USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > New London > A centennial history, 1837-1937, Colby Academy, Colby Junior College > Part 19
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This time the townspeople must put on their best behavior to welcome a new headmaster and his wife and son. Herbert Leslie Sawyer, a graduate of Bates College in the class of 1908 and resident in Lebanon for years as principal of the high school and then superintendent of
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schools, had been selected as the new head of Colby Academy. But he assumed no august dignity such as Dr. Gardner or Dr. Hovey would wear. He looked to be a friendly man, and townspeople and students took to him from the start. He knew his business of schoolmas- tering and he went about it without fluster or fanfare.
The same problems faced the new administration as had perplexed the old. Student attendance was an un- certain matter. High schools were in all the towns and never again would academies attract the hundreds of pupils as of yore. Competition among schools was keen, and parents measured the advantages of one school over another. Attendance varied so much at Colby that it seemed advisable to make a practice of soliciting stu- dents, besides sending out catalogues. The trustees made a special appropriation for such field work, and Mr. Sawyer and Mr. Parker of the faculty drove about the country and interviewed young people and parents in their homes.
Many schools depend on their alumni to supply new students, and certain of the Colby graduates were doing more than could be expected of them. Many were luke- warm in their interest. To stir them to action it was planned to hold a field day and reunion in August, 1923, in connection with Old Home Week in town and state. It was proposed also to have a public forum sometime during the summer, and there was talk of a summer assembly under the joint auspices of the academy and the Baptist State Convention, which eventuated in a tutor- ing school. These were new ideas, but they were an in- dication that the administration was alive to its oppor- tunities.
The problem of buildings was troublesome. Colgate Hall provided classrooms and a girls' dormitory, but the building was now ten years old and the expense of up- keep was mounting. Miss Mary Colgate again came to
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the help of the trustees, turning over twenty-five thou- sand dollars to the academy as a maintenance fund for the building that she had provided. It was a question what should be done with the Tavern, which had been bought in order to control the property. It was a well known hostelry and without doubt could be made a profitable investment, but the building needed repairs and the school could hardly undertake the management of a hotel. That question was disposed of by leasing the property for five years at a rental of eleven hundred dol- lars a year, with the proviso that the lessee should make the necessary repairs. Subsequently the rent was raised to fifteen hundred dollars. The building was put into good order and was opened to the public as the New London Inn. Somewhat later the academy bought a strip of land between the hotel and the school property for about three hundred dollars.
It was an open question what use to make of the old Academy building. It was not needed any longer for classrooms or gymnasium, and it was doubtful if it was worth much for dormitory purposes, even if needed. Yet a strong sentiment existed against demolishing it because of old associations. It had stood as a landmark for eighty-five years, ever since the origin of New Lon- don Academy. The trustees decided to restore the build- ing to its original form and appointed a committee to raise money for the purpose. It was a debatable question what use should be made of it, but it seemed a wise de- cision when the trustees decided to divide it into four apartments for rental.
The most serious problem was how to provide proper dormitory accommodations for the boys. The old build- ings were no longer suitable. To keep them in fair re- pair required a considerable annual outlay and they never could be well equipped. The alternative was pre- sented whether to build a new dormitory for the boys or
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to construct a much-needed gymnasium with a fund of forty thousand dollars that was anticipated from the Baptist New World Movement. An effort was being made by the denomination throughout the country to improve the financial standing of its educational insti- tutions, and forty thousand dollars was to be the share of Colby Academy. After considerable debate the trus- tees decided in favor of the gymnasium, thinking that it would be a boon to athletics and the general health of the students, since the old gymnasium on the lower campus was not worth repairing. It had cost only one thousand dollars originally; now it was sold at public auction for one hundred. The decision was made in 1926, and the contract for construction of the new build- ing was made with Horace C. Stanley, one of the trustees. A building committee of five was selected from the Board, consisting of W. N. Donovan, W. A. Hill, E. G. Hapgood, William Reid, and Mrs. Gula G. Plummer. In 1923 Colby Academy won the championship of the Central New Hampshire Preparatory School Baseball League.
The question of changing the character of the school came up again for discussion. The boys outnumbered the girls, but it was proposed seriously to make it a girls' school. Yet so strong was the opposition of a minority of the trustees that the matter was postponed. About the same time the question was raised whether Colby Acad- emy was a sectarian school. A New Hampshire law pro- vided that a town need not organize a high school if it paid tuition for its students to attend another high school or a private school, but not if the school were sectarian. It was decided to lay the data before the state commissioner of education for an official judgment. An arrangement was made with the town of New London by which the academy agreed to give secondary instruction to the young people of the town at the rate of one hun-
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dred and ten dollars' tuition for each pupil. The usual rate of tuition and board was from four hundred to four hundred and fifty dollars a year. By this arrangement the necessity of a new town high school was postponed.
So acute was the need for suitable buildings that the trustees should be excused if they gave too much atten- tion to that matter. They did not neglect the provision of a faculty which would maintain former standards and if possible improve upon them. It was a matter for con- gratulation that Julia M. Gay continued her long term of service as preceptress. Trustees and parents had con- fidence in her and she was popular with the students. She was a good Latin teacher and as a graduate of the academy she knew and prized its traditions. Mr. Sawyer gathered about himself a faculty young in years but one which gave confidence that it would season well.
It was one of the newer improvements in the educa- tional world to group study courses as major and minor and to encourage students to delve more deeply in one field than in another. The older custom, as in the days of the New London Literary and Scientific Institution when pupils got a smattering of intellectual and orna- mental branches, was giving way. The new administra- tion adopted a threefold classification of major, minor, and sub-minor courses. A major course was defined as a course that provided for four classroom sessions a week for four years. Only English and Bible were required majors, but elective majors were offered in Latin, mathe- matics and history. The trustees voted to include two courses in missions in the biblical group. One of these was to be on the history of the missionary movement and was to be prescribed. The other, which was to be elective, was on the biography of missions. These courses were introduced because of the missionary tra- ditions of the academy, as evidenced by the long con- tinued Society of Missionary Inquiry, the missionary
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service of a number of the alumni, and the interest in world affairs and particularly the awakening East that followed the World War.
A minor course was defined as a course continued for two instead of four years for four periods a week, thus counting as two units. History was a prescribed minor, and a wide range of electives in this division included French and German, mathematics, Latin, biology, chem- istry and physics among the sciences, and an increased amount of history. A sub-minor course was one that con- tinued four hours a week for one year only with a credit of one unit. Science constituted the sub-minor course, with similar electives as in the minor division, plus eco- nomics and psychology. With such a diversified intel- lectual menu there was no danger of mental starvation.
In making his report to the trustees after he had been at the academy for a year Mr. Sawyer said: "We are not indulging in any practical arts courses common to most secondary schools, and unless we can be equipped to in- struct thoroughly in such courses, ought we to consider their adoption?" Whether or not he was thinking of agriculture, the commercial branches and domestic arts, all of which had been discontinued, he was taking the common sense view of the matter. Yet he was not un- aware of the modern trend in favor of practical arts and the popular demand for them. It was only a recognition of the principle that it was better to teach the standard subjects of the secondary school well than to undertake to enlarge the curriculum and present subjects inade- quately through lack of proper equipment.
Various methods were used to encourage high en- deavor in the studies that were undertaken. Clarence E. Clough, the president of the Board, and his wife, Mary E. Clough, both of whom were graduates of the acad- emy in the class of '91, generously offered a prize of two hundred dollars to be awarded to the student who
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showed most marked general improvement in conduct and bearing as well as scholarship during the last two consecutive years of his course. By unanimous vote of the trustees this prize was awarded for the first time to Joseph Flemming in the year 1926.
Three other prizes were offered to members of the senior class who should write the best essays. The first of these prizes was won by Robert Shahbaz, who wrote on "Intellectual Curiosity." The second prize was taken by Cyrus Durgin with an essay on "The National Theatre," and the third went to Ruth Gray who wrote on "Superstitions." It is obvious that the thoughts of those who wrote were moving in widely different chan- nels. Some of the other essay topics indicate how the minds of Colby students were working. "Reflections of a Graduate" suggested a flavor of olden time and of ad- dresses to the literary societies, though the subject of the reflections may have been more modern. Two other topics indicated anthropological interest or a mental reversion to primitive times in America. One was "The Vanishing American" and the other "Luxurious Wig- wams." The author of this essay was living in the boys' dormitory.
Now and then an author had an opportunity to win plaudits on such an occasion as Commencement or an anniversary. Then one might exhibit a good English style and at the same time express lofty sentiments in praise of the academy. Such an opportunity came to Kenneth S. Rich, who composed a tribute to Alma Mater in the senior class hymn for 1925. It was en- titled
AU REVOIR
Dear Colby, Alma Mater, it is time for us to go
From your classrooms and your campus that we have cherished so. You have sheltered us and taught us as a mother does her child, When we strayed your voice was kindly and your hand was firm but mild.
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Some of us may never, in this world of care and pain, See these old familiar buildings, these honored halls again, But when the paths of service lead us from your campus far away, We will think of you and love you as we're loving you today.
It is time that we were parting, we must say our last goodbye, And venture forth alone where life's uncertain pathways lie. It is hard to leave you, Colby, dear old school upon the hill, But the world is calling to us, and we can't be standing still!
There was nothing static about the Colby students of those days. It was a dynamic age. Sometimes they were content with shutting off the hot water in the showers, rolling dinner plates the length of the dining-room after "Colby mud" or chocolate pudding had been removed, and whistling to keep up one's courage on a zero morn- ing before the steam reached the pipes on the top floor of Colby Hall. Sometimes the impatience of the boys resulted in a raid on the kitchen or a midnight in- vestigation of the lower floor of Colgate by flashlight until they were interrupted by the advent of the night watchman. Not content with this two of the ingenious boys of the dormitory conceived the plan of a "Quick and Dirty Lunch," which between nine-thirty and ten o'clock dispensed sandwiches and hot coffee.
Of course, the boys were not happy alone. They es- tablished friendly relations with the girls at the Satur- day night movies, and stood in line for the new divans in the reception room at Colgate before the chaperones returned. The girls on the upper floor of Colgate had a way of appearing mysteriously at the right time, and many a heart was shot with Cupid's arrows within the year only to be cured of its hurt as the months went by. One poor fellow who had just had his ring returned was unfortunate enough to enter the morning chapel service as the leader announced the hymn:
"Courage, brother, do not stumble,
Though the path be dark as night."
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Relations with the faculty were friendly. One day in the Latin class the teacher gave a cut to the first student who could translate a word from Vergil that he wrote on the board. The teacher of psychology wished to convey an important point to the class, and did it by stalking ominously into the room when the bell rang, writing on the blackboard "Consciousness is Dynamic," and then dismissing the class. The students never forgot the phrase.
The Colby Academy Assembly continued to give all the students a voice in school affairs, and by a change of presidents every term it gave a distribution of honors and practice in the guidance of assemblies. The Assem- bly staged a winter carnival, which included a minstrel show, class contests, and "The Onion Corner Grocery Store." Lectures and musicales relieved the tedium of the academic routine. The girls organized a Citizenship Club "to make better citizens, to teach the problems and duties expected of a good citizen, and especially to teach girls as well as boys the complexities of a political life." This organization was really a revival of an older society of the kind, and was due particularly to Miss Gay's inter- est in it. Women had obtained the vote since the days when woman's rights were debated in the literary soci- eties, but the girls were less concerned with their respon- sibilities than was their teacher.
The Young Men's Christian Association reminded the boys of their obligations as Christian citizens. The Young Men's Christian Association organizations in the preparatory schools of New Hampshire were grouped in a conference, which met annually at one of the schools. In 1925 they came to New London for two days' meet- ings. These had a good effect on the local Association. The Girl Reserves constituted an inner circle of the Young Women's Christian Association. Their symbol was a blue triangle with the letters G. R. inside. The
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three sides represented health, knowledge and friend- ship. The organization celebrated its birth by a house party which included all the girls, town as well as hall girls. The Reserves had committees on prayer meeting, world fellowship and music, and social and room com- mittees. An entirely new association was the "C" club, organized among the "letter" men of the school "to pro- mote clean sportsmanship, to form a better relationship between Colby and other schools, to interest outside athletes in Colby, and to maintain athletics among the activities of the school."
A new student publication was added to The Colby Voice in 1923. This was The Colbyan, published an- nually in the interest of the senior class. Like college annuals, it contained sketches and records of student organizations and lists and photographs of students and faculty, and it was thriftily supplemented by advertise- ments. An unusual number of photographs of build- ings and campus scenes was a specially attractive fea- ture. The Colbyan was so well received that it was sure to be an annual visitor. Its 1924 issue contained a de- lightful "Class History" with verses to each class:
"Here's to the Freshman, young and meek, He watches the others and dares not speak, He models his deeds, his work and play, After the others, who lead the way.
Here's to the Sophomore, by far less dumb, He proves his worth to all who come. You'll see and hear him at every chance; If not, you'll catch his radiant glance.
Here's to the Junior, busy and snappy, He has to study and yet he's happy, He dreams of castles big and high, Where he may live in the by and by.
Here's to the Senior, ground from the mill, Who's learned the lessons of duty and skill, He's come to the end of his care-free day, He goes out now to make his way."
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In 1925 The Colby Voice became a bi-weekly news- paper.
The years of perplexity as to the future policy of the school did not cast any shadow over the students. They did not wait for the Junior College for their good times, but made the most of their co-educational opportuni- ties for social activity. The following calendar of the school year 1926-'27 does not include the class schedule, but it presents a variety of extra-curricular activities:
October 31 - Hallowe'en Prom.
November 2 - Football: Colby 7, K. U. A. o, at Meriden. Bonfire on the return of the team.
November 14 - Two missionary plays by the girls for the towns- people.
December 12 - Cabaret by the seniors in the town hall for the purpose of raising money for the fair of the Athletic Associa- tion. Stunts, promenades and refreshments were among the attractions.
December 14 - Athletic Association Fair. The seniors took in the most money with an ice cream parlor and fancy work. The Juniors won the prize for the best booth. The Sophomores had a "well," and the Juniors a circus tent.
February 5 - Open house at Mr. Parker's from 3.30 to 5.00. Re- freshments served by the wives of faculty members.
February 6 - Impromptu carnival. Skiing and sleighing to George's Mills with refreshments and stunts.
February 13 - Valentine Social in Whipple Memorial Town Hall under the auspices of the Woman's Aid Society of the church. Basket ball game between the boys and girls. Stunts later in Colgate Hall.
February 24 - Skiing and snowshoeing to Morgan Hill.
February 25 - Surprise party for Joe Clough.
February 27 - Sleigh ride to Elkins and back around Lake Pleas- ant.
March 3 - Cold and snowy hike to Little Sunapee, with a hot dog roast, a hike back to the casino at the Brocklebank, and a varied entertainment there of games, tug-of-war, Virginia reels, ice cream and cookies.
March 15 - "Senior-Junior" in the Town Hall.
March 20 - Candy pull at Colgate Hall.
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April 10 - Girls' vaudeville - Music by the Colby "Symphonians," a jazz band.
April 16 - Surprise birthday party for "Dad" Moreland at his house.
April 17 - "Kid's Party" with boys and girls dressed as children. April 22 - Sugar party at the Gay sugar orchard.
May 1 - Boys' minstrel show.
In 1927 Colby Academy received as its share of the Baptist New World Movement enough money to finance the construction of the new gymnasium and to add to the Permanent Fund. Several legacies were left to the academy, and one thousand dollars became available annually for a student's loan fund.
Changes were taking place in the Board of Trus- tees. Richard C. Goodell retired from active member- ship and was elected an honorary trustee. Fred E. Everett, class of '96, was chosen a member. It was dur- ing this period also that James G. Harris, class of '95, and Charles E. Shepard of New London, who had been in the academy ten years earlier, were selected to repre- sent the school of the past, and Reverend Charles P. MacGregor of Manchester to represent the New Hamp- shire Baptists.
The future policy for the school continued to be a much debated issue among the trustees. Although it had been decided once to let well enough alone, the question of the segregation of the sexes would not stay settled. In 1924 a new committee had been chosen to make recommendations regarding a proposal to make it a school for boys. The next year brought from the committee a report of progress but no recommendation. With a general expectation that boys would be on the hill to use it the decision was made to build the gym- nasium but a new boys' dormitory was still a dream.
Another year passed and still the committee hesi- tated about the policy, again reporting progress. The
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committee was continued with the understanding that a definite opinion would be expressed at an early date. The official attitude of the Board of Education of the North- ern Baptist Convention, the benefactor of the school in the matter of the gymnasium, was favorable to a school for girls only, and its aid was offered on those terms. Advice sought from educators was favorable to the same policy.
At the June meeting in 1925 the committee made report through its chairman that "in view of the diffi- culties which appear to be recurrent, and inseparable from the system of co-education, and in view of the obvious trend of schools of our class, we reluctantly recommend a change from the plan of co-education. We further recommend that the change be to a school for girls." The conclusion reached by the committee was discussed at length by the trustees, each member expressing his own reaction, until it appeared that the majority was opposed to the plan proposed but was open to conviction. It was decided not to take a formal vote of any kind, but to leave the matter for further investigation and consideration. It was too serious a decision to be taken lightly.
The matter came to the front again in 1927. Mr. Sawyer reported a serious decline in attendance under the existing conditions and urged again the plan of a school for girls only. After a long discussion the matter was put to vote, and by a vote of thirteen to one it was decided "to change our policy and make Colby Acad- emy a school for girls, beginning with the fall term in 1928." The action was made unanimous.
This reversal of the policy of ninety years was made with great hesitation because it was a self-denying ordi- nance. Most of the men on the Board thought of their academy days, the good fellowship of boys and girls in the classrooms and on social occasions. They thought
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of athletics and the strenuous efforts on diamond and gridiron to bring honor to Colby. No more track teams would meet in interscholastic contests. No more de- bates would be staged with would-be Congressmen at Tilton or Meriden. To the alumni, when they heard of the action taken, it brought deep regret. They never could feel as if they belonged to a girls' school. Young men then in school or expecting to enter felt as if the door had been slammed in their faces. It seemed to them that they could only say goodbye and quote the lines of J. E. Povey, class of 1908, as a fitting swan song.
COLBY
"Among the everlasting hills Above the lakes and rippling rills, Where sweep the zephyr and the breeze That rustle through the verdant trees, Where flowery mead and wooded dell, Alive with songsters, seem to swell A great, grand symphony of praise To their Creator, God of days - 'Tis there upon the hill's green crest Old Colby stands, forever blest.
A host hath dwelt within her gates, A host passed out, and still she waits For many thousands yet to come And linger in that mountain home. The generations yet unborn, E'en as the noon succeeds the morn And as the son succeeds the sire, Shall heed her beck 'Come thou up higher!'
Shall entering quaff the knowledge cup And friendships make that ne'er break up.
Old Colby, guardian of our youth, Thy name a synonym for Truth That through long years a priceless gem Hath glistened in thy diadem Where'er we be, throughout our time, Shall help us make our lives sublime;
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Our memories with sweet thoughts shall fill Of golden days spent on the hill,
And draw us near in blest accord To Colby's God, our Saviour, Lord."
In deciding to transform Colby Academy into a junior college for girls only the trustees were in harmony with a pronounced tendency in American education. Higher education for women had triumphed in the recognition of the standing and achievements of women's schools and colleges. Thousands of ambitious young women had enjoyed the advantages of Vassar and Wellesley, Smith and Bryn Mawr, and seminaries like Wheaton and Mount Holyoke had risen to college rank. Women had shown their ability to stand beside the men gradu- ates of the western universities and even in the classic shades of Harvard's halls. But there were millions of girls who completed secondary school courses in high school or academy yet could not go on to four years of college. For the few who came from homes of wealth there were fashionable finishing schools, and there were normal schools for those who desired to teach, but it was only within recent years that the junior college had sprung into favor in the period of the junior high school as a formerly missing link in the educational system of the United States.
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