(cover)

NEMOSCOPE

WINTER
1955

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President's Corner

   The Northeast Missouri State Teachers College recognizes that there is no substitute for genuine
scholarship in the preparation of future teachers. The maintenance and improvement of scholarship is
a matter of continuous concern. In the fall quarter of 1954 a definite program was inaugurated to
increase the emphasis on the encouragement of high scholarship.

   For some time an honor roll has been prepared at the end of each quarter to provide appropriate
recognition for students who exhibit a superior quality of class work. To be eligible for the honor
roll a student must have earned a minimum of seven and one-half semester hours of credit with at least
an S average. Students who maintain an S average throughout their college career are designated as
honor graduates.

   This year letters of congratulation have been sent by the President of the College to the parents
of students whose names appear on the honor roll. In addition the grades of all freshmen and sophomores
are mailed to their parents or guardians.

   Believing that many students who are not progressing satisfactorily can be aided by counseling and
remedial work, the Division of Personnel Service receives a report from each faculty member at the end
of the first six weeks of a quarter on students who are failing their courses. Conferences with these 
students are held by the personnel counselor and also by the instructor. Where remedial measures are
indicated, they are prescribed. The College maintains special clinical services for students who are
in need of individual help in the fields of English, speech, and reading.

   Any student failing to earn 60% of the normal credit for which he is registered is placed on probation
for one quarter for the purpose of special counseling and guidance. If, during the time that he is on
probation, the student again fails to earn as much as 60% of the credit for which he is registered, the
student will be asked to drop out of college for one quarter. On returning to college he will be given
one quarter in which to make up his scholastic deficiency. In case he again fails to pass 60% of his
courses, he will be denied the privilege of further enrollment at the College.

   As an additional safeguard on the preparation of scholastically competent teachers, students who have
not maintained a cumulative grade average of M by the time they have earned sixty hours of credit are
only conditionally transferred from the College of General Education to the College of Professional
Education. Until he has brought his grade average up to the minimum requirement, the student is not
permitted to enroll in professional courses.

   These requirements may seem high to a casual observer, but one should remember that an institution
whose chief function is to prepare people to teach our boys and girls certainly has an obligation to
uphold the highest standards for its students. As Joseph Baldwin once said, "A thorough scholastic
training lies at the foundation of a teacher's education."
WALTER H. RYLE

   Cover Picture

   Homecoming Queen Shirley Wares and her court. From left to right the attendants are: Roger
Schwartztrauber, Mary Anna Billups, Charlene Brooks, Stephen Leyda, Judy Kottman, and Don Merritt.

NEMOSCOPE
NORTHEAST MISSOURI STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI
WALTER H. RYLE, PRESIDENT

EDITOR
ROBERT L. MCKINNEY (On MILITARY LEAVE)
ACTING EDITOR . . . . Ruth Towne
ASSOCIATE EDITORS . . . . Berenice B. Beggs, Ruth Towne
CAMPUS EDITOR . . . . C. H. Allen
ALUMNI EDITOR . . . . Lula Allen
EDITORIAL BOARD . . . . Pauline D. Knobbs, Wray M. Rieger, Orville Bowers

VOLUME IX	WINTER	QUARTER, 1955	NUMBER	2

CONTENTS

EVOLUTION OF THE FREE STATE : PUTNAM COUNTY . . . . 3
Joan Letch

LIFE IN THE OLD NORMAL SCHOOL . . . . 6
James Lemuel Holloway, D.O.

MIDWEST SPEECH TOURNAMENT . . . . 7

1954 HOMECOMING BRINGS OLD GRADS TO CAMPUS . . . . 8

FACULTY NEWS . . . . 10

"LOST ALUMNI" . . . . 10

ALUMNI NOTES . . . . 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 Ruth Towne.

   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.

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WINTER, 1955
NEMOSCOPE
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EVOLUTION OF THE FREE STATE: PUTNAM COUNTY

by
Joan Letch

   EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third in a series of histories of the 25 counties of Northeast Missouri.
Miss Letch, who is teaching in the public schools of Putnam county, began her study of Putnam county
history while a student in the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College.

   Despite its famed individualism, Putnam county's basic foundation is much the same as that of its
sister counties of north central Missouri. With the beginning of the period of westward expansion, came
the first white hunters, scanning the hill country of Putnam for black bear, deer, wolves, and wild 
turkeys. The name of the first of these white men is not known, but legends of their courage and daring
were once popular. The name of Nathaniel Floyd, whether factual or merely mythical, remains recorded as
the bravest of the hunters along the region drained by Blackbird Creek.

   The name of another man important in the history of the county seems destined to remain in oblivion;
the identity of Putnam's first white settler is as yet unknown. It is believed that he came during the
early 1830's, and that he settled somewhere in the eastern end of the county. Recorded history states 
that when Brightwell Martin arrived in 1836, there were seven families living in what is now Putnam county.

   Family records and other sources show that most of these first settlers were of the hardy pioneer
stock of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia, whose ancestors had lived in America from the birth of the
nation. Each came and settled in much the same fashion. The head of the household came, staked his claim,
and returned for his family. Often the only record he left of his visit was that made by placing poles
on the ground in the shape of a cabin floor, but this claim was respected by others. Prior to the
establishment of the land office at Milan in the 1840's very few Putnam county claims were filed. 
Previously the nearest land office had been at Fayette, and the settler did not consider the filing
of a claim worth the long trip.

   The typical family arrived in a covered wagon, and camped in it the first night. The next day a
little plot of land was cleared, and the cabin, a crude affair of logs with an earthen floor, was
erected. Doors were cut out with an ax, and a blanket served as a shutter. Furniture, which was added
piece by piece, consisted of the barest necessities: a table made of split basswood logs with cross
sticks for legs at each end, blocks with legs for chairs, and pole beds with rope springs and handmade
ticks filled with dried prairie-grass.

   Typical of the kind of existence led by these early settlers is that of James M. Brasfield, who came
with his family to Putnam county in 1841. The first three days of the family's life as Missouri pioneers
was spent in their wagon, while Mr. Brasfield built their cabin. The hog-pen was attached to the log home 
to protect the pigs from the numerous wolves. The Brasfields lived almost entirely from the land, as the
nearest marketing center was Brunswick, 75 miles away, a journey of 8 to 10 days on horseback. The first
year, Mrs. Brasfield utilized the hemp crop in making tow-cloth, while her husband "made rope traces
answer in plowing and other farm-work, the ropes fitting into notches cut into the single-trees; the
double-tree, or evener, was fastened to the beam of the plow with rope . . . and the collars were made
of corn husks." The land provided well, and a bee tree was discovered by Mr. Brasfield the first night. 
Besides feathers for pillows, the wild turkey furnished a good source of food to give variety to the
diet of hominy and corn-pone. Mr. Brasfield's first mill was a burned out stump, into which the corn was
placed and pounded with an iron wedge attached to a stick.

   Putnam county social life was largely restricted to the men who gathered at Absolam Grogan's store,
or at one of the mills. Grogan's store, established in 1835 near the present site of Livonia, is believed
to be the first in the county. It featured such items as shoe leather, whet-stones, honey, and whiskey.
The other social center was the mill, an establishment very vital to these people for the grinding of
their meal. Reputedly the first mill was built on Shoal Creek in 1838. It functioned none too well because
its belt of green cowhide left hairs in the meal.

   Before the organization of the county in 1845 schools were rarities. The ones that did exist were
known as "subscription schools" and were organized by the settlers themselves. Anyone who considered
himself qualified might teach. The salary was one dollar per pupil (paid by the parents of each child)
for a term of three months. As clocks were an uncommon luxury, the teacher was to guess the time to
begin and close school, and the day was to extend as nearly as possible from one hour after sunrise to
one hour before sunset. The first recorded school was in Liberty township, with Joseph Ellis as teacher.

   Like education, justice also was in the hands of the settlers themselves. Fighting was common both
as a personal method of law enforcement, and as a convenient way of exhibiting strength, and, therefore,
to the pioneer mind, of showing their relative superiority. Often savage encounters were fought to right
a supposed wrong. At least some attempt was made to uphold the traditional American belief in a fair
trial, as is shown in the amusing case of one settler who was accused of the theft of some pigs belonging
to one of his neighbors. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be sewed into a pigskin, and to be
made to wade the Chariton river out of the county.

   Despite the crude character of these pioneers, most of them had a deep personal religion. While Putnam
county churches were somewhat slow in coming, religious training was not altogether lacking, for great
numbers of people went across the Chariton to camp meetings which were held in Schuyler county. These
meetings had a great effect on Putnam county, and directly influenced the organization of the first
Sunday school in 1841 on the bank of Shoal creek. This school, in turn, led to Putnam county's own first
camp meeting which was attended by 200 people. Here the first church was organized. By the outbreak of
the Civil War, the following churches had been organized: Methodist Episcopal (organized in 1841),
Methodist Protestant, and Cumberland Presbyterian organized at Hartford in 1842.

   When Missouri entered the Union, Putnam county was considered a part of the large Chariton county;
in 1841, it became a part of Howard; and next it was included in Sullivan county. Finally, on February
28, 1845, the

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Missouri legislature approved the act creating Putnam county.

   On April 28, the county court held its first session at the home of James Cochran. Five townships were
organized, and the county was divided into road districts, each headed by a local overseer. Probably the
first petition heard was that of Jacob Willis, who asked that he be permitted to operate a ferryboat across
the Chariton river at the point where it was crossed by the Morman trace. His rates were established as
follows: "for each person crossing said river, 6 3/4cents; for a man and horse, 12 1/2 cents; for one wagon
and two horses with driver and family, 37 1/2 cents."

   At the second session of the county court in June, 1845, plans for a county seat were discussed.
Because of the abundance of water and of wood for cabins found there, a site was chosen on Shoal creek,
and elaborate plans for the town of Putnamville were laid out. Among other provisions were "streets 50
feet wide, alleys 14 feet wide, lots 60 feet front and 120 feet deep, and four lots to be reserved for
a public square." Fifty dollars was donated by Isaac Summers toward the building of a courthouse, and
the rest was to be raised by the sale of lots by auction. To stimulate bidding, a stipulated amount of
whiskey was to be sold to bidders. The results of this provision have not been recorded.

   For no known reason, it was decided to move the seat of government to Calhoun, but this was never
carried out. In 1848, 212 of the 269 taxable inhabitants of the county signed a petition to move the
county seat again, this time to Winchester (or Bryant's Station, as it was sometimes called), the 
geographical center. This town, like Putnamville, was mapped out in lots with a public square. When
the northern boundary was surveyed, and the nine-mile strip lost to Iowa, Winchester was no longer the
center of the county. Therefore, in 1851 Fairplay was renamed Hartford and was made the county seat.
However, after the union of Putnam and Dodge counties in 1853, the county seat was again moved, this
time to Harmony, the new geographical center. The name of the town was changed to Unionville. The first
courthouse, a two-story log structure, was built in 1854 at a cost of $250. In 1857, a jail was erected
nearby, also of logs, but with walls lined with sheet iron as a precaution against its being set on fire.
At last Putnam had located its final county seat.

   Up to 1853, the territory now included in the townships of York, Medicine, Sherman, and Jackson, and
the western halves of Union and of Wilson, together with the disputed land along the state boundary,
comprised the short-lived county of Dodge, which had been formed in 1846. There is little information
about this tiny county, except what may be learned from the 1852 accessors' books, which are kept at
the county seat, St. John. They show that Dodge county had 100 taxpayers, two tanneries, one carriage,
and several clocks and watches. When the survey of the Iowa-Missouri border was completed and the
disputed land was added to Iowa, both Putnam and Dodge counties were reduced to such small units as to
make separate county governments impractical. Therefore, the two were merged under the name of Putnam,
the oldest of the two counties. The only reminder today of the fact that there were once two counties
instead of one is the designation by Putnam countians of the "east end" and the "west end." Actually, 
the old county line was a natural division. To the east were the hills and timber lands; to the west
was found level country and natural prairie vegetation. The east had been settled almost entirely by
southerners, while the western settlers came from the north.

   When the Civil War began, sentiment in the county was primarily in favor of the Northern cause. There
were only 39 slaves in a population of 9,208 according to the census of 1860. The first episode of the
war in Putnam county came when Governor Clayboume Jackson issued his order to all county sheriffs to 
comply with the state enrollment law. At a meeting in Unionville, Sheriff Nelson Applegate flatly refused
to enroll his citizens and was promptly challenged by a Confederate faction led by a prominent lawyer,
E. C. Bradshaw. Men on both sides began preparing to fight, and a gay free-for-all continued until the
far-outnumbered southerners were driven from town.

   The next episode came in the form of an announcement by Schuyler county that it was sending a speaker
to recruit Southern sympathizers and, also, about 400 men to assist Sheriff Applegate with his enrollment.
Putnam, its county spirit aroused, sent an invitation to the speaker to a scaffold which was being erected
for him. In answer to Schuyler's "400 men" threat, five-hundred loyal Putnamites immediately assembled at
the courthouse in Unionville, armed with any convenient weapon even down to a corn-cutter, and marched to
the Chariton to meet the enemy. Before they started, however, someone climbed out on the courthouse roof
and reported to the others that he had spotted the Schuyler county army approaching. A group was sent to
investigate, and returned with the report that the "army" was a week's laundry on the line of Mrs. S. S.
Collins. The motley crew finally reached the bank of the Chariton, where they camped three days, decided
the Schuyler countians were not coming, and disbanded, after having organized themselves into the well-known
Putnam County Home Guards.

   Guerrilla terrorism was common in Missouri during the Civil War and Putnam county was no exception. No
one was killed by the county's Confederate sympathizers, but the record of the Northerners was not above
reproach, as several Southerners were killed. Often personal grudges were settled under the pretense of
national duty. Among those, murdered by guerrillas was Rev. John L. Woods of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, who was shot by a drunken soldier as he was riding out of town.

   After the war was over, Putnam county again pushed ahead. A host of new settlements were established;
few of them proved permanent, however. Lemons, established in 1877, is unique for the complications
involved in its name. Considering that the post office was given the name of Xenia, that the railroad 
depot is Lemons Station, and that the town itself is named Lemons (pronounced "Lemon"), it is little
wonder that strangers are confused. Another interesting settlement, founded in 1886, was the temporary
settlement of Elko, (later named Garfield Springs by a staunch Republican, John Carter, who is said to
have discovered the water's great medicinal value), which flourished for a time as a health resort.

   Another settlement, a story in itself, is Mendota, established in 1873. After the railroad had been
secured, many northern capitalists became interested in the rich coal and timber lands of east Putnam.
An example of this was the company of L. Ketcham and Brother of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Their first
venture was to build a branch railroad to accommodate their timber trade on Shoal creek, and at the
same time they went a step further and organized the Putnam County Coal and Mining Company. Of the
1,200 acres first purchased by them,

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about 1000 acres was underlaid with coal averaging three feet in thickness. The experiment was very
successful. By 1888, about 800 men were employed in the mines, modern equipment had been installed,
the company store was furnishing a great variety of products to customers, and over 1,000 tons of coal
were mined daily. The company owned about 12,000 acres of land in Putnam county and an additional 8,000
acres in Sullivan county. Like so many boom towns, however, the glory of Mendota was short lived. Today
only a few old houses remain of a town which owed its very existence to the presence of coal.

   Despite all its progress, Putnam county has retained many of the characteristics of its first frontier
inhabitants. Its citizens boast of their individualism, and prove it at the polls. But it has finally
taken advantage of its geography and its reputation; it has discovered its philosopher's stone in the
form of the annual feeder calf sale. From a modest beginning, the venture has grown to such an extent
that it is being copied all over the state. Other feeder calf sales had been held before Unionville's,
but none had been organized on a permanent basis, or with such an elaborate method of sorting. Buyers
from all over the nation have been fascinated with the conveniences due to sorting calves according to
weight, size, quality, color, and sex. The average consigner has 10 high- quality calves, which are
bought most commonly by Iowa and Illinois feeders, although some go as far as Pennsylvania and Texas.
The county's handling facilities include a new $8,000 sale barn built entirely by local farmers' and
townspeoples' donated work, some 100 sorting pens, and an additional handling barn. In 1950, 20,000
calves were sold in Missouri's 22 sales, at a valuation exceeding $3,000,000. The "granddaddy of all of
the sales, and still the biggest" is the one at Unionville.

   Unionville has not been one to let an opportunity go by. Now the annual sale has become an institution
with the townspeople. Stores compete for the most attractive window displays, all, of course, relating to
cattle whether Angus or Herefords. Men and women don westem-style hats of every hue in the spectrum, each
adorned with a band proclaiming in bright letters the week of the sale. The local saddle club begins to
be seen more frequently, lending atmosphere for the days when the Texas buyer will park his Cadillac
between the two Ford pickups which carry licenses reading "Unionville, Missouri, Feeder Calf Capital of
the World." Needless to say, the merchants find the week profitable.

   After 109 years, many advancements have been made in Putnam county. Every effort has been made to
further education, religion, social refinement, political awareness, and improved agriculture. It would
be interesting to know how those progress-loving first Putnamites back in 1845 would react to the present
all-out attempt to capitalize on the reputation which they created by trying to bring back the atmosphere
of a roaring, gun-toting "Free-State of Putnam."

Elected to Congress

   Fred Schwengel, a graduate of the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College in 1930, was elected to
Congress by the First Congressional District in Iowa, on November 2, 1954. Mr. Schwengel was a tackle on
the Bulldog football team while a student here. After graduation from the Teachers College he attended 
the Iowa University graduate school. He taught school in the State of Missouri for seven years, serving
as an athletic coach and an instructor of history and political science at Shelbina and Kirksville public
schools from 1930 to 1937.

   Mr. Schwengel was first elected to the Iowa Legislature in 1944, and was re-elected for four additional
terms. During his terms in the Legislature, he has been author or co-author of much of the legislation
pertaining to schools. These include bills on financial aid to public schools, bills for teacher security,
sabbatical leave, reorganization of the Department of Public Instruction, and many others.

   Mr. Schwengel is married to the former Clara Ethel Cassity of Purdin and has two children, both of whom
are students at the University of Iowa.

Courtesy Unionville Republican
[photo caption] The Number of Cars Indicates the Magnitude of Putnam County's Annual Feeder Calf Sale

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LIFE IN THE OLD NORMAL SCHOOL

by
James Lemuel Holloway
D.O.

   EDITOR'S NOTE: Dr. Holloway, 94 years of age now lives in Dallas, Texas, where he practiced osteopathy
for many years. He enrolled in the Normal School in 1875 and graduated in the class of 1882. The
following are excerpts from THE STORY OF MY LIFE by James L. Holloway and are used with the author's
permission.

   The faculty, headed by Dr. Joseph Baldwin, almost as celebrated in the West as Horace Mann was in the
East, was one of unusual ability. Begun as a private Normal, the State took it over, and shortly it became
the mecca of young men and women all over the West who aspired to become educated teachers. The enrollment
soon passed the thousand mark, a record most unusual for that day and age. I was ill part of the year, and
I am sure my standing was nothing to brag about. I did, however, get some of the conceit taken out of me
and became less sophisticated. I joined the Philomathean Society, to which both Brother and Sister belonged,
and began to participate, rather painfully at first, in debate and declamation, which afterward proved
valuable to me. Well do I remember my appearance about a month after I joined. The President called on me 
for an extemporaneous speech and when I stood on the floor, he said: "Mr. Holloway, you can tell the members
of the Society what you know about mules. "Of course I knew all about mules, but I was so embarrassed I
couldn't tell the difference between the characteristics of a mule and a giraffe. I hemmed and hawed, wadded
up my coat tail, swallowed hard, stared at the ceiling a moment and sat down, amidst the suppressed but
convulsive laughter of the members, the facetious President remarking, "You must have worked balky mules."

   On returning to Kirksville during the holidays, I discovered that my funds would not last unless I
practiced the strictest economy. There were others in like predicament. Four of us rented two rooms from
an old German woman in the "back district" of the town, agreeing to pay her seventy-five cents a week 
apiece. We furnished the fuel and she cooked the food we bought. Our furniture was of the crudest kind--
a bed, washstand and pitcher, two chairs, a rough home-made table, and a smoky kerosene lamp and a jug
stove, being the sum total for each room. Fortunately the house was protected on the north by a high
railroad embankment. Often we gathered coal scattered along the track to supplement our supply. Our
largest grocery bills were for graham flour, butter and sugar, for the old lady was an expert on graham
mush, which we consumed in great quantities at breakfast and supper. Occasionally we got reckless and
had a spread of spare ribs, turnips and cornbread, topping off with ample cuts of pumpkin pie and sweet
milk. We were a husky bunch, our towering ambition being to finish our college course in June at whatever
odds. Two things we mutually pledged to each other, and these were to maintain our morale and avoid as
far as possible shabby attire. Our social status was in no wise altered, and one or two of us went so far
as to fall desperately in love with our girl friends. But our Latin and Physics and Chemistry, our History,
English and Calculus won major attention, and our collaboration on these as we bent our heads together
under the smoky lamp chimneys was a silent drama worthy of any stage.

   My private studies in the dingy little room over Uncle's store enabled me, fortunately, to take up
the regular work of the "Three Year" course with my former classmates, though "conditioned" in a few
subjects. I was not sure, however, about my standing. One day in early April President Baldwin announced 
a meeting for all candidates for graduation. Thinking it might seem presumptuous for me to meet with the
class, with books strapped, I started to leave the building, when, accosted by the Prexy, he asked why I
was not meeting with my class. I explained that I had been in school only a half year. "Oh, yes, yes, I
know, but we expect you to graduate." What joy this assurance brought me may be readily imagined, and I
lost no time writing the folks at home. I redoubled my efforts and my grades were above the average. At
that time the Presidents of all three State Normals conducted written examinations of all candidates for
graduation, and their grades taken in connection with class grades, determined one's rank in class. The
two days' grueling tests were finished with a sigh of relief. But the astounding and wholly unexpected 
denouement happened, in the announcement that I had won the highest average, by virtue of which I became
valedictorian. I felt that I might write a fairly passable thesis, but my greatest concern was for a
presentable suit of clothes when I should appear before an audience of a thousand or more on graduation 
day. My eighty-five dollars had been exhausted, and my suits were frayed, slick and somewhat out-grown.
Imagine my surprise, and tears of joy, too, when a week before commencement an express package containing a

[photo caption] Old Baldwin Hall, Dedicated 1873 and Destroyed by Fire January 28, 1924

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WINTER, 1955
NEMOSCOPE
PAGE 7

new suit was received from Rufus. I was one happy boy that day when old Dr. Baldwin complimented me on
the hard won honor, as he handed me my diploma.

President of International Organization

   Richard S. Dabney, 1923, was recently elected president of the International Council for Exceptional
Children. Mr. Dabney is Director of Special Education in Missouri having been appointed by the State Board
of Education in 1947.

   For several summers, Mr. Dabney has assisted in directing a workshop on the campus which has attracted
teachers from all parts of Missouri. Special problems in educating handicapped children were emphasized
in these workshops. His work in encouraging public school systems to include in their teaching staff,
trained men and women to teach special courses to take care of exceptional children brought Missouri to
the forefront as one of the first states to give emphasis to special education.

   Before entering the State Department of Education, Mr. Dabney taught in the junior high schools in
Kansas City and in the R. L. Delano School for Crippled Children in Kansas City. He holds membership in
the Missouri Society for the Prevention of Blindness, the American Association on Mental Deficiency, the 
National Society for Crippled Children and in the National Association of State Directors of Special
Education.

   A sister of Mr. Dabney, Edith Dabney, is also a graduate of K.S.T.C. and was a member of the art
faculty of the college for many years. She is now on the faculty of the State University of Louisiana.

   Mr. Dabney also has a niece and nephew who graduated from K.S.T.C. The latter, Billy Joe Bealmer,
is Director of Art in the Illinois State Department of Public Instruction.

   News of the death of Joseph A. Burnside, 1911, has been received by the Nemoscope office. At the time
of his death Mr. Burnside was serving as superintendent of schools of Carroll county. In addition to the
Bachelor of Pedagogy degree from the Kirksville Normal School he held a master's degree from the
University of Missouri. He was a member of Phi Delta Kappa, honorary education fraternity.


MIDWEST SPEECH TOURNAMENT

   The fifteenth annual Midwest Speech Tourney was held on the Teachers College campus December 3 and 4
with 15 colleges and universities from Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois represented. The first tournament
was held in 1937, the year that Mr. Sherod Collins, assistant professor of speech, joined the faculty.
It has been an annual event since that time with the exception of the war years when it was discontinued
because of the curtailment of travel.

   The tournament features poetry reading, both original and selected, debate and after-dinner speaking.
There are three brackets in debate: experienced men, experienced women or mixed teams, and inexperienced
men, women, or mixed teams. In the poetry contest prizes are offered by Ted Malone, nationally-known
poetry editor and former student at William Jewell College at Liberty. Each school is permitted one
entry in each of the individual events, but only seven contestants are accepted for the after-dinner
speech contest. The Teachers College has never had a competitor in this event.

   It has been Mr. Collins' aim to have a leisurely tournament where there is opportunity for people
interested in speech to become acquainted and exchange ideas. There has been no attempt to have as many
contests as possible but rather to have time between events so that participants need not feel that they 
must hurry from one assignment to another. To enable the visiting students and their coaches to get
acquainted with the students and faculty of the Teachers College a tea is always held on Friday
afternoon after the second round of debates.

   Paul L. Schwada, 1938, is Director of Placement and Executive Secretary of the Alumni Association
at Olivet Nazarene College, Kankakee, Illinois. He holds a Bachelor of Theology degree from Olivet
and an M. A. from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining the staff of the college he served as
a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene.

[photo caption] Participants at the 1954 Midwest Speech Tournament enjoy refreshments and conversation
at the tea held for the visitors. In the center foreground from left to right are: Ralph Micken, Illinois
State Normal University, Normal, Illinois, governor of the Illinois Province of Pi Kappa Delta; Dr. Larry 
Norton, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, a member of the National Council of Pi Kappa Delta; and
Dr. John Randolph, Westminster College, Fulton, national president of Pi Kappa Delta.

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1954 HOMECOMING BRINGS OLD GRADS TO CAMPUS

   The 1954 Homecoming activities at the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College began with a pep rally
on Friday night, October 22. The speaker for this occasion was Mr. Orval Craig of the class of 1929, who
is at the present time teacher of industrial arts, at the Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School. Miss
Shirley Wares, a sophomore and business major from La Plata, Missouri, was crowned queen of the Homecoming
activities by Bulldog co-captains, Melvin Loncaric and Bill Bowles. Miss Wares is the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Clifford D. Wares of La Plata. She was selected as Homecoming Queen in an all-school election, her
candidacy being backed by the Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority.

   The Annual Founder's Day and Homecoming Luncheon was held Saturday, October 23. This luncheon celebrated
the golden anniversary of the class of 1904, and the silver anniversary of the class of 1929. Three members
of the class of 1904 were present: Mrs. Lura Gilbreath Daniel of La Plata and Mrs. Margaret Brewer McKasson
and Mrs. Jessie Nicholas Shirley of Kirksville. Mrs. Shirley, who is very prominent in club and church work,
has two daughters who have also graduated from the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College: Susan Shirley 
Fitz, 1942, and Mary Shirley Waggoner, 1951. Mrs. McKasson, who is now retired after serving for many years
as secretary to the superintendent of schools in Kirksville, is the sister of two graduates: Basil Brewer,
1901, who is now the publisher of The Standard-Times, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Jessie Brewer, 1903,
of Pasadena, California. Mrs. Daniel's daughter, Virginia Daniel English of Kirksville graduated in 1935
and her son William G. Daniel, La Plata, was a member of the class of 1941. There were 19 members of the
class of 1929 present.

   Mr. William H. Reger, of the class of 1929, acted as toastmaster at the luncheon. Mr. Reger is the
principal of the Eugene Field Junior High School at Hannibal. The guest speaker was Dr. Maurice D. Woolf,
1929, who is Director of Student Personnel at Kansas State College, Manhattan, Kansas.

   Twenty-eight marching bands representing schools in northeast Missouri and southern Iowa participated
in the Homecoming parade on the morning of October 23 and also performed during the half-time ceremonies
at the game that afternoon. There were also a large number of floats in the parade entered by various
college organizations.

   The highlight of the Homecoming was the Bulldogs' 21 to 7 victory over Southeast Missouri State College
of Cape Girardeau. The weekend of activities closed with a dance held in Kirk Auditorium Saturday night.

[photo caption] Bulldog co-captains Bill Bowlel (fastening the gold football around the queen's neck) and
Mel Loncaric crown Shirley Wares queen of the 1954 Homecoming.

Alumnus Honored

   "Wirt Downing Day" was celebrated in East St. Louis on Friday, November 19, when Wirt Downing, B. S.,
1930, was honored for his recoil during his 24 years of coaching at East St. Louis Senior High. "The most
successful prep football coach in Illinois" was the statement made of him by the East St. Louis Journal,
which carried a picture of Coach Downing and the mayor of East St. Louis who signed the proclamation
declaring Friday, November 19, "Wirt Downing Day." The celebration was sponsored by former East St. Louis
athletes.

   Mr. Downing was a Bulldog football player for Coach Don Faurot on M.I.A.A. championship teams in the
1920's. He went to East St. Louis in 1930 as assistant football coach, becoming head coach in 1939. Since
1939 Downing's teams have won 142 games, lost 18, and tied 7, a won-lost percentage of .871. A number of
East St. Louis

Courtesy Kirksville Daily Express

[photo caption] Members of the Class of 1904 who attended the Homecoming luncheon are from 
left to right: Mrs. Margaret Brewer McKasson, Mrs. Lura Gilbreath Daniel, and 
Mrs. Jessie Nicholas Shirley.

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WINTER, 1955
NEMOSCOPE
PAGE 9

athletes have come to the Teachers College in recent years. Two former Bulldogs, Levi Craig, 1928, and
Tom Sheehey. 1939, are on the coaching staff of East St. Louis High.

   Otha Francis Revercomb, 1918; died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 12.

   APPEARS ON TELEVISION

   William Traylor, 1951, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Traylor of Brashear, was seen on his first locally
released television appearance on December 19 with Robert Young in the "Father Knows Best" series. After
his discharge from the army in 1953, Mr. Traylor studied with Robert Graham Paris, well-known motion
picture coach. In the near future he will appear on both the "I Led Three Lives" and "Mr. District
Attorney" television series. He is currently testing at Warner Brothers Studios and is being considered
for a full-length independent picture starring Barbara Stanwyck.

[photo caption] Members of the Class of 1929 who attended the Homecoming luncheon from left to right are:
Courtesy Kirksville Daily Express

SITTING:

   Gladys Tull, 208 S. High, Kirksville, is employed as a secretary in Kirksville.

   Mrs. Marion Schrock Lantz, a former commerce teacher, is married and lives at Browning. She is now
retired from teaching.

   Esther Sadler is a classroom teacher of social studies in the Junior High School, Kirksville.

   Gertrude Dillon has taught in the Hancock Place Public School at Lemay for twenty-eight years.

   Mrs. Margaret Biggerstaff Laughlin is the wife of Dr. Earl Laughlin Jr., and lives in Kirksville.

   Mrs. Frances Fuller Hull is supervisor of health and physical education in the Kirksville public
schools. She is serving as president of the Kirksville Branch of A.A.U.W., for 1954-55.

   Mrs. Violet Hawkins Prall has been teaching in the Moberly schools for twelve years.

   Rene D. Hunt has served as superintendent of schools at Brashear for nine years.

STANDING:

   Dr. Maurice Woolf is director of student personnel at Kansas State College, Manhattan, Kansas. He
was the featured speaker at the Founder's Day Luncheon.

   Harry Stroup is teaching industrial arts at Normandy. This is his eighth year in that position.

   Orval B. Craig teaches industrial arts at the Maple- wood-Richmond Heights High School, St. Louis
county.

   Mrs. Mildred Schrock Bozdeck teaches science in the State Training School at Chillicothe.

   Dr. N. Sue Grassle, osteopathic physician, is practicing in Kirksville.Mrs. Maurine Lea Ryle is the
wife of Walter H. Ryle, President of the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College.

   Mrs. Hazel Ford Hinkle is teaching this year at Festus.

   Mrs. Lucille Hilbert Welsh lives in Kirksville and is not teaching this year.

   William H. Reger is principal of Eugene Field Junior High School in Hannibal.

   Oscar T. Huffman is serving his first term as high school principal at Green City.

   Robert O. Wright is coordinator of Elementary and Junior High School Education, Ottumwa, Iowa.

(page 10)

PAGE 10
NEMOSCOPE
WINTER, 1955

FACULTY NEWS

   President Walter H. Ryle was one of twenty outstanding educators and civic leaders chosen to fly to
Pensacola, Florida, for an orientation cruise to observe the methods used by the Navy in training pilots.
The party left Lambert Field, St. Louis, December 7 in a U. S. Navy transport plane. They were greeted 
at Pensacola by the Vice-Admiral in charge of Naval Installations and taken on a tour of the base. December
8 was spent on the carrier Monterey in the Gulf of Mexico where the group watched pilots learning to take
off and land on the carrier decks.

   Dr. John Black and Dr. Dean A. Rosebery of the Science Division attended the Midwest Wildlife Conference
in St. Louis early in December. Dr. Rosebery presented a paper on "The Largemouth Bass of Back Bay, a
Virginia Estuary."

   Dr. Lucy Simmons, head of the Division of Social Science, was honored by the Kirksville branch of the
American Association of University Women at a banquet December 2. Dr. Simmons and the late Miss T. Jennie
Green, also of the college faculty, were the founders of the Kirksville branch in 1922.

   Dr. C. H. Allen, head of the Division of Personnel Service, spent the week of January 10 to 14 visiting
Ball State Teachers College, Muncie, Indiana, and the National College of Education, Evanston, Illinois,
as coordinator for the North Central Workshop program.

   Dr. Charles E. Kauzlarich, head of the Division of Business Education, was the keynote speaker at the
32nd annual convention of the Southern Business Education Association held in Little Rock, Arkansas,
during the Thanksgiving vacation. Dr. Kauzlarich spoke on the subject "Have You Heard?"

   Lt. Col. Robert L. McKinney, assistant to the President, who is on leave of absence, recently arrived
in the Far East and has been assigned as Inspector General of the 417th Engineer Aviation Brigade. Mrs.
McKinney and their two sons plan to join him in Japan as soon as transportation can be arranged.

   Mr. Felix Rothschild, director of student teaching, was honored by about 90 teachers and former
teachers of the Ophelia Parrish Junior High School of Kirksville at a dinner in Blanton Hall cafeteria
January 22. Mr. Rothschild served as director of the junior high from the time of its founding in 1923
until his retirement in 1954. He is recognized as a pioneer in the junior high school movement.

   Mrs. Margaret Warhurst, head of the Division of Home Economics, attended the convention of the American
Vocational Association held in San Francisco December 3 to 7.

   Dr. Robert M. Rodney, head of the Division of Language and Literature, attended the joint meetings of
the Modern Language Association, the College English Association, and the American Studies Association in
New York December 27 to 29.

   Miss Willie Whitson, assistant professor of primary education, is serving as state program director of
the Missouri division of the American Association of University Women this year. Miss Whitson was president
of the Missouri division from 1951 to 1953.

"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.
--EDITOR

   Class of 1936
Willie Agnes Blakely
Blanche Bragg
Vay R. Courtney
Clark Harold Curry
Nathaniel Lee Dunham
Elizabeth Settles Dunlap (Mrs. Sargent)
Marion Daniel Jones
Lois McCanne
Isabelle K. Ruddy
Mary Celia Russell (Mrs. Davis)
Dorothy Evelyn Taylor
C. Clark Troutman
Eugene McClellan Yearns

   Class of 1937
G. Weldon Ashford
Mary Louise Daily

   Class of 1938
Gratia M. Brammer
Doris Howe
James Allen Turner

   Vinal R. Schell, 1949, married Sue Ramsey of Bynumville October 1. They are making their home in
Kansas City.

MAKES FIFTH APPEARANCE

   H. I. H. Otto of Austria-Hungary and President Walter H. Ryle at the banquet November 18, sponsored
jointly by the Historical Society and the Northeast Missouri Council for the Social Studies at which the
Archduke was the guest speaker. This was his fifth appearance on the campus.

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WINTER, 1955
NEMOSCOPE
PAGE 11

ALUMNI NOTES

   Lester M. Kraft, M. A., 1950, superintendent of schools at Perry, is listed in the 1954 edition of
Who's Who in American Education.

   Lois Jean Cooksey, 1952, and Ralph B. Morrison, 1953, were married December 23 in Milan. Mr. Morrison
is at present stationed with the army at Ft. Carson, Colorado.

   Anna Lou Salladay, 1952, is teaching in Medford, Oregon, this winter. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M. E.
Salladay of Kirksville, Miss Salladay taught commerce in the Kirksville Senior High School from 1952 to
1954.

   Maxwell D. Barclay, 1940, is an instructor in the Los Angeles Junior College, Los Angeles, California.
In addition to his B. S. from the Teachers College, Mr. Barclay received an M. A. from the University of
California at Los Angeles.

   Leon Woodward, M. A., 1954, is seventh grade instructor at the Arlington School in St. Louis. Mrs.
Woodward, the former Mary Lou Lovelace, 1954, is teaching the third grade at the Hancock School in
Berkeley in St. Louis county.

   Randolph Davis, 1928, has been elected governor of District 196 of Rotary International for the year
1954-55. Mr. Davis is also president of the Board of Education of Kirksville. He is a partner in the
Davis and Wigal Funeral Home at Kirksville.

   Harry Gallatin, 1949, was recently cited by the Associated Press as one of sport's real "Iron Men."
Mr. Gallatin has played in every game of the New York Knickerbockers, professional basketball team,
since he joined them in 1949. He started this season with a string of 447 consecutive games. Last
season he made 1,089 rebounds in 72 games for a new pro record.

   Rev. John C. Fox, 1940, assistant pastor of the First Baptist Church in Kirksville, was presented
the annual Jaycee Distinguished Service Award for 1954 at a banquet January 20. Recipients of the award
must be between the ages of 21 and 30 and have performed some outstanding service for the community. Mr. 
Fox is director of student activities at the Baptist church and is moderator of the Macon Baptist District
Association. He has written several articles for Baptist publications. On December 12 he was honored for
ten years of service at the Kirksville church.

   Garnita Morrey, 1951, and Dr. Jack N. Davis were married December 20 in Ft. Madison, Iowa. They will
make their home at 111 S. Adams St., Carthage, Illinois.

   Dean Funk, 1946, is a member of the Guidance Clinic at Stephens College, Columbia. He has done graduate
work in guidance at the University of Colorado, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Missouri.

   Ernestine Ratherford, 1933, English and history teacher for several years in the Memphis High School,
was married January 11 to Leland Bourgeois of Hays, Kansas. The couple will make their home in Hays.

   W. J. Banning, 1904, former Kirksville attorney and the first Adair county superintendent of schools,
died January 16 at his home in Kensington, Maryland. Mr. Banning also served as superintendent of
schools in Kirksville before studying law at Vanderbilt University.

   Twin sons were born October 20 to Mr. and Mrs. Myers Dallas Campbell III of Carthage, Missouri. Mr.
Campbell is a 1954 graduate while Mrs. Campbell, the former Pat Mogg, was a member of the class of 1953.
The boys have been named John William and Myers Dallas IV.

   Gale O. Jones, 1953, received his commission as second lieutenant in the Air Force in graduation
exercises at the James Connally Air Force Base, Waco, Texas, November 15. Lt. Jones is now stationed
at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas, where he is an instructor in electronics, radar and radio.

   Mary Evelyn Thurman, 1946, nationally known baton twirler, was one of the judges at the St. Paul Winter
Carnival January 29 and 30. The carnival included competition by twirlers from all parts of the nation.
Miss Thurman will conduct the fifth annual baton twirling clinic on the Teachers College campus in June 
of 1955.

   Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Arnold, Kirksville, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, December 24. Mr.
Arnold graduated from the Kirksville Normal School in 1902, and Mrs. Arnold, the former Myra Mills,
graduated in 1900. Mr. Arnold has been in the lumber business in Kirksville for many years and was 
Representative in Congress from the old first district from 1942 to 1948.

   Dr. Henry Bamman, 1946, has accepted a position in Sacramento State College as director of the reading
clinic. He will also be in charge of teacher training in the language arts.

   Walter H. Ryle IV, 1954, and his wife, the former Marie Thompson, are the parents of a daughter, Vela
Marie, born November 1, 1954, in Mexico City, Mexico. Mr. Ryle is a student at the National University
of Mexico.

   Sergeant First Class George L. Kelso, 1951, son of Leslie E. Kelso, Ethel, was graduated August 2 from
the Army Information School, Fort Slocum, New York, after completing the eight-week troop information and
education course.

   Mrs. Letha G. Cochran, 1928, and Lee J. Patton, both of Kirksville, were married November 24 at the
bride's home in Kirksville. Mrs. Patton has been principal of the Washington elementary school in
Kirksville for the past twenty-six years.

   Mrs. Jennie Wallace Alexander, 95, died at her home in New London, December 9. Mrs. Alexander was a
student at the Kirksville Normal school from 1879 to 1882. She was a teacher in the public schools of
northeast Missouri before her marriage.

   Nellie Barber, 1931, has been honored by having the new $25,000 wing of the Laclede school building
named in her honor, "Nellie Barber Hall." Miss Barber is teaching her fiftieth term in the Laclede school
system. Mr. Gale Bartow, M. A., 1952, is superintendent of the Laclede schools.

   Mary Kerr, B. S. in Ed., 1950, and M. A., 1952, has accepted a position as secretary to the Reverend
Herbert E. Manning, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Kirksville. For the past three years she
has been secretary to the Office of the President at the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College.

   Dr. Floyd Mullinix, 1939, of Columbia, has been appointed head of the Division of Education and Director
of the T. J. Majors Campus School at Peru, Nebraska. In addition to the B. S. in Ed. degree from the
Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, he holds an M. A. and Ph. D. from the University of Missouri.
He has served as superintendent of schools in several Missouri towns and as assistant professor of
education and naval science at the University of Missouri. Dr. Mullinix has just returned from two years
active duty with the navy in Japan, where he served as aide to the flag officer of the Pacific Fleet.

(page 12)