepe, Marie Huper (1951- 

B.F.A., M.A., Ph.D., Art 
Pepperdene, Margaret W. (1956- 

B.S., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Perret, Marion Dibert (1966-1968) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Perry, Marvin Banks, Jr. (1973-1982) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., Litt. D. 
English 
Petty, Mildred Love (1966-1968, 

1973-1974, 1976-1979) 
B.A., M.A., History 
Philip, Aley Thomas (1965-1966) 

B.A., M.A., Political Science 
Phillips, Anne (1902-1904) 

B.A., Latin 

See Academy listing 
Phillips, Irma (1919-1920) 

Music 
Phillips, Mary Elizabeth ( 19 17-19 1 8) 

B.S., Romance Languages 
Phippen, Lucille (1925-1926) 

B.A., Bible 



380 



Phythian, Margaret Taylor (1916-1919, 

1923-1964) 
B.A., M.A., Docteur d'Universite 
(Grenoble), French 
Pike, Ethel (1927-1928) 

M.A., Psychology 
Pilger, John F. (1979- 

B.S., Ph.D., Biology 
Pinka, Patricia Garland (1969- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Pirkle, Ruth Janette (1923-1934) 

B.A., M.S., Biology 
Plachy, June Wilder (1969-1972) 

B.A., M.Ed., Ed.D., Mathematics 
Polk-Peters, Ethel (1929-1930) 

M.D., Hygiene 
Pope, Ruth Cushing (1903-1906) 

Physical Education 

See Academy listing 
Portalier, Beatrice (1980-1981) 

French 
Porter, Carrie (1910-1912) 

Music 
Posey, Walter Brownlow (1943-1970) 

Ph.B., LL.B., M.A., Ph.D., L.H.D. 
History 
Potter, Elizabeth F. (1980-1981) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Philosophy 
Powell, Margaret Williams 

(1962-1963) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Classical 
Languages and Literatures 
Pratt, Fannie (1889-1892) 

Music 
Pratt, N.P. (1889-1890) 

M.A., Chemistry 
Preston, Amy F. (1913-1916) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics, Physics, 
Astronomy 
Preston, Janef Newman (1921-1925, 

1926-1967) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Prettyman, Virginia (1936-1939) 

B.A., English 
Pritchett, Shirley (1964-1966) 

B.S., M.S., Physical Education 



Pruitt, Cheryl (1971-1972) 
B.S., Psychology 



Q 



Quillian, Bascon O., Jr. (1965-1966) 
B.S., M.A., LL.B., 
Political Science 

R 

Radford, Betty Jean (1947-1949) 

B.A., Biology 
Radford, Sharon V. (1975-1976) 

B.A., M.A., Biology 
Raffety, Josephine Patterson 

(1970-1973) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Rainey, Frances (1927-1928, 

1930-1931) 

B.A., M.A., Chemistry 
Randolph, Isabel F. (1921-1928) 

B.A., B.S., Physical Education 
Rankin, William Walter, Jr. 

(1921-1926) 

B.E., M.A., Mathematics 
Raper, Arthur F. (1932-1939) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Sociology 
Rasheed, Jean Anderson (1977-1978) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Psychology 
Redd, Billie Mae (1949-1951) 

B.A., M.A., Physics 
Reichenbach, Lucie Vaughan 

(1916-1917) 

B.A., M.A., French 
Reinhart, Philip B. (1963-1976) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Physics 
Regan, Lucy (1909-1910) 

Biology 
Rentz, Jerry M. (1965-1973) 

B.A., Speech and Drama 
Rhyne, Pamela Jean (1972-1973) 

B.S., M.S., Education 
Rice, George E. (1957-1964) 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Psychology 
Rice, Theron H. (1904-1905) 

D.D., Bible 



381 



Richardson, Anna (191 1-1912) 

B.A., Home Economics 
Richardson, Julia (1892-1895) 

Music 
Richman, Larry Kermit (1967-1969) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Richmond, Thelma (1934-1935, 

1957-1958) 
B.A., M.A., French 
Ridley, Margaret Walker ( 1943-1947) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Rigoreau, Ghislaine (1981-1982) 

French 
Rion, Mary Lucile (1955-1967) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Ripy, Sara Louise ( 1 958- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Mathematics 
Rivory, Brigitte (1976-1977) 

French 
Roberts, Essie (1917-1918) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics 
Roberts, Lorin W. (1952-1957) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Roberts, Martin B. (1977-1979) 

B.S., M.S., Economics 
Robinson, Henry A. (1926-1970) 

B.S., C.E., M.A., Ph.D., 
Mathematics 
Robson, David W. (1971-1974) 

B.A., M.Phil., History 
Rogers, J.L. (1889-1891) 

D.D., Mental and Moral 

Philosophy, Natural Sciences 
Rogers, Nancy (1934-1935) 

B.A., Biology 
Rollin, George Paul (1918-1919) 

B.A., French 
Ross, Rebecca Merithew (1908-1909) 

Physical Education 

See Academy listing 
Rothenstein, Sir John K..M. 

(1969-1971) 

C.B.E., M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., Art 
Rothermel, Julia E. (1920-1924) 

B.A., Biology 
Rousseau, Dianne Shell (1953-1956) 

B.A., Chemistry 



Rudy, Eloise Lyndon (1947-1949) 

B.A., Physics 
Rueter, Grace Stephens (1965-1967) 

B.A., English, German 
Runyon, Ernest H. (1936-1945) 

B.S., Ph.D., Botany 
Runyon, Laliah C. (1943-1945) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Rutledge, Abbie (1943-1944) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Rutledge, Dorothy S. (1966-1969) 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Mathematics 



Sadler, Lynn Veach (1966-1967) 

B.A., M.S., English 
Salicco, Betty Lou Everett 

(1969-1970) 

B.M., M.M., Music 
Salisbury, Ann M. (1975-1976) 

B.S., M.Ed., Physical Education 
Salyer, Sandford M. (1923-1924) 

B.A., Ph.D., English 
Salyerds, Anne Martha (1952-1960) 

B.A., Biology 
Samuel, Mercy (1966-1967) 

M.A., M.Sc, Biology 
Sanders, Dudley W. (1979- 

B.A., Theatre 
Sandys, Evelyn M. (1910-1911) 

Physical Training 

See Academy listing 
Santacroce, Mary Nell M. 

(1970-1971) 

B.A., M.Ed., Speech and Drama 
Sarton, May (1971-1972) 

Litt.D., English 
Saul, Theodore (1898-1899) 

Music 
Sawtelle, Leslie (1911-1913) 

B.A., Physical Director 
Saxon, Lizzabel (1904-1909) 

B.A., Latin, Physics 

See Academy listing 
Schaffer, Wiliam A. (1965-1966) 

B.S., Economics 



382 



Schulz, Gretchen Elizabeth 

(1970-1975) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Service, Bessie R. (1893-1896) 

Music 
Sevin, Gertrude (1911-1916) 

Ph.B., Biology, Geology 
Sewell, Margaret Bland (1923-1930, 

1949-1950, 1955-1958, 1959-1964) 
B.A., M.A., Romance Languages 
Shaw, Constance (1966- 

B.A., Ph.D., Spanish 
Sheats, Mary Boney (1949- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., L.H.D., Litt.D. 
Bible and Religion 
Sheffer, Albert D., Jr. (1976- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Mathematics 
Shepard, Alice Mabel (1912-1913) 

Music 
Shepherd, Beverly Nicole (1970-1973) 

B.A., Biology 
Sheppard, Mary D. (1891-1903) 

Mental and Moral Philosophy, 
German 
Sherwood, Alfred Bowne (1918-1919) 

M.A., Physics and Astronomy 
Shipman, Alice (1891-1892) 

Music 
Shiver, Erika Meyer (1962-1972) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., German 
Siegchrist, Mark S. (1970-1974) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Simpson, Thomas E. (1972-1978) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Biology 
Sims, Catherine S. (1939-1960, 

1964-1965, 1975-1976) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History, 
Political Science 
Sinclair, Carrie Curie (1924-1927, 

1928-1932) 
B.S., Physical Education 
Singdahlsen, Robert E. (1962-1964) 

B.A., M.A., Speech and Drama 
Skeen, Augusta (1917-1930) 

B.A., M.A., Chemistry 
Sledd, Frances (1919-1921) 

B.A., Mathematics 



Smith, Anna Green (1948-1970) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., 
Economics, Sociology 
Smith, Daisy Frances (1924-1927) 

B.A., English, Psychology 
Smith, Florence E. (1927-1928, 

1929-1965) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D. 

History, Political Science 
Smith, Jennie (1892-1893) 

Music 
Smith, Lillian S. (1905-1938) 

B.A., Ph.D., Latin, Greek 
Smith, May (1919-1921) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Smith, Ruth Dabney (1943-1950) 

B.M., Music 
Smith, Winnie May (1919-1920) 

Chemistry 
Spangler, Marian Gertrude 

(1908-1910) 
Music 
Sparks, Edithgene (1961-1962) 

B.S., M.Ed., Education 
Spear, Daisy H. (1910-1911) 

B.A., Chemistry, Physics 
Spitler, Hugh Donald (1980-1981) 

B.A., M.A., Sociology 
Springs, Alice V. (1893-1896) 

Art 
Staal Julius D.W. (1978- 

F.R.A.S. 

Director of the Planetarium of 
the Bradley Observatory 
Stack, Elizabeth Cole (1959-1966) 

B.A., M.Ed., Ph.D., Education 
Stansfield, Martha (1921-1938) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D. 

Latin, Greek, Mathematics 
Stark, Mary Louise (1964-1965) 

B.A., M.F.A., Speech and Drama 
Staude, Mitchell (1981-1982) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Philosophy 
Staven, Leland (1969- 

B.F.A., M.F.A., Art 
Steanson, Karen E. (1967-1968) 

B.A., M.A., English 



383 



Steel, Chloe (1955-1976) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D. 
French 
Stephan, John H. (1900-1905) 

Music 
Stephens, Nan. B. (1925-1931) 

Play Writing 
Stevenson, Frederick D. (1916-1917) 

B.A., B.D., Bible 
Stevenson, Lillian (1919-1921) 

B.A., M.A., History 
Stewart, Janet (1975-1978) 

B.M., M.M., Music 
Stocking, Ruth J. (1915-1916) 

Ph.D., Biology 
Stokes, Agnes Adams (1929-1937) 

B.A., Music 
Story, Patricia Ann (1951-1954) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Strain, John Paul (1957-1958) 

B.A., B.D., M.A., Ed.S., Education 
Straus, Grace (1927-1928) 

B.A., Mathematics 
Stukes, Samuel Guerry (1913-1957) 

B.A., M.A., B.D., Ped.D. 

Philosophy, Bible, Education, 
Psychology 
Sturdivant, Harwell P. (1931-1932) 

B.S., M.S., Biology 
Suitor, M. Lee (1974-1975) 

B.A., B.M., M.S.M., Music 
Summers, Lucuis Welborn 

(1922-1923) 

B.S., M.A., Sociology 
Sutphen, Katherine Van Dusen 

(1918-1923) 
Music 
Sutton, Rachel S. (1945-1946) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Education 
Swanson, Florene L. (1937-1940) 

B.S., M.D., Hygiene 
Swanson, Richard A. (1979-1981) 

B.S., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Swart, Koenraad Wolter (1956-1966) 

LL.B., Lit.B., Ph.D., 

History, Political Science 



Sweet, Ann Vann (1943-1945) 
B.A., M.A., Mathematics 

Sweet, Mary Frances (1908-1937) 
M.D., Physiology and Hygiene 

Sydenstricker, Alma W. (1917-1943) 
M.A., Ph.D., Bible 



Taggart, Bruce Lyle (1978-1979) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Classical 
Languages and Literatures 
Tanner, Jodele (1945-1946) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Taylor, George E. (1975-1977) 

B.S., Ph.D., Biology 
Taylor-Harris, Jody (1980- 

B.M., Music 
TeBeest, Ronald H. (1965-1966) 

B.A., M.A., Political Science 
Thimester, Renate (1966-1971) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Economics 
Thomas, Howard (1943-1945) 

Art 
Thomas, Pierre (1951-1967) 

Ingenieur-docteur, French 
Thompson, Miriam H. (1932-1933) 

B.A., French 
Thomson, Paul E. (1905-1907) 

Music 
Thornberry, Jacqueline (1973-1974) 

B.S., M.A.T., Education 
Tillman, Sandra Jean (1968-1969) 

B.A., M.Ed., Physical Education 
Torrance, Catherine ( 1913-1943) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Greek, Latin 
See Academy listing 
Toth, John W. (1978-1982) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Theatre 
Traylor, Martha M. (1968-1969) 

B.S., M.S., Political Science 
Treadwell, Anne (1948-1950) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Trebein, Bertha E. (1907-1919) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., German 
Trotter, Margret Guthrie (1944-1977) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 



384 



Trotter, Sue Sexton (1963-1966, 
1967-1969) 
B.A., French 
Tucker, Joyce Cummings (1978-1979) 
B.A., N.A.R., M.Div. 
Bible and Religion 
Tucker, Mary Curtis (1967-1968) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Tuller, Elizabeth (1917-1919) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Tumblin, John A., Jr. (1960- 
B.A,. M.A., Ph.D., 

Sociology, Anthropology 
Turner, Anne (1945-1947) 
B.A., M.S., Classical 

Languages and Literatures 
Turner, Arthur William (1916-1917) 
B.A., M.A., 

Philosophy, Education 



Vail, Charles Brooks (1956-1957) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Vance, Margaret (1949-1950) 

B.S., M.D., Physical Education 
Vance, Margaret B. (1892-1895) 

Music 
Vandiver, William M. (1974-1977) 

B.B.A., M.B.A., D.B.A., 
Economics 
Vann, Ann Mary (1941-1943) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics 
Vardell, Mary Linda (1936-1937) 

B.A., M.A., Biology 
Vaughan, Marion Russell (1934-1936) 

B.A., Spoken English 
Villar, Maria Isabel V. (1976-1977) 

Spanish 
Voegeli, Martha (1919-1920) 

B.A., M.A., German 
Volkoff, Vladimir (1966-1977) 

Baccalaureat latin-langues, 

Certificat detudes litteraires 

generales. Licence es lettres de 

I'Universite de Paris, Docteur en 

Philosophic et Lettres de 

TUniversite de Liege 
French, Russian 



w 

Wade, Myra I. (1919-1921) 

B.A., Physical Education 
Walden, Charles Bowman 

(1952-1953) 

B.E., Ph.M., Education 
Walker, Grace (1941-1942) 

B.A., English 
Walker, Merle G. (1958-1971) 

B.A,. M.A., Ph.D., 
Philosophy, English 
Walker, Ruth Gray (1945-1947) 

B.A., Biology 
Walker, Susan Robinson (1965-1967) 

B.S.Ed., M.A.Ed., Art 
Wallace, Rebecca (1972-1973) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Walton, Strethel (1923-1924) 

Music 
Warner, Anne Bradford (1978-1981) ' 

B.A, M.A., Ph.D., English 
Warren, Ferdinand (1951-1969) 

N.A., Art 
Waterman, Arthur E. (1965-1966) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Watkins, Helen (1901-1908) 

Music 
Watkins, Patty B. (1891-1897) 

Mathematics 
Watts, Virginia (1967-1968) 

B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Webb, Neva Jackson (1950-1951) 

B.A., Speech 
Webber, Anne (1949-1950) 

B.F.A., Art 
Weber, William H., Ill (1971- 

B.A., Ph.D., Economics 
Webster, Alta (1942-1943) 

B.A., Physical Education 
West, Edith Randolph (1913-1916) 

B.A., History, Political Economy, 
Sociology 
West, Mary N. (1915-1916) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Westall, Mary (1926-1935) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Botany 
Westbrook, Viola G. (1974-1980) 

B.A., M.A., German 



385 



Westervelt, Robert F. (1957-1980) 

B.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., Art 
Weyant, Jane Gilmer ( 1970-1971) 

B.A., M.A., History 
Whatley, Margaret Lowndes 

(1956-1957) 
B.F.A., Art 
Whetsell, Mary Ellen (1939-1940) 

B.A., Biology 
Whitaker, Thomas W. (1934-1936) 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Botany 
White, Alan J. (1975-1979) 

B.S., Ph.D., Chemistry 
White, Blanche M. (1899-1900) 

Music 
White, Edwin Chappell (1950-1953) 

B.A., B.M., M.F.A., Music 
White, Sarah Parker (1918-1920) 

M.A., M.D., Philosophy 
White, Wanda Marie (1970-1971) 

B.S., M.Ed., Education 
Whittemore, Kenneth R. (1967-1971) 

B.A., B.D., Sociology 
Wier, Amelia Jo (1950-1952) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Wieshofer, Ingrid Emma (1970- 

Ph.D., German 
Wiggins, Samuel Paul (1948-1953) 

B.S., M.Ed., Ph.D., Education 
Wikel, Patricia Eggee (1977-1978) 

B.A., M.A., Biology 
Wilburn Llewellyn (1920-1922, 

1926-1967) 
B.A., M.A., Physical Education 
Wilde, Ronald B. (1965-1978) 

B.S., M.A.T., Mathematics 
Wiley, Bell lrvin (1974-1976) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Litt.D., 

L.H.D., LL.D., History 

Willcox, Marguerite (1916-1918) 

B.A., Ph.D., Chemistry 
Williams, Helena (1948-1951) 

B.S., Physical Education 
Williams, Mary B. (1960-1961) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics 
Willis, Faith M. (1970-1972) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Sociology 
Willis, Loetta (1939-1941) 

B.A., M.A., Physics 



Wilson, Christine L. (1980- 

B.M.E., M.M., Music 
Wilson, Louise (1918-1919) 

B.A., History 
Wilson Raemond (1932-1934) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Winter, Roberta Powers (1939-1974) 

B.A., M.A., Ed.D., 

Speech and Dramatic Art 
Wistrand, Harry (1974- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Biology 
Wolters, Richard Mark (1971-1974) 

B.A., Philosophy 
Woods, Linda Lentz (1968- 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., English 
Woolfolk, Ada S. (1924-1926) 

Sociology 
Worden, Sara A. (1892-1893) 

Art 
Wright, Billie Louise (1949-1950) 

B.A., Chemistry 
Wright, James M. (1927-1938) 

B.A., Ph.D., Economics, Sociology 



X, Y, Z, 

Yang, Nai-Chuang(1981- 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Chemistry 
York, Gertrude Irene (1916-1917) 

B.A., M.A., Home Economics 
Young, Anna Irwin (1898-1920) 

B.A., M.A., Mathematics, 
Physics, Astronomy 
Young, Donald Francis (1978- 

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Mathematics 
Young, James Harvey (1942-1943) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., History 
Young, Myrna Goode (1955-1956, 
1957-1979) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Classical 
Languages and Literatures 
Yungblut, June J. (1961-1962, 
1964-1965) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Zenn, Elizabeth Gould (1947-1982) 

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Classical 
Languages and Literatures 



386 



Agnes Scott Academy 



Alexander, Alice Lucile (1906-1912) 

Mathematics 
Almon, Laleah E. (1907-1913) 

French, German 
Armstrong, Ellen Baxter (1907-1913) 

English, History 
Askew, Thyrza Simonton (1903-1912) 

English 
Colton, Susan (1905-1906) 

French, German 
Cook, Martha (Mattie) E. (1904-1910) 

Arithmetic, Geography, History, 
Penmanship 
Emery, Julia Jordan (1910-1911) 

Physical Director 
Laney, Emma May (1912-1913) 

B.A., M.A., English 
Marion, Ruth (1911-1912) 

B.A., Latin, Mathematics 
Martin, Nancy T. (1907-1908) 

M.D., Physiology, Hygiene 
Merriman, C. Ina (1909-1910) 

Physical Director 
Montgomery, Alice Maud (1907-1908) 

Physical Director 
Newton, Irene (1909-1910) 

B.A., History, Physical Geography 



Parry, Mrs. H.L. (1911-1912) 

Physical Training 
Phillips, Anne Winifred (1904-1912) 

B.A., Latin 
Pierce, Emma Louise (1912-1913) 

B.A., Mathematics 
Pope, Ruth Cushing (1904-1906) 

Physical Training, Physiology 
Ross, Rebecca Merithew (1908-1909) 

Physical Director 
Sandys, Evelyn M. (1910-1911) 

Physical Training 
Saxon, Lizzabel (1909-1913) 

B.A., History, Mathematics 
Steele, Emma Blanche (1912-1913) 

B.A., French 
Torrance, Catherine (1909-1913) 

B.A., M.A., Greek, Latin 
Webb, Alia (1904-1905) 

B.A., English, Latin 
Young, Ella (1905-1913) 

Bible, English, History 
Young, Rachel Aleph (1906-1913) 

B.A., Latin, Mathematics 



387 



SOURCES 

Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Agnes Scott College 

Minutes of the Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, Agnes Scott 
College 

Minutes of the Faculty, Agnes Scott College 

Minutes of the Academic Council, Agnes Scott College 

Annual Reports of the Presidents of the College to the Board of 
Trustees 

Back Files of the Agonistic, the Agnes Scott News, and the Profile 

Back Files of the Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly 

Back Files of the Silhouette 

Volumes of the Agnes Scott Catalogue, 1889-1982 

Unpublished Memoirs of James Ross McCain 

Unpublished Recollections of Louise McKinney 

Unpublished and Unclassified Materials in the Archives of the 
McCain Library 

Conversations with Many Former and Present Agnes Scott Faculty, 
Staff, Alumnae, and Friends 

Personal Recollections of Almost Thirty Years at Agnes Scott 

Agnes Scott College Faculty Handbook, 1980-1981 

Agnes Scott College Student Handbook (1980-1981 issue and some 
back issues) 

Limited Materials from the Library of the Atlanta Historical Society 

F.H. Gaines, The Story of Agnes Scott College (1889-1921) 

J.R. McCain, The Story of Agnes Scott College 1889-1939 

James Ross McCain, The Growth of Agnes Scott College 1889-1955 



389 



INDEX 

This index is not intended to be exhaustive. It is hoped that it will be useful in locating some of the 
events and people mentioned in the preceding pages. 



Academic Council, 59-60, 144-146, 234-235 

Academic enrichment in early 1960's, 186 

Academic freedom, 154-155, 242-244 

Academic freedom and tenure, 194-197 

Academic policy, special committee on, 
144-146 

Accreditation as a college, 30 

Accusation of anti-Semitism, 190 

Administrative officers, 364-365 

Admission of black students, 173-174 

Advanced placement, 159-160, 217 

Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 
269-271 

Agnes Scott Academy, 42-44 

Agnes Scott Alumnae Association, 58 

Agnes Scott Fund, 176 

Agnes Scott Hall (Main), 13-14, 21 

Agnes Scott Ideal, 10-11 

Agnes Scott's image as set forth by President 
Alston, 166-168 

Agnes Scott Looks to the Future Program, 
257-259 

Agnes Scott Prayer Covenant, 1 1-12 

Agnes Scott seal, 281 

Alcoholic beverages, 177-180, 237-239, 
259-261 

Alexander, Alice Lucile, 327-328 

Alston, Wallace McPherson, 120, 129-131, 
164, 203-204, 214-215, 217-220 

Alumnae Day, 157 

Alumnae Council, 217 

Alumnae Fund, 119-120 

Alumnae Garden, 81 

Alumnae House, 58-59 

Alumnae Infirmary, 33 

Alumnae trustees, 77 

American Association of University Pro- 
fessors, 183-184 

American College Testing Service, 159 

Anderson, Nathalie F., 323 

Applicants' Weekend, 266 

Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion, 
and Tenure, 245-248 

Arbuckle, Howard Bell, 28, 329-330 

Arkhora Associates, Inc., 253 

Armstead, J.D.M., 29, 71-72, 331-333 

Arnett, Trevor, 78 

Articles of Incorporation, 205, 275 

Athletic Association, 282 

Atlanta campaign of 1909, 40-42 

Atlanta campaign of 1961, 172 

Atlanta Environmental Symposia, 233 

Atlanta Experiment in Articulation and En- 
richment, 146 



Baccalaureate and Graduation on same day, 

190 
Bahr, Richard C, 176, 194 
Balanced budgets, 85 
Ball, B. W., 323 
Barclay, Lee A., 251-252 
Barton, David, 323 
Beck, Louis H. Foundation, 98, 122 
Benefits for faculty, administrative staff, and 

hourly employees, 230-232 
Bennett Award, 295 
Black Cat, 283 
Blackfriars, 284-295 
Board of Trustees restructure, 186-187 
BOZ and Folio, 297 
Bradley, W.C. and Sarah H. Foundation, 

121-122 
Break from Thanksgiving to New Years, 234 
Brooking, Jack T., 285 
Brown, Michael J., 227 
Budget process, 134 
Buttrick Hall, 80-81, 256-257 
Buttrick, Wallace, 37, 38, 39 
Byers, Edna Hanley, 334-335 
Byrnside, Ronald L., 227 
Callaway Professorship, 200-201, 269 
Campaign of late 1920's, 79-80 
Campaign of 1949, 121, 122 
Campbell, John Bulow, 123-125 
Campbell Science Hall campaign, 274 
Campell Hall renovation, 271 
Career Planning Office, 252-253 
Carnegie Library, 47 
Charter of 1889, 6-8 
Charter, amendments, 29, 161 
Chairmen of the Board of Trustees, 358 
Christian Association, 298 
Clark, Marion, Thomas, 200 
College Entrance Examination Board tests, 

150 
College Scholarship Service, 160 
Committee on Academic Problems (CAP), 193 
Cunningham, Alice J., 200 
Cunningham, R.B., 49 
"Cut" system, 89-90 

Dalton Galleries and Art Collection, 186 
Dana Fine Arts Building, 184-186 
Dana Professorships, 227 
Dana Scholarships, 202-203 
Davidson, Philip, Jr., 104-105 
Dean of the Faculty, 95 
Dean of Students, 95 
Decennial evaluation by Southern Association 

of Colleges and Schools, 174-176 



390 



DeKalb County Teachers Federal Credit 

" Union, 236 

Dillard, Doyle M., 251 

Distinguished Alumnae Recognition, 262 

Drucker, Miriam K., 227 

Dual degree program with the Georgia Insti- 
tute of Technology, 236, 257 

Early Decision Plan, 159 

Economics and sociology as two departments, 
271 

Emory University, cooperative agreement 
with, 100-103, 134-138 

Entrance requirements of 1907-1908, 44 

Evans, Letitia Pate, 121, 122-123 

Faculty, 366-386 

Faculty leaves of absence, 76, 228-230 

Faculty organization, 235 

Faculty qualifications, 45, 191, 197 

Faculty retreats, 255-256 

Faculty salary cuts during the depression of 
the 1930's, 85 

Faculty statement on public schools, 162-164 

Faculty, student, alumnae joint effort to 
formulate a statement of purpose and goals 
for Agnes Scott, 209-213 

Ferrer, Nels F.S., 151-153 

Five-day class week, 193-194 

Flint, John O., 336 

Food-service experiment, 184 

Ford Foundation grants of 1955, 149 

Founder's Day, 34, 155, 299-301 

Founders, initial meetings of, 3-6 

Frierson, William Joe, 200 

Frost Collection, 160-161 

Frost, Robert, 160 

Gaines, Alex P., 225, 266-268 

Gaines cottage, 33, 47 

Gaines, Frank Henry, 2, 22, 60-65 

Gamma Tau Alpha, 52-53 

Garber, Paul L., 154 

Gary, Julia T., 198-199 

Gellerstedt, Lawrence L., Jr., 268-269 

General Education Board, 36-37, 38, 53-54, 
79, 103 

Georgia Foundation for Independent Col- 
leges, 158-159 

Glee Club, 302 

Glick, M. Kathryn, 224 

"God of the Marching Centuries," 280 

Gooch, Frances K., 284 

Grievance Committee, 249-251 

Grimes, Lea Ann, 252 

Groseclose, Nancy, 183, 237 

Guidelines for sale of College property, 
253-255 

Gymnasium, 72-73 

Hannah, William M., 194 



Harmon, Mrs. C.E. (Bessie Scott), 57 

Hayes, George P., 103, 337 

Henderson, R. James, 226, 251 

HOASC, 53 

Honorary degrees, 84 

Honor Scholarship Program, 263-266 

Honors Day, 303-305 

Honors program, 116-118 

Hopkins Jewel, 306-307 

Hopkins Hall, 94, 139 

Hopkins, Nannette, 5, 20, 92-94 

Hutchens, Eleanor N., 132, 323 

Inauguration of Wallace M. Alston, 131-133 

Inauguration of Marvin Banks Perry, Jr., 

222-224 
Independent Study, 142-144 
Inman Hall, 47 
Inman, Jane Walker, 71 
Inman, Samuel Martin, 31, 34-35, 49-51 
Inman, Mrs. Samuel M., 57 
Internships in college administration, 233 
Internship with Georgia Legislature, 217 
Investiture, 308 
Jackson, Elizabeth Fuller, 149 
Johnson, Ann Worthy, 204 
Jones, Roberta K., 199, 227 
Kenan, William R., Jr., Chair of Chemistry, 

200, 227 
Kimmel Award, 296 
Kirk, Mary Wallace, 57, 58, 256 
Kirk Concert Series, 274 
Kirkland, Martha C, 227 
Kline, C. Benton, Jr., 158, 174, 198 
Laney, Emma May, 146, 154, 337-338 
Leyburn, Ellen Douglass, 128, 200, 339-340 
Literary Societies and Debating, 309-310 
Long-range campus planning, 72 
Long-range planning committee for late 

twentieth century, 236 
Loridans Chair of French, 156-157 
Lowry Science Hall, 47 
MacDougall, Mary Stuart, 341-342 
Maclean, Joseph, 343 
Marshall, Thomas R., Vice President of the 

United States, 51 
Marts and Lundy, 169-170 
May Day, 311-313 
McCain, James Ross, VI, 51, 54, 60-70, 82, 89, 

107, 121, 126-128, 131, 165, 187-189 
McCain Lectureship, 189-190 
McCain Library, 87-88 
McCain Library renovation, 248-249 
McCain, Paul M., 199 
McKinney, M. Louise, 90, 344-345 
McKenzie, Virginia Brown, 227 
Medical program for employees, 161-162 
Mell, Mildred R., 115, 314 



391 



Miller, James Hull, 186 

Mnemosynean Society, 309 

Mooney, Kathleen K., 252 

Mortar Board, 87 

Murphey Candler Building (Hub), 88 

Murphy, lone, 252 

Newman Prizes, 323 

Non-contract employees admitted to medical 

program, 199-200 
OktoberQuest, 266 
Orr, Gustavus J., 1 

Orr, Joseph Kyle, 38, 39, 51-52, 90-91 
Outside employment of faculty, 214 
Parietals, 240-241 
Pattillo property, 31 
Pendleton, Barbara M. 205, 227 
Pepe, Marie H., 237 
Pepperdene, Margaret W., 200, 323 
Perry, Marvin Banks, Jr., VI, 216, 221-222, 

272-273, 275-277 
Phi Beta Kappa, 74-76, 248 
Pi Alpha Phi, 309-310 

Policy on employing faculty members, 191, 197 
Political Science as a separate department 

from history, 271 
Portman, John, 184-185 
Posey, Walter B 115, 173 
Powers of Student Government Association 

(1929), 84-85 
Presidential "oath," 120-121 
Presidential Search Committee of 1945-1948, 

120 
Presidential Search Committee of 1972-1973, 

216 
Presidential Search Committee of 1981-1982, 

273 
Presidents of Agnes Scott, 358 
Presidents, Agnes Scott Alumnae Association, 

363 
Presidents of Student Government, 319-320 
President's Advisory Council, 206-209 
Presser Hall, 105-106 

Probationary appointments to the faculty, 83 
Propylean Society, 309 
Qualifications of Trustees, 106-107, 239-240 
Quarter system, 89 
Rebekah Scott Hall, 32 
Retirement compensation for emeriti, 227-228 
Retirement program, 107-112 
Return to college program, 236-237 
Revised College bylaws in 1974, 234-235 
Rhodes Scholar: I la Leola Burdett, 272 
Roberta Powers Winter Theater, 186 
Robbins study and report, 191-193 
Robinson, Henry A., 154 
Rogers, P.J., Jr., 133, 203, 346-347 
Sabbatical leaves, 228-230 



Scandrett, Carrie, 95, 133, 171, 199, 348-349 

Schmidt, Ruth A., 278 

Scholarship funds, initial, 26 

School of Music, Art, and Expression, 46 

Scott, Agnes Irvine, 15-16 

Scott, George Bucher, 33 

Scott, George Washington, 3, 12, 14-19,28,34 

Self-study of 1961-1963, 174-175 

Self-study of 1971-1973, 213-214 

Semi-centennial, 1939, 95-97 

Semi-centennial campaign, 104-105 

Session of 1923-1924, 70-71 

Seventy-fifth Anniversary Development 

Campaign  Conclusion, 172-173 
Seventy-fifth Anniversary Development 

Campaign Organization, 170-172 
Seventy-fifth anniversary development pro- 
gram, 140-142, 168-169 
Seventy-fifth anniversary long-range planning 

committee, 139-140 
Seventy-fifth Anniversary Observance, 180-183 
Sheats, Mary Boney, 227, 269 
Sims, Catherine S., 1 14, 154, 248 
Smith, Hal L., VI, 156, 165, 225 
Smith, Hal L. and Julia T. Chair of Free 

Enterprise, 269 
Smith, Lillian S., 29 
Smoking, 125-126 
Sophomore Parents Weekend, 314 
South Decatur-Stone Mountain trolley line, 

73-74 
Special Committee on Rules and Policies 

(SCRAP), 201-202 
Speech and Drama as a separate department 

from English, 166 
Steam plant and laundry, 80 
Steele, Laura, 133, 158, 160,226,252,350-351 
Stockholders, 9 

Stockholders arrangement ended, 22 
Stricklar, G.B., 12, 21, 22 
Student Government, 315-318 
Student health service,- 237 
Student Publications, 321-322 
Stukes, Samuel Guerry, 95, 133, 146, 157, 

352-354 
Stukes Scholars, 158 
Summer conferences, 234 
Summer study abroad, 204 
Sweet, Mary Frances, 90, 149 
Synod relationships, 27, 55-56 
Tart, J.C., 55, 133, 176 
Teachers Insurance Association of America 

(T.I. A. A.), 205-206 
Telephones for each student, 194 
Thompson (Hutcheson), Ann Rivers, 226, 252 
Thorkelson, Halston Joseph, 78 
Tindel, Judith Maguire, 252 



392 



Trotter, Margret G., 138, 323 

Trust Company of Georgia, 107 

Trustee bylaws, initial, 23-26 

Trustees of Agnes Scott, 359-362 

Trustees, initial, 10 

Twenty-fifth anniversary, 51 

Typhoid epidemic, 47-48 

U.S.  India Women's College Exchange 

Program, 183 
University Center in Georgia, 97-99, 103 
Visit of Presbyterian Educators, 165-166 
Walters, Frances Winship, 121, 147-149 
Walters Hall, 150 
Warren, Ferdinand, 161 
Waterman, Annie Louise Harrison, 122, 123 
Washington semester, 217 
White House, 32, 33, 47 
Wilburn, Llewellyn, 57, 282 
Winship, George, 91-92, 155-156 
Winship Hall, 176-177 
Winter, Roberta Powers, 284 
"Women and Mind Power", 274-275 
Women trustees, initial ones, 56-57 
Woodruff, George W., 153 
World War I, 57 
World War II, 112-116 
Writers' Festival, 323 
Young, Anna Irwin, 355-356 
Young, Myrna G., 213