Considering the Past: Topics in M.C. History

A cartoon "As Others See Us," from the 1912 Oak Leaves, depicting the open windows of dorm rooms. spaces. In brief, this cartoon illustrates one of the limitations of the small, downtown campus: the students desire for freedom, fresh air and convenience, versus the administration's demand for decorum.

In 1922, students, faculty and other notables traveled to the future campus location for a first celebratory barbecue, which was commemorated by photos in the yearbook. The attendees were given a tour of the site with the locations of the coming buildings pointed out. Then, the students enacted a "miniature pageant," during which the "former spirit of Meredith formally presented the land with its manifold opportunities to her younger sister, the new spirit of Meredith" after which the "Alma Mater" was sung. Following this solemn ceremony, the classes competed in baseball, among other games, and in "numerous songs and yells of the girls." And of course, the "crowning feature" of the outing was a "feast" of barbecue and "its fitting accompaniments.... substantial enough for the appetite of a host of college girls." 

 For a few years, the commemorative barbecue among the grove of oak trees was an annual tradition.

Vera Milton (Class of 1925) pasted two snapshots from the October 9th, 1924 groundbreaking at the new site in her scrapbook. In the top photo, President Charles Brewer stands in the midst of a cotton field in what was the Tucker Farm. Next to the snapshot, Milton wrote on the page, "Barbeque / 1924 / The first / shovel / of / dirt" with an arrow pointing to the bottom photo. On the left, she wrote, "Mr. Jones" - Wesley Norwood Jones, who was a trustee of the college from 1889-1928.

Milton's scrapbook is held in the Meredith College Archives. These may be the only photos from the groundbreaking. 

In a "Retrospect / Prospect" edition, the June 1925 Meredith College Quarterly Bulletin printed this photo of the "Avenue of Trees" and "The Oaks" -  exciting features of the new campus site. 

An illustration from the Bibical Recorder with an idealized view of the future campus. 

Cornerstone ceremony at the Administration Building (1925), the first permanent construction on the new campus. Traveling to event from the city, the attendants "left the highway and went over a muddy road, through a cotton field, and into an oak grove...(where) the Baptist ministers and laymen were surprised at the natural beauty of the location...."

According to a report in the Meredith College Bulletin, the following items were placed in the cornerstone:  

• A Bible
• Minutes of the 1923 North Carolina Baptist Convention
• Copies of the Biblical Recorder and Charity and Children
• The 1923-24 Meredith College catalogue
• 1923-24 "official reports"/ "reports of officers"
• Pictures of the "present college buildings" (presumably photos of the original downtown campus)
• A 1907-08 college catalogue
• Copy of 1899 Polk Resolutions from the Henderson convention 
• 1891 Charter incorporating the Baptist Female University
• Copies of the Twig and the Acorn
• Copy of the 1924 Alumnae Association Manual
• Blueprint of "Greater Meredith"
• Manuscript copy of a history of Meredith College by Rev. O.L. Stringfield
• Manuscript of cornerstone address by R.N. Simms
• Coins donated by the Commercial National Bank
• Copies of the Raleigh Times and News and Observer newspapers
• Copy of Old Gold and Black (Wake Forest College newspaper)

Administration Building under construction. The first floor housed the offices of the President, Secretary and Bursar, as well as the post office, parlors and a lecture hall. The second floor library under its impressive rotunda was entered by a long flight of steps fronting the building. The two halls for the Astros and Phis literary societies were on the third floor.  

In an October 1924 article in the Twig this building was actually referred to as primarily the library (in the center under the rotunda), with the administrative offices and parlours at either end. 

Administration Building (Johnson) on left and Dorm A (Brewer) while under construction. Dorm A housed the senior class.

Students came to visit the new campus while it was under construction. 

A student curious about the new campus poses with a handy wheelbarrow. 

The new dining hall - built large enough to accommodate Meredith College's projected future growth. 

The original quadrangle made up of the Administration Building (named Johnson Hall), dorms A (Brewer), B (Faircloth), C (Vann) and D (Stringfield), as well as the dining hall.

Each dormitories would provide living quarters for 125 students plus quarters for 40 teachers.

The long front entrance onto campus from Hillsborough St. 

The Administration Building (Johnson Hall) as it appeared in the snow when the new campus opened to students in January, 1926. Once it melted, the snow had created slippery, muddy conditions on the raw, unlandscaped grounds. Students had finished 1925 on the downtown campus. When they returned to school after the break, their belongings had been moved for them. 

The new campus was the main topic of the January 15th, 1926 Twig. 

To read, go to:

:https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2015236797/1926-01-15/ed-1/seq-1/#words=campus

An aerial view of the new campus in 1928. The "temporary buildings" visible at the top of the photo housed would be used until the first new construction that began in 1949 with Jones Auditorium. 

Closest to the dorms was the auditorium - a large, framed building open up the rafters. The stage was large enough to accommodate plays, chapel, commencements and other campus gatherings. Music theory classroom were located in back rooms. The next structure over was the Science Building with classrooms, labs and offices built along a single hallway. Created with the same plan, the Classroom Building housed the liberal arts curriculum. A gymnasium was placed behind these buildings and was also "temporary."