(cover) NEMOSCOPE SPRING 1951 (page 2) WITH THE COLORS Lt. George Henry Haden, USNR, of New London, Mo., has reported for duty at Headquarters, Sixth Naval District, Charleston, S. C., and has been assigned as planning officer for the assistant chief of staff for personnel. The son of Mrs. Lela Haden of New London, Lt. Haden graduated from the State Teachers College in 1937 and became Ralls County Superintendent of Schools. He entered the Navy in October, 1942, as Pharmacist Mate second class, and was commissioned LT (j.g.) in January 1944. He had Armed Guard duty in the Pacific and in October 1945 became assistant Provost Marshal and Shore Patrol Executive Officer in Manila. He was released to inactive duty in August 1946. For four years following the war, he served as inspector for veterans' education and training for the Missouri State Department of Education, and then reentered this College. He received his Master's degree on May 24 and returned to active duty in June. * * * Cpl. Eugene Hackett, son of Mrs. Ruby Hackett, 200 Bedford St., Moberly, Mo., was recalled to active duty in the Air Force at Portland Air Force Base in Oregon. He was recently married to Donna Burton, also of Moberly, and they are making their home at 7308 East Ninth St., McLaughlin Heights, Vancouver, Wash. * * * Sgt. Joe Danclovic, son of Mrs. Elizabeth Danclovic of Kansas City, Mo., was seriously wounded in Korea on April 21. He has since submitted to a leg amputation about half way below the right knee. Sgt. Danclovic was with the 7th Infantry Division and had been in Korea since January. He served in World War II and after his return received his degree at the College in 1950. * * * Captain Richard C. Hayden, son of Mr. and Mrs. William M. Hayden of Wyaconda, Mo., a bombardier aboard an Air Force B-29, is missing with his plane in the Mediterranean sea area according to a telegram. Captain Hayden is a veteran of nine years in the U. S. Air Force. He joined the Air Force in 1942 and served as a bombardier in World War II. He graduated here in 1942. COVER PICTURE Mary Evelyn Thurman (Rufener) poses with some of the baton twirling students attending the annual Baton Twirling and Marching Clinic held on the campus of the college each summer. NEMOSCOPE NORTHEAST MISSOURI STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI WALTER H. RYLE, PRESIDENT EDITOR KENNETH C. SYKES ASSISTANT EDITOR ORVILLE E. BOWERS EDITORIAL BOARD WRAY M. RIEGER PAULINE D. KNOBBS BERENICE B. BEGGS C. H. ALLEN VOLUME V SPRING QUARTER, 1951 NUMBER 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS MCCUNE COLLEGE. . . .3 Pauline Dingle Knobbs Miss ANNIE INGRAM. . . .7 Dorothy N. Nunn THE THURMANS. . . .9 LOST ALUMNI. . . .9 ALUMNI NOTES. . . .10 GRADUATE COLUMN. . . .10 THE OFFICIAL COLLEGE STAMP. . . .11 A quarterly publication issued in November, February, May, and August. Subscription rate is $1.00 a year; single copy $.25. Address all communications to Kenneth C. Sykes. Entered as second class mail matter April 29, 1915, at the post office at Kirksville, Missouri, under the Act of Congress of August 24, 1912. Accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 26, 1919. (page 3) SPRING, 1951 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 3 McCUNE COLLEGE, LOUISIANA, MISSOURI FORMERLY LOUISIANA BAPTIST COLLEGE by Pauline Dingle Knobbs Associate Professor of Social Science Education, Northeast Missouri State Teachers College AUTHOR'S NOTE: In securing materials for this article, a number of Pike County residents, former students of McCune College, gave most helpful aid. Mrs. Arnold Houehins, Mr. Fred D. Stichter, Mrs. Roxie McCune, daughter-in-law of A. D. McCune, all of Louisiana were most helpful. Mrs. R. L. Dawson of Eolia, Mo., Miss Annie Ingram of Bowling Green and the files of the State Historical Society Library at Columbia added greatly to the materials. Dr. Blanche Dow, President of Cottey College, whose father Prof. E. W. Dow was at one time president of McCune College, generously supplied the letter included, from her father's files, now in her possession. Without the assistance of these people this article would have been impossible. Following the close of the Civil War in Missouri, the people of the state turned their attention to the development of the cultural aspects of their existence. Many academies, colleges, and private schools were established for the training of the youth of the state in varied lines of indoctrination. The division occasioned by the war in many religious denominations led to the founding of institutions of learning to perpetuate viewpoints for which men had died or been politically and socially martyred. As is frequently true after war, people worn out with tensions try to pick up the broken threads of their existence and try to continue with the hope that they may not further be interrupted by disorder. Among the institutions founded in Missouri following the Civil War was Pardee College established by the Old School Presbyterian Church at Louisiana, Missouri in 1868. This denomination had existed in Louisiana since 1851 and had purchased a building on the corner of Seventh and Carolina Streets where the school opened under the leadership of the Reverend John A. McAfee, who later was connected with Park College at Parkville, Mo. Due to the intricacies of the post-bellum period, the school was not a success and it was sold to the Baptists in 1871, according to the Pike County history. However, Duncan in his History of Missouri Baptists states that: "The Louisiana Baptist College was incorporated in 1869 by N. McDannold, S. B. Ayres, Wm. Major, Addison Tinsley, A. M. Tinsley, M. M. Modisett, Hugh Allen and others." Evidently denominations were struggling for supremacy in educational matters at this time and were vying with each other in their efforts to control local situations. Duncan goes on to say that "eligible property was purchased at a cost of $6,000; and subsequently improved by an addition costing $4,000. The Reverend John T. Williams, A.M. was elected as the first president and conducted the institution for four years." From 1869 to 1873, Mr. Williams served as president or head master of the Louisiana Baptist College, as old Pardee College had been renamed in 1869. In 1873 J. T. Williams resigned and the Board selected the Reverend J. D. Biggs as his successor. Mr. Biggs was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Louisiana from 1872 until 1875. So he performed the double function of pastor and president of the college. The college seems not to have prospered in this unstable period of history when both teachers and pastors were limited in their functions by the application of the "iron-clad oath" imposed on professional classes of Missouri during the Reconstruction Period in the state. The property had become involved in debt and was sold under a mortgage in March, 1879. A. J. McCune, a prominent deacon in the First Baptist Church of Louisiana, Mo., purchased the property and offered it to the Baptist denomination for what it had cost him. However, there was a general lack of confidence in the future of the institution and his offer was not accepted. Financial commitments of the denomination and the aftermath of the monetary troubles of the 1870's made the people question the wisdom of such sponsorship for the Baptist denomination. Already they had committed the denomination to the support of a number of other institutions, some not too far distant from Louisiana. Adniron Judson McCune represented one of the old and substantial families of Pike County. Described by Walter Williams in his History of Northeast Missouri as "a man of large estate, public spirit, and personal rectitude," he was president of the Mercantile Bank of Louisiana, also serving for eight years on the city council, and later as mayor of Louisiana. A member of the First Baptist Church of Louisiana and very active in its affairs, he was soon elected to the governing board of Louisiana Baptist College. His financial backing of the institution probably was responsible for its survival over a period of almost thirty years after his reorganization of the institution. From 1879 to the time of the closing of the college in 1895, the institution bore his name. The city of Louisiana had been laid out about 1818 and was located in the eastern part of Buffalo township, just north of the Noix River's confluence with the Mississippi. Here the Chicago and Alton Railroad had constructed the first wrought iron bridge across the Mississippi River in 1873 and the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern Railroad had given the city north and south connections. The Pike County history describes the (page 4) PAGE 4 NEMOSCOPE SPRING, 1951 site of this city as a "magnificent one." Surrounded by bluffs on the northwest and south, the city occupied a gently sloping table land to the Mississippi River on the East. Settled by cultured peoples from the Old South and East, it is not surprising that they should have aspired to provide for their sons and daughters in the crude frontier areas, similar cultural advantages to those characteristic of the eastern seaboard from which they had migrated. However, the accessibility of this city seemed not conducive to the development of college facilities in the area. The picture of McCune College bears out Duncan's description of it as a ". . . well ventilated and commodious structure, centrally located, and with the addition of a mansard roof, now contemplated, can accommodate 125 boarders." In June 1880, Prof. Alfred Slaughter was elected to the presidency of "Baptist College" and in September, 1880, the first session opened under his management. From the diary of Mrs. A. J. McCune it is learned that following the purchase of the college by A. J. McCune: "In 1879-1880 he furnished it free of rent to Sister Lucy Foster for school purposes. In 1880 he furnished it to Prof. A. Slaughter for school purposes, Prof. Slaughter paying him a nominal rent." Before the close of the school term in 1881, Duncan reports that 114 pupils had been enrolled from four different states and from nine counties in Missouri. Alfred Slaughter was evidently an able school organizer. [photo caption] PROF. ALFRED SLAUGHTER Born in Rappahannock County, Virginia, August 12, 1828, he was educated mostly by private study. From 1848 to 1854 he taught in Virginia and thence moved to Louisville, Kentucky. He taught in the public schools of Louisville for three years, being principal of the third ward school there. This institution had an attendance of over 1,000 pupils at that time. He spent three years from 1857-1860 in Johnson County, Kansas, being a surveyor for that county. In the upset conditions of the Kansas-Missouri area in 1860, he moved to Westport, Missouri where he opened a school. For two years this private school continued and then closed. He then moved to Wellington in Lafayette County and there taught until 1867. He became one of the early organizers of the Lexington, Mo., public schools under the new state law and taught in that city from 1867-1870 as principal of the schools of Lexington, Mo. He organized the Texas Prairie High School in Lafayette County in 1870 and taught there for a year. He was called to the Presidency of the Home Institute of Cooper County, Missouri, filling that position for nine years. In 1871 the college building of the Home Institute burned down and Alfred Slaughter lost all of his earthly possessions. Friends rebuilt the school and he reopened it in 1875, remaining there until 1880 when he was called to the presidency of McCune College at Louisiana, Missouri. In June 1881 the Louisiana Baptist College was reorganized under the name of McCune College, and incorporated under the laws of Missouri. A. J. McCune was president, W. M. White was secretary, and Alfred Slaughter was treasurer. Additional members of the Board of Regents were named in Article 17 of the charter as being W. M. Tipton, S. B. Ayres, G. C. Merrill, A. Tinsley, Thomas McDannold and William E. Wiatt. These people and the stockholders included influential lay Baptists of Pike County and Baptist ministers of the county. From these sources the bulk of the students were drawn. There were four teachers in the academic department besides the superintendent, matrons, caretakers, etc. The superintendent or president was charged in Article 3 of the charter with: "The entire management of said college with reference to the education and discipline of the students thereof. . .subject, however, in all cases to the general supervision and approval of the board of regents of said college." [photo caption] ERNEST WENTWORTH DOW The purpose of the college was stated in Article 2 of the charter as being, ". . . the education of the minds of the youth in all the sciences and literature which are usually taught in institutions of learning of the same character with authority to confer such degrees on persons, who are worthy and qualified, as are usually conferred by other colleges." Mrs. McCune's diary elaborates at length on the discussion by the Salt River Baptist Association as to the advisability of their assuming partial responsibility for the welfare of the college. She records as follows: "In 1881, the school being larger than the buildings would accommodate, Bro. McCune added a south wing to the buildings. This wing and other improvements the same year, cost $3,100. In 1885 he put a new roof on the front of the College building. His outlay in improvements was over $4,000." At its session in 1885 Salt River Association, "Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed, whose duty it shall be to confer with the President and Board of Regents of McCune College, with a view to its closer relation to this Association, and with a view to its endowment, if deemed expedient by the Association-- this committee being authorized to report at the next meeting of the Association." The committee appointed consisted of J. F. Kemper, B. Beauchamp and W. R. McDannold. In 1886, Prof. H. T. Morton was made president of the college. At the session of the Association in (page 4) SPRING, 1951 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 5 [photo caption] MISS MATTIE TINSLEY 1879 Graduate 1886, the committee made the following report: "Your Committee appointed to confer with the Board of Regents of McCune College, with a view to its closer relation to the Association, and with a view to its endowment, beg leave to report that at a joint meeting of the Committee and the Board of Regents, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: "Resolved, That it is the sense of this joint meeting of the Board of Regents and the Conference Committee of Salt River Association, that the charter of McCune College be so amended as to have Salt River Association nominate the Board of Regents, the incoming members to be confirmed by the existing board. Further, it is the sense that the property now known as McCune College property, be deeded to the Baptists, and that ten thousand dollars be raised as the beginning of an endowment. "Your Committee further reports that Bro. A. J. McCune, the owner of the buildings, offers to take $3,000 for them, which is less than half their value. Your committee would recommend that a Committee be appointed with authority to devise and carry out a plan for securing the buildings to the Association, and also for raising an endowment." This report was adopted and a committee was appointed to carry out its purposes. The committee consisted of T. J. McDannold, W. J. Patrick, J. F. Kemper, B. Beauchamp, W. M. Tipton, A. H. McDannold and J. D. Biggs. At the session of the Association in 1887 this committee reported as follows: "Your committee beg leave to report that in accordance with the instruction of the Association, they have been making an effort to raise $3,000 to secure the buildings of McCune College; they have not yet secured the whole amount, but have received considerable help and encouragement. Your committee, owing to dullness of trade, found it difficult to raise there (in Louisiana) the whole sum, but determined to secure as much as possible. Bros. Biggs and Kemper were appointed a sub-committee for that purpose. They enlisted the services of three citizens of the city and made a canvass for subscriptions. They were much hindered in their work by the unusual business depression of the year, but found an earnest and general desire that the school should be permanently established. The Committee have to report that they have $2,000 in Louisiana upon condition that we now guarantee to raise the remainder. This sum, taken in connection with what Bro. A. J. McCune donated in his offer last year, makes at least $5,000, at present low valuation, that residents of Louisiana are willing to give for an associational school. Believing that this is a liberal part for Louisiana, and that it is very nearly as much as can be done there, your committee asks leave to make an effort to raise the remaining $1,000 here and now." This report was adopted and the $1,000 subscribed as asked. "The Treasurer of the College soon afterward began the collection of the money subscribed. August the 24th, 1888, he settled with A. J. McCune and received the deed to the property. August the 25th the deed was recorded. Steps have been taken toward securing the proposed amendment to the charter. It will be accomplished as soon as it can be in the regular course of court proceedings. "There is, also, to be an amendment forbidding that a debt be created on the property. "By order of the Board. WILEY J. PATRICK Committeeman." The difficulty of maintenance of the school is evident by the fact that a series of presidents of the college followed in the order named in the following table: Alfred Slaughter 1884-1886; Dr. H. T. Morton 1886-1889; B. P. Beeson 1889-1891; T. J. Musgrove 1891-1892; E. W. Dow 1892-1893; H. J. Greenwell 1894-1895. Mr. Fred Stichter of Louisiana, Mo., a former student of McCune College, recalled that Dr. H. T. Morton was formerly a Presbyterian, who later became a Baptist. He hired his own children to teach in the college, according to Mr. Stichter, and this caused his resignation. From the tabular reports of private schools to the State Superintendent of Public Schools, the table for McCune College was compiled. The reports are very incomplete making comparison difficult. Under Prof. Slaughter's first year of presidency the average salary paid the teachers was $270 per year. In three years time--by 1887 under H. T. Morton--the lump salary fund McCune College Louisiana, Missouri Year Principal No. of Amt. Pd No. Tuition Value Value Vols. or President Teachers Teachers Students Per Year Bldg. Apparatus Library 1884 A. Slaughter 10 $2,700 87 $50 $19,000 $5,000 400 1885 A. Slaughter . . . . $4,000 104 20-80 19,000 100 400 1886 H. T. Morton 7 Tuition 70 40 10,000 150 2,300 1887 H. T. Morton 5 3,000 107 40-50 10,000 50 2,500 1888 H. T. Morton 9 3,000 97 40 10,000 167 300 1889 B. P. Beeson 4 2,500 96 35 6,000 300 300 1890 B. P. Beeson 5 2,400 85 38 6,000 200 300 1891 (No Reports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1892 E. W. Dow 8 3,500 160 70 10,500 500 470 1893 H. J. Greenwell 7 2,300 101 . . . 10,000 90 100 1894 H. J. Greenwell 7 1,800 82 . . . 10,000 120 125 NOTE: Compiled from reports on private schools to State Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Missouri 1884-1895, inclusive. (page 6) PAGE 6 NEMOSCOPE SPRING, 1951 was $2800, the amount of tuition fees to be divided among seven teachers. If it was a share and share alike affair the annual salary of each teacher had reached the sum of $400. By the available reports the peak year in salary seems to have been reached under E. W. Dow at which time the 8 teachers were paid the lump sum of $3500, total tuition received. Assuming again an equal division of these fees the average salary would be $437.50 annually. Great must have been the hardship and sacrifice made by these early instructors for the maintenance of this college. Truly they were men and women of courage and conviction believing in the necessity of higher education. Another interesting fact to be noted from the table is the increase in volumes reported as being in the library. In the year 1885, 400 volumes were reported. By 1886 these had increased to 2300, and 200 more are reported by the following year of 1887. By the year of 1888 the number of volumes reportedly dropped to 300--a loss of 2200 volumes. Where did the volumes go? Did they wear out or go the way of so many library books even of the present,--namely into private libraries of the students, who neglected to return them to the college. The same feature can be noted as to the decreasing values of apparatus of the college. From a reported value of $5,000 in 1884--it drops to $90 in 1894. What was included in this over all term? Did the apparatus wear out or did it also disappear? Perhaps the tendencies of modem students to be careless of apparatus and library books was also true of these nineteenth century college students. Prof. E. W. Dow, whose picture is shown, is the father of Dr. Blanche Dow, now president of Cottey College, Nevada, Mo. Dr. Blanche Dow stated in a letter that her father's library and most of his papers were burned in a disastrous fire which swept their home. But a letter from Dr. S. B. Ayres of Louisiana, Mo., to her father was saved. This letter notified Prof. Dow of his election to the presidency of McCune College in 1892. The condition of the school is manifest in this document, which so fortunately has been preserved. The letter is given in full: S. B. AYRES, M. D., No. 312 Georgia Street, Telephone No. 10 Louisiana, Mo., Feb. 1, 1892 Prof. E. W. Dow DEAR SIR At a meeting of the Board of Regents of McCune College this P M you were unanimously elected President. The terms are that you have the College free of rent and that you be required to keep up the necessary repairs. It is the sense of the board & the expressed desire, that you retain two of the teachers, Prof. Fulcher & his wife in the faculty. They are both faithful, earnest teachers, are very popular with the students and are rapidly making friends in the community. I now have great confidence in the success of the college. I think there is a better feeling in the association toward the school now than there has been for years and with a man of ability & push at the head I am confident that success will be ours. The board instructed me to request of you, an early reply to this call. Hoping to hear from you favorably I am Very Truly yours S. B. AYRES Professor Dow accepted the presidency of McCune College and made great effort to revive the institution. He was also chairman of the Committee on Education of the Salt River Baptist Association, which included the Pike County area. At the Sixty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Association held with the Mill Creek Baptist Church in Lincoln County, Missouri, on August 31, 1892, Professor Dow reported on the condition of McCune College as follows: "We report a bright outlook for our own Baptist College at Louisiana, and ask for it the hearty sympathy and cooperation of every Baptist in the Association. We believe that if this is secured that in the near future it will take front rank among our educational institutions. Our smaller institutions are doing and must do a work which can not be done by others. They are the ones to cultivate the home field and raise the standard of education in our midst. In these days when the Bible is being thrown out of our public schools, the importance of Christian education can not be too much emphasized." By the table, which appears a little later in the account, it will be noted that the enrollment increased remarkably under his able leadership. Apparently the curriculum expanded greatly also, because in an advertisement of the college under the presidency of H. G. Greenwell, appearing in the minutes of the Salt River Baptist Association in August of 1894, the following courses are advertised: "MCCUNE COLLEGE-DEPARTMENTS: Academic and Business, three years; Collegiate Scientific, three years; Classical, full course, four years; Music, full course, four years; Art, three years. Accommodations for 50 male and female boarders in College Home, in charge of the President and his wife. Neatly furnished and well carpeted rooms; good table fare; pure water; healthful location; faculty of seven skillful and experienced teachers. Send for new catalogue. H. J. GREENWELL, President, Louisiana, Mo." It may be observed that the usual classical and academic curriculum was the order of the day in this institution of learning. The business course is not described so that one is unable to judge a resemblance to a modern commercial course. The classical curriculum prevailed in most of the areas listed. At the meeting of the Salt River Association at Ramsey Creek Baptist Church on August 30, 1894, J. M. McManaway reported for the Committee on Education and urged support, confidence, and patronage for McCune College. Said he, "President Greenwell and his present faculty may be confidently entrusted with the care of our boys and girls." The program must have proved too extensive and the monetary depression of the 1890's too great for the college to survive. In the minutes of the Seventy-Second Annual Meeting of the Salt River Baptist Association held with Adiel Baptist Church in Pike County, Missouri, the final word on McCune College was regretfully reported by the Board of Regents. The full text of the report follows: (Quote) To Salt River Association, Convened at Adiel Baptist Church Aug. 28, 29, 30th, 1895, Greeting: Whereas, The Board of Regents of McCune College, after due effort having failed to secure a President to conduct a school in the college for the scholastic year 1895-6 and Whereas, The success of the college during the period in which your board has held it in charge has not been at all satisfactory to its friends nor to the board, the members of the board personally, and time and again having had to supply means out of their own pockets to keep it going, and Whereas, If your body will not extend sympathy and cooperation in patronage of the college and in helping (page 7) SPRING, 1951 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 7 to bear the burdens of running it as you have not hitherto done; We the Board of Regents of McCune College, beg to recommend: (1) The discontinuance of the college; (2) The sale of the college property upon the best terms securable by the Board of Regents and (3) The disposition of the proceeds of said sale to those who contributed to the purchase of the said property of A. J. McCune on a just and equitable basis. S. B. AYRES, President W. M. WHITE, Secretary (End Quote) The Board of Regents of McCune College at the time of the closing of the school was composed of the following men: Term Expiring Term Expiring in 1896 in 1897 W. M. White J. L. Dawson J. D. Biggs A. F. Manske J. Reid Geo. Harvey J. C. Stewart Wm. M. Waters J. E. McPike J. A. Goodman Term Expiring in 1898 A. J. McCune Geo. W. Emerson S. B. Ayres A. H. McDannold G. G. Given In this closing year of 1894-1895 there were no graduates of the college. The Pike County News of May 23, 1895, contained this article on the closing days of the institution: "McCune College closed its annual session on last Friday. This would be the regular commencement week but as there were no graduates this part of the term was omitted. The attendance thruout the year had not been very large and has been irregular. But the work done has been good, and some of the pupils have made fine progress; especially E. M. Bartlett, Angus White, Earnest N. Ince, Misses Emma Briggs, Sallie Lock and others who worked on through the year." Thus a gallant institution, founded with high hopes, came to an end as competition within the denomination became too keen to be met. By 1899 the Committee on Education of the Salt River Association reported at the Seventy-Sixth Annual meeting that; "We rejoice that we have in Missouri thirteen Baptist Colleges, with about one hundred and thirty instructors, two thousand students and school properties aggregating a valuation of nearly $800,000." McCune College was not one of these institutions. In the fall of 1895 the Pike County News of September 12, 1895 reported the opening of the Louisiana Academy on September 9, 1895 with an enrollment of eighty-six pupils. The school occupied a building at 11th and Carolina Streets. The faculty of this successor to McCune College was composed of J. E. Fulcher as Superintendent; J. D. Meriwether as a teacher of Latin and English; Mollie S. Milroy as having charge of the primary; Mrs. J. E. Fulcher as teaching piano and organ; Mrs. George C. Carbise as a teacher of voice culture and the art of singing; and Miss Cora Reed offered Drawing, Painting and China Decorating." The school was advertised as being non-denominational. The property of McCune College was sold and now stands as an apartment house at the same location. The culture, the influence, and the training of this institution of learning left a definite mark of culture and refinement in this community, which devotes itself to the maintenance of high standards of education. The sons and daughters of Louisiana residents are sent afar to institutions of learning to return and to continue the interest of their forebears in the better way of life. McCune College passed but the eternal life of its influence remains as a monument to those supporters of this institution, who struggled long and faithfully to maintain it. Teacher for Many Years Remembers Many Children With Affection by Dorothy M. Nunn (EDITOR'S NOTE--The following article is written by Miss Dorothy N. Nunn, of St. Louis, a grandniece of the subject of this article which, by permission, is being reprinted from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Miss Nunn was born in Trenton, 'Missouri, and educated in the schools of Bowling Green, Missouri. During her high school days she had Miss Annie Ingram as a teacher. Now employed as a secretary in St. Louis, Miss Nunn is interested in journalism. The following is her first published article. Miss Nunn states that "While I believe this factual account of her teaching career reveals many of her fine qualities, no article that I might write could adequately tell of the loye and high regard which her many friends have for her.") On the second Sunday in May, Miss Annie Ingram of Bowling Green, like mothers all over the nation--will be reliving happy moments in her children's growing-up days. And after 50 years of teaching in Missouri schools, Miss Annie (as she is affectionately known by pupils, parents and all) has many, many children to remember with love. She has devoted a lifetime to loving children, big and little, and has spent 50 years of that time teaching them with a special combination of wisdom, love and understanding. Now, at 82, Miss Annie says, "One of my greatest pleasures in life is when former pupils who are grown men and women with families of their own come back to visit me and tell what they have accomplished with their lives, how they have succeeded, about their families and what life has meant to them. Another pleasure I sometimes have is working for and voting for some former pupils to put them in positions of honor and trust." [photo caption] MISS ANNIE INGRAM Early Desire to Teach Miss Annie wanted to teach from early grade school days. Perhaps that desire was implanted by her mother who taught Miss Annie and her younger sister at home until they were old enough to make the long walk across fields to and from the rural school in all kinds of weather. After finishing rural school, Miss Annie attended Watson Seminary at Ashley, Mo.--a private endowed school. At that time, in the 1880's, (page 8) PAGE 8 NEMOSCOPE SPRING, 1951 private schools did the work of first-class high schools. During one year of training at Watson the principal formed a class of those planning to teach. Miss Annie remembers well his saying, in speaking of discipline; "Always measure the act by the intention," and that rule stayed with her all her teaching years. This same principal told these future teachers, "If you can't afford several dresses, do afford different collars--change your looks. Don't, week after week, go before the same children presenting the same appearance." Miss Annie began her teaching career in 1891--when she was only 21 years old. She remembers that first school "like it was yesterday." It was a rural school of about 24 pupils. Many of the boys and girls were heavier and taller than she--and some almost as old. In thinking back, she says, "I had planned a nice speech to make opening morning, but when I got there all three directors were present and I couldn't think of a word of that speech. . . I was hired for six months at $30 a month. When I was paid $30 at the end of the first month, I wondered what I'd ever do with all that money. I remember I bought one pair of nice Sunday hose-- or 15 cents. (Everyday hose were 10 cents a pair.) I stayed with relatives and helped with housework for my board. I saved $100 in that six months, but didn't deny myself anything I wanted." Miss Annie summed up that first year by saying, "I felt I was a fizzle as a teacher." After that first year she taught in the Ashley school and began to feel she "was accomplishing something and doing the children some good." Those first few years of rural school teaching must have been a real challenge to a young teacher. The rural schools were not graded; there was no definite plan for promotion--nothing to encourage pupils to put forth their best efforts. Children studied helter-skelter, hit or miss, and often studied the same subject two or three years. In 1906 the state sent questions to Missouri rural schools for eighth grade examination. For the first time work was definitely outlined, which proved much more satisfying and encouraging to pupils and teachers. Of her many rural schools, one stands out particularly in Miss Annie's mind. There were about 17 pupils in school and "we were just like a nice big family." We played together and worked together. Had no discipline. . . there was no need for it. I could trust those boys and girls to the utmost. I remember there was a pond some little distance from school where the boys and girls liked to skate during recess. I'd give them my watch and they never failed to return on time. I loved the children and showed it, and they seemed to like me in return. I don't believe I ever enjoyed a rural school as much as that one. "I remember another school where I had been told before going that there were some big bad boys there who were hard to manage. I went rather frightened. There were several big boys there, but I found no bad boys. As a matter of fact, I firmly believe there are no bad boys. Nine times out of 10 if you trust them, they'll live up to that trust. If you put them down as bad, they won't disappoint you in that either. They will return your attitude to you." Supplemented Education During her early teaching years Miss Annie supplemented her education with summer school and correspondence work. After teaching in rural schools a number of years, she moved to Bowling Green and soon became full-time mathematics teacher in the high school there. She was truly pleased with this arrangement, for mathematics was her favorite subject. She says with enthusiasm, "I remember one year when I taught nothing but math--six math classes (including algebra, geometry and trigonometry) and two study halls a day. And believe it or not, one of the classes I got the most pleasure from in all my years of teaching was that year's freshman algebra class of 18 boys who came in the eighth period of the day. Can you feature looking forward to a group of 18 freshman boys at the end of a hard day?--Well, I really did." Miss Annie believes learning in the schoolroom should not be limited to pupils. She says, "One good lesson I learned from my pupils during teaching years was to laugh with them--even in class. I never lost my temper without realizing afterward I had lost in the pupils' estimate. This was brought forcibly to my attention when, in my early years of teaching, I overheard a pupil say, 'It's more fun to make a teacher mad than to go to a picture show.' I said to myself, 'I'm not going to give them any free picture shows this year!"' Miss Annie's discipline was well illustrated in this incident. One day in study hall one of the boys amusedly called her attention to a fly with only one wing which was crawling on his desk. Miss Annie made no comment but at the end of the period in the few minutes usually devoted to a special story or thought, she read Cowper's poem "Cruelty to Animals." The boy came to her after class and told her he had pulled the wing off the fly, but would never do it again. Miss Annie in telling of this says, "To my way of thinking, that was much more effective than a scolding." Punishment Rule Miss Annie remembers her father drilling into her, "Never punish a child when he tells you the truth. If you do, don't blame him for telling a lie next time." She believes "children, big or little, respond to kind treatment." In 1923 Miss Annie was asked to run for Pike County Superintendent of Schools. In speaking of the campaign, she says, "I remember my uncle had tickets printed and sent me down town with them. I gave one to the first old friend I saw, then turned and went home. I just couldn't campaign. I would never have been elected if it hadn't been for friends." As County Superintendent of Schools she worked with all rural schools in Pike county. It was gratifying work, but Miss Annie admits she missed looking up to smile at eager young faces. Eighth grade graduation was the highlight of the school year. Graduates from all the rural schools came into the county seat for graduation exercises. At the end of the year all schools in the county would bring work they had done throughout the year to be put on display. Several rooms in the County Courthouse would be filled with displays--maps, posters, scrapbooks, etc. During the school year Miss Annie, in her Model T Ford, visited the rural schools throughout the county--some the very ones she had taught in earlier days. Teaching 3 Generations After serving as county superintendent for 12 years, Miss Annie returned to teaching in the schools of Bowling Green. During that time, she proudly says, "I had the pleasure of teaching the grandchildren of some of my first pupils." In her years of teaching, she has in many instances taught three generations of a family. Class reunions are happy times for Miss Annie. The outstanding reunion in her memory was held in 1937. Miss Annie was sponsor of the Senior Class (page 9) SPRING, 1951 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 9 of 1917. The Class bought a Government bond during World War I and decided when the bond retired in 20 years they would hold a class reunion. Miss Annie confessed she had never been kissed by so many men in such a short time as at that reunion! Young people and teaching are still vital interests in Miss Annie's life. She teaches a Sunday School class regularly and tutors several young people privately during the school year. Looking back on her half century of teaching, Miss Annie says: "If I have had any success in teaching, I feel it's due to the fact I have naturally loved children and young people. Since I was a child there have always been children in the family and loving them has made me love other children more. Any success I might have had is not due to my teaching ability--I have simply loved the pupils and the work." Former pupils have come from many states--from California to New York --to call on Miss Annie. And it's certain Mother's day will not only find Miss Annie thinking fondly of her many "children"--but will also find those children thinking fondly of their Miss Annie. "LOST ALUMNI" Listed below are a number of alumni of the Teachers College, who have become "lost" so far as the Alumni Office is concerned. Mail addressed to these persons at their last known address has been returned marked "undeliverable." If you have information concerning any of these alumni will you please communicate with the Alumni Office. Numerals indicate year graduated. --EDITOR Grant Oberg, 1907 W. C. Ogier, 1907 Lenna Reva Osborn, 1944 Pearl Osborn, 1929 Mabel Owen, 1903 Ollen Owen, 1924 Winifred Owens, 1914 Lillian LaRue Palmer, 1933 James R. Parcell, 1939 Tulsye Phelps, 1916 Herman B. Poison, 1916 Ruby Gentry Pontius, 1931 Lelah Popplewell, 1903 Frances E. Post, 1907 Frank Henry Potter, 1897 LaVerla Berle Pringle, 1925 Ola Pryor, 1909 Dorothy Rader, 1942 N. R. Randall, 1902 Jessie Ray, 1899 Clara Virlea Redding, 1925 Glen G. Reed, 1932 Dorothy Louise Reedy, 1923 Louise Bartlette Rex, 1896 Minnie Moss Richardson (Mrs.), 1919 Lola Riddle (Mrs. Anthony Bono), 1941 Eva Robbins, 1902 [photo caption] THE THURMANS Mary Evelyn Thurman (Rufener) and Karl Thurman, brother and sister, are instructors for the Annual Baton Twirling Clinic held on the campus of the Teachers College each summer. Each year the clinic draws those interested in baton twirling from a number of states. Graduates of the Teachers College, both Mary Evelyn and Karl are champions, having taken first place in foremost twirling contests of the nation. Miss Thurman has twirled with the country's leading bands, has taught twirling and drum majoring in many schools. Karl is the winner of over 100 first place awards in the country's largest twirling contests. Both have been judges of the Chicagoland Music Festival Contest. (page 10) PAGE 10 NEMOSCOPE SPRING, 1951 ALUMNI NOTES Joe B. King, 1925, is manager of the Jones Pharmacies, Inc. at Memphis, Missouri. Regenia Cowden, 1941, formerly of Center, Missouri, will be elementary principal and teacher of the first grade at Perry, Missouri for the coming school year. Mrs. Albertine Shipps, 1945, an elementary education major from Hale, Missouri, will join the teaching staff of the Hannibal Public Schools, Hannibal, Missouri, in the fall. Col. Malcolm E. Craig, 1915, head of the military department at the University of Wyoming, retired from his position there on April 30. Colonel Craig is a native of Lewis County, Missouri. Elizabeth Spindler, 1945, is County Librarian of the Texas County Library at Houston, Missouri. Besides the Bookmobile and film service, she also has a weekly radio program from West Plains, Missouri. Robert L. Evans, 1949, whose home town is Macon, Missouri, will again be assistant coach in the high school at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. He recently married Winifred Kimler of Atlanta who is also a graduate of the College in 1950. Jane Crow, 1923, retired in May from her position as Assistant Director of Guidance at the Kirksville Junior High School where she has been a teacher for the past 28 years. She will make her home in her home town of Homer, Illinois. Iva Shipman, 1929, became the bride of James Roach of Browning, Missouri, on June 6. She has taught the past eighteen years at Princeton and Galt, Mo. They will make "their home in Browning where he is employed by an appliance store. Edgar T. Wein, 1943, formerly of New Melle, Missouri, was a recent visitor on the campus. He is employed as a senior accountant by the Arthur Andersen & Co. at 120 S. LaSalle St., Chicago. He resides at 4876 North Hermitage, Chicago 40, Illinois. Martha McDuffie, 1945, formerly of Kirksville, was married to C. H. Sheffield of Waverly, Va., on June 9. For the past year she has taught Food and Nutrition at the University of Maryland. They will make their home at 201 West Rosemont Avenue, Alexandria, Virginia. Doris McClintic, 1936, whose home town is Perry, Missouri, is teaching the fourth and fifth grades there. Mrs. Bess D. Swartz, 1944, formerly of Madison, Missouri, has been employed as Junior High study hall supervisor at Moberly, Missouri. Mildred Meilicke, 1936, of Brashear, Missouri, will be the teacher of commercial subjects at the Kinderhook High School, Kinderhook, Illinois, for the coming term. Minnie Boulware, 1948, whose home address is Madison, Missouri, has been employed to teach the second grade, at Central School, Moberly, Missouri, next year. Burnell Lamb, 1935, who has been Admissions Counselor at Lindenwood College, St. Charles, Mo., since 1949, has been named the new principal of Mexico High School, Mexico, Missouri. Marvin C. Gutekunst, 1934, has been named coach at the Junior High School, Moberly, Missouri. He will also teach some courses in science and assist with the coaching of the high school football team. George W. Corporon, 1911, is minister of the Christian Church at Arcadia, Kansas, where he has been located for many years. His wife was recently chosen Kansas 1951 State Mother. They have eight children-- all college graduates. Lloyd C. Hickey, 1949, has been employed by the New London, Mo., Public Schools to teach social science and English. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Education degree. Last year he taught at Chamois, Mo. He is married and has one daughter. Ollin Drennan, 1949, of Kirksville, Missouri, has been employed to teach Mathematics and Science in the High School at Linneus, Missouri. He has previously done graduate work at Washington University, St. Louis, where he was Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Science. "LOST ALUMNI" Louise Roberts, 1925 Elsie Robinson, 1916 Selby Lemley Robinson, 1925 Nellie B. Rockhold, 1910 James Buford Rogers, 1914 Linnie Lavora Rogers, 1928 Grace Rucker, 1903 Graduate Column Joe Henry, 1938, will be Superintendent of Schools of R-III District next year. He has held a similar position in the schools at Cairo, Missouri, near Moberly for the past two years. He and his family which includes two daughters and one son, will live in Clarksville, Missouri. Mr. Henry will receive his master of arts degree in School Administration in August 1951. Earnest Wayne Phillips, Ethel, Mo., will teach mathematics and general science in the Stowell Junior High School, Hannibal, Mo., this coming year. Mr. Phillips received his Master of Arts degree in School Administration in 1950. Francis M. Walter of Kirksville has been secured by the Shelbyville, Mo., Public School to act as principal of the high and grade schools and teacher of social studies and science. Mr. Walter has had three years of teaching experience in the Canton High School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from this College in 1948 and will receive his Master of Arts degree in School Administration this summer. He is married and has a daughter, Cynthia, and a son, Gregory Dean. David Waggoner has been reemployed by the Memphis, Mo., Public School to teach history and geography in the high school. Mr. Waggoner received his Master of Arts degree in history in August 1950. His wife is the former Mary Shirley of Kirksville who will graduate from the College at the end of the summer quarter. Stephen Rex Melvin will teach music in Jennings High School at Jennings, Mo., during the school year 1951-52. Mr. Melvin received his Master of Arts degree in the field of Music in 1951. His wife is the former Zolene Perry, also a graduate of this College. Olive Ruth Eason of Kirksville has been employed to teach social studies in the high school replacing Miss Ruth Towne, who resigned. For the last seven years Miss Eason has been employed by the Mexico, Mo., Public Schools, She holds her Master of Arts degree in School Administration from this College, having received it in August 1950. (page 11) SPRING, 1951 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 11 The Official College Stamp The above stamp was designed by David R. Janson, a senior student of the Teachers College. He worked for several months on a design for the official stamp, the above one being the final choice. It is printed in purple and white, the college colors. Mr. Janson was born and reared at Excelsior Springs, Missouri. He entered the Teachers College in the fall of 1948. Mr. Janson is a Fine Arts major. He was the editor of the 1951 Echo. In the spring of 1951 he was elected President of the student body. Mr. Janson is very active on the campus. Besides being President of the Student Council he is a member of Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity and the Art Club. He expects to graduate with the May Division of the Class of 1952. His academic program leads to a Bachelor of Science in Education degree. The Teachers College has long felt the need for an official stamp to be used by students, alumni and faculty on correspondence. The administration expects to use it on the various publications of the college. It is hoped that it will become as well known as the college song, the college yell, and the college colors. The stamps are being sold by the Pan-Hellenic Council, a sheet of eighty sells for seventy-five cents, and a cent each for a lesser number. The proceeds from the sale of these stamps will go to the Pan-Hellenic International Scholarship Fund. This Fund was established in the spring of 1950 for the purpose of aiding teachers from other lands who desire to continue their education for the teaching profession. [photo caption] DAVID R. JANSON Designer of the College Stamp [photo caption] The May Division of the Class of 1951 saw the largest number of degrees granted than any previous graduation in the history of this college. By degrees, they are as follows: Bachelor of Science in Education 128, Bachelor of Science 55, Bachelor of Arts 11, and Master of Arts 15; a total of 209 degrees granted. (page 12)