Carver Hall

T^rqfile
Of
^ T^iving

legacy

Bloomsburg State College
1839-1979

C^t^^-^^

/^D^t^UL^<^^^ C^
Bessie Edwards
Class of 1941

Eda

©Eda Bessie Edwards

1982

Published by
Bloomsburg State College Alumni Association

Bloomsburg, PA
Printed by

Paulhamus

Litho, Inc.

Montoursville,

PA

Designed by

Schmid Advertising
Bloomsburg, PA

'Table of

Contents

1.

Genesis

1

2.

Henry Carver
A New Beginning

7

3.

Charles G. Barkley & John Hewitt
A Holding Pattern

4. T.L.

23

Griswold
& Solvency

27

System
5.

David

J.

Waller, Jr.

& Distinction

37

Judson P. Welsh
Expansion & Service

47

David J. Waller, Jn
Grace & Goodwill

65

Dignity
6.

7.

8.

Charles H. Fisher

A Break
9.

G.C.L.

11.

College

-

First

97

Degree

FYancis B. Haas
A Growing Unity Within

Harvey A. Andruss
New Programs, New Buildings,
Robert

13.

Charles H. Carlson
Quiet Efficiency

James

J.

H.

107

New

Strength

133
177

Nossen

12.

14.

89

Riemer

Now A
10.

With The Past

195

McCormick

Impact, Cohesion

Chapter Notes

& Collegiality

203
218

Introduction. CSi cAclQiowledgements

This history^ of Bloomsburg State College touches only the outline of
her past. As

Alma

Mater, she has been a good mother,

an excellent

The depth and breadth of the influence of this
little College at the top of Bloomsburg s hill has been mind-boggling.
Research has shown great men passed through her halls; famous persons
teacher, a spirit to inspire.

studied in her classrooms: thousands of "ordinary people" enrolled in her
the
courses, and everyone of them came to be part of a very elite group

—

Alumni.
Thanks, for help with

B.S.C.

I

this history, are

due many people. Special thanks

give to the following:
for asking me to work on the histor\'. to James
McCormick for making materials easily available, to both of the
McCormicks for their interest and encouragement through 4^2 years.

To Maryan McCormick

H.

To Marilyn Muehlhof for her time, her graciousness. her unending
patience and kindness.
To Kathy Williams for preparing and sending to selected Alumni a
questionnaire.
To Harvey A. Andruss tor his advice on research.
To Josephine Duy Hutchison for contacting friends, editing letters,
and giving generously of her time.
To Katherine Little Bakeless for reminiscing by letter with friends in

Bloomsburg.
To Catherine Richardson Boor for her letter remembering school days
on the hill.
To Ethel Fowler Brown who graciously gave an evening of a trip
"back east" to recall the 20s at the College.
To Edwin Barton who made the turn-of-the-centur\' campus live and
breathe in 1976.
To the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association for its support.
To Donald A. Watts who from the beginning of the project suggested
materials and made them available.

lb Walter Rygiel

for putting

remembered events on paper, and to both
sharing their many mementos, clippings

Florence and Walter
and pictures and for taking time
Rygiel for

about them,
manuscript and graciously

to talk

lb Peggy Bums,
encouraging a wavering amateur,
lb Editha Adams for giving generously of her time to edit, clarify and
encourage,
lb Eleanor Shamis for finding needed materiails in the Office of
for reading the

Institutional Research,

lb Doug Hippenstiel for his time, and encouragement and belief that
the manuscript would be finished!
lb Roger Fromm for his many suggestions and help in locating items
in the College Archives,

lb the Reserve Desk Staff members of the Andruss Library for their
courtesy and assistance,
lb Anita Hakim and Linda Long who, though busy, found time to
type this manuscript.
And very deep appreciation and special thanks to Stuairt Edwards,

my Bloomsburg Beau for 45 years,

researcher, reader, listener, walking

thesaurus, encourager, prodder, and very understanding spouse.

Eda Bessie Edwards

Chapter

1

genesis

OnSecond and

the northeast

comer of the

intersection of the streets

Iron, the villagers of

Bloomsburg placed

now called

their first

schoolhouse.i This one-room building, eighteen feet square, was built of
logs. It had a mud and stick flue which ran up through the roof from the
large fireplace at the end of the room directly opposite the door In order to
heat the building in winter, each day, the teacher or some of the boys
rolled logs from outside, through the door and across the room to the
fireplace. Often, in the coldest weather, the smaller children warmed
themselves by sitting on the backlog to study. In that first school, desks

were made by laying wide boards on large wooden pegs which had been
driven into the sides of the building. With such an arrangement, while
students were sitting at their desks writing or studying, they faced the
wall. For recitation of their lessons they simply turned around to the small
open area in the center of the room. The teacher had no desk.^
In 1812 a new school building was erected on the same site. A little
bigger, its foundation measured twenty by twenty-five feet. One winter,
eighty pupils were crowded into this space for lessons. At that time, the
usual length of a school term was thirteen weeks. The cost of tuition for
the term ranged from $1.25 to $1.50 with an extra charge of $3.00 for
boys who studied surveying, a popular course in that day. This second
building was used by the community until the Academy building was
erected in 1838-1839.3
Pennsylvania's FYee School Act became law in 1834. In order to comply
with the provisions of this Act, the Bloom Tbwnship School District bought
a plot of ground sixty-six feet by two hundred fourteen and one-half feet
"...on the northern side of Third Street west of Jefferson Street.'"* A
committee, made up of William McKelvey, Iddings Barkley, and John
Chemberlin, contracted with Michael Rishel to build a brick schoolhouse

on

this plot for the

sum

of $1,500.00.^

The schoolhouse was constructed in 1838-1839. Built so that the long
side faced Third Street,^ it was two stories high with halls and stairs

dividing the building into two rooms on each floor. At the top of the stairs
leading to the second floor a section of the partition was removed and a
platform about eight feet square was placed there. On this platform stood
two "dry-goods looking boxes" as a desk for the teacher. In this way, one
teacher was able to supervise both upstairs rooms at the same time. The
young ladies studied in the room at the teacher's left, the young men in

the

room

at the teacher's right.^

At that time the community could boast no more than 400 inhabitants.
Though the North Branch Canal had been completed in 1832 and the
Irondale Furnaces were in operation since 1814, most other inducements
to industrial growth in the area, such as the building of railroads, were yet
to come.® This was an era when quality schooling beyond the common
schools was non-existent, in rural Pennsylvania, lb prepare their sons and
daughters for college or finishing school, in little communities such as
Bloomsburg, families with means had to send their young people to New
England preparatory schools, or rely on private tutors. Often these tutors
were the busy local preachers or young college graduates brought from
the

cities.

1839, Bloomsburg parents were very much aware of the need for
prepare their young people for college entrance. They wanted
educational opportunities beyond the common schools at prices they

By

facilities to

could afford. With the new building at the northwest comer of Third and
Jefferson Streets ready for use, they joined together to establish an
academy— the equivalent of a city high school. Often, these were spoken of
as classiccd schools.

This privately funded school opened with a teacher who soon proved
incompetent. Within a short time he was forced to leave. After much
persuasion, C. P. Waller came to the community to direct the school and to
teach its classes. He was the brother of D. J. Waller, the young and newly
arrived Presbyterian minister in Bloomsburg. C. P. Waller had graduated
from Williams College the previous spring and once in town, he went
about setting up a curriculum of academy stature in the school building at
Third and Jefferson Streets. After two successful years here, and with the
Academy firmly established, C. P. Waller left the area to follow a career in
law.9

For a few years after Waller's leaving, the Academy functioned only in
the summertime when the teachers of the common schools were available
to conduct the sessions. Then, for several years, while the classes of the
common schools were using the Academy building, the classical school
was held in the lower floor of the Presbyterian Church. A series of teachers
came and went, some showing more success than others.i°
Within a few years the Academy building began to deteriorate, showing
signs of undisciplined occupancy, particularly inside. The crumbling
ceilings and walls had holes knocked in the plaster; the desks were carved
so deeply, marbles could be rolled through the grooves. Noting this and

the deplorable state of the public schools of the county, severaJ people in
the town set up private schools at various spots in the community.
One such school was established by Joel Bradley. It was held in the
frame church building which had been moved from the comer of Second
and Iron Streets to the rear of a lot at the southwest comer of Second and
Center Streets when the Episcopal congregation decided to build a new

church on their property. Bradley's school was considered a good one.^^
At the same time, a prim£iry school was conducted by a Mrs. Drake in a
building situated where Snyder's Run crossed Main Street. (For some
years before Snyder's Run was channeled under the road, a bridge
spanned the town's thoroughfare at the point of Mrs. Drake's school. j^^
In 1854, B. F. Eaton started another classical school. This was held in
the Primitive Methodist Church, located on the south side of Third Street
between Iron and Center Streets. (The land upon which this church stood
was bought eventually by the Roman Catholic congregation and has been
incorporated into their church-school complex.) Eaton's

work with the

youth of the town produced such good results that two years
started his school,

some

of the people of the

after

community joined

he

together to

secure a charter of incorporation.
The charter, granted by the Courts in September, 1856,^ ^ stated that the
purpose of the corporation was the "...promotion of education, both in the
ordinary and higher branches of English Literature and Science, and in
the ancient and modern languages..." The "name and title" of the school
was to be The Bloomsburg Literary Institute. Tb govern the corporation,
trustees were selected: William Robinson, Leonard Rupert, William
Snyder, Elisha Barton, William Goodrich, D. J. Waller, Joseph Sharpless,
John K. Grotz, and I.
Hartman.^* The charter had been drawn and
presented to the court by the Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr
A period of time, perhaps ten years, elapsed between the opening of the
Bloomsburg Literary Institute in the Primitive Methodist Church under B.
F. Eaton and its reopening in the Academy building. In some of the
intervening years it did not function at all. Tfeachers spoken of as being
successful in conducting a classical school in the town at that time were
William Lowery, Daniel A. Beckley, and Henry Rinker.^^
In 1861, a complete renovation of the inside of the Academy building
took place, and it is to be assumed that at that time, the second floor was
made into one large classroom. Reminiscences of old men (written in
1939) recall the Academy building in 1865-66 as having two rooms on the

W

first floor

and one

room on second ^^
was conducting a school in the
public was invited to join the pupils for an evening of

large

.^^-

In the spring of 1864, D. A. Beckley

Academy, and the
music and recitation.
22, 1864, reads,

A souvenir program

"Programme

Wednesday, May
Bloomsburg

of the night,

of the Exhibition of the

Academy in Charge of D. A. Beckley, A.M. and A. E. White." It was lengthy
and the make-up of the program reflected the times— the Civil War.

Among the songs used tJiat evening were "The Soldiers'

Battle Cry," "God
Our Boys Tbnight," and "The Dying Patriot's Request." ^^
A year later, in the spring of 1865, the Academy building housed still
£inother private school. A Miss Tferesa Vanatta met her primary pupils in
one of the rooms on first floor It was said of her that she gave to her
relatives and their "seatmates" the special privilege of bringing in the

Bless

drinking water.^^

The August 5, 1865 issue of the local newspaper cairried an
advertisement for the Academy term which would begin August 16 of that
year. The principal was to be Rev. Henry B. Rinker A.M. TUitjon ranged
from $3.50 to $7.50 per term and students were urged to be present at the
opening of the school— or "as soon after as possible." The ad said the
principal had experience in teaching languages and higher mathematics
as well as the lower breinches.^o
In Bloomsburg, at the time of the Civil War, eind for a period thereafter,
the word "Academy" could mecin a type of school, or it could be used to
designate a particular school building— the one situated on the northwest
comer of Third and Jefferson Streets. Local histories speak of Henry
Rinker as one of the better teachers of that time.^^ Since local county
histories also say that Henry Rinker sometimes taught school in the
building on the back of the comer lot at Center and Main Streets, we cam
assume that the advertised "Academy" term was that of a classical school,
but it is difficult to determine where it was held.
Rinker may have used the Academy building for the fall and winter
terms of 1865-1866, but for the spring term that year, a different private
school opened there. The teacher, a young man, unnamed, had been
valedictorian of his class at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton
University. In the community, hopes for a good school were high. However,
one day, soon after the term began, the bigger boys of the upper classes
grabbed the teacher and turned him upside down. When his gold watch
slid from his pocket onto the classroom floor one of his attackers ground it
underfoot.22

Then, in

April, 1866,

Henry Carver came

to Bloomsburg.^^

Market Square

(c.

Maiti Street from

1900).

Market Square

(c.

1900).

Henry Carver
1866-1871

Chapter 2

Henry QsLwet^
c5\

^W beginning

CTJ enry Carver's home was in Binghamton, New York. In the spring of
X X 1866, while he was there recuperating from a hunting accident he
had sustained

in California, in which he lost a hand, he decided to take a
through the Susquehanna Valley. Arriving in Bloomsburg he was
impressed with the beauty surrounding the community and decided to
remain a few days. Among the influential citizens Carver met with Rev. D.
J. Waller By this time. Waller the Presbyterian minister had a growing
family which included several sons nearing college age. When Waller and
others in the village learned that Henry Carver had headed the
preparatory department of the University of California, and before that
had been principal of an academy in New York State, they prevailed upon
him to stay in Bloomsburg to conduct a private school. As his arrival in
the area nearly coincided with the episode of the "unnamed teacher"
being upturned in the classroom, it is difficult to ascertain whether the
beauty of the Susquehanna Vcdley or the challenge of the circumstances
induced Carver to remain. However shortly after the townspeople asked
Carver to start a school and before he resumed his pleasure trip, he
appeared at the Academy building with the "discredited teacher" and
announced to the student body that within a short time he would be
taking charge of the school
In April, 1866, with about 40 pupils and with Henry Carver as head
teacher assisted by his two older daughters. Miss Sarah and Miss Alice,
the school began smoothly and continued that way.^ His influence over the
young people attending his school was noted with approval by the
townspeople. Those coming in contact with him remarked about his
fairness and firmness. Even the students spoke of enjoying the pleasure of
his company.
Not only was Henry Carver a good organizer and disciplinarian, but he
was a colorful figure as well. Especially was he known to be a lover of fine
horses. He admired well bred horses and enjoyed driving them. FYom the
time of his hunting accident. Carver had worn an iron hook attached to
trip

.^

his

one elbow. In order

horses, he

had

to drive his

team

special reins designed for

handsome high-stepping
him through which he could

of

securely slip his hook. He took great pride in showing his driving ability
and his team's speed as he drove over the dusty streets of the village.^
As the new term progressed, a new attitude among the pupils of the
school became apparent. One example of this change of attitude is shown
by the tale of the day, that first term, when the circus came to town.
Always before, circus day had been a day of freedom from school made
so by the pupils themselves. Each year as the circus parade had drawn
near, the schoolhouse had emptied for the rest of the day. This year the
students were afraid the "privilege" might be withdrawn. The morning of
circus day, they decided that when Carver came to class they would ask
him if they would be "excused" for the parade. In answer to their question
he said the class would talk about it after opening exercises. When the
subject was brought up again for discussion, he said the question of
attendance at the circus during school hours would be put to a vote. Then
verbally he sketched the ideal school, talked of such a school's influence in
the community, contrasted the kind of life brought about by education
with the character of life in a circus, and ended by noting that should the
school vote to remain in the classroom, it would be very unfair for those
near the windows to take advantage of their position to watch.
Unanimously, the class voted to remain in school, and those next to the
street "...kept their eyes upon the books."'*
Carver's school in the old Academy building was a very successful
venture measured not only by the growth in the number of pupils
attending but also by the results obtained in the classroom. At the end of
the first term many parents in the area asked Carver to continue the
school. This he refused to do. The facilities of the building were so poor, he
said, that it was nearly impossible for the teachers to teach or the pupils to

—

learn. Carver insisted he would remain only if new or better
accommodations became available.
It was then that the Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr. reactivated the charter of the
Bloomsburg Literary Institute. In order to do this, he called a meeting of
the court-appointed trustees of 1856. They met in his study the evening of
May 2, 1866. In attendance were D. J. Waller, Sr., William Snyder, J. K.
Grotz, L. B. Rupert, and I.
Hartman. Waller was elected president of the
board and Hcirtman. secretary. Vacancies on the board were filled that
night by the appointment of John G. Freeze, R. F. Clark, and William Neal.^
TWo days later the board met again, filled another vacancy by
appointing Conrad Bittenbender a trustee, and set up a committee to sell a
thousand shares of stock in the corporation at $20 per share, payable in
$5 installments. Then having decided to build, they appointed another
committee to select a site for the Institute: D. J. Waller. L. B. Rupert, and
John K. Grotz.6

W

In mid-May, the local weekly, in reporting the reorganization of the

Bloomsburg Literary Institute, noted the stock of the company was in
demand. "No one doubts." the news item said, "the benefits to be derived
from such an institution in our town..."^ However, not everyone in the
community was as enthused about the Institute's new building program
as was the local editor. While trying to sell shares of stock to his friends
and colleagues in the town, Conrad Bittenbender was told by one of them
that the sheriff would sell out the trustees before they got a roof on their
building.^

By

the time a stockholders meeting had been called for the Court

House
had been offered. William Koons had a plot to sell
for $2,200. Mathias Appleman would sell a three-acre piece of land for
$1,200. William and Alice Snyder offered the same amount of land for
$500 per acre, and for a time, D. J. Waller was willing to sell his home
with land of "...200 feet fronting on Market Street and 400 feet fronting on
Fifth Street for $1,200." (This is where the Memorial Elementary School of
Bloomsburg is situated now.) At the meeting at the Court House Saturday
afternoon, June 16, 1866, a definite decision was made to build, but a site
for the building was not selected. Another meeting was called for one
week later. June 22. at the same place.
When, at the second meeting of the stockholders the votes were
counted, all but three had been cast for the Snyder property. Mr. Snyder's
proposition had been. "I agree to give three acres of ground ...whenever it
may be preferred at the rate of five hundred dollars per acre and I will
donate as stock one thousand dollars and require to be paid five hundred
on June

16. several sites

dollars for the price of the land."

That Saturday

meeting had adjourned, the board
Henry Carver principal of the
and then instructed him to secure the draft

after the stockholders

of trustees met. First, they elected

Bloomsburg Literary

Institute,

a building with costs not to exceed $15,000.
The next order of business that day was to consider the
recommendations of the stockholders concerning the site for the school.
TWo committee members. Grotz and Rupert, reported agreement with the
stockholders and suggested the purchase of the Snyder plot. Waller, the
third committee member, differed, and handed in a written minority
report to be incorporated into the minutes. It gave three reasons why
Waller was in disagreement with the others on the committee. It said.
for

the position of the building has no relation to the points of the compass
street, alley, building, or anything in or about the town of
Bloomsburg. Second, the amount of grading... is great and necessarily
expensive. Third, the immediate surroundings of the school, viz. two stables, a
tavern presenting a rear entrance, a tannery, in addition to one of the most
offensive roads on the score of dust in the County.
First,

or to

any

After hearing the report of the building

look over the

site.

committee the board

retired to

When the board reconvened a few days later the trustees voted to
accept the majority report of the committee. Whereupon, the Rev. Mr
Waller resigned.
Snyder site had been its location in
a school building should not be facing
the back door of a tavern. At the time this particular piece of campus was
bought from William Snyder the Forks Hotel stood squarely on the point
of land where Lightstreet Road and East Street came together at the end of
East Second Street. The purchase of the land by the Institute was made
with the assurance given to the public that the owners of the Forks Hotel
would remove their building so that Main Street could be opened directly

One

of D. J. Waller's objections to the

relation to the Forks Hotel.

He

felt

to the front of the Institute's grounds.^° (It is interesting to note that at the
time these transactions were taking place, the advertisement for the Forks
Hotel in the local newspaper speaks of it as being in East Bloomsburg.)i'

Henry Car\'er was architect and general contractor for the new building,
the cost of which, he said, would not exceed $15,000. It is understandable
that Carver should be able to design and erect the building, for as noted in
the earliest catalogs and flyers of the school, he is listed as: "Henr\' Carver
A.M.. Principal: Professor of Civil Engineering, and Intellectual and Moral
Philosophy." ^2 ^g there were no lumber mills in Bloomsburg until a few
years later he bought the timber for the building at the mills in Espy.^^
The bricks he secured locally. When in October of 1866. he found the
responsibilities of construction using much of his time. Carver asked the
board for help in the classroom. The trustees responded by hiring one
teacher for one year for SIOO. Carver was to continue to be the principal
of the school, erect the

new

building,

and further

solicit

subscriptions

for funds.

In the winter of 1866. while the

new

was under construction
Academy building once

building

and the school was being conducted
more. Carver continued to be more than a disciplinarian. For his day. he
was a great innovator It was during the first winter of his school, that he
in the old

pointed out to the students the values to be derived from the organization
of a literary society. About twenty young men and women became
enthusiastic about such an extracurricular activity— among them the
three who would make up the first class to graduate from the building on
the hill. D. J. Waller Jr. George E. Elwell. and Charles Unangst. Anna
Appleman. the future Mrs. Waller was one of the organizers, too. Carver
helped them choose a date, set the hour and secured chaperones from the
faculty for their

wanted

it

students,

first

meeting. This meeting Carver failed to attend. He
this society was under the leadership of the

understood that

and

that the responsibility to

make

it

work was

theirs

alone—

along with that of the proper chaperones and sponsors, of course. The
group formed that winter called itself the Philologian Society (and
continued to be active and influential on campus until after World War I).
Though Carver elected to allow the students to create and manage their

10

organization, he did not disavow the privilege of setting policy when
he wished. Upon receiving the report of the first meeting, he announced
that two weeks hence, the society would present its first exhibitionplanned and executed by the students for the public. Nothing like this had
ever been done before without teacher guidance. Invite the public? The
Philos doubted they could do it. But do it, they did! And thus was set the
local policy of opening to the public the program part of the weekly
meeting of all literary societies on campus.*'*
Sometimes plays were produced. Sometimes the program of the
evening was made up of declamations or the reading of essays or poetry.
Always, debates were popular. The Philos debated local issues, political

own

questions, religious ideas, and often the latest scientific discoveries or
theories. The night the debate concerned the question, "Should the
Capital of the United States Be Moved To the Mississippi?," one hundred
townspeople were in attendance.*^
By early spring, 1867. the new building, commonly spoken of then as
Institute Hall, had been built and completely furnished at a cost of
$24,000. On April 4 of that year, a beautiful, warm Thursday, the building

was opened and dedicated. In order that continuity be established
between the Bloomsburg Literary Institute of the past and the
Bloomsburg Literary Institute in the new location, a procession formed at
the Academy building at one o'clock in the afternoon. First came the
Bloomsburg Brass Band. This was followed by the board of trustees, then
the clergy, next the parents of the students, then the students, and finally,
the faculty. The parade passed east on Third Street to Market, moved

BLOOMSBURG LITERARY INSTITUTE.
THE NBXT TEEM OF THE INSTITUTE WILL COMMENCE ON

MONDAY, AUGUST
FOB TSBMS

Ac,

Carver Hall) as
July 12, 1867.

Institute Hall (later

advertisement

39th, 1867.

BEND VOU CATAI.OOPS VO

oj

11

it

appeared

in

newspaper

north on Market Street to the Square, east again on Main Street to the
board unlocked the door
and the faculty entered first followed by the others in reverse order. On the
second floor of the building, the auditorium was filled to capacity with
friends and well-wishers. Speeches, music and prayers were offered that
afternoon followed that evening by literary exercises by the students.^ ^
(The building dedicated that day is the present Carver Hall on campus,
front of Institute Hall. There, the president of the

with minimal alterations.)

Much work remained to be done on the new campus. Grading around
the building, making walkways, and planting trees and shrubs were some
of the needs of the Institute that first April on the hill. With money scarce.
Carver innovated again. He called for a "Grading Frolic." The boys came
with grub-hoes, shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, horses and carts. The girls
prepared and served the meals. By the end of the day. the school had new
and neat surroundings.^^ Most of the trees and shurbs planted at that time
were placed to mark the boundaries of the Institute.!^ (A few are
standing— the white pine, for example, on the southwest corner of the
main campus, opposite the parking garage.)
The winter term had ended with the dedication of the new building. The
following Monday the spring term would begin. The Saturday morning of
that long weekend between terms found David Waller Jr, George Elwell
and Charles Unangst walking together up Main Street, talking about their
plans after graduation at the end of the next term. Each would be leaving
home for college. As they walked along, they were pleased to see Professor
Carver coming down the hill toward them. They met him at the comer of
Iron and Main Streets in front of the Episcopal Church, and stopped to
talk. Looking back up the hill, he said.
Well, there's the new building, and there's the tower But there's no bell in it.
Now. we have to have a bell— a good one. The Court House and the Presbyterian
Church have good bells. We want one just as good, if not better Now hustle
along and raise that money today for the bell. You can do it. It would cost

$1,200. at least.

To the three young men this seemed like quite a job, but, after they had
talked to the father of one of the boys, they accepted his advice and started
canvassing the town, notebook in hand. As the subscriptions began to be
written in the book, the news of their undertaking spread throughout the
village. At that time, this small community of about 2.500 people had just
supported the building and furnishing of Institute Hall for $24,000. Now
they were being asked to give money to buy an expensive bell for its
tower! Once again, the townspeople pledged to underwrite something for
the school.2o The original subscription book, dated April 6, 1867, carries
this introduction: "We, the subscribers, agree to pay the sum annexed to
our names for the purpose of purchasing a stationary bell for the
Bloomsburg Literary Institute. The bell not to cost less than $1,000."

12

Some

people pledged $50; some $25; some $10 and many gave $5. All
subscriptions were duly noted in the subscription book which reads like a
census account of Bloomsburg in the 1860's.2i By evening, three tired
young men had raised $1,010. enough money to buy the Menelly bell

(which

still

A faculty

hangs

in Ccirver tower.)

was needed the school-year of 1867-68. Henry Carver
and taught intellectual and moral philosophy as well as civil
engineering — if any student wished to take that course. Miss Sarah Carver
taught botany and ornamental branches; Isaac O. Best taught ancient
languages; Charles Rice, mathematics and English branches; Miss Julia
Guest was in the preparatory department; Miss Alice Carver, vocal and
instrumental music; and Miss Dora Thompson was the assistant in music.

was

of seven

principal

Advertised that first year on the hill were four terms of ten to twelve
weeks. TUition. depending on the course taken, was $5. $8. or $10 per
term. Piano lessons cost an extra $12 plus $3 for the use of the
instrument. A course in wax fruit making (Miss Sarah's ornamental
branches?) was $6. as was a course for learning to make wax flowers.
"Practical use" of the sewing machine could be learned for $5 per term, or
a student could receive oil painting lessons for $10 per term.22
The catalogs of 1867-68. and 1868-69 were published to inform local
students of courses available at the Institute. Being strictly a day school,
the entire student body lived in the community or near enough to
Bloomsburg to commute. For this reason, only six "requirements and
prohibitions" were necessarily stated in the catalogs. Of course, one was
"...respectful deportment" and another, "strict attention to study" during
study hours. Regular attendance was required at all school exercises and a
written excuse from parent or guardian was necessary if a student were
tardy or absent from class. The rules called for abstinence from "use of
profane language" and forbade the use of tobacco "in any form." There
was to be no drinking of "spirituous liquors" or going to "places where
they are sold." Further, the catalog stated, "...no person need apply for
admission who cannot or will not keep the above regulations."^^
The story has been told many times of the Bloomsburg Literary
Institute becoming a normal school. The documented version says that J.
P. Wickersham. the state superintendent of the Common Schools of
Pennsylvania at that time, was passing through Bloomsburg on the train
and noticed the new building on the hill. Mindful of the need to establish a
normal school in the Sixth District, he contacted the board of trustees and
suggested one be established in the town.^^
The normal school movement began in Massachusetts during the
period in which Horace Mann was secretary of the Massachusetts Board of
Education. He decried the conditions of public education in his state,
noting that great disparity existed between rural and city schools; that
often teacher incompetency was brought about by inadequate teacher
preparation. In 1839, to deal with these problems, he planned and

13

established the first normal school at Lexington, Massachusetts?^
As other states realized their public schools were in similar condition,
the normal school movement grew. In many states, some new schools
were developed solely for the purpose of teacher education. In some
instances,

towns and

campuses

up their own normal schools to prepare
Some normal schools were founded on the

cities set

their public school teachers.

of established private schools simply by adding

normal courses

to the existing curricula.

In Pennsylvania, since the students taking courses in teacher
preparation at these normal schools made known their intentions to teach
in the common schools, both the normals and the students were
subsidized by the State. Thus the normal schools provided educational
opportunities less expensively for many more people. Entrance
requirements varied from school to school, as did the work included in the
courses. Much was comparable to the work included in the secondary
courses of city high schools of that era. At many colleges, however, the
work completed at a well established normal school was accepted for
advanced standing.
Then, in the period between 1860 and 1880, the normal schools caught
the influx of the young men returning from the Civil War. Many of these
were too poor to attend good private schools, yet too old to attend
common schools. For them the path to advancement was to attend a
normal school, teach several years, and then complete the requirements
for a career in law, medicine or the ministry.^^
When in 1868 Wickersham suggested locating a normal in Bloomsburg
in conjunction with the Literary Institute, the idea he was following of
establishing a normal on an already existing campus had been tried
before. The trustees looked into the question carefully, evaluating the
effects of such a school on the community and on the Institute itself.
Then, at the March meeting of the board in 1868, they appointed Carver
and John Clark to present the idea to the people of the area. The trustees
needed to know if support from the community would be forthcoming.
Subscriptions and gifts of money would be needed to buy more land and
to provide extra buildings.^''
Some stockholders had doubts, but at a meeting of all the stockholders,
when it became known that the school would continue to carry the
classical and scientific courses, and that a normal curriculum would be in
addition to these, the doubts disappeared and it was agreed that the
establishment at Bloomsburg of the normal for the Sixth District was
desirable. Carver was empowered, along with a committee, to float a
subscription at $20 per share, and to secure plans for the necessary
buildings.2^ The estimated cost of building and furnishing a dormitory
with extra rooms for a model school and other school functions was
$70,000.29
The board s next step was to buy more land on which to erect a

14

boarding haJl. The purchase of an additional seven acres of land from
William Snyder gave the Institute a campus of about ten acres, and was a
plot of ground which presently could be described as bordering Penn
Street on the west. Second Street on the south to a position just beyond
the College Store, then north to a point from which the property line ran
directly west through the south edge of the Grove to Penn Street.^"
At the April board meeting. Carver presented his design for the
boarding hall. The trustees agreed on the plans and awarded him the
contract to erect the building at a cost not to exceed $36,000.
At 1:30 in the afternoon of June 25, 1868, there were exercises in the
auditorium of Institute Hall. Following these, the board, the faculty, the
students and many guests, including Governor Geary and Superintendent
their way to the site of the new building. They were
there to lay the cornerstone. Placed in that cornerstone were:

Wickersham, made

...the following specific articles... A copy of the Bible; a certified copy of the
Charter; names of the Board oflVustees (listed); Catalogue of Faculty and
Students; State School Board (listed); Maj. Gen. Geary, Governor of the
Commonwealth; Hon. J. P. Wickersham, Superintendent of Common Schools;
C. R. Coburn. Deputy Superintendent; last message of Gov. Geary: copy of
school laws; history of the Institute and school buildings; one copy of the
Columbian, the Republican and the Democrat; building committee (listed);
architect and builder, Henry Carver; advisory architect, Samuel Sloan; one
specimen of each of the following currency, one ten-cent postal currency, one
five-cent postal currency, one three-cent silver piece, last issue, one five-cent
silver piece, old issue, and programme of the anniversary exercises.

After Judge Elwell "gave an oration", the governor spoke. Then, with
the cornerstone set in place, the governor handed Henry Carver the plans
for the hall and charged him with the building of it.^' More speeches
followed in the auditorium in the evening, among them, one by J. P.

Wickersham.

By February,

1869, just nine

Institute Hall (later

months

after the laying of the cornerstone,

Carver Hall) and dormitory
15

(c.

1870).

the four-story brick building was ready for occupancy. On the nineteenth
month, an inspection committee visited the school and reported to
Harrisburg that all was in order: the application for a normal school had

of that

been made correctly; the necessary buildings had been erected, and a
course of study had been adopted. February 22, 1869, Superintendent
Wickersham issued a proclamation which said in part:

Common

Now, I therefore. State Superintendent of
Schools, do hereby give
notice, as required by law. that I have recognized the said Bloomsburg Literary
Institute as the State Normal School of the Sixth District.^^

When
to

in May of 1869 the trustees petitioned the Court of Common Pleas
change the name of the school, they merely added "State Normal

School of the Sixth District" to the already established title of
"Bloomsburg Literary Institute".^^ (It is interesting to note that the catalog
for that year is called the "Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the
Bloomsburg Literary and Commercial Institute and Pennsylvania State

Normal School".)
Course offerings included those for normal students in the elementary
course, which, "if a student had a fairly good common school record,"
could be finished in two yeairs. The scientific course took four years to
complete and the classical course could extend over a six-year period.
Offered for those young people who were preparing to enter the business
world were commercial courses — bookkeeping, single and double entry;
commercial law, and correspondence.^*
By the time of the opening of the normal department, the faculty had
grown from seven to thirteen and the student body from an enrollment of
40 in 1866 to 383 in 1869.
The cost for boarding students attending the fall term of twenty weeks
was $100. This included "tuition, bocird, heat, light and washing." For the
longer winter and spring terms of twenty-two weeks, the cost was $110.
Tbition in the academic department (probably the same as the
preparatory department which mostly enrolled commuter and day
students) was one dollar per week. TUition in the model school ranged
from fifty cents to a dollar a week depending on the studies being
pursued .3^

The summer

after the

boarding hall opened, enrollment increased so

rapidly that the trustees were obliged to purchase "for use in the

dormitory more corn husk mattresses and pillows."^^
Not only did enrollment increase at the Institute but after it had become
a boarding school, the number of rules and regulations had multiplied
from six to twenty-one! Among the new rules were:

No student

from his room at night
in twenty minutes
must be extinguished.

shall be absent

the ringing of the study
retiring bell all lights

bell;

and

16

after the

hour indicated by

after the ringing of the

Rooms found

unnecessarily dirty will be cleaned at the expense of the

occupant.
Water, dirt, or other materials must not be thrown from the windows.
Irreverance at church, amusements, visits of pleasure, gathering in groups,
or noise in the rooms on the Sabbath is forbidden.

June 1871, Jerome T. Ailman was a student at the
school in the normcil course. He kept a diary in which he seldom missed a
day's notation. From his entries, much can be learned of student life of

From October 1869

to

that time.

This was an era when schools were believed to have been established
not only to disperse knowledge, but to build high moral character as well.
In order to do this, many religious organizations, including the local
churches, created opportunities for young people to study the Bible or be
part of other religious activities. At the Bloomsburg Literary Institute and
State Normal, the administration required attendance every Sunday
morning at the church of the student's choice. If for some reason the
student did not wish to return down town Sunday evening to attend a
church service, "preaching" they called it then, his only alternative was to
attend the union church service in the school's chapel. After dinner
Sunday afternoon the entire school met in the auditorium for Bible study.
Prayer meetings were held at the school during the middle of the week,
and students were expected to plan their study so that they would have
that hour free to attend. Sometimes these mid-week services were led by
faculty members; at other times the clergy from the town came to the
campus to conduct the prayer meetings. In addition, on other evenings,
individual faculty members would invite small groups of students to their
rooms to pray together
The first Thanksgiving that the boarding school was open, there was no
vacation. Thanksgiving was observed, however with a morning of
preaching, a turkey dinner at noon, and the rest of the afternoon given
over to a "sociable". After supper the day continued as any other
Thursday at the school— study hour in preparation for Friday's classes.^^
When reading of the difficulties to be encountered in travel in those
days, it is easy to understand the limited time given to school vacations.
In December 1869, Ailman went home for Christmas. With two school
companions, he left Bloomsburg by train early in the morning of
December 23. Shortly after their train left the station, it was stopped for
hours while the tracks were cleared of another train and the obstacle
which had blocked it. Upon arriving at Northumberland, where the
students were to change trains, they learned they had missed their
connection. It would be twelve hours before another train would leave for
"Mifflin." There was nothing for the three to do but gather their baggage
about them and wait. A gentleman from Northumberland, passing by the
station, heard of the young men's predicament and invited them to his
home. He gave them dinner, entertained them "in his pcirlor" in the
17

them supper, took them "to preaching" in the evening,
and then walked with them to the station to catch their train. Ailman
reached Harrisburg at 3 p.m.. December 24. where he had another hour

afternoon, gave

waiting. Leaving there at 4 o'clock he arrived

p.m. Christmas Eve.^^
Rules governing student conduct on and
strictly enforced. In that day. the

home

off

custom was

of

"near Mifflin" at 7

campus were many and

to

reprimand and punish

One May evening in 1870, in chapel, two young
men students were called upon to confess that they had been drinking

infractions in public.

intoxicating beverages. "The gentlemen received a stirring lecture
upon the evils of yielding to temptation... and Professor Carver said that

he were speaking his
handle not."
if

last

words he would say

taste not, touch not,

evening or on weekends, it was
A favorite approved
necessarv' to receive permission from
"going
for a walk."
was
Saturday afternoon passtime for students
the campus, "past
hill,
east
of
the
Sometimes these young men walked up
walks took them
their
Sometimes
Senator Buckalews handsome home."
graveyard
the
was
likely
this
(Quite
to and beyond the old cemetePv'.^^
on land
Countr>'
Club
Bloomsburg
old
which was moved to develop the
now part of the upper campus.)
One Saturday afternoon in the spring of 1870, nine young ladies and
eighteen gentlemen, including Professors Carver and Brown, walked to
the river and "were propelled across in a ferry driven by the current." (At
that time, the bridge spanning the Susquehanna southeast of Bloomsburg
had yet to be built. Also, this is the reason that in Bloomsburg. at the
intersection of Old Beru^ick Road and East Street, the name of East Street
changes to Ferr\' Road.) The party had a "pleasant ramble" on the hills
beyond the river where they gathered flowers and greens, returning to the

Even

for

men

to leave the

campus

in the

the principal.

school by four o'clock. After this, several of the young men had the "great
pleasure" of going downtown with Professor Carver for a "plate of ice

cream .""^^
Often in the fall of the year, it was common practice for the faculty and
students to spend a Saturday afternoon across the Susquehanna
"chestnuting" on Catawissa Mountain.
Lessons and their preparation demanded nearly all the time students
had from rising bell in the morning until lights out bell at night. Those
who belonged to the literary^ society spent any extra time they could find
getting ready for the public programs or in helping publish the society's
newspaper Visits by men students to local industries were considered, by
the school authorities, a wise use of leisure time, and so many young men
spent their Saturday afternoons walking along Fishing Creek to Rupert to
visit the powder keg factor\^ or in going to one of the three local foundries

spending several hours some Saturday watching the
laborers at the Buckhom Glue Factory. All parts of the community
to see iron cast, or in

18

welcomed them.
June 22, 1871 the classes of 1870 and 1871 met in the model school
rooms in the dormitory building and formed an Alumni Association. The
officers elected that day were Mr J. H. Garman, president; Miss Amelia
Armstrong, secretary; and Mr John Aikman, treasurer An executive
committee was selected, composed of Mr W. H. DeWitt, Mr A. W. Shelley,
Miss Elsie Woolsey, Miss Annie Hendershot. and Miss Lizzie Schuyler
Appointed for the meeting the following year were orator Mr. Robert Little;
poetess. Miss Eva Rupert.'*
At the school, as early as the winter term of 1871, problems had
developed between the board of trustees and Professor Carver During
January there were many days when Carver failed to meet his classes; he
was worrying about his daughter Miss Alice, who was very sick; "low"
was the word used to describe her state of health. At times. Carver,
himself, was reported so ill he was forced to stay in bed. When, at the
beginning of February, he appeared in chapel, it was said he "looked
haggard." At the beginning of March it was noted that "Miss Alice and her
mother had returned to the campus," although rumor had it that Miss
Alice's health was very delicate. FYom the middle of March until
commencement, June 22, 1871, Professor Carver missed many more
classes because of illness.'*^
Was it overwork? Had the strenuous schedule he must have followed to
create such a school in such a short time broken his health? Perhaps.
But quite likely a contributing factor had been a growing disagreement
between Carver and the board of trustees. For the first six months of 1871
questions had arisen over Carver s management of the boarding hall. A
resolution was introduced at a board meeting demanding that fifty cents
per student per week be turned over to the trustees. This Carver was not
prepared to do.
By the time the board held its July meeting, the trustees, who were
personally meeting the obligations of the school and paying the interest on
debts incurred in running the Institute, set up a committee to talk to
Carver about his accounts. The committee, made up of Judge Rupert,
John Funston, and the Rev. Waller Sr, reported to the board at the end of
July that Carver had been visited but the committee had been unable to
make any arrangements with him concerning the payment to the bocird of
fifty cents per week per student. In fact, the committee reported. Carver
had offered his resignation verbally, and said if the trustees wished, he
^

would give

it

in writing.

how

handle this situation, the board passed another
one stated simply that the committee would continue
secure the funds from Carver, or in failing to do that, would be

Not sure

to

resolution! This

trying to

authorized to accept his resignation.
Carver's reply was that it was impossible for him to meet the expenses
of the school and pay the amount of money the board was asking. He

19

suggested the trustees take over the finances of the school and pay him a
If they did not wish to agree with this proposition, he
recommended they "take the responsibility of the immediate termination

salary.

of his relation to the Institute."

After the board had heard the report of the committee, the president
read a communication from Carver. Though parts have no meaning for
the reader today, the letter follows:

Respected Sirs: Since things have taken the turn they have in my family.
have no good reason to assign to the boarding patrons of the school for such an
unexpected charge. Also have incurred all the expenses of advertising the
term and supposing the difficulty to be one of money. In addition to what was
done in committee hereby offer to run the school for one year and pay forty
cents per week for each boarding student, and will pay one half at the opening
and the other half at the middle of each term. The Board on their part shall
have a finance committee whose duty shall be to examine the books as often as
once a month and render such counsel as they have contemplated...
I

I

I

He went on

to

ask

for

a committee on boilers and one to

visit all

departments of the school.
The board rejected all suggestions by Carver and asked the committee
to tell the professor of their non-acceptance of his ideas and to ask him for
other suggestions. If he had none, the committee was to ask him to
comply with the board s. They called a meeting for the next night.'*^
It was about this time in the summer that Ailman, who had returned to
his home after graduation in June, in his diary, mentions receiving a letter
from "Professor Carver." In the letter, Carver said he was afraid he "must
lose all the money he had invested" in B.S.N.S.'*''
Finally, after several attempts at a settlement, with meetings being
called by the board night after night, the committee returned from a visit
to Carver with a proposal: He would retain money from subscriptions
which were listed (but the Minutes do not include the list): the trustees
would replace the glass in the school broken by the hailstorm, and the
board would make the boilers safe. Carver would have free use of the
school buildings and property for one year. After that, all agreements
between Carver and the board would end and the trustees would assume
full responsibility for the Institute. The board accepted the proposal.
There was a further money matter of an outstanding note of Carver's.
This note between Carver and I. W. Hartman must have been negotiated
as part of the business of the school, and must have been near maturity. It
was for the sum of $1,200. Concerning this matter, D. J. Waller Sr offered
to take responsibility for half the debt ($600) if the board would pay the
other ($600). The offer was agreed to, and once again, the members of the
board went to their own pocketbooks to pay off a school debt.
The fall term opened. Professor Carver was still principal and the
enrollment seemed to be remaiining stable. Then in October the board
20

received a letter from Carver in which he said, in part:

I

...If you think best to elect a principal
have resigned because of ill health.

for

your school, you are at

liberty to

say

After discussion of the letter and its implications, the board decided that
action "at this time would be deemed inexpedient."^^
Carver left town early in November At a meeting of the board it was
resolved:
... that inasmuch as the TYustees have contracted with Mr Carver to run the
Normal School for the year ending June 1872. they do not in the absence of

Satisfactory Authority from Mr Carver feel themselves authorized with regard
to the running of the school— Resolved that Miss Sarah Carver be requested to
write to her father asking him to return and fulfill his agreement as to the
running of the school, and in case he declines to do so. request him to forward
to her a power of attorney regularly drawn up and executed empowering her to
settle all matters in relation to the lease and School involving his interest or

claims in any

manner

The matter dragged on

until the

end of November when Charles G.

Barkley, attorney for Miss Sarah (and Professor Carver through her)
submitted to the board an offer: "To wit That the leasehold interest be

and sold. Carver be released from all claims... and allowed to retain
subscriptions which were turned over to him as per said lease." In
other words. Carver would keep what he had and the lease to run the
school would be sold at a public sheriff sale.
The board selected Elias Mendenhall to attend the sale to do the bidding
for the trustees. He was instructed that the maximum bid he could make
levied

all

was $150.
December 4,

1871, at a meeting of the board of trustees, E. Mendenhall
reported attending the sheriffs sale of Professor Carver's lease the previous
Saturday. He had offered a bid of $1.00; the lease had been struck down at
the bid, making the board not only responsible for the care and keeping of
the property of the Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School
for the Sixth District, but also responsible for the functioning of the school
academically.'*^

21

Charles G. Barkley
1871-1872

22

& John Hewitt
1872-1873

Chapter 3

Charles Q. Sarkley CSi John. Hewitt
cA "Holding Tattem.

CXll during

the

term of 1871, conditions at the school had been
Virtually without the leadership of a principal, the

fall

C/jih deteriorating.

half.^ The faculty and those left in charge by
Carver, did remarkably well in their attempts to keep the quality of
education at the school at a high level. Without strong leadership,

enrollment decreased by

difficulty. The school had been
planned and built and expanded by one man, with a great amount of
support and backing by a small group of leading citizens, and with a
lesser amount of support from a majority of the citizens of the community
who were more interested in commercial and industrial development than
in the progress of a private school. The builder had been imaginative,
innovative, well prepared in his academic field, and had been a very
personable man. Among many of the townspeople as they watched the
board struggling to keep chaos off the hill, the feeling was that the school,
without Carver, would be unable to continue
When the board met December 2, 1871, accepting Carver's resignation
and the proposal of the sheriff sale, they had no intention of closing the
school. In working to insure the continuance of the Literary Institute and
in fulfilling the obligation to the state for the functioning of a normal
school in Bloomsburg, the trustees adopted a statement which they
instructed the sheriff to read at the time of the sale of the lease. It said.

however, the young school drifted into

.^

Notice is hereby given that the person to whom the leasehold interest of
Professor Carver is struck down will be required to fulfill and carry out all
covenants and stipulations in the lease with the Board of TVustees.^

meeting December 4, the report of Elias Mendenhall, their
representative at the sale, showed the board to be not only the directors
for the stockholders who owned the school property, but also the leasees
of the concession with full responsibilities for the educational program of

At

their

the school.
With the normal school of the Sixth District less thain two years old,
23

those on the board representing the State were concerned, and a call went
out to J. P. Wickersham, superintendent of the common schools of
Pennsylvania, for advice and suggestions. He came to Bloomsburg and
met with the board December 19. Complete and open discussion of the
situation took place that day. Before Wickersham returned to Harrisburg,
he suggested that the man hired to fill the position of principal be Charles
G. Barkley, a local attorney and county superintendent of common
schools.* Barkley accepted the principalship effective December 20. with
the understanding that the position was a temporary one, and that he
would be relieved as soon as a successor could be found.
Charles Gillespie Barkley had been born in Bloomsburg January 30,
1839. While learning the trade of carriage-maker he was involved in an
accident which disabled him. He then studied to become a teacher, and at
age 18 began his work in education in the common schools. He was so
successful as a teacher that by the age of 24, in 1863, he was elected
superintendent of common schools for Columbia County. During the six
years of his teaching, he had continued studying in the field of law with
Col. John G. FYeeze, and in 1863, the same year that he became county
superintendent, Barkley had been admitted to the Bar. For nine years he
served the community in both capacities and had just made the decision
to devote his full time and energy to the law when he was called upon to
serve as principal of the Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal
School. He was only 32 years old when he assumed this responsibility.^
Under his guidance the affairs of the school began to show marked
improvement. Enrollment picked up. Finances began to show some clear
organization, and though the trustees still had a judgment against them,
held by the Court, and were finding they had to meet some school debts
with personal contributions, on the first day of February, 1872, they could
see clearly that they would be able to pay Barkley $300 for his services.^
During the transaction of business at the March meeting of the board,
John A. Funston, one of the trustees, brought up the subject of Barkley s
wish to return to his law practice. Funston reported that the Episcopal
rector, the Reverend John Hewitt, was willing to accept the principalship
of the school and "give it his personal attention." Without hesitation the
board elected him to the post. Also, they passed a resolution expressing
their deep gratitude to Barkley for his help and efficiency in keeping the

school open.

March 28, 1872, the day after the board meeting, the trustees met
Hewitt in the office of John G. Freeze, and trustee and secretary of the
board. Tbgether they proceeded up the hill to the school. There. Barkley
called together the students and faculty and presented Rev. Hewitt as the
new principal of the Institute and Normal, whereupon, the Reverend Mr.
Hewitt began his tenure with an address to the student body.^
Hewitt's pay was to be $800 per year plus room and board for him, his
wife, children and "servant girl". Since he wished to have his laundry
24

done "outside" an adjustment to his salary was made.^
Discipline under Hewitt was much stricter He secured from the board
the power to dismiss or replace teachers, and he tightened the policy of
granting students permission to leave the campus. No longer were
teachers allowed to give students special privileges, or even to allow
students to go down to the town. All applications for such absences from
the school had to be made by the student to the principal.
Perhaps some of the difficulty Hewitt was encountering in the school's
discipline had its source in the fact that the Forks Hotel had not been
removed from the foot of the hill as promised. Main Street remained
blocked to the Institute grounds, and the front door of the classroom
building still faced the back door of a tavern. Further the board had found
necessary to initiate legal proceedings against the landlord of the Forks
Hotel and his bartender They had been selling liquor to students.^
Tuition and board for the year 1872-73 continued at $5 per week for
those living in the dormitory, and this included heat and washing.
Students were required to bring with them umbrellas, overshoes, towels,
at least one "comfortable" and table napkins.
"Heat, washing and board" were items included in the pay scale for
it

A Mr

had been hired to head the classical department.
$80 per month and board. George Elwell, who lived in
town, was hired that year to teach English at $70 per month and board.
The music teacher was paid $50 per month and given board. If they could
find a competent teacher for the model school the trustees were going to
offer her $30 per month and board.
Diplomas issued upon graduation were of three kinds. To those who
teachers.

He was

Bartlett

to receive

finished the elementary course, the degree of Bachelor of the Elements
was conferred. Those graduating from the scientific course earned the

degree of Bachelor of Science, and to those finishing the classical course
the degree of Bachelor of the Classics was awarded. Teacher certificates
were given to those students completing the normal course after they had
been examined by a State Board of Examiners made up of principals from
other normal schools and county superintendents. These certificates
stated not only that the holders had mastered the art of teaching all the
subjects of the common schools but also that they were of "good moral
character" as well.^°
At the April meeting of the board of trustees, 1873. Hewitt asked to be
relieved of his responsibilities as principal of the school, effective at the
end of the term. With graduation in June, Hewitt's tenure at the normal
ended and he returned fulltime to the ministry in the Episcopal Church,
At the board meeting at which his successor was elected, the trustees
passed a resolution thanking "...the Rev. Mr Hewitt for the able, efficient
and satisfactory manner in which he (had) conducted the affairs of the
school." ^^

25

XL. Griswold
1873-1877

26

Chapter 4

T. L.

Qriswold

System. CSi Solvency

C\T Then the trustees convened their meeting on the evening of June
Wl4, 1873, again they had before them the important business of
the office of principal of the Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State
Normal School. The board had received three applications. One had been
a voice nomination of a local citizen by a trustee. The other two were by
letter, one from a professor at Mansfield, Pennsylvania, and the other from
a professor at Oswego, New York. Discussion of the applicants was
thorough and time consuming. Finally that evening, when the votes were
tallied the professor from Oswego, New York had a simple majority of six
votes and was declared duly elected. The secretary was instructed to write
to Dr T L. Griswold informing him of his selection and asking him to
begin his work in Bloomsburg as soon as possible. Specifically, he was to
be asked to attend the board meeting scheduled for June 26.^
Griswold accepted the position and the conditions under which he had
been elected. His salary was to be $1,800 per annum "...guaranteed by the
Board for the first year..." and he was to receive one half of the net income
if there should be more than the $1,800. Boarding, housing and laundry
for him, his wife and family were valued at $600 per year and that
amount was to be deducted from his salary.^
When the Griswolds moved to Bloomsburg the population of the fast
growing community numbered about four thousand. In 1870, by
legislative action, it had been made the only town in Pennsylvania. It gave
the appearance of a prosperous, quiet and beautiful village, and had the
advantage of being reached by good roads and by rail. The Lackawanna
and Bloomsburg Railroad came into the town. Just two miles away, at the
Rupert station of the Catawissa Railroad, omnibus service to Bloomsburg
was on a daily basis. Other conveniences within the town were its banks,
stores, hotels, churches, telegraph service and all the legal aid usually
available in a county seat.
filling

Griswold is listed among the faculty that first yeair as "T L. Griswold,
A.M. and M.D., Principal, and Professor of Mental and Morzil Science, and
27

of Teaching." Being a physician as well as an
educator, he taught the physical culture classes, too. He stated that he
believed a healthy mind could be found only in a healthy body. Mrs. Isabel
H. Griswold also was part of the faculty. She was listed as "Assistant

Theory and Practice

and she taught bookkeeping and history.
Each morning the entire school assembled in the chapel for morning
devotions, and each evening after supper, they gathered again for "Chapel
Exercises." Following this, the students went directly to their rooms and to
their books, remaining there until the bell rang at nine o'clock to end the
study hour They were not allowed to visit in other rooms or leave their
floors. Also prohibited in all the school buildings were "...roughness of
conduct, shouting and boisterous laughter." Students were not allowed to
miss meals without permission and strict attention "...to table etiquette..."
was the order each day. These were just a few of the rules under which the
"116 Ladies and 156 Gentlemen" lived that first year of Griswold's tenure.
Another rule, strictly enforced, said that young men and young women
Principal"

to "...pause or loiter for conversation with each other in
the Halls, Society Rooms, Dining Room, or Parlors," unless they had

were not allowed

permission to do so.
At that time, the society rooms where men and women were not
allowed to loiter were in the dormitory building. There were two such
parlor-like rooms, one for the Philologians, and after Griswold came, one
for the Calliepians. Each organization was known as a literary society and
each had its own enthusiastic following among the student body. The
Philologians, having founded their society in 1866, had a well-furnished
meeting room and a fine start of a library. They were a well established
institution on campus when Griswold came. But in 1874, June 1. to be
exact, six Philologians members resigned and organized a new society. In
those days faculty not only acted as chaperones and sponsors but could
be elected to full membership with all its privileges. Mrs. Dent and Mrs.
Griswold were the first teachers to be chosen for this honor by the new
order. Using the Greek word meaning "beautiful speech" the members of
this

new

organization

named

itself

the Calliepian Society.

The

rivalry that

grew between these two literary groups on campus— sometimes comic,
sometimes bitter — lasted until they disbanded.^
During the tenure of Griswold, he concentrated on strengthening the
normal course. Part of his philosophy for running a normal (and he stated
it often) was that "...the distinctive object of the Normal School is to
TEACH TEACHERS for the Profession of Teaching and through them to
affect improvements in the Common and High Schools of the State." Not
only did he insist on knowledge of the subjects to be taught in the public
schools, but he introduced new methods courses, and courses in school
organization and management. He insisted on very strict supervision of
practice teaching in the model school— which consisted of forty-five
minutes of planned instruction by normal students each day of their
28

senior

year.'*

Saturday afternoon. September 4. 1875, fire started in the dormitory and
within two hours, the building was completely in ruin. The devastated
building had been insured for about $30,000, less than half its value.

Remains of dormitory

after fire of September 4, 1875.

The Monday morning after the fire, members of the board and many
met in the Court House. The Reverend Mr TUstin acted
as chairman, and three other members of the community acted as
secretaries, W. W. Jacoby, F. Cooley, and James C. Brown. The meeting
interested citizens

had been convened to determine a course of action to be taken by the
stockholders and the board of trustees. First Judge Elwell addressed the
group. He was followed by Dr. Griswold, and Griswold by Rev. D. J. Waller,
Sr. Others briefly offered opinions and the consensus arrived at was to
rebuild on the old foundation as quickly as possible.
Committees were appointed. The first one was to procure a building or
buildings suitable for housing students and faculty. Throughout the town,
families had opened their homes to students and faculty over the
weekend. Now, more permanent arrangements had to be made. Another
committee, headed by Dr. Griswold, was to procure aid for the students.
Most of them had lost their clothing, their books, their keepsakes. A
committee of townspeople was appointed to secure subscriptions for
rebuilding and a committee of bocird members was to seek immediate
payment of the insurance claims.
The board of trustees met several nights consecutively, with the
29

members using tiieir daytime hours to carry on

the required work of their
committees.
The insurance claims were estimated at $30,000, and the committee
which had been instructed to ask for immediate payment reported that
the company would pay at once if an abatement of one percent were
accepted. Full payment could be received only if the board would agree to
wait untH later for settlement of its claims. The board voted for immediate
payment with abatement.
Within a week of the fire, the faculty, at a meeting with trustees,
submitted a proposition concerning their salaries and housing: if the
board would provide housing, their salaries from the time of the fire
through February, 1876. could be pro-rated, according to their contracts,
by 50%. After February, and for the rest of the school year, their salaries
would be as originally agreed to by the board and the individual teacher
The trustees gratefully adopted the plcin.

Among the early trustees when the frustrations of personally meeting
the financial demands of the school seemed nearly insurmountable, or
when a tired and overworked majority had to deal with a recalcitrant or
unsympathetic minority, the custom seemed to be to pass a resolution. By
the end of September, the burdened and loyail members of the board did
just that:
Resolved: That the

new

in the liabilities of the old
so.

The

trustees elected by the stockholders be invited to join
original Thistees: and in case they decline to do

and

they are hereby requested to resign.

resolution

meeting, two

was adopted — with one dissenting vote.

members

(At the next

resigned.)

the old bricks had been cleaned and stacked, the
drawings had been approved and the bid of John Sterner to
buOd had been accepted. When completed the brick structure would be
four stories high, and using much of the old foundation it would be built
this time in the form of the letter T^ The front of the building (facing west)
would measure 162 feet, and the stem of the T would be a wing extending
to the rear 75 feet in length. It would be heated by steam and lighted by
gas. Two bathrooms on each floor would assure those living there of
"pure, soft, running spring water"^
October 30, 1875 the cornerstone for the new dormitory was laid. It
rained heavily most of the day. Nevertheless, a large number of people
gathered in the auditorium of Institute Hall for the program which
preceded the actual ceremony of putting the stone in place. There was
music by the band; the Glee Club sang: and four speeches were given, one
by Judge Elwell, one by Robert P. Allen of Williamsport, one by the Rev.
Dr. McCrow, and one by Dn Griswold. Then a procession formed and, in
the rain, moved to the comer of the building where the stone was to be
laid. The old metal box from the cornerstone of the original buUding was

By mid-October

architect's

30

opened and to its contents which had been placed there in 1868 were
added a "memorandum of the fire," a copy of the town weekly, a copy of
the school paper, catalogs, programs, and "...a Hebrew sentence..." Then
the metal box was put in place in the cornerstone and construction
could continue.^
Before the fire, several large classrooms in the boarding hall had been
used to provide space for a model school. If all the functions of the normal
course were to be carried on during the rebuilding, provisions would have
to be made for practice teaching. The board decided the best way to meet
this situation was to erect a frame building of a permanent nature on the
school grounds expressly for the purpose of housing a model school. One
story high, it was to be 72 feet by 24 feet with its long side facing the
present Penn Street.^ This building came to be called Hemlock Hall. (It
stood north of Institute Hall in the area which would become the Memorial
Pinery. Part of it may have been on a portion of the site of the present
Schuylkill Hall.)
At two o'clock April 6, 1876, just eight months after the boarding hall
fire, a large audience gathered in the auditorium of Institute Hall for the
dedicatory ceremony for the new dormitory. First there was an address by
ex-Governor Pollock: his speech was followed by one by Dr. Griswold, and
his by one by Rev. D. J. Waller. Those assembled then proceeded to the

new building where they spent much time inspecting the new facilities
and admiring the new furniture.^ (The total cost of the building, the
original part of what came to be known as Waller Hall, was $47,674.72,
and was lived in by thousands of B.S.C. students until its removal in 1974.)

Institute Hall (later
re-built

dormitory

Carver

(later

Hall),

flanked by Hemlock Hall

(left)

arid

Waller Hall).

Affairs at the school seemed to be progressing well. The enrollment
continued to increase and for the first time in the history of the school the
income was sufficient to meet the expenses. Support for Griswold and

31

^

agreement with his policies seemed wide-spread in the community. The
weekly newspaper, published March 23. 1877 carried a long letter from
"Patron," a citizen of the town, who had visited the school the previous

week to attend the Friday afternoon exercises. (Every Friday ciftemoon
was devoted to these, and no pupil was exempt from taking part.)
"Patron" had noted that the young men and women who had been
appointed

jumping

critics

were very

superficial in their judgments. Dr. Griswold,

out shortcomings..." the
further that Griswold
practiced "what he preached" and said the school was fortunate to have
at its head a man so able, efficient, highly educated, cultured and
conscientious as Griswold. Further, the letter called him "...a model of a
to his feet, "...dissented, pointing

students had overlooked. "Patron"

commented

Christian gentleman ."i°
Yet the evening of the same day that that newspaper was published, at a
meeting of the trustees the president of the board stated that he
understood the meeting had been called to look into reports circulating
throughout the town concerning the moral and religious teachings at the
school. It was rumored Dr. Griswold was teaching Spiritualism. Dr.
Griswold was permitted to make a statement to the board. Then a

committee of five was appointed "...to inquire into the matter of charges
which had been made prejudicial to the religious and moral government
of the school." The committee consisted of Charles Buckalew, John
Funston, Leonard Rupert, Scimuel Knorr, and Elias Mendenhall.
Business at the board meetings in April, May and June was mostly of a
financial nature, most of which concerned debts owed to Griswold. In
April an order was drawn to him for $847.20. a repayment of an $800 loan
plus $47.20 interest. At another meeting he was given $515.61 to
reimburse him for money he had advanced for furniture. By June,
Griswold was claiming the board owed him an extra $1,000 as his share of
the net profits of the school.'^

On June

met again, and the committee of five was ready
on the spiritualism question. The report was
divided. Buckalew, Rupert and Mendenhall presented a preamble and
resolution which simply recommended that at morning and evening
chapel services the Scriptures should be read without comment. The
majority report stated that because Dn Griswold had been ill and because
so many of the committee were attorneys, tied up with the business of the
May term of court, the work of the committee was late in being reported.
The newspaper had noted that Dr. Griswold was so ill he had been
confined to his bed. His sickness was said to be of a nervous nature. He
had been unable to attend commencement in June and had put Professor
Burrows in charge.^
The committee had had thirteen meetings and had talked to thirty-two
witnesses. At the end of their report, the majority spoke of the matron at
the school. It was said she had recommended a female doctor to the wife
29, the board

to present its findings

32

of a professor, and the wife upon sending a snip of hair to the doctor had
received a prescription of medicine to cure her disease. When the matrons
husband (a professor at the Normal) was asked about his belief in such
doctoring he said he didn't know whether the doctor could or could not

prescribe after noting a snip of hair He said he would have to study the
matter further
The committee majority wished to make another point concerning the
faculty member who had spoken to the newspaper about the situation.
Not only had he been ill-advised, they felt, but he had been disloyal to the
institution employing him. Why. the committee asked, hadn't he gone to

the trustees first? They were the only body legally able to do anything
about the situation.
The minority report handed in by Knorr and Funston quoted at length
from their interview with a well-liked and highly respected professor at the
school. He told them that in Chapel Griswold had said "...the progressive
minds of the ages are destined to crush out all the theological

organizations of the day." Another time Griswold supposedly spoke to the
students in Chapel saying, "I place very little estimate upon the pulpit
trash of the day— only such men as Beecher and Chapin are entitled to
notice and credit." But when the minority part of the committee heard
that he had said, "we are now in as good a heaven as we shall ever be"
and had added that our "sins are only physical infirmities" the two men
who were the dissenting part of the committee felt Griswold had gone too
far. According to the professor being quoted, the same kind of teaching
was being presented in Griswold's classes. Such teachings, it seemed,
were beginning to unsettle the convictions of some students who were
questioning and seeking guidance from other members of the faculty.
The Griswolds. both of them, were being accused of knowing well the
female clairvoyant doctor in Philadelphia, and of agreement with the

nonsense about her In fact Griswold was supposed to have recommended
hen too. This doctor in Philadelphia was a believer in free love, and it was
said she was living with some one other than her husband. Letters of
inquiry had been sent concerning her. and the replies had not been to her
credit, so ended the minority report. No actions on the reports of the
committee were taken that night.^^
A few days later the board met again. This time they convened to
consider the report of the committee on discipline and instruction
pertaining to the hiring of teachers for the coming year. The trustees
decided not to accept the report of the committee as a whole, but to vote
on each name individually. For principal, Dr T. L. Griswold: The vote was
Ferree: "...yeas, 7: nays, 10." For
"...yeas, 8; nays, 9." For teacher J.
teacher, H. E. Barrett: "...yeas, 6; nays. 11." At this point, "Mr. Buckalew
moved that the report be laid upon the table."^"*
Ten days later, July 17, 1877, the board met again to proceed with the
election of a faculty. The first name presented was that of D. J. Waller, Jr

W

33

to fill the vacancy of principal created by the board's failure to re-elect
Griswold. Waller was chosen by a vote of 11 for, 7 against. At that same
meeting, William Noetling was elected unanimously to head the normal
Ferree, upon being reconsidered,
department and the application of J.
was acted upon favorably. The selection of the rest of the faculty

W

followed .1^
But that was not the last of the board's relation with Griswold. At first
he refused to leave his living quarters at the school until the board met his
claim of nearly $2,000. This claim was based largely on the agreement
between him and the board that the net income of the school— over his
salary of $1,800— would be divided equally. The case dragged on and on.
Adjustments were arranged only to become unacceptable before a note

could be drawn.
When Griswold left town, his attorney, John G. Freeze, a member of the
board who had resigned at the surfacing of these problems, carried on the
fight to collect the money Griswold claimed was due him. Bit by bit and
small sum by small sum, the board reimbursed Griswold.
By September, 1878, the trustees had additional worries. In
combination with Griswold 's legal affairs, action had been taken by 1. W.
McKelvy and by Rollins and Holmes for debts incurred by the board for
materials and work done at the time of the rebuilding of the dormitory.
These financial problems were so pressing that both the lawyers for and
against the school scrambled to find solutions. One suggestion from
Griswold was that part of the regular state appropriation to the normal
school be sent directly to him from Harrisburg. When this proved

unacceptable to the board, the three creditors foreclosed, and negotiations
for a second sheriff sale were begun.
Immediately, when the plans were completed, the trustees sought a

postponement of the sale. The sheriff agreed, setting no definite date, and
the board found itself with a little more time to keep working toward a
solution. When a special appropriation of funds from Harrisburg came
through in the fall of 1880, the accounts with McKelvy and with Rollins
and Holmes were settled, and enough money was left to pay the claim
remaining with Griswold— plus cost and interest— a matter of some $576.
In the meantime, for a period of three years, the Bloomsburg Literary
Institute and State Normal School had been expanding, running smoothly
and developing an exceptionally forward-looking educational program
under the leadership of D. J. Waller, Jr.

34

•.

.

?^;

David

J.

Waller, Jr.

1877-1890

36

Chapter 5

T)avid

J.

Waller,

Jr.

T)ignity CSi T)istinction

CT^avid Jewett Waller, Jr., bom June

17,

1846 at Bloomsburg, was from

X^a

distinguished and influential family in the town. His father, the
local Presbyterian minister, had been supportive of the Normal since its
founding as cm academy at Jefferson and Third Streets in 1839.
Waller's first primary schooling had been with Mrs. Drake at her school
on Main Street. Then, for several years prior to the incorporation of the
Bloomsburg Literary Institute, he had attended the classiccd school of B. F.
Eaton in the Primitive Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1860, at age 14,
Waller was sent by his family to Media, Pennsylvania, to study at the
school of the Reverend Dn Gayley. One year later, he enrolled in the

preparatory department of Williams College, his father's Alma Mater at
Williamstown, Massachusetts. A severe illness interrupted his studies
there and continued to keep him from school for the next three years.
When Henry Carver reopened the Bloomsburg Literary Institute in
1866, D. J. Waller, Jr. was emiong those enrolled, and he continued at the
school until his graduation in 1867, as a member of the first class to finish
it became permanently located on the hill.
Following graduation, Waller entered Lafayette College with advanced
standing and after three years of study, received a Master of Arts degree.
While there as a student, he helped establish the first yearbook for
Lafayette, earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa, served as president of
his class, received the Fowler Prize for "proficiency in English Philology"
and spoke at the commencement exercises of the Class of 1870. The
year following his graduation he remained at Lafayette as a tutor of Latin
and Greek.
Then in preparation for the ministry. Waller entered Princeton
Theological Seminary, but after one year there, he transferred to Union
Theologiccil Seminary, New York City.
The year 1874 was a big year in the life of D. J. Waller, Jr. He completed
his studies at Union, married Anna Appleman of Bloomsburg and was
ordained into the Presbyterian ministry. He accepted the post of pastor of

at the Institute after

37

Logan Square Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, and "...it looked like
which held great expectations, both
professionally and domestically..."*'
However, the young Wallers had been in Philadelphia less than two
years when the entire family was stricken with diptheria. Both Waller and
his wife contracted severe cases and their infant daughter died from the
disease. Recovery for Waller was very slow. Upon the recommendation of
his physician he gave up his preaching duties, left the city and with Anna
returned to the Bloomsburg area. After resting for a time, and preaching
now and again throughout the region, he accepted the OrangevilleRohrsburg-Raven Creek Charge, a charge which included Presbyterian
churches in each of those small communities — all within driving distance
of Bloomsburg
One afternoon, early in the summer of 1877. as Waller and his wife were
returning from a drive in the country, they were stopped by another
horse-drawn buggy driven by Daniel A. Beckley. After an exchange of
greetings. Beckley remarked that he had been enroute to visit Waller on a
matter of business. They arranged to meet later that same afternoon in
the office of Waller Sn in town.
There, on behalf of the board of trustees. Beckley asked Waller Jr to
consider the principalship of the normal school. At first, remembering his
family's ties with the school. Waller was inclined to accept the position.
However he was skeptical of the offer also. Throughout the town rumor
had it that the normal school board was seriously divided because of
the Griswold controversy. Furthermore. Waller was happy with his
the

the beginning of a clerical career

.2

pastoral duties.

Waller hesitated. Some board members wondered why. Upon learning
was not allowing his name to be placed in nomination because
of the division among the trustees. Judge William Elwell. long-time
president of the board, sent a letter to Waller saying that he personally
could and would guarantee the cooperation of the trustees.^
At the board meeting July 17. 1877. Waller was elected principal of the
Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. When counted,
the vote stood at 11 for. 7 against— quite a difference from the unanimity
he had been promised and had hoped for."* However, the local press, in a
news item about the reorganization of the faculty, spoke of Waller by
saying, "He brings to his new field experience as a teacher, sound
judgment, and the united support of the community."^
When Waller became principal, he headed a faculty of 12 and a student
body of 288. A campus of 10 acres held three buildings— Institute Hall
(now Carver Hall), the dormitory (later to be old Waller Hall), and the
model school (the one spoken of as Hemlock Hall). Students paid $210 for
tuition and board, including laundry and heat. "In addition." the catalog
noted there would be "...a slight charge to each boarder for gas. each
student being charged only for the amount burned by himself."^ At the
that Waller

38

°

opening of school each term the students were warned, "Don't blow out
the lights." Most came from homes with kerosene lamps, so, since the
dormitory rooms at the normal were lighted by open gas jets this was no
idle warning. With each room metered the student practicing small
economies made sure he extinguished his light as soon as he finished
his studying.

Once more, under Waller the school began to increase in enrollment
and academically became a model of an educational institution. It was
spoken of as having a beautiful and "healthful" location with a
"magnificent view. The school at present offers the best

facilities for

and classical learning. The Rev. D. J. Waller, Jn, A.M.,
has by very close attention brought this school to its highest

professional
Principal,

perfection."^

Faculty cooperation

was high during

these years. Often discussions at

on discipline or the setting up of policies
for student activities. After opening prayer by the principal, the faculty
secretary of the day, noted in the Minutes the names of those members
absent and recorded the names of those members who came to the
meeting late. Student deportment was a usual topic of discussion, and
often regulations regarding it were decided upon at these faculty
meetings. For example, at the weekly faculty meeting early in October
1877. new rules were made governing the activities of students when not
faculty meetings led to decisions

"Dinner over at 7 o'clock," the regulations began. "When leaving
the dining room, the students are required to pass in order as from Chapel
in class.

—ladies

first

and gentlemen

o'clock in the afternoon;

following." Quiet

from 4

hour was

to 5V2 o'clock," there

to

was

be from "2 to 4
be "freedom to

to

walk about the grounds, visit rooms or sing in (the) Chapel."^
It had been the custom for principals of the school to live in an
apartment of the dormitory with board and laundry, heat and light
provided. Upon his election to the principalship. Waller had moved his
family to the campus, but, by the spring of 1881 the confines of the job
had begun to produce a strain on Waller's health. He asked permission of
the board to move from the school and reside within the town. The
trustees agreed, and for good measure added $220 to his salary— an
allotment for living expenses for himself and family.'
By the summer of 1881 the Normal was in the Courts again. This time,
the litigation was "Judgment No. 236", also known as "Mans vs. School".
This seems to have been the case of George V. Mans seeking payment of a
debt of over $1,200. Very little is recorded of this action against the school,
but when at its meeting July 27, 1881, the board was told another sheriff
sale was impending, the trustees ordered a draft of $800 in partial
payment. With this, the sheriff agreed not to advertise the sale until just
before the date to sell, giving the trustees a little more time to gather
together their resources. By October 1881, with a draft for $552.80, the
board paid the Man debt in full, plus costs, and closed the books on the
39

and last threat against the school by sheriff sale.
The first telephones on campus were installed in June, 1882. At its
meeting May 30 of that year, the trustees discussed the convenience to be
had by putting telephones in several offices and "...unanimously resolved
third

that [these] instruments should be put in the School..." ^^
After the beginning of the year 1884, it was noted that each time

Dn

Waller addressed a group of new students he warned them of the danger
of going from room to room by way of the windows. Sometimes, to
emphasize this point, school authorities pointed out to the student body
that the board of trustees had, in the written accounts of their meetings, a
resolution which stated, "...that any student found passing from one
window to Einother in the Dormitory Building of the Normal School shall
be suspended or expelled in the discretion of the Board ."^^
This drastic action had been taken after a fatal accident occured on
campus at the end of January, 1884. One evening a young man living in
the dormitory had been visiting a room on the third floor and had not
remembered to take his hat with him when he returned to his room on the
second floor Soon after breakfast the following morning, he went to the
third floor room for his hat. The door was locked and his friends were
gone. The occupants of the next room were out, too, but the door was
unlocked. He entered the unlocked room, and, in attempting to enter the
adjacent room through its window, stepped on the icy sill and fell to the
frozen ground below. Death came before his parents could arrive in
Bloomsburg from their Jersey town home a few miles away.^'*
By the middle of 1885 it had become apparent that the growth of the
school had caused overcrowded conditions in the classrooms on the
campus. If the institution were to fulfill its purpose and move ahead in the
field of teacher preparation, an additional building was needed for a model
school. At the June meeting of the board, after some general discussion,
the committee on grounds and buildings, along with the principal, was
requested to study the need and present to the board at the next meeting
an estimate of costs for construction of a new classroom building.
By September the plans of the architect (a Mr Bruglar) had been
adopted by the trustees and the committee had been instructed to
advertise for bids. The location of this instructional building was to be
between Institute Hall and the north-western comer of the dormitory. On
October 19, when the bids were opened, the contract was awarded to the
company of Charles Krug. The bid price was $12,485, with the contract

by July, 1886.^^
would be a two-story brick building, 79
feet by 89 feet, containing 26 classrooms. TWenty would be small
recitation rooms in which Normal students would teach 45 minutes each
day of their senior year. These recitation rooms were large enough for only
5 or 6 pupils, the student teacher and a supervisor Six other larger
ordinary- size classrooms completed the layout of the building, and were

stipulating that the building be completed

Work was begun immediately.

It

40

would be "...well supplied with light,
blackboard surfaces and other essentials." The six large classrooms would
have a raised platform at the front for the teacher's dcsks.'^
Meanwhile, as happens with every public institution, particularly those
engaged in the preparation of teachers, the Normal found itself being
criticized by the local press. By the end of the year 1885, the two weeklies
of Columbia County had entered into a debate about the methods courses
being taught at the Normal School, especially in reading and arithmetic.
In mid-December an editorial in The Columbia County Republican
attempted to answer a letter from "Justice" which had appeared in the
previous week in The Columbian, the county's Democratic paper
"Justice" who had defended the "new" teaching methods was believed to
be the head of the department of methods— at that time Professor
Noetling. The editorial pointed out that in some communities, school
directors had been so concerned with the poor results of teachers using
modern methods in the classroom that these directors had overruled the
school administration and had insisted on the return to the old ways,
"...teaching the alphabet systematically... and... mental arithmetic." The
said to be planned so that they

editorial

went on

to say.

Our schools are deteriorating notwithstanding the majority of teachers over
the last 6 or 8 years have been graduates of our Normal School... We do not
desire to be in a fight against our Normal School. There are members of the
faculty that are renowned for their literar>' culture and refinement but if it
designs to prosper it must modify the methods of instruction the graduates are
directed to employ. The number of pupils who have been sent out from its walls
to experiment with "new" methods upon the childhood of the land is now
already too large...

There was more of the same in the rest of the editorial.
Waller had just returned from County Institute at Lancaster where he
had been the featured speaker when the December 24th issue of The
Columbian, with its editorial, rolled off the press. Though usually aloof to
all local controversy. Waller felt this was an unusual and grave situation.
His leadership of the school had been attacked, and clearly, he saw the
challenge. His letter to the Editor follows, in part:

Mr Editor: While all matters of public interest are proper subjects for
discussion and public servants for criticism, it has become evident that
controversy conducted in rival newspapers... may degenerate in acrimonious
personalities. It does not therefore seem to me wise to enter into the present
discussion about methods in the Normal School. Nor would I enter into the
excited talk of a very earnest few upon the street involving old and settled
questions.
But when you assert upon your own responsibility that the management or
system of teaching in the Normal School in recent years have injured its
reputation and discredited its diploma, silence upon my part can no longer be
preserved with self-respect.
41

One of two things is obvious. Either your position is a mistaken one. and has
been rashly assumed against an institution of importance, at least at home, and
ought to be withdrawn, or a thorough revolution in the administration of the
Normal School is imperative.
Neither the Thjstees nor the Faculty will evade or stifle a full and calm
discussion of this question.

The spirit of your editorial was in striking contrast with that evinced toward
the School and its methods by one of the largest and finest County Institutes in
the State from which 1 had just returned when The Republican came to hand,
and where more than fifty of our graduates have most enviable standing as
accomplished and successful teachers.
David

J. Waller, Jr.

The letter ended the debate .^^
The contract for the new model

school building, specifically, had called
a finishing date of July 1, 1886. Yet the following October, with the
added classrooms so badly needed, the school was having difficulty with
the contractor about completion of his work. At one point the board
threatened to hire other workers and charge their wages against Krug and
his local bondsman. While the construction continued slowly, a final
change, or addition, was made to the building. For many years to come it
would serve not only as a convenience to the school population but for
generations of Bloomsburg graduates, it would be fond topic of
conversation at reunions. A wooden covered bridge was built connecting
the second floor of the classroom building with the second floor of
Institute Hall. The original cost was $750 and for years it enabled the
students in the model school to go to classes or chapel in Institute Hall
without troubling to dress for the out-of-doors. (This bridge, spanning the
walk from East Second Street to the back campus, was in place and in use
for

until 1939.)

As on the campuses

of similar colleges of that day, discipline

was

strict.

Perhaps by today s standards it would be considered extreme. One spring
day, the main discussion at a faculty meeting centered around several
seniors who had "deliberately disobeyed regulations" as to Sunday quiet
hour. The decision was that these seniors should be "put upon the
campus" until senior examinations late in May.
When a young lady from the dormitory and a young gentleman student
had gone "together without permission to the Catholic Church." they, too.
were "put upon the campus."
The young women of the school wished to play ball outside in nice
weather One of them carried their request to use the ball field to a weekly
faculty meeting. After the question was presented a thorough discussion
took place as to the propriety of girls playing on the boys" field. It was
thought best that the girls be given the "privilege of using the open space
below the grove."
After the purchase of the grove another question arose at faculty
meeting. What would be the best time of day for the girls to stroll in the
42

grove?

"It

and the

was, on motion, resolved that the gentlemen have the forenoon

ladies the afternoon

till

teatime."^^

Normal was not all grimness, gloom and strict compliance
with regulations. Always at a boarding school there is one prankster, at
least. Such a young man was on the B.S.N.S. campus in the 1880's. One
afternoon when he had nothing to do, he decided to take a nap. He
dreamed he saw all the chairs in the chapel marching around the room.
The chairs climbed to the belfry and went out on the roof where they
performed a war-dance. When the young man awoke he revealed his
dream to a few trusted friends, and he and his allies decided to put all the
chapel chairs around the belfry that night.
At 1:30 a.m., after removing the chairs from the auditorium, the boys
found the belfry door locked. Quickly they carried the chairs back to the
chapel and slid them under the rostrum. By 3:30 a.m. all the young men
were back in their beds.
Next day, a bright, sunny June morning, the student body and the
faculty trooped into the chapel for prayers and opening exercises. The
entire assembly room was without furniture — except for one chair. With
Life at the

the calmness which had become his trademark. Waller climbed to the
podium and noted that since there were no chairs, the school would stand
for worship.

The school authorities had great difficulty finding the chapel chairs. The
search continued day after day. until one afternoon in going to the
rostrum on the platform. Dr. Waller noticed the rug was loose. Upon
investigation, he found the chairs. (Years later, in recounting the story.
Waller remarked that he knew there was some shred of honor among the
boys; the only chair not taken was the one for a little lame girl who
attended the Normal. Too, Waller said that always he had wondered how
"the dreamer" had been able to get so many chairs in so small a place in
so short a time! As for "the dreamer"? He became a Methodist minister. j^o
Some desirable land adjoining the campus became available and
throughout the late summer and fall of 1888 much discussion in board
meetings centered around ways and means to buy this land. Col. John G.
Freeze owned one parcel and he was willing to sell. In looking ahead to
expansion for the school the trustees liked what they saw in the 3V4 acres.
It had a beautiful oak grove covering nearly three of the acres and was
adjacent to the northern and western boundaries of the campus. By the
end of October the board decided to accept the recommendation of the
committee on grounds and buildings and authorized the purchase of the
Freeze land for $3,500.2' (On much of this acreage, over the next century
would be built Science Hall, part of Schuylkill Hall, the edge of the Pinery,
part of Northumberland Hall, a maintenance building, a power plant, a
laundry, and the Pergola. At one time, a small greenhouse and a small
lagoon were partly in and partly out of this purchase.)
Yet, within the matter of months, when the school's administrators and
the board of trustees began planning another building program, it was
decided to extend the capacity of the dormitory rather than to construct a
new building on the recently bought land. The decision was to add a wing
43 feet wide and 103 feet long to the rear of the dormitory T This would
serve to enlarge the dining room and kitchen, and on first floor where the
wing ran out to East Second Street there would be a room suitable for
manual training, a course which had just been mandated by State law.
The
1889

was let to Thomas E. Gorrey August
Money was tight. In order to pay the bills,

contract for the addition

at a cost of $20,300.

5,

loans

always with security guaranteed by the individual
members of the board. For this building, one note was backed by C.
Miller, Levi Waller, Mr. Funk, and Mr. Billmeyer of the board. Another loan
was secured by TYustees Drinker and Shock and D. J. Waller, the principal.
The final loan needed for this construction was made after 15 local citizens
obligated themselves for the sum of $5,000.^^
Through all the difficulties of raising money, never did it occur to the
members of the board to limit the expansion of the school or decrease its
activities. And so. once more in 1889, on July 15, the trustees completed

had

to be taken,

W

44

negotiations which had been going on for months for the purchase of eight
on the south side of East Second Street, four lots east of Wood Street,
and four lots west of Wood Street. The price of the eight lots was $4,525?^
(Many graduates will remember these plots as being across the street from
Long Porch with flower beds in full bloom from spring through fall. Recent
graduates will locate these plots as the site of Elwell Hall.)
Nor was this board of trustees which worked so closely with Waller
lots

interested only in the physical set-up of the institution. They worked just
as hard for high academic standing as they did for construction of new
buildings or the buying of land. Professor Noetling asked for and received
"Solar Camera" for use by his classes. When a military company was
organized on campus, swords, belts and other articles of equipment were
purchased.^"* In support of the literary societies' effort to establish a
reading room (library) the board provided books, space, and periodicals.
A chemical laboratory was fitted up, and additions were made to the
specimen cabinets in the biology department, all of these while the School
was receiving very small allocations from the State.
It was during this year of growth and expansion (1888-89) that the
prayer meetings of the men students and those of the women students
developed into the organization of the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. on campus.^^
In March of 1890, Governor Beaver appointed D. J. Waller Jr
superintendent of public instruction to fill the vacancy in that position
caused by the death of E. E. Higbee the previous December.^e At the March
meeting of the trustees, after the transaction of routine business. Waller
excused himself and William Neal, president of the board, read Wallers
letter of resignation. The relationship and cooperation between principal
and board had been extremely cordial and supportive for thirteen years.
Though all wished Waller well and felt the entire school had been honored
by his appointment, his impending departure was keenly felt.
Communication after communication was read that evening at the
board meeting. When the rumor of his leaving spread, alumni,
townspeople, county patrons, interested neighbors and businessmen
wrote to the trustees urging the board to keep Waller at the Normal. The
faculty, as a whole, prepared a letter which each teacher signed. Students,
individually, and as members of classes and campus organizations wrote
letters telling of their need for Waller to remain
for his inspiration to
students, for his counsel and guidance. The senior class prepared a very
whereas-ish letter asking the board to keep Waller by "making it too

—

advantageous

for

him

to leave."

Despite all these communications the board accepted Waller's
resignation with deep regret, appointed a committee to frame "an
appropriate and proper resolution" to be sent to Waller and ask the
committee on instruction and discipline to begin search for a new
principal .2^

45

Judson

P.

Welsh

1890-1906

46

Chapter 6

Judsoii. T.

Welsh

^Expansion^ CSi Service

July 3,

Commencement exercises at the Normal School, D. J.
ended his tenure by handing the keys of the institution to

1890, at

Waller, Jr.

William Neal, president of the board of trustees. In turn, Mr Neal passed
the keys to Judson P. Welsh, principal-elect "who was thus installed as
Principal of the School."'

Welsh had been elected at the board meeting April 10, 1890. After a
short period of time during which he and the trustees were in
correspondence about salary, Welsh and his wife agreed to come to
Bloomsburg State Normal School for $2,000 per year with living
accommodations furnished. He would be chief administrator and she
would head the department of elocution.^
Judson P. Welsh had been bom in 1857 in the stone house which still
stands beside Green Creek on the family fcirm near Orangeville. He
graduated from the Orangeville Academy in 1874 and from the
Bloomsburg Litergiry Institute and State Normal School in the normal
course in 1876. He earned a B.A. degree from Lafayette College in 1882
and then accepted a teaching position at West Chester State Normal
School. The next year, he married Alma Sagar, cdso a teacher at West
Chester.^ During the next eight years, as Welsh taught and filled the post
of vice-principal, he became widely known as a writer. He was the author
of a popular textbook. Practical English Grammar, and he wrote many
articles for magazines on the subjects of English and Pedagogy.^
Meanwhile he continued his studies at Lafayette, receiving his A.M. in
1887, and his Ph.D. in 1891, a year after he became principal at
Bloomsburg.
Welsh moved his family into the apartment provided at the school in the
summer of 1890, but soon he began building a house on the family farm
near Orangeville, which for many years would serve as his summer home.
This proved very convenient, for besides being within driving distance of
Bloomsburg Normal, Welsh had the space and equipment to carry on his

hobby — the

raiising of prize

poultry

and pure-bred
47

cattle.

(He

was

the

first

owner of a pure-bred herd

in

Columbia County and was considered an

expert in this field. )^

With the coming of Judson P. Welsh to the campus, many changes took
place at the Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. He
carried out the plans begun under Waller for implementation of the course
in manual training. Practically everyone in the school was obliged to take
it— men and women of the normal and preparatory courses, as well as
boys and girls of the model school. Accidents happened very infrequently
in the class, but one accident drew much attention and was reported thus:
Mr. Seeley tried to shake hands with a circular saw in the manual training
day. The saw wasn't injured in the least, but Mr. Seeley has felt

room the other
cut-up about

it

for

some

time...^

Additional commercial courses were put in the curricula for those
wishing terminal courses and for those wanting preparation for teaching
commercial subjects. Previously, some commercial studies had been
scheduled at the school— bookkeeping and shorthand, commercial law

and penmanship.
These continued

to be taught and in addition, more advanced courses
along with methods courses were introduced. The new
teacher gave lessons in shorthand and typewriting using "The Remington
Standard No. 2" for the typing classes, and the "Pitman System" for
shorthand.^ Welsh was sure these new courses would attract students to
in these subjects

the campus.

Change was to be found in the physical plant, too. With the completion
wing to the dormitory a "piazza" about 140 feet in length

of the east

(later Waller Hall) with original piazza or porch.
located on this site.

Dormitory

now

48

Lycoming Hall

is

connected the front and rear wings where they abutted on East Second
came to be called Long Porch and was the favorite gathering

Street.^ (This

place on campus for generations.) All living quarters for students received
new coats of wallpaper; in each room, near the ceiling, a molding was
placed from which to hang pictures; the beds in the girls rooms were
supplied with springs, and for the first time, if a professor living in the

dormitory wished to cover his floors, the school provided rugs.
Perhaps the greatest changes were those in the rules and regulations
governing social behavior at the school. No longer did the teachers stand
in the halls with notebooks in hand to record demerits against students
who whispered as they passed between classes. No longer was it
considered a misdemeanor if a boy and a girl spoke to each other, or
smiled, or passed notes to each other in the halls— without permission.
Nor, were the professors required to compute a mathematical summary
of each student s deportment and read it aloud in chapel at the end of
the month.^
However, discipline was still strict, as evidenced by an episode which
took place near the end of the first year of Welsh's tenure. One Sunday, a
young lady from the Normal left the school grounds during quiet hour,
and "rode out" with a young gentleman from the town. She did not return
until alter supper. A special meeting of the faculty was called, and after
much discussion it was noted that two courses of action were open: Either
the young lady could be sent home until final examinations, allowed to
return to the school long enough to take the tests, and then be sent home
immediately, or she would be publically reprimanded before the boarders
and be required to make a public apology and "...not allowed to appear in
any class performance during commencement." The second course of

was chosen.^°
By November 1891 the board of trustees was discussing again the need
for more space in the dormitory. This time there was added talk about the
need for a gymnasium. The following March, when architects came to

action

present their plans, not only were the trustees ready to look at those for a
addition to the boarding hall, but instructed Kipp's, an
architectural firm from Wilkes-Barre, to make plans for renovation of the
auditorium, also.
When approved, the plans for changes in Institute Hall's chapel called
for "...construction of a gallery around the hall, needed alterations and
improvements of the stage, the laying of a new floor and a resetting of the
hall with opera chairs." There would be a seating capacity of 1,026. The
contract price was $3,950.^'
The addition to the dormitory was to be made at the building's north
end and was to extend to within twenty feet of the model school.
Classrooms on first floor, a lecture room for science on second floor, and
living space for boarding students on third and fourth floors would add
many needed facilities to the school. At the same time, the trustees

gymnasium and an

49

3

First floor corridor o/ riorfh addition to dorniitory (later Waller Hall) before
Tiffany windows were installed. Through the years this corridor was heavily
traveled because it connected Waller Hall with the model school (later
Noetling Hall) and the old gyrnnasiuni (later Husky Lounge).

for the construction of a gymnasium. It would have a gallery
which would serve as a running track, and a floor space of 5.000 square
feet. This building would stand just north and west of the north addition
to the dormitory and would be made of brick.^^

planned

On

Februar\^ 22. 1894. the twenty-fifth anniversary of the school's

becoming a Normal was celebrated with the dedication of the new
construction. Engraved invitations had been sent out. and it was a
distinguished audience that gathered that day to hear the speech of
Professor Coughlin. superintendent of the City Schools of Wilkes-Barre.
had spoken, the audience proceeded to the gym for a
"gymnasium exhibition" staged by the students. This was followed by a

After he
dinner.'

Several times during the previous fall, in discussing the new
gymnasium the question of an instructor for "physical culture" had been
brought up at board meetings. Finally, the position was filled at the
December meeting, 1893, when the trustees chose A. K. Aldinger of Oil
City 14
With the coming of Aldinger to Bloomsburg State Normal School,
basketball arrived as well, within three years of the games invention. It
became a very popular spectator sport and drew many fans to the
campus. The drawback was that the student body seemed to lack tall.

50

This old postcard photograph, taken from the "back campus." shows the
original gymnasium (left center) which later became Husky Lounge. Photo
also shows the enclosed "bridge" that connected the model school (later
Noetling Hall) and histitute Hall (later Carver Hall).

husky young men. Aldinger found a way

to overcome this. He introduced
night classes in physical education. Athletically inclined young men from
the town and nearby communities were encouraged to enroll. From these
he made up much of his first basketball teams. In fact, the B.S.N.S. team
which beat the University of Pennsylvania in basketball had two regular
students on it and all the others were from the night physical education
classes. At first the game was played with nine men on each team and the

Interior of original

gymnasium with running
51

track (later

Husky Lounge).

court was divided into three zones. Players were not allowed to move from
the area designated for their particular positions. Some early accounts
record the positions as attack, centre, and guard, while others call them

home,

center,

and

goal.

When

Aldinger came, no dancing was allowed at the Normal.
Nevertheless, he introduced what he called, "artistic steps." As he felt this
was a necessary part of his program, such dancing was allowed.^^ Of
course men and women students couldn't dance with each other. Boys
danced with boys; girls with girls.
The gymnasium exhibition grew to be the outstanding event each
winter on the hill. Spectators came from miles around. At these, very
often class rivalry ran rampant. One year, on the date of the exhibition
several metropolitan newspapermen were in town covering the mysterymurder of Tom McHenry. During the evening they had nothing to do so a
local attorney suggested they attend the gym exhibition. Their account
says,

when

a Junior turned loose a small pig dressed in Senior
into the fray. Some grabbed muskets used
in [Military] drills from the sidewalls. Others grabbed Indian clubs and went
after each other ...Order was brought about only when Professor Aldinger and
his assistant joined in, laying low several students.'*^
...Bedlam broke out

colors. ...Instantly all

hands jumped

The ravine south and west of the grove had been filled in and graded
make an athletic field. Enclosed by a high board fence, it had a cinder

Baseball team of 1899. Note dormitory for "hired help'
(later named North Hall).

52

in

the background

to

track, and a baseball diamond (which was located on the area that would
become the site of Science Hall). The field was used by the football and
baseball teams as well as by the outdoor "physical culture" classes.

Because the spring term never ended until near the first of July, baseball
was an ideal spring sport, and the Normal's schedule included Bucknell,
Dickinson, Gettysburg, Susquehanna U, Carlisle Indians, State College
and other larger and established schools. This was the time when in
football, there developed the intense rivalry with Wyoming Seminciry
which would last for well over forty yeairs.
The B.S.N.S. Quarterly was begun in 1894. At that time it was a
magazine-type of communication established for alumni, students and
friends of the school. For many years the pedagogical department used
the Quarterly to publish articles written by the professors at the school on
new methods of instruction, new books available and ways of evaluating
school-work. The Philologians and the Calliepians used the Quarterly as a
means of communication with the alumni of their respective literary

The work of the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. was recorded at length in
and the administration used it to keep in touch with
graduates and to advertise the Normal.^ At one time, one of the four
issues each year took the form of the catalog and circular of the school. (In
1926, after a lapse of four years, it became the voice of the Alumni
Association and has been in continual publication since that time.)^^
societies.

the early issues,

"^

North Hall,

home

to

hundreds of male students through the years.

By 1894 construction was nearing completion of another brick
dormitory building, this one for the "hired help" of the school. Located
just north and east of the students' boarding hall, it was three-stories high
53

with a "handsome tower" on its northwest corner. When finished, it
would house the laundry in the basement, serve as living quarters for
employees on first and second floors, and provide for an infirmary on the
third floor, although "...need for such [a facility] is very slight indeed as the
pure air of Normal Hill together with the regularity of life are tonics..."
enough.'^
After the building of the new brick model school. Hemlock Hall had
served as servants' quarters and storage space. For several years. Welsh
had been recommending its removal. With the completion of the
dormitory for the "help," he suggested, once again, taking down the long
gray frame building. In 1894, Hemlock Hall was razed and only the doors
and windows were put aside for future use.

The Normal

cyclers.

Bicycles were popular on the Normal campus during the latter half of
the 1890 s, not only among the students, but among some faculty as well.
"Mrs. Sutliff and Principal Welsh" were said to be owners of beautiful
bicycles. At one time, the local press estimated there were "...at least

on campus."^^
During the Welsh administration, pgirties were elaborately planned and
Ccirried out. Some warm spring evening a party for the seniors might be
held in the grove, lighted by electric lights and Japanese lanterns, and
hosted by Dr. and Mrs. Welsh.^i Or, the faculty might plan a banquet to
honor one of their members or the principal. For instance, one Saturday
night they gathered in Professor Cope's apartment and at nine o'clock
went into the dining room. There, forty-five places were set at a table
shaped like a hollowed-out diamond. Centerpieces and candles were in
pink and green, and the hollowed-out section was banked with ferns. The
thirty-five bicycles

54

meal began with blue points and terrapin soup and continued through
and salads, cheese and crackers, ice
cream with whipped cream, coffee, mints, and salted almonds!
Throughout the dinner, the school orchestra played appropriate music .22
Quite likely, this school orchestra was that one begun by Mrs. Ella
Stump Sutliff, (a young and accomplished piano teacher on campus who
roast turkey, a variety of vegetables

The B.S.N.S. Orchestra

of 1900: (seated) DeForrest Hummer, cello: Charles
Mrs. Sutliff. soloist: Claude Stauffer. violin: Mrs. Hartline.
violin: (standing) Frank Miller, flute: Lambert McHenry. cornet: Thomas
Metherell, bass viol: and Jacob Rehm. trombone.

Breon.

violin:

a few years of teaching married the young mathematics teacher on
campus, William Boyd Sutliff.) She and Mrs. Daniel Hartline, also a
teacher in the school, were very active in the musical life of the Normal,
and for many seasons were the only two women members of the
orchestra, Mrs. Sutliff playing and conducting.^^
In November of 1895, Bloomsburg State Normal School made history by
being the first school of its kind to try student government. On November
after

14 of that year the election of the first school Senate took place with the
choosing of twelve members by ballot.^* For the next several years this
Senate met regularly not to govern through introducing innovative
procedures for Ccmipus living, but to mete out punishment for
misdemeanors.
Again the need for classroom space became apparent as the turn of the

55

century neared. Money was tight, as usual, and the appropriations from
Harrisburg were needed to run the normal department. The trustees and
administration began looking carefully at the buildings already on
campus as to better utilization of space. The laundry shared the basement
of the "help's" dormitory with the chemistry department. The music
department took over the space on third floor originally planned for the
infirmary and began what came to be called "the golden days of music"^^
on the campus. The infirmary was changed to the tower rooms in the

same

building.

These moves helped, but still more classroom space was needed as the
enrollment hovered around 600. One plan called for changes to the "front
building" Institute Hall, including adding a wing on the north side. First,
the boilers were moved from the basement to a newly constructed stone
boiler house on Penn Street. While this was being done, other
improvements were being made inside and out. Wainscoting was put on
all the walls of the first floor halls and classrooms. It was decided to
replace rather than rebuild the tower, which in turn would alter the upper

The contract for all this work— except for the
building of the boiler house was let to a Mr. E. T. Long for the contract
price of $3,600.
While this work was being done, the trustees kept on reviewing the
architect's plans for a wing on Institute Hall for classrooms— preferably a
place for the music department. Evening after evening, month after
month, they met to discuss this north wing. Each time they postponed
making a decision about such an addition until the idea became lost in
front of the building.

—

—

other construction going on.^^
With the finishing of the new front and tower on Institute Hall, blind
windows were placed in the openings planned for a tower clock. There
was no money for a clock at that time. William Housel, steward at the
Normal School for fifteen years, thought a clock should be bought for the
tower and suggested a way to raise the money— sell turkey dinners at the

Bloomsburg

Fair.

the year 1901. and at that time, the Fair was of only four days'
duration. Mr. Housel, the students and faculty rented an eating booth just
inside the main gate and prepared to serve turkey dinners. The food was
cooked at the school, rushed to the fairgrounds where it was served by the
It

was

faculty and students. The weather was excellent those four days of 1901,
and attendance at the Fair matched the weather. When the word spread
throughout the crowds that the Normal was serving turkey dinners to
raise money for a tower clock, the stand had more business than it

could handle.

By
have

and

the end of
it

Fair,

installed. Mr.

enough money had been raised to buy the clock and
Housel went to New York City to make the purchase

installation followed quickly.

On

three sides of the tower, clock faces were put in place without

56

any

^

difficulty,

but on the fourth

side, the side facing east

(toward old Waller

extended beyond the window making it
impossible to see that particular face from the dormitory building. A
solution was found by placing a smaller clock face in the row of blind
windows thirty feet above the level of the other clocks?^ The Seth Thomas
Hall) the roof of the building

Clock, installed, cost $1,287.61.28
For the years around the turn of the century, in the students' dormitory
building, there were bathtubs made of zinc encased in wood, but in these
bathrooms, there were no lavatories. Each year upon registering for
rooms, the students were required to rent washbowls and pitchers,
mirrors (if they wanted them) and room keys. At the end of the yccir,
upon return of these items the deposit was refunded if the items were in
good condition.
After the Spanish American War, appeals came from Cuba, Puerto Rico,
and the Phillipine Islands for "capable and well trained" Spanish-speaking
teachers. The salaries offered were liberal (for that day), $50 per month

—

and up. At Bloomsburg State Normal School the immediate response to
this appeal was to add to the faculty Senor Alfredo Lope Acin, a native of
Puerto Rico. He came highly recommended for his "scholarship and
teaching ability". He spoke "only purest Castillian," his recommendation
Within one year, the principal was able to forward to the United
States authorities the names of 150 graduates who were willing to teach in
the schools of the Phillipine lslands.^°
Also, within several years of the close of the Spanish American War,
said.29

wealthy families in Cuba and Puerto Rico began sending their sons to
school in the United States. As early as 1902, there were Cuban students
on the campus of the Bloomsburg Normal. For the initial group of four, the
individualized teaching of English presented no problem, but when the
Cuban contingent increased rapidly to 16, and then to 25, it became
evident that control of these students would need to be the responsibility
of a teacher who spoke Spanish fluently. Senor Acin, no longer being at
Bloomsburg, the board hired Mr. Rocky. Still more Cubans came and Mrs.
Schoonover was engaged to assist Mr Rocky and teach Spanish classes.^
(Many of these students returned to their homes in Cuba and Puerto
Rico and there accepted positions of leadership in the schools and
government. One, Juan Jose Osuna, became dean of the School of
Education at the University of Puerto Rico and attained international
renown as an educator While at Bloomsburg State Normal, he had lived
with the Welsh family, spending his summers with them at the
Orangeville farm. He asked that upon his death he be buried at
Orangeville "among the beloved Pennsylvania hills." 'TWas done.)^^
For some time, the principal and the board's committee on buildings
and grounds had been working toward an expansion of the campus which
would add not only land, but also a residence for the principal, a
"scientific building" and a new athletic field. Negotiation with J. L. Dillon

57

Normal School holding an option

had resulted

in the

to its eastern

boundary.

to

buy land adjacent

The committee on buildings and grounds had toured the entire campus,
plus the land in the option, with the purpose of planning for needed
facilities and locating them. Early in July, 1903, at the regular meeting of
the trustees, the committee brought in this recommendation:
...if the plot of ground belonging to Mr. Lloyd C. [J. L.?] Dillon East of the
Normal School and West of Spruce Street running from the extension of Second
Street to Lightstreet Road cind upon which along Second Street are located his
greenhouses could be obtained at a reasonable price (we would have) no
hesitation in recommending the purchase. The reasons for this are that we
could then with little expense for grading make a new athletic ground East of
the School grove, which would give the School the present athletic ground for
the contemplated scientific building and other buildings as they might be

needed.
...We would also have plenty of ground for the tennis courts
tennis courts could then be taken for the principal's home.^^

and the present

At a specially called meeting, July 17, 1903, before action could be taken
on the above recommendation, which had been tabled, a new proposal
was made by the same committee. A letter had been received which read
as follows:
Bloomsburg, Pa.
16. 1903

July
Messrs. Brown, Peacock, and Clark
Committee on Buildings and Grounds
Bloomsburg State Normal School

Gentlemen:

am authorized by the heirs of Mr and Mrs.

Charles R. Buckalew to make
property above the school for the sum of six thousand
dollars, to be paid for at the School's convenience at 5%. This is less than the
land cost before any expenditure thereon by Mr. Buckalew.
I

you an

offer of their

Very truly
L. E. Waller34

The board bought it. They would pay $500 upon execution of the
agreement, they decided, and $500 per year, unless able to pay more, plus
5% interest, on the unpaid balance.
This house was offered to Professor Dennis for his family's use but after
inspecting the property, he said he found it "too big and too expensive" for
his purpose. The board, then, decided to fix it up for the principal's home.
B. W. Jury, a local contractor, was asked to plan renovations and prepare
an estimate of the cost of such changes. He recommended the removal of
some partitions and closets, the building of other closets, changing the
58

main stairway and "fitting up" a bathroom. He noted that the interior
needed wallpaper and paint and many of the mantles needed replacement
of tiles. Outside, repairs to the porch were necessary, and the exterior was
badly in need of a coat of paint. When the trustees decided to add the
installation of electricity to the house, they upped the cost of renovation
to $3,201.96135

Thursday, February 4, 1904, about two o'clock in the afternoon, fire
started in the employees' dormitory. Before it could be brought under
it had destroyed completely the two upper floors.^^ Nine pianos of
the music department had been ruined, and several students, as well as
many employees, had sustained personal losses clothing, books, and
other items. The walls were sturdy so a temporary roof was put on the
building to protect the basement and first floor Immediately, plans were
implemented to rebuild. This time, the music department would be on
first floor" the chemistry laboratory on third floor and the laundry would
remain in the basement.^^

control,

—

Fire in employees' dormitory on February
North Hall in 1908.

4.

1904. Building

was named

May 9, 1904, at a meeting of the trustees, the committee on buildings
and grounds was instructed by the board to complete the purchase from
J. L. Dillon of 5^2 acres "...east of the Normal School and running along
Lightstreet Road to Spruce Street for $5,000." Also, the Committee was to
take option on "...3^/io acres adjoining upon which stand his greenhouses
and stables."
When the renovations to the principal's house had been completed, and
Welsh and his family had taken up residence there, the board, at its July
meeting, 1904, passed a resolution naming the house and grounds
Buckalew Place.^^
It was about this time that the bronze fountain, gift of the Class of 1904,
was installed at the head of Second Street at the entraince to the campus
directly in front of Institute

Hall.'^o

59

the Normals passed the Legislature, the trustees felt they should not allow
this new appropriation to be absorbed in the running expenses of the
School so the board instructed its committee on buildings and grounds to
"procure preliminary plans" for a hall to be built on the site of the athletic
field. At the same time the committee was to advertise for bids for the

grading of a new athletic field east of the grove.
The governor vetoed the appropriations bill.
The board met, again, and decided to proceed with the building. The
plans they accepted were those of a Mr. Ohl of Wilkes -Barre, and his price
estimate was over $52,000, though the actual cost would be more like
$75,000.^*2 It was to be a brick structure 109 feet by 68 feet with a twostory annex on the north side which would contain two lecture rooms.*^
The building would house the music department, the science
departments— biology, chemistry and physics— with a laboratory
for each.

Science Hall (circa 1929).

When the contractor began "laying the foundation" of the building, he
found the old athletic field had been made on "filled land." An ordinary
foundation would never hold the proposed building. Pilings would have to
be driven through the fill to the bottom of the old ravine. Equipment to do
the job had to be brought to Bloomsburg from Philadelphia. Day after day,
as the students sat in their classes in Institute Hall, and the model school
building, they heard the rhythmic, relentless pounding as the pilings were
driven into place.'** Once the foundation was finished, the construction

moved ahead

quickly.

A few years previous to this,

the Alumni Association had sought and
received permission of the board of trustees to build an Alumni Hall. From

61

W^i!^
;Ai|-=^

^^

'j

:\:
.''.•,

;;i*?;

'ft*.

The AJumni Ha//

.~V,

fhaf neuer mas.

would be conducted Alumni business; in it would be held Alumni
meetings, and provision would be made for the Philologian and Calliepian
Societies to meet there. With the announcement of this project, there was
great enthusiasm and pledges of money and gifts of money flowed into the
treasury of the Association especially from graduates who had been
members of the literary societies. Encouraged by these, the officers had a
plan drawn by an architect. To be constructed of brick, the plans called for
a small building, beautiful in its simplicity, which would have been a fine
addition to any campus. (The drawings can be found, presently, in the
this

—

College Archives.)
Within a few years, the

of pledges slowed considerably, and
almost nothing. When, with the completion of
the "scientific building," the literary societies were given permanent
meeting quarters on second and third floors. Alumni Hall was doomed. At
a meeting of the Association in 1906, it was decided to return the money

monetary

to those

interest

gifts

dwindled

payment

to

members who had contributed
the money had earned.'*^

it

and

to divide equally the

In July, 1906, the board of trustees called a special

meeting

to consider

He
the request of Welsh
State
Pennsylvania
of
vice-president
position
of
had been offered the
for termination of his contract with the School.

College. This, he

felt,

was an opportunity
62

for personal

advancement.

There were some questions about it. however, and so until these were
answered, he asked for a conditional release. He promised to have a
definite notification of his plans on file with the board by September 1.
Welsh had been principal of the Normal for sixteen years. In that time, the
School had grown physically cmd academically. It had become well-known
beyond the boundaries of the Sixth District, and so, the trustees were
reluctant to end their cordial relationship with so successful a principal.
Nevertheless, they granted his conditional release. By mid-August, the
board had received Welsh's letter of resignation.*^

63

David J. Waller,
1906-1920

64

Jr.

^

Chapter 7

T)avid

J.

Waller,

Jr.

grace CSi goodwill

C\T Tithin ten days of Welsh's resignation, a special meeting of the
Wtrustees was called. The
discipline

board's committee on instruction and
had been informed by "private sources" that Dr. David J. Waller,

would consider being a candidate for the position of principal of the
Bloomsburg Nomicil School again. Therefore the committee wished to

Jr.

recommend ungtnimously

that Waller be asked to return to Bloomsburg.
committee suggested the board offer Waller $4,CXX) per year
cash salary and living quarters at Buckcilew Place, not to include heat,
Further, the

water, or light.

At the time. Waller was about

to open the fourteenth year of a tenure as
Normal School, Indiana, Pa. He had gone there
in 1893 following a three-year term as State Superintendent of Public
Instruction. When administrations changed in Harrisburg, Waller was
succeeded in the superintendency by Nathan Shaffer, who upon learning
that Indiana Normal was searching for a new principal, recommended
Waller very highly. "Secure Dr. Waller if possible," Shaffer had said.
"There is no better educator in the State."^
The years in Indiana had been a productive and pleasant time for Waller
and his family. After thirteen years, their ties to Indiana, the school and
the town, were many and deep. The Normal School was said to have
grown in every way under Waller's leadership, and in the larger
community, he and his family were said to have been active and loved.
Knowing this, the Bloomsburg TKistees paused in their deliberation to
ask the committee on instruction and discipline to reconsider the yearly
salary for Waller. Some of them feared the Indiana Normal Board might
match the $4,000 cash offer. The committee retired but in a few minutes

principal of Indiana State

returned to the room with the suggestion that the yearly cash salary for
Waller be set at $4,500.^ The board approved and the election took place.
Waller accepted the job with the understanding that he would be
allowed to remain in Indiana to open the new school year. It would be a
matter of only a few weeks.'* lb this the board agreed and for the first of

65

many

times to come. William Boyd Sutliff was selected acting-principal
such time as the new principal shall take charge..."^
Everywhere Waller had lived and worked stories of his fine associations
had flowed on to the next community to which he and his family would
move. It was as though legends were beginning to grow about the head of
the man. When the family moved from Indiana, one account said of
Waller, "...he has stamped his own noble nature upon the character of
thousands of youth..." Another said, "...he has won the admiration,
gratitude, and friendship of all the teachers who have ever worked with
him." Some spoke of his efficiency in administration and of his public
spirit as a community citizen. To the students his outstanding qualities
were "...his kindness of heart, his strict sense of justice, his reserved and
gentle speech..." A colleague wrote, "...When you saw him for the first time
with his quick firm step, his easy poise... you recognized a man of
refinement..." This writer went on to say that though Waller was a man
of firmness and reserve, also he was a man who put all others at ease in
"...until

his presence.^
All ages revered the man. The story was told in the O. H. Bakeless
family that once when John Bakeless was a small boy he was very
puzzled when Waller stopped at their home to "pay a call." John thought
the dignified Waller was someone from the Old Testament.^
By mid- October Waller had returned to Bloomsburg and taken up his
duties on the hill. A reception, planned by the trustees, brought the
faculty, students, and townspeople to the campus to greet the family.
Among the changes Waller must have noted as he went about the
grounds and buildings once again were the new tower and clock on
Institute Hall, a new "scientific building" on the baseball diamond, the

north wing addition to the dormitory building, a gymnasium, a new
surrounded by a high, new board fence, and a balcony and
permanently installed seats in the auditorium.^ His predecessor had been
a busy man.
As Waller returned to the Bloomsburg Normal, he found the enrollment
just under 500—497 to be exact. Of these, 74 were pupils in the model
school and 423 were students taking normal and preparatory courses.
About half of the schools population (285) boarded and roomed in the
dormitories. At Bloomsburg Normal the picture presented by the
enrollment was much the same as it was at every other normal school
or coeducational academy throughout the countr\' in the early decades
of the century; there were about twice as many young women as men
athletic field

(323 to

174).9

Within a short time, the enrollment climbed again

to

about 600. In

1908, in an effort to provide the best possible rooming facilities in the
buildings already on campus, Waller and the trustees turned their
attention once more to the smaller dormitory— the one that usually had
been called "the laundry building." Now that the new Science Hall was
66

.

housing the music department, and the laboratories, and with the
infirmary changed to the north side of the laundry, the third floor of the
building could be made into living quarters with bath and toilet facilities
for sixteen students. When the renovations were completed and the new
rooms furnished, the trustees decided that a building used for housing
students should be known as something other than "the laundry." They

named

it

North Hall.

—

(North Hall it remained through many changes of functions boys'
dormitory, girls' dormitory, boys' dormitory, again, day men's baliwick,
and finally faculty offices. When a new boys' dormitory was built just to
the north of it, the original employees' dormitory became Old North Hall.
Then, in the mid-1960's, the building was razed and on its site was

constructed Luzerne

Hall.)

When living accommodations were provided on campus,

it

was

expected by the administration that these facilities and no others would
be used by the students. It was with much surprise, then, that the
principal and the board received a request from two Russian students at
the Normal asking that they be allowed to live in private homes in the
town. Granting such permission would be against the rules of the school,
the trustees thought. The secretary of the board was instructed to search
the records for the policy on rooming. Finding none, immediately, the
Thistees set up a committee to shape one.
limiting in scope:

The

finished version

was rather

Students who attend the Bloomsburg State Normal School are allowed to
board in the town only on the following conditions:
1 When their circumstances are such that in order to secure the advantages
of the School they need to rent a room or rooms and board themselves. In
such cases the arrangements and location must be approved by the
Principal.
2.

When

3.

When

they are given a home by some family where they pay for the same
with their service. This arrangement must also be approved by the
Principal.

they are given a

home by a

relative or friends for

which they render

no compensation.^^

campus within the first few years of
second tenure: The principal was furnished a private office; the
library was moved to the second floor of the north wing of the dormitory
building, and the Class of 1908 gave money for the construction of the
Quiet changes took place on the

Waller's

lagoon.

The lagoon, created simply to make a beauty spot on back campus,
stood near the southern and eastern edges of the grove. A fountain was
erected there and around its base, a small pool formed in which were
rocks, ferns, sedges, blue flags, and sometimes goldfish. The overflow was
channeled under a tiny rustic stone bridge to become lost in the drainage
of the grove.^^ (Sometimes biology classes checked the lagoon for water
67

MBJMiiiiii
The Lagoon, as

it

the approximate

appeared

in later years.

Montour Hall

is

now

located on

site.

bugs or water beetles, for toads, frogs, or salamanders. Sometimes the
botany classes studied the plants in and around the pool, or planted new
ones. Nature study classes watched the birds which were drawn to the
spot by the sound of the fountain's water. And, in later years, the lagoon
was a never ending source of interest to the pupils of the Benjamin
Franklin Laboratory School. For them, the rustic bridge became the "fairy
bridge" and in the winter the frozen fountain became their "ice castle.")
Not all changes were quiet ones in those days. About this time the
rivalry between the two literary societies reached new heights. After
Science Hall opened each of the societies was given a room on third floor
from which to conduct its business. With formal dedications and with

both societies opened their new homes. On one wall of
had a large blue banner painted. On the
banner they had their motto inscribed in gold letters. "Speech is the
Image of the Mind." The Calliepians, not to be outdone, placed their motto
in raised bronze letters on a slab of oak and hung it on a wall of their
room. It read, "Praestantia aut Nihil."

pomp and
their

room

fanfare,

the Philologians

One November

night, the Philos fearing "...that the recently erected line

of electric light poles along the

walk

to

Science Hall might suffer from lack

blue— Philo blue. In
February, the Callies "...equally desirous of protecting the same poles..."
painted the poles Gallic yellow. Before the paint could dry. the Philos
discovered the trickery and treated the affair as good Philos would. They

of paint during the winter weather., painted the poles

68

repainted the wet poles blue. Next morning, to the chagrin of the two
literary societies, there stretching across back campus was a row of ugly
green lamp poles! The school authorities ended the matter; they ordered
the poles painted black.^^
When the Wallers had returned to Bloomsburg they had moved into the
Waller residence built by D. J., Sn It was situated at the southeast comer
of Market and Fifth Streets and with its lawns and surrounding buildings
covered the block on which the Memorial School now stands.^^ This left
Buckalew Place, the schools property on Lightstreet Road, in limbo for
much of the entire time Waller remained principal of the school.
Periodically, someone from the Normal would live there for a short time
or the trustees would rent it, or part of it.
With the Reverend Mr. Frisbee planning to leave his job as steward at
the school, the administration asked him to vacate the six rooms he and
his family had been occupying in North Hall and, until his work was
finished, to move to Buckalew Place. The Frisbees may have lived there
from the spring of 1909 until March, 1910.
After the Frisbees moved, Buckalew Place was rented to the Driesbach
family. However, Mr Driesbach's agreement with the board did not provide
for his use of the entire house. Reserved for the use of the school were the
parlor and library and the stables at the bam. Mr. Driesbach's rent was
$12 a month.14
From 1895 on, there had been talk throughout the state of implementing
cin act of the Legislature which called for the establishment of rural high
schools in the Commonwealth. The greatest deterrent to these schools
was the lack of well prepared teachers to conduct them. From time to time
schoolmen would suggest that it was the job of the normal schools to
introduce courses for the training of these teachers. At other times the
normal school principals themselves would remember the Act and wonder
aloud how long it would be before the training of teachers for the rural
high schools would be tied to the special appropriations for which they
were asking now and then. Fifteen years passed. No effort was made to
expand the offerings of the normal schools to include the preparation of
young men and young women for high school teaching.
Then, early in 1910, Nathan Shaffer, the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction, called all the principals of the State Normal Schools to
Harrisburg. The time had come, he told them, to prepare and institute at
their respective normals a four-year course of study for the sole purpose of
preparing teachers for the high schools of Pennsylvania.
Several times during the winter and eairly spring, the principals met in
Harrisburg to map out the studies. By the middle of May, they had
developed and adopted a four-year course which could be implemented in
each school by the opening of the next fall term. At Bloomsburg, Waller
believed the new course would draw an increase in enrollment and he
thought a few students, already attending the Normal, might be graduated
69

from the four-year course as early as 1913.^^
At the time of the building of Science Hall the trustees had taken an
option on land owned by J. L. Dillon but the state of the finances of the
school had been such that the board had exercised only part of the option.
By 1910. the school was ready to complete the transaction. This would
mean acquiring a plot of very desirable land of three and a fraction acres
adjacent to the new athletic field on the north and extending to East
Second Street on the South. The plot known as the "greenhouse lot"
bordered the School's property on the west and Spruce Street on the east.
There had been an inquiry from the Dillon Estate concerning the School's
intention about the ground, and the board had instructed its secretary to
notify Dillons of the School's wish to purchase the land specified in the
option for $8,000. The transaction, from beginning to its completion,
would consume nearly three years, but at that May meeting of the board
of trustees, the machinery had been set in motion.'^
The traditions of May Day festivities began at Bloomsburg State Normal
School one beautiful May afternoon in 1910. The students, faculty and
patrons of the school gathered on the front lawn of the campus before
Institute Hall (now Carver) for the ceremony. There seated before the main
building, while the orchestra played on the porch, a senior girl, Lyla
Anwyl, of Edwardsville. was crowned Queen of the May by the Prime
Minister, Harry Smith. The model school children performed folk dances
and sang May Day songs. The members of the literary societies read May
Day poetry and girls from the physical culture classes wound May poles,
three of them.
Following the ceremony, the faculty and students strolled to the grove
where they played games until suppertime. After a picnic under the trees,
the first May Day ended as the students returned to study hour in their
rooms.^^
(This tradition of May Day grew and spanned the eras of the shirtwaist,
bobbed hair, saddle shoes, bobbi socks, and miniskirts. Always music and
dancing were part of the celebration. Sometimes skits or dramas were
presented, especially after the pergola was built. Sometimes during the
afternoon and early evening of May Day, the literary societies held ice
cream festivals on campus. Sometimes, the residents of the town joined
the School in staging a town parade on May Day. After the ceremony of
the crowning of the Queen, the town band would march up the hill to the
campus where the student body would fall in line and march back down
into the town. Sometimes from front campus to North Hall, the graceful
terraces were one huge mass of whirling, weaving May poles wound by
freshman girls in pastel bouffant skirts. Many years, the elaborate plans
for the exercises brought so many visitors to the back campus that
bleachers stretched from Carver Hall to Science Hall. Then, in the late
1960's, with the building boom on campus, accompanied by dust, mud,
the loss of open spaces, as well as a change in student attitudes and
70

wearing apparel.

May Day at Bloomsburg became a tradition of the past.)

The May Queen of 1915 was Miss Josephine Duy (Mrs. Franklin
Hutchison). Her escort was J. Harold Eves of Millville.

The

last

May Day ceremony at

S.

the College in 1963.

Professor Dennis of the science department

was very

interested in the

wireless telegraph. After studying the possibility of establishing a station

on the Ccimpus, he asked the administration
71

to allow

such a

set-up.

He

estimated the equipment would cost about $75. When finished, the
station would have a sending radius of 500 miles and a receiving radius
even greater, Dennis expected. Because of Bloomsburg's location, the
school could be in contact with five large cities. New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Washington, and Pittsburgh. No other normal school anywhere
had a wireless station. The only two colleges in the East which were

working in the field of the wireless were Cornell and Princeton. At the
meeting of the board of trustees in October, 1910, the decision to authorize
the construction of a wireless station met with unanimous approval.'^
As the work progressed in Science Hall, interest in the town and on
campus ran high. Within less than four months the class, under Dennis
guidance, was ready to begin transmission.
that first attempt:

A news item

tells

the story of

The first test of the wireless telegraph station at B.S.N.S. was made yesterday
and communication was established between the wireless system of Edward B.
TUstin. Jr. and that of the School. [The TUstin family lived on the northwest
corner of Market and Third Streets. Bloomsburg.p^ the signalling was very
saUsfactory as far as it went, but a high wind carried away the overhead wires
and these will have to be replaced before an altogether satisfactory test can be
made.20
Within a few weeks, the wireless station on campus was reporting
contacts with Cape Cod to the northeast and Baltimore to the south.
The "Old" Alma Mater had its beginnings sometime around 1911 or
1912. To quote "Doc" Elna H. Nelson, "On occasion, we did sing
Will Shine Ibnight. but the sentiment expressed in that
wouldn't make one's heart ache much..." Then the class of 1911 chose as
the tune for their class song the air, Annie Lyle. To it they put the
following words:

Bloomsbarg

Far above the town of Bloomsburg
On its hills of blue

Stands old Normal bright and cheerful
Glorious to view.

Chorus:
the chorus, speed it onward
Sing her praises true
Hail to thee, dear nineteen eleven
Hail to white and blue.

Lift

By the peaceful Susquehanna
With its stately shores
Reared against the arch of heaven
High its banner soars.

How we love thee, dear old Normal
How thy praises swell
thy path be ever onward
Mid sweet memories, dwell.^^

May

72

—

day, with "appropriate revisions" Professor Dennis took this song
to Mrs. J. K. Miller, for many years director and teacher of the music
department. Dennis asked her to check the words and tune to see if they

One

could be combined into a school song. He thought it was about time the
Normal had one. Both liked what they heard that day and Bloomsburg's
first Alma Mater was introduced to the student body. Originally it was:
Far above the river winding
Midst tiie mountains grand
Stands our Normal dear to students
Far throughout the land.

Chorus:
Bloomsburg. Bloomsburg, Bloomsburg Normal

Up on Normal Hill
come shall fine us ever

Years to

TVue

to

Bloomsburg

still.

Far and wide though we may wander
Still our hearts are true
To our hilltop Alma Mater
We our pledge renew.

Ever seaward Susquehanna
Never resting flows
Ever upward striving, climbing

Onward Bloomsburg

goes.^^

Early in the year 1912 the board of trustees in regular meeting
transacted the business before it with dispatch until it came to an item on
the agenda which called for deeper inquiry. In prefacing the discussion.
Waller stressed that this was a "sounding- out," not a request; that he had
placed it on the agenda so that the board might be prepared should the
request be made. There were fifteen medical students in the preparatory
department, he said. All of them were good students and all of them could
be trusted, he added. To aid in teaching this group, Professor Hartline was
thinking of asking the trustees to secure a cadaver It would cost $35 and
a bond for $1,200 would need to be posted to assure "respectful disposal"
after dissection. A room in the basement of Science Hall where the
professor kept his cats could be used to house and work on the body.
The matter was discussed thoroughly. Then the board in unanimous
accord went on record as considering the securing of a cadaver for the

medical students as "...not prudent..."^^
Before a judgment is made of the trustees, it might be well to consider
"the times" in small rural communities such as Bloomsburg in the year
1912. The Puritan ethic was still strong in the lower reaches of the
Wyoming Valley and in the broad farming valleys of the middle

Susquehanna. The strictest manners and mores of the late Victorian era
may have dissolved in the cities, but not in the villages and small towns of
Central Pennsylvania. The strictest deportment was expected of those
73

church or with the youth of the region. These trustees,
collectively, gave of their time, their energy, and
often of their treasure, were not about to allow any incident to take place
on campus which would create sensationalism in the town— even for good
scientific reasons. These men were the product of their times and should
be judged by the time in which they lived and worked.
For half a century, the memorial of the Class of 1912 was known as
Senior Walk. Originally when planned, the walk was said to lead from
"front campus" to the "upper campus." The path from Institute Hall had
a definite and decided elevation as it ran past the clump of hemlocks
which grew at the side of the Model School and went on to the front door
of the main dormitory. At the point of steepest rise, the Class's plans called
for steps to be constructed, flanked by low pedestals which would hold
large bronze lions at the top and large bronze eagles at the bottom.^^

working

in the

who individually and

"Senior Walk" led from the south lawn of Carver Hall to VVaHer Hall. Note the
and eagles at the steps. South entrance to Carver Hall is shown at left.

lions

When

the steps were completed, a complaint was received at the
principal s office concerning the positioning of the eagles. The British lion,

member pointed out, should never rest
the bronze castings were
Immediately,
above the American eagle.

some

patriotic student or faculty

re versed.2^

the years this walkway became known unofficially
No one knows when or why. but quite likely it gained its

Somehow through
as "Senior Walk."

name because of its use each year by the graduating classes in robed
procession from the lobby of the dormitory to the auditorium for
commencement
(In

exercises.

time as the wings and the beaks of the eagles were broken by wear

74

birds were removed from their pedestals and electric
lanterns were installed in their places. The lions, through the years,
continued their stationary stance at the foot of the steps until with the
construction of Scranton Commmons the area they guarded was taken for
building purposes and the lions were shuttled here and there around the
campus in storage. Presently, they rest in the Alumni Room in Carver

and the weather, the

Hall

— much the worse for wear.)

when domestic science became part of every normal
The
courses had been mandated by the State and funds
school's offerings.
had been appropriated to introduce them into the curricula. At
Bloomsburg the administration first advertised the new domestic science
This was the era

course as being available at the opening of the fall term of 1912. Part of the
first floor or basement of Science Hall had been turned into an up-to-date
kitchen with gas and coal range, hot and cold running water cupboards,
work space and tables. Fully equipped for food preparation, the domestic
science suite also included a dining area for serving. To complete the
study, a sewing room had been blocked out and furnished with cutting
table and the latest model sewing machines. Not only were these courses
taken by the students, but women from the town and surrounding

community came

to the

campus

to take lessons in

dressmaking and

millinery.2^

many years

the Quarterly had served the School well as the official
publication, but as happens periodically on every campus, early in 1913,
some young men and women, imagining the smell of printer's ink in their

For

nostrils,

was

brought forth a new student sheet. Simply

established to cover

lasted less than a year

known

"...the local side of affairs..."

and seems not

to

have

left

as the "B.

"

it

The newspaper

much

of

an imprint on

the Normal.
One controversy it did record concerned the school's colors. The
January issue gave considerable space to Professor Cope's discussion of
the subject and quoted him as saying that the school colors "...are not and
never have been lemon and maroon..." Further Cope elaborated:

Lemon and a dark shade of red— garnet, to be exact— were adopted a dozen
or more years ago after a most exciting campaign. This color is sometimes
called "Maroon" incorrectly. ...However maroon sounds much better than
garnet and rhymes with tune and moon and various other words with poetical
suggestions.

Cope suggested was not with the choice of the
but with the names of the colors.^^
Lemon and Garnet! B.S.C.'s colors? Somehow, through the infinite
wisdom of time and repetition, the colors of maroon and gold became a

The

trouble. Professor

colors,

reality.

Eventually, the pioneer

Normal

work done on the campus of the Bloomsburg
and effective use of library

in preparing students for efficient

75

was gathered together

one course, and became a prescribed
Normal School. In 1913 when it
was introduced, it was considered ver\^ innovative. Given the name library
economics at Bloomsburg. as it spread across the State it became known
facilities

into

part of the course of study at every State

as library science.^^
School gardens, or "farms," 20 feet by 30 feet, under the cultivation of
senior Normal students and model school pupils, were supervised by
Professor Hartline. (These were situated on the plots or vacant lots the
school had bought on the south side of East Second Street across from the
"long porch" of the larger of the two dormitory buildings. One era of
graduates will remember the large flower beds there with Wood Street
bisecting the lots. The present generation will locate the "farms" as the
siteofElwellHall.ps
For several years, these agricultural classes introduced a wide variety of
crops, vegetables and grains. They followed the latest methods of
cultivation of that day. and at one point raised chickens, pigeons, and
silkworms, also.^° One year, the excess products not used at the School
sold for a profit of $293.55.31
When the present century was in its teens, a group of fifteen young men
on campus banded together to organize the FLC. Each took a vow that he
would not shave his upper lip. Each would trim and shape a moustache
but not one of the fifteen would sport a bare upper lip. Their organization
they named the Fuzzy Lip Club. Some of the girls at the Normal, on
noticing the changed appearance of the boys, and hearing of the club's
objective, started a society of their own. Their first rule prohibited any
member from accepting attention from a man of the FLC. For a few weeks
the FLC prospered, but eventually a break appeared in the code when a
young man with an itchy lip "patronized a barber shop." The FLC died a
lingering but natural death .^^
The winter of 1915 was a particularly cold one in the region. Many
skating parties from the Normal were arranged for the ponds just outside
of town. That winter sleigh rides throughout the countryside and sledding
parties

on Normal

Hill

were especially popular. Tkles were

told of breath-

taking glides as young people on sleds would start at the fountain in front
of Institute Hall and end their non-stop rides at the fountain at Market

Square .33

The ice-house stood to the west of the bam on the grassy slopes of the
back campus. A rather nondescript building, it was given a coat of paint
from time to time and used for the purpose for which it was built if no
other pressing need called for its space. Then, as the Class of 1915
graduated, the trustees found themselves with a memorial fund to
transform the ice-house into an infirmary. Occasionally, for several years
prior to this, such a conversion had been discussed, never to seriously.
Tkking a more thorough look at such a possible change, the
administration saw that by moving the infirmary they could have four
76

Beginning the popular sled
run from the B.S.N.S.
fountain to Market Square.

double rooms in North Hall available for student housing. At times these
were needed; the school population reached 800 now and then.
Eventually, the changes were made, and the refurbished ice-house
place for the care of sick students. Shortly afterwards, a young

became a

woman at

the school contracted diptheria. The girl's mother, a trained
nurse, came to the campus to caire for her daughter. The mother was
deeply impressed with the fine and convenient new facilities. The trustees
and the town's board of health were impressed also when no other

students became

ill from the disease. During this same period, at Lock
State Normal School, where no separate accommodations had been
provided for the caring of communicable diseases, when several cases of
diptheria appeared, the hccdth authorities of that town had closed the

Haven

Normal.^'* (As the years passed, this B.S.N.S. ice-house infirmary

became

the place of quarantine on campus and later generations of students
irreverently dubbed it "the pest house." Still later, the old ice-house was
converted for housing for a member of the staff.)
Locally, as early as 1912, trustees and townspeople alike had spent
much time discussing the possibility of the State buying the school. In
May, 1911, the Act of Assembly of May 18th. better known as the School

Code, contained provisions for the State to buy all of the Normal Schools.
In Bloomsburg, the board weighed very carefully the advantages and
disadvantages of selling the Literary Institute. Still at this time the high
school and college preparatory departments were the predominate
courses of study. After much discussion among themselves and with the
stockholders, the trustees signified to the State Board of Education that
they wished to explore the possibility of the sale of the school to the

77

Commonwealth. A committee was appointed

to begin the negotiations:
the principal, D. J. Waller. Jr.: the president of the board ol' trustees. A. Z.
Schoch: an attorney of the town. Levi E. Waller: and members of the

board. J. C. Brown and N. U. Funk.
Early in 1913, the committee traveled to Harrisburg to meet with the
State Board of Education. They had been asked for a copy of the original
charter of the Bloomsburg Literary Institute and the decree of the Court.
The fact that the entire State Board was present that day gave the
committee the feeling that the purchase of the school was being seriously
considered. After presenting its case, the committee was asked to
withdraw from the room. The State Board wished to discuss and review
the information it had just received. In a short while, the Bloomsburg men
were asked to return to the room and the State Board, on behalf of the
Commonwealth, offered $10,000 for the land and property of the
Bloomsburg Literar\' Institute, with State assuming all debts of the
corporation.

A stockholders meeting was called for 2 p.m.. April 10. 1913. 1,3393/4
shares of stock, with a par value of $26,795, were involved in the balloting
that Saturday afternoon. Not one vote was cast in opposition to the sale.
The matter dragged on.
Early in 1915, as news spread that the Legislature had appropriated
$100,000 toward the purchase of the State Normal Schools, reports
surfaced that the sale of the Bloomsburg school was imminent. Later that
spring, hopes ran high, again, when a committee from Harrisburg
inspected the Normal and commented on the excellent condition of the
institution. This committee was confident the sale would be completed
shortly. Upon leaving they asked for a statement of the floating
indebtedness of the school to take with them.
Again, a period of waiting ensued.
Then, near the end of 1915, the State Board informed the trustees that
too much time had elapsed since the stockholders had voted to sell the
school. The Attorney General suggested that another stockholders'
meeting be called and the vote taken again. As such a meeting had to be
advertised once each week for sixty days in two local papers, the earliest
date for which the meeting could be scheduled was February 1. 1916. That
day, the stockholders gathered in the reception room of the Normal and
once more unanimously cast their votes to sell the school.
There followed much correspondence between the trustees and the
Department of Public Instruction. Several more trips were made to
Harrisburg by the committee to try to find a way to reduce the
outstanding debts covered by promisory notes. Over these a newly Stateappointed board of trustees would have no control. When the matter had
been cleaired to the satisfaction of the State, the school authorities, and the
local individuals holding the promisory notes, the board met in the
presence of Harry S. Barton, Notary Public, "...to execute the Deed of
78

Conveyance

of the Property of the School to the State."
1916. a meeting of the board of trustees of the

Bloomsburg
and State Normal School was convened on the campus.
The session had been called to dissolve the corporation and to distribute

On July

17,

Literary Institute

the $10,000 received from the State for the sale of the school. A trustee
that the purchase money be placed in the hands of the Court and
that that body be instructed to divide the money equitably among the
stockholders. The motion carried. The next order of business was the
reading of a letter from Dr. George J. Becht, by now State Superintendent
of Public Instruction, in which he named the newly State-appointed
trustees: A. Z. Schoch, James C. Brown. John M. Clark, Paul E. Wirt, M.

moved

McGinnes, Voris Auten, Benjamin Apple, and Charles
W. Miller. A trustee called for the reading of the minutes of this meeting.
The minutes were read and approved. Then, with solemn finality. Mr. A.
Z. Schoch, president of the board of trustees, rang down the gavel in
adjournment for the last time.^^
G.

Youngman,

L. E.

had reappointed the entire local
Normal Schools by the
the
the
purchase
of
Board. In the history of
Institute
Literary
s Board of Thastees
Commonwealth, the Bloomsburg
entirety.)
retained
in
its
was the only board
At the school, the year 1916 was an unusual and noteworthy one for
more reasons than the change of name after State ownership. 1916 was a
time of beginnings, many of them especially good. TWo contributions of
the class of 1916 added much to the life of the school: the memorial gift of
(It is

interesting to note that the State

among

the oaks of the grove, and the class record
Obiter of the school.
Actually, the previous year, the Class of 1915 had created the first
yearbook on campus. This they had christened Onward. It was edited by
Roy C. Kindig of Harvey sville, and as the editor explained, the name of the
yearbook signified the objectives of the class. The Class of 1916 wanted its
yearbook to be "...a collection of passing remarks said by the way..."
Loosely written into Latin this intent of the staff came out Dictum Obiter.
As the book was being prepared for the printer it was suggested that the
word "Dictum" be dropped from the title and the Normal's yearbook
simply became Obiter. Edited by W. Earl TUbbs of Shickshinny, this first
volume was dedicated to Dr. D. J. Waller, Jr., the dearly loved and admired
the pergola erected

which became the

first

principal of the school.^^

Though Bloomsburg and its environs seemed healthy in the fall of 1916,
the epidemic of influenza was beginning to make itself felt in many parts
of the country. Throughout Pennsylvania there was much talk of keeping
schools closed until cold weather. The board of trustees met in special
session early in September for the purpose of confirming a date for the
opening of school. The president of the trustees reported that Dr Dixon of
the State Board of Health had given permission to the Normals fo open
provided no children under sixteen years of age were enrolled. With this

79

fact established. Waller

noted that a

letter

could be sent immediately to

September 11 and 12 as days for registration and
September 13 as the first day of recitation.^^ In just one week. Waller said,
the school could be ready to open for the fall term.
One week later after classes had begun, the board met in regulair
session. The president remarked that the local health officials would have
been "happier" had the Normal not opened until October 3. Waller, in his
report, spoke of a full school enrolled and stated that the health among the
students was excellent. TWo other Normal Schools. Kutztown and West
Chester, had opened, too, he said.^^
Besides guarding against an invasion of influenza on campus, the
authorities at the school had other worries. As throughout the whole
country, with the spread of war in Europe, inflation rose to complicate
daily living in America. The committee on instruction and discipline
brought to the board a request from those professors residing off-campus
for an increase in salary to help cover the higher cost of living. Realizing
the difficulty these teachers were having in providing adequately for their
families, the board gave the committee power to act. At the school as the
war progressed, the high cost of food and fuel eventually led to an increase
of 50 cents per week for boarding students. Some renovations and pieces
of equipment were needed on the campus: Though the costs for these
were climbing with the inflation, the board accepted the recommendations
of the principal and added bathroom facilities, the installation of lockers
for visiting athletic teams, and "wash-and-iron" rooms in the girls'
each student

listing

dormitories.

During these years of the war, shortages plagued most schools, and
Bloomsburg was no exception. However, the situation at the Normal was
never untenable. With careful stockpiling of coal and wise use of the
supply, the school never ran out of fuel. At one point, rumor had it that
the school would have to close because it was unable to purchase enough
supply the kitchen. This was only hearsay: because of judicious
buying before the shortages began, never, throughout the war, was the
school without flour.'*° Sugar, however, was a different story! The shortage
of sugar on the hill was very real, and when replacement of the supply
became impossible, the handicap was overcome by the "...generous use
flour to

of syrup." *! (Maple,

we assume.)

As each term opened, young men and women failed to return to the
classrooms. Some felt it their duty to go to work in defense plants and
after the United States entry into the war. students and faculty left the
campus to join the Armed Forces. By the beginning of 1918, the Honor
Roll at the school was lengthy and growing. The war effort so absorbed
the thinking of every member of the student body that when the Fourth
Liberty Loan Drive took place, this little school overpledged its quota by
$8,800. A banner, hung from the stage of the auditorium, proclaimed
the achievement.'*^

80

school were used to provide space for Red Cross classes
both adult and junior levels, and faculty and students spent every extra
available hour knitting sweaters, socks, helmets and scarfs."*^
In 1918, when in all its fury influenza broke upon the campus, the
epidemic was a devastating experience for the school. Many members of
the student body were stricken with the disease. Several died. Day by day
the number of ill increased until there were thirty-four down at one time.
TWo days after the last case developed, the local board of health placed a
strict quarantine upon the school. For four weeks the people living in the
dormitories about three hundred of them were not allowed to go onto
the streets of the town. Nor were students from Bloomsburg permitted to
attend classes on campus. Professors who lived in the town moved into
the dormitories in order to continue their teaching. There they remained,
away from their families, for the duration of the quarantine. Within the
town, itself, fifteen to twenty new cases of influenza were reported each
day through October and well into November.^'*
As the war wound down and the dreaded influenza reached its peak in
the region, Bloomsburg Normal once again stood ready to open wide its
doors and continue the education process.
It was during this era that Professor Oscar Bakeless, a long-time
member of the faculty, procured for the Normal some of its most prized
possessions. Always a lover of beauty, many of his hours not spent in the
classroom were used to unleash his boundless energy in the pursuit of art.
Not content just to view and absorb the work of great artists himself, he
Facilities at the

at

—

—

Tiffany window in
Noetling Hall, now

featured
Library.

81

in

Andruss

dreamed of filling the classrooms and the passageways of the buildings at
Bloomsburg Normal with copies of great paintings and pieces of sculpture.
Among the artists he admired most were those who worked with stained
glass. Through the efforts of Bakeless, the two literary societies obtained
two Tiffany glass windows in November, 1918, and had them installed at
the landing in the west hall of the model school facing Institute Hall.'*^

The next year, 1919, in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of teacher
education at Bloomsburg, Bakeless, with the aid of Waller and the Alumni
Association, raised money to purchase another group of Tiffany windows
"...of exquisite color and design with the subject and legend. TYuth and
Virtue.' These were placed in the large arches beside the door and in the
'

windows in Waller corridor outside the old gym. later Husky Lounge.
The windows have been incorporated in the west wall of Andruss Library.

Tiffany

space above the door which led into the north wing of the dormitory
building. The following year the ceremony of dedication with the
unveiling of these windows was a part of the Commencement week
activities at the school.'*^ (These treasures in all their grandeur above those
brown wainscoted walls graced the hallway opposite the gymnasium
entrance for about fifty years. In the mid-1960 "s, knowing that the building
of which they were a part would be razed to make space for a new
dormitory and a student union, the college's administration had the
architect incorporate the priceless windows in the design of the Harvey A.

Andruss

Library.)

Less spectacular than stained glass windows but very important to the
82

The west wall of the Harvey A. Andruss Library features the Tiffany
windows which were once in Waller and Noetling Halls.

students and its graduates, was the addition of summer school
These six weeks of classes during the summer were planned to
provide an opportunity for graduates of the two and three courses to add
credits toward completion of the four-year course. Too, the summer work
helped teachers-in-service obtain needed credits for permanent
certification. At that time, it was possible in Pennsylvania for a young man
or a young woman to secure a teaching position simply by passing the
County Superintendent's examinations in August. At the Bloomsburg
Normal, summer school was planned to prepare applicants for such
examinations. The inauguration of this summer school program was
sanctioned by Waller and the board with the proviso that the income from
school,

its

in 1919.

tuition be sufficient to cover the salaries of faculty employed.'*^ This

program was planned and directed by William Boyd Sutliff. Within a few
years, summer school at Bloomsburg was very effectively serving middle
and eastern Pennsylvania's teachers and schools.
At the end of the Great War, as World War was sometimes called after
I

the fighting stopped, the Class of 1919 established a fund to be used to
create a memorial to the fifteen former students who lost their lives in the
massive hostilities which had ended the previous year. The memorial was
to be a living one and was to take the form of a planting of pine trees on
the northwest lawn just south of Science Hall. There sixteen pines were

planted in the design of a six-pointed star with a steel flagpole erected in
the middle. On May 30, 1919 the War Memorial Pinery was impressively
dedicated.'*^ ^9

83

Above: Dedication ceremony for
the War Memorial Pinery,
between Carver Hall and

Science Hall, in 1919. A pine
tree was dedicated to each
B.S.N.S. student or alumnus
killed in World War I.

A bronze plaque on a boulder
near Schuylkill Hall shows the
star-shaped planting of pine
trees which became known as
the

War Memorial

Pinery.

The

nam.es of B.S.N.S. students and
alumni killed in World War I are
inscribed on the plaque.

Three years later. May 30, 1922, an erratic boulder bearing a bronze
plaque with a diagram of the planting and the names of those who lost
their lives "over there" was placed beside the flagpole in the center of the
group of trees. The names inscribed on the tablet are: Walter Page, '15-' 17;
Hodder, '15-'18: Andres, '06; Straub, '11-'14; Tlirner, '08; Adams, '13:
Neuberger, '00; Montgomery. '15; Kunkle, '11; Olmstead, '08-'10; Williams,
'00; Krumm, '14-' 15; Robbins. '15; West, '04-'08; and Meryl Philips, '09-' 11.
After the dedication of the boulder, a program of music and oratory
84

—

of the War Memorial Pinery.^^
(Through the years, the pines grew tall and straight and each day the
flag flew among them. Periodically a professor who had served in the
Armed Forces during World War I often Dr Kimber Kuster— would take
his classes among the trees and review the story of their planting. Then,
in the early 1960 's, six of the trees were removed to make room for the
building of Schuylkill Hall. Today, ten tall pines stand behind that
dormitory, and in their midst is a boulder bearing fifteen names beside a
fine steel flagpole— what remains of the gift of the concerned class of 1919
which wanted to perpetuate the memories of one brave nurse and

marked the completion

—

fourteen brave soldiers. )^^
FVom the time of the State's purchase of the normals, all who were
associated in any way with education in Pennsylvania anticipated that in
the near future these schools would offer only teacher training courses.
The principle on which the normal school movement had developed was
simple and straightforward: To prepare teachers for the mandated schools
of the state. Tkx money, according to the thinking of the Department of
Public Instruction, should be used only for the purpose for which it was
appropriated. In most circles, this was interpreted as meaning that those
normal schools which originally had been private academies or institutes
to which normal courses had been added were facing a problem, the
elimination of their classical and preparatory departments. By the
beginning of 1920, the expected had become fact and when on March 23
of that year the State decreed that the normals existed solely for the
training of teachers, the Bloomsburg Normal School became a very
different institution.

Until this time, the majority of the student body was enrolled in the
preparatory department. Many were residents from the town or
communities within commuting distance, and a segment of the boarding
students living in the dormitories were preparing for college entrance, too.
Many local young people began their schooling on the hill and graduated
twelve or thirteen years later from the preparatory department.
It is true that the model school, directed by O. H. Bakeless, was used in
the normal curriculum for student teaching purposes, but it is also true
that the instruction in the model school was designed to give the pupils a
truly enriched education. Beginning in kindergarten and continuing
through grade nine, the basic subjects were thoroughly taught, but the
added lessons in art and music along with the study of languages
German, Greek and Latin which began in fifth grade tended to make the
model school quite different from the public schools of that day.
When the ninth grade was completed, the students moved on to the
junior class. This was the flrst year of a three-year program in which
students were called juniors, middlers, and seniors.^^ The courses in this

—

department were two in number, classical and scientific. Some classes
were the same as those taken by the normal students, but generally
85

speaking, the preparatory students had a broader, deeper exposure to the
subject matter, and took no teacher training studies at all.
From its beginning on the hill under Carver, the Institute had had a
reputation for excellence and proficiency in producing well-prepared
scholars. Graduates had been accepted at the best colleges throughout the
land, many with advanced standing, e.g. 1867, D. J. Waller at Lafayette;
and Warren Knedler who did not stay to graduate was given advanced

standing at Harvard .^^
The corps of instructors who met these classes was a group of
stimulating teachers. There was Professor Albert, the great and good
friend of Booker T Washington. There was Professor Brill who, as he
stroked his very bald head from front to back, made the characters of
ancient and medieval history come alive.^^ There was the versatile
Professor Hartline who, after studying the geological survey map of
Columbia County, explored the country-side on his bicycle to plan the
trips his classes in geology would take. Some of these trips were within
walking distance of the school. Others called for conveyances from the
livery stable downtown, the favorite vehicle being an old horse-drawn
band wagon.^^ There was Miss Swartz, who had no great warmth about
her personality and who seemed to regard her pupils with a cold blue eye,
but in her rhetoric classes she could inspire the individuals to speak with
great finesse.^^ In English, Professor Foote made a lasting impression on
every student he taught. His avocation of woodworking was shared from
time to time with some of the young men at the school, as his tools and
workbench provided release from an often rigid schedule. Professor Cope
was an enthusiastic teacher of physics who to relax read Browning and
was a great ice skater in the wintertime.^"^ In his spare time, A. B. Black,
who taught penmanship, pursued his study of Elizabethan literature. His
private collection was very complete and included a Second Folio of
Shakespeare.^^ And then, there was Mrs. J. K. Miller A graduate of Boston
Conservatory of Music, her background enabled her to give to her
students a deep and complete understanding of the subject and through
such learning to develop an intense appreciation.^^ Professors Dennis and
Jenkins were highly respected, but quite likely, the most dearly loved and
revered figure on campus was the principal, D. J. Waller He was a strict
disciplinarian, albeit a kind one, but "impartial" might be the word to
describe best his relationship with students. He believed each individual,
whether teacher or student, should approach every situation in life in a
dignified manner Perhaps that is the reason he stopped Mrs. Miller in the
hall one day, and asked her to stop whistling. It was unseemly, he
thought.60

About

to

become 74 years

of age, D. J. Waller, Jr wrote to the board of

would not be a candidate for the
principalship of the State Normal School at Bloomsburg for the coming
year. He was sending his letter early so that the trustees would have
trustees in February, 1920 stating he

86

plenty of time to select his successor, and so that the new principal would
have plenty of time to make arrangements for the opening of the fall term.
He wrote that he had appreciated the many kindnesses and the fine
support that had been his in the relationship which had spanned a second
tenure of another 13-year period.^^
The board took no action on the letter at that meeting.
At the regular meeting of the board in March. Waller's resignation was
accepted with deep regret. During the month following the receipt of his
letter, a committee had prepared a warm and gracious resolution thanking
Waller for his judicious guidance and leadership of the school. Though he
would be deeply missed the trustees wished him well in retirement. They
ordered the resolution spread upon the minutes, and instructed the
secretary to send copies to the members of Waller's family.^^ (This revered
and beloved man lived in the community twenty-one yccirs after his
retirement. Often he participated in school functions and was always
active in Alumni affairs. In 1939, at the celebration of the 100th
anniversary of the founding of the school. Waller was present to ring the
bell in

Carver Tower j^^

D.

J.

Waller

Jr..

ringing bell in Carver Hall.

87

Charles H. Fisher
1920-1923

88

Chapter 8

Charles H. T^isher
cA BreaKL With

^T^e

Tast

1920, the board of trustees of the Bloomsburg Norrricil met in
the afternoon to elect Waller's successor. First they set the salary for
the new principal at "$5,000 and home." Then, they reviewed the
qualifications of eight applicants and decided that the best fitted for the
position was Charles H. Fisher His credentials were impeccable, and his
recommendations were from highly respected men in the field of
education, including Dr Finigan, then State Superintendent of Public

July

7,

was chosen unanimously.^
Fisher had graduated in 1904 from Labanon

Instruction. Fisher

Valley College
Charles H.
He
Seminary.
Theological
and then had continued his studies at Union
and
Pennsylvsmia
University
of
had earned a Master of Arts degree at the
teaching
His
first
University.
had completed a doctorate at Columbia
position had been in the high school at York, Pa., and this had been
followed by several years of teaching in the schools of Ti-enton, N.J. In
1912, Fisher had gone to West Chester State Normal to head the
department of education. During his years at West Chester he had served,
also, as part-time professor of education at Swairthmore College. Just prior

he had been an assistant director of
the Teachers Bureau of the State Department of Public Instruction at
to his election to the

Bloomsburg

post,

Thus when

Fisher arrived in Bloomsburg to fill the position
vacated by Waller's retirement, he came directly from the source of change
which would alter so effectively the very nature of the school at the top of
Harrisburg.2

Bloomsburg 's
His election

hill.

must have been a mere

June day in 1920, for
had been made, Fisher was asked

formality that

at that meeting as soon as the selection
to come into the room. After being verbally notified of his appointment,

the newly-elected principal discussed with the board the course of study
for the normal schools which had been drawn up by the State Department
and which would become effective with the opening of the fall term.
Instruction at the normals would be for the preparation of teachers only.
Then Fisher produced a list of seventeen new teaching positions which

89

would need to be filled
At Bloomsburg, when this new course of study was put in operation, the
college preparatory' department of the school ceased to function. Several
teachers had realized their subjects would be eliminated from the school's
offerings and had sought employment elsewhere. Others, hopeful that the
changes would not take their jobs waited until they were told their
services were needed no longer. Among the subjects dropped that fall were
all higher mathematics. Spanish. Latin, and the two sciences, chemistry
and physics. At the opening of the fall term, in 1920. fourteen teachers
who had been part of the faculty the previous year were no longer
teaching at Bloomsburg State Normal.
However, because one of the requirements for admittance to a
Pennsylvania State Normal School was the completion by an applicant of
.^

15 units of high school work, the two-year high school course continued to
be part of the normal system for several more years. In the early 1920's
there were still rural areas in Pennsylvania which did not provide
education beyond the eighth grade. To prepare for entrance to a normal
school, some students in the Sixth District enrolled at Bloomsburg Normal
to ecim high school credits before beginning their studies in the teacher

training course.-*

Generally speaking, until this era in Pennsylvania, high school teachers
throughout the State had been prepared by the degree granting Liberal
Arts colleges. Many elementar\' teachers had completed their preparation
for teaching at a State Normal School. The normals, unlike the colleges,
issued certificates rather than diplomas. A certificate from a normal listed
the subjects satisfactorily completed by the graduate and gave him the
right to teach any or all of those subjects in the schools of Pennsylvania for
a period of two years before additional credits needed to be earned for
continued certification.
The new two-year course of study for the normals began with a
semester of general education. By the start of the second semester, a
student preparing for a career in teaching was required to choose one of
the four fields of specialization offered.

Group

I.

Group

II.

Group

III.

Group

IV.

Kindergarten-Primary
(Kindergarten through Grades

They were:

1.

2. 3)

Intermediate
(Grades 4. 5. 6)

Grammar Grades and
(Grades

7.

Rural
(Grades

1

Junior High School

8. 9)

through

8)^

fields of study led to a more "in-depth" preparation of the State's
elementary teachers and to a more definitive certification.
Soon after his arrival, it must have been with much pleasure that Fisher

These

90

welcomed two of his former colleagues to the campus. A. L. Rowland and
FYancis B. Haas of the Department of Public Instruction visited the
Normal, officially, in the fall of 1920. Fisher took them to all the schools in
the town and to several schools in the surrounding rural area. He spent a
day with them in the model school and another attending Normal classes.
When Haas and Rowland returned to Harrisburg, Fisher reported to the
board that the State officials were "satisfied and pleased" with what they
had observed.^
Perhaps as an outgrowth of this visit by the men from the State
Department, steps were taken to "...bring the work of the Normal School
and that of the town schools in closer relationship." Three rooms in the
town schools began to be used for practice teaching of grades 4. 5, and 6.
This would ease the crowded conditions in some of the classrooms of the
model school, where it was said one teacher might have fourteen student
teachers to plan for and supervise in one day. By opening additional
classrooms for practice teaching in the town, students were able to
participate for longer than the original 45 minutes each day. Roxana
Steele, the director of the training school, would supervise the town
classrooms in which the Normal placed student teachers. Harriet Moore of
the Normals music department, would devote half her time to teaching in
the town schools, as would George H. Hall from industrial arts, A. B. Black
in penmanship, and George Keller in art.^
At the time of Fisher's appointment, housing for his family had created
a problem for the board. Evidently Buckalew Place could not be used.
Either it was leased to someone else or badly in need of repair Until late
September or early October when the trustees rented Dr John's house for
$50 a month. Fisher had been unable to bring his family to Bloomsburg to
live.^ The lease with Dr John was in effect until April 1. 1922. At that time,
though painted and papered, the house at Buckalew Place needed to be
rewired. Nevertheless, the Fisher family moved into it. They would live
there while the repairs were being made. Fisher said.^ (Once more,
Buckalew Place became the residence of the chief administrative officer of
the Bloomsburg Normal, and through several renovations continued to
the present as the gracious

home

of the college's president.)

During the Fisher tenure at the school changes were many, some not as
significant as others, but noteworthy nonetheless, if for nostalgic reasons
only: The model school came to be known as the training school. Round
tables, seating eight, at $15 a piece, replaced the old tables in the dining
room. Comfortable "substantial" rocking chairs were bought to make
Long Porch attractive.'° A dietician was hired to reorganize the kitchen
and dining room, and one semester each year to teach classes in
nutrition.!' And, sex education came to the campus! A Dr Sina Stratton
visited the Normal once each month, Fisher reported to the board, to
lecture to the senior students and the older boys and girls of the training
school. "...She is a specialist in moral education," he said, "and has been
91

The dining room before the round

tables

were purchased.

Purchase of round tables added a nice touch

92

to

the dining room.

giving special attention to problems in sex hygiene, which she treats in
such a sane manner that she is proving to be very helpful to our
students." ^2
In June, 1921, William Boyd Sutliff became the first dean of instruction
at Bloomsburg when that post was created in the normal schools
throughout the State. (Besides serving as chief academic officer of the
institution from June, 1921 until his retirement in June, 1937, for many
years. Sutliff was the entire math department.)

Dean William Boyd

Sutliff.

marked the beginning of extension work by the school.
had decreed that the State Depcirtment require cdl teachers to
be holders of State certification by 1927. Graduates whose temporary
certificates had not been made permanent, teachers whose positions had
been secured by passing the county superintendents examinations, and
some who were teaching who may have earned degrees in fields other
Also, 1921

Legislation

than education

now found themselves

in

need of professional courses

to

meet these needs, extension classes were
begun in September, 1921. The classes met in the late afternoons and
evenings and on Saturday mornings. That first year, twenty-five classes
were organized which enrolled over 700 teachers-in-service.^^ The centers
were in Hazleton. Danville. Williamsport, McAdoo. Plains. Edwardsville.
FYeeland, and Bloomsburg. TWo automobiles were purchased to provide
qualify for state certification. To

93

transportation for the faculty involved in the extension work. Sometimes
county superintendents used these extension credits as a substitute for
the required attendance at County Institute.^"*
At this time, many Bloomsburg students used rail transportation from
their homes to the school. At the opening of each new semester or at
vacation time, representatives of the Normal wearing badges, usually
faculty members, were at the railroad stations to meet the trains and to
assist the students. A student's baggage could be delivered to the school
simply by leaving the baggage check with the teacher plus 35 cents for
each trunk and 15 cents for each suitcase.^^
Among the items packed in those trunks and suitcases were such
required necessities as blankets or bed comforters, towels, table napkins,
and a large laundry bag. If the trunks and suitcases belonged to a young

woman, they would

contain the additional necessities for her physical

young women." the catalog stated, "must be provided
with a gymnasium costume consisting of bloomers, a middy blouse, and a
pair of gymnasium slippers." Other items suggested but not required were
"...three or four good framed pictures, window curtains, rugs or carpet."^^
Soon after Fisher had come to Bloomsburg Normal, several rooms were
set aside just north of the main entrance to the four-stor\^ dormitory
building for a bureau of educational research.^^ This was something
entirely new on campus and became a source of some controversy. It
began, one semester with lectures by two young men who had graduated
from college with degrees in educational measurements, and it expanded
rapidly until courses had been developed for the faculty as well as for the
students. No one seemed immune to the use of the jargon of the bureau;
the conversations in the hallways .and across the campus were excited
talk of I.Q.'s. criteria, mental and chronological ages, curves, norms and
means. Nor did anyone — faculty or student — seem exempt from the
testing of intelligence and the measuring of the results. At the height of
culture classes. "All

the bureau's popularity, students were hired to help with the clerical work.
it became noised about that only those students with the highest
I.Q.'s were being asked to work in the bureau in their spare time, several
unhappy situations developed. At times, students having access to the
confidential data of the test results created problems not only among

When

other students, but among the teaching staff as well. Those faculty
members who refused to become involved in "the new tangled thing"
were accused by the more enthusiastic as trying to retain "the Status
Quo" a dreadful accusation! (The bureau, as set up by Fisher, seems to
have died a natural death with his departure. However, the work of testing
and measuring went on with the addition of new courses in psychology
and educational measurements.)'^
When the boys came back to the campus after World War I. they found
an entirely different social atmosphere at the Normal. No longer were the
women students not permitted to leave the grounds unless chaperoned.

—

94

No longer was the only entertainment in Bloomsburg on Saturday night
the programs of the two Literary Societies at the Normal. The girls had
been emancipated. Weekends they were allowed to go into the town after
the evening meal. They wore bobbed hair and short skirts. They went to
the "movie palace" on Saturday night. Attendance at the Philo and Callie
meetings became less and less. Fewer students were interested in
becoming members and carrying on the work of the organizations.
Finally, while Fisher was serving as principal, representatives of the two
societies met with members of the faculty and administration to study the
situation. They decided that both organizations had served the school and
students well, but that there was no longer a need for them on this
campus. The members agreed, and the Philologian and the Calliepian
Societies ceased to function.^^
In 1922, the three-year course for teachers of junior high school

was

normals throughout the State. On the Bloomsburg
one-room
junior high school for practice teaching was
campus, a
established in a room on the ground floor of the main building (Institute
Hall, now Carver Hall. From there it would move into Science Hall, and
later into the schools of the town and nearby communities). To many local
people who were interested in the Normal and its activities, the
establishment of the three -year course signified the first step toward
instituted at the

college status.20

On June 1, 1923. the board of trustees met in special session. This
meeting had been called when notification had reached them that Fisher
would not be a candidate for reelection to the position of principal. He had
accepted the presidency of the State Teachers College at Bellingham,
Washington. Though he was sorry to be leaving Bloomsburg Normal
School, the post in Washington was a promotion he felt he should take.
The board accepted Fisher's resignation with regrets.^^

95

G.C.L.

Riemer

1923-1927

96

Chapter 9

g.C.L.^emer
TNJo^^TcA

College

-

Tlrst TDegree

C\T Tithin a month after the trustees accepted the resignation of Fisher,
VVthe board met again and unanimously elected a new principal of
the Bloomsburg State Normal School, G. C. L. Riemer (Guido Carl Leo
Riemer).'

Bom in Saxe-Weimar, Germany in

1873, Riemer

came

to

America with

his family in 1882. After completing his early education in the public

schools of Clarion, Pa., he enrolled at Bucknell University where in 1895
he Ccimed a Bachelor of Arts degree and in 1896 a Master of Arts degree.
In 1900 he completed work at HarvEird for a second degree of Master of
Arts. From there his studies took him to the University of Leipzig,
Germany from which he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1905.
However his professional career began a few years earlier in 1901, as a
professor of German at Bucknell a post he held until 1918 when as the
anti-German sentiment swept across college campuses, Bucknell (as well
as Bloomsburg Normal) dropped the study of German from its curriculum.
From 1918 until 1923 when Riemer was elected to the principadship at
Bloomsburg, he was an official in the Department of Public Instruction
at Harrisburg.2
He Ccime to a school which three years before had dropped its largest
department, the college preparatory course, and which had devoted those
three years to expanding its teacher education program. The campus
covered about nineteen acres of land with lawns, athletic grounds, an
oak grove, and seven buildings for carrying on the business of a
normgil school.^
At this time, the board, as well as Riemer considered the old housing
policy to be in need of an updating. Young women as well as men were
asking permission to live off campus. One of Riemer's first efforts, after he
had moved his family to Buckalew Place, was to develop a new set of
"Rules and Regulations for Students Living Outside Dormitories." The
following, obviously for women, was adopted by the trustees shortly cifter

—

Riemer became

principal:

97

Students living in the town are under the protection and supervision of the
Normal School, and the Principal reserves the right to form such rules and
regulations as will promote the best interests of the student and the School.
Students are asked to conform to the following regulations:
1. Students living in the town are to be in the homes in which they live, or in
the school during the day and evening.
2. Evening study hour should begin at seven o'clock and continue until 9:30
p.m. Any student wishing to spend that time in the School library may do so by
securing the required Library Slip from the House Mother.
3. Students will not attend parties, dances, or movies. Nor will they go in
automobiles with young men except with special permission from the Dean of
Women. Permission slips will be secured from the Dean to be presented to the

House Mother.
4. Students living outside the dormitories will not leave the town without
permission from the Dean of Women.
5. Students will attend church on Sundays.
6. Students will entertain young men but one evening a week and then with
the permission of the House Mother.
7. At 10 o'clock P.M.. students will be in their own rooms and quiet should
prevail."*

Not only was the new broom "sweeping clean." but it was sweeping in
comers. No sooner had the rules and regulations been adopted
governing girls who lived off campus, than the new principal turned his

many

and the board's, to the teachers in the training school. In the
preparation of new teachers, their responsibility was great, Riemer
thought. But, he contended, unless training teachers from time to time
had contacts with others in like positions and occasionally studied at some
college or university, their work with the young people of the Normal
could become static. Riemer presented his case so well that before his first
semester at Bloomsburg had closed, the trustees had agreed that no
increment in pay would be given any training teacher for the year
1924-1925 unless the individual teacher attended a summer session of
attention,

some advanced institution.^
Soon after the beginning of the second semester of the school year.
1923-1924. Februarys 20, to be exact, a new school weekly was published
for the first time. The name, Bloorn-in-News. had been selected by the
student body as had its editor. Walter R Berninger The paper must have
had the sanction of the administration for three teachers were assigned to
help with its publication. Helen Babb, Edna Monro, and Samuel L.
Wilson.^ The first issue, containing four sheets, set the editorial policy by
saying, "Students, this is your paper Alumni, this is your paper."
Advertising took much space, and it is interesting to note that during the
week of Februarv^ 25, 1924, at the Victoria Theater in Bloomsburg, Jackie
Coogan played in Long Live the King: Tom Mix played in Eyes of the
Forest, and William Desmond in Breathless MomentJ By the sixth issue
both theaters in the town were advertising in Bloom-in-News. At the
Columbia Theater. The Covered Wagon was showing, while the
98

competition at the Victoria Theater was Held to Answer plus a fashion
show staged by the Leader Store of Bloomsburg. Bloom-in-News
continued on a regular basis through the remainder of the second
semester of that year. The last issue, an eight-page paper, was published
May 29. 1924. It had shown the student body that a campus newspaper
could be published at Bloomsburg.
With the opening of school in September, 1924. the notion of a school
newspaper surfaced again among the students. The administration
approved again, and once more assigned Samuel Wilson and Edna Monro
as advisors. Edison Harris of Edwardsville was chosen editor. With
publication about to begin, the school decided on a name change. Instead
of Bloom-in-News, the paper was called Maroon and Gold^ (For nearly half
a century, the college newspaper would continue to bear that name.)
In the summer of 1924, someone in Connecticut sent George Keller a
three-month old bear cub. From early childhood Keller had taken on the
challenge of training any animal that happened to wander into his
backyard. Immediately, with the arrival of the bear cub, the art
department at the Normal set about preparing for a production of the play
The Three Bears. It would be presented the following winter, but the work
on it would begin during the summer with the training of the bear cub. "It
is as tame as a dog of the same age," Keller reported.^
By the middle of October, the Junior High School Art Club, which had
become deeply involved in the production, was in great difficulty. The play
was scheduled for December 12, and "Grump," the bear cub was not well.
On the twenty-first of October, the local press reported his demise.i° In
some way. known only to Keller, a replacement was found and upon
shipment to Bloomsburg the new cub proved a very able and trainable

young bear.
December

12, the show went on. It was a huge success. The Junior High
School Art Club attained new status, and George Keller's ability to handle
wild animals was firmly established.^^
(Keller's hobby of training big cats first led to his own animal show in a
field beside Old Berwick Road. For several years, as he perfected his
technique of handling wild animals, he taught art ai B.S.T.C. during the
winters and followed the carnival and circus trails during the
summertime. His act was daring and unique. Having driven into a single
cage, five incompatible big cats— an African lion, a leopard, a mountain
lion, and two panthers, he would enter the cage and make the animals
perform at his command. He worked at th Steel Pier, Atlantic City,
performed at the World's Fair, New York City, and worked for a time with
the great Barnum and Bailey Circus. Eventually he gave up his teaching
Ccireer and became part of the world of show business. His life ended with
a heart attack in the enclosure with his animals in Corpus Christie, Texas
while with the Shrine Circus.)
Throughout the State, great strides had been made in establishing high

99

schools in the small towns and rural districts. By the spring of 1925, the
enrollment for the high school course at the Bloomsburg Normal had
become so small that Riemer suggested the course be dropped. The bo£ird
accepted his recommendation .^2 prom the opening of the fall semester,
1925-1926, the school at the top of Bloomsburg's hill ended a period of its
existence as a multi-purpose educational institution and entered that
period in its history when it would serve one purpose only— the
preparation of teachers for the public schools of Pennsylvania.
For several years, upon visiting the campus, representatives from the
State Department had advised making North Hall into a dormitory for
men. This would provide space for girls in the North Wing (Library Hall)
on third and fourth floors of the main dormitory. All men would be housed
together in one building on campus as would the women. Finally in the
spring of 1925 plans were approved for the renovation of North Hall and
the work was begun. Until that time some of the employees were housed
in sections of North Hall, as well as students. With the intended changes
in use of the dormitory, the question arose of quarters for the help. One
suggestion was conversion of the bam into living space. (This was the big
gray bam which stood just north and a little east of North Hall. Presently,
part of Northumberland Hall stands on its site.) The idea must have had
some credibility, for though the bam stood as a bam and storage space for
at least thirty-five more years, in April, 1925, the school sold its team of
horses cind its wagon. Riemer reported that besides the money received
for the sale of the team and the vehicle, the school would save $1,020 in
wages to the teamster and about $400 in feed for the horses.^^
Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16, 1925, the Bloomsburg Normal
School hosted a large meeting of educators from northeastern
Pennsylvania. There had been over 2,000 responses to the invitation to
the conference. On Friday, though public schools were in session,
hundreds of administrators and teachers were in attendance. One of the
key studies the first day chaired by Riemer, was titled "Supervision Not
Inspection." It led to a discussion of ways to combine the strength and
influence of County Superintendents and district principals in providing
in the public schools practice teaching and other laboratory experiences
for

normal school

seniors.

The second day

teachers-in-service poured onto the

several

campus. From

hundred more
this two-day meeting

the Northeastern Convention District of the Pennsylvania State Education
Association (P.S.E.A.) sprang into being.^'* (It has been said that the
beginning of P.S.E. A.'s gaining strength Ccin be attributed partly to such
regional organizing efforts throughout the State. Also, it is interesting to
note that in the beginning and for about thirty-five years cifter such
organizations were formed, administrators and teachers had many
professional goals in common toward which they worked as a team.y^
In 1926, a year of renovation was begun. Perhaps because Governor
Pinchot had lunched on campus the previous year and had been inclined

100

to praise the

management

$100,000 appropriation

of the school, the

Normal had received a

updating the kitchen,
with tile and steel fire towers, and in the girls'
dormitory creating a spacious lobby at the main entrance. (Until this time,
replacing

wooden

for rewiring buildings,

stairs

had wound their way from just left and right of the first floor
doorway facing west to the fourth floor. By removing these, and opening
two offices on either side of the stairwell, an attractive and generous-size
area was provided in front of the dining hall for gathering together and
visiting.) With the elimination of the central stairs, small lobbies were
created on the upper three floors, also.^^
stairs

Lobby

in dormitory building (later Waller Hall),
(later the library and bookstore) in background.

with entrance

to

dining room

For some time, normal school leaders throughout the State had been
thinking of and working toward a degree program for both high school
and elementary teachers. Eairly in March, 1926, the Board of Normal
School Principals met in Harrisburg to pass upon a four-year course of
study which would lead to a degree in these fields. By March 25, they had
approved the four-year plan and had sent it to State Superintendent Haas
for his sanction. When his approval was received, the principals prepared
for implementing the new expanded courses at the opening of the fall
term.i^

On June 4, 1926, the State Council of Education extended to
Bloomsburg State Normal School the "privilege" of granting degrees. On
the completion of four years of prescribed study a graduate could be
awcirded either a Bachelor of Science degree in the field of secondary
schools, or a Bachelor of Science degree in the elementary field. This did
not mean the two- and three -year courses had been discontinued. These

101

^

would be part of the Normal s offerings for the next decade.^
With the granting of degrees went a change in status of the school, and
along with this, once again, a change was made in the name of the

The

institution.

new

often-told story of the school

community

learning of its

something like this: Riemer had been in Harrisburg
attending the June 4 meeting. He returned that Friday evening to the
campus where a large party or dance was being held in the gym. Standing
in the entrance, he clapped his hands to get the attention of everyone and
then said. "Tbnight. 1 want you to sing the old school song, but put the
word College wherever Normal has been sung." Those in attendance say it
was done with gusto .^^
station goes

Officially,

December

the decree to grant degrees

17 of that

same year

(1926)

was not forthcoming

when

until

A. Z. Schoch, president of the

board of trustees, accompanied by Riemer met with representatives from
the other normals in the offices of the Department of Public Instruction.
There officials presented the paper setting forth the decree to the Board
Presidents who in turn passed the document to their respective
principals.20 The ceremony over Schoch and Riemer returned to
Bloomsburg. Later in the year, word was received that the official name of
the school would be State Teachers College. Bloomsburg. Pa.^i
At the time the Normal became a college, with power to grant Bachelor
of Science degrees, the school had among its faculty: G. C. L. Riemer
principal; W. B. Sutliff. dean of instruction and teacher of mathematics;
Clair Conway, dean of women and teacher of English; George Keller dean
of men who also taught art; C. M. Hausknecht. business manager; Earl
Rhodes, director of the training school; May Hayden and Maude Campbell,
teachers; Lucille Baker Grade IV and Bertha Rich. Grade VI in the training
school; Anna Garrison (Scott). Grade V; Ethel Ranson, junior high school
supervisor and mathematics teacher; O. H. Bakeless and John Fisher the
department of educational psychology and measurements; Alice
Johnston, Ethel Shaw and Samuel Wilson, in the English department;
Howard Fenstemaker the whole foreign language department (which had
just been reinstated when Latin, French and German became part of the
required offerings of degree-granting institutions); Nell Maupen and
Edward Reams in social studies; H. Harrison Russell, geography; Harriet
Moore and Jessie Patterson in public school music; and in the six-person
health department under the direction of E. H. Nelson were Thomby
Booth, Kathryn Loose, Lucy McCammon, Marie Lee, the nurse, and Irma
Ward, the dietitian. In the library were Pearl Mason and Helen A. Russell.^^
At this time, the Bloomsburg Hospital had a thriving school of nursing.
In September 1926. permission was given for the use of the science
laboratories on campus by the nursing students from the hospital. Usually
these science courses covered a sixteen week span. This cooperative effort
between these two community institutions lasted for several years.^^
When the College began the preparation of teachers for the secondary

102

became necessary

to find classrooms in which the seniors could
With no high school classes on campus, the
administration turned again to the town's public schools. Once more,
classrooms and cooperating teachers were available, but the number was
limited. At Riemer s suggestion, the board authorized him to contact the
Berwick and Danville schools about developing student teaching centers
in their systems.^"^ By December. 1926, negotiations with the schools of
Berwick had been completed and cooperating teachers were ready to
begin working with BSTC students at the opening of the second semester.
This marked the first time student teachers had gone out of the town

schools,

do

it

their student teaching.

district for their laboratory work.^^

Meanwhile, life at the College went on much as usual. Freshmen
customs were introduced to the campus about the same time the school
received a new name. The incoming freshmen were compelled to wear
black dinks and green ribbons to show their humble status. The students
living in the dormitories still had to bring their own table napkins:^^ the
Women's Student Government Association continued to flourish,^^ as did
the Debating Club, newly organized by Alice Johnston. 1\vo years before
she had started a dramatic club called the Bloomsburg Players: it. too.
was a popular organization.^^ Music was everywhere on campus; there
was the group called the "Double Quartettes," a Senior Girls' Glee Club, a
Junior Girls' Glee Club, a BSTC orchestra, and a "Uke Club".29
The artists and lecture series brought good music to the campus on a
regular basis. Ethel Fowler Brown, class of 1927. remembers an opera
company presenting "The Barber of Seville"^^ during the same era in
which Pablo Casals enchanted the students and townspeople with his
cello.^^ Lectures were part of this cultural program, too. Admiral E. Byrd
spoke twice at the school, once after his flight to the North Pole and again
after his return from Antartica. This very flamboyant figure was a favorite
with the students as he strode about campus wearing, instead of a
topcoat, a dark cape lined with red.^^
If some cultural or social event were to take place at the school in the
evening often girls living in the dormitory would invite commuting
students to stay with them overnight. These guests were required to
follow dormitory regulations as well as their hostesses lights out by ten
o'clock, and all quiet until rising bell at 6:45 a.m.^^
Until the middle of the 1920's, many commuting students from Berwick
and Danville came to school each day on the trolley. The stop for the
College was at the intersection of East Street and East Main Street. Here
the students disembarked and hurried up the hill to their classes.
Sometimes in winter trolley travel was slowed or completely disrupted by

—

heavy or sudden snowstorms.^'*
Intercollegiate sports at the school at this time
Football, basketball, tennis

and

were the usual ones:

track. For girls there

organized sports program in basketball, tennis and

103

was a very

well

field hockey.^^ (In girls'

basketball, this

was the era of the

three-section court,

forwards and centers were not allowed to

and the guards,

move beyond

their particular

The center was always

the tallest girl on the team, and assisting
her at the position of side-center was the quickest girl on the team. As the
forwards and guards were confined to their own sections, often they were
unable to receive the tap as the centers jumped. The side center's purpose
was to get the tap and pass it to the forwards on her team. It was a
cumbersome game, but quite ladylike.)
The Class of 1927 was the last class to finish a non- degree program.
However, the class had the distinction of having one member with enough
earned credits to fulfill the requirements of the degree course. On Friday,
June 10, 1927, at 10:30 a.m., at the commencement exercises, Arthur C.
Jenkins becaxne the first graduate from the State Teachers College at
Bloomsburg with a Bachelor of Science degree .^^
sections.

Arthur

C. Jenkins.

As early as January 1927, there had been rumors around town that
Riemer was not going to continue as principal at Bloomsburg. His plans
for the future had not been made known, it was said, but the same source
that reported Riemer s intentions to leave noted that the board of trustees
were considering several applicants.^^ No action is recorded in the board's
minutes concerning a resignation or any request for one. Yet at the
meeting of the trustees in April, a resolution was unanimously passed
appointing Francis B. Haas to the principalship of the Bloomsburg State
Tfeachers College.

Riemer remained at the College through the June Commencement, and
then seems to have faded away until his election one year later to the
position of principal of Clarion State Teachers College.
104

Pied Piper of Hamlin, fall of 1926.

105

Francis B. Haas
1927-1939

106

Chapter 10

Trancis S.
cA growing

^aas

njnity*

Within.

CTt was said tJiat both Indiana and West Chester State Tfeachers Colleges
Xhad sought Haas to fill a position at each of those schools, but he had
to become principal at Bloomsburg.
FYom 1925 until 1927, Francis B. Haas had been Pennsylvania's State

chosen

Superintendent of Public Instruction. With the inauguration of Governor
Fisher, Haas had resigned, not because he felt he could not work with the
new administration but because the office he filled was a politiccd
appointment. He believed he should withdraw to allow the new governor
to fill the post with a man of his own choosing. When word of Haas's
resignation spread across the State, every county superintendent except
one wrote to the Governor urging that Haas be reappointed.^
A native of Philadelphia, he had graduated from the School of Pedagogy
in that city and had earned degrees at Temple University and the
University of Pennsylvania.^ He began his career in education in the upper
elementary schools of Philadelphia, first as a teacher and then as a
principal. While working in the Philadelphia School system, he
reorganized the upper grades into departmentalized classes a new idea,
then— and introduced a systematic schedule of "play days" within the
city.3 In 1920, Haas went to Harrisburg as assistant director of Teachers
Bureau of the Department of Public Instruction. Five years later, he was
appointed to the office of State Superintendent for Pennsylvania. In the

—

intervening months between Haas's resignation and his moving to
Bloomsburg, he had been enrolled in teacher training courses at Columbia
University.

On June 20, 1927, when the trustees met, Haas attended the board
meeting for the first time as principal of B.S.T.C., a post to which he had
been elected April 11, 1927.^^ At that April meeting, a resolution had been
spread upon the minutes which said:
Resolved, That Francis B. Haas be and hereby is elected Principal of thie
Bloomsburg (Pennsylvania) State Normal School for a term of three years
beginning July 1. 1927 at an annual cash salary of $6,000, $6,500 and $7,000
107

years and maintenance which shall include the use of the
Principal's residence, together with the cost of heat, light and water for the
same and food supplies for the Principal and his family.^
for the respective

When Haas, with his wife and three children, moved into Buckalew
Place they found the house badly in need of repairs. "It is our intention,"
he told the board, "to furnish and maintain the Principal's residence in
keeping with the dignity and social needs of the institution." Inside, the
house should be painted and papered, he thought and "...certain
plumbing modifications made so that the house may be returned to a
one-home plan..." Estimated cost of the renovations ran between $1,500
and $2,000.^ The trustees approved the repairs.
At the time of the change of administrations on campus, the town of
Bloomsburg had grown to a population of about 10,000 inhabitants. There
was a newly constructed public library on Market Street, a new juniorsenior high school on Center Street and a new hospital in town.
Bloomsburg could be reached by three railroads: The Delaware
Lackawana and Western with its station between Sixth and Seventh
Streets at Market Street; the Pennsylvania with its station across the river,
and the Reading with its station standing at the west

just over the bridge;

end of Fifth Street near the

Fair

Grounds. Though

trolley travel

had been

discontinued, regularly scheduled buses ran between Bloomsburg and
nearby communities, Berwick, Hazleton, Sunbury, Danville, and
Catawissa.^
When Haas began his tenure at Bloomsburg, he found three buildings
on campus carrying new names. At the annual meeting of the Alumni
Association in the spring of 1927, O. H. Bakeless moved that three
buildings be named for three outstanding former teachers of the School;
that Institute Hall become Carver Hall: that the training school become
Noetling Hall, and that the girls" dormitory and office building become
Waller Hall. The motion was adopted enthusiastically by the Alumni
Association, and a committee of three was appointed to seek the approval
of the board of trustees. The committee members were Fred Diehl, R.
Bruce Albert, and Howard Fenstemaker.^ At their regular meeting in June,
the trustees agreed with the wishes of the alumni, and further suggested
that a "...suitable tablet be placed on each building thus to perpetuate the

names of these men."
Previously, the contributions of Henry Carver and D. J. Waller Jr have
been noted. The respect and deep affection with which these two men
were remembered by graduates make it easy to discern why they were
honored in this manner But who was Noetling?
A rather spare man with a snow-white rounded goatee, William Noetling
was a teacher of pedagogy at the Bloomsburg State Normal School from
1877 until his retirement in the spring of 1900. Born in Mifflinburg, the
son of a German physician, Noetling attended the academy in his

108

hometown

and worked as a carpenter's assistant during the
work at the Academy at Mifflinburg. he
prepared for college entrance at the Academy at New Berlin. He began his
college studies at Bucknell University and then went to Union College at
Schenectady, New York, where he was known for high scholarship. After
earning an A.M. at Union, he took courses in architecture and civil
engineering. Having completed those studies, he enrolled for one term at
summers.

in the winters

After finishing the

the Academy of Music, Geneseo, New York. Then, desiring to make his
education broad and well-rounded, he went to Amherst, Massachusetts to
study at Dr. Sauvier's School of Language.

Professor William Noetling.

At one time, Noetling's career in education found him vice -principal of
the Missionary Institute at Selinsgrove, now Susquehanna University.
From there he went to Belleville, Illinois to teach. Before returning to

Snyder County as superintendent of schools, he conducted a private
school at Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.
He was the author of many published articles on education, and of a
much used textbook in the field of algebra and geometry.
Noetling was a pleasant man and with his quaint humor endeared
himself to the Bloomsburg Normal students as well as the children of the
model school. When the model school, which had been built during his

was to be among the buildings receiving names of outstanding
teachers at the institution, it was a fitting and obvious move that the

tenure,

109

training school

become Noetling

Hall.

The plaque placed

inside the

building read, in part:
In loving memory of
Professor William Noetling

A Tlrue Man

-

A Sympathetic

FYiend -

A Great Teacher^

summer of 1928,

renovations had continued on campus; old
seemed the most pressing job. They were removed, first in
the dormitories, then in the other buildings, and steel and tile fire towers
were installed. That summer, single beds replaced the last of the double
beds in the girls' dormitory. In the gymnasium permanent bleachers were
set in place and the running track was removed except for a section on the
south side of the room which was kept for added seating.i°
The school year of 1928-29 found the student handbook revived on
campus. It was the work of many people, alumni, trustees, faculty and
In the

wooden

stairs

students.

It

contained information gathered from

many

quarters. Rules

and regulations of the school were printed in it, as were suggestions for
making campus living a little easier for the lowly freshmen. For example,
under "General Information," it said:
Bathrooms at Teachers College are modern and sanitary. It is a mark of good
breeding to keep bathrooms In a clean and healthful condition. Details such as
washing out the lavatory basins and flushing toilets are important.
Chapel is held on Monday. Wednesday, and Friday at 10 a.m. Devotional
exercises and worthwhile programs are presented. Attendance is compuslory...
Telephone service: Women students receiving messages will not be called to
the telephone. The student's name will be posted on the bulletin board and by
calling at the Dean of Women's office, the message or the telephone number
may be secured.

Perhaps the most valuable, and by far the most interesting information
in the handbook was contained in the "Tips for FYeshmen":
Don't forget that what you do at Bloomsburg counts for

more than what you

say.

Don't yield to the temptation to do dishonest work. You came to College to
develop your mind, not to ruin your conscience.
Learn the songs and yells printed in this book. College spirit is obtained only
by true loyalty. Believe in your College and then give it all you have.
Living in a dormitory doesn't confer upon one the privilege of being a house
wrecker.

Obedience to law is
Do not do anything
may hear about it.'^

liberty.

Preserve your

at school that

liberty.

you would be ashamed

no

of at

home. They

A year or so

later the following

suggestions were added to "Tips for

Freshmen":
to be yourself, be ashamed not to be.
cut chapel, or classes, or friends.
acquire a back-row reputation.
criticize the meals. The poorest ones could be worse and at
institutions they are}^

Don't
Don't
Don't
Don't

be afraid

some

first Homecoming Day on campus. The
was with Wyoming Seminary on (Old) Mt.
Olympus. We lost. Following the game there was an informal reception in
the gymnasium for old grads. and in the evening, a dance ended the
festivities .1^ Homecoming had been a great success, and was on its way to
becoming a tradition.

November

football

17,

game

of 1928,

saw

the

in the afternoon

There is a story told concerning the acquisition of the parcel of land on
which now stand Centennial Gymnasium, Sutliff Hall. Bakeless Center for
the Humanities, Andruss Librarv^ and part of Haas Center for the Arts. To
Haas, if the College were to grow, the land across Spruce Street, just to the
east of the campus, was the most reasonable site for expansion. The land
was part of the Dillon estate, and to postpone the purchase of it, Haas
believed, in time, could curtail the growth of the College. Already, lots
were being sold in the area. C. M. Hausknecht had built a house on one lot
facing East Second Street and Edward Reams owned a new home situated
on a lot facing Spruce Street. Haas went to the board asking permission to
present the case to the State. The trustees approved the action.
But the stor\' goes back much further. John R. Townsend was a member
of the board of trustees for many years. He was active in the days when
i'*

made the decisions, but found the money
land and the construction of buildings. When a strip
of land was bought from the Dillon family on which to build (Old) North
Hall, Townsend had urged the board to buy the rest of the land to the top
of the hill. This would have given the school all the ground from Penn
Street to Buckalew Place north of East Second Street, with the exception
of the Dillon home. At that time, finances of the School were so tight that
the purchase was impossible. But Townsend didn't let his dream die; he
passed it on to his son.
In the 1920's. Joseph Townsend. the son. was appointed a trustee of the
College by the Governor. When Dr. John A. H. Keith, state superintendent,
trustees of the school not only
for the acquisition of

came

to

Bloomsburg on an

official visit,

Townsend

offered to

show him

through the buildings and then take him to the country club (now upper
campus) to show him the magnificent view. To get to the country club.
Townsend drove Keith over the land on which Centennial Gymnasium
stands. There they stopped, while Townsend told Keith of his father's
dream. He spoke of the great possibilities the parcel held for the future
growth of the College.

Ill

"I

have never seen

its

equal," Keith

is

supposed

to

have

said.

"The State

of Pennsylvania cannot permit this marvelous expansion site to escape

it.

You go ahead and see what can be done about it and I'll be back soon with
our budget secretary so that he has the picture and there will be no
chance of failure at our end." Within a few weeks, Keith and the budget
secretary returned to Bloomsburg.^^ i^
In the meantime, the College authorities in conference with the Dillon
estate had arrived at the purchase price of $75,000 for the 18^2 acres.
Within a year or two, the State Department had sought and received an
appropriation for the purchase of the land. On October 25, 1929, this
valuable piece of property became part of the campus of the State

Teachers College, Bloomsburg.^^
For many years an annual event at the School was the Rotary-KiwanisCollege Night which was begun soon after Haas came to the College. He
spoke to the board about inviting the members of the Rotary and Kiwanis
Clubs and their wives to the campus. His reason, he said, was for
"...acquainting them with our situation and needs. The College is an
institution with whose aims and purposes these groups should be familiar
and with which they should be have a sympathetic interest." The trustees
approved the idea, and the clubs accepted the invitation. The night of the
first party about 400 guests were in attendance.'^ They were impressed
with the gracious new lobby and the freshly decorated dining room. After
a roast chicken dinner, a pattern was set for the Rotary-Kiwanis-College
nights which would be followed for the next quarter of a century: The
guests joined the student body in the auditorium for a program of music
and drama. (That first "College Night," the orchestra played several
pieces, the college chorus sang several numbers, and the Bloomsburg
Players presented the one-act play. The Pot Boilers.) Then, after the
program in the auditorium everyone went to the gymnasium (Old Husky
Lounge) for dancing.*^
At the beginning of Haas's tenure, the registration fee for day students
(the commuting women were called "locker girls" then) was $15: for
boarding students, $12.50. Board, room and laundry for eighteen weeks
of living on campus was $144.00, and an estimate for the cost of books

was

$20.00.20

some time, requests had been sent to Harrisburg by the principal
and by the board for a new power plant, a new training school and a new
laundry building. By the middle of the summer of 1928, after several visits
to the campus by officials from the State Department, word was received
in the principal's office that the State Teachers College at Bloomsburg
would receive an allocation to redo its power plant, making it "efficient
and sufficient," that $125,000 would be appropriated for the construction
of a new training school, and $25,000 for a laundry building.^'
For

When

the bids for the two buildings were opened, they totaled about
trip to Harrisburg to explain the reasons for the

$165,000. After a

112

between the allocation and the bids, Haas was told to go ahead
with the construction. In a short time ground was broken for the
buildings. The site chosen for the laundry was at the edge of the Grove
near the athletic field. This building would have in its basement the
dressing rooms for the athletic teams in outdoor sports. The new training
school was placed on a section of land at the northwest corner of Spruce
and East Second Streets with the main entrance facing Spruce Street.^^
The day the cornerstone was put in place for the new training school,
January 31. IQSO.^^ the event was marked by ceremonies at the site and in
the auditorium. D. J. Waller, Jr., a member of the Class of 1867, and
president emeritus, was on hand to ask the Invocation. In attendance also
was A. Z. Schoch who, at that time, had served on the board of trustees
for thirty-seven years. The speaker for the occasion was Fred Diehl, former
student and president of the Alumni Association. As the cornerstone was
set in place, Haas noted that often in this age of steel the new name given
this particular building block was "Date Stone." Using the older name he
preferred, he noted the cornerstone was in place with its metal box
differences

containing:

The Benjamin Franklin TYaining

A copy

School, with Professui Kt a(/us Uuine.

program

iii

iyJ4.

of the day's exercises, signatures of officials, faculty
College and TYaining School, College Catalog,
College handbook, latest edition of the Maroon and Gold, College Publication,
latest edition of The Morning Press, list of directors of the school districts
cooperating in the teacher training programs; an American flag
a Holy
Bible
a College pennant
a Summer School Bulletin and a copy of the
County Institute program for 1929.^'*
of the

members and students of the

—

.

—

—

,

113

,

The

which would be completed and ready for use with the
in the fall of 1930, would be two-stories high with a
basement finished and furnished for a play area. The school would have a
large demonstration room and contain seven suites, each including a
session room, a group room with cloEikroom facility, and an office for the
building,

opening of school

training teacher.^^

When the question arose concerning a name for the building, many
suggestions were received. The choice was Benjamin Franklin Tt-aining
School. At the dedication of the building on Homecoming Day. 1930, Haas
explained why this new laboratory school had been named for a figure
from history rather than for some beloved Bloomsburg teacher.
"Franklin." he said, had "...contributed so much to so many phases of
human endeavor" that the name was most appropriate .^^
As 1930 began, the word rumored about the campus was that the
College was seeking permission from the Department of Public Instruction
to incorporate into its teacher training curricula a new course of study for
the preparation of commercial teachers. Among the State Teachers
Colleges, only Indiana carried such courses. Haas had received assurance
from Harrisburg that a department for commercial teaching might be
established at Bloomsburg if he could prove a reasonable demand for it.
Immediately Haas sent letters to all high school principals, supervising
principals, and superintendents in the area. Forty-four answers were
received. After checking with the senior classes, the principals reported 93
young people interested in such a course. By the end of February,
approval had been granted by the State for Bloomsburg to open a new
department for the training of commercial teachers, the course work to
begin as early as the opening of the fall term of 1930. At the regular
meeting of the board of trustees, Haas was given the power to select a
faculty, secure equipment and make any other necessary arrangements
for the establishment of the new department.
In March, Haas went to Indiana State Teachers College. It was
imperative, he thought, to see a well-functioning commercial department
in action before final plans were made for the introduction of business
education at Bloomsburg. Furthermore. Haas had an interview scheduled
with a member of Indiana's commercial faculty.
At a meeting of the board of trustees in April, Haas reported that he had
been able to secure the services of Harvey A. Andruss "...now in the
Department of Commerce at the State Teachers College, Indiana," that he

would head the new commercial department on Bloomsburgs campus. Of
Andruss, Haas said. "He has ten years of experience in this field, four in
high school commercial teaching, two years as instructor in the
Northwestern University School of Commerce, and four years as
instructor and supervisor in the State Teachers College at Indiana."
When the school term began in September the new commercial
department had thirty-five students enrolled. Andruss. having laid out the
114

course of study, headed the department and had hired as his assistant
Margaret Hoke. By the beginning of the second semester, as the
enrollment increased to fifty, there was evidence the program was a
popular one in the area. Another teacher was needed and Marguerite

Murphy was chosen to fill the post.
In the new department enthusiasm ran high among

the students, and

during that very first year, with the help of the faculty, they organized a
Junior Chamber of Commerce on campus. (Within a few years, this would
become the Business Education Club, and for a long period of time would
be one of the largest and most active extracurricular organizations at the
School.) Then, in the spring of the first year of the department's existence,

a High School Commercial Contest was planned. Letters were sent to high
schools within traveling distance of the College inviting them to send their
best commercial students to participate in planned and supervised
competition in commercial subjects. Seventy-five high school
representatives were on campus that early May Saturday and the contest
was a great success (This activity became a tradition at the school and
often was instrumental in recruiting very fine students for the College.
Initiated in the spring of 1931, the contests grew in scope and continued to
be part of the service of the department until 1966. j^^
Changes were taking place on campus other than renovations, new
courses, or construction of the first new building in a quarter of a century.
By an act of the Assembly, in the spring of 1929 the chief administrators of
the State Colleges ceased to be principals of their institutions and became
presidents. At Bloomsburg this piece of legislation gave Haas the distinction
of being the last principal of B.S.T.C. and the first president of the College.
Immediately, with his usual thoughtfulness, Haas recommended as a
courtesy and honor, D. J. Waller be designated president emeritus by the
board. The suggestion was approved wholeheartedly by the trustees.
Other changes of this same pairticular era were in the field of athletics:
During the school year 1930-31 the first cross country team was organized
and the year before that, the College had put its first wrestling team on the
mats. (The wrestling team hadn't attained much recognition for
outstanding performance that first year as its only win had been against
another newly established team. East Stroudsburg.)^^ The field of athletics
had been expanded by the addition of two sports.
The basketball season of 1930-31 was a very good one with the team
winning 17 out of 18 scheduled games. The local press pronounced the
team's passing attack unbeatable and declared Bloomsburg the state
champions of the State Tbachers Colleges.^^
It was at this time that through the efforts of O. H. Bakeless an Alumni
Room was opened in Waller Hall. It housed the athletic and academic
.^"^

trophies of the past and had plenty of display cases for future ones. The
room offered a place for relaxation for returning alumni and faculty
members. It had files of pictures, newspapers and books with work tables

115

The alumni room

in

Old Waller Hall.

Study and comfortable chairs for resting.^i (Located in old classroom K
first floor of the north wing of Waller Hall, it was just around the
corner form the post office and near the entrance to the old gymnasium.)
New clubs and national honorary fraternities had their beginnings at
for

on the

The Maroon and Gold Band

(1939).

116

this particular time of changes on the campus: 1927-1928, Alpha Psi
Omega; 1930-1931, Kappa Delta Pi and Phi Sigma Pi.
For many years the College had had an orchestra but had never

gathered together the right combination of musicians to organize a band.
In the school year 1930-31. through the efforts of Howard Fenstemaker a
fine new band was formed. (At first, it was spoken of simply as The Band,
but within a very short time it had been dubbed The Maroon and Gold
Band.) The Band, all male, nattily attired in white duck trousers and black
sweaters, appeared for the first time at the Rotary-Kiwanis-College Night,

January 8, 1931.^2
That same evening, as part of the entertainment for the two service
clubs, a new school song was sung. The words had been written by Haas,
and one day, taking these to Howard Fenstemaker he had hummed a tune
he thought would go well with his words. Fenstemaker wrote down the
tune, arranged the music for The Band, and presented the song to the
student body. The College adopted it enthusiastically.^^

Maroon and Gold
In the days to come when others boast
And college tales are told
To the glad refrain add a joyful strain,

A cheer for Maroon and Gold.
And be

not

weak

in praise

Nor slow to honor.
Chorus:
Keep the colors proudly

flying!

Raise them high. Maroon and Gold!
Colors royal for the loyal
And a cheer for the brave and bold.
Fling a challenge to the honest foe
And the colors bravely hold:
Sound the noble cry with courage high:
Hurrah! Hurrah! Maroon and Gold.

To the power of the old Maroon,
To the glory of the Gold,
As the team goes by, lift the colors high,

A

pledge to the faith of old.

To the Men, to the Team,
Of Old Bloomsburg.

to the Spirit

Chorus:^^

These were depression times. It had begun with the great stockmarket
crash of 1929, but was not really felt on the Bloomsburg campus until
about the spring of 1932. After a meeting in April of the board of
presidents of the State Teachers Colleges, Haas returned home certain
there would be a budget revision by the first of June. The presidents had
agreed that throughout the State Teachers Colleges there would be no
117

increments in salan' for faculty and no leaves with pay.^^ By the opening
fall, a reduced budget had been mandated by Harrisburg
and along with it had come a directive calling for a 10% reduction in the
number of students at each College. At Bloomsburg, though the dean of
instruction's office noted that this limiting of the enrollment would create
a waiting list of 109 eligible freshmen, on registration day the actual
number of students attending B.S.T.C. was just nine less than the previous
vear.36 However the following Januar\' no second semester freshman class
of school in the

was admitted.
During these early Depression years, there were rumors rampant
throughout Pennsylvania that a number of the State Teachers Colleges
would be closed. (Some people mentioned the closing of four schools;

some said seven.)
Soon after the 1933 Commencement

exercises.

Haas had some very

decisions to make. At Bloomsburg. the limited budget
made it imperative to furlough some personnel and to discontinue some
positions. Then, when the State Legislature met again, the decision was

serious

and

difficult

not to close any of the Teachers Colleges but to make a faculty
salarv' reduction of 10% across the board. With this news from Harrsburg
came a communique which said. "The Governor also directs that all
purchases and contracts should be limited to those firms that are flying
the Blue Eagle and thus getting behind the President." which meant that
Franklin D. Roosevelt's National Recovery' Administration (NRA). or "flying
the Blue Eagle." had reached the campus of B.S.T.C.
Before the Depression days would end. many Federal programs would
be much in evidence on the campus. Some would provide jobs for workers
from the community. Some programs, such as the National Youth
Administration (NYA) would help the students directly. On campus, young
men and young women who were in need of financial aid could earn as
much as $12 per month if they were boarding students, and 89 per month
if they were commuters. Some of these jobs were clerical: some were
janitorial. (In those days $12 would provide spending money for the whole
month, buy all the bobby (socks) a girl would need, and by the time the
next check arrived she might have been able to buy a new sweater or
blouse. In those days a student could go to the H. and C. Drug Store on
the southwest corner of Main and Iron Streets, where for 5 a cup of coffee, and for a nickle more he could buy a "sticky bun" with
pecans and buttery sauce half-way through the bun. If the rolls were
small, there would be two on his plate. In those days a boy could take his
date to Ash and Naunas" on East Street and for IOC buy her a big double
dip sundae covered with chocolate and mairshmallow sauce and topped
with peanuts. $12 went a long way!)
Also of help to the students was the reduction in fees. The activity fee
was lowered from $15 to $10 and the cost of room and board was reduced
from $144 per semester to $126.

made

"

118

Coal prices and oil prices reflect the times, too. As contracts for these
items were signed in the early and mid-1930's, the board was informed
that the oil for the president's residence was 6V2 cents per gallon, and the
coal for the power house was $1.80 per ton.
Then, in 1934, under the Emergency Relief Administration (ERA) Haas
asked for grading of a new athletic field at the top of the hill, the building
of tennis courts on the newly acquired land and other grading and
cleaning of the campus. Money to do this work would come from Federal
funds under the Public Works Administration (PWA) and would provide

much needed employment for

the community.
Soon the local newspaper was reporting that under the PWA a new field
was about to be constructed. One hundred twelve laborers would be
needed, the Press said, and they would come from the county's relief roll.
Each man would work for six hour days a week, and be paid 50C per
hour It was expected the project would last about eleven weeks. The
budget for this work was said to be $30,000, a goodly amount of cash to
be flowing into the community in 1934 and 1935. Besides the men
involved, seven teams of horses and two trucks would need to be rented,
giving added revenue to the area.^^ (For a time, the field which was
completed in 1935 was called New Mt. Olympus, because the original Mt.
Olympus, named by Professor Dennis, was still a part of the campus and
was used for track and intramural sports. Then as the old field was used
less and less and the new field became the focus of all outdoor athletic
events, the word "new" was dropped from the title and the field simply

Work on the recreational J ie id project (including the Joolball field which
became the new Mt. Olympus) began in December 1934. The project was
conipleted by the Work Division of the State Emergency Relief Board.
119

called Mt. Olympus. In the mld-1960's part of it became the sites of
the Andruss Library and the Bakeless Center for the Humanities. The
remainder of Mt. Olympus was made into parking lots. At present, plans
are being developed to use this parking area as the site of the new Human
Services Building.)

was

But the Depression years had their lighter moments, too. Keller the
professor of art, was the owner of a team of huskies. When Admiral Byrd
returned to Bloomsburg to lecture for a second time, he spoke to Keller
about taking some of Kellers huskies with him on his next expedition to
the South Pole. After some correspondence it was agreed that four dogs
from Bloomsburg would accompany the admiral. They would be shipped
to Byrd when word was received in Bloomsburg that he was about to start
the trip. Later in the summer Byrd wrote to Keller asking that the huskies
be sent to New Hampshire October L^^ Interest on campus and in the
town ran high as Byrd's travels and the huskies' were followed daily in

—

—

the news.^^

About this time students and alumni turned out to enjoy a "Depression
Dance." Sponsored by the Men's Glee Club it was held in the gymnasium.
With no money for decorations the members of the club gathered together
"left-overs" from other parties, once used trimmings from former dances,
and odds and ends their girlfriends had in their rooms. These they placed
"in a haphazard fashion" around the gym. About two hundred students
and alumni who could scrape together the price of admission agreed the
dance was a great success .*°
In the fall of 1933, at the pep rally before the Homecoming game, Haas
remarked to the student body that if the football team won the game
against East Stroudsburg on Homecoming Day, he and Howard
Fenstemaker would write another College song. When the game ended,
the score stood Bloomsburg 9, East Stroudsburg 7.'^^
On March 15, 1934, the students and the guests from the Rotary and
Kiwanis gathered in Carver auditorium for another College Night
program As the program was nearing its end, the Maroon and Gold
Band took places on the stage, and after a lively rendition of Billboard
March, introduced a new College Song called Old Bloomsburg. To quote a
Bloomsburg editor it was "the joint effort of two local boys— Dr Haas and
Howard Fenstemaker." Again, Haas had written the words and hummed
the tune to Fenstemaker who had cirranged the music. "Everyone agreed
it was a marvelous addition to the College repertoire." '*3 The words follow.
."^^

Old Bloomsburg
There are colors to cheer.
There are names to revere.
There are stories of others told.
But the colors we cheer

And

the

Belong

names we revere
Maroon and Gold.

to

120

There's a glorious past.
There are names that will last.
There's a spirit that sends a Ccill
Here's a team to defend.
Here's a pledge to the end
To the colors that must not fall.

Chorus:
All together

now

for

Bloomsburg

Tkke the colors to the goal (Rah! Rah!)
Another score for Alma Mater
Another victory on the scroll.
All together

now

Maroon and Gold
It's
It's

for
in

Bloomsburg
every play (Rah! Rah!)

the spirit of Old Bloomsburg
the end of a perfect day.""*

For over a year, students and faculty had worked to find an equitable

way of evaluating student participation in extracurricular activities. For
some time the College community had felt a need for an award for those
young men and women who when not involved in classes or study gave of
their time and talent in the service of the school. Awards were given to
those who pcirticipated in athletics for the College, why not an award for
other services? The orchestra, the Band, the dramatic organizations and
other clubs brought the College before the public and added another

cultural dimension to

campus

life.

much

discussion and revision, a point system for evaluation of
seniors evolved, and a Service Key was designed for the award. The gold
After

Early and later versions of Service Key.

121

form of an elongated keystone, bears a maroon face with a gold
husky head imprinted on it. The first to receive this highly respected
award from the College were members of the Class of 1934.'*^
The choice of the Husky head on the Service Key was a natural choice.
The previous October (October 9, 1933) in Assembly, the students had
chosen the Husky as the School's mascot almost by unanimous vote.'*^
The first Husky to serve the College in this capacity was one of Professor
Kellers team. To quote the owner, "He's a full-blooded Eskimo Husky, a
splendid specimen of his breed, and the fact that he was handy was the
key. in the

principal reason

why

the College decided to call their athletes Huskies."'*^

But other B.S.T.C. sources said the Husky was chosen
stalwart

"...for its

many

fine

qualities." ^^

mascot was named Roongo, a contraction of Maroon and
Gold.'*^ It was said he was one of the Huskies of Prof. Keller's which had
gone to the South Pole with Admiral Byrd. Roongo was succeeded by
Roongo II. a Labrador Husky.^° (Roongo II was borrowed by the University
of Washington to accompany the football team the year Washington
played in the Rose Bowl. In 1951. Roongo III arrived in Bloomsburgjust
before Alumni Day. For 7 or 8 years she lived on campus, but was sold to
a private owner in the winter of 1958-1959. In 1969, the Delta Omega Chi
fraternity bought a young Husky as a College mascot and named her
Nikki. Since the McCormick family has lived at Buckalew Place, several
Huskies have been given to them for a campus mascot.)

The

first

Roongo with Donald Albert
Watts. Class of 1937.

who

became the first full-time
executive director of the Alunini
Association in August. 1975.

122

As plans were made for the academic year 1934-35. the president
reported to the board:
You may be interested to know that the Teacher's Day we inaugurated last
year as an experiment, met with such success that we will offer two days
during the present College year, the first, Saturday. October 20. 1934. and the
second. Saturday. February 16. 1935. On these days the College develops a
two-session program .^^

That October, Haas reported to the trustees that over 500 teachers-inservice had attended the first Teacher s Day of the year.^^
(Sometime through the years, perhaps during World War II, this annual
event was eliminated from the School's calendar. Then, in 1947. Teacher's
Day was begun again. At first the principal activity was the teaching of
demonstration lessons by members of the faculty. On the Saturday of
Teacher's Day, the training school classes were in session, and classes
from the Bloomsburg Junior and Senior High Schools were brought to the

campus

to take part in the demonstration lessons.
(As the Teachers 's Day concept grew, textbook companies set up
elaborate displays in the gymnasium and the format of the event came to
include nationally known speakers in education and various related fields.
No longer was Teacher's Day a Saturday morning workshop. Beginning
Friday afternoon and extending through Saturday, the old Teacher's Day
became the Annual Education Conference. Held in late September or early
October, the activity continued to be part of the school's calendar until the
fall

of 1973.)

and as

as the early 1930's, at the
Commencement Exercises the usual procedure was to give diplomas to
those graduating from the four-year degree course, and to present
provisional teaching certificates to those students who had finished two or
three -year courses in elementary education. A change took place in 1935.
All who psirticipated in the May Commencement that year received
degrees for completion of the four-year course. (It was true that in the
elementary field, a two-year course was still available until 1937, and in
1937 and again in 1938, elementary education students could enroll at the
College in a three -year course. These people were able to become teachers
without degrees, but their certificates were temporary and dependant on
completion of the degree work. At the College, after 1934. the courtesy of
participation in Commencement activities was no longer extended to
others than those who had finished four years of work, thus making the
Class of 1935 the first in the history of the School to have every graduate
receiving a degree. l^^
Though the effects of the Depression were still very evident on college
campuses across the State, Haas felt a need to expand the work of the
School. Over the previous years of his administration, he had written
many letters to the State Department in Harrisburg setting forth the
In the early years of the College,

123

late

educational needs of the area, and expressing his belief in the Colleges
ability to meet these needs by training teachers in additional fields. Each
time he had requested consideration of new programs of study, decisions
concerning his requests had been laid aside because of "limited
resources." Learning that Lock Haven's application for a new department
of health education was being seriously considered, Haas wrote
Harrisburg asking the Department to justify this expenditure for the
setting up of so specialized a department when the Colleges were in such
financial difficulty. When further he learned that Shippensburg was trying
to get authorization for departments of commerce, art, and physical
education and that Edinboro was asking for a commerce department,
Haas called a meeting of the executive committee of the board of trustees
and then fired off a letter to the chief of the Teachers Division, Department
of Public Instruction. In part. Haas said,
...For a number of years this institution has been interested particularly in
developing special courses for Industrial Arts, Special Class Teaciiing, Art and
Health Education. Originally,... these (requests) have been held in abeyance...

Then he went on

coming meeting of the executive committee
He asked for information from the Division and

to tell of the

of the board of trustees.

noted that "...no doubt a request will be made for approval of additional
departments."
Drue to Haass prediction, the executive committee of the local board
unanimously went on record asking for approval of the State Council of
Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction
...for teacher training departments in the fields of Industrial Arts, Art
Education, and Special Education, since there is a wide field of service available
in the Northeastern section of Pennsylvania for these types of teacher training.

resolution and letter went on to say that Bloomsburg's location was
favorable and that the College could adapt its present facilities easily "...to

The

render such service."

By
June

the

summer of

21, the State

1935, the persistence of Haas had been rewarded.
Council of Education had taken action granting the

On

State Teachers College, Bloomsburg, the right to establish "...the group of
sequential courses for the preparation of teachers for mentally
handicapped children..." However before the College could enroll students
in this course, there were certain preliminary preparations which needed
attention: a shop for handicraft work had to be set up in the Benjamin
FYanklin Training School, a teacher specifically trained in this field had to
be hired, and a class of mentally handicapped children had to be
assembled.^'* It was not until summer school, 1936, that the first classes of
the

new course were scheduled on campus. These were a temporary
124

under the instruction of Miss Helen O'Donnell of Scranton.^^ A
permanent teacher for the handicapped class was not available until the
second semester, January, 1937. With the arrival on campus of Miss
Amanda Kern, special education at Bloomsburg was underway.^^
offering

One of Miss Amanda Kern's special educalioii classes in the Benjamin
Ffanklin Tfaining School in 1938.

At the close of the school year, 1936-1937, the last member of "The Old
retired. William Boyd Sutliff, the first dean of instruction at
B.S.T.C. emptied his desk drawers and retreated to his home on East
Second Street across from the old pine tree at the corner of the campus.
FYom there he could keep his eye on his beloved school while he became

Guard"

more

actively involved in the activities of the town.

Appointed to fill the vacancy created by Sutliff 's retirement was Harvey
A. Andruss, the founder and head of the commercial department. Upon
his becoming dean of instruction, William B. Forney, teacher and
supervisor at the School was assigned to the post of director of business
education.^^

Tklk among Haas and the trustees concerning the need for additional
buildings had been a continuing matter of business at board meetings
from as early as the summer of 1931. They had recognized the limitations
of the gymnasium and realized that any attempts to extend its usefulness
would be mere "stop-gap" procedures. Also, they believed there were real
needs for an academic building to be used as a junior high laboratory
school, for a mens dormitory and for a shop with storage space. These

125

Francis B. Haas, second from left, at a meeting of Dauphin County
Alumni Association at the Harrisburger Hotel on October 22. 1938.
Also in photo, from left, are Miss Mary Meehan. Mrs. Jacob Schiefer,
Jesse Y. Shambach. Dr. Paul L. Cressman and R. Bruce Albert, who
was president of the Alumni Association at that time.
Dr.

new
It

buildings, in turn,

was evident

would

call for

an addition

to the heating plant.

to the administration of the College that the only

was

money

be found in the Federal public
works programs. Application could be made through the State
Department and a project of this magnitude would provide many needed
jobs in Columbia County. Perceiving the advantages of having
specifications for each of the four buildings to accompany the application
for Federal funds, the board hired Victor Gondos of the architectural firm
of Gondos and Gondos, Philadelphia.
The applications for the four buildings were processed by the State and
in 1937 were accepted by the Federal funding agencies. In June of that
year, Gondos was told by the General State Authority that he had been
chosen architect of the new construction at B.S.T.C. and that his firm
should "complete PWA form 156."^^ It looked as though the biggest
building program in the College's history was about to get underway.
The School was to receive a grant in Federal funds of $578,000.^^ Bids
were asked for, and after several delays, on January 5, 1938, the bids for
the construction of the four buildings were opened. The total estimated
cost was $617,992.^° More money from the government was unavailable.
At the College the decision was made to build a gymnasium with pool, a
shop with storage space, and a junior high school. Later an allocation
would be sought for a redesigned men's dormitory.
available for building purposes

to

126

On January

19,

1938, "Exercises

Commemorative
were held

of the Inauguration

auditorium in
Carver Hall.^^ There were many distinguished guests in attendance at that
assembly: Haas; D. J. Waller Jr, president emeritus; Dn H. V. Hower
president of the board of trustees; Fred Diehl, president of the Alumni
of the General State Authority Projects"

in the

Association; Nathan Krause, president of the Town Council; Carli
Momeweck, a representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Public
Instruction, and Joseph Cunningham from the General State Authority.
After the speeches and several musical selections by the Maroon and Gold
Band, the entire audience went to the site of the gymnasium for the

ground breaking. As the symbolic shovels of earth were turned over by
the dignitaries, it was the hope of everyone there that the new buildings
would be completed and in use by the time the College commemorated its
one hundredth anniversary in 1939.^^
Proud of its one hundred years of existence and of its achievements in
that time span, the School planned a gala Centennial Celebration. The
Alumni Association and the faculty started the affair by setting up a
Centennial Student Loan Fund, most of the donations being $100
gifts— $1 for each year of the Colleges history.^^

29. 1938. on Mt. Olympus next to Junior High
School (now Navy Hall). Bakeless Center for the Humanities and the Harvey
A. Andruss Library are now located on this site. The half-time ceremony
noted the 100th year of the College.

Homecoming Day, October

127

At the time of the big Centennial Celebration the campus covered about
55 acres. Everyone spoke of the part facing the river as the "east campus."
The part facing Science Hall was called the "back campus." and anything
located "up the hill" beyond North Hall was said to be on "upper
campus."
Hall's first floor contained four classrooms, and according to
count, the auditorium on second floor could seat one thousand
persons. "The Bridge" joining the second floors of Carver and Noetling
Halls was still in place but was slated for removal the following summer.
An addition to the north side of Carver Hall was planned also for the
summer of 1939, enlarging the stage area and giving space for additional

Carver

official

faculty

offices.*^^

Noetling Hall

was

the headquarters for the business education

department and on its first floor were several classrooms used for speech
and psychology. Also, Noetling Hall contained the day women's lounge
and faculty offices. In the basement, when the industrial arts courses had
been discontinued, the space had been made into gracious social rooms
for club meetings and other activities.^^
With the opening of an Alumni Room and the establishment of offices
for the department of health and physical education, the number of
classrooms in Waller Hall was reduced to one — Room L. at the northeast
corner of the building just opposite the post office. At the time of the
Centennial Celebration, Waller Hall was the hub of the College wheel. It
contained the offices of the president, of the dean of instruction, of other
faculty and staff members, as well as the dining room, the kitchen, the
business office, the College store, the post office, and the dean of women's
office.

and 1940 's the dean

of women's office stood at the end of
tower which served as the main entrance
to the girls' living quarters. One window in the office faced "east campus,"
the other overlooked Long Porch. Here in this office, each coed who had
permission from the dean to leave the campus after six o'clock in the
evening "signed out" and by ten o'clock, "signed in." Signing out not only
meant she wrote her name upon her card, but noted where she was going
and when she expected to return. Each parent or guardian had on file in
this office a letter to the dean saying the young woman was to be granted
permissions to visit at home on weekends. If such a letter were not in the
dean's office, a special one had to be written for each trip home. For
automobile riding, a special letter had to be in the student's file. And, of
course, there were particular rules emanating from the dean of women's
office which governed a girl's conduct at a dance:
In the 1930's

the hall opposite the south

During dances,
During dances,
During dances,

fire

women students may walk on Long Porch and east campus.
women students are not allowed on back campus.
women students must not sit in parked automobiles.^^
128

On second floor of Waller Hall were the library, the magazine room, the
infirmary and several faculty apartments. With third and fourth floors
devoted to living space for women. Waller Hall was the busiest building on
campus.^®

The

old

gymnasium,

built adjoining Waller

and Noetling

Halls,

was

still

use at Centennial time, although the entire College community was
eagerly awaiting the dedication and use of the new gymnasium at the top
in

of the

hill.

Science Hall housed the music depcirtment as well as the entire art
department, and was the home, with laboratories, of all the science
courses. It contained several lecture rooms with raised platforms in front
for the lecturer, and in the basement, in the area formerly used for
domestic science classes, social rooms with kitchen facilities provided
space for club and fraternity meetings.
North Hall was the only building on campus containing living
accommodations for men. The basement of North Hall had been made
into a lounge area for day men. Here, they held their annual smokers.
Here, sometimes, to these affairs of good fellowship, Haas would bring his
violin and entertain "the boys" with selections in the style of Jack Benny.
The laundry with athletic locker rooms in the basement had a new
companion building in the grove at Centennial time, but the new shop
had not been taken over by the School from the General State Authority.
The same was true of another new building part way up the hill.
Intended for the new junior high school on campus, it was similar in
design and intended function to the Benjamin Franklin TYaining School
beside which it stood facing east on Spruce Street.^^
At the very top of the hill stood the new gymnasium with pool, offices
and several classrooms. A beauty of a building, it waited in place for the
grand opening during Centennial weekend.
Thus, as alumni, friends of the College, students, faculty, and
administrators gathered together the weekend of May 26 and 27, 1939. to
celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the School,
they could note with pride what was taking place. For the third
consecutive year, the B.S.TC. track team had won the State College
Championship allowing the School to keep the trophy permanently.
Bloomsburg had placed first in half the events, with Van Devender setting
two new State records in the hurdles and Kemple breaking the established
time in the 880 yard run.^° Also these guests and members of the College
community could note the growth academically at the school. There was
a new flourishing business depairtment less than ten years old, a speech
correction clinic, and an infant department for training teachers to work
with the handicapped.
In celebration, the day men and day women opened the weekend Friday
evening with a style show. Modeled that night were clothing worn by the
well-dressed students at Bloomsburg during the different eras of the

—

—

129

The 100th anniversary of the College featured many special events and
programs. Participants in a pageant on May 26. 1939. included (front row)
Rowena Troy and George Lewis: (second row) Dorothy Englehart. Muriel
Rinard. Claire Sirrocco. Miriam Utt. Marie Parsell. Martha Wright. Charles
Girton. Jean Shuman. Clifton Wright and Lois Slopey: (third row) Lucy Jane
Baker Lorraine Snyder Vivian Frey. Mary Aikman. Norman Cool. Isabelle Olah.
Aldona Maslowsky. Mary Betty Conner. Lois Johnson. Arlene Swinesburg.
Ruth Sharretts. Dorothy Albertson. Ethel Lauer and Edwin Wenner

School's history. Replete with music of each period, the
the director of Ethel Ranson and Harriet Moore.

show was under

That same evening in Carver Auditorium the Bloomsburg Players
presented two one-act plays which had been given on that stage before.
One, The Ronjancers. had been given by the Calliepian Society in 1911,
and the other, Between The Acts, had been presented by the Philologian
Society in 1901. As the evening progressed, much to the amusement of
the audience, the old rivalry between the two literary organizations sprang
forth once again. The Gallic challenge was led by Elna "Doc" Nelson, and
the Philo response by Howard Fenstemaker.
Saturday morning at 10 o'clock a dedicatory ceremony had been
planned

when

for the

new gymnasium. Spirits had been dampened somewhat
week word was received on campus that the

the previous

Department of Public Instruction refused to accept 10 million dollars
worth of construction from the General State Authority. Among the
buildings listed was B.S.TG.'s new gymnasium. The dedication of the new
buildings would be postponed. All other planned activities would take
place in the old gymnasium and Garver Auditorium.^'

130

On August 23. 1939. Governor Arthur H. James announced that he had
appointed Francis B. Haas as Superintendent of Public Instruction for the
second time. Haas accepted the position. Less than a week later. August
29. Haas was in Harrisburg to take the oath of office, signing his
commission with the same pen he had used to sign a like commission
in 1925.72

Dean Harvey A. Andruss was selected by the board to be acting
president of the College until a president should be named.^^

This aerial photograph, taken in the early 1940s, shows the campus as
remained until the massive building program, began in the early 1960s.

131

it

Harvey A. Andruss
1939-1969

132

Chapter

Harvey c5\.

11

c5\ndruss

*^^e^ Programs, TN{eW tBuildings,

*^W Strength

Officially, the thirty year tenure of Harvey A. Andruss as president of
the College began August 30, 1939 when "...Upon motion... and
carried, it was resolved" by the trustees, "that Mr Harvey A.
Andruss, Dean of Instruction, be named Acting President until such time
as the Board... elects a President to succeed Dr FYancis B. Haas."^

unanimously

Andruss had earned his A.B. degree and his Phi Beta Kappa Key at the
University of Oklahoma in 1924. In 1926, he had completed the work for
an M.B.A. at Northwestern University and held the Certificate in Public
and Private Business. He had taught in the schools of Oklahoma, at
Northwestern University, at Indiana State Teachers College, Indiana,
Pennsylvania, and in 1930 had come to Bloomsburg to organize and direct
the department of business education. In 1937, upon Dean Sutliff s
retirement, Andruss had been appointed dean of instruction. He was the
author of three business education textbooks and four workbooks in the
field of business at the high school and college levels. Many articles
written by him about the business world and the preparation of business
teachers had been published in professional journals.*
In the community, Andruss was active in the work of the Presbyterian
Church; he was serving as a director of the Bloomsburg Public Library; he
was a director and active member of the Kiwanis Club; he had served as
chairman of the Bloomsburg Salvation Army, and he had been
instrumental in reactivating a chapter of the American Red Cross in
Bloomsburg, serving for a time as president of the local organization.2- ^
In 1939, at B.S.T.C., the well-groomed campus was a show place of the
region; the enrollment at the College hovered between 630 and 675; the
faculty, of about forty members, was adequate and well prepaired for the
fields in which its members taught; the academic offerings not only were
appropriate for the publics needs, but also were attractive to the
prospective students, lb all appearances, growth and prosperity seemed
certain as Andruss assumed the leadership of the School.
But this was the end of the pre-World War II era. Beneath the apparent
133

on campuses across the country, pressures and problems were
and constantly growing because of the war in Europe. A general
increase in business and industrial activity brought on by the war was
affecting college enrollments across the United States. Young men and
women were being lured by good job opportunities and by high wages to
tranquility

rising

the defense plants.

Looking ahead, Andruss realized that B.S.T.C., a professional institution,
would be particularly susceptible to decreased enrollment. Then, with the
passage of the Selective Service Act of 1940, all evidence pointed to the
need for the administration of the College to find ways to keep the
institution in tune with the times.
One of the first steps taken was to affiliate with the Civil Aeronautics
Program which was sponsored by the Federal Government in cooperation
with colleges. For Andruss, this involved travel— to Harrisburg, to Lock
Haven, to Williamsport, to Washington. With the town willing to lease the
airport from Harry L. Magee, the Civilian Aviation Authority (C.A.A.) pilot
training program became feasible.* At the board meeting September 4,
1940 Andruss reported to the trustees the certainty of aviation training at
the local airport and on November 18, at its regular meeting, he told the
board of the first ten students (nine men and one woman) chosen from 75
applicants who had begun their 72 hours of ground school work under
William McK. Reber, and who would be starting their 35 hours of flight
training under

Sam

Bigony.^- ^

Even with C.A.A. on campus and the city newspapers in the library
headlining the brutal war in Europe, there was a serenity at the College
that belied the times. It was as though the Age of Innocence were coming
to an end, and. while aware of it, the student body was determined to
enjoy it. For example, much time and planning went into the mock
Republican Convention in the spring of 1940. With great hoopla, with
many speeches, with bands, banners, and cheering, on April 25 the
Republican students nominated Senator Robert Tkft for the U. S.
presidency.^
It was that same spring, and again in the fall, that two students by
means of two original three-act musical plays presented a picture of
"Campus life in swing time." These "...innovations were the first time that
production was entirely in the hands of students from composition to
direction to management." The first. Fumbles Forgotten and the second.
Burned Bridges, completely ignored the dramatic changes about to take
place in the lives of every member of the student body. The music for the
two plays was written by Richard Foote, Class of 41, the books and lyrics
by Eda Bessie Beilhartz,^ also Class of 41.
The Freshman Hop, the Sophomore Cotillion, the Junior Prom, all were

program dances evenly spaced through the year and each brought out the
colorful and graceful evening gowns of the era. Faculty and students alike
danced away the evening in the old gym to dreamy tunes such as
134

Stardust, or Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, or September In the Rain. When
the band started playing Goodnight, Sweetheart, the dancers drifted to
the hall to say goodbye, the girls going up library stairs to the dormitory,
the boys leaving campus by Senior Walk, or heading past the post office
for

Old North Hall.

As students crossed the campus for classes, they could be heard singing
The Dipsy Doodle, or The Three Little Fishies, or I'll Never Smile Again,
or perhaps Chatanooga Choo-Choo.
The sports of the era were not exactly exciting, but the students
supported all athletic activities and enjoyed them. In football, the teams
lost

some,

won

Championship

a few. In track, after winning the State Teachers College
for five years consecutively, the College lost in its sixth try.

young sport on the hill, had mediocre seasons. The
won more games than they lost, with the scheduled
14-game season of 1941 being typical— Bloomsburg won 11, lost 3. That
year. Bill Kerchusky was named to the Associated Press's All Pennsylvania
Soccer, being a

basketball teams

Basketball Team.

But underneath this apparent serenity, there was stirring a recognition
beyond the campus. Lying on desks in the rooms of the
girls' dormitory could be found half-knit sweaters and socks of khakicolored yarn, which when finished would be sent to Europe through the
Red Cross.
of the conflict

When

the Selective Service Act

became

effective, representatives of the

board met on campus one fall day to register all male students who
were 21 years of age or older. That morning as the men were milling
around in the hallway in front of the old gym, someone noted that this
date was Bill Kerchusky 's 21st birthday. As the gym doors opened, one
mighty push sent Bill to the head of the line, making him the first man on
campus to register for the draft. A dubious birthday present!^
For some time, Mrs. Howard Fenstemaker had been trying to get her
husband to discard an old, fading, navy-blue topcoat, but with the first
cold weather each year, Fenstemaker would begin wearing the topcoat to
classes in Science Hall. One fall, a drive for good used clothing was started
on campus for Bundles for Britain. The announcement of the drive was
made at a pep rally-assembly one Friday morning. Going to the podium,
Fenstemaker announced that if the football team won the game on
Saturday he would give his favorite topcoat to Bundles for Britain. The
next day, B.S.T.C. won. TUesday morning in assembly, with a suitbox
under his arm, Fenstemaker made good his promise, adding his topcoat to
the collection of clothing to be sent to England from the College.
Late in 1940, the Governor appointed a completely new board of
trustees for Bloomsburg. This board considered as its first and most
important item of business the selection of a president for the College.
From August, 1939, until January, 1941, Andruss had been doing the
work of a president while carrying the temporary title of acting president.
draft

135

On January

8. 1941, the trustees at their organizational meeting
nominated Andruss for the position of president of the Bloomsburg State
Teachers College and then unanimously elected him to the post.
However, announcement of his selection was not made until a week later
when confirmation of his appointment by the Governor was received
January 15.^° ^^
From time to time, "hearsay" would lift the rumor that some of the
State Teachers Colleges would be closed or sold to local school districts for
vocational training centers. Among the more substantial rumors were two
which surfaced in 1941, when several bills were introduced in the State
Legislature concerning the status of the schools. One bill would have

transformed some of the State Teachers Colleges into vocational-technical
schools run by the State because the sponsor of the bill believed there was
a surplus of teachers and a shortage of skilled workers. The other bill
introduced at the same time would have established one vocationaltechnical school in the eastern part of the State, and one in the western
part. Many legislators believed that the private colleges were capable of
providing enough teachers for the public schools of the Commonwealth
and that support for the Teachers Colleges was a waste of taxpayers'
money.^2 Against such a background the Andruss administration set
about updating its offerings, changing to meet the times, and extending
its services to meet the needs of its immediate region. For example: Under
the name B.S.T.C. Educational Clinic, four individual clinics were
established in the remodeled rooms of Noetling Hall. This meant that as
the College inaugurated its speech clinic, B.S.T.C. had services to offer the
public schools of Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, and Luzerne
counties without cost to the schools— in the fields of speech, psychology,
hearing and reading.^^
In late

of 1941, Dn T P. North, who had been acting dean of
was appointed to fill that post on a permanent basis.^^

May

instruction,

The war changed the composition of the faculty as well as student
enrollment. Several professors were in reserve units, and were called into
the services. For instance, by late summer, 1941, the board was called
upon to grant a leave-of-absence for Herbert McMahan, a teacher in the
business department. He had been ordered to report for active duty in the
Naval Reserve .^^
At the same board meeting at which the trustees had acted upon the
McMahan matter, they had approved Andrusss proposal for the

and Penn State in offering classes on the
Bloomsburg campus, using Bloomsburg professors, in technical and
general engineering subjects. Andruss had been in contact with the
Pennsylvania State College and with the proper authority in Harrisburg.
(When these classes were instituted they were held in Science Hall four
collaboration of the College

nights each

week

for

Though the courses did not carry
campus 2,000 people from the

a 15-week term.

college credits, they brought to the

136

and management
From 80 to 90 percent of those who enrolled found
defense industry jobs upon completion of the studies. This cooperative
war-time night school was under the direction of Roy D. Snyder)i^- ^^
In 1941, the "big scare" in Pennsylvania was the outbreak of infantile
paralysis. Just as the public schools and colleges were about to begin their
fall terms, a rash of cases spread across the State. As the fear leap-frogged
from community to community, the Department of Health asked the
surrounding area

war

to take science, engineering, drafting

training courses.

superintendent of public instruction to delay the opening of schools. On
the hill, Benjamin Franklin Laboratory School was already in session
when the College received the directive from Harrisburg on September 2.
Immediately the training school was closed, and the fall opening of
the College was delayed for several weeks.^® No student was known to
have contracted the disease, but panic in an absentee form had touched
the campus.
At the College two of the three new buildings stood undedicated and
unused. Since early 1939 efforts had been made to open the gymnasium

Completed except for electrical power it had been
and alumni on occasion, and during one summer
school session the pool had been filled for a swim party, only to be
emptied the next day. Continually, throughout 1939, 1940, and 1941, the
College Administration had tried to find a reasonable and equitable
at the top of the

shown

hill.

to the public

solution to the electrical installation problem. Without electricity, the
building could not be used for classes or games. Finally, in February, 1942,
at a meeting of the board of trustees, Andruss announced, "...I am pleased
to report that we now have power and light in the new gymnasium and

we expect to use the gymnasium floor for the first time for a basketball
game on Friday evening, February 27, ...in a game with West Chester."!^
The game was played as scheduled. It was the last game of the 41-42
season. At its close, the score stood Bloomsburg 44, West Chester 40.2°
For some time, the consensus of opinion around the College had been
that the new gymnasium building should be named for Dn Francis B.

Haas.

When

he had been approached concerning the matter, he had

made

known

his feelings that college buildings should not be named for living
persons.21 Remembering this, as plans were being made for the dedication

of the building

the matter of a
...that

the

Gymnasium

on Alumni Day, Andruss took up with the board of trustees
name for this facility. "Upon motion" it was decided,

new gymnasium be dedicated
to commemorate the century

beginning in 1839

in the name of The Centenni£il
of existence of the College from
to 1939, the date of the laying of the cornerstone...22

its

Called one of the most impressive exercises in the history of B.S.T.C., the
dedication of the new $300,000 facility was the highlight of Alumni Day,

May

23, 1942.

Among the

dignitaries

who

137

participated were

Dean

Emeritus

Sutliff,

A. K. Aldinger of

Governor Arthur H. James, Dn Francis B. Haas, and Dn
New York City who in January, 1894 had opened the Old

Gym with a "gymnasium exhibitioners

Centennial

Gymnasium

in

December. 1940.

When the fall term began in 1942, Andruss reported to the board that
only 285 regular students were enrolled. Then he added, "...our budget for
the year was based on 325." He went on to say that 40 aviators were on
campus, that the number was to be increased to 80, which would bring
an added revenue to the College of $40,000. The second semester of that
year, only 260 regular students enrolled, and of these, 26 were called to
military service before the middle of February. The "aviators" of which
Andruss spoke were aviation cadets of the V-5 program who were
receiving their pilot training at B.S.T.C. and at the Bloomsburg airport.^^
After June, 1942, the C.A.A. program was no longer offered at the
School. From September, 1940 until the program ended on campus, over
100 students at the College had received ground school instruction and
flight training as part of their undergraduate work. From this group, came
some of the first United States pilots to see active service in the war. Then
in the summer of 1942, men in uniform came to the campus.
By September, 1942 the School had been designated a Navy Aviation
Center and in November, with five other colleges and universities (Georgia,
Chicago, Purdue, Texas Christian and Arizona) Bloomsburg had been
chosen as a Naval Flight Instructor's School. In the spring of 1943, with
other public cmd private colleges in Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg was
inspected as a possible site for the Navy V-12 training. Nine institutions in
the State were approved. Among them, Bloomsburg was the only State
138

The following August, the V-5 Program was reinstated
and combat pilot trainees arrived in Bloomsburg once more. Before the
war s end, the little College at the top of the hill could count 550 Army and
Navy Air Cadets and 500 officer candidates who had trained on her
campus, plus the 250 Navy men who had been enrolled in the Flight
Tfeachers College.

Instructor's School.^^

26. 27

was

classes,

utilized for

called

"Navy

Navy

classroom space

and

in the

new junior high school
came to be

unofficially, the building

Hall".

Junior High School

in

May. 1941. Later

named Navy

Hall.

The usual college calendar as agreed to by the board of presidents of the
State Teachers Colleges consisted of two semesters, each of 18 weeks, a
pre-summer session of three weeks, a summer session of six weeks, and a
post-session of another three weeks. At the College, because the Navy
trainees and the regular students attended many of the same classes, and
because the Navy's calendar did not coincide with that of Pennsylvania's
State Teachers Colleges', Andruss sought and received approval in the fall
of 1943 for

Bloomsburg

difficulty this

to function on the trimester plan. Aware of the
could pose for teachers-in-service, a summer school of 12

weeks (3-6-3) was superimposed on the trimester calendar.^^
With fewer than 200 regular students on campus and most of them
girls, the arrival of the Navy brought changes to the college other than
those of a yearly calendcir. For the first time in many, many years, men
139

were housed in Waller Hall. Reserved for women students were the rooms
on library hall on third and fourth floors, and on second floor all rooms
from the elevator to the infirmary. The remainder of Waller Hall's living
space was allotted to the Navy. Of course these changes entailed some
inside renovations to the old building; different and additional plumbing
was needed; sturdy dividing doors were installed; and clearly, the
entrances designated for women and those designated for Navy men had
to be understood by everyone.^^

Navy men

in front of

Carver Hall. 1945.

Of all the men registered as regulair students (perhaps no more than 25
or as few as 17) by 1943 about half were members of reserve units of the
Army, Navy or Marine Corps. As such, in addition to their regular
schedule of studies they were required to carry extra hours of health and
physical education, including drill. Not since the turn of the century had
there been drill on campus .^°
At times not only the College but the entire community became
involved in Navy problems. During the summer months the Navy trainees
wore white. The laundry facilities at the College proved inadequate. An
appeal for laundry help went out through the local U.S.O. Home after
home in the town offered the use of their washing machines to the sailors

keep their uniforms "navy white."^'
During the winter of 1943, the directors of the Bloomsburg Hospital
expressed an interest in having beginning nursing students from that
institution take fundamental science class work at the College. When
Andruss presented the request to the trustees he noted that Federal funds
to

140

available; that at the College, classroom space posed no
problems, and that courses in biology, physiology and the social sciences
could be taught by the existing faculty. Support for such cooperation was
great enough among the directors and trustees of both institutions that in
the late summer Andruss went to Washington to consult with the Public
Health Service about the feasibility and funding of the plan. Upon his
return, the arrangements were completed and in September, 1943,
nursing students began their course work at the College again. This
relationship continued until the Bloomsburg Hospital phased out its

would be

School of Nursing.^2.

33

was different as school opened in the fall
was the accelerated war economy, or perhaps the sight
of uniforms on campus and in the town. That fall, even a football team
was among the missing. With the regular student population
The atmosphere

of 1943. Perhaps

at the College

it

overwhelmingly female, with gasoline rationing eliminating the use of
chartered buses to transport teams, with a school budget so tight that
support of a football team would have meant increasing the activity fee.
the faculty, administration and students voted to cancel the intercollegiate
schedule of football games. It was for that reason that on Homecoming
Day, Saturday, October 16. 1943, the feature of the afternoon was a
football game between the "Reds" and the "Whites." Both teams were
composed entirely of V-12 Navy men, and, to quote the local newspaper,
"...the "Reds" won, 6-0, ...in as good an exhibition of the gridiron sport as
was ever staged on a Homecoming Day."^'* College football returned to the
campus the following year, but, in truth, for the ensuing several years the

were Navy teams— football, soccer, baseball, track,
swimming, and basketball. For example, in basketball in
1944-1945, the team Bloomsburg put on the court was made up of one
civilian and the rest Navy men.^^
Student government has a long history at Bloomsburg. However, by
some quirk of tradition, the nominees for president were always male
students. For the school year 1942-1943. Boyd Buckingham was elected to
head C.G.A. That year, in second spot as vice president was Joanne Fice
(Buckingham). Soon after the end of the first semester, Buckingham was

teams

in all sports

wrestling,

called to active duty in the Air Force. For the first time in the history of

student government at the College, B.S.T.C. had a woman student
presiding at the C.G.A. meetings and leading the activities of the School's
governing body. A short time later, Mary Lou Fenstemaker (John) Class of
1945, was elected president of C.G.A. but nearly forty years would elapse
after Fenstemaker s election before tradition would break again and
another young woman would be elected to head C.G.A. in 1981.
During the war years students and townspeople joined in first aid and
home nursing classes held on campus which were sponsored by the
American Red Cross. Forney, head of the business education department,
was active in training the town's air raid wardens. The knitting and

141

bandage making continued all during the war at churches, at club
meetings and in the social rooms at the College. The faculty wives, at their
meetings, made bandages for the Red Cross while one of their members
read aloud from the Classics.
To understand fully the ability of this little College to recoup and
continue through all the changes brought about by the war, it is necessary
to look at what was happening to the faculty. Perhaps Andruss said it best
when, in recounting to the board the additions and renovations made to
the plant he ended by saying,
adjustment has been made by the faculty... When a musical
and language instructor becomes a mathematics teacher, a dean
becomes an aviator, a coach learns to teach navigation, a physical education
director becomes a drill master and a geography instructor becomes a weather
man, we have a campus revolution...^^
...a

far greater

director

A unique outgrowth of the aviation activities on campus was the
development of an aviation course in the department of secondary
education. This was a flight course in aeronautics which was first given
the

summer session

of 1942.

It

was

in

offered only to high school teachers-in-

Sponsored jointly by the College and the Civil Aeronautics
Administration, Bloomsburg was the first institution in the nation to
prepare secondary teachers in the field of aeronautics on a purely
educational and instructional basis.^^ The success of the summer program
led to an circa of certification in the secondary education curriculum.
Approval for such certification was granted by the Department of Public
Instruction in 1943. At one time a faculty of twelve was required to teach
the course work.^^ By 1955, however, demand for the program had
dwindled and aeronautics at B.S.T.C. was terminated.
At the meeting of the board of trustees June 20, 1945, Andruss asked
for a leave -of-absence in order that he might accept an invitation of the
War Department to be an educational consultant and professor of
accounting at one of the Army Universities which were about to be
established in England and France. He asked that the leave be granted for
no less than seven months and for no longer than a year The board
approved, calling the leave a "military leave," and at Andruss's
suggestion, designated Dr T P. North as acting president.^^
On July 1, Andruss was commissioned a colonel in the United States
Army, and was sent to Shrivenham, England to help organize the
university for G.I.'s which was being established there. By August, the

service.

Andruss was heading the accounting department of
and that about 500 soldiers were enrolled .*°
By January, 1946, Andruss was back in his post at B.S.T.C. At their
regular meeting, the trustees noted the citation awarded him by Brig.
local press reported

Army

University Center, ^1,

Gen. C. M. Thiele. In

part,

it

read as follows:

142

During the past few months you have been a part in the most important part
of the Army Education Program. The establishment of an educational program
on the University level was unique in military history. The planning, selection
of staff, supervision, and operation of Universities on foreign soil created many
problems which have been met and solved.
As Branch Head of the Accounting Department your ability, zeal,
resourcefulness, loyalty and devotion to duty renected credit to yourself and the
military service, and contributed materially to the success of Shrivenham
American University. Your services have been invaluable in the solving of
innumerable problems.
For an all too fleeting period of four months, we have been associated in
what, by universal testimony of all participants, was made up from the most
distinguished teachers and scholars in the American Academic World. Only a
unique project such as this could attract so high a level of teaching ability and
scholarly attainment. In this group you have taken an active part...

Then

the general, in this citation, went on to express his personal
appreciation and good wishes to Andruss, personally and professionally.^'
(B.S.T.C. had been represented on the world stage not only by her
students and alumni but also by her chief administrator.)
Looking ahead to the end of the war, Andruss proposed to the trustees
that College credits be given to the cadets who had completed work at
B.S.T.C, if they requested the College to do so. Too, he suggested these
men be informed of this action, in case, upon return from the war they
were interested in continuing their studies at Bloomsburg. The board
approved Shortly after the cessation of hostilities the effects of this letter
."^^

could be noted on campus.

The opening of the fall term in 1945 found veterans returning to B.S.T.C.
and by the second semester of that year the great veteran enrollment was
in full swing. TWo Acts of Congress had established benefits for the
returning soldiers. Public Law 346 provided for one year of education,
plus the number of months of service for the men and women who had
served at least 90 days in active service after September 16. 1940. The
second law was applicable to veterans with disabilities whose handicap
had been incurred in service after the date of September 16. 1940. Benefits
under these laws could be used by both full-time and part-time students.
However the program of studies for each veteran was not to extend over a
period of more than four years.'*^ By January. 1946, the big problem at
B.S.T.C. was finding suitable housing for veteran families.'*^ There were so
many married ex-G.I.'s that a new organization appeared on campus
called the Dames Club. It was made up of the wives of veteran students
and was purely social in character
Beginning with the fall semester of 1946. along with returning
servicemen, the enrollment was augmented by the coming to the campus
of about 75 Penn State freshmen. The second year after the end of the
War. veterans had swelled the enrollments at colleges and universities
throughout the country. When the Pennsylvania State College found it

143

could not accommodate all of its students at its State College campus, a
call for help went out to the smaller institutions in the Commonwealth.
The presidents of the State Teachers Colleges met with Penn State's
president and the solution to the problem was to "farm out" the freshman
classes of Penn State until the veteran boom should end. For the next four
years, 1946-1947 through 1949-1950. Penn State liberal arts freshmen
studied at B.S.T.C. By the early 1950's, the shortage of elementary
teachers throughout the area increased so dramatically the number of
women enrolling in the elementary curriculum at Bloomsburg that
Andruss found it necessary to end the agreement with Penn State. All
housing space was needed for incoming B.S.T.C. students.*^ At the College,
the "housing pinch" had begun.
The same year that freshmen from the Pennsylvania State College
began their studies at Bloomsburg, a new device was installed in Science
Hall, which for a few short years was the scientific wonder of the campus.
Harold Lanterman, S. 1. Shortess, and H. Harrison Russell, all professors in
the science department, had asked for the Foucault Pendulum as a
teaching aid. It took its name from a French scientist, Jean Bernard
Foucault, who had suspended his invention from the ceiling of the

Foucault Pendulum in Science Hall. 1946.

Pcintheon in Paris to prove the rotation of the Earth. In the United States,
only five other colleges and universities along the Atlantic seacoast had
installed the device. At Bloomsburg, under the supervision of Nevin T.
Englehart, Class of 1905 and superintendent of grounds and buildings for

144

over forty years, the pendulum was suspended in the front fire tower of
Science Hall. It worked with great accuracy.*^
The first Distinguished Service Awards to outstanding alumni and
friends were presented at the annual meeting of the Alumni Association in
the spring of 1948. Suggested by E. H. Nelson, the awards are made each
year as a feature of Alumni Day. No more than three awards are to be
made in any one year, and any graduate of Bloomsburg or any person
who has served the College in any capacity is eligible for the honor. In
1948, the first awards were made to Francis B. Haas; Daniel Webster
Litwhiler, Class of 1938; and John Gilbert Conner, Class of 1883. (Litwhiler
had been an athlete at B.S.T.C., particularly in baseball. At the time the
award was given, he was a member of the Cincinnati baseball team with a
game scheduled in Philadelphia for the Saturday of Alumni Day. At the
College, his young son accepted the award for him. For many years,
Conner had been headmaster of West Nottinghaim Academy, Mairyland,
and after leaving the education field, had founded the Conner Millwork
Company of TVenton, New Jersey. Always, he had been civic-minded in
any community in which he lived, and he had been a supporter of B.S.T.C.
throughout the years.)'*'
(The custom of giving the Distinguished Service Awards continues.
Throughout the years since 1948 except for 1976 when no awards were
made the group of recipients has included three college presidents,
deans, teachers, college professors, missionaries, a literacy expert, a Nobel
Prize scientist, a sculptor, several writers of children's books, a judge, an
historian, a radiology pioneer—just to mention a few of the professions in
which graduates of B.S.C. have served with distinction.)
In the school-yeair 1948-1949, a new publication appeared on campus
called the Olympian. A literary magazine, it contained short stories,
poetry, cartoons and essays which had been created by B.S.T.C. students.'*^
The magazine was well received and through the years has continued to
be a creative outlet for students with literary talent.
This was the same year that the football and baseball teams coached by
Robert Redman completed undefeated seasons. The football team the
following year did nearly as well, dropping only one game. It was at the
end of the undefeated seasons that the College began honoring its
graduating athletes who had participated for four years in at least one
sport by awarding them life -time passes to Bloomsburg 's athletic events.*^
The most noticeable change to the physical plant in 1949-1950 was the
renovation of Long Porch. In place of the old structure with its wooden
floor and wooden balustrades and posts there appeared a new porch of
brick and tile. Fifteen graceful colonades faced East Second Street and
seven faced the inner court of Waller Hall.^°
Academically, the school year 1948-1949 saw the College receiving
accreditation by the American Association of Colleges for Tfeacher
Education. At that time, this was a new national organization and B.S.T.C.

—

—

-

145

^

"Long Porch" on Waller Hall

was among the

receive accreditation from it. The following spring,
was accredited by the Middle States Association of
Secondary Schools and Colleges.^
To meet the demands of the changing state requirements for the public
first to

1950. the College

school system, the administration added to the curriculum. In 1948. a
course in driver education was established, and in 1951 a program of
studies for public school nurses was begun, as was a similar program that
same year for public school dental hygienists. In the meantime, in 1950,
the College had been selected as one of eight teachers colleges in eight
different states to cooperate with Columbia University on what came to be
called the Citizenship Project.
In 1951. for the second time in four years, the Husky football team had
an undefeated season under Coach Redman .^^ That year, the College was
one of only seventeen in the United States whose football teams had won
every scheduled game. Following on the heels of such a football season.
Coach Harold Shelly was credited with having "basketball wizardry." His
team had closed the winter's schedule with 12 wins and 4 losses. "Chuck"
Daly was called the "Ace." having been high scorer for the season. After
Daly were Byham. Williams. Linkhorst and Erickson.^^ The pride of the
School in its athletic teams was reflected in the local press, the alumni
publication and the College newspaper.
However, by 1952, scheduling intercollegiate sports for B.S.T.C. involved
a few problems. The football schedule, particularly, would see some
changes in the coming years, and with tongue-in-cheek, Andruss
explained the situation to the trustees. In part, he said:

146

Some years ago when our relations with East Stroudsburg became strained
over local fans tearing down the goal posts at East Stroudsburg following our
winning a football game: the hospitalization of several players on both teams
the next year following the game, and shortly thereafter the basketball game
resulted in a disturbance on the floor which had to be quieted by a police
officer, we reached the decision that the cessation of relations would be
desirable... Shippensburg. Millersville, and Lock Haven have chosen not to
continue to play us in football...
Andruss went on to say Lock Haven wished to play Bloomsburg at a time
for which the team was scheduled with another college, and that
Shippensburg had "...caused quite a commotion in the press."^'*
In 1952, when the Legislature increased the bonding limit of the
General State Authority, the effect of the action was the same as money
having been made available to the State Teachers Colleges for building
purposes. At Bloomsburg. Andruss pointed out to the trustees the greatest
building needs on campus: A dining room-kitchen-storage facility. This, he
said, should be one of the first new buildings constructed at the College.
For some time, questions had been arising concerning the safety of the
kitchen- dining room set-up. For example, the only exit from the kitchen
for the people working there was through the dining room. The library
was inadequate and had been so noted by the committees of the accrediting
agencies when the College had been evaluated. Dormitory space for men
was a high priority as was a garage-paint shop for campus maintenance.
Also, with continued growth in enrollment, another auditorium was
needed— one large enough to seat the entire student body.^^
By April of that year word had been received from Harrisburg that funds
were forthcoming for the requested rewiring job at the College. The
communication also said funds would be available for the construction of
a new dining hall and for one other project on campus which the School
should name immediately. Andruss chose to have the old dining room
renovated for library use.^^
In the beginning at Bloomsburg the era of physical growth began at a
leisurely pace. As though laying a foundation for the building boom to
come, the administration initiated a series of renovations which kept the
College running efficiently and comfortably during the years of physical
change to the plant. Most renewal projects were to Carver and Waller
Halls. The first involved changing the four classrooms in Carver Hall into
administrative offices for the president, the dean of instruction, and
business manager.
After the opening of Centennial Gymnasium and during the late war
years, the old gymnasium between Waller and Noetling Halls had been
used as a canteen and lounge. Walter Rygiel was the faculty advisor and a
senior, Eileen Superdock, was the first student manager Enough profit
was realized the first year to help finance the publishing of the Obiter.
Then spoken of as Waller Lounge, its renovations of the 1950 s included a

147

fireplace built

on

its

north wall, a

new

floor,

and

in the bleacher area

on

the east side of the room, a mezzanine for watching television. The College
Book Store was moved from its place near the post office to the west side
of the lounge in the space formerly occupied by the visitors' bleachers.
Just to the left of the main entrance, the canteen was enlarged. Renamed

the

Husky Lounge, a businessman from the town, Horace Williams, was

hired to manage it.
In other parts of Waller Hall, the old administrative offices received a
face lift and became the offices of the social deans. The post office was
enlarged. Several student offices were renovated. A faculty lounge was
created, and on the outside of Waller Hall, a portico was added at the main

entrance.

Within a very few years of the moving of the administrative offices to
first floor of Carver Hall, other changes were made in and around that

the

The fountain at the top of College Hill was removed and in its
place was built a limestone entrance to the campus. The exterior brick
walls of Carver Hall were painted and, at the front of the building, the
porch was renovated. It was also at this time that the porches at Buckalew

building:

Place were redone .^^
Plans were made in the school year 1953-1954 to commemorate the
85th anniversary of teacher education at Bloomsburg, and at the same
time to honor the twenty-seven alumni who had lost their lives in World
War II. At an open house February 19, 1954 the new administrative offices

"The Bloomsburg Beacon.'
lighted in honor of alumni

and students who died
World War II.

148

in

were shown to the public, and at a program in the auditorium. Carver
Tbwer was lighted for the first time. Dedicated to the Gold Star Alumni of
World War II, the lighted tower was named the Bloomsburg Beacon.^®
(Throughout the years since then, each night the lights have been
switched on in memory of: Kenneth M. Allen, '44; John L. Atkinson, 43;
Lamar K. Blass, '37; Leonard Bower, 41; John R. Carr, '34; Robert
Cresswell, '45; Joseph J. Evancho, '37; John Hancock, '40; James
Harman, '42; Earl J. Harris, '42; Leo J. Hoffman, '46; John L. Hower, '45;
Hummel, '33; Donald Jenkins. 43; Walter J. Kania, '44; Clyde
Woodrow
C. Kitch, '35; Allen A. McCracken, 45; Paul J. McHale, '40; Thomas
Reagan, '37; Walter H. Reed, 41; Cyril J. Rowland, '38; Albert E. Rudy, 48;
Mary F. Schuyler, '33; Michael Soback, '44; Victor R. Tlirini, '41; Chalmers
S. Wenrich, '39; and Anthony C. Yenalavage, '43.)^^ After the program in
the auditorium a reception for invited guests was held in Waller Lounge
and the Freshman Hop in Centennial Gymnasium continued the festivities

W

W

W

that night for the students .^°

While these changes were being made to the physical plant, changes
had taken place in the administration and staff. CM. Hausknecht, the
always understanding business manager for over forty years, retired and
Paul G. Martin, Class of '38. took his place. In 1953, when Dr. Kehr left the
College after completing her twenty-fifth year as dean of women, Elizabeth
Miller (Williams) came to B.S.T.C. to succeed Dr. Kehr. In 1955, at the
retirement of T. P. North, John Hoch, former coach, dean of men, and
director of public relations became dean of instruction.
Enrollment at the College in 1955 stood at 817. The ratio of men to
women was 5 to 3. By this time the veterans on campus were men
returning from Korea. They had come back to a country with increasing
unemployment, but with educational benefits for men who had served in
that Asian conflict. Pennsylvania veterans were returning to a State which
had been increasing teachers' salaries. Across the Commonwealth, in the
public schools, the average teacher was earning $4,000.^^ At B.S.T.C,
when the Korean veterans enrolled, business education became the

largest division.

The 1956 football season is remembered as the season of the "red
The Huskies of B.S.T.C. and the Monarchs of King's College were

paint."

each other Saturday afternoon, October 27, in a
at Meyers High School Stadium, Wilkes-Barre.
Relations between the schools had never been unfriendly until aifter the

scheduled

to play

Homecoming football game

game

the previous year. Then feelings had become rather strained. King's
outstanding passing back had been hospitalized and had been unable to
play in the next three games. At Bloomsburg the administration had
made known the hope that no similar incident would occur this year.^^
Then, early on the morning of October 24, officials at King's were
awakened by a disturbance outside. Upon investigating they found "...the
main building smeared with red paint." Later, red paint was discovered on

149

Hafey Hall, and at Meyers Stadium. Some of the paintings said "BSTC" or
"Go Huskies" or "BSTC beat King's." In their haste, the vandals had
spilled the paint on the sidewalks and had dropped in the bushes two
brooms, a paint brush, and a five-gallon paint can.
The affair was investigated by the Wilkes-Barre police who estimated
the cost of clean-up at $10,000. Bloomsburg authorities estimated the
at $1,000. On a glazed tile building the paint was easily removed
but on the rough brick and limestone, the paint presented a much more

damage

difficult problem.^'*

Wilkes-Barre newspaper men talked about a "shocked Wyoming Valley"
and found such reprehensible actions unbecoming future teachers. The
day after the "discovery," the Bloomsburg Press headlined, "14 Students
Are Suspended at Local College." All were sophomores and juniors. No
football players were involved. Each suspended student had been required
to deposit with the College a sum of $50. If the cost of removing the paint
amounted to more than $700, the cost was to be prorated among the
fourteen.^^

The following Saturday, the two teams met on a soggy field at Meyers
Stadium. Bloomsburg could not be stopped. Jack Yohe's men romped to a
25 to 7 victory over the Monarchs in what the local press called a
"sparkling performance."^®
The actual cost of the clean-up at King's

was $549. At

B.S.T.C., a

committee made up of Hoch, dean of instruction. Miller, dean of women,
and Yohe, dean of men, met with the suspended students individually and
all were reinstated. Only ten chose to return to their studies.®^
The first new building to be completed on campus since the Depression
(W.P.A.) era was the dining hall. Occupied in 1957, the first meals were
served there April 23 at the return of students from Easter vacation.®^
Simply spoken of as the College Commons, it could seat from 800 to 900
persons at tables of eight in the dining area, and another one hundred in
the foyer. Outside, and running the complete length of the building, was a
flagstone patio on which could be seated a hundred people. (This building
is located on the old tennis courts which were just east of Lycoming Hall.
It is now the College Store.) An underground passage led from Waller
Lobby to the Commons. In inclement weather the women from the
dormitory were able to go to meals without going outside.®^ Sometimes,
when the building was first used, this feature was spoken of as the
"subway," but eventually everybody called it the "tunnel." As the need for
workspace increased on campus, the College bank's office was made
underground with its entrance in the tunnel's side wall, and after the
library moved to the former Waller Hall dining room, the workshop of the
library was underground with its back entrance in the side of the tunnel.
Ever mindful of the need for good public relations with the community
and of keeping good rapport between the alumni and the College, the
administration and faculty had worked through the years to bring people
150

"The Commons. a new dining
"

facility first

used on April 23. 1957.

Now

it

is

the College Store.

uiS^i.

.-0..-ilJ,r,

Husky Lounge (formerly the

original

151

gym. then Waller Lounge).

campus. Each year B.S.T.C. had continued to have the Homecoming
the fall, and Alumni Day activities in the spring. Each winter
a basketball tournament for high school teams of the area had become a
to the

festivities in

fixture of the winter season.

The business

contest for high school students

had had a new feature added to it— an annual fashion show. The Future
Teachers of America, which later became the Student P.S.E.A., invited
high school chapters of this national organization to spend a full day on
campus each spring. The annual sales rally, sponsored by the business
education department, invited business and commercial representatives
from the town and nearby communities to dinner before the program of
the rally. In order to acquaint school officials who were looking for new
teachers with graduating seniors of B.S.T.C, a placement brochure was
prepared each year and sent to superintendents and principals
throughout the State .^°
Near the end of 1956, word was received from Harrisburg that funds
had been set aside for two of the buildings for which the College had
asked. One was to be a classroom building, the other a dormitory. In
approving the plans for these two, the administration and the board
decided the dormitory should be one for men. With the enrollment that
year standing at 1,045, finding good living accommodations for male
students was a serious problem. The site chosen for the dormitory was
near the east end of the grove to the north of North Hall, and to the west of
Navy Hall. As plans progressed, the old gray barn was razed, and the
"pest house" was torn down. The site for the classroom building was west
of Centennial Gymnasium. TWo stories high, the first floor of this new
building would serve as classrooms and laboratories for the science
department. The second floor would be developed for the work of the
business education department.
When the time came for the two buildings to be named, Andruss
suggested that the men's dormitory be called North Hall. He noted that the
name. North Hall, had been used for men's living qucirters for many years
and would perpetrate a familiar name for many alumni, since the old
facility would be torn down eventually for still another dormitory. As for a
name for the classroom building, Andruss suggested Sutliff Hall, honoring
Dean Emeritus William Boyd Sutliff.'^'
Sutliff had been born near Stillwater on January 20, 1867. (The year
Carver Hall was dedicated.) When he was still very small the family
moved to Town Line in Huntington Valley. He attended grade school there
and then went to the Huntington Valley Academy. After teaching in the
country schools for several years, he enrolled in the normal course at the
Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, and graduated
with the Class of 1891. For several years he remained at the School as an
assistant teacher then entered Lafayette College where he completed
work for a B.A. in 1898, and for an M.A. in 1900. Returning full-time to
Bloomsburg, among his many other duties, he became a teacher of
152

New North

Hall,

now Northumberland

Hall.

mathematics. Always interested in athletics, in his student days he had
served as team manager, and as an instructor, he became the School s
faculty athletic manager. Three different times during Waller's second
administration Sutliff was called upon to be acting president of the Normal
in Waller's extended absences. In 1921, when the office of dean of
instruction was created, he became the first to fill that position. He served
in this post until June, 1937.'^2
In 1898, he married Ella S. TVump, a teacher of music at the Normal and
an accomplished pianist. To this union were born two daughters and a
son.'^

Through the years, in the School's newspaper there would appear
poems describing some particular thing on campus, or telling some bit
interesting history of the College.

of

Simply signed "Q," very few people

knew Dean Sutliff was the author. At his retirement, his secretary, Mrs.
Gertrude Home, having clipped the poems as they appccired in the
Maroon and Gold, had them printed into a bound volume and presented
the book to the dean. For some years after Sutliffs retirement, copies of
book were on sale in the College Book Store. ^"^
For twenty years after he left his duties at the School, Sutliff continued
to be active in the civic life of the town. He served for many yeairs as a
member of the Bloomsburg School Board, was active in the work of the
Presbyterian Church, in Kiwanis Club, and in the Caldwell Consistory.^^
As he celebrated his 90th birthday in 1957, the locaJ press reported a
this

party given at the College in his honor. In part, the article said:

153

...The Dean, who still walks with a firm step, places his pinochle bid in a firm
voice, and discusses with equal ability affairs of the present and events of the
past, hasn't changed much in the twenty years since his retirement...

The newspaper went on to say the dean had called the tributes paid to
him "taffy," but said he liked taffy. "Well," continued the item, "he'll have
to admit he supplied the ingredients for the taffy and they are of grade A
quality."^^

and aging, he was in attendance for the laying of the cornerstone of
and again for the dedication of the building in 1960. On June 5,
1962, at the age of 95, Dean Sutliff died.^^ Though the classroom building
honors his work and devotion to the College, the memories his former
Frail

Sutliff Hall

students hold are the man's real legacy.

Present for cornerstone ceremony for Sutliff Hall in 1958 were (from iejij Ju
Hays. E. H. Nelson. Judge C. W. Kreisher. William Boyd Sutliff. Judge

Bernard Kelly and Dr Harvey A. Andruss.

Toward the end

of the 1950's the

"baby boom"

of

World War

II

began

hitting the college enrollments across the country. As this increase of
students on campuses coincided with the expansion brought about by

returning Korean Veterans, a period of rapid growth and readjustment
was evident at educational institutions regardless of their private or public
affiliations. At B.S.T.C. where one of the duties of the dean of instruction
had been the interviewing of every applicant for admission, the press of
other academic affairs for the dean led to the creation of the position of
director of admissions. In June. 1958. hired to fill the post and that of

154

director of placement

was C. Stuart Edwards.

A division of special education

having been established in 1957 under
the direction of Donald Maietta, a request for funds to provide housing for
this division had been forwarded to Harrisburg. Later in reply, the
administration had been offered $100,000 with which to add "a small
building to an existing building specifically for the purpose of training
teachers for the mentally retarded and teachers in the field of speech
correction." Andruss believed a wiser use of the funds would be to
refurbish the basement of Navy Hall for $60,000 and with the remaining
$40,000 purchase much needed equipment for the division. The board of
trustees agreed and when the State Department s approval was received
in 1958. the renovations were begun. At the completion of the project, the
division of special education became permanently located in Navy Hall.^^
This was the era of Sputnik, and the cry throughout the country was for
more science and more foreign languages to be taught in the public
schools. Every college of education in America met the challenge with
experimentation, especially in the training of elementary teachers. The
most successful and widely used "new" method was team-teaching. At
B.S.T.C., the elementary education division, under the direction of Royce
O. Johnson, was ready. Newly instituted was the requirement of an area of
compentency in one academic field. For example, a graduate of the
elementary curriculum would hold a degree in elementary education with
a field of specialization in mathematics, or perhaps art, or music, or one of
the sciences or foreign languages. Thus as team-teaching became popular
throughout the State, graduates of Bloomsburg were equipped to become
resource people or team leaders in specific fields. Bloomsburg was one of
the first colleges to adopt this approach to teacher education.^^
Because interest in aviation had a long-standing record at B.S.T.C.. in
1958. and again in 1959. Andruss was invited to be one of a delegation of
four Pennsylvania educators to the World Congress of Flight sponsored by
the Air Force Association. Also, this organization was the sponsor of the
World Forum of Aero Space Education. The first meeting Andruss
attended was in Dallas. Texas: the second was at Las Vegas. Nevada at
which the Atlas missile had been shown to the public for the first time.
Once more, a representative from B.S.T.C. had been in the foreground at
the beginning of a new era. As Andruss returned home, his hope was that
the College could become a center for certification of "...earth, air and
space sciences."^° (Eventually, B.S.C. became one of the first colleges in
the country to certify secondary teachers in earth and space science.)
As the second semester of the school-year 1959-1960 opened, much
attention was centered on the coming evaluation the following year by the
Middle States and NCATE accrediting agencies, and on the requests of the
College over several previous years to award master's degrees. With an
enrollment which had doubled since the last accrediting, it was evident to
those concerned with the preparation for the evaluators' visit, and to those
155

concerned with the application

for graduate studies, that a review of the
concentration of administrative duties was in order. The outgrowth of this
study was the establishing, in 1959, of academic departments within the
College, each with a chairman who would assume administrative duties
within the department and be responsible to the dean of instruction. At a
meeting of the board of trustees, the organizing of the following
departments was approved and the first chairmen appointed:

Communications— English, speech and

foreign languages, chaired

by Cecil

Seronsy
Mathematics and science, chaired by Kimber C. Kuster
Education and psychology, chaired by Ernest Englehardt
Art, Robert

P.

Ulmer

Music, Nelson Miller
Social studies, geography, John

Many faniiliar faces: The faculty

J. Serff, Sr.^'

in 1959.

1960 was a year of change— with continuity. The most significant
change concerned the nature of the College itself. By an Act of the State
Legislature, the purpose of the fourteen State Teachers Colleges across the

Commonwealth ceased to be strictly teacher preparation.^2 j^^ B.S.T.C. the
announcement was marked by a name change on the limestone entrance
at the head of College Hill. The metal letters had read Bloomsburg State
Teachers College. One sunny summer afternoon, several maintenance
men, accompanied by Dn Andruss, removed the word Teachers. The
then spelled out Bloomsburg State College. Once again the School
had become multi-purpose.
In 1960, a change took place administratively on campus. Until that
letters

156

LOOMS
W.\A

Dr.

Andruss and Dean John

A.

ALLEGE

Hoch remove "Teachers from name of school.
"

time, ultimate responsibility for student life as well as academic affairs
rested in the office of the dean of instruction. With the rapidly increasing
enrollment and with expanding academic patterns, the activities and
work of the social deans were coordinated by the creation of a new
position,

dean of students,

filled for

the

first

few years by

J.

Alfred

McCauslin.^3

graduate studies and grant master's degrees was
and by commencement that spring, the administration
announce the appointment of a director of graduate studies.

Approval to

offer

received in 1960,

was ready to
He was Thomas B. Martin, director of business education at the College.
He would continue at that post and also assume the duties of the graduate
studies position. Courses at the graduate level were to be offered for the
first time in the summer school sessions of 1961.^'* The first degrees

authorized were M.Ed, in business education and M.Ed, in elementary
education. (In less than twenty years, courses leading to master's degrees
in more than twenty-five areas came to be offered. Presently the graduate
degrees offered include M.A.'s and M.S.'s in almost every academic
department in the College, as well as the M.B.A.)
As for continuity with change at B.S.C., as the new decade began, such
continuity was on campus. For example, assembly was still a required
activity for all students except student teaching seniors. However,
freshmen met on Tuesdays and upperclassmen on Thursdays. Long Porch

had its rocking chairs, but the evening attraction from the porch was
the lighted fountain in Waller Hall Courtyard. Vending machines had been
placed in the smokers on third floor of Waller Hall, and while students
didn't need them to get into the smoking rooms, a plastic I.D. card had
been issued to every member of the B.S.C. community. Walter Rygiel's
shorthand classes continued rolling up honors in competitions, taking

still

157

The fountain

in

Waller Courtyard.

place in 1960 in the world contest.^^ (But this was merely an isolated
among the past honors Rygiel's shorthand classes had brought to
the College and a mere indication of the honors which were to come. For
three years in succession, under his guidance the students of his
shorthand classes had placed first in the National Shorthand Contest
sponsored by the Estherbrook Pen Company. For the next several years,
Rygiel entered teams in the International Shorthand Contests sponsored
by the Gregg Publishing Company. In these, his students earned three
third places, and one fifth place; then in 1966, B.S.C. reached second place
and in 1967, the Rygiel-coached team won the International Competition.^^
In 1967, 25,000 students from Asia, Europe, North America and South
America participated. Among the 1,300 teams which had entered the
fifth

incident

contest

was

the winning twenty-eight

member team from

B.S.C.)

ended in March, 1960, the big
sports news on campus was the winning of the National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Wrestling Championship. The wrestling
team under Coach Russell Houk, director of athletics, had won the
Pennsylvania State Colleges Championship earlier in the season and had
moved on to win the national competition.^^ (The following year, as Houk
and his men defended their title at Golden, Colorado they met a
neighboring team they couldn't beat— Lock Haven State College. For
several years to follow, these two colleges would dominate the wrestling in
the area and in the NAIA, with first one team winning the championship
and then the other.^^
In athletics, as the wrestling season

158

.

(Three times in his coaching career at Bloomsburg. Houk was named
"Wrestling Coach of the Year" by the NAIA, and in 1966, he was selected
to be a member of the Olympic Games Committee?^)
For many years, part of the student teaching experience of the business
education division had taken place in the high schools of the Williamsport
area. In 1961, it was deemed necessary and advisable to open additional
student teaching centers for business in the Bethlehem-Allentown region.
At the same time, the division of secondary education started student
teaching centers in the schools of Bucks County. Schools there were large,
modem and expanding. Job opportunities for B.S.C. graduates could
increase as the student teaching centers grew. For the Bucks County and
Bethlehem-Allentown centers, resident supervisors were hired to
coordinate the projects.^!
(Eventually, because of increased enrollments, additional student
teaching centers in business were opened in Easton. Secondary centers
were added in Montgomery and Dauphin Counties and in the city of
Philadelphia. Still later, elementary student teachers Joined those in
secondary and business at these locations, as did some students from
special education. An outgrowth of this expansion has been a steady
increase in Bloomsburg s enrollment from these regions.)
The social policy in the early years of the 1960 's spelled out for the first
time two regulations governing two situations never encountered before
on campus. The first, approved by the board in June, 1961. concerned the
marital status of students. Published in the student handbook, the

statement said:
1 Continuance of attendance at college is contingent upon persons
contemplating marriage notifying the dean of students at least one week before
the marriage ceremony.
2. Married women in cases of impending maternity shall be required to take
maternity leave from active enrollment at the college for a period of not less
than one year, such leave to include time minimums of four months
subsequent to the birth of a child.^^

The other regulations was one about the wearing of shorts on campus.
Quite detailed, it enunciated clearly the policy for all residents of the
College and further stated that failure to comply would lead to the
elimination of the wearing of all shorts and slacks on campus. No short
shorts were allowed, only the 'just-above-the-knee Bermuda shorts," and
very specifically, the essence of the ruling was spelled out in this manner:
1. Bermuda shorts and slacks may be worn after 4 p.m. on weekdays,
noon on Saturdays and not at all on Sundays.
2. Bermuda shorts may be worn to all sports events.
3. Bermuda shorts may be worn downtown.

after 12

Bermuda shorts are prohibited in a. the library, b. the College Commons,
the administrative offices, d. classrooms, e. social events, except where

4.

159

c.

f. Husky Lounge until after 4 p.m.
Dungarees are prohibited on campus.
People wearing Bermuda shorts or slacks are not allowed

specified,
5.

6.

to loiter in Waller

Hall lobby.

Too, this was the
community that:

era

when

the student

handbook pointed out

to college

of liquor on campus or off is cause for dismissal.
Men's apartments are out of bounds for all women. Women's apartments are
out of bounds for men.
Men shall wear shirts with collars in the dining room. For evening meals and

The use

at

noon on Sunday,

men shall wccir ties and jackets.^^

On May

23, 1962, B.S.C. received approval from the State Council of
Education to grant bachelor of arts degrees in the humanities, the natural

sciences and the social sciences. The following year was spent in
organizing and perfecting these programs. With the opening of the fall
term, 1963, the first liberal arts courses were offered. Dr Alden Bucher
who had been elected director of the new division, reported an enrollment
of eighty students.^"*

For several years, speculation had been that the State would buy the
Bloomsburg Country Club for additional campus for B.S.C. As early as
1960, State Superintendent Boehm had asked the General State Authority
to purchase the land as soon as possible. The following year when the
deeds were examined, it was found that twenty-one acres of the country
club would revert to Mr and Mrs. Harry L. Magee if the land were not used
for a golf course. Nevertheless, the General State Authority agreed to buy
the other 47 acres of the country club as well as the Dillon and Heiss
properties fronting on Lightstreet Road. By mid-November 1962, Andruss
could report to the trustees that the transactions had been completed.
Forty-seven acres of the country club had been bought for $100,000; the
Dillon home and land of approximately P/io acres had been purchased for
$50,500, and the Heiss property, lying between the Dillon land and
Buckalew Place had cost the State $23,500. The form of the lower campus
was becoming one large rectangle, except for the six private properties
facing Spruce and East Second Streets.
Academically, 1963 saw an innovation in admission policy at the
College. Through the office of admissions, a program was initiated which
was called "trial freshmen" but came to be spoken of as "summer
freshmen." That first year, fifty high school graduates who had not met all
the requirements for admission were given the chance to attend the
regular six-weeks summer session. These were young men and women
the necessary rank in their high school classes, had been
recommended by their high school principals or counselors, had passed
their health examinations, and had had favorable reports on their
interviews with college personnel. Only on their College Board tests had

who had

160

college courses in summer
mathematics,
these young people could
school, one in
unrestricted
admission
would be offered them.
average,
earn at least a C
to
(The summer
were
admitted
B.S.C.^^
the
first
group
of
34
Of
50.
freshman program continues and it is interesting to note that practically
every summer freshman admitted finishes four years of work for a degree,
and that over the years, an inordinate number of campus leaders has
emerged from these groups.)

they

made a poor showing.

If,

upon taking two

English and one

As Schuylkill Hall (West

Hall)

in

was being

built

between Carver Hall and

Science Hall.

The

placement was able to report at the end of August, 1963,
graduates of that year had been placed. Thirteen of the class had
entered graduate school; three had married; five had joined the Armed
Services, and all others were employed a remarkable record!^^
Ecirly in 1963, Andruss had asked the trustees for a semesters leave of
absence to travel. The board approved the leave. He chose the second
semester of the school-year 1963-1964. While he was away, John Hoch,
dean of instruction, filled the post of acting president and continued the
that

office of

all

—

work of his own office .^^
Upon Andrusss return a new position was filled — that of assistant to the
president. For some time the need had been evident, and the previous
summer the board had approved the creation of the post. At the meeting
of the trustees on June 26, 1964, James B. Creasy, a teacher in the
161

business division, was chosen as the first to fill the position?^
Plans had been made to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding
of the College and to mark the twenty-fifth year of Andruss's tenure as
president. He had become president a few months after the Centennial
Celebration on campus, and he had guided the College through much
growth and many changes. For example: In 1939, the cost of room, board
and laundry per semester was $126; in 1964, $306. In 1939, the
community activity fee had been $10; in 1964, $25. In 1939, the estimated
cost of books had been $20; in 1964, $60. The campus at the time of the
Centennial Celebration had consisted of 60 acres; in 1964, it covered an
area of 107 acres. The 1939 budget for B.S.T.C. had been $292,824; in
1964, the B.S.C. budget was $2,571,230. When Andruss became president
the student body numbered 670 and was taught by a faculty of 47; in
1964, the enrollment was 2,132, taught by 134 faculty members.ioo- loi

One event

was a testimonial dinner honoring
a century of service to the School. Held in the
College Commons October 15. the highlight of the evening was the
presentation to the College of the Andruss portrait painted by Niccolo
Andruss

of the year of celebration

for his quarter of

Cortiglio.102

During the

year, the students, faculty, administration

and guests joined

in special convocations to note the 125th year of the School's existence.

Among the

honored guests at one of these convocations was William
Scranton, then governor of Pennsylvania.
As a keepsake, a colorful brochure was prepared which had in it a brief
history of the College and many pictures of campus scenes of 1964.^°^
The anniversary year was a good year to be at B.S.C, especially for
young women. TWo girls' dormitories opened that fall, originally called
West Hall (now Schuylkill Hall) and East Hall (now Montour Hall). West
Hall faced the inner campus with its back toward Penn Street, and stood
just south of Science Hall. Rectangular in plan, it had been necessary to
build a notch in the rectangule in order to preserve the boulder and
flag-pole in the World War 1 Memorial Pinery. East Hcdl was located east of
Science Hall at the southern edge of the Grove. With these added living
facilities five hundred more students could be housed on campus.
At the College the 1960 's were to see the lapse or change of several longstanding traditions. As has been noted previously. May Day became
obsolete. Ivy Day, a vine planting, speech making observance, became a
tree planting ceremony. (Ivy Day began about 1909. In the earliest Ivy Day
ceremonies, the lengthy programs combined all the features of a class
night class poem, prophecy, song and class will with a serious oration by
a chosen member of the class, a speech by the principal or a member of
the faculty, and the planting of the ivy at the walls of one of the buildings.
For a time, about 1912, the seniors were "gowned in class colors." Then
followed a time when the members of the class wore white dresses and
•

—

suits.

Somewhere through

the years, the seniors began wearing the

162

Schuylkill Hall (originally West Hall). Boulder contains plaque showing the
star-shaped War Memorial Pinery.

Montour Hall

(originally East Hall).

commencement caps and gowns, the custom continuing through the
1950s. Until the pergola was built in 1917, the exercises, which took place
163

used either a temporarily built platform or a carpet of
evergreen boughs. In 1925, the "class night" activities and the faculty
speeches were eliminated from the Ivy Day program and in their places
were dramatizations, poetry reading, and folk dancing. 1934 saw the
simplification of the tradition to include only the senior oration, school
songs, and the planting of the ivy. During World War II the exercises were
very restrained, and then from 1945 until 1951, the Ivy Day ceremony
followed the baccalaureate service.^°^ Once again, in 1951, Ivy Day
activities took place in the evening. As the seniors and their friends
gathered in the courtyard of Waller Hall, the representative of the Class of
49 illuminated the fountain, a gift of that class. Then as the senior oration
was completed, the Class of '51 planted ivy in the courtyard .1°^
in the grove,

Ivy

Day

in the early 1930s.

the 1960's, trees became the symbol of the decade but the change in
still contained the idea of the graduating class leaving a living,
growing remembrance on campus. This, too, has been abandoned, and
the tradition of Ivy Day is part of the history of B.S.C.)
1966 was marked by the razing of old North Hall and the beginning of a
structure at the same location which at first was spoken of as South Hall
(now Luzerne Hall). A four-story building, it would contain living
accommodations for 300 students, as well as recreation rooms, study
areas, and apartments for counselors .^°^ Luzerne Hall was completed
(In

tradition

in 1967.

back of Science
Boyer Garage.
the
as
Hall, there had been an automotive business
and the
settled
being
of
the
process
In 1966, the estate of Mr. Boyer was in
For

many years, on

Lightstreet Road, across from the

known

164

Luzerne Hall

building

need

was

(originally

South

Hall).

sold to a local businessman.

for storage

space and a garage

College, leased the structure.i°^

The School,

feeling keenly the

motor vehicles belonging to the
renovations were completed, the

for

When

purchasing department and the mail room moved to the front offices of
the Boyer Building, and in the rear, space was arranged for a storage area
and garage. The second floor, which had been an apartment for Mr. Boyer,
was made into faculty offices. (When the degree nursing program was
initiated the Boyer Building became the headquarters for the nursing
department.)

1960 "s, the policy of the College had been to
recognize only professional and honorary fraternities. For several years
requests from students for social sororities and fraternities had been
channeled through the social deans to others in the administration. In
1966, a faculty committee made a study of the question and brought in a
Until the middle of the

favorable report. A decision was made to allow a probationary period of
three years in which fraternities and sororities could become established.
If, at the end of that time, these organizations proved of service to the
College and community, permanent status would be granted.'"^ Among
earliest on campus were the Delta Epsilon Beta Sorority and the Sigma

Omega Fraternity. (Permanent status was granted in 1969. )i°^
The new library, begun in 1964. was completed in 1966, and opened at
the beginning of the fall semester in September The New York Arm of
Fisher and Butler was secured to move the books and equipment from the
Waller Hall Library (old dining room) to the new structure. The moving
took one full week.^i^ The new three-story brick library houses more than

Iota

165

stacks of books and racks for magazines. In it are a study area seating 750
people, a small auditorium, a media center with projection room, offices
and work spaces for the library staff. At the time of construction, there
were several classrooms on third floor but in order to expand the stack
areas, these have been eliminated. Near the west entrance facing Spruce
Street, the magnificent Tiffany windows have been incorporated in the
design of the building.
On October 12, 1967, the building was dedicated and named The Harvey
A. Andruss library. (It is fitting that the library at B.S.C. should honor the
man who. through depressions end, war-time and confusing expansion,
had been instrumental in maintaining a college at which academic
excellence was always the primary goal.)
(Attending the ceremonies were guests and family from far-flung places,
among them, Harvey A. Andruss, Jr. his wife and daughter and son. The
family at Buckalew Place always had been part of campus life at the
College as Mrs. Andruss graciously accepted her role at the School and in
the community. In the years during which Dr and Mrs. Andruss lived on
campus, over thirty-two young men and women received board and
lodging at the residence. Some lived with the Andruss family for a full four
years.)

Interior of Andruss Library in

days offreshmen dinks and name

signs.

On that same date. October 12, 1969, the new auditorium was
dedicated, also. Named in honor of FYancis B. Haas, the dedicatory
message was given by Andruss. He noted that this structure carried the
166

Haas Center

name

of a

for the Arts.

man who not only had served

B.S.C. as president for twelve

had served the entire Commonwealth as state
superintendent under five govemors.^^^ The building, containing a
years, but also

2,000-seat auditorium, also has a gallery for exhibits, classrooms, offices,
facilities for drama and music groups and lounge areas.
For some time the need for classroom space on campus had been
evident to the administration. As a partial solution to the problem, it was
suggested that the Benjamin Franklin Laboratory School be closed and
the space be utilized for College classes. The increased enrollment in the
elementary education division at that time had brought about the opening
of new student teaching centers in towns and communities as far away as
Philadelphia. It had been noted that the increased elementary enrollment
had coincided with the period of construction of new schools throughout
Pennsylvania. The elementary classrooms in these new systems were
fully equipped with the best and most modern materials, while Benjamin
Franklin was in need of some updating. With these reasons in mind, the
decision was made to phase-out, over a period of severail years, the
laboratory school on campus. June. 1967, saw the last sessions at the
training school.^^^ (In place of the kindergarten, children's library, group
rooms, and homerooms, now there ai^e college classrooms, a reading
clinic, faculty offices, the housing office, the office of admissions, and the
computer center)
On campus, the "turbulent sixties" probably began with the skateboard sit-in. Spring had arrived on the hill, and with it the craze for

167

The sidewalks, roads, and pathways were perfect for a
daring dash on wheels. With a bit of speedy adjustment here and there
around construction mud, a student could inaneuver a ride, via skateboard, from above Centennial Gymnasium, either by way of East Second
Street or by the driveways and paths of back campus, to the foot of
College Hill. Within two days, three students had broken bones and the
administration had banned skate-boards on campus. The protest began.
Several student leaders gathered their followers together in Centennial
skate-boards.

gym and harangued them about students'

rights. They vowed to stay
ban on skate-boairds was lifted. They notified the
newspapers and the television and radio stations. The long night on the
bleachers began. About midnight, tired and full of 'junk food." some of the
dissenters started leaving. Ibid by the media that if they would stay until
morning, the sit-in would make the newspapers and the broadcasts, the
majority remained. Next morning, the protestors having become

there until the

newsworthy, the

sit-in ended.
the "turbulent sixties" began with the skate-board sit-in, at B.S.C.,
dissention went into print on campus September 29, 1967, with the first
issue of the Gadjly.^^'* Definitions of gadfly vary. Some say a gadfly is an
insect which stings: some define gadfly as a person who annoys or
irritates. Published weekly, this aptly named underground newspaper
launched an attack on the status quo. By March, 1968 the Gadfly seemed
well established but the articles in it had become so vicious and
If

Committee on Student Affairs, made up
and students, sent to the president several recommendations
compliance by the publishers of the Gadfly. They were:

vituperative that the

of faculty
for

The Gadfly shall not carry B.S.C. on its masthead or namepiate.
The Gadfly shall print in a conspicuous place that the paper is published
independently and unofficially and without recognition by B.S.C.
The Gadfly shall state that the editor assumes full responsibility

for its

content.

The Gadfly

shall

be distributed through the Book Store as are

all

other

publications."^

Finally near the end of the first year of its existence, the articles in the
Gadfly became so malicious that fifty-five members of the faculty
circulated a petition asking for an investigation of the paper" ^
For several years, the publication continued on a rather sporadic basis.
Less vicious and more generalized, its lifespan ran into the '70s.
Periodically, after an absence of months or semesters, it would surface for
a time, then die as its financial support dwindled.
In 1967, the division of business education received State approval to
institute a new curriculum to train managerial personnel for the business
world."' With the admittance of freshmen into these courses in the fall of
1968, the business division had returned to an girea of training which had

168

been implemented by Henry Carver one hundred years before.^*^
On March 16, 1968, at the mock Republican Convention on campus,
Gerald Ford, destined to be the 38th president of the United States, was
the keynote speaker. At that time. Ford was the minority leader of the
House of Representatives. Plans were for him to fly into the Williamsport
Airport where he would be met for the drive to B.S.C. When word was
received in Bloomsburg that his plane would be late, the local Republican
Committee sent a private plane to the airport. Ford arrived on time for the
opening of the convention, and in his speech predicted a Republican
victory in 1968 and an honorable peace in Viet Nam.^^^

President Gerald R. Ford, then minority leader of the U.S.
House of Representatives, at GOP Mock Convention on

March

i6. 1968.

The

era of expansion of the physical plant was at its greatest in 1968.
one time, eleven buildings were under construction or in
design, along with three auxiliary projects such as extending steam and
electric lines or updating the power plant.^^o
On lower campus, two buildings neared completion and would be
dedicated at the annual meeting of the Alumni Association in April. 1969.
One, a dormitory, was located on the two grass plots across East Second
Street from Long Porch. Several years before, part of Wood Street had
been closed from Second Street to Pine Avenue in order that one large
eight-story dormitory for men could be placed there.^^^ Finished in 1968, it
would accommodate about 700 students. The name chosen for the

That

year, at

169

building

was

Elwell Hall, honoring three generations of a local family
closely with the School.

which had been associated

The Honorable William

E. Elwell had been one of the State's outstanding
At the first Molly Maguire trial in Bloomsburg in which the
defendants were acquitted, he was presiding judge. He was a trustee of the
Bloomsburg Literary Institute before it became a Normal School and
serv^ed as president of the board from 1868 to 1887.^^2
His son. George Edward Elwell, was a member of the Class of 1867, the
first class to graduate from the Institute after its move to the hill. Having
received a degree from THnity College, young Elwell returned to
Bloomsburg as the assistant principal of the Fifth Street School, and then
for two years taught English literature. German and French at the Normal.
In 1874. he was admitted to the Bar and became a part of the local law
firm of Elwell and Brockway. At the time of the second Molly Maguire
trials in Bloomsburg, Elwell was one of the seven counsels employed in
defense of Hester TUlly and McHugh. (It is interesting to note that at the
time of the dedication of Elwell Hall in 1969. there was a group of
dissident students who wanted to picket the building and disrupt the
meeting because, they said. Judge Elwell had issued the death sentence
for the Molly Maguires. Perhaps the reason they did not follow through
with their plans was the discovery that their information was false.)
From 1887. when his father retired as a trustee, until 1906. George
Elwell served on the board of the Normal School. A fine public speaker, an
accomplished musician, he was active in the community in many ways.'^a
His son. G. Edward Elwell, graduated from the Bloomsburg Literary
Institute and State Normal School in 1905. Returning to Bloomsburg in
1913. he became a faculty member of foreign languages at the Normal and
taught until 1921. when the family printing business demanded his time.^24
The other new structure dedicated in April. 1969 was a classroom
building. It was located on the site of the five residences which had been
adjacent to Mt. Olympus and which had faced East Second Street. From
the time of the administration of Haas, the College had discussed with
Harrisburg the necessity of owning these six properties five on the north
side of East Second Street and one on Spruce Street. When in the
mid- sixties money was appropriated for these purchases, the decision was
made to construct a classroom building there.
The building was completed in 1968 and dedicated the following spring.
Air-conditioned, with classrooms, laboratories, offices for faculty, and an
area for exhibits, it houses the departments of chemistry, physics, biology,
earth and space science and mathematics. The name given the structure
was Hartline Science Center in honor of Daniel S. Hartline. Harriet

jurists.

—

Franklin Keffer Hartline. and H. Keffer Hartline.^^^
Dn Daniel S. Hartline was a dearly loved teacher at the College from
1890 until 1935. A graduate of West Chester State Normal School, he
came to Bloomsburg to establish the manual training course at the

170

T^-r.

L^

Above: Hartline Science Center.

Daniel

Normal. After three years, he

left

S.

Hartline.

to further his studies at Lafayette College

where he received his bachelor's degree in 1897. Returning to Bloomsburg
he organized the department of biology and. except for the two
years — 1901 and 1902— at the Universities of Heidelburg and Bonn,
Germany, remained as head of the biology department until his
171

Boy Scout movement in Columbia
given by Scouting, the Silver
honor
County and received the highest
bringing
about State ownership of
in
instrumental
Beaver Award. He was
man, it might be
local
newspaper
words
of
a
in
the
Ricketts Glen so that,
retirement.

He was a leader

in the

"preserved in its pristine state." Responsible for the introduction of the
gray squirrel on campus, Hartline was to live to see the animals a part of
the entire community.^^^
As had D. S. Hartline, Harriet Keffer had attended West Chester Normal
School. Then in the early 1890 s she had enrolled at Bloomsburg and
while a student at the School had served as "custodian of the library."
Graduating in 1892, she left the area to teach in the common school of the
eastern part of the State, but returned to Bloomsburg Normal in 1896 as
an assistant in reading and literature. On August 26, 1897, she married
Daniel S. Hartline. With his return to the Bloomsburg campus that year,
the new young family became an active part of the Normal's social life. An
accomplished musician, Mrs. Hartline often joined Mrs. Sutliff in playing
duets at College and community functions. For many years the two
women were part of the early orchestras on campus. From 1920 through
1926, Mrs. Hartline was a member of the faculty at the College.

H. Keffer Hartline, son of Daniel and Harriet Hartline, was a member of
the Class of 1920 at the Bloomsburg State Normal School.i^? j^ graduate of
Lafayette College in 1923, he continued his studies at John Hopkins
Medical School and became a fellow at John Hopkins University in
medical research. He took further studies at the Universities of Leipzig and

172

Germany. At one time associated with the

staff of the
leader in the nation in biological research.^ 28
He had been a member of the Space Science Board which preceded the
National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). It was reported, "He is

Munich

in

Rockefeller Institute, he

was a

credited with influencing the formation of NASA and establishing its lines
of biological research."^29
In 1965, the Alumni Association gave the Distinguished Service Award
to Keffer Hartline. TWo years later, in 1967, he received the Nobel Prize for

Medicine, along with two others for his research and discoveries on the
work of the human eye.^^^
At the same time that Hartline Science Center was dedicated, a large
lecture hall, room B134, was named the Kimber C. Kuster Lecture Hall.
The department of biological science had recommended this be done to
honor the former student of Hartline s who had been chosen to head the

department upon Hartline's retirement.^^i

Kiniber C. Kuster.

Kimber C. Kuster had finished the Normal course at Bloomsburg with
the Class of 1913. After several years of teaching, he returned to the
campus in 1916 as assistant to Hartline in biology. Called to active duty in
World War I, he served as a sergeant of the 314th Infantry Division in
France. After the Wcir he completed studies at the University of Michigan,
173

earning a B.A., and M.A., and a Ph.D. there. Later, he taught at the Oregon
State College, was an Instructor of zoology at the University of Michigan
and professor of biology at Bloomsburg State College.'^^ j^ 1960 he was
selected as the first chairman of the science department at the local
school. However, long before that he had established the reputation on
campus of being an excellent and fair teacher a scholar, a wise friend to
students and a kind and gentle man.

Construction of Bakeless Center for the Humanities. April 1969, with Navy
Hall and Haas Center for the Arts in the background.

During the mid-year Commencement at the College, on Wednesday,
January 22, 1969, Dr Harvey A. Andruss announced that he would be
retiring from the office of president of B.S.C. as of the following September
133 por thirty years, beginning in August, 1939, he had filled the position.
Longer than any other president or principal in the 130-year history of the
institution, he had guided the affairs of the School. For two years before
becoming president he had served as dean of instruction and for seven
years before that had worked to establish and develop the business
education division. Thirty-nine years of one man's life had done much to
shape the image and the heart of the School. When Andruss retired, he
left the College better than he found it— with a better and expanded
physical plant, with a growing reputation for fine educational
achievements, and with as sound a fiscal policy as could be found in the
State. He had steered the College on a course of moderation which
incorporated change from a single purpose school to a multi-purpose one,
and did so without lowering standards or losing students.
Writing in "The Passing Throng..." column, Edward F. Schuyler editor
of The Morning Press, said in part that. "Bloomsburg State College has
rounded out 130 years of service in education and for 30 of those years it
had the same administrator Dr Harvey A. Andruss, who is bowing out
]^

174

come September

(1969)."

"That's the longest tenure of any one

man as head of the institution

in

its history..."

that under no president has there been growth or change
such as under Dr. Andruss. You can say, of course, that there should have
been more change, after all the period was longer. The facts are, however,
that any five years of that period... there was greater change and probably
double that of the tenure of any other principal or president in its history."
It was very appropriate that one of the first pieces of business transacted
by the board of trustees after Andruss's retirement was the passing of a
resolution to be spread upon their minutes which states:
"It is also true

In Grateful Recognition

of three decades of leadership

and dedicated

service

to

this

Bloomsburg State College
Board of Tbjstees is pleased to record
in its official minutes
that

Harvey A. Andruss
has been designated
President Emeritus ^^'^
* It is interesting to note that Dr. Andruss was the author of four books
and at least fifty professional magazine articles and yearbook publications.
The four books are:
1.

"Business

Law Cases and

Tests"

— 224 pages.

—

2.

"Ways

3.

"Better Business Education"

to Tfeach Bookkeeping and Accounting"
Published by
Southwestern Publishing Company (1937) — First Edition, 178
pages — Second and Revised Edition (1942), 320 pages.

— Published by Gregg Publishing
— 390 pages.
"Burgess Business Law" — Published by Lyons and Camahan (1952)
— 610 pages. The first edition was a textbook which Dr. Andruss
Company

4.

— Published by Ronald Press (1934)

(1942)

studied in high school.

Item 2 represents the first book dealing with the teaching of
bookkeeping and accounting and was so popular among teachers that it
went into a second edition. An outgrowth of the commercial contests held
annually for high school students were two new test forms: (1) the
problem-point test, and (2) the true -false correction test which were given
to a large enough number of students coming from many high schools to
justify these new variations of existing forms of scoring tests so as to more
accurately define the results of learning.

175

Robert J. Nossen
1969-1972

176

Chapter 12

l<9bert J.TNJpssen^

C7V meeting

of the boaird of trustees

was called

for

July

11,

1969

to

C^J^ interview candidates for the presidency of B.S.C., a position which
would become vacant September 1 with the retirement of Harvey A.
Andruss. More than forty persons had applied for the post. After a joint
committee, composed of members from three sections of the College
community, trustees, students and faculty, had screened the applicants,
two remained. The board selected Robert J. Nossen.^
Nossen had begun his career in education in South Forks High School,
California. His B.A. degree was earned at the University of Ccilifomia at
Berkeley, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Northwestern University, Evanston,
Illinois.

His move to Bloomsburg was from the State University College at
FYedonia, New York. For nine years he had been at Fredonia, serving the
school in a number of positions: vice president for academic affairs, dean
of the college, dean of the arts and sciences, and professor and chairman

and speech. Before going to Fredonia, he had been professor
and chairman of English at Lamar College of Technology, Beaumont,
Texas, and before that assistant professor of English at Creighton
of English

University,

Omaha,

Nebraska.^

Nossen came to Bloomsburg as the enrollment climbed past the 4,000
mark (4,130). Of these, about 1,600 lived on campus, about 1,000 lived in
the student housing in the town, and the rest of the enrollment was made
up of commuting students. Still showing the effects of its teacher
education background, in the fall of 1969, by curriculum the enrollment
was divided thus: elementary education, 248 men, 711 women, for a total
of 959; secondary education, 730 men, 428 women, for a total of 1,158;
special education, 55 men, 228 women, for a total of 283; in the new arts
and sciences, 195 men, 132 women, for a total of 327; in business
administration, 374 men, 16 women; and in business education, of the
327 enrolled, 195 were men.^
September found a date set for the opening of bids on the field house

177

athletic fields on the upper campus. These and the plans for the
building and fields were to be delivered to the General State Authority in
Harrisburg by September 23, 1969. With trenches, piles of earth, wooden
cross-walk over ditches, tree cutting, construction fences, clattering
machinery and the like, both the lower campus and the upper campus
soon were to be under the disruptive influence of construction.'*
At the beginning of October. Dr. William Jones, then head of the division
of special education, received word that the center for learning and
communication disorders at B.S.C. had been approved as a public facility
by the board of examiners of the American Speech and Hearing
Association. This was an outgrowth of the work of that division and was a
note-worthy mark in the extended services of special education.^
In connection with communication disorders, the division of special
education had sought approval from the Department of Public Instruction,
Harrisburg. for a new curriculum in the field of education for the deaf. It
was understood that approval would be forth-coming early in 1970. and
plans could go forward for implementation of the new courses.^
As growth continued through the end of the 1960"s and into the 1970's,
parking space for students' automobiles became an issue between the
College and the town. More commuters, more off-campus living quarters,
and more students owning cars, plus loss of parking space because of
construction added up to a serious problem for home owners near the
College and for the administration. To alleviate this somewhat, the College
rented a large lot on Lightstreet Road from the Bloomsburg Hospital. Also
it had been decided in the mid-1960 s to build a tri-level parking garage
near the lower campus. By October 1969. a plot of ground south of Carver
Hall had been purchased from five home owners and all of the houses had
been vacated except the Hassert House. Hassert House had been Dean
Sutliffs home. After his death Mr. and Mrs. William B. Hassert bought it
and converted it into dormitory space for girls. In following East Second
Street to the top of the hill. Hassert House had been the second house
from the second intersection of Penn and East Second Streets. Just west of
Hassert House had stood the brick home of the Charles Meel family, and
on the east of Hassert House was the Raub home. Adjoining Mrs. Raubs
home was the property of Mrs. Shortess. the widow of S. I. Shortess,
formerly a professor of chemistry and physics at the College. These four
substantial homes were vacated in September and October, along with
that of the Stoker family on Penn Street. Upon this site, construction of the

and

garage was begun.^
Across the country, the war in Viet Nam was rellected in the student
unrest on college campuses. During October. 1969. at B.S.C. the efforts
and energies of the students were channeled by some of the faculty into
an organized Teach-in. The event was planned to coincide with the date of
the nationwide Viet Nam Moratorium on October 15.
John Hoch, dean of instruction, announced the policy of the
tri-level

178

^

administration. Facilities for the T^ach-In would be furnished by the
College. The teachers taking part were expected to inform the office of the
dean of instruction if their participation in the Teach-in would cause them
to miss their regularly scheduled classes. Also, provisions were to be made
by students for make-up work for classes missed.^ About fourteen or
fifteen instructors took part. The first session opened at 9 A.M. on
Wednesday, October 15, with discussion of the subject "Patriotism and
Viet Nam". Other topics throughout the day were: "Historical Analysis" (of
Viet Nam). "Psychological Warfare and Propoganda," "American
Involvement in Viet Nam," and "Philosophical Perspective." In the evening
a movie was shown, and after a recapitulation the Teach-in part of the
Moratorium was over.^ However, in front of Carver Hall, the reading of the
names of men killed in Viet Nam continued through the night.i°
Then, toward the end of October, just as the T^ach-In was about to
become a memory, talk surfaced on campus of an increase of $100 per
year in the basic fee. About 1,000 students gathered in Husky Lounge on
the evening of October 24, after the trustees meeting, to demonstrate their
stand against the suggested increase. Next morning, a small second
demonstration took place in front of Carver Hall. The demonstrations over,

the students, using other channels, made known to Harrisburg their
opposition to the proposed increase.
An entirely different Pilot appeared in 1969-1970. No longer the small
pocket size (3" x 5") edition of the student handbook, the new Pilot not
only took a larger form, but showed extended coverage of the problems
facing students at that time. Under "Social Conduct" policies dealt with
such problems as drugs, possession of firearms, forgery, gambling, theft,
lewd or indecent conduct, and assault and battery. By this time, in the
girls' residences, signing-in and signing-out had become writing a name
sheet, and was an act recommended particularly if a young
the building after ten o'clock in the evening. "It is strongly
urged," the Pilot read, "that no woman leave her residence
unaccompanied after 6 P.M. unless (she lives on campus and) plans to
remain on campus." The time of regular permissions, Mondays through
Thursdays, for freshmen girls was 11 P.M., for sophomore and junior

on a sign-out

woman

left

women,

12 o'clock. Fridays and Saturdays permissions for girls ran until 1
A.M. Of course, senior women had unlimited permissions as none were
housed on campus.^
Beginning in the school-year 1969-1970, students were allowed to
entertain members of the opposite sex in their rooms. The rules governing

these visitations were:

...male guests
hostesses.

must be signed

into the

women's dormitories by

...female guests need not be slgned-in in
their escorts at all times.

accompanied by

179

their

men's dorms, but must be

The hours

for visitation were: Fridays

from 5 P.M.

until 1:30 A.M.;

Saturdays

and Sundays from 1 PM. until 11:30 PM.^^
Begun during the Andruss administration, the Bloomsburg State
College Joint Statement on Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities of
Students was adopted by the College community during the first semester
of the Nossen tenure. The work of the Executive Council on Student
Affairs and the Ad Hoc Student Committee of the Student Government
Association, the statement followed suggestions which were sponsored
and endorsed by the U. S. National Student Association, Association of
American Colleges, American Association of University Professors,
National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and National
Association of Women Deans and Counselors. Along with the preamble,
the body of the statement concerns itself with freedom to teach and
from

1

P.M. until 1:30 A.M.;

freedom

speaks of faculty evaluation of students' work, of
sets standards for student affairs and student
organizations, speaks of the objectives and privileges of student
publications, and establishes procedural standards for disciplinary
action.!'* ^ yj^^w thought-out statement, the paper gathered together the
thinking of many diverse segments of the College and set the standards
and machinery to deal with campus questions.
Several academic changes took place early in the Nossen tenure. One far
reaching change concerned general education. Previously, prescribed
courses had been assigned students to meet the requirements of
graduation. With the restructuring of the general education program
much responsibility for choice of courses rested with the students.
Required courses in English composition and physical education were
augmented by special electives in the humanities and the arts, social/
to learn.

students' records.

It

It

behavioral sciences, and natural sciences and mathematics.'^
Another academic change initiated at this time was the addition of
pass-fail grading. Any student upon successfully completing one year of
work at the College was allowed to register for an elective course outside
his major on a pass-fail basis. No more than two such courses could be
taken in this manner at any one time, and once the student had decided
to pursue this grading system for a particular course, the decision could
not be revoked. The instructor of the course was not informed of the
student's decision and therefore reported a standard grade for the student.
The computer center, apprised by the registrar, translated the grade to P
for pass or F for fail.'^
At its regular December meeting, the board of trustees had discussed
once more the naming of buildings and had concluded that appropriate
names for dormitories would be the names of the counties of Pennsylvania
from which came large numbers of the College's students. A list of the
buildings with a suggested county name for each was prepared and sent
to a student committee for student reaction. In reply, the students asked
students.
for several changes, but in general, the College community

—

180

administration— was in agreement. West Hall became Schuylkill
East Hall became Montour Hall; North Hall became Northumberland;
South Hall became Luzerne. The tallest dormitory on campus, completed
in 1970. the nine-story brick residence for women just west of Haas
Auditorium at the north edge of the campus, was named Columbia Hall.^'^
faculty,

Hall;

Columbia Residence Hall, north of Northumberland Hall
oj Navy Hall.

and west

Believing that every college of distinction should have an Alma Mater
with original music. Donald Messimer. a graduate of B.S.C. in 1970. while
a student wrote words and composed music for a new school song.
Adopted during a time in which school spirit was a campus taboo and
tradition was a mark of the Establishment, the song, always spoken of as
the New Alma Mater, has met with limited acceptance. Used principally to
end Commencement exercises several times a year, it is unfamiliar to the
student body and to alumni. Though the song has two stanzas, only the
first is usually sung.

181

Alma Mater
Bloomsburg State

We

proudly sing to thee

Of glories and of honors
Which have framed thy majesty;

Though

we'll depart
Not one will hesitate
To pledge our lifelong loyalty

To Bloomsburg State.

Bloomsburg State
Stand firm against thy

foes.

Let victor\' thy colors see
While honor be thy goal;

Maroon and Gold
Let none thy fame berate
As forward on to victory
Goes Bloomsburg State.
Surely this original tune deserves better treatment. Surely, too, the old
deserx^es to the taken out of moth balls. The fact is that B.S.C.,
an institution established in 1839, should be able to include in its
repertoire of school songs its Alma Mater and its New Alma Mater. At
College events, either could be used or perhaps both for each is

Alma Mater

—

—

representative of an era.

Beginning in the afternoon of Sunday, April 12, and continuing through
Sunday. April 19, 1970. a week of activities marked the inauguration of
Nossen as president of B.S.C. The week of the celebration began with the
Awards Convocation in Haas Auditorium (which would become known as
Haas Center for the Arts in 1971) and was followed by the Awards Day
Dinner that evening. On TUesday afternoon, Andrew Hudson, landscape
artist, met with the student body and in the evening opened his one-man
show to the public in Haas Galler\'. On Wednesday, April 15, at an
invitation luncheon, the new dining room facility was dedicated and
named the William
Scranton Commons. With Governor Scranton at
the luncheon were his wife. Mary, and several other government guests.
Dr. George Hoffman of the Department of Public Instruction. State
Representative Kent Shelhamer and Judge George Heffner.'*^ An open
house for the public viewing of the new dining hall followed lunch. That
same evening in Kuster Lecture Hall, visiting geologist. D. Oliver Shaffer,
spoke on the subject "Lunar History." On Friday, April 17. the program
planned for the evening was titled "Concert in Honor of Robert J. Nossen."
On Saturday, April 18, was called "Inauguration Day" and began at 2 RM.
with the "Inauguration Convocation." A reception followed at 4 RM. and
in the evening two "Inaugural Balls" were staged on campus. Ending the
week-long festivities was the presentation o( Judas Maccabeaus by the
Music Department on Sunday. April 19.'^
At 11 A.M.. Wednesday. April 22. 1970. an Earth Convocation, marking

W

182

Governor and Mrs. William W. Scranton. right, with Senator Preston
at dedication ceremony for the William W. Scranton Commons.

William W. Scranton Commons, on Second Street, southeast

oj

B.

Davis

Carver Hall.

National Earth Day, was called for Haas Auditorium. The announcement
said that following the assembly, lunch would be served in Scranton

183

Commons and

the guest at the luncheon would be Dr.

John

T.

Middleton

of the National Air Pollution Control Administration. Then, at 5:15 P.M.

would be the "Permanent Disposal of an INFERNAL COMBUSTION
MACHINE... at the practice field near the President's house." The
announcement ended with "...Bring a shovel! "^o Drue to plans, an old
automobile was buried behind Buckalew Place.
Then, as April was closing and activities were beginning to center on
final exams and Commencement, the United States Army entered
Cambodia. All across the country college campuses erupted in
demonstrations. At Kent State, the deaths of four students in a clash with
the Ohio National Guard brought a new wave of violent protests to
colleges. On the B.S.C. campus, the demonstration was well planned and
there

orderly.

The day prior to the gathering, the faculty and administration met to set
up some ground rules: All classes would meet as scheduled: no tests
would be given the day of the demonstration; no penalties would be
attached to students' grades for missing classes. An estimated 500 faculty
and students gathered on the terraces between (Old) Waller Hall and
Montour Hall. The student moderator was Tom Brennan, and the keynote
speaker was Richard Drinner. history professor, from Bucknell University.
Part of the agenda for the day was a memorial service for the four students
who lost their lives at Kent State. This was read by Mary Tolan. assistant
dean of women

at B.S.C.^^

This time of tension and protests among the students and faculty came
to the Bloomsburg campus as an administrative transition brought about
a changed mood and temper at the College.
Early in the summer of 1970. Nossen presented to the board a new
administrative plan which would create two vice presidents one for
academic affairs and one for administrative services with the vice
president who served as dean of the faculties being senior vice president.
TWo positions of associate vice president would be formed, also— one for
student affairs and one for development and external relations. Further,
the plan called for the College to be divided into four schools with a dean
for each school. There would be the School of Arts and Sciences with
academic departments plus music, and health and physical education,
there would be a School of Business with business departments and
business education. There would be the School of Professional Studies
which would include education (education foundations, elementary,
secondary, field services), reorganized health related sciences (public
school nursing, medical technology) and human resources and ser\'ices
(special education, learning disorders, education of the deaf,
communication disorders, reading clinic, educational media, and
international education). The fourth school would be that of graduate

—

—

studies.

At

their

June meeting the

trustees approved the plan,

184

and by

1, 1970, the posts had been filled except for that of vice
president for administrative services. As the new college year began, John
Hoch was serving as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the
faculties, Elton Hunsinger as associate vice president for student affairs,
Boyd Buckingham as associate vice president for development and
external relations. The four deans were: Edson Drake, arts and science;
Emory Rarig, business; C. Stuart Edwards, professional studies, and
Charles H. Carlson, graduate studies.^^
The new medical technology course, approved by the State in August,
1970, consisted of 98 semester hours of College work on the B.S.C.

September

campus and one full year of clinical work at an affiliated hospital. Upon
completion of these four years of study, and the passing of the registry
examination, the College conferred the bachelor of science degree upon
the graduate .2^- ^'^
On October 24, 1970, at the Annual Education Conference which
featured Stuart Udall who spoke concerning the environment, the
luncheon was highlighted by the formal dedication and naming of the
newest classroom building. Located between Haas Auditorium and the
Andruss Library, the facility was named the Bakeless Center for the
Humanities. Completely air-conditioned, the building provided 36
classrooms, 66 faculty offices, a faculty lounge, a language laboratory, and
storage space.^^ (Presently, part of the storage space in the basement has
been made into the College Archives.) John and Katherine Bakeless were
in attendance at the luncheon, and John paid special tribute to his parents
and three teachers from the early years of the century. Professors Cope,
Hartline

and

Brill.

The building, bearing the family name, Bakeless, was dedicated to
honor Oscar H. Bakeless, Sarah Harvey Bakeless, John E. Bakeless,
Katherine Little Bakeless, and Katherine Bakeless Nason.^^
O. H. Bakeless was born at Shamokin Dam, Pa., the son of John C.
Bakeless, a contractor and builder. Oscar Bakeless attended the schools of
Shamokin Dam and then studied at Professor Noetling's Normal Institute
at Selinsgrove. For several years he taught in the public schools of Union
and Snyder Counties and then entered the Bloomsburg Literary Institute
and State Normal School, graduating in 1879. After finishing at the
Normal, Bakeless taught at Catawissa for a time and then enrolled at
Lafayette College. Upon graduation from there, in 1890, he returned to the
Bloomsburg Normal as an instructor and remained at the School for two
years. Shortly after his marriage to Sarah Mae Harvey in 1892, he moved
Indians at Carlisle, Pa., more
where he was principal
of the academic department. Returning to B.S.N.S. in 1902, he headed the
department of pedagogy from then until his retirement in 1929. In the
meantime, he had continued his studies on the graduate level at Columbia
and Harvard Universities. His death came on his 75th birthday.
to the United States Industrial

commonly spoken

School

for

of as the Carlisle Indian School

185

Bakeless Center for the Humanities.

Wednesday, September 6, 1933, at the Bloomsburg Methodist Church as
he conducted the mid-week prayer service .^^

The following spring. Alumni Day, 1934, the Alumni Room in Waller
was dedicated and named for him. For years, such a lounge area for
returning alumni had been his dream, and he had worked untiringly to
Hall

establish

it.

That day, Bakeless's colleague and long-time friend, Charles
speech of dedication told much about Bakeless, the man and

Albert, in his

Bakeless, the teacher:

He was a good classroom teacher, logical, concise and definite. In all his
pedagogical interpretations, he was sane, sound and sensible. He had the
wisdom and the rare good judgment to retain all that was good In the old and to
accept only what was good In the new. Every student ...was inspired by his
simple honesty of purpose and his enthusiasm for and intense interest In all
that looked toward higher and better things.
He had the rare ability to know what to teach and how to teach it, and the
still rarer ability of Inducing his students to make mental contact with the mind
of the teacher.

He was always doing something for somebody. Scores of worthy young men
and women have been helped financially by his generosity...
Practically all of the splendid pictures and works of art that now grace the
walls and corridors of our buildings together with the beautiful artistic glass
windows are the results of his endeavors. He had a great hunger for things
beautiful...28

As a teacher in the model school, Sarah Mae Harvey, Class of 1884,^^
taught classes and supervised student teachers. In 1892, she married
186

Professor O. H. Bakeless.

Oscar Bakeless. To this marriage were born a son, John and a daughter
Katherine. For one year, 1920-1921, Sarah Bakeless became a member of
the faculty again, this time as a teacher of English.
Katherine Bakeless Nason, the daughter of Sarah and Oscar Bakeless,
was a member of the Class of 1918.^° Throughout her life, she has been a
supporter and benefactress of the College.

John E. Bakeless, the son of Oscar and Sarah Bakeless graduated with
the Class of 1913. Born at Carlisle, he moved with his family to
Bloomsburg in 1902. A great reader from his early childhood, Bakeless
its thousands of books, had a
"conveniently located, unlocked window" which he used when the library
was closed. It was said by the people of the town that the young John
Bakeless was an unassuming boy. but engaged in a conversation, he
could discuss any subject. Because of his great interest in botany, as a
child, often he could be found "tagging along" with Professor Hartline's

recalled that the library at the Normal, with

field trips.

In 1918, after graduating from Williams College, magna cum laude and
with membership in Phi Beta Kappa, he was called into World War I
service and commissioned a second lieutenant. Discharged after the war,
he entered Harvard and received his M.A. in June, 1920. Near the end of
his work on his master s degree, he took time from his classes to write an
economic study. He had learned that his undergraduate college, Williams,
offered a prize of $500, and publication of an economic book-length paper
in a competition known as the Wells Prize. Bakeless had never studied
economics before, but after three weeks of work, he was ready to send his
study to Williams and resume his work at Harvard. He won the Wells

187

Prize and his book. Economic Causes of Modern War was published by
Williams College in 1921.
In 1920, Bakeless and Katherine Little of Bloomsburg were married.
Then when Bakeless entered Harvard to study for his Ph.D. the young
couple moved to Cambridge. During this time, Bakeless was a part-time
teacher of Greek at Groton School, and served as the literary editor of
Living Age, an Atlantic Monthly magazine dating back to 1844. In the
years 1922 and 1923, "...Bakeless performed a feat of scholarship which
had not been achieved in over a hundred years. He took the graduate
Bowdoin Prize two years in succession ...in literature in 1922 and in
biology in 1923 ...The last man before Bakeless to achieve it was Ralph
Waldo Emerson." 31
Among the many books authored by Bakeless were: The Origins of the
Next War, published in 1926 about the Danzig Corridor and Christopher
Marlowe, the Man in His Time, a definitive biography whose research
stretched over twenty-two years and carried the Bakelesses through much
of the British Isles. It was in Great Britain while researching this book that
Bakeless found seven unknown documents about Marlowe and his family.
Daniel Boone, Master of the Wilderness was followed by a "double-header
biography," Lewis and Clark: Partners in Discovery. When this book was
published in 1947, the New York Herald Tf-ibane said:

would seem that Mr. Bakeless has fixed the biography for good: there is no
why anyone should work in that field again. That is what he set out to
do. and in doing it, he has put history, scholarship and the reading public
permanently in his debt.^^
It

reason

other books followed: in 1959, Ttirncoats, TYaitors and Heroes, a
American Revolution and in 1970. Spies of the
Confederacy.
In the meantime, during World War II, he had served as chief
intelligence officer of the Allied Forces in the Balkans. He returned from
World War II to continue his writing, his part time teaching, his lecturing,
and editing. It was said, "...John Bakeless" was an "...alert, rapidly moving
person with thick hair a clipped, bristly moustache and a penchant for
digging up long buried facts..."^^ It is true, in one short life time, he had
been a scholar, a newspaper reporter a teacher a writer a soldier an
historian, a traveler a linguist, an editor and he had honed the laborious
Still

picture of the period of the

process of research and historical writing to a consummate skill. John
Bakeless was a fascinating lecturer a delightful letter writer and the
world's best conversationalist.
Katherine Little Bakeless, daughter of Judge and Mrs. Robert Little of
Bloomsburg, was a member of the Class of 1915 at the Bloomsburg
Literary Institute and State Normal School. After receiving her diploma
from the music department, she continued her studies at Peabody

188

Conservatory in Baltimore. She has studied under famous piano teachers
both in the United States and in Europe. An accomplished pianist, she left
the field of music to become a writer Publishing her first book in 1940,
about composers, she concentrated her writings on books for young
people. Her husband s publisher suggested Katherine rewrite some of
Johns books in prose suitable for the youth of the country. She liked the
idea, and his TUrncoats, Tfaitors and Heroes became her Spies of the
Revolution, for example. It was said that in their travels, the Bakelesses
stopped at local libraries to see which Bakeless had the most books on
the shelves. In public libraries, Katherine won. In university libraries,
John won.3'*
What could be more appropriate than naming the building, in which are
taught English, literature, art, languages, and history, the Bakeless Center
for the Humanities?
In that building was established a language laboratory named to honor
Howard Fenstemaker for many years, the complete foreign language
department plus English, war-time mathematics, history, and always
extracurricular music. A native of Berwick, Fenstemaker graduated from
the Berwick High School in 1910 and from the Bloomsburg Normal in

—

Howard

F.

Fenstemaker

12.

1912. His work for his bachelor's degree was completed in 1918 at the
University of Michigan where he graduated magna cum laude and as a

member of Phi Beta Kappa. During World War he served with the United
Army in France, and upon his return from the war, married his
I

States

Normal School classmate, Ruth Nuss. lb
189

this

marriage were born a son.

Howard,

Jr..

and a daughter. Mary Lou
has become chairman

father's routine,

(John),

who. following

in

her

of the foreign language department

and an outstanding contributor to the cultural and academic life of the
College community. In 1936, Fenstemaker received his A.M. from New
York University. Presently, he and his wife, the former Mary Edwards of
Bloomsburg.

live in

In 1961. the

Espy.

Columbia County branch

of the

Alumni Association

at its

annual meeting at the College unveiled a portrait of Fenstemaker painted
by Eleanor Herre.^^ This marked for Fenstemaker thirty-five years of
teaching at the campus on the hill. The testimonial given by Kimber C.
Kuster tells much about both men. In part. Kuster said:
Howard and date our friendship back to our student days at "Old Normal."
There were times when we enjoyed the hospitality as week-end guest, each in
the other's home. Later we were stamped with the traditions of the same
University. When came to Bloomsburg to live we shared family hospitality,
joys and sorrows, and the rare experience of instructing each other's children...
Howard and I never quarreled, differed in politics, or in intrinsic value of his
puns. We have never loaned each other significant sums of money, for a very
good reason. However. would not hesitate to give him the key to my home.
Speaking for all of you. it is a great pleasure to tell Howard ...how highly we
esteem him for his warm friendship, sterling character, impeccable integrity,
sly humor, spontaneous punning, high scholarship, and charitable tolerance of
the opinions and conduct of all of us: to express our admiration of his versatility
as a teacher...; Ibr his unusual talent as a composer and transposer of music: for
his contributions to civic organizations as officer and pianist, and as organist,
deacon, choir director, and teacher in his church: for his tireless devotion to the
I

I

I

Alumni Association: for the selfless spirit that allowed him to happily
accompany well-paid artists with the compensation of only a handshake...: for
College

never grumbling about his salary but saying. "If the Lord could trust me I
I get more": and for his genuine affection for all of us.^^

believe he will see that

Sometime during the second year of the Nossen tenure at the College,
the coaches of intercollegiate sports and other members of the physical
education department became embroiled in a bitter controversy.
Seemingly it was "a power struggle" between two factions but grew with
such intensity that soon both faculty and students became involved.
Angry demonstrations were staged at various locations on campus,
including the lawn of Buckalew Place. In the town, business and
professional leaders took sides and advertised their opinions in the local
press. On campus the temper of the School was far from conducive to
learning. Then on May 19. 1971. four head coaches resigned. The town's
newspaper headline read. "4 BSC COACHES RESIGN IN DISPUTE
CONCERNING ATHLETICS" and beside the first article under headlines
just as large, a second item appeared. "DISPUTE STEMS FROM
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COACHES. DR. NOSSEN. "^^
But the controversy had not ended with the resignations. Others were to
become involved. The entire School and its intercollegiate athletics
190

to be discredited. A call had gone out from the Office of the
President of the College to the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) asking for an investigation of the athletic policies of B.S.C.^s 39 At
the board meeting in June. 1971, the trustees were informed that payment
of $150 had been made to the district representative of the NCAA. District
II. Williamsport. Pa., to cover expenses for services concerning "...our
Physical Education and Athletic program."'^o
On September 30, Governor Milton Shapp was on campus. He had
come, he said, to explain his plan of appointing a student to the board of
trustees of each of the State Colleges. While the governor was at the
School, he was presented a petition by the students. This paper stated
that the students were dissatisfied with the administration of the College,
citing confusion, lack of rapport, lack of trust and pointing out that this
state of affairs had been exposed by the resignation of the four coaches.
The petition further stated that involvement by the student body had
brought no solutions to the existing problems and they asked for outside
help by the governor. Following this general statement were many sheets
of paper, each carrying space for fifty signatures. Eighteen sheets were
completely filled. Forty-nine were partially filled, many of the partially
"^^
filled ones, nearly complete.'*'
At the January, 1972, meeting of the board of trustees, the decision was
made to "investigate all charges and counter-charges relative to the
operation of the College." On February 28, 1972. three independent
citizens of Pennsylvania who had no present or past connections with the
School, were asked to "...examine all relevant facts concerning the present
situation at B.S.C. and to report to the trustees on the current problems of
the College..." This committee was composed of Duane E. Wilder. William
C. Heyn. and John L. Worrilow. Having interviewed over 90 persons,
faculty, townspeople, students and trustees, the committee submitted a
report March 22.
They found that the trustees had gone beyond their responsibilities in
asking the president to leave. Trustees, they pointed out. had the duty of
recommending but not the power of appointing or dismissing personnel.
That particular power lay in the office of the Governor of Pennsylvania.

program were

The

president of the College, they found, had "...taken major steps to
improve the programs of the College. ...but during the controversy he had
acted in such a way as to compromise and destroy his effectiveness." The
committee recommended he find a job elsewhere.'*^
When the board of trustees met on April 28. 1972. an excerpt was read
from a letter sent to William Booth, chairman, by Nosscn. The excerpt
said. "...Nevertheless. I now believe it advantageous, not only
professionally for me. but also for the College, to submit my resignation,
to be effective September 1..." The resignation was accepted
unanimously.'*'*

In late June, while

summer school was
191

in session, the rains

came! In

two days lyopical Storm Agnes poured over sixteen inches of rainfall on
the Bloomsburg Area. With similar amounts falling everywhere east of the
Appalachians, the rivers and creeks rose higher than even "old timers"
could recall. Water flowed over bridges, down streets of cities and villages,
spread over farmlands and suburbs with a current so strong houses and
trailers; bams, sheds, and livestock; trees, crops, and bridges were washed
away. When the rampaging waters receded, the awful mud demonstrated
Agnes's destructive force. High on Bloomsburg 's hill, the College opened
wide its doors. Families from the region moved into Waller Hall, Elwell
Hall, and any vacant rooms that could be found in other residences. With
them they brought whatever they had been able to save, including family
pets. Students went to work making the flood victims comfortable; the
Commons prepared and served meals; students manned telephones,
cleaned halls and rooms and acted as baby-sitters and entertainers for the
youngsters stranded at the College. After the flood waters subsided,
students with shovels, brooms, mops and scrubpails helped throughout
the town with the clean-up.
On campus the new administrative building which had yet to be used
became the flood center for aid to the Agnes victims. Many agencies had
offices and headquarters there. Among them were the office of the Small
Business Administration, the American Red Cross, Legal Aid, the Office of
Emergency Preparedness, to name a few. Once, again, the town had found
the college on the hill a good neighbor
All through July, the flood claimed priority in the minds of the people on
campus. Then as tensions eased and the College community begcin to
look within itself for an interim president, the athletics issue broke wide

open again.
At the College, a press release from the NCAA in the form of a Western
Union Telegram arrived at the office of the president at 9:30 A.M. on the
morning of August 19, 1972. It was released to the press at approximately
3 P.M. August 21.'*^ The local newspaper carried the story on page one the
morning of August 22. 1972 with the headline, "NCAA Places B.S.C. on
Probation ".'^6 The probation period of two years carried with it as a penalty
the exclusion of all B.S.C. teams from championship competition during
those years. The decision had been based on the charges that the College
had broken rules governing financial aid to student athletes by arranging
for them jobs at the College, "...for which they received payment but did
not work." Further it was alleged that funds "...from sources outside the
College" had provided "...improper assistance and extra benefits to
student-athletes." Also, the NCAA charged the School with ethical
violations, saying that an official at the College had, "...changed the grades
of certain student-athletes in order that these young men could remain
eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics." Still other allegations
concerned the office of admission. Here it was charged that a college
official, in order to assure admission to the College of athletes whose high

192

school academic achievements were low had altered high school records,
and that this same official had disregarded the published entrance
requirements in admitting student athletes of questionable academic
background.'*^
After days of conferences

on campus, telephone conversations by those
involved to the president of the NCAA and other officials of the
organization at the headquarters in Kansas City, after weeks of trying to
track down sources, the charges that high schools records had been
changed and that admission requirements had been violated were proven
false. On August 28, 1972, at 4 P.M., Nossen sent a telegram to Brown,
Secretary. NCAA Committee on Infractions, refuting the violations of
admissions practices and asking that that section of the charges "...be
removed, in its entirety...""^^ On August 31, 1972, Nossens last day at
B.S.C.. another telegram was sent from the president to the headquarters
of the NCAA confirming the telegram of August 28, and suggesting a
retraction in the press.'*^

This retraction was not forthcoming until November

6,

The press
and the one

1972.

release stated that three alleged violations (two in admissions

concerning athletes on the payroll but not working) had been "...found to
be untrue and have been retracted and removed from the original NCAA
Confidential Report."^° Furthermore, the ban had been lifted on
participation in post-scheduled competition for all teams except wrestling
and the probation period for that team had been reduced from two years
to one.^^ These changes had been brought about by the efforts of a local
attorney, unbiased faculty members, and Dr. Charles H. Carlson, the
newly appointed acting president.

193

Charles H. Carlson
1972-1973

194

—
Chapter 13

Charles H. Garlson.
Quiet ^Efficiency"

Carlson, named acting president of Bloomsburg State
College in late August, 1972, began his tenure in that position on
September 1. He had been appointed by Governor Milton Shapp to fill the
office for one year while a search committee at the College screened
applicants for the permanent position.
Carlson had earned his B.S. at San Jose State College, San Jose,
California, his master's and doctoral degrees at Columbia University, New

Gharles H.

Carlson had joined the faculty at Bloomsburg in 1959 as a
department. He had served as director of graduate
studies and in the fall of 1970 when the School of Graduate Studies had
been created he had been appointed dean of the school and director of
research activities.^
Among the problems facing Carlson were the general mood on campus,
the advent of faculty unionization (APSCUF) and the probation placed on
the College by the NCAA. The College community faculty and students
seemed as determined as Carlson to bring about an atmosphere on
campus that would be conducive to study, learning, and teaching. A
solution to the NCAA problem took two months to unravel and entailed
much travel and many meetings for Carlson throughout September and
October However, by November 8, at the meeting of the trustees the board
was able to commend him "...for his efforts on behalf of the College with
the National Collegiate Athletic Association." At the same meeting, the
student representative to the board expressed the thanks of the entire
student body for Carlson's handling of the affair.^
Once more, James B. Creasy was called upon to serve as assistant to the
president. He had served in this capacity during the latter part of the
Andruss administration, and for the first semester of the Nossen tenure. In
the meantime he had completed his doctoral studies, and had returned to
the College as a teacher of one course in the School of Business and as the
first director of continuing education.^ During the interim year of the
presidency his work as assistant to Carlson was invaluable in restoring

York

City.

member of the music

—

195

and stability to the College community.
With Carlson as acting president of the College, the position he had held
as dean of the School of Graduate Studies and director of research
activities was filled by Hobart H. Heller. Previously, Heller, who had retired
as vice president for academic affairs at Central Illinois State University,
had served B.S.C. in the capacity of professor-at-large or, as his job
description could have read, trouble shooter wherever needed. His most
recent assignment had been acting vice president for academic affairs
after John Hoch's return to the teaching faculty.
An Agnes-related matter of this time concerned the portion of the upper
campus on which had been placed 40 mobile homes. These were for flood
victims whose houses had sustained such damage they were not usable.
All the mobile units had been filled and while the day to day operations of
the court were under the jurisdiction of the Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD), still the College had related responsibilities.
For example, a drainage problem developed because of the construction
on the upper campus, and because of the preparations made for the
mobile home court, so a drainage ditch had to be dug and a fence erected
between the College property and the privately owned lots on Country
Club Drive.-*
Though the new field house was completed, and bus service from the
continuity

campus was scheduled for students having classes in the new
was still continuing on the upper campus. The
football field with track facilities was in the beginning stages, and
lower

building, construction

permanent bleachers seating 4,000 would be erected soon. Near the
stadium, grading was taking place in preparation for the making of a
baseball diamond and practice fields. With the opening of the fall term the
administrative offices which had been located in (Old) Waller Hall moved
to the new administration building at the top of the hill beyond Haas
Center and Andruss Library. As students returned to the campus, they
could see the College Union going up in all its glory while they walked past
it on their way from the dormitories to the temporary union in the old
College Commons. The new union, located in the center of the living area
on campus would be easily accessible to students. It was surrounded by
dormitories.

These three new buildings— the administration building, the student
union and the field house— were dedicated and formally named on
Alumni Day, May 5, 1973. At a meeting in the auditorium of the Haas
Center for the Arts, the building housing administrative offices, the
business office, vaults, a conference room, lounges, and an area for
receiving and storing supplies was named to honor D. J. Waller, Jr His
service to the College as principal covered a period of 27 years. The
dormitory which had borne his name was slated for demolition. Since in
the life of the College, at some time, all administrative offices had been in
that building,

it

was appropriate

that the

196

new

building for administration

Waller Administration Building, located on the site of the Dillon Hon\e.
between Centennial Gymnasium and Buckalew Place.

should continue to use the name. Waller, a name familiar to thousands of
alumni. In his remarks of dedication, C. Stuart Edwards told of Wallers
contribution to the College and to the State of Pennsylvania.^
The second building named and dedicated that day was the College
Union. Though incomplete in the spring of 1973. nevertheless it was

Kehr College Union.

197

named the Marguerite W. Kehr College Union, and dedicated that Alumni
Day. Dr Kehr was present at the dedication and spoke briefly. Frail and
aging, she had made the trip by air from her home in Lake Charles,
Louisiana, to thank the College for honoring her
The three-story brick building, completely air-conditioned, contains the
College bank, a formal lounge, a snack bar and eating area, offices for
student publications and student life personnel, a post office for
commuters, a room for watching television, a listening room, a multipurpose room, the infirmary, bowling allies, a game room, the office of
community activities and storage space.
In the fall of 1928, when Kehr became the new dean of women at the
Bloomsburg State Teachers College, she came with an impressive
background for the position. She was a graduate of the University of
Tennessee, and held master of arts degrees from Wellesley and Bryn Mawr
Colleges. Her Ph.D. she had earned at Cornell University. She had had six

Dr.

Marguerite W. Kehr.

years of experience as dean of women and assistant professor of education

Michigan at Lake Forest College. On leave of absence for rest and
had been contacted by B.S.T.C. officials when the dean of
women on campus became too ill to complete the school-year Kehr filled
in

recreation, she

the position for the rest of the term.^ Upon the resignation of the B.S.T.C.
dean, Kehr was asked to remain. For the next twenty-five years (until

1953) she stayed at that post. To several generations of young worhen she
was dean, omnipotent authority, confidante, supporter confessor and
friend. She never forgot a name, always remembered incidents in the

198

^

and year after year, recommended the
on campus with both their English and scientific
names. After her retirement she returned to the campus from her home in
Washington, D.C., each Homecoming and Alumni Day until her health
and her move to Louisiana prohibited travel.
In 1930, soon after assuming the position of dean, she became
instrumental in the organizing of a chapter of the American Association of
University Women (AAUW) in Bloomsburg, and served as its first
college

life

of returning alumni,

labeling of the trees

president. For the year 1940-1941 she

was

elected president of the

Pennsylvania Association of Women Deans. From 1938 through 1941 she
was an advisor to the United States National Student Federation, and from
1947 until 1968, she served in an advisory capacity to the National
Student Association.^
At the dedication of the College Union, a review of her career was
presented by Boyd Buckingham.
When a College Union was constructed on campus in 1972-1973, former
graduates suggested Dr. Kehr be honored by having such a building

named

for her.

The name was

the

unanimous choice

of the

Committee

charged with finding suitable names for new buildings. (Her name, Kehr,
correctly pronounced sounds like the word care, a fitting name for a dean
who really did care for the thousands of young men and young women
who passed through her office on the way to keeping a "date.")
The third building dedicated in May, 1973 was the Elna H. Nelson Field
House. Plans for it on the upper campus site had been discussed as early
as March, 1966.^ In attendance on the day of its naming were Mrs. E. H.
Nelson (Caroline) and her daughter Mrs. Thomas C. Davies (Patricia).
Elna H. Nelson, better known to former students as "Doc" and to his
colleagues as "Jack," was born at Dybeer, Wayne County, Pennsylvania in
1888. He attended the Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal
School, graduating with the Class of 1911. He received his A.B. from the
University of Michigan in 1917, his M.ED, from Harvard in 1924, and his
Ph.D. from New York University in 1932. His teaching career began in the
rural schools of Wayne County. After graduation from the Bloomsburg
Normal, he became an instructor at Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport,
Pa. (now Lycoming College) and taught there from 1911 until 1914. From
1917 until 1922 he was head of the department of physical education at
Highland Park Junior College. Highland Park, Michigan, with time out in
1918 for service in the Army during World War 1. In 1922 he moved to
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to become director of physical education and
recreation in the public schools of that city. In 1924, he returned to
Bloomsburg State where he remained as teacher, coach and director of
athletics until 1945.

Always engrossed in sports, he was particularly interested in baseball
and coached it at the College. During his coaching years, baseball was not
as popular on campus as were football and basketball. Nevertheless,
199

Nelson was able to inspire his teams to play well, and for his teams, he
made playing the game fun. For him one highlight of his career as a coach
was the undefeated baseball team of the spring of 1934: another was the
grandslam home run hit by Danny Litwhiler to win the game against the
University of Pennsylvania one Easter vacation when Nelson took the
team on a tour^°

Dr. E. H. Nelson.

During World War
fitness for the V-5

II.

and

he served as director of military and physical

V-12 programs.^*

Leaving B.S.T.C. in 1945 to become head of health and physical
education in the Department of Public Instruction. Harrisburg. he
remained in that position only two years. In 1947 he returned to the town
of Bloomsburg as secretary of the Caldwell Consistory. Here he remained
until his death June 7. 1961.
Always, Nelson had been the member of the Class of 1911 to act as a
force to draw the class together for reunions, or to keep the ties between
the Class and the College intact. Hospitalized in April of the Class's 50th
reunion year, he directed the planning for the event from his hospital bed
with his wife carrying out his instructions at the College and in the town.'^
For many years he had been president of the Alumni Association. He
was a past president and past lieutenant governor of Kiwanis; a past
chairman of the American Red Cross. Bloomsburg Chapter: active in
Scouting and in the lay work of the Presbyterian Church.^^
200

The building named

honor him contains a varsity basketball court,
swimming pool, handball courts, equipment
rooms, therapy rooms, classrooms, shower and dressing rooms, and
offices for the health and physical education faculty.^"*

an indoor

to

track, a six-lane

In the spring of 1973, the office of the acting president received a

from the Pennsylvania Department of Education calling for a
long-range planning program for the College. A commission of 16
members was appointed by Carlson, chaired by Lee Hopple of the
department of geography and earth science.^^ Hopple. Jerrold Griffis (vice
president for student life) and Mary Beth Lech (a student) attended
seminars at Millersville State College conducted by the Pennsylvania
Department of Education. At these meetings the representatives of all the
State Colleges worked on redefining the mission of the institutions.
Carlson chaired the sessions on "Tenure and Academic Excellence." On
campus, this was the beginning of the long-range planning program.^^
Early in the summer of 1973. "Shorty" Hitchcock, a member of the
B.S.C. wrestling team who had just completed his junior year, after a
series of try-outs was selected to be a member of the United States
wrestling team competing in the World Collegiate Games in Moscow. The
first B.S.C. student ever to participate in international competition.
Hitchcock, wrestling in the 198 pound class, won the silver medal, placing
second to the Russian gold medal winner.^^
On July 30. as the interim year was about to end. Governor Milton
Shapp appointed a new president for Bloomsburg State College. James H.
McCormick. He would begin filling the position September 1. The year had
been a good one for the School. Under the quiet and efficient leadership of
Carlson, the College was returning to a state of stability and purpose.
directive

201

H. McCormick
1973-

James

202

Chapter 14

James H. cMcGormicK^
*Iinpact,

Cohesion. CSi Gollegiality

0n August

30, 1973, James H. McCormick became the fourteenth
president of Bloomsburg State College. A graduate of Indiana
University of Pennsylvania, he had earned his M.A. in curriculum and
administration at the University of Pittsburgh, had taken graduate work at
New York University in 1961 and had completed his doctoral studies at the
University of Pittsburgh in 1963. Post doctoral credits were earned in
political science and economics at the University of Pittsburgh, and in
higher educational administration at Columbia University. He had
attended the Institute on College and University Administration,
University of Michigan, and the Institute in Long-Range Planning in
Higher Education at the University of Pittsburgh.
From 1959 until 1961, McCormick had taught social studies in the
Punxsytawney Area Joint School District. In 1962 and 1963 he was a
graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh. At Shippensburg State
College, as an associate professor he had taught in the department of
education and psychology during 1965-1966, and during 1969-1970, he
had taught at the graduate level in the field of organization and
administration of community colleges.
His administrative experience included: academic counselor;
administrative intern to the superintendent and secondary administrator
at Baldwin-Whitehall Schools, Pittsburgh (1961-1964): assistant
superintendent at Washington City School, Washington, Pa. (1964-1965):
at Shippensburg State College, he had served as assistant dean for
academic affairs, acting dean of teacher education, assistant to the
president, and vice president for administration.^
As he began his work at B.S.C. McCormick was the youngest president
to direct the work of the School since 1877 (Waller aged 31). With his wife,
the former Maryan Garner and his two sons, David and Douglas, he had
moved into Buckalew Place, and once more the president's residence
became a home and a center for gracious living on campus.
McCormick's style of operation was to build a future on the present.

203

With only a change or two. such as appointing Boyd Buckingham vice
president for administration, he used the management team already in
place. He defined his constituencies and consulted them when he needed
information on which to base decisions. From the very beginning of his
administration, he

made

his office accessible to

all

sectors of the college

community and he used this intracommunication on which to build a
relationship and understanding of the entire life of the campus. The local
chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State Colleges and Universities
Faculties (APSCUF) was consulted and listened to. as were the union of
the non-instructional personnel, the students, the alumni, the
management team of vice presidents and deans, the board of trustees, and
the Department of Education in Harrisburg. Perhaps the secret of the
success of McCormick's style of administration has been his willingness to
delegate authority, always monitoring the progress of the work.
(Of necessity when studying an on-going administration, a time limit
must be set. The date set for completing this study shall be the end of the
academic year (1978-1979.)
When McCormick Ccime to B.S.C.. the total enrollment was 5,155. Of
these. 4.652 were undergraduates. Among the full-time undergraduates
there were 1.850 men and 2.465 women. Part-time undergraduate men
numbered 131, part-time women. 206. At the graduate level, the count
was 503. Of these only 47 were enrolled full-time— 28 men. 19 women,
while part-time enrollment stood at 456—164 men. 292 women.
By way of contrast, over a period of declining college attendance across
the country, at B.S.C. in 1979. the total enrollment was 6.264. Of these,
5.546 were undergraduates: Full-time undergraduates. 2.051 men and
2.688 women; part-time undergraduates. 267 men, and 540 women. In
1979, the figures for graduate studies showed 17 men enrolled full-time
and 243 part-time. Women enrolled in graduate studies full-time
numbered 46. part-time 412— for a full graduate school of 718.
Proportionally, the difference between enrollment of men and women at
B.S.C. had stayed much the same during McCormick's first six years,
while the over- all enrollment had increased by 1.109 students.
Far greater contrasts were shown when enrollments were checked by
curricula: In 1973. business administration had 746 enrolled; in 1979.
1.660. In 1973. arts and sciences. 991; in 1979. 1.342. In 1973. public
school nursing, 7; 1979, 0. In 1973, medical technology, 105; 1979, 112. In
1973, teacher education enrolled 2,460; in 1979. 1,467. These figures
broken down still further showed: 1973. business education-196. 1979-184;
1973. elementary-1.054. 1979-579; 1973, secondary-504, 1979-169; 1973,
special education-458. 1979-375; 1973, communication disorders-248,
1979-160. Teacher education had decreased by nearly a thousand, and
business administration had increased by about 900. The enrollment in

and sciences had jumped about a third.^
The long range planning commission, instituted during

the arts

204

the Carlson

was expanded from 16 members to 37 members to include
segments of the college community as well as people from the town. In
1975, the planning commission, which until that time had been
responsible to the vice president for academic affairs, was transferred to
the office of the president. With this move, the faculty chairman of the
commission became the planning coordinator.'*
The first result of the commission's work was the Concept Document,
defining the needs of the people of the region served by the College and
setting up goals and objectives to meet these needs. This Concept
interim year,

all

Document of B.S.C. was the first of its kind to be received in Harrisburg
and was rated highly.^
An outgrowth of the Concept Document was the Tivo-Year Action Plan
1974-1976. Again, this work was well received by the Department of
Education. It proved to be invaluable to the B.S.C. administrators in the
preparation of the budgets for the next two years.^ A year later this plan
was followed by the Three-Year Action Plan 1975-1978 and it, by the
Three-Year Action Plan 1976-1979. Still later a Five-Year Action Plan
1978-1983 was prepared. These along with a revised Concept Document
have pointed the way to continued growth and expansion at the College.^
"The planning commission has provided a thorough examination of the
institution, but its most important function has been to serve as a
legitimate base for instituting and sustaining change. It seems to have
been the major instrument in improving the College s self image and the

image

at the state level

."^

As the College grew, its reputation in sports spread. "Shorty" Hitchcock,
back from Russia with his silver medal from the World Games, was
named "Outstanding Wrestler" of the NCAA Division Championship
Competition, 1974, at Fullerton, California, where he won in the 177
pound class. FYom there, he went to the NCAA Major College finals at
Ames, Iowa, and in what Coach Roger Sanders called "practically a
flawless performance" won again.
In basketball, John Willis was the outstanding record breaker During
the 1973-1974 season he had continued breaking the records in basketball
that had stood for some time at B.S.C. In the first three years he played for
Coach Charles Chronister he broke eight college records.
The swimming team of Coach Eli McLaughlin competed in the NCAA
events at Long Beach, California in the spring of 1974. Swimming in the
meet was Stu Marvin, who was the Pennsylvania champion in the 50-yard
and 100-yard free-style. This swim team of McLaughlin s had competed in
the Pennsylvania Conference Championship meet at Edinboro State
College, and the team had set two conference records along with four
B.S.C.

team

records.^

the athletic complex on the upper campus was ready for use. A
stadium with football field, eight-lane all-weather running track and areas
for field events had been constructed. Its permanent bleachers could seat

By 1974

205

Floyd "Shorty" Hitchcock.

its temporary bleachers a thousand more. At the top of the
permanent bleachers on the west side of the field a press box had been
made to accommodate radio, television and newspaper personnel. Named
Redman Stadium, the name honored Robert B. Redman, teacher and
coach of football and baseball at B.S.C. from 1947-1952.
Redman was a graduate of Sayre High School in 1926. At Swarthmore
College he had been an outstanding three-sports athlete, and earned his
B.A. from there in 1930. Work for his M.A. was completed at Duke
University in 1941. He had attended the University of Wisconsin and Penn
State, taking studies at the graduate level. At the time of his death, he had

4,000 and

all the classwork for his Ph.D. at New York University.
Before coming to Bloomsburg, Redman had taught mathematics and
social studies and coached football at Sayre High School from 1931-1937.
He had been a teacher of math and head football coach at North Senior
High School. Binghamton, New York from 1937 until 1942. From 1942 to
1946 he had served with the United States Navy during World War II.
reaching the rank of lieutenant commander. Following his stint in the
Navy, he had been a coach at THple Cities College of Syracuse University

completed

New York. At B.S.C. from 1947 to 1952, his teams in football
and baseball gained recognition statewide. Redman left the College to
work in the school system of East Orange, New Jersey, first as a coach,
then as high school principal and finaJly as superintendent of

at Endicott,

schools.101112

206

Above: Nelson Fieldhouse,

Redman Stadium and
Litwhiler Field on upper
can-ipus (formerly the

Bloomsburg Country

Robert

Redman

Club).

(right)

with

John Hoch. March 1948.

The baseball field just east of Redman Stadium became known as
Litwhiler Field. Named in honor of Daniel W. Litwhiler, it, along with three
practice fields, completed the construction on the upper campus.
Litwhiler, a graduate of B.S.C. in 1938, had played baseball for "Doc"
Nelson. He broke into the professional leagues in 1942 with the Brooklyn
Dodgers and that season played every inning of all 151 games scheduled,
handling 317 chances without an error— the first major league player to
do so. He continued his errorless streak into the next season, setting the
record at 187 games. His glove ended its career in a display case at the
Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New York. Litwhiler played in the
All-Star g8ime in 1942 and in two World Series.
He is credited with helping to break the color barrier in professional
207

baseball.

When Jackie

Robinson was making a place

line-up of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Litwhiler

for

was playing

himself in the

for the Cincinnati

Reds. As the Dodgers came to town, grumbling among some of the
Cincinnati players, particularly among those from the South, increased
noticeably because of the Black from Brooklyn. Because Litwhiler was
credited with being "level-headed," he was asked to pose for a picture
with Robinson. He did, and through the yccirs the two maintained a
close friendship.
After leaving professional baseball, he

Leagues, and then,

became a manager

when recommended by Ford

in the

Minor

Frick as coach for

baseball at Florida State University he accepted the position. From there
he moved to the post of head coach of baseball at Michigan State
University. Successful in his college coaching, Litwhiler's philosophy has

been, teach

first,

then win.'^

Danny Litwhiler with Dr.
Andriiss.

When McCormick came
the C.G.A.,

was

to B.S.C. the College

newspaper, published by

Maroon and Gold, the name it had used since
About mid-way in his first six years, the official news

called

September, 1924.
organ of the student body, still a part of the budget of the C.G.A., had had
a name change and was now called Campus Voice}"^
During that first year of the McCormick tenure, the book store moved
again. With the opening of Kehr Union, the building originally called

208

—

College Commons ceased being the temporary student union and in the
winter of 1973-1974 became the College Store. Among college stores, it is a
model, with 9,000 sq. feet of carpeted floor space and a variety of wares
student needs and supplies, as well as textbooks.'^
Under James B. Creasy, continuing education had become more than
just a few night courses in typing or English composition, or science
courses. It had had planned expansion and had proved to be a responsive
and effective organ for meeting some of the community's needs.
In the fall of 1974, a new School was established at the College called the
School of Extended Programs. It incorporated the former continuing
education, summer sessions, international education and all other studies
that did not require enrollment in one of the degree programs. Richard O.
Wolfe, Class of 1960, was appointed dean of the new school.'^ A full
professor in education, he had served for the year 1972-1973 as acting
director of continuing education while Creasy had been assistant to the
president.
Mini-courses were developed to give opportunities for study or for
perfecting skills over a short time. Mini-courses, as well as term-length
courses, were devised to fill specific needs in the community. Some were
set

up

to

meet

cultural interests,

some

to

meet recreational

interests.

Since 1973, mini-courses, and other non-degree courses not only have
met on campus, but have traveled to meet needs where needs are found.
For example, in the field of health services, courses have been taught at
hospitals in Danville, Berwick, Harrisburg, and Scranton. Non-degree
classes have been held in such institutions as the Muncy Correctional
Institution, the Federal Prison. Lewisburg, the School of Hope.
Williamsport.
With the program of international education within the School of
Extended Programs student teaching assignments were made in countries
of Europe, South America and Asia. TVavel through participation in the
Pennsylvania Consortium for International Education has led to students
from foreign countries studying at B.S.C.
In 1974. at the time the School of Extended Programs was created, it
offered between 25 and 30 non-degree courses to perhaps 400 to 500
persons. In five years— to 1979— the number of courses nearly tripled and
the enrollment had expanded past the 1,000 mark. Summer school had
increased in the number of students and in the number of courses offered,
both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. International education
had become an active operative at B.S.C. for study abroad and has
brought a more cosmopolitan air to the campus.
During the fall of 1974. the Alumni Association began a fund drive to
raise $50,000. Harvey A. Andruss was honorary chairman and Howard
Fenstemaker served as general chairman. The drive, planned to cover a
span of 18 months went "over the top" in subscriptions. The Association
decided the time had come to hire an executive director, and a job
209

description was prepared. A committee from the board of directors
screened the applicants and recommended Donald A. Watts, Class of
1937.1^ The choice was a happy one.
Through support from the president s office, the executive director of
the B.S.C. Alumni Association has been made an employee of the College
with most of the executive director s salary written into the College
budget.
Before legislation passed lowering the voting age to 18. the custom at
the College had been to announce to students 21 years of age and over
that if they had registered they were permitted to go home to vote.
Usually, that ended the matter and everyone stayed on campus ignoring
the voting business and a chance for a home cooked meal. Then came the
activism of the sixties and early seventies. The voting age became 18. In
Bloomsburg, the scene changed. On election days, long waiting lines of
young people formed at the polling places. To alleviate this, a new voting
district was formed in the town in 1973. Spoken of as the B.S.C. district,
legally it is called Voting District ^, Third Ward.'^
Involvement in governance at Bloomsburg began for the faculty during
the last two years of the Andruss administration as a committee wrote
and rewrote guidelines for an organization representative of all sectors of
the College. The organization was to be a vehicle for hearing complaints,
for registering agreement or disagreement with College policies, for
providing information for decision making. The result of the work of this
committee was the establishing of the College Senate during the first

semester of the Nossen administration.
Then, during Carlson's year as president, two new constituencies
appeared on campus, the planning commission and the unions for faculty
and for non-instructional employees. Often matters once handled by the
College Senate had become part of the activities covered by the collective
bargaining units or the commission. The Senate found itself ineffective.
A study by the Senate Rules Committee found there was a need for an
organized body, separate from the unions and the administration but
including both, as well as the students. The result, in 1975, was an
internal agency in the partnership of College governance called the
Representative Assembly.^^ 20 Through McCormick's leadership, these
three diverse bodies of representatives from all distinct sections of the
College community have avoided differences and conflict, and have served
as a single force to bring the elements of the campus together for growth,
physically and academically.
A study of the effects of collective bargaining on college campuses was
made in 1977 by two men from the Pennsylvania State University's Center
for the

Study of Higher Education. Six

institutions

were examined, one

being B.S.C. The published report says, "An aura of
harmony prevails..." and it goes on to cite all segments of the College

among them

participating in the decision

making

process. Further, the report

210

shows

that collective bargaining at B.S.C., rather than being an adversary to the
administration has become a part of the process of governing. "The
College." the report ended, "has been regarded as a model in terms of its
planning, and its success is due to the functions of the Office of the
President and the inclusion of the unions in the process."^^
During the academic year 1975-1976. the College received approval to
grant the master of business administration degree (M.B.A.). This gave
depth to the undergraduate program and. in essence, produced a five-year
program in the field of business administration. This year of study beyond
the regular four-year course provides advanced background for careers in
the business and industrial world.
Near the beginning of 1975. the College, along with all the other Stateowned institutions in Pennsylvania, was informed that it would be allowed
to fill only ten per cent of the vacancies which would occur through
retirement or resignation. No new positions were to be created. The fiscal
affairs of the State were in need of repair, and as the State administration
and the Legislature looked for items on which to cut back or to eliminate
funding, the support given higher education came under close scrutiny.
There were several reasons for this: People in general, and Legislators in
particular, had reacted unfavorably to student activism on college
campuses. Economically, the State government was having difficulty
meeting its expenses because of inflation. Collective bargaining, in its first
negotiations, had secured a very generous settlement which was putting
stress on the State's budget for higher education.
Soon after the "freeze" on hiring was received at the College, a new
directive from Harrisburg called for the lay-off of a number of faculty and a
number of non-instructional personnel. The plans for retrenchment
demanded the same across-the-board cuts at all the State Colleges. The
B.S.C. administration protested, as did other schools, individuals and
some Legislators. No consideration had been given to colleges which had
increased enrollment, or which had been understaffed during the previous
biennium. No consideration had been given schools which incorporated

budgetary revisions and prudent management on their campuses. The
from Harrisburg had generalized that the State institutions had
problems exactly alike and that each should cut back in the same manner.
Institutional personnel, under the union contract, would receive a full year
of employment before termination, making those to be furloughed still
part of the faculty through May, 1976.
At Bloomsburg. retrenchment caused a furor. Some who were informed
of their possible dismissal used the ensuing year as a leave for retraining;
directive

some looked for positions elsewhere. Constantly, the administration
to find ways of explaining to the State Department the situation at

tried

Bloomsburg as

it differed from other State institutions. Finally, at a
meeting of the board of trustees in March. 1976. a definitive resolution
was prepared to be sent to Harrisburg pointing out the College's needs,

211

its

actions,

on

and

its

this strongly

was in session working
worded statement, a message was received from the State

plans. Ironically, while the board

Office informing the president that

1977-1978.

The board continued

retrenchment was

to act

upon

its

off

through

resolution

"...for

dissemination to all B.S.C. employees."^^
Once more in 1979, the retrenchment call went out; this time only
non-instructional employees were involved. Some were terminated.
Within a week after the termination date, the retrenchment orders were

and the workers recalled.
Throughout this entire period, whether or not retrenchment was an
issue, McCormick and his administrative assistants had responsibly set up
balanced budgets, had monitored carefully the work in all departments,
had asked for absolute needs only, and through the long-range planning
had shown the direction in which the College was going. This kind of
administration paid off. A certain amount of autonomy in the fiscal and
personnel affairs of the School has been granted to B.S.C. by the
Department of Education in Harrisburg.
On January 1, 1976, Bloomsburg State College entered into an
agreement with Wilkes College and the United States Air Force for the
creation of a consortium for Air Force R.O.T.C. instruction.^^ This was
similar to the cooperative program initiated in 1970 between B.S.C. and
Bucknell in which students from both schools received military training
under the United States Army's R.O.T.C. plan.^* For Air Force R.O.T.C,
Bloomsburg cadets travel to Wilkes College each week; for Army training
to Bucknell University. Upon graduation, the commission of Second
lifted

Lieutenant is received.
On October 31, 1976, a new dormitory for women was dedicated and
named Lycoming Hall. Located on the site of the former Waller Hall which
had been razed in 1974, it completed the campus plan for residences, at
least for the next decade or two. In Lycoming Hall are an apartment for a
resident dean, lounges, study rooms, recreation rooms, and housing for

250 women.
used only by College students.
A principle of the present administration is to use wisely as many of the
school's facilities for as many of the citizens of the Commonwealth as need
them. This principle is consistent with the College's objective of serving all
segments of society. With this in mind, the director of housing schedules
conferences on campus— some large, some small; some during the
academic year; some during College vacations; some during summer
sessions. In the recent past among the conferences on campus which have
no relation to the activities of B.S.C. have been those of the Pennsylvania
Materials Center for the Hearing Impaired; Pennsylvania Association of
Realtors; South Highlands Baptist Church, TUscaloosa, Alabama; Middle
States Tennis; American Guild of English Handbell Ringers: the Arabian
Horse Association, and for several years, the annual week-long meeting of
Nor are the

facilities at

the top of the

212

hill

Nnrth iLnng of Waller Hall Ix'lore dcjualilioii.

The demise

of Husky Loiitige.

213

Razing old Waller Hall

(center) with Elwell Hall in

Lyconiing Residence Hall (on site of old Waller

backgrnund.

Hall).

the Central Conference of the United Methodist Church?^
At the College, every effort has been made to provide equal opportunities
for employees and for students. The Affirmative Action Office, the Human
Relations Planning Committee and the Center for Academic Development
are involved in eliminating discrimination on campus.

The Center
people from

Academic Development helps disadvantaged
ethnic backgrounds find equalized educational

for

all

214

young

opportunities at Bloomsburg. Admitted to the center on a different basis
than the admission requirements for students to degree programs. C.A.D.
students participate in a summer school, and during the first semester on
campus, receive tutoring and counseling, academically, financially, and
socially. Once these students enroll in a degree-granting program they
participate as all other students. For them, there is no lowering of course
standards. They must meet the requirements of the program.
Among the graduates at the spring commencement. May. 1979. were 51
who received the first B.S.N, degrees granted by B.S.C. (Each of these 51
holders of the bachelor of science in nursing had a job waiting for her
after graduation.)

This program of studies had been added
professional studies in the

fall

of 1974,

to the offerings of the school of

when

Dr.

Gertrude Flynn was

plan courses of study which would lead to a degree program
in the field of nursing.^^ For several years prior to Flynn's coming to
Bloomsburg. professional studies had made a survey of the health services
needs of the region and of the State. Another study had examined the
resources of the College and of the area in relation to the requirements for
instituting such a program. The decision of the administration was to
establish this new. far-reaching extension of the health services offered by

employed

to

the College.

By January. 1975. Flynn had submitted a program proposal to the
Board of Nurse Examiners and had been informally advised that students
could be admitted to the program. A revised proposal was sent to the
Department of Education in March. 1975, and the reply to this was to
admit students to the program in September, 1975, with the understanding
that an on-site evaluation would be made during the first semester.^^
Sixty freshmen student nurses were selected from 300 applicants. The
enrollment in the department was increased when 25 more advanced
students with some training registered for classes. As the department
began its first year, the entire faculty numbered three. The course work
was extended considerably though interdisciplinary studies. Of pcirticular
help were the chemistry and biology departments.
Among the hospitals of the region, the response for cooperation has
been exceptionally favorable. Student nurses go to the hospitals in
Bloomsburg. Berwick. Lewisburg. and the Maria Joseph Manor. Danville
for clinical experiences in their sophomore year. During the junior year,
the student nurses of B.S.C. receive advanced clinical experience at
hospitals in Williamsport

and Harrisburg. Senior student nuises

participate with the Pennsylvania Health Services, various

Home

community

Health Services and the Visiting Nurses Association.
In the first four years of the program's existence, the faculty grew from
three at its inception to 17 by the graduation of its first class; enrollment
grew from 85 in the fall of 1975 to 256 in the spring of 1979.
What did it cost to attend Bloomsburg State College in 1979? For an

215

undergraduate, full-time freshman, first semester student who was a
resident of Pennsylvania, the cost for the semester could be estimated at
about $1,126, including room and board on campus. Broken down, the
fees were: Basic fee, $475; advanced registration. $50: activity fee, $35:
student union fee, $10: degree fee, $5, with room and board, $551. For
out-of-state students, the costs of attending were $415 higher— for
non-residents the basic fee was $890. It should be noted, however, that
only new students paid the advanced registration fee of $50. and so for
each ensuing semester after the first, the estimated cost would be about
$1,076.28

29

McCormick continues as the fourteenth president of Bloomsburg State
College. Under his guidance there have been significant changes,
continuing improvements, and judicious use of resources. The first six
years of his tenure have carried the hallmark of stability and growth.
Alumni, patrons and friends of B.S.C. can look with pride to the past
and with confidence to the future.

216

Chapter Notes

Chapter

^Waller, D. J. Jr., "Essayist Deals

Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

1

with Progress of Townspeople," The
Pa.),

May

20, 1939, pp. 6

and

39.

^Ibid.

nhid.

4W.PA. History Project ^15253, Old Schools of Bloomsburg: B.S.T.C,
1938,

p.

1.

^Waller, op.

^Elwell,

cit.

George

E., B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly, Vol. 42, October. 1941,

pp. 9-11.
^Waller, op.

cit.

nbid.

^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg.
loWaller, op.

Pa.),

March

1,

1927.

cit.

and Co.. Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and
Montour Counties, PA, Vol. 1. 1915, pp. 125-126.
i^Waller, D. J., Jr., "Former Head of College Recalls Earliest Times," The
Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), May 20. 1939. p. 19.
i^FYeeze, John G., "The Passing Throng," The Morning Press
(Bloomsburg, Pa.), March 9, 1945.
i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes (Board
of Thastees), March 22, 1909, pp. 2-3.
i^Beers

i^Beers, op.

cit.

^^Waller, op.

cit.,

i^Bittenbender,

pp. 6

John

and

39.

K.. B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly, Vol. 40, July, 1939,

pp. 60-61.
'^B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly, Vol. 40, July. 1939, pp. 34-36.

i^Bittenbender. op.

cit.

^^Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg General Advertizer (Bloomsburg,
Pa.), August 5, 1865.
21

Beers, op.

22Waller, D.

cit.
J., Jr.,

B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly, December. 1926, pp.

Superintendent of Common Schools of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1869, pp. 365-366.

"^^Report of the

218

1-4.

Chapter 2
^Waller. D.

pp.

J.. Jr..

B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly, Vol. 28, December, 1926,

1-4.

"^Report of the

Superintendent ofConimon Schools of the

Commonwealth
^Sutliff,

William

4 Waller,

D.

J., Jr.,

B..

of Pa., 1869, pp. 365-366.

Bloomsburg Through the

op.

^Bloomsburg Literary
of TlTJstees),

May

2,

^Bloomsburg Literary
of Thjstees),

May

Years, 1951, p. 12.

cit.

4,

Institute

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

1866.
Institute

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

1866.

^The Columbian, Vol. 1, No. 3, May 19, 1866.
John K., B.S.T.C. Alumni Quarterly.

sBittenbender,

Vol. 40, October,

1939, pp. 15-18.

^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
of Thjstees), June 22, 1866.
^°Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees). July 21. 1866.

^^The Columbian Democrat and Bloomsburg General Advertizer,
No.

7,

Vol. 19,

(Advertisement).

i^Bloomsburg Literary
mailing

Institute,

(Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

College Catalogs,

flyer.

^^Bittenbender, op.
i-^Waller, D. J., Jr.,

Society,"

May

cit.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg.

Pa.).

"Philo Literary

20, 1939, p. 54.

i^Ailman. Jerome T. Personal Diary. (1869-1871. student).

John G.. The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), "First TYustees
Formed Board in September, 1856," May 20. 1939. pp. 5. 14, 28, 29,

i^FYeeze,

36.
'-'Ibid.

i«Waller, D.

J.,

Jn, B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly, Vol. 28, February. 1927.

pp. 4-8

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.). May 20. 1939. p.
Jr.. The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), May 20. 1939.

i^Hartline, D.C..
20Waller. D.

J..

and 26.
^' The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), May 20, 1939, p. 4.
^^Catalogue of the Bloomsburg Literary Institute, 1867-8, 1868-9.
pp. 19

23/bid.

24WaIIer, D.

J.,

Jn, B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly, op. cit, pp. 4-8.

219

10.

25Good, Harry

A

G.,

Company, New

History of American Education,

The Macmillan

York, 1962, pp. 163-168.

and Matthew John Walsh, History and
Organization of Education in Pennsylvania, R. S. Groose Print Shop.

26Walsh, Louise Gilchriese
Indiana, Pa.. 1930.

^^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of Thjstees),

March

9,

1868,

p. 58.

2«Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of THistees), April 18. 1868. p. 58.

^^Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Bloomsburg Literary and
CommerciaJ Institute and Pennsylvania State Normal School. 1869-70.
p. 29.
^°Sutliff.

William

the Years,

B..

"Development of the

College."

Bloomsburg Through

p. 6.

^^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees),
^^FYeeze, op.

June

23, 1868, p.

59 and June 25. 1868,

p. 60.

cit.

^^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees),
34Catalog. op.

May

1,

1869.

p. 68.

cit.

^^Ibid.

^^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
of TKistees). July 16. 1869. p. 69.

^^Ailman. op.

cit.

^Hhid.
^nhid.
^""Ibid.

4iAlumni Association— Minutes 1871-1920, June 22. 1871.
'^^Ailman. op.

cit.

^^Bloomsburg Literary
of TKistees). April.

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
1871— December 1871.
Institute

'*'*Ailman. op. cit.

"^^Minutes. op.

cit.

*^Ibid.

Chapter 3
Charles G. Report of the Superintendent of Common Schools
of Pennsylvania, 1872, "Columbia County," pp. 56-57.

^Bgirkley.

220

^Hewitt, John. Report of the Superintendent of Common Schools of
Pennsylvania, 1872, "State Normal Schools," pp. 270-271.

^Bloomsburg Literary
ol Thastees).

Institute

December

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

12, 1871. p. 82.

''Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of Thjstees).

December

19. 1871. p. 82.

^Battle. J. H. (ed.). History of Columbia

Pennsylvania, 1887.

^Bloomsburg Literary

p.

Institute

of Thistees). February

^Bloomsburg Literary
of TKistees),

March

^Bloomsburg Literary

and Montour Counties

321.

1.

and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board

1872.

Institute

92.

p.

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

27. 1872, p. 86.

Institute

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

of TVustees), April 19, 1872, pp. 86-87.

^Bloomsburg Literary
of Tliistees),

May

Institute

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

23, 1872, p. 88.

^^Register of the Officers and Students of the Bloomsburg Literary
Institute and State Normal School for the Sixth District (Catalog).
1871-73.

iiBloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
of Thastees).

June

26, 1873, pp. 94-95.

Chapter 4
Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of Thistees), June 14, 1873, p. 94.
^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of Thistees). June 26. 1873. pp. 94-95.
^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), "Long Battle of Literary Groups,"
1

May

20, 1939, p. 37.

"^Catalogue

and Circular of the Pennsylvania State Normal School

(Sixth District): 1873-1874.

^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
ofThjstees). September 6, 1875— October 8, 1875, pp. 114-118.
^Catalogue and Circular of the Pennsylvania State Normal School
(Sixth District): 1876. pp. 27-28.

^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
oflHistees), October 30, 1875, p. 119.
^Catalogue and Circular of the Pennsylvania State Normal School:
1876.

p. 28.

221

^Bloomsburg Literary

Institute

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

of Thastees). April 26. 1876. p. 126.

lOThe Columbian. Vol. XI. No.

12.

March

23. 1877. (a

letter).

I'Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
of Trustees), March 23, 1877 through June 20. 1877. pp. 142-145.
i2The Columbian,

Vol. XI. No. 26.

July

6. 1877.

i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
of TVustees),

June

29, 1877. pp. 145-148.

i'*Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of Tbastees). July 7. 1877 through October 7. 1880.
'^Ibid.

Chapter 5

^Edwards, C. S.. The Contributions of David Jewett Waller, Jr to
Educational Administration in Pennsylvania, 1965, pp. 27-36.
""Ibid.

Hbid.

'^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of THistees), July 17, 1877.

^The Columbia County Republican, Vol. XXI, July 26, 1877.
^Catalogue and Circular of the Pennsylvania State Normal School
(Sixth District). 1877.
^Sutliff, W. B., Bloomsburg Through the Years, p. 13.
^The Columbian, Vol. XII, No. 14. April 5. 1878 (Reprint from The Daily

American).
^Minutes of Faculty Meetings: October

i°Bloomsburg Literary
of THistees),
11

March

Bloomsburg Literary

Institute

2. 1877. p.

7.

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

29, 1881, pp. 191-2.
Institute

and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board

of Trustees), pp. 195-197.

i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
oflVustees). p. 202.

i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
of Thistees). p. 215.
^"^B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly. Vol. 47. February. 1946. pp. 6-7

i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
ofTYustees), June-October. 1885.

'^Catalogue

and

Circular of the B.S.N.S., 1885-86.

222

Columbia County Republican, Vol. XXIX. December 17, 1885.
December 24, 1885.
i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
^''The

ofnustees),

p.

235.

i^Minutes of Faculty Meetings, Book
20Young, Ernest W., B.S.C.

Alumni

1,

pp. 114-162

and Book

2, pp.

8-96.

Quarterly, Vol. 28, August, 1927.

pp. 1-10.

2iBloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
of THistees), 1885, pp. 249-251.

22Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of THistees), 1885-86, pp. 260-272.
23/bid.
24/bid.

^^Catalogue and Circular ofB.S.N.S., 1888.
26Ed wards, op.

cit., p.

61.

2'Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TKistees), pp. 273-274.

Chapter 6
^Minutes of Faculty Meeting: June

^Bloomsburg Literary

Institute

1890,

18,

p. 140.

and State Normal School

Minutes: (Board of Thjstees), April 10,
pp. 227-229.

^Whos Who in Pennsylvania: 1908.
Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 35.

^B.S.TC.

1890— April

(Sixth District),

27, 1890,

October, 1934, pp.

1-3.

^Ibid.

^B.S.N.S.

Alumni

U869-1969,

p.

Quarterly, "Locals,"

Volume

8, October, 1901.

7.

^Catalogue and Circular of the State Normal School (Sixth

District),

1890-91.

^Cope,

J. G.,

B.S.N.S. Quarterly, "Fourteen Years' Progress," Vol. 10, 1904,

pp. 121-123.

lOMinutes of Faculty Meeting:

May

11,

1891, p. 161.

^^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School (Sixth
Minutes: (Board of Thistees),
pp. 309-313.

November

24,

1891— April

9.

District),

1892,

^^Catalogue and Circulcir of the State Normal School (Sixth District),
1891-1892.

223

i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of Trustees), pp. 336-337.
'''Ibid.

'^B.S.N.S.

Alumni

Quarterly, "In the

Good Old

Days;' Vol.

9.

1903,

pp. 142-143.

'm.S.N.S.
^''B.S.N.S.

'^B.S.T.C.

Alumni Quarterly,
Alumni Quarterly,
Alumni Quarterly,

Vol. 46.

Vol

1,

June, 1945, pp. 13-16.

February. 1894,

Vol. 28,

p.

December, 1926.

Bloomsburg Literary

i^Catalogue and
Normal School, Sixth District. 1894-95.
Circular of the

20B.S.A/:S.

21B.S.N.S.

22B.S.N.S.

Alumni
Alumni
Alumni

Quarterly, Vol.

1,

p. 5.

Institute

and State

1894.

Quarterly, Vol. 2, August, 1895.
Quarterly, Vol. 10. March. 1904.

^^The Morning Press, (Bloomsburg.
^''B.S.N.S.

1.

Pa.).

May

Quarterly, Vol. 2. November, 1895,

^^The Morning Press, (Bloomsburg.

26Bloomsburg Literary

Institute

Pa.).

May

20. 1939, p. 47.
p.

291.

20, 1939, p. 40.

and State Normal School, Sixth

District:

(Board of TKistees), pp. 371-394.
^"^

The Morning Press, (Bloomsburg,

28Bloomsburg Literary
^m.S.N.S.
^^B.S.N.S.
31

Alumni
Alumni

Institute

Pa.).

May

20. 1939, p. 34.

and State Normal School,

Quarterly, Vol.

7,

op.

cit.

September. 1900. pp. 955-956.

Quarterly. Vol. 8. March. 1901.

Bloomsburg Literary

Institute

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

of TVustees), 1902-1906.

32B.S.TC.

Alumni

Quarterly. Vol. 51. 1950. pp. 28-29.

33Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees). May. 1903 -November, 1904.
^^Ibid.
^^Ibid.

^Hbid.

^Ubid.
^^Ibid.

^^B.S.N.S.

Alumni

Quarterly. July, 1904,

^^Bloomsburg Literary

Institute

p.

32.

and State Normal School,

op.

cit.

op.

cit.

""Ubid.

'^^Leaf

from record book

43BIoomsburg Literary

Alumni

Archives).

Institute

"^^Conversation with Mr.
"^^Minutes of

(in

and State Normal School,

Edwin Barton.

Association. 1906.

224

'06.

March, 1976.

^^Bloomsburg Literary

Institute

and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board

oflVustees). July, 1906-August, 1906.

Chapter 7
^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees), August 23— September 10, 1906.
^Edwards, C. S., The Contributions of David Jewett Waller, Jr. to
Educational Administration in Pennsylvania, p. 12.
^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, op. cit.
nbid.
^Ibid.

m.S.N.S. Quarterly, Vol. 12, 1907, pp.

11-12.

^Bakeless, Katherine Little, Recollections of Old B.S.N.S. as written to
Mrs. Josephine Duy Hutchison, February 20, 1981.

^Ccdendar of the Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School
(Catalog), 1906-1907, p.

37

^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of mistees), September 10, 1906.
^°Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of Thjstees), October,

1908— May

1909.

''B.S.N.S. Quarterly, Vol. 13, July 1908,

p. 142.

'^.S.N.S. Quarterly, Vol. 13, April, 1908, pp. 15-16.

^^Hutchison, Josephine Duy. Interview, February 20, 1981.

i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees), March, 1909— January, 1911.
i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees), February 14, 1910— May 9, 1910.

^^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School. Minutes: (Board
of THistees), May. 1910— May. 1913.
''^The

Morning Press, (Bloomsburg,

Day."

May

Pa.),

"Social Peak at College

is

May

20. 1939. p. 8.

i^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TYnstees), October 10, 1910.
^^Hutchison, op.

cit.

Morning Press, (Bloomsburg, Pa.), "First
Station Made," February 11, 1911, p. 21.

'^'^The

2iNelson, E. H.,

The Alumni

Tfest

Quarterly, "Saucered

September. 1952.

225

Wireless Telegraph

and Blowed,"

Vol. 53,

22The Morning Press. (Bloomsburg,

Pa.).

May

20. 1939. p. 40.

23Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of Thistees). January 8. 1912.
^"^B.S.N.S.

Quarterly, Vol.

^^The Alumni Quarterly,

17,

July, 1912.

Vol. 53, 1952.

^^B.S.N.S. Quarterly. Vol. 18, 1912.
''''B.S.N.S.

Quarterly, Vol. 18, 1913.

2«College Scrapbook.

The Morning Press. (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

October 22,

The Morning Press. (Bloomsburg.

Pa.).

October

1913.

^^Hutchison, op.

cit.

3°College Scrapbook,

14,

1913.

3iReport of

F.

H. Jenkins, Registrar, April, 1912.

32College Scrapbook,

The Morning Press. (Bloomsburg.

Pa),

March

1,

1912.

^^B.S.N.S. Quarterly. Vol. 20. 1915.

Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
1915— February, 1916.
^^Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees), November 11. 1911— July 17, 1916.
36Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Normal School, Minutes: (Board
of TVustees), June 12. 1916.

34Bloomsburg Literary
of Thjstees), April.

^'^Ohiter.

1941 (Dedication).

3«Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of Thjstees),
September 1, 1916— May 13, 1918.
^nhid.
^^Ihid.

^•Waller, D.

J., Jr.,

Pa. Report of the

Superintendent of Public Instruction,

1918.
42B.S.N.S. Quarterly. Vol. 24. 1918.
""^Ibid.

^Hbid.

^^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of TVustees).
November, 1918.
'^m.S.N.S. Quarterly. Vol. 25, 1919-1920.
^''B.S.N.S.

Quarterly (Catalog), 1919-1920.

''^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of TVustees), June.
1919.

The Morning Press. (Bloomsburg,
^"^The Morning Press. (Bloomsburg. Pa.). May 20. 1939,

49College Scrapbook.

226

Pa.).
p.

May

27

31. 1919.

siBloomsburg State Normal School. Minutes (Board of TVustees), February,
1920— March, 1920.
52Bakeless, Katherine Little. Recollections of Old B.S.N.S.. 1977.
^^Ibid.

^'^Hutchison, op.
^^Bcikeless. op.

cit.

cit.

^Hhid.
^^Boor. Catherine Richardson. Recollections.

^^Bakeless. op.

March

31. 1977.

cit.

^^Ibid.

^°Hutchison, op.

cit.

^^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of TYustees).

op.

cit.

^Hhid.

^^The Morning Press, (Bloomsburg,

Pa.).

May

20. 1939. p. 19.

Chapter 8
^Bloomsburg State Normal School. Minutes (Board of TVustees). July

7,

1920.

^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 47, December. 1946, pp. 24-25.
^Bloomsburg State Normal School. Minutes, op. cit.
^College Catalog, 1921-1922.

p.

^College Catalog, 1921-1922, p.

23.
11.

^Bloomsburg State Normal School. Minutes (Board of TVustees).

November

8.

1920.

^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board

of TYustees),

June

13,

1921.

^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of Trustees), October
11.

1920.

^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of TVustees), March

13,

1922.

lOBloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of TVustees), April

11,

1921.
^Ubid.

i^Bloomsburg State Normal School, November

8,

1920, op.

cit.

i^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of TVustees), October,
1921— December, 1921.
'H869-1969,

p. 14.

227

'^College Catalog, 1922-1923.
'^College Catalog, 1921-1922.

^^Alumni Quarterly,
•^Fisher,

John

J..

Vol. 66,

March. 1965,

p. 2.

Bloomsburg Throughout the

Years, "Education

and

Psychology." p. 22.

'^Alumni Quarterly,

Vol. 40, April, 1939.

Bloomsburg Through the Years, p. 8.
2'Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of Tl-ustees), June
20Sutliff,

W.

B..

1,

1923.

Chapter 9
'Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of Thastees), June

27,

1923.

^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 54, June, 1953, p. 23.
^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), March 1, 1927.
'^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of TYustees), October
22. 1923.

^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of TYustees),

December

20. 1923.

1924, p. 173.

''Obiter,

^Bloom-in-News (Bloomsburg State Normal School).
12, February 20, 1924 through May 29, 1924.
^Obiter 1925,

Vol.

Nos.

1,

1

through

p. 179.

^Scrapbook, The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

July

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,
'^Scrapbook, The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

October 21, 1924.

Pa.),

December

i^Scrapbook,

15,

1925.

13, 1924.

'^Bloomsburg State Normal School, Minutes (Board of THistees). April

7.

1925.
'^Ibid.

i^Scrapbook.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

'^Edwards, C.
^^

Alumni

isSutliff,

May

16

and

18.

1925.

Quarterly, Vol. 28. December, 1926, pp. 9-11.

'^Scrapbook,
'^Catalog,

S..

Pa.).

Conversation. 1980.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

March

25, 1926.

Bloomsburg State Normal School, 1926.

Helen. Conversation. 1960-61.

^""Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 28. February. 1927.

2iScrapbook,

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,
228

Pa.).

May

27. 1927.

22Catalog. op.

cit.

23Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees),

September 13. 1926.
24Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees). July

12,

1926.

25Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TYTastees).

December
26Catalog, op.
^-'Obiter,

20. 1926.
cit.

1926.

28/bid.
29/bid.

30Brown, Ethel Fowler. Conversation. October

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

6.

1979.

Pa.),

January

Pa.).

January 28, 1927.

6,

1925.

^^Brown, op. cit
^^Ibid.
^""Ibid.

^^Ibid.

^^Alumni Quarterly, 1927.
^'^ The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Chapter 10
iScrapbook. The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), "Former State
Superintendent Public Instruction Is Named Principal," April 12, 1927.

^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.),
Modern College." May 20. 1939.
^Scrapbook, April

"Dr.

Haas Known as Developer

of

12, 1927. op. cit.

^The Morning Press, May 20, 1939, op. cit.
^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Thistees), April
11.

1927.

^Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of Thistees), June
29. 1927.

Bloomsburg State Teachers College. 1928.
^Scrapbook. The Morning Press (Bloomsburg. Pa.). "Name Buildings
Honor of Men Who Built School," June 13. 1927.
^Alumni Quarterly. Vol. 29. February. 1928. pp. 3-8.
^Catalog.

'°Alumni Quarterly.
^^

Vol. 29.

September. 1928.

Student Handbook, Bloomsburg State Teachers College, 1928-1929.

229

in

^^Student Handbook, Bloomsburg State Teachers College, 1930-1931.

i^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees),

November

20, 1928.

I'^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TYustees), June
29, 1927.

^^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 40. July, 1939. pp. 43-44.
i^Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of Trustees), August
8, 1927 through October 28, 1929.
^''Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 31, December, 1929, pp. 7-8.
i^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Trustees),
November 14, 1927 through December 12. 1927.
'^Alumni Quarterly,

Vol. 29, February, 1928, pp. 9-10.

"Second Semester," 1928.
2iBloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees),
January 29, 1928 through October 27. 1930.
20Circular (Bloomsburg State Teachers College),

22/bid.

23Scrapbook,

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

24A[ixmni Quarterly, Vol. 31, March,

^^Alumni Quarterly,

Pa).

Janury

31, 1930.

1930, pp. 6-10.

Vol. 30. April, 1929, pp. 1-2.

December, 1930, pp. 8-10.
^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TYustees), June
27, 1930 through May 26, 1931.

^^Alumni Quarterly,

Vol. 32.

""^ISGO-WeQ, pp. 7-8.
""^Obiter 1930.

^^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 32, March, 1931. pp. 1-4.
^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), "Alumni Room Now Complete,"

May

20. 1939, p. 5.

Alumni
^^Alumni
^^

Quarterly, op.

cit.

Quarterly, Ibid.

^^College Songs, p. 3.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Thjstees), April
25, 1932.

^^Scrapbook,

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

through September

13,

Pa.),

September

2.

1932

1932.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), April
22, 1932 through October 28, 1935.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,
^^Scrapbook, The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,
^^Scrapbook,

and August 13. 1932.
"^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 33, June. 1932,
230

p. 10.

Pa.),

November

Pa.),

February

27, 1934.

5,

March

1,

4iObiter. 1934, pp. 106-108.

42Scrapbook,

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

^^Alumni Quarterly,
"^"^College

Pa.),

Mairch 13, 1934.

Vol. 35, April. 1934. pp. 6-7.

Songs, pp. 4-5.

"^^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 35, July, 1934, pp. 22-24.
'^escrapbook.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

October

10,

1933.

'^'^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 36, January, 1935. p. 38.

"^^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 37. January, 1936,
'^^Alumni Quarterly, January, 1935, op.

p.

28.

cit.

^^Alumni Quarterly, January, 1936, op. cit.
s^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees),
September 24, 1934.
^""Ibid.

^^Scrapbook,

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

May

17,

1935.

S'^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), April
29, 1935 through January 27, 1937.
^^Scrapbook,

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes, op.

February

10, 1937.

cit.

^''Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 38, July, 1937.

s^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of THistees), July 27,
1931 through April 25, 1939.
s^Scrapbook, The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), September 14, 1937.
6°Scrapbook.
1938.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes, op.

January 3 and

5,

cit.

62/bid.

^^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 40, January, 1938.
^"^Student Handbook. Bloomsburg State Teachers College, 1938-1939.
65Scrapbook, The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), June 22, 1939.
^^Student Handbook, op. cit.
^Uhid.
68/bid.
^^Ihid.

'"'^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 40, July, 1939, p. 51.

''^Alumni Quarterly, Vol. 40, July, 1939. pp. 22-24.

^^Scrapbook,
1939.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

231

Pa.),

August 24 and 30,

Chapter 11

-

Harvey A. Andruss

^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Trustees), August
30, 1939.

^Program from: Faculty Association Testimonial Dinner in honor of Dr.
Harvey A. Andruss, (25th Anniversary as President of Bloomsburg
State College), October 15. 1964.

^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), January 23, 1969.
^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.). August 28. 1940.
^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TYustees), August
27, 1940 through November 18, 1940.
^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), October 2, 1940.
''B.S.T.C. Alumni Quarterly. Volume 41, August, 1940.
^B.S.T.C. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 41, August, 1940, and Volume 42,
January, 1941.

^Reminiscences at the 40th Reunion of the Class of 1941 by Kerchusky

and

others.

i°Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of THistees),
January 8, 1941.
^^ The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), January 15. 1941.
^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

Februar>' 18, 1941.

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

December

9.

1940.

Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), May 28, 1941.
i^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of THistees), August

^"^The

29. 1941.

i^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TYustees),
^m.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

ibid.

Volume 43, January. 1942.

i^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Trustees),

September

17,

1941.

i^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TYnstees),
February 18. 1942.
^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg. Pa.). February 28. 1942.

^•Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of THistees).
Exhibit:

December

15, 1967.

22Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Thjstees), April
22, 1942.

23B.S.TC.

Alumni

Quarterly.

Volume

43. August. 1942.

24Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TVustees),
September 23, 1942 and February 17. 1943.

232

25Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees),

November

17.

1943.

^^Obiter, 1944.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TKistees),
Exhibit; "Five Years Finished." April 18. 1945.
"^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg. Pa.). August 5. 1943.
29Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Thistees),

May

25. 1943.

3°Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Thjstees).

December

16.

1942.

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

September

16. 1963.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TYustees),
Februarys

17.

1943.

^^Telephone Conversation between Jean Ohl Kocher and Betty Jean
Anderson. June, 1981.
^"^The

Morning Press (Bloomsburg.

Pa.),

October

18.

1943.

17,

1943. op.

^^Obiter, 1945.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, November
^U 869-1969. p. 5.

cit.

39Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TYustees). June
20. 1945.

"^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg.
'^i

Pa.).

July 31. 1945.

Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TKistees).
Docket: January 16, 1946.

'*2Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TVustees), July
18, 1944.

'^^State

Teachers College Bulletin (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

Annual Catalog,

1946.
'*'*Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees),
January 16. 1946.
""^College Catalog. 1950.

"^m.S.T.C.
''''B.S.T.C.

Alumni
Alumni

Quarterly.
Quarterly.

Volume 48. May 1947.
Volume 49. August, 1948.

""^The Pilot. 1949.

'^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TYustees),
23, 1949.

May

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), April
20. 1949.

233

^iBloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Trustees),
February 15, 1950 and June 8. 1950
52B.S.TC. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 53, March, 1952.
^^B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

53, September, 1952.

^'^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TYustees),
Docket: January 16, 1952.
^^Ibid.
^^Ibid.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees),
November 12, 1953 through September 21, 1955.
^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of Trustees),
January 20, 1954.
^^"85 Years of Teacher Education at Bloomsburg," Program dedicating
the Bloomsburg Beacon, February 19, 1954.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes January 20, 1954,
^'Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes. February

16,

op.

cit.

1955.

^^Maroon and Gold, October 26, 1956.
^^Ibid.

Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

October 25, 1956.

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

October 29, 1956.

^"^The
^^Ibid.

^"^Maroon

and

Gold, January 18, 1957.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees). April
24, 1957.

^m.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

58, April, 1957.

^°Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TVustees),
September 19, 1956.

Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board
November 22, 1957.
72B.S.C. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 63, July, 1962.
''I

of Trustees),

^^Ibid.
^""B.S.T.C.

^^B.S.T.C.

Alumni
Alumni

Quarterly,

Quarterly,

Volume
Volume

38. July, 1937.
58, April, 1957.

^^Ibid.
"^^B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

63, op.

cit.

^^Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TlTistees),
February 28, 1958.
''H869-1969,

p. 2.

^oBloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of TVustees),
January 30, 1959.
234

^^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), January 22,
1960.

s^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Thistees), May 20. 1960.
^^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), September 30,
1960.
^^Obiter, 1960.

^^Program, Testimonial Dinner: Walter

S. Rygiel,

May

4, 1967.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), March 30, 1967.
s^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TKistees), March 25, 1960.
«9Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), March 24, 1961.
^'^

^^B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly.

Volume

67,

September, 1966.

siBloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), May
and August 25, 1961.

19,

1961

92The Pilot B.S.C. Student Handbook, 1962.
^^Ibid.

^'^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Trustees), September 28,
1962 and April 25, 1963.

^^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TKistees), July 29, 1960
through November 16, 1962.
^^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), February 22,
1963.

^^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Thistees). August 30,
1963.

98Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of THistees), April 25, 1963.
s^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Thastees), August 30, 1963

and June

26, 1964.

ooB.S.C. Catalog, 1964-1965.
^^B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

65, July, 1964.

02program from: Faculty Association Testimonial Dinner.., op.
"^^B.S.C.

cit.

125th Anniversary, 1964.

^^Obiter, 1949.

and Gold, May 26, 1951.
^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg.

""^Maroon

Pa.),

August

13,

1966.

o^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees). March 24. 1966.
''^Ibid.

o^Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of TVustees). February 28.
1969.

^^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

235

September 1966.

iiiBloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TYustees), November,

17,

1967.

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

October

13, 1967.

i^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Thistees), February 24,
1966.
'^Obiter, 1968.

i^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of THistees), March 22. 1968.
i^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), June

14,

1968.

i^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), November

17,

1967.

'^1869-1969, p.

11.

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,
20B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

Pa.),

March

18,

1968.

68, September, 1967.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), February 18, 1967.
22Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Thjstees), April 26, 1968.
^m.S.T.C. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 33, September, 1932.
^^

24Bloomsburg State College, Minutes, op.

cit.

^^Ibid.

26B.S.TC.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume 45, February, 1944.

^''Bloomsburg State College Directory, 1979.

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,
^m.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

Pa.),

October

19, 1967.

68, December, 1967.

^''Ibid.

3iBloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), March 28, 1969.
^m.S.T.C. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 36, October 1935.
33Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Thistees), 1969.

34Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), September 26,
1969.

Chapter 12

-

Robert

J.

Nossen

^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), July 11, 1969.
^Program Booklet: "Inauguration of Robert J. Nossen as TXvelfth President
of Bloomsburg State College," April, 1970.
^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TKistees). 1969-1970.
"^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), September 8, 1969.
^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), October 3, 1969.

^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), July 25, 1969.

236

^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of THistees), October
^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), October 15, 1969.

24, 1969.

^Program: B.S.C. Scrapbook. October. 1969. "Teach-In."
lOBloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Thjstees), October 24, 1969.
^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), October 25, 1969.
'^The

Pilot,

(Student handbook, B.S.C), 1969-1970.

'^The Pilot (Student handbook, B.S.C), 1971-1972.
I'^Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of TYustees), December 15,
1969. Exhibit "A" to Docket.
15B.S.C. Catalog, 1971-1972.

^^The

Pilot, op. cit.

'^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Trustees), February

27,

1970.

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

'^B.S.C Scrapbooks; Exhibits from
1970.

week of April

20B.S.C.
^^

Scrapbook; Exhibit

April 16, 1970.

12 through April 19,

for April 22, 1970.

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

22Bloomsburg State College, Minutes
August 28, 1970.

May, 1970.

(Bocird of THistees),

23Bloomsburg State College Undergraduate

June 12 through

Bulletin. 1971-1972.

24Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), August 28, 1970.
^^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TVustees), December 15,
1969.

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

Alumni Quarterly, Volume
Alumni Quarterly. Volume
Alumni Directory, 1979.

October 26. 1970.

27B.S.TC.

34, September, 1933.

28B.S.TC.

35, July, 1934.

29B.S.C.
^''Ibid.

^^B.S.T.C.

^m.S.T.C.

Alumni
Alumni

Quarterly,
Quarterly,

Volume
Volume

55, December. 1954.

49, March, 1948.

^^Ibid.

Alumni Quarterly, Volume 56, March, 1955.
Alumni Quarterly, Volume 62, April, 1961.

^""B.S.T.C.

^^B.S.C.

^^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of THistees), Docket: Exhibit,
"Letter to Graduates." 1961.
^'^

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), May 20, 1971.
NCAA) Western Union Telegram; August

38Ramer, Earl M. (President,
1972: photostatic copy.

237

19,

^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg.

Pa.). August 22. 1972.
^oBloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Thistees). June 25. 1971.
Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of THistees). Januciry. 1972.
'^i

(Exhibit).

^^Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of TKistees), November

19.

1971.

•*3Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Trustees). January
through March 24. 1972.

14.

1972

44Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of Thjstees). April 28, 1972.
'*^Ramen op.

cit.

Morning Press, August 22. 1972. op. cit.
^^Ramer op. cit.
'*^Nossen. Robert J.: Western Union Telegram. August
"^^The

28. 1972: photostatic

copy.
"^^Nossen, Robert

J.:

Western Union Telegram. August

31. 1972; photostatic

copy.
^°Press Release: B.S.C. photostatic copy:
^^

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg.

Chapter 13

-

Pa.).

November 6. 1972.
November 7. 1972.

Charles H. Carlson

The Morning Press (Bloomsburg. Pa.). August 23. 1972.
^Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of Tlustees). November
^

8,

1972.

^Conversation Between

J. B. Creasy and C. S. Edwards: August, 1981.
^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), September 23, 1972.
^B.S.C. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 74. Spring. 1973.
^Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Minutes (Board of Trustees),

February
'^B.S.C.

13.

Alumni

1928.

Quarterly,

Volume

74. op. cit.

^Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of TVustees). March 25. 1966.
^B.S.C. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 62. July. 1961.
'°Ibid.

^^B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume 49. March. 1948.

i^Naugle. A.K.. Class of 1911. Letter to Classmates concerning E. H. Nelson

Memorial Scholarship Fund. May. 1962.
^^B.S.T.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

55.

December

1954.

'^Bloomsburg State College Undergraduate Catalog. 1980-1981.
238

i^Bloomsburg State College. Planning Bulletin. September/October, 1979.
^^The Morning Press (Bloomsburg, Pa.), June 2, 1973.
i^T/ie

Morning Press (Bloomsburg,

Pa.),

July 20, 1973 and August 25,

1973.

Chapter 14

^B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

^Bloomsburg State College.

74,

Autumn, 1973.

Office of Institutional Research,

"Bloomsburg

State College Longitudinal Enrollments." 1973-1979.

^Bloomsburg State College. Office of Institutional Research, "Bloomsburg
State College, Full-time Undergraduate Majors." 1973-1979.
^Bloomsburg State College. Planning Bulletin; Office of Institutional
Planning and Research. September/October, 1979.

^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TYustees), December

6,

1973.
^B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

75, Fall, 1974.

^Bloomsburg State College. Planning

Bulletin. 1979. op.

cit.

^Mortimer, Kenneth P. and Richard C. Richardson, Jr. Governance in
Institutions with Faculty Unions: Six Studies. "Rural State College."
1977.
^B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly,

Volume

74,

Summer,

1974.

^°Bloomsburg State Teachers College, Minutes (Board of TKistees), April
16, 1947.

Alumni
Alumni
Alumni

Volume 53, September, 1952.
Volume 61, July, 1960.
^^B.S.C.
Quarterly, Volume 75, Spring, 1975.
^"^Pilot: Bloomsburg State College, Student Handbook. 1973-1974.
^^B.S.C. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 74, Winter, 1974.
^m.S.C. Alumni Quarterly, Volume 75, Fall, 1974.
^^B.S.C.

^m.S.C.

Quarterly,
Quarterly,

'Ubid.
^^Pilot. op. cit.

i^Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TYustees), April

2.

1975.

20Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of TKistees), December

10,

1975.
21

Mortimer, 1977. op.

cit.

22Bloomsburg State College, Minutes (Board of Tbastees), March
23/bid.

239

17,

1976.

24Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of Thistees). March 20, 1970.
25Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of TKistees). September 21,
1977.
^^B.S.C.

Alumni

Quarterly, op.

cit.

27Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of TVustees). April 2. 1975.
28Bloomsburg State College. Minutes (Board of TVustees). March 29. 1978.
29Bloomsburg State College: Undergraduate Catalogue. 1980-1981.

240

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