Oxford College -- Cornerstone and Grove by Bookhouse Group

alumnus and Oxford native Erik Oliver tells the story of Emoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bold beginning and the evolution of Oxford College through the campus and town buildings and landscapes. Through early sources, he re-creates long-

xford College is located on the original campus where Emory College was founded in 1836 and remained until 1919,

when it moved to the newly established Atlanta campus of Emory University. The old campus was kept, and through several subsequent incarnations and with remarkable resilience, the college in Oxford today has emerged as a valuable and specialized

lost and largely forgotten edifices, gives treatment of building campaigns and architectural styles, and describes the historical contexts of events, traditions, and personalities through the present day. In his dual roles as a college staff member and community planner, he also chronicled current local and regional trends and made a case for reinvestment toward a holistic and sustainable future.

division of Emory University with a focus on liberal arts intensive education.

Erik Oliver grew up in

Emory College and the town of Oxford were

Oxfordâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the son of forty-

created together as a symbiotic living, learning,

year faculty member Dr.

working, and worshipping community firmly based

Hoyt Oliver. Mr. Oliver

on a Methodist foundation. The early campus

earned undergraduate and

buildings and the very layout of the town were

graduate degrees in his-

designed to emphasize the dual missions of education

tory from Emory. After

and religion. By necessity and intention, the relation-

several years with the

ship between college and town was, and to some

Carter Center in

extent remains, symbiotic.

Atlanta and the U.S. Peace

In a very real sense, the campus and the community of Oxford represent the cornerstone of Emory University, marking its foundation and ensuing triumph over penury and adversity to become a leading institution of higher learning, research, and service. In this most recent book about Oxford, Emory

Corps in Nepal, he returned to Oxford to be near family and to contribute to the longevity of his home community. He and his wife, Monica, and their sons, Lucas and Simon, live in Wayfarersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Roost, the home he designed and built. Printed in Canada ISBN: 978-0-615-31551-5

BRYAN MELTZ

Emory College library in Seney Hall, 1893

By Erik Blackburn Oliver

CORNERSTONE AND GROVE Author ....................................................Erik Blackburn Oliver Editorial Director ......................................................Rob Levin Managing Editor ............................................Sarah E. Fedota Chief Operating Officer ......................................RenĂŠe Peyton Design ..................................................................Laurie Porter Prepress ......................................................................Jill Dible Copyediting and Indexing ........................................Bob Land All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Oxford College.

100 Hamill Street Oxford, Georgia 30054 www.oxford.emory.edu While the contents of this book are correct to the best of our knowledge, please note that research is a continual process. We encourage anyone who has relevant information to contact Oxford College. Unless otherwise noted, photography courtesy of Emory University and Oxford College at Emory University. Book Development by Bookhouse Group Inc. Atlanta, Georgia www.bookhouse.net Printed in Canada

Phi Gamma Hall

BRYAN MELTZ

This book is dedicated to my family and posthumously to Harry Harlan Stone.

n the fifty decades centered on the turn of the last century, Harry

served Emory College as professor, librarian, manager of the physical

plant, and secretary/treasurer of the board of trustees. He was equally

active in the town of Oxford and was a pioneering leader for public

education in Newton County. When Emory moved to Atlanta in 1919, he was one of the few Emory faculty members to remain with Oxford. His long service to the college and town, his role among decision makers, and his firsthand chronicles of life, event, and place make him an invaluable historic resource and still-relevant inspiration. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;ERIK BLACKBURN OLIVER

Few Monument

BRYAN MELTZ

CONTENTS FOREWORD ..............................................................................................................................................8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..........................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION: Cornerstone and Grove ............................................................................................11

Chapter One: RIDGE AND FOREST—The Landscape of a Planned College Community......................13 Chapter Two: BEGINNINGS—Vanished Buildings of the Early Campus................................................16 Chapter Three: DIALECTIC AND FRATERNITY—The Literary Societies ............................................19 Chapter Four: NEXUS—Monumental Towers on the Cardinal Point......................................................25 Chapter Five: FAITH AND FIRMAMENT—The Houses of Worship ....................................................33 Chapter Six: RECITATION AND EXPERIMENT—The Classroom Buildings........................................43 Chapter Seven: TROVES OF KNOWLEDGE—The Campus Libraries ..................................................55 Chapter Eight: SOUNDNESS OF BODY—Gymnasia, Athletic Fields, and Courts ................................61 Chapter Nine: ROOM AND BOARD—Homes, Helping Halls, Dormitories, and Residence Halls ........69 Chapter Ten: GARNITURE OF GREEN—The Campus Landscape ........................................................81 Chapter Eleven: SYMBIOSIS—The Emory Community at Oxford ............................................................87 Chapter Twelve: TRANSITION—A Difficult Decision ........................................................................105 EPILOGUE: The Emory Experiment in Oxford—173 Years Later ........................................................107 OXFORD TODAY ....................................................................................................................................109 NOTES ..................................................................................................................................................122 GLOSSARY OF ARCHITECTURAL TERMS ............................................................................................132 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................................133 INDEX ................................................................................................................................................137

FOREWORD

ome places make a special claim on people’s souls. The associations are complex. It may

be a place of beauty and fascination, or a place where events had profound effects on

individuals’ lives. Both of these apply to Oxford—the college and the town. A deep sense

of history is reflected in the nineteenth-century buildings and gracious streetscapes that strikes

even the casual visitor. But more than that, each of the historic buildings on the Oxford College campus has its own story that began long ago and continues with each new student contributing his or her own chapter in this dynamic, living community. The personal attachments to Oxford last a lifetime. Many dozens of alumni have told me they like to return to the Oxford campus because it evokes special emotions that renew them. One alumnus told me he returns to Oxford to make all of life’s most important decisions. To celebrate this sense of place that is so important to the Oxford community, I asked Erik Oliver to write a history liberally illustrated with historic and contemporary photographs. Erik is a historian by training and a longtime resident of Oxford with an abiding sense of both the college and the town. I am delighted with the book he has prepared, and I hope you will find it to be informative about and evocative of the place you know as Oxford.

Stephen Bowen Dean of Oxford College

10 | Cornerstone and Grove

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

his has been a thoroughly rewarding and challenging project. I am grateful to have had an opportunity to combine my love of Oxford College, the city of Oxford, and history. I have been given the honor of authorship, but many rallied to make this book possible.

Thank you to alumnus Joe Bartenfeld, who seeded the idea, and to Dean Stephen Bowen,

who assigned it to me in good faith. I am especially grateful to Jennifer Howard Sirotkin at the Oxford College library and Nancy Watkins with the Emory University archives. Without their skills and dedication, I could not have accessed and sifted in such a short time through the many primary and early secondary sources of the Oxford College and University special collections. Thank you to architectural scholar William R. Mitchell Jr. and to architects Todd Dolson, Andy Akard, and Barbara Black, who walked with me and explained the architecture of the campus and city buildings. These people filled substantial gaps in my knowledge and gave me a deeper appreciation for architecture. I was delighted to learn that it was Mr. Mitchell who, as a staff historian with the Georgia Historical Commission in the 1960s, wrote the narrative and funded Oxfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic marker on Whatcoat Streetâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the largest marker ever made by the commission. Several current and former Oxford College administrators and faculty and staff members provided valuable information and insight. In alphabetical order, they are Dr. Susan Ashmore, Dr. Mark Auslander, Joan Baillie, Mary Barnes, Todd Cain, Tammy Camfield, Ann Cargile, Dr. Eloise Carter, Sheilah Conner, Alison Cummings, Marshall and Fran Elizer, Dr. Bond Fleming, Dr. Dana Greene, Dr. Judy Greer, Dr. Steve Henderson, Mary Landt, Kitty McNeill, Cynthia Millsaps, Al Mitchell, Dr. Bill and Nancy Murdy, Dr. Hoyt and LaTrelle Oliver, and Dr. Neil and Carol Penn. Other Oxford friends and neighbors and Emory-related people contributed in like fashion, including Diane Kirby Allgood, Grace Budd-Spradley, Pierce Cline, Louise and Virgil Eady, David

Acknowledgments | 11

and Vicki Eady, John P. Godfrey, Curtis and Sherry Jackson, Rev. Tom and Emmie Johnson, Laura and Forest McCanless, Claude and Jean Phillips, Eva and Claude Sitton, Terry and Kathie Smith, Jim Watterson, Janice and Jeff Wearing, and Dr. Monty Willson. Carol Poole and Lauren Willis of the city of Oxford staff made available important city records. The Covington News gave me access to their archives, and the Center for Community Preservation and Planning provided reference maps and information on local and regional growth. The beautiful contemporary photos of Oxford are the work of Bob Hughes of Brilliance Photography and Bryan Meltz of the Emory Creative Group. Louise Eady found and scanned numerous photos among the Stone-Eady family records. Ron Manson digitized large paintings, including the cover art of Seney Hall among the trees painted by the late Dr. Joseph Guillebeau. My editorial team was tremendous. A first review was undertaken by my parents, Dr. Hoyt and LaTrelle Oliver, and my wife, Dr. Monica Oliver. My formal Emory review committee included Dean Stephen Bowen, Dr. Gary Hauk, Dr. Joseph Moon, Cathy Wooten, and Jennifer Howard Sirotkin. Thank you to Rob Levin and Sarah Fedota of Bookhouse Group Inc., who guided me through the process of production and assembled all the pieces into a handsome book. Broadly, I wish to express my gratitude to all of my family members, friends, and colleagues who expressed interest and encouragement with reassuring regularity.

12 | Cornerstone and Grove

Cornerstone and Grove

Introduction

The cornerstone of a building marks the ceremonial date from which construction began; names the primary actors in the concept, design, and construction; and sometimes includes a dedication indicating the aspirations or beliefs that gave purpose to the project. A cornerstone may also double as a time

written it as a member of the college staff, as an Emory

capsule, safe-keeping physical ties to the past that help to

alumnus, and as a native of Oxford. I grew up in Oxford

preserve the record of change in a continuing story. Oxford is

and on the Oxford College campus, imbued with a strong

Emory University’s cornerstone, and, like the verdant groves

sense of place by parents who taught and modeled that value,

that shade it, Oxford is also a living, resilient, growing, and

and by a nurturing network of elderly faculty and staff—

life-supporting place.

those who had served from the 1940s through the 1960s and

I use the name Oxford as a collective proper noun that

acts of key figures; second are the often-nostalgic memoirs by alumni or emeriti. Both provide valuable insight. Accounts of the town of Oxford are also told by residents who chronicled their own era or by their descendants. Histories of this category are flavored with a natural gloss born of love for hometown and heritage. This book fits within all three categories, for I have

their young successors from the 1960s and into the 1980s. At

includes both the small municipality in Newton County,

age eighteen, I distanced myself only slightly by selecting

Georgia, and the college campus harbored in its center,

“Big Emory” instead of Oxford College for my undergradu-

for the first Emory trustees designed them together as a

ate and graduate education.

whole, symbiotic community. A measure of that symbiosis remains today. The seed from which this book grew was the desire for

I feel nostalgia for my college days, but the Atlanta campus felt too big for me to know even then. Today it is more impressive still. Emory University’s aspirations have

an architectural survey of the historic campus buildings,

been a series of set, met, and surpassed goals—a ladder of

which remains the predominant focus. Another important

achievement that has made it a tremendous institution. My

aspect of this volume, however, is placing the buildings

introduction to the complexity and pace of the University

within the historical context and landscape from which

came when, for a brief year in my mid-twenties, I was

they emerged.

president of the Emory University Employee Council—the

The few published histories of early Emory College fall

elected voice of the collective staff. That vast community of

into two categories: first are those written by in-house histo-

the 1990s has since been dwarfed. Now, to say the “Atlanta

rians who predominantly follow chronological events and the

campus” is too ambiguous, for there are several. Introduction | 13

In contrast, there is Oxford—small, quiet, green, closeknit. Changes here have been incremental, and incremental

change. The historical record is important in and of itself, but it

changes over time give the illusion of no change at all—or at

is also a foundation on which to build. In 1880, College

least change easily digested with a large dose of continuity.

President Atticus Greene Haygood preached a sermon from

However, I have dug deeply into the historical records

the pulpit of Old Church about postwar reconciliation. It

and interviewed numerous emeritus faculty and staff and

was called “The New South: Gratitude, Amendment, Hope—

community members, and Oxford has clearly changed a

A Thanksgiving Sermon.” As a direct result of the sermon,

great deal—in almost all ways for the better. I suggest that six basic elements sustain Oxford’s sense of continuity and, in effect, preserve Emory University’s

The historical record is important in and of itself, but it is also a foundation on which to build.

legacy: (1) small scale, (2) historic buildings, (3) an orchestrated landscape, and (4) rooted people with (5) historical awareness and (6) relationships born of familiarity and

struggling Emory received attention and financial gifts that

longevity. Cause and effect among these elements are

put the institution on a steadier road to prosperity. An

indecipherable; thus, I treat all of them in this book.

excerpt has become a motto for Oxford (again, collective).

This has been an accelerated project—barely six months

It charges those of us who have inherited the legacy to

from research to publication. Undoubtedly I have failed to

acknowledge the work of generations before us, embrace the

mention important and interesting events and people.

best of it, and actively work toward a brighter future—fully

Had there been time, I could have been more inclusive and

accepting at the same time that our best efforts may be

thorough with interviews. There will be mistakes; hopefully

diverted or thwarted by elements beyond our control: “What

none will detract from the overall work. I have tried to verify

is really good—and there is much that is good—let us stand

sources, correct earlier mistakes, deduce the most likely

by, and make it better if we can.”1

explanation between conflicting accounts, and present an answer as reasonable speculation when necessary. In order to provide a more accessible and engaging read, chapters are first thematic, then chronological. I include current information and allude to plans for the future with twofold intention: to chronicle the present for the sake of future historians and to advocate in the present for positive, sustainable

14 | Cornerstone and Grove

Ridge and Forest

Chapter One

ERIK OLIVER

The Landscape of a Planned College Community Emory College and the town of Oxford grew from plans to expand the fledgling Georgia Conference Manual Labor School (MLS). In 1834, the MLS was established immediately west of downtown Covington in the area later known as Clarkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Grove.1 Dr. Ignatius Alphonso Few was chairman of the MLS board of trustees, first chair of the Emory board of trustees, and first president of Emory College. In 1836, the Emory trustees acquired 1,452 acres for $14,950, mostly from Carey Wood, a wealthy pioneer of Newton County and Covingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first postmaster.2 Deed records show that the property extended north and northwest of Covington from the railroad.3 The trustees selected about 330 acres for the planned college community. On December 23, 1839, they incorporated the town of Oxford, named after Oxford University in England, where John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, received his education. The site was an old-growth forest on a ridge between Turkey Creek to the west and Dried Indian t

The 1837 town plan of Oxford shows the campus to the south with wide road corridors radiating northward.

Creek to the east. President Few had worked previously with state surveyor Edward Lloyd Thomas on the plan for Columbus, Georgia, and solicited his friend to survey Oxford.4 Thomas likely Ridge and Forest | 13

COURTESY OF VIRGIL AND LOUISE EADY

campus and are intersected at regular intervals with east-west corridors. The widest, Wesley and Fletcher streets, intersect to create the symbol of a cross stemming from the campus, with the other streets representing rays of light emanating from the cross.7 Read north to south, all of the primary street corridors converge on the campus. The trustees named the streets after prominent early Methodists, among them John Wesley and several bishops:

Emory’s first president, Ignatius Few (left ), and surveyor Edward Lloyd Thomas (right), had previously worked together on the design for the city of Columbus, Georgia. Their Oxford homes still stand a short distance from each other along Wesley Street.

Enoch George, Joshua Soule, Francis Asbury, Richard Whatcoat, Thomas Coke, and William McKendree.8 The town continued this tradition as Oxford grew, naming sev-

eral new streets for figures with a tie to Emory and Methoddesigned and built some of the larger homes in the 1840s as well.5 The original town map bears Thomas’s name as

ism.9 The design apparently mattered more than geography,

surveyor, but President Few’s centrality to Emory and

for nearly half of the surveyed corridors were effectively

his previous work with Thomas make it likely that Few

unbuildable, lying in heavily rolling topography and

influenced the symbolic design.

interspersed with springs, wetlands, and gullies. One indica-

The design includes extraordinarily wide

tion that some streets were judged unbuildable

street corridors (rights of way), ranging in

early on is that, two years after the town was in-

width from 66 feet to 165 feet; by comparison,

corporated, the town church (Old Church) was

modern two-lane street corridors are generally

constructed in

30 to 50 feet wide. There was a reason for the

the middle of the Fletcher Street corridor where

generous proportions. The land around the

it intersects Wesley Street on the west side. No

campus, including the town and outlying

discovered record indicates sale or abandonment

acreage, was an investment to generate rev-

of any original street corridor, however.

enue for the college through sales of lots and

Modern topographical maps suggest the design would have worked much better had the

much of the land would be cleared and culti-

central street, Wesley, been set one block east,

ERIK OLIVER

agricultural production.6 The trustees knew vated. The wide street corridors were thus meant to preserve tree canopy and to shade The campus was established at the southern end of the town. In the town design, five street corridors radiate northward from the 14 | Cornerstone and Grove

the roads and walkways.

The widest two street corridors, Wesley and Fletcher, converge in the center of town to create the shape of a cross standing amid rays of light emanating from the campus.

closer to the crest of the ridge. However, the property east of the road running between Covington and Walnut Grove (called Benson Street and renamed Emory Street by the town commissioners in 191410) was not available to the trustees at the time; it was part of the 1820s estate

The Yarbrough Oak

COURTESY OF REGINA MOODY

belonging to the house known as Orna Villa. Only thirteen years after incorporation, however, the town of Oxford expanded its borders east to Dried Indian Creek, incorporating the Orna Villa property of Professor (soon thereafter president) Alexander Means, to distance Oxford and Emory College from the proximate sale of intoxicants: Approved January 7, 1852: Whereas, It is highly desirable for the protection of the peace and morals of the town of Oxford, and of Emory College, therein situated, against the baneful influences of liquor shops, that the corporate limits of said town be so extended wholesome system of police law, to exclude 11

such temptations from their vicinity.

Photographs as recent as the 1940s show sparsely treed homesteads and agricultural fields in and around the town. In the modern era, private lots are more heavily shaded by tree canopy, and the street corridors are proportionately open, in part to accommodate power lines and underground utilities. Nevertheless, the tradition of tree care continues.12 Oxford’s tree canopy is a point of pride and cultural heritage to a degree that is rare in the expanding Metropolitan Atlanta area. landscape plan of Emory’s founders by preserving both the This southeasterly needsymbolic larger ifdesign possible. unique, and the abundant arboreal bowers. view of Oxford, t

COURTESY OF VIRGIL AND LOUISE EADY

Subsequent generations have been true stewards of the

taken from the bell tower of Seney Hall in the early twentieth century, shows open farmland beyond the athletic field.

as to enable the Town Commissioners, by a

The Yarbrough Oak in its prime during the first half of the twentieth century.

The tradition of tree care is best demonstrated by the veneration for over a century of a particularly grand white oak called the “Prince of the Forest,” the “Yarbrough Oak,” and “The Tree That Owns Itself.” The Reverend John Yarbrough, Emory President Atticus Greene Haygood’s father-in-law, started a family tradition of care for it in the 1870s. Local history claims that Emory students would often lounge and study in its powerful branches. In 1929, the town commissioners deeded to the tree the land immediately around it, with an edict that no one was to do it any harm. At full maturity, the oak stood more than 80 feet tall, the trunk diameter at the base was roughly 6 feet, and the canopy was over 350 feet in circumference.13 By the beginning of the new millennium, it had deteriorated to such an extent that the decision to remove it was made, and a formal good-bye ceremony was held on February 16, 2002, in connection with Arbor Day. Anticipating its demise, the city worked with the Georgia Forestry Commission to propagate seedlings from its acorns, which were planted throughout Oxford and in no fewer than three contiguous states.14 The Yarbrough Oak was the only natural landmark of Oxford listed regularly alongside the historic buildings that held significance for Emory. Growth rings indicated that it was roughly 180 years old.

Ridge and Forest | 15

BEGINNINGS

Chapter Two

Vanished Buildings of the Early Campus ERIK OLIVER

The sun shone in splendor from above, and the earth beneath was robed in its garniture of green. Both heaven and earth seemed to shine propitiously upon the interesting ceremonies about to transpire, as the prelude and the pledge of the future completion and success of a great educational establishment, under the auspices of Southern Methodism.1 —ALEXANDER MEANS

Eight nineteenth-century buildings still stand on the Oxford College campus—architectural icons of Emory’s heritage. Their age-worn elegance might give the misleading impression that Emory always has been blessed with a relative degree of wealth. In truth, Emory began reflected not only in the values of its founders and faculty but also in its first structures. Emory’s oldest extant academic buildings, Phi Gamma Hall and Few Hall, date from the early 1850s. Several buildings preceded them, however, and shared the campus until the early 1870s. In July 1837, the Emory College trustees authorized construction of a large principal

16 | Cornerstone and Grove

with characteristic early-Methodist austerity,

Artist’s concept of the original campus buildings and their location, circa 1855. Old Main is flanked on either side by the four brick dormitories. In front of Old Main is the Few Monument, and behind Old Main is the steward’s hall. In the lower left corner is the chapel, roughly where the tennis courts are today. Phi Gamma and Few halls are not shown.

building with a chapel and recitation rooms, four two-story ERIK OLIVER

brick houses to serve as dormitories, a dining hall, and accommodations for a steward.2 Equipped with a budget of ten thousand dollars, President Few and trustees Samuel J. Bryan and Charles Saunders served as the building committee. The trustees stipulated the precise dimensions of the proposed buildings and their rooms. They signed a contract with a builder later that year, and in the early summer of 1838 laid the cornerstone of the first structure.3 The first building was a modest chapel, not the large principal structure envisioned for the cardinal point of the campus and town plan. The principal building would not be realized until the 1850s. The 1838 chapel was a “small wooden structure, without ornament or belfry, in the pattern of the old Methodist churches . . . in some sections of the rural districts,”4 located approximately where the campus tennis courts are now.5 From this description and from t

the orientation of subsequent Emory-related, Methodist houses of worship in Oxford, the chapel likely was a simple single-story rectangle clad in white-washed clapboard, with

Artist’s concept of the campus and the location of its buildings from 1853 through 1872, based on accounts by alumni from the period.

a front-gabled roof and paired entry doors, oriented with

ERIK OLIVER

its pulpit to the west. It served as the college chapel and

Artist’s concept of the original college chapel, built in 1838.

Beginnings| 17

assembly hall during the week and the town church on Sundays (until a town church was constructed in 1841–43). In 1876, not long after the current chapel was finished, the trustees gave the old chapel to the Oxford African American congregation, who moved it to a lot previously deeded to them by the trustees in 1870.6 The other original buildings were four dormitories and a dining hall that included rooms for the supervising steward. The dormitories were brick “two over two” houses, forty-four by twenty feet with a seven-footwide central hallway on both floors. Each building was roughly two-thirds the size of Language Hall.7 They likely had side gables with chimneys at each end. The dorms flanked the site where Seney Hall now stands and were called East College and West College.8 By 1859, the dormitories had a reputation as “facilities of mischief,” and the trustees abandoned the system in favor of expanding the practice of students living in the homes of faculty and other community families. Little is known of the dining hall/steward’s residence other than it was located in proximity to the other buildings, behind the chapel.9 Operating and maintaining the facility became a drain on college finances, and within a very short time the trustees ceded the responsibility of feeding students to the families with whom they lived.10 While the college was closed during the Civil War, some of these buildings were used to store cotton11 and likely were ancillary space for the Confederate hospital established on campus in 1864 to care for soldiers wounded in the battle of Atlanta and transported by train to Oxford.12 After the war, the faculty used the former dormitories as classroom buildings. In the early 1870s, most if not all dormitories were razed to make room for larger recitation halls. The designs and scales of the first Emory College buildings arose out of necessity and penury, even as ambitious plans for grander buildings had already begun. After a decade of planning and fund-raising, three Greek temples emerged in the woods in the early 1850s. In the place of honor, the greatest of them reached toward heaven.

18 | Cornerstone and Grove

The designs and scales of the first Emory College buildings arose out of necessity and penury, even as ambitious plans for grander buildings had already begun.

Dialectic and Fraternity

Chapter Three

The Literary Societies

There was a time when the Trustees had no coffer but prayer; no resource but faith; no encouragement but hope. Yet Emory lives— lives and prospers.1 —PRESIDENT GEORGE FOSTER PIERCE

The excitement on campus at the beginning of the 1850s must have been tremendous in comparison to the vexing struggles of the 1840s. After a stumbling start with the Manual Labor School, which closed in 1841 after only seven years, the patience of the founders was tested again in 1845 when the national Methodist Church split over a catalytic incident in Oxford, steeped in the moral and cultural quagmire of slavery (see chap. 5). The steward’s hall closed in 1848 as a drain on resources, and funding for college operations was a continuing problem overall. There was institutional poverty and perhaps doubt, but there was also great energy and determination. Not even three months after the The Few Literary Society, 1910.

Georgia legislature and governor approved the charter of Emory College in December 1836, students (with faculty advisors) established the Phi Gamma Literary Society in March 1837 to

Dialectic and Fraternity| 19

Soon the popularity of the society was so great as to render it logistically unwieldy, so its members divided to organize a sister organization, the Few Society.3 Fraternal competition sparked a race in the 1840s between

COURTESY OF VIRGIL AND LOUISE EADY

augment the curriculum with training in oratory and debate.2

The members of the first literary society called it Philos Gnoseos (Lover of Knowledge)5 but referred to it only by the first letters of each Greek

the societies to raise funds and build grand halls in the likeness

word: Phi Gamma. They

of Greek temples. Meanwhile, the trustees were preparing to

adopted a Latin mottoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;

erect Old Main as the principal college building, an ivory-

Scientia et Religio Libertatis

colored tower of a magnitude and height unprecedented in

Custodes (Knowledge and

Phi Gamma Hall, Few Hall, and Old Main sprang forth in overlapping succession between 1851 and 1853, creating a

the county.

Religion, Guardians of Liberty). George W. W. Stone, the first president of the Phi Gamma Society, as a young man.

The first society president was George W. W. Stone.6 The Phi

Trinitarian symbol on the campus through near-equilateral

Gammas raised funds and built a modest wooden structure on

placement, architectural style, and color. Though the rumbling

campus, immediately in front of the current hall.7

national dissent preceding the Civil War had begun some years

On August 10, 1839, the burgeoning membership met

before, no one could predict that in scarcely more than a

and agreed to divide and create another society. Two members

dozen years the college would close as its students left to fight,

(Stone and W. H. Holcombe) were selected to choose mem-

that its church and halls would be conscripted for a military

bers. They first cast lots to see which group would retain the

hospital, or that a few years later the tower itself would be

Phi Gamma name; Stone won.8 A game of one-upmanship

reduced to rubble. For a brief time during the 1850s, all seems

began almost immediately, for the new society cleverly chose

to have been hope and progress.

to name itself not in a classical fashion like its predecessor but

Division, Debate, and Rivalry

instead after the beloved founder of Emory College, President Ignatius Few.9 For their respective badge and banner colors,

It is not only the purpose of the literary

the Phi Gammas chose blue, and the Fews red.10 Thus ensued a

societies to develop the oratorical talent of the

nearly century-long tradition of rigorous intellectual (and

student, but to enable him to grasp and think

sometimes not so intellectual) weekly debates on matters of

accurately on issues of grave importance which

national, international, cultural, and trivial interest that raged

inevitably arise in the routine of human as well

throughout the year and were among the highlights of the

as national life. The class-room [sic] is the place

annual Commencement ceremonies.11

in which facts are obtained, the literary society

Initially, the Few Society held its meetings in the original

in which they are discussed, thus making the

campus chapel. Seeking a permanent home, on September 26,

work of one in a sense incomplete without

1840, the members moved â&#x20AC;&#x153;that a committee of three be

the other.4

appointed to ascertain how much a hall would cost,â&#x20AC;? and in the following two meetings requested plans and a committee

20 | Cornerstone and Grove

Phi Gamma Hall, nestled in the woods.

to begin soliciting pledges of funds.12 No doubt this caused the

Smith (both future Emory presidents—an illustrious group!),

elder sister society alarm, and by 1848 the Phi Gammas were

who contracted with a Mr. Hiers to build the hall at a cost of

assessing each member two dollars for a new hall of their own

$3,750.14 Though the construction cost of Few Hall is un-

and sending a solicitation letter to former members as far

known, the Few Society apparently raised more funds, for they

away as New York. The letter attested, “The Fews have a fine

were able to erect a two-story structure with commensurately

Hall which will powerfully attract newcomers. Without one

larger brick piers (columns are round in cross section; piers are

we cannot hope to compete with them.”13 Because the Fews

square) and pediment, and more numerous windows. The

had been meeting in the chapel, not in a hall of their own, this

builders were William Galloway and George S. Carpenter.

letter seems to indicate that Few Hall was under construction

The Phi Gammas already had claimed the northwest corner

in 1848. If that date is accurate, then Few Hall, not Phi

of campus with their first small, wooden hall built in the late

Gamma Hall, would be the oldest academic building owned

1830s or early 1840s. The Fews built on the northeast corner,

by Emory if measured from the start of construction instead

the highest and thus more prestigious point on campus. The

of completion.

societies oriented their halls to face each other across the green,

In 1850, the Phi Gammas appointed a building committee that included three student members plus President George F.

which campus tradition says allowed for spontaneous porchto-porch shouting debates.

Pierce and professors Alexander H. Means and Osborn L.

Dialectic and Fraternity| 21

Phi Gamma Hall And as the buildings here doth seem, Encircling ’round the campus green, Like ancient necklace weird and grand, An heirloom from departed hand, Each one a gem of gorgeous ray

effect. George W. W. Stone’s portrait hung above the rostrum. Phi Gamma Hall has served many purposes. In 1864, the Confederate Army rented it as part of Hood Hospital to house nurses and doctors.16 During the ROTC years surrounding World War I, Phi Gamma Hall was a canteen.17 During Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady’s administration (1945–66), the basement

In lighting knowledge’s weary way, So, too, Phi Gamma shines with them In Emory’s brilliant diadem; And like with time are gems more dear, Phi Gamma grows each passing year.15

he front of Phi Gamma Hall includes paired Ionic columns of wood flanked by two brick piers supporting

a pediment adorned with diagonal beaded board and dentil molding. Pilasters (features imitating partial columns, pillars, or piers) continue the temple motif along the side and rear walls. The central entry is a pair of nine-foot, solid wood doors t

with side and transom windows. The foyer’s twelve-foot doors

The Phi Gamma debate hall in the mid-twentieth century. ERIK OLIVER

open to the vaulted debate hall and reading room, once warmed by coal-burning fireplaces in the centers of the north and south walls. Large windows distributed evenly in the south, west, and north walls illuminate the room with natural light. The foyer housed the society library for many years; when the library exceeded the capacity of that space (and perhaps in response to Few Hall’s more ample library rooms), the Phi Gammas added windows and a wood floor to the basement and opened a staircase (now closed) from the basement to the foyer. Renovations and improvements occurred several more times over the decades, including the addition on the west wall of a pressed-tin arch embossed with the society motto.

22 | Cornerstone and Grove

Elaborate wall and window adornments increased the dramatic

Phi Gamma Hall was turned into a black box theater in the 1980s. In this 2007 photo, the society motto, “Knowledge and Religion, Guardians of Liberty” competes with “Dooley Lives!” and other student graffiti.

received a concrete floor and became the maintenance shop.18

Few Hall had no foyer, but opened instead into a central

From the late 1970s through the late 1990s, the upstairs

hallway flanked by two library rooms that extended nearly the

hall was a black box theater, and the basement held sets

length of the building. Mirror-image staircases along the rear

and costumes.

wall still lead to the second floor. The upstairs debate hall was

In 1998, Phi Gamma Hall was one of several campus

richly decorated with ornate millwork, brass light fixtures, and

buildings to receive new stucco. Unlike the smooth face now,

elaborate wallpaper. Ignatius Few’s portrait hung above the

the original stucco was scored to resemble large stone blocks.

rostrum between decorative columns supporting an entabla-

In 2008, the college made dramatic aesthetic renovations and

ture on which was painted the society’s motto, Pro Virtute et

converted the main hall into much-needed student study space, operated by the staff of the adjacent library. As of this writing (summer 2009), the next planned improvements call for replacement of the sagging roof, improved accessibility, and restoration of the hall as a formal reading room.

Few Hall

ike Phi Gamma, Few Hall is a prototypical temple-style structure of the high Greek Revival period, made of brick

and originally sheathed in scored stucco. Four massive brick piers support the pediment. Side and transom windows frame the doorway, and there are sixteen evenly spaced windows t

around the building, each with twenty-five or thirty panes.19

The officers of the Few Literary Society listen intently from the rostrum as an orator makes his case in this 1893 photo of the lavish debate hall.

Patria (For Virtue and Country). Few Hall has served other purposes as well. It, too, provided housing for nurses and doctors of Hood Hospital in 1864. When the Phi Gamma and Few societies moved with Emory College to Atlanta in 1919 (and subsequently disbanded in 1932),20 the library rooms of Few Hall were divided into faculty offices, and the main hall became a classroom and later a cinema. Under Dean William H. Murdy’s administration (1986–99), a 1998 campus plan by Ayers Saint Gross and Robinson Fischer Associates envisioned renovation, adaptive reuse, and extension of Few Hall to support the arts. Dean Dana Greene (1999–2005) led the ensuing project, and with a Few Hall in 1895.

Dialectic and Fraternity| 23

substantial lead gift from Hugh (â&#x20AC;&#x2122;52Ox) and Gena Tarbutton, the college renovated the building and dedicated the Hugh and Gena Tarbutton Performing Arts Center in 2001 at a total construction cost of $3,303,000.21 Barbara Black, an associate with Surber Barber Choate Hugh Tarbutton

& Hertlein, PC, managed the project

and describes the architectural relationship between Few Hall SURBER BARBER CHOATE AND HERTLEIN

and the theater extension: The addition to Few Hall respects the temple facade as a focal feature on the Oxford quadrangle while creating a strong but secondary entrance to the new theater. The interior retained the decorative details as well as the integrity of the volume of the debate space. The new portico entrance sits back from the historic entry, preserving the prominence of the 1850s building and the radial Whatcoat Street sight line of the original town plan. The addition does not duplicate the historic temple form, but complements it with well-proportioned similar elements. The solid stucco facade is given relief A transition of windows and wood panels was inserted between the historic structure and the addition. The windows fill the lobby and the music suite with natural light. Few and Tarbutton (as the center is now called) houses a theater, actorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; preparation room, set shop, visual arts studio, choir rehearsal space, soundproof practice rooms, student photography gallery, and offices of the arts faculty. 24 | Cornerstone and Grove

with a series of pilasters and recessed panels.

Few Hall and the Tarbutton Performing Arts Center.

NEXUS

Chapter Four

Monumental Towers on the Cardinal Point The 1837 town plan shows five prominent roads radiating northward from the campus, their trajectory originating at the only building drawn on the plan. The first building on this site, often referred to as “Old Main,” occupied that nexus for a scant twenty years beginning in the early 1850s. Seney Hall has stood there since 1881. The preeminence of this site, the relative magnitude of the two buildings that have occupied it, and the emanating roads underscore the college as the focal point of the community. The founders used architecture and landscape to convey their mission to nurture and send forth the “radiant light” of religion and education.

Old Main

arly Emory classes were conducted in the

first-story rooms of the buildings designed as dormitories. Though the trustees authorized construction of a principal building in 1837 and reserved its

Old Main was somewhat wider and considerably longer (deeper) than Seney Hall, and its tower was almost as high. The heavy tower and roof caused the walls to spread and crack. Though the tower was removed and the walls braced, the building was too unstable, and the trustees ordered that it be razed in 1872, just twenty years after it was built.

The original seal of Emory College was designed by Professor Harry Harlan Stone and featured the front of Old Main, minus its tower.

Nexus | 25

central site, it was not until George F. Pierce became

were roughly the same height (approximately 110 feet).

president in 1848 that planning and fund-raising for a

In a 1908 edition of the Phoenix, an alumnus of 1858

ten-thousand-dollar building began in earnest. On

describes Old Main as “more imposing” than its

February 25, 1852, President Pierce presided over the

replacement.

cornerstone ceremony, and Bishop William Capers

Professor and alumnus Harry Harlan Stone

dedicated the building on July 17, 1853. The final cost

provided a detailed description of the floor plan and uses

was somewhat more than fifteen thousand dollars. The

of the building:

builder was William Galloway, the same man who had just completed Few Hall.1 Old Main was a large, three-story Greek Revival structure in the temple style with a broad colonnade of Doric columns and a tall wooden tower.2 It was made of

The original central College building had a large hall running north and south from the front doors and terminating in a cross hall running east and west and went about three fourths the length of the building. On either side of the main

brick, clad in whiteERIK OLIVER

washed stucco, and set upon a foundation of regional gneiss.3 Using

hall were three recitation rooms and south of the cross hall were the chemistry and physics laboratories. The second floor was a large auditorium which covered all the

one of the men standing

space over the six recitation rooms and the

at the top of the stairs

central halls below. The space over the

in the one surviving

chemistry and physics laboratories was

picture as a 6-foot scale

devoted to various officers but principally

(accommodating shoes

to the library and museum. The cross

and hat), one can esti-

halls below also held stairways to the

mate that Old Main

auditorium above.5

was roughly 75 feet wide. Applying the

Professor Stone’s brother, George W. W.

golden ratio of width to

Stone Jr., adds,

depth in classical archi-

The large galleries made the third story of

tecture, it was probably

this building. At each end of the broad

close to 121 feet deep.4

colonnade was a winding stairway, taking

By comparison, the

you to the auditorium and on to the gallery.

footprint of Seney Hall feet wide and 77 feet deep. The buildings 26 | Cornerstone and Grove

is approximately 72

An artist’s concept of the ground-floor layout of Old Main based on the descriptions by Harry Harlan Stone and George W. W. Stone Jr. The two rooms at the back were laboratories, and the other six rooms were used for general instruction.

In the auditorium was held all the commencements6 and public occasions, and the commencements in those days were occasions worthy of consideration. People

came in crowds from all over the state, and their entertainment was free and lavish. The hearing qualities of the auditorium were so fine that a speaker on the stage could be easily understood in every part of the room, though he spoke in a very moderate tone.7 The bell that rings out from the Seney Hall tower today, acquired by Alexander Means during a visit to Paris in 1855, first hung on the roof (not in the tower) of this building and is visible in the picture (page 25). When Old Main developed structural problems due to the weight of its tower and roof, the bell was hung from a post (where Candler Hall is now) for more than ten years until Seney Hall was completed in 1883.8 Old Main served as part of Hood Hospital in 1864. Though Union soldiers were destructive elsewhere in the area, the few Union soldiers who rode north into Oxford from Covington and looted homes on one afternoon were not the cause of Old Mainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demise. The tall, wooden tower was too heavy for the roof trusses, causing the brick walls to slowly spread. The trustees had the tower removed and the walls braced with iron bars and anchors, but the damage was too great. In 1871 the building was condemned, and in 1872 the trustees took it down.9 The loss of Old Main must have been deeply disappointing to the administration, trustees, and faculty, several of whom had played a part in its construction by raising funds or making plans. Nevertheless, they seemed determined to press forward, for nine years later they laid the cornerstone of a new principal building.

Seney Hall

eney Hall is the most recognized and celebrated building

on the Oxford campus, arguably among the most

Seney Hall in the early twentieth century.

marvelous edifices ever built by Emory College or the Nexus | 27

University. Effectively it is an Emory cornerstone itself, marking a pivotal point in the history of the institution, when Emory simultaneously received an unprecedented gift of philanthropy from an unlikely source in the period of postwar Reconstruction and also captured attention from beyond the southern states. On November 25, 1880, President Atticus G. Haygood delivered a powerful sermon from the pulpit of the Oxford Methodist Church (Old Church) titled, “The New South: Gratitude, Amendment, Hope—A Thanksgiving Sermon.” In it, he urged his congregants to reconcile their hearts and actions with the national interest and exhibit greater Christian tolerance and acceptance of the northern states and the African American population. He empathetically acknowledged the deep dismay, anger, and depression of those who had most fervently supported the Confederate cause. By unanimous vote of the congregation, the speech was soon published and widely distributed.11 Three months later, Haygood was in New York on personal business when a banker from Brooklyn named George I. Seney indicated through a mutual friend that he wished to meet with the president. Seney had read Haygood’s sermon and was much impressed by its “sound doctrine.” When asked about the college, Haygood replied: “We have a good college; a good faculty; a good history; the confidence of our people, and we are improving.” Seney then presented Haygood with $10,000 and within the year had followed it with further gifts for a total of $130,000. Haygood suggested distribution of the gifts, so in addition to $75,000 for the endowment and $5,000 for debts, $50,000 was set aside to construct the new principal building.12 George I. Seney

The plan for a new principal building

may already have been in play when Seney made his gift. The trustees left the former site of Old Main empty while they built four smaller buildings in the 1870s, including one each on either flank. There was an extraordinarily short

28 | Cornerstone and Grove

“

If in our new College building here we will put only as good material all through as we have laid away in our foundations, and if we do honest work, ‘Seney Hall’ will abide for ages in strength and beauty.

”

—ATTICUS G. HAYGOOD

amount of time between Haygood’s speech (November

of the foundation from Old Main. The floor of the Seney Hall

1880), his meeting with Seney (February 1881), and the

foyer is that of Old Main’s porch.14

cornerstone ceremony (May 1881). From a purely logistical

Seney Hall is a striking example of the Victorian Gothic

standpoint, this timeline suggests that there was already an

Revival movement. The building was designed to evoke the

architect, building design, projected cost, and identified

medievalism of old European universities and cathedrals, with

sources of building materials.

buttresses, towers, and generous windows. The acute angle of

The trustees appointed a building committee that included

the tower roofs is a dominant characteristic of the style.15

Haygood, Professor Isaac S. Hopkins, and trustee Joseph S.

Though the style is reminiscent of Old World educational

Stewart. The architectural firm was Parkins and Bruce, a

and religious institutions, the architects literally “grounded”

highly successful business in Georgia at the time. Both

Seney Hall in the context of the American South by choosing

practical and symbolic, the choice was made to use a portion

local stone and red clay bricks.

The cornerstone ceremony for Seney Hall in 1881.

Nexus | 29

BBOB HUGHES

The bold entrance provides an interesting touch of eclecticismâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a triptych of archways with striping and apexes characteristic of medieval Moorish mosques. Both towers taper gently, a detail that adds architectural grace and provides structural strength. In the same way, brick corbelling supports the projecting windows, panels, and roof above.16 The tower and mansard roofs originally had slate shingles arranged in elaborate patterns. The brick work, with its tight, beaded mortar joints, is extraordinaryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;particularly the diagonal patterns, the window arches, and the circles around the quatrefoil windows in the side gables. The chimneys take on the appearance of spires. In the upper part of each smaller first- and second-story window is a panel of colored glass in jewel tones. A decorative finial crowns each gable and tower. 30 | Cornerstone and Grove

The entrance to Seney Hall features a triptych of double doors set in striped and pointed archways reminiscent of medieval Moorish architecture.

ERIK OLIVER

The Emory Catalogue from 1890–91 describes the original floor plan and uses: “It is three stories high, the first and second floors being used for four lecture rooms, the third being devoted exclusively to the use of the College Library. The building contains also eight offices and reading rooms.” What is now the fourth floor was the balcony and reading rooms of the vaulted third-floor library. The library collection at the time, not counting the independent libraries of the Phi Gamma and Few literary societies, was about three thousand volumes, half of which were public documents.17 After the collection was moved to Candler Hall at the end of the nineteenth century, for a time the former library housed the Department of Applied Mathematics (surveying, design, and engineering).18 The offices of the president and In their original layout, the first and second floors of Seney Hall were nearly identical and featured two classrooms and two offices each.

the secretary of the faculty were on the first floor on either side of the foyer.19 In the 1880s, the classrooms served the sub-freshman class, and in the years leading up to the

t ERIK OLIVER

college’s move to Atlanta, the entire building, including its maintenance, was given over to the Emory University Academy.20 The cost of maintenance must have been exceedingly onerous, for the old library was closed off entirely and abandoned in the 1920s and remained so until the late 1970s. The exterior and interior of Seney Hall have been renovated several times. The most significant transformation was funded by a grant from the Woodruff Foundation in the late 1970s during the administration of Dean J. William Moncrief (1976–86). The vaulted library was reopened and subdivided into two floors to accommodate classrooms, faculty offices, a conference room, and restrooms.21 The east staircase was replaced by an elevator shaft, and a rear stairwell was installed. The first and second floors were also subdivided extensively. Many of the bricks had become pitted and The third floor of Seney Hall held the library collection. What is now the fourth floor was the balcony level.

discolored by the ravages of weather, time, and English ivy Nexus | 31

cultivated years earlier to nearly cover the clock tower.

chimes, another five hundred22), shooting arrows into the

Rather than replace the bricks with close-but-not-identical

clock face to arrest the movement of its hands, stringing a

matches, preservationists painstakingly removed the worst

line of women’s undergarments from the clock tower to the

bricks and turned them around to expose the fresh side. They

roof of Language Hall, mounting a Jolly Roger flag with

also used original bricks from a firewall in the attic for this

skull and crossbones on top of the clock tower, and parking

purpose. Many of the mortar joints were repointed as well.

multiple small cars in the foyer.23

Even a brief historical sketch of Seney Hall would not be

The bell room and the chambers leading to it are the only places on campus where vandalism is encouraged,

one during the spring of 2008, when someone deposited a

even facilitated. Names of students dating from nearly one

live zebra named Barcode on the third floor—an achievement

hundred years ago up to the present are scrawled on every

that Dean Stephen Bowen called the “apex of animal eleva-

surface imaginable, including the bell itself. Though the

tion in Seney Hall.” In past decades, there had been a nearly

upper floors were closed off for nearly sixty years, students

annual tradition on or near Halloween of leaving a cow,

nevertheless found a way there. In the 1970s through the

mule, or other livestock in Seney Hall or other classroom

early 1990s, there were regular tours of the tower on

buildings. Other indignities endured by Seney Hall have

Oxford Day, the annual homecoming event. Student leaders

included setting off the clock mechanism so that the bell rang

are still given access and permission to write their names

continuously (one account says the record was three hundred

among the others.

ERIK OLIVER

complete without an account of pranks, especially in light of

32 | Cornerstone and Grove

The Seney Hall bell tower is the only place on campus where vandalism is permitted, even facilitated. The bell, which was brought back from Europe by Alexander Means, first hung on the roof of Old Main.

FAITH AND FIRMAMENT

Chapter Five

COURTESY OF VIRGIL AND LOUISE EADY

The Houses of Worship

Christianity and Christian education, interpreted and espoused through the Methodist denomination, were the very reason for establishing Emory College and the town of Oxford. Methodism continued to infuse culture, policies, and instruction at the Oxford campus well into the twentieth century. Thus, it is only mildly surprising that between 1838 and 1910 no fewer than six Methodist houses of worship were constructed in Oxford, nearly all of them owned or co-owned by Emory. The first house of worship was the wooden chapel constructed in 1838. In 1841, the cornerstone for a church was set in the ceremonial center of town. In 1848, a small sanctuary was built to serve the slave population. In 1853, Old Main was dedicated, and on its second floor was a large chapel-auditorium. In 1875, the present campus chapel was completed as part of a four-building construction project. Last, in 1910, the trustees shed the stylistic restraint typical of earlier

A January 1940 snowfall gave the chapel and woods an ethereal look.

Methodist worship spaces in Oxford and erected the highly ornamented Young J. Allen Memorial Church, just nine years before Emory College moved to Atlanta.

Faith and Firmament | 33

The Original Campus Chapel

Commencement Hall from 1843 until the New Church

(Allen Memorial UMC) was completed in 1910.5

would be appropriate here. Henry Morton Bullock relates

Main housed wounded and sick soldiers transported to

that, in 1841, Professor C. J. Haderman asked and received

Oxford by train from the battle of Atlanta.

permission from the trustees to use the chapel “if it shall

In 1864, this church and the chapel-auditorium of Old

From the 1880s into the

be found practicable without injury to the college” to

early part of the twentieth

open a school for the girls of Oxford.1 Bullock also says

century, Oxford was a center

that a Mr. Patrick Mell opened a school in 1839 but

of Georgia Methodism and a

taught classes in the kitchen of William Mell “until the

cultural center of the imme-

completion of the Chapel-Academy.” This causes some

diate region. The church was

confusion, because the chapel was built in the summer

a hub of activity, from regu-

of 1838, and Bullock says the Chapel-Academy was not

lar and seasonal worship

complete when Mell started his school.2 Regardless, the

services, public school poetry

1869 Emory trustee minutes allude to a desire on the part

contests, and the weeklong

of the faculty “to repair and fit for use the preparatory

Commencement exercises.6

school house,”3 which almost certainly was a reference to the old campus chapel. Thus, the little building served as a preparatory school between daily prayer services on weekdays, as a meeting place for the Few Society, and as a church on Sundays before the Oxford Methodist Church was completed.

Oxford Methodist Church (Old Church)

ld Church is the oldest nonresidential structure in

Oxford, and more than any other edifice physically

represents the former integration of the college and the town of Oxford. The town commissioners issued the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South a ninety-nine-year lease for a section of the unopened Fletcher Street corridor,4 and the cornerstone

for the church was laid on June 23, 1841. It was known as the Oxford Methodist Church as well as

34 | Cornerstone and Grove

t Old Church in 1904. Fenced-in fields

are barely visible in the background.

COURTESY OF VIRGIL AND LOUISE EADY

in chapter 2, some more information about it

lthough the original campus chapel was described

This photo from the mid-1930s shows the cornerstone of Old Church; the stone was covered in the 1998 renovation. The infant in the picture is Virgil Eady, son of Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady and grandson of Harry Harlan Stone.

when it was superseded by the Young J. Allen Memorial Church:

A memoir penned by a personified Old Church recounts the town sentiment

Older congregants fill the pews and students fill the galleries in this mid-twentieth-century photo of the Old Church interior.

The town went all agog about abandoning me and building a fine new church down near the Campus. My real true friends pled long and earnestly against the change, but to no avail. I’ve never seen the new church, but they tell me it is a splendid building and in keeping with the times, but I’ll tell you this, I’ve never heard a soul say “I love it.” It has never dreamed of such occasions as I used to have.7 Abandoned, Old Church quickly began to deteriorate. Bishop Warren A. Candler launched a successful campaign to renovate it in 1936. However, the original ninety-nine-year lease expired in 1940, apparently without notice or Faith and Firmament | 35

effort to renew it by the Methodist Church, and the building

By 1998, in view of further deterioration of the structure,

subsequently became the property of the town of Oxford.8 In

the society launched the most recent and most extensive

1948, the town council published the following legal notice

renovation: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Old Church was used by many groups until

in the local paper:

deterioration of the foundation made it necessary, in 1996,

The Old Church at Oxford has become a fire hazard and public nuisance and is deteriorating rapidly. The Town Council of Oxford by resolution has authorized the sale of the building by sealed bids which will be accepted up to and including October 30, 1948. The purchaser must raze or move the building and remove all debris within ninety days of acceptance of the bid. By the same date, October 30, 1948, the Council will consider release of the building to Church authorities or agencies provided the building be restored, insured, and put to good use within a time limit to be set by mutual

to close the building to large gatherings. The Shrine Society, with encouragement from the college and town, undertook to raise funds to renovate the 158-year-old structure.â&#x20AC;?12 The project budget was $925,590, and the work was implemented by architect Jack Pyburn and the Potts Construction Company.13 While the church no longer has a congregation of its own, it is used for periodic private, community, and college events.

In 1971, the United Methodist Church designated Oxford as a Methodist historic shrine, including Old Church and many of the campus buildings.

agreement between the Council and Lessee.9 The North Georgia Methodist Conference responded,

Old Church looked significantly different during its first

and once again destruction was averted by a restoration

three-and-a-half decades. The front pediment and supporting

campaign, led this time by Bishop Arthur J. Moore.

pilasters at each corner are original and characteristic of the

In 1971, the United Methodist Church designated

Greek Revival period. The twin entries are typical of

Oxford as a Methodist historic shrine, including Old Church

Methodist churches from the period and correspond to twin

and many of the campus buildings. Three years later,

vestibule doors and parallel sanctuary aisles. The east gallery

preservation-minded citizens formed the Oxford Shrine

is also original. The church did not receive its cruciform

Society Inc.10 In 1975, the town of Oxford issued a transfer

shape, however, until 1878, when Emory President Atticus

of a 1965 ninety-nine-year lease with the church to the

G. Haygood added transept wings, chancel, stage, pulpit,

society for care, maintenance, and use of the historic

and galleries along the north and south walls. The changes

church, and the society began a new restoration effort.

were well-masked through the use of trim and towering

In the same year, the Oxford Historic District was added to

windows identical to that of the existing structure.

the National Registry.

A popular theory in the past was that the galleries were built to accommodate slaves. It is possible that some family

36 | Cornerstone and Grove

servants sat in the original gallery on the east end while the

South, which built the church and assigned to it a white

white congregation worshiped, or that for a few years the

minister as supervisor.18

slaves may have worshiped in the church at a separate time.14

When the college and the Oxford Methodist Church

The enslaved population, however, had a church for its own

were used for the wartime hospital in 1864, the displaced

use from 1848, and the larger galleries of Old Church date

white congregation temporarily held its Sunday morning

from after the Civil War.

worship services in the slave church. The enslaved people

The pews still bear the original numbering system. A divider down the middle of the central pew section is said

worshiped in the afternoon.19 After the Civil War ended, the newly emancipated

by docents to be a holdover from the practice in early

African Americans who had remained in Oxford established

Methodism of requiring men and women to sit separately.

their own congregation in 1867.20 In 1869, an arm of the

The bell in Old Church, though it rings far less frequently

northern church called the Freedmen’s Aid Society funded a

than the Seney Hall bell and with less depth of voice, is

school in Oxford in association with the new congregation,

perhaps the oldest remaining Emory-related artifact.

named Rust Chapel after the Reverend Richard S. Rust,

Originally it rang at the campus of Emory’s predecessor,

secretary of the society. In 1870, the Emory trustees deeded

the Georgia Conference Manual Labor School.

to the trustees of Rust Chapel two acres to be “used for the education of Freedmen and children irrespective of Race

Emory-Connected African American Churches in Oxford

or Color.”21

hough the Emory trustees founded Oxford as a reli-

trustees to “donate to the town for the purposes of enlarg-

giously homogeneous community, from the beginning

ing the present grave[yard?], a certain lot formerly used by

In 1876, the town commissioners asked the Emory

Oxford was never racially homogeneous, nor was it utopian.

the colored people before emancipation for a church lot.”22

Multiple early Emory figures were slave owners, including

This indicates that the original slave church was no longer

trustees Bishop James Andrew and Iverson Graves; presidents

being used for worship services, for the petition by the

Augustus Longstreet, Alexander Means, and John R. Thomas;

commissioners was directed to the trustees instead of the

and professors Gustavus Orr, George W. Lane, and George

Methodist Church, and the 1848 deed stipulated that the

W. W. Stone Sr.16 Enslaved African Americans constituted a

property would revert to Emory if ever it ceased to be used

significant percentage of the early population and were

for church purposes. The trustees appointed a committee

integral to the success of the college and community.

to “consider the propriety of donating the same for the

Most, if not all, early Oxford residents worshiped at

purposes asked or the propriety of allowing it to be used

Methodist services. On July 19, 1848, the Emory trustees

by the colored ME Church of America as a church lot.

resolved to designate a plot of land for the purpose of

And also the propriety of donating the old day chapel to the

erecting a church in which slaves might worship. Selection of

same organization for a church building.”23 The committee’s

a site was left to the discretion of the faculty.17 The trustees

recommendation was to deed the lot to the town as

deeded the property to the Methodist Episcopal Church,

requested. They further agreed, however, to grant “the Faith and Firmament | 37

This early-twentiethcentury photo of the college chapel shows the originally scored stucco, dark molding, and surrounding woods.

The Prayer Chapel application for the old day chapel by the colored M.E.C. of America to be used as a church . . . on these conditions: (1) That it be removed [from] its present location, and (2) That

he Emory Catalogue of 1890–91 notes that “Every

College-day, morning and evening, prayers are held in

the Chapel, at which all students are required to be present.

should it cease to be used for church purposes by the

The services consist of reading the Scriptures, singing, and

Methodist E.C. of America then it is to revert back to the

prayer.”26 The faculty, for whom attendance was also com-

Trustees of Emory College.”

pulsory, and the president made daily announcements during

The old slave church was disassembled and its materials

chapel services. Two worship services were required on

used to build a store in the town center.24 The college chapel

Sundays at the town church. The policy was clear:

was dragged by mules six blocks northwest of campus; it

“Attendance on class exercises, chapel, and church services

burned in the first decade of the twentieth century and was

is required, and all excuses for absences from any of these

replaced by the current building of the Rust Chapel United

duties must be approved or disapproved by the Absence

Methodist Church.25

Committee of the faculty.”27

38 | Cornerstone and Grove

Students grumbled at the rigidity, and occasionally they

burned in 1893. While each of those brick buildings had a

resorted to rebellious pranks. The 1909 Phoenix records the

unique shape, they were stylistically united by white stucco

following entry for December 11, 1908: “Skeleton appears in

and Greek and Italianate elements. There does not appear to

chapel directly over (President) Dr. Dickey’s head, much to

be much architectural consistency among all of the Oxford

his displeasure.” Professor emeritus and 1913 alumnus

campus buildings today, but in 1875 all six buildings along

Wilbur “Squire” Carlton gives account of a “pinnacle”

the perimeter of the quadrangle (green or commons) were

prank: “One morning upon going down for daily chapel

stucco with classical forms or elements.

devotions, we noticed that ‘Madam’ [Professor Mansfield]

Like that of its peers, the chapel’s architectural style is

Peed’s buggy was up on top of the building and that none

eclectic—a fusion of Romanesque or Italianate and Greek. In

other than our old Biology Major Dooley was sitting in the

this particular building, those styles blend with a traditional

Methodist layout—an east/west orientation with end gables

The chapel was completed in 1875 during a four-building

and paired entries. The protruding entrance mimics a Greek

seat with a cigar in his mouth and wearing a beaver hat.”

construction project that included Language Hall, Humanities

portico with pilasters and pediment. The entries are arch-

(then Science) Hall, and an unnamed recitation hall that

ways with double doors and a fan light (sunburst window).

For a while, an enormous and magnificent crystal chandelier hung in the chapel until its weight began to strain the rafters.

Faith and Firmament | 39

The arched shape repeats around the periphery of the building in eight generously proportioned windows, which illumi-

moved to the First Methodist Church in Covington. Today the Oxford College student and employee popula-

nate the small space with natural light. Above each window

tions are religiously diverse, and the only apparent policy tie

is a cast lintel with classical egg-and-dart and acanthus-leaf

to the collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Methodist heritage is the practice of assigning

motifs.

a Methodist minister to the chaplaincy. The chapel is used

The stucco walls originally were scored to resemble stacked stone blocks and match Phi Gamma and Few halls. Early

both for secular programs and the services of multiple faith traditions; there are no permanently installed religious symbols.

photos reveal that the trim was painted a dark color and that there was a rosette-shaped vent in the center of the front gable. A chimney protruded from either side, connected to coal-

Young J. Allen Memorial (United) Methodist Church

burning fireplaces. At one point, English ivy covered much of

The church as a whole is an imposing symbol of

the building, and the forest was close on all sides. The chapel

the chief aim of the College, the development of

has gone through several upgrades, most significantly in 1970

the spiritual nature of the students, and it will

and 1988. The heavy interior cornice and window molding

stand as a constant suggestion to them of the

were added; the interior had been both simpler and darker.

glory of a life of service in the field of foreign

For a while, an enormous crystal chandelier was the central

missions in which lived and labored and died the

light fixture; however, it strained the roof trusses and was

noble man whose name it bears.30

40 | Cornerstone and Grove

Allen Memorial Church, shortly after construction, was completed in 1910.

the Allen Memorial Chapel.”32 During his dedication address at the cornerstone ceremony for the original Pierce Science Hall in 1902, Bishop Warren

Bishop Candler was a consummate fund-raiser and

A. Candler quoted from remarks made at the cornerstone

strategist; he made plain the wisdom of naming buildings

ceremony for Candler Hall in 1897: “This beautiful building

after illustrious Emory figures:

will be followed by others. Not many years hence a noble chapel will take the place of the present small structure. A greater Science hall will rise. The old campus which has waited these years the touch of the landscape gardener will bloom in beauty and brightness.”31 The “noble chapel” was completed and dedicated during the Commencement exercises in June 1910, and named the Young J. Allen Memorial Church. Young J. Allen was an 1858 honor graduate of Emory College who became one of the Methodist Church’s earliest and most famous missionaries to China. An even more pro-

Will not this monumental building, bearing their names and images, call with mute but irresistible eloquence other noble structures to come and stand by its side and shelter the fruits of their labor? Charged with the magnetism of their attractive personalities, will it not draw hither hoarded treasures for endowing and equipping the dear old college they loved so well and toiled for so long?33 Construction and furnishings cost approximately thirty

lific writer than his friend, Atticus

thousand dollars, which was raised from the

G. Haygood, he founded the

membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church,

Anglo-Chinese College and

South and from the alumni and friends of Emory

Dongwu (Suzhou) University.

College.34 The architect was A. F. N. Everett.35

Allen died on May 30, 1907,

Allen Memorial was built in the Beaux Arts

shortly before Commencement

style with an eclectic approach that referenced

exercises and the concurrent

several previous campus buildings. The water

annual board of trustees meeting.

table (base or foundation) is similar to that of

Emory College was in the midst

Seney, Candler, and Williams halls. The swirls

of a major endowment campaign.

and folds in the grain of the stone suggest that the

The November 1907 edition of

mason was conscious of choice and placement of

the Phoenix reports that “The

individual blocks.36 The classical pediment and

class of 1858 will celebrate their

columns echo the simpler porticos of Phi Gamma

semi-centennial anniversary by a

and Few halls but most closely resemble the front

reunion at the 1908 commence-

of the now-lost Old Pierce Science Hall (1903),

ment. The reunion is especially

with its grand stairway. Each of Allen Memorial’s

appropriate at that time, as Dr.

five fluted columns seems to be a single, solid

and an appeal will be made for

Young J. Allen was a member,

Young J. Allen

Faith and Firmament | 41

BRYAN MELTZ

piece, cast rather than carved. The capitals are a composite of the Corinthian and Ionic styles. The Italianate arched windows mimic those of Williams Hall. The octagonal dome is made of painted tin, and the cupola is copper. Polly Stone Buck, who was a young girl in Oxford when Allen Memorial was completed, is humorous but less than generous when mentioning the “New Church” in her book: It was completely out of place in a little village like Oxford, and was made of that regrettable material, yellow brick, with colored glass windows, Corinthian columns at the entrance set high at the top of a pompous flight of wide stone steps, and, as a crowning bit of pretentious architecture, a dome. The college had put it up, and owned the building, but the town was allowed to use it for its many religious services. We did so with pride.37 The interior of the church is an elegant mix of contrasting hard and curved lines, dark wood, and white molding. Though much more ornamented, the church’s basic design echoes that of Old Church: a vestibule with twin doorways, parallel aisles, three pew sections, and a large gallery that wraps three sides of the sanctuary. Beyond the communion rail, the pulpit and communion table sit on a raised tier, backed by a still higher chancel choir loft—cupped to form an acoustic shell. The colored glass of the windows along each flank and in the tremendous interior

The dome of Allen Memorial Church is covered in painted tin. The cupola is copper. The clerestory windows served to light the colored class of the interior dome and, before modern air conditioning, vented the sanctuary.

42 | Cornerstone and Grove

dome soothes the space with dappled color and light.

RECITATION AND EXPERIMENT

Chapter Six

The Classroom Buildings

Though Emory College was established by an act of the Georgia legislature and signed into law by Governor William Schley on December 10, 1836, there were no college buildings on campus until the summer of 1838. From 1838 until the 1870s, classes met in the first-floor rooms of the four small brick dormitories, and from 1853 until it was razed in 1872, they also met on the first floor of Old Main in six classrooms and two laboratories. The brick dormitories were wholly inadequate for teaching. Years of disuse and misuse during the Civil War diminished them further. Old Main succumbed to a failure of engineering. By the 1870s, Emoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s physical plant was crumbling. Into this sorry state of affairs stepped George Foster Pierce. With his father, Lovick, he had been one of the original trustees of Emory College and had served as president from 1848 to 1854, when he resigned to accept election as bishop by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. WellPierce Hall was on the northeast corner of the quadrangle, where Dowman Hall now stands.

respected and popular, he continued to support the college by raising funds for capital projects. Recitation and Experiment | 43

Remarkably, Bishop Pierce raised forty-two thousand dollars in the postwar recession of the 1870s to construct four new buildings. In 1873, the contract for these was awarded to James B. Knox. Most, if not all, of the brick dormitories were razed; President Osborn L. Smith and the trustees instructed Knox to salvage as much of their material and that of Old Main as possible for construction of the new buildings. In 1874, two recitation buildings were erected on either flank of the site formerly occupied by Old Main, and in 1875, a science hall and the new chapel were completed.

Language Hall

anguage Hall (1874) is so named because it provided classrooms for courses in English, modern languages, Greek, and Latin. A simple but elegant

Romanesque building of brick, it features a central gable, twin entries covered

by a modest porch, modillions, and cast lintels with Greek motifs. Early pictures

44 | Cornerstone and Grove

t Language Hall in the early twentieth century.

Note the scored stucco, dark trim, and shutters.

show dark trim and shutters. To match the style set by Old Main and Phi Gamma and Few halls, its stucco at first was scored to mimic stone blocks. The front steps, railing, and molded Doric columns are more recent additions; formerly

ERIK OLIVER

there were low steps at each end of the porch.

Each of the two front doors originally led into a

Artist’s concept of the original floor plan of Language Hall. Twin doors on the front of the building opened into the first floor classrooms. The upper two rooms were accessed by a staircase that opened to the rear of the building.

An unnamed recitation building stood immediately west of Old Main (later between Seney and Hopkins halls) from 1874 until it burned in 1891. It was smaller than Language Hall but very similar in style.

Photographs show that the recitation building was also

downstairs classroom. Upstairs were two more classrooms

clad in stucco and had a central porch covering twin door-

accessed from the rear of the building through a central door-

ways, modillions, and window lintels identical to those of

way and up a narrow staircase. Chimneys at either end of

Language Hall. It did not have a central gable, however.

the building drew off coal-burning fireplaces in each room.

No reference has been found to indicate the building had

The building was later fixed with mirror-image anterior

a name or served any particular department.

stairwells and subdivided to accommodate offices, smaller classrooms, and plumbing.

Humanities Hall

Unnamed Recitation Building

smaller recitation building was also erected in 1874 on the site now vacant between Seney and Hopkins

umanities Hall has the distinction of being the campus

building that has had the most names. First it was

Science Hall, completed in 1875 to replace the laboratories

lost when Old Main was razed. It became Chemistry Hall

halls. It burned in 1891, and the conflagration precipitated

when the science program expanded with the completion

the drive to protect the library collection (then housed on the

of the first Pierce Science Hall in 1903. History Hall was its

third floor of adjacent Seney Hall) by building an independ-

name from the 1960s through the mid-1980s, reflecting its

ent and “fireproof” library—Candler Hall.

subsequent use when the sciences were moved to the current

Recitation and Experiment | 45

Science (Humanities) Hall in the early twentieth century. Note the scored stucco, dark trim, and shutters.

Pierce Hall in 1962. Its current name came about in the mid-1980s when the Humanities Division occupied a preponderance of the offices and asked for the change.2 Because the building was not named for a benefactor or esteemed historic Emory figure, it has been more susceptible to name changes. The marble sign above the doorway bears the current name and original construction date. Another plaque, mounted at the foot of the building in the 1960s by the Oxford Lions Club, identifies it as the Science Building, a contradiction that requires explanation during visitor tours. In the 1870s and early 1880s, the building housed the library. In the 1920s, under a mandate by the University for all divisions to cut costs, it accommodated most classes while the late 1980s, the bookstore occupied more than half of the first floor. Humanities Hall is the largest and most ornate of the four buildings erected during the administration of President 46 | Cornerstone and Grove

other buildings were shut down.3 From the 1960s through

The biology and geology lab in Science (Humanities) Hall, home to the original Dooley.

Romanesque with Greek elements.4 Its shape is cruciform, with gables on all four sides. Like its peers, it is brick

ERIK OLIVER

Osborn L. Smith. Architecturally eclectic, essentially it is

covered in stucco that was at first scored to mimic stones. The heavy corbelling is both ornamental and structural, providing support to walls above. A particularly attractive detail is the juxtaposition of rectangular and Italianate arched windows. The cast lintels are identical to those on Language Hall and the chapel.5 The lintels, modillions, and fascia formerly were painted a dark color, and cultivated English ivy covered much of the north face. t

mounted closer to the outside face of the building, under

Artist’s concept of the original first-floor plan of Science (Humanities) Hall.

Early photos and hinge marks indicate that the door was

Artist’s concept of the original secondfloor plan of Science (Humanities) Hall.

the fan light window. Like Language Hall, the interior of Humanities has plan was much simpler. The first floor held two large classrooms with three ancillary rooms along the back (east) wall. The foyer stairwell led upstairs to a central hallway and three more classrooms. The Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts from 1918 describes its use as Chemistry Hall: Just north of Candler Hall is another brick building, 75 by 75 feet, formerly known as Old Science Hall, now given over to the department of chemistry. Its basement contains the gas plant which supplies the chemical laboratories. The first floor is occupied by the laboratories for general and for analytical chemistry, the weighing room, the stock-room, and the acid room. The second floor is divided into three class-rooms used by the department of chemistry and by some other departments.6

Hopkins Hall

n 1884, shortly after the completion of Seney Hall, President

Isaac Stiles Hopkins received approval from the trustees to

launch an innovative program in technological training under

his own direction. Hopkins projected that the program would be self-sustaining through the sale of students’ products in wood and iron and convinced the trustees to take out a five-thousand-dollar loan backed by the meager endowment to construct and equip a modest facility in time for the fall term of 1885. Until the building was completed, President Hopkins taught woodworking in his yard and barn.7 The Emory Catalogue for the 1885–86 academic year provides a description of the new School of

been reconfigured and subdivided; the original floor

Isaac Stiles Hopkins

Recitation and Experiment | 47

An early (c. 1885–89) photo of Hopkins Hall when it first provided for classes in wood and metal working.

Technology: “These [facilities] consist at present of a new

facility. In 1990, during the administration of Dean William H.

shop, built of brick

Murdy, Hopkins Hall was transformed into the Virgil COURTESY OF VIRGIL AND LOUISE EADY

66x40 feet, with engine and boiler room 18x30 feet; a two story brick structure, with four apartments, furnishing in all a floor space of over 6,000 feet.”8 In part due to these modest beginnings, another great institution of higher education grew. Within four years, Dr. Hopkins left Emory to become the first president of a grander program in technological instruction—the newly formed Georgia Institute of Technology. Hopkins Hall has the distinction of being the campus building that has served the most uses. From 1888, when t

Hopkins’s departure, until 1907, it was the college gymna-

Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady

the School of Technology was closed following President

Susanne Stone Eady

sium. The 1918 Bulletin of Emory University indicates that

and Susanne Eady Admissions Center. The architect for the

Hopkins Hall was then “occupied by a class-room and a

renovation was Nix Mann & Associates, Inc.

drafting-room of the department of applied mathematics.”

Hopkins Hall, though modest in stature, testifies to

During the ROTC years surrounding World War I, it served

earlier attention to making even the most utilitarian of

as an armory. From 1928 until 1976, it housed the college

buildings architecturally interesting. The choices of red

swimming pool. For many years thereafter, it was a storage

brick, arched windows, corbelling, recessed panels, and

48 | Cornerstone and Grove

Pierce Hall in 1904, roughly a year after it was completed.

stone window sills indicate an effort to mimic the style of

of abandonment. The Lovick and George F. Pierce Memorial

Seney Hall. The clerestory, which early photos suggest is

Science Hall, completed in 1903, condemned and razed in

an original part of the design, allowed for greater light

1959, was comparable in stature and grandeur to Seney Hall.

and ventilation.

During the Commencement exercises of 1893, a Visitors

(Old) Pierce Memorial Science Hall

mory University lost two beautiful buildings on its Oxford campus as a result of policy choices coupled

with penury and subsequent neglect. They were practically

new when Emory College moved to the Atlanta campusâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; one sixteen years old, the other six. They were named for early presidents and trustees who, through their leadership and ability to inspire, not only staved off bankruptcy, but also guided the college to new heights of prosperity. Each of the two buildings has been replaced by a considerably smaller and less ornate namesake. The Atticus G. Haygood Lovick Pierce

Dormitory, completed in 1913, burned in 1981 after years

George F. Pierce

Recitation and Experiment | 49

Committee of the Methodist Church gave a report on its

they were defenders of the faith, and heralds of

observations of the Emory facilities:

redemption, they were propagators of science and

We find upon inquiring, for instance, into the Department of Natural Science, much need of new and modern apparatus. The water supply and arrangements ought to be enlarged and accommodated to laboratory work. In the Chemical Department, a gas machine is greatly needed; permanent and steady tables are needed

ministers of education.11 Though the project was planned and the majority of funds were raised during President Dowman’s administration, the building was constructed under President James E. Dickey and “dedicated to the promotion of science and the advancement of religion.” The architect was C. L. Norrman, the builder M. T. Lewmans, and the superintendent G. B. Cosby.12

in the Physics Room; the Chemical Laboratory

The corner-stone of the Pierce Science Hall was

is cramped and crowded, and the building ought

laid during the month of June, 1902. The building

to be enlarged at the north end to remedy

was completed at a cost of $28,000.00, and was

this difficulty.

Instead of constructing an addition on Science (now Humanities) Hall, President Charles E. Dowman and the trustees launched a capital campaign to erect a new science building projected to cost thirty thousand dollars. Board chairman J. P. Williams, who had also made the lead gift for Candler Hall, donated fifteen thousand dollars and recommended that the building be named in honor of Lovick and George Pierce. At the cornerstone ceremony, Bishop Warren Candler delivered an address in which he praised the name choice: And our generous friend has done well to insist that this building should be called by the Pierce name. A true man always remembers the foundations laid by other hands, upon which he builds.—A monument to their memory, in the form of a hall of science is particularly appropriate, being an embodiment of an inevitable offshoot of their ministry, and an expression of the enlightenment they helped to produce. Because

50 | Cornerstone and Grove

presented, free of debt, to the Board of Trustees in June, 1903. This building is heated by steam, lighted with gas and electricity, supplied with water, and thoroughly furnished with all needed furniture and modern apparatus. During the term of 1903 and 1904, $12,000 was expended in equipping our Scientific Departments. With this handsome building fully equipped, Emory College is prepared to do better work in the department of science than ever before in her history.13 Pierce Hall was situated on the northeast corner of the campus, diagonally across from Few Hall. It was sixty-five by one hundred feet, three stories high, and housed the departments of physics and biology.14 It was a neoclassical building of red brick and white limestone, with gables on all four sides and a powerful Greek entryway—twelve stairs leading to a porch with four fluted Doric columns, which supported an immense architrave and pediment.15 Although it was the first building on campus to have electricity, it was also generously lit with natural light through more than seventy regularly spaced windows. It was crowned with a

dome that purportedly held an observatory, though no Emory publications of the time have been found that make

Although it was the first building on campus to have electricity, it was also generously lit with natural light through more than seventy regularly spaced windows.

reference to such an extraordinary amenity. In 1922, Pierce Hall was converted into a dormitory for sophomores. It continued in that capacity through much of the 1950s.16 Under Emory University President Goodrich C. White (1942–57), University business manager C. O. Emmerich stated bluntly in an assessment of the Oxford physical plant that “Pierce Hall should be condemned.”17 Unable or unwilling to expend funds for its renovation, the University razed Pierce Hall in 1959 to make way for the last of four new dormitories, Dowman Hall.18 In connection with Pierce Hall, there are two particular points of interest about the campus landscape in the past. The first is that in order to bring materials for its construction to campus, the trustees approved the laying of a spur of the Georgia Railroad to campus with the stipulation that it be removed upon completion of the building.19 A portion of the old railroad berm is still visible on the property of the Reverend Tom and Emmie Johnson, across Moore Street from the Williams Gymnasium. The second point of interest was the Pierce Hall waterworks system, particularly in light of the 2008 construction of the East Village Residential Center with its state-of-the-art water conservation measures (discussed in chap. 9). On June 4, 1904, Harry Harlan Stone, who served as custodian of buildings and grounds as well as professor, board secretary/treasurer, and librarian, described the system: A system of waterworks designed by Mr. George Murphy was installed. This consists of a brick cistern in the ground, whose estimated capacity is

Pierce Hall exterior columns.

100,000 gallons. The contents of this can be emptied into a well adjacent, from which it is lifted

Recitation and Experiment | 51

into a 10,000 gallon iron tank by a hot air pump,

building of the same name. Completed in 1962 during the

which tank is elevated upon a fifty foot iron tower.

administration of Dean

The cistern was planned to be filled by water

Virgil Y. C. Eady, the new Pierce Science Hall was designed

caught from half of the roof of Pierce Hall and

by the architectural firm of Ivey and Crook. For nearly

much at first has been a disappointment—the water supply being only a part of what was ex-

sixty years, no new

ERIK OLIVER

from Few Hall roof. The well which promised

academic building had been erected on

pected.

the Oxford campus.

Unfortunately, the pump cannot lift water any

Perhaps as tribute to

higher than it does now, so that deepening the well been insufficient to put water at a greater depth in the cistern than thirty inches. We have been unable to supply any water to the gymnasium from this source, the supply having been barely enough for Chemistry Building and Pierce Science Hall.20 Ultimately, the college pumped water to the cistern from Dried Indian Creek. After Pierce Hall was razed, the old cistern served as a burn pit for college trash, and a thin plume of smoke continued to rise from the ground for several years until the cistern was filled to make way for a parking lot.21

(New) Pierce Science Hall

orty years after the original Pierce Hall had been converted into a dormitory, the

college used its share of funds raised in the Methodist Church’s campaign for Georgia

The “new” Pierce Science Hall, erected in 1962.

52 | Cornerstone and Grove

Methodist colleges to build a new science

will not help. The small rainfall of the winter has

its Flemish bond as it appears on Pierce Hall. Color variation added for emphasis.

predecessor, the college installed the cornerstone of Old

Pierce Hall on the southwest corner of its namesake. Though a decidedly less-ornamented successor, the

more utilitarian Pierce Hall was outfitted with a few architectural details to help it blend into the historic context of the older campus buildings. Most notably, this simple two-story box made of concrete block and brick was given a classical central entrance with Doric columns and pediment. The masons laid the brick wall in the Flemish bond style, turning some bricks ninety degrees every few courses to create a regular pattern. This style helped to provide structural strength to the wall and provided some decorative variation to the faรงade.22 By the 1980s, the need for additional laboratories and classrooms had become acute, and under Dean J. William Moncrief, a new wing was added to Pierce Hall in 1985. The architects and building contractor successfully replicated the dimensions and style of the older wing to render the new one virtually identical.

The OxHouse Science Center, formerly the home of Bill and Marguerite Allgood.

t t

Bill and Marguerite Allgood

Recitation and Experiment | 53

ERIK OLIVER

The Fred Landt Field Laboratory at the OxHouse Science Center.

OxHouse Science Center

member of the faculty during 1947 and 1948, and served on

the Oxford College Board of Counselors for many years. The

everal blocks northwest of campus is the OxHouse Sci-

estate includes a large pond, a caretakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home, and an A-

ence Center, an estate of nearly forty-eight acres given to

frame cottage converted into a

the college

field laboratory and named in

in 1990 during Dean William

honor of Dr. Fred Landt,

H. Murdyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

professor of biology at

administration by Bill and

Oxford College from 1954 to 1988.

Allgood to be an outdoor ed-

Science faculty members use

ucational facility and conser-

Marguerite

The Phoenician letters representing Ox (left ) and House (right ).

the OxHouse property as an outdoor laboratory for courses

vation area. Mr. Allgood

in biology, field botany, environmental

graduated from Oxford in

science, freshwater ecology, and undergraduate research, as

1938, taught English as a

well as for training public school science teachers through the annual Oxford Institute for Environmental Education.23 The t

54 | Cornerstone and Grove

Professor Fred Landt

Troves of knowledge

Chapter Seven

The Campus Libraries

Library buildings, representing the communal heart of academic institutions, have traditionally occupied prominent campus places. Emoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Oxford campus has had eight library sites. The Phi Gamma and Few societies each had libraries, sources of fraternal pride and rivalry. During the 1840s, the separate and more modest college library was housed in one of the original campus buildings.1 From the 1850s until 1872, the library was in a secondfloor room on the south end of Old Main.2 When Old Main was razed in 1872, the library was moved into Science (now Humanities) Hall.3 In the 1880s and 1890s, the third floor of Seney Hall housed the collection until Candler Hall, the first free-standing library, was complete. Though most of the collection and the museum moved with Emory College in 1919 to Atlanta, Candler Hall remained a Until the late 1960s, Candler Hall had a classical overhang with ornate cornice.

library until 1970, when the Oxford collection was transferred to the new Hoke Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Kelley Memorial Library.

Candler Hall

uring the autumn of 1891, fire consumed

the modest recitation building nestled Troves of Knowledge | 55

between Seney and Hopkins halls.4 With only two ordinary

Winship. On April 26, 1897, Bishop O. P. Fitzgerald, Presi-

wells on campus, the college was particularly vulnerable to

dent Candler,

fire, and in his annual report of that same academic year,

and Professor Morgan Callaway presided at the cornerstone

President Warren Candler appealed to the trustees for a

ceremony. The architect was S. M. Patton, and the construction

waterworks system. At the same time, he pressed for a

company was Wagener and Gorenflo. The final cost of the

new library:

building was twenty-five thousand dollars.6 The trustees named

The library, a most valuable collection, is located in the third story of Seney Hall. In case of fire it would be inevitably and entirely consumed. A fireproof library building . . . can be erected for a trifle more than $10,000. Since the burning of one of the College buildings on the night of November 13th, this building is more than ever an imperative necessity. A new building for the library would leave for class use a large room admirably adapted to lecture room purposes, as well as place the library in more convenient and safe quarters.5

it in honor of President Candler, despite his protestations, and dedicated it Pro Deo et Ecclesia (For God and Church).7 Candler Hall is a neoclassical building made of Tennessee marble, which is not actually marble but rather a regional limestone in which tiny fossils are evident.8 The roughfinished foundation of locally quarried gneiss accentuates the walls of alternating smooth and finely tooled limestone. The hand-tooled sections have countless divots and scored edges. This finish gives texture to the stones and makes them appear lighter in color than the adjacent smooth blocks. The capitals are also hand-carved—stylized Ionic ones atop regular pilasters that surround the building and Corinthian ones that support the arched entry. Notable differences are apparent between the architect’s

In successive annual reports, and with increasing fervor,

rendering and the constructed building. First-story window

President Candler continued to make the case for a new library by noting that many rare volumes were given to the college by prestigious and beloved alumni and faculty

“

thousand dollars toward a new library

It is scarcely less than a crime for us to keep a collection of books in the present quarters.

projected to cost not less than twenty

—WARREN CANDLER

emeriti. His appeal worked, for in 1894, trustee J. P. Williams offered five

thousand dollars. The trustees appointed a building committee that included trustees Clement A. Evans, President Candler, James M. Pace,

56 | Cornerstone and Grove

William P. Patillo, and George

Warren Candler

“”

BOB HUGHES

styles of the center section and wings

capitals on the pilasters instead of Ionic. Early photos of Can-

are reversed in the

dler Hall

rendering, and originally some were

indicate that it never had an elaborate dome and clerestory as

to have classic pediments. The render-

conceived. As recently as the late 1960s, the building had a narrow

ERIK OLIVER

ing shows Corinthian

overhang below the roof line BRYAN MELTZ

This Corinthian capital at the entrance is beautifully hand-carved.

The architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rendering of Candler Hall shows a large dome with clerestory that was never built.

and classic cornice with modillions and dentil molding. By the late 1960s, the wooden overhang had deteriorated to such an extent that it had to funds, the college did not replace it.9 The floor plan is reminiscent

Masons chiseled blocks to give them texture and make them appear lighter in hue against adjacent smooth blocks of the same material.

be taken down. For lack of Stylized Ionic capitals adorn pilasters (features that imitate pillars, columns, or piers) around the building.

An elaborate ceramic tile compass set to the ordinal points covers the offloor a traditional European of the rotunda.

church, but without a nave. The central room is a vaulted, octagonal rotunda and Troves of Knowledge | 57

Catalogs from the turn of the twentieth century state that Candler Hall was designed to hold seventy-five thousand volumes.11 There were roughly forty thousand volumes when the University moved the college and most of the library collection and museum artifacts to Atlanta.12 Candler Hall’s function as campus library ended in January 1970, when faculty, staff, and student

ERIK OLIVER

volunteers participated in a one-day book walk to transport Candler Hall has a central rotunda, transept, and apse like a traditional European church without a nave.

the collection across the quadrangle to the newly finished Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library. Soon thereafter, the Georgia United Methodist Commission on Higher Education and Campus Ministry, alumni, and friends of Oxford College made possible the transformation of Candler Hall into the Card Student Center. The Center was named

includes among its features a pressed-tin dome, balcony with wrought-iron railing,

in honor of former student Janice Card, whose father contributed half the money needed for the renovation.13 During

and an elaborate ceramic-tile compass on the floor set to the ordinal points—north, south, east, and west. A transept extends east and west. Initially, the west wing housed the reading room, and the museum was to the east. The two-story apse (called the “Rathskeller” since the early 1970s) housed the stacks on radial, freestanding bookcases. Cast-iron columns with stylized Corinthian capitals support the balconies throughout. The original floors in the apse and wings were heart pine. The ceilings feature elaborate beaded-board designs. The stone wainscot in the entry and rotunda is the same limestone as the exterior, but a highly polished finish gives it a rosy hue.10 t

58 | Cornerstone and Grove

Bookcases on both levels of the apse radiated from the center.

the 1970s and 1980s, the student-dominated space featured

physical and symbolic prominence, flanked by the chapel (the

purple columns,14 restaurant-style booths, pinball machines,

Christian heritage) and Phi Gamma Hall (the Greek educa-

pool tables, table tennis, and video games. After several more

tional

cosmetic renovations, Candler Hall now houses the Campus

influence), and facing Pierce Hall (objective, scientific research)

Life staff and the bookstore. Many departments use the build-

across the quadrangle.17

ing for regular and special events.

Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library

The committee worked closely with the architectural firm

y the mid-1960s, Candler Hall had become too small

for the college’s library needs. A committee led by librarian Sara Gregory undertook planning and fund-raising to construct a new facility that would house sixty thousand volumes with study and administrative space to support an enrollment anticipated to reach nine hundred students. The administration remarked that the new facility would be a valuable addition to the campus, regardless of whether Oxford College would continue as a two-year division of t

Emory or conceivably expand

Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library, shortly after completion.

into an independent four-year college “within the period of

of Abreu & Robeson on a “building designed with ideas of 15

usefulness of a new building.”

The committee considered multiple sites, including next to

both beauty and simplicity in mind.”18 The committee asserted that the building “must be in harmony with the general

Williams Gymnasium, which would have extended the devel-

pattern of campus planning” and that it “have as much flexi-

oped campus toward the

bility as possible,” with few fixed interior partitions and the

Soldiers Cemetery. The final site selection was postponed until the new dean, Dr. Bond Fleming, arrived in 1966. Dean Fleming influenced the final choice to give the library a place of

ability to expand in the future with few structural changes.19 The modernist-style library arose on the heels of the Branham/East Dormitory and dining-hall complex by the same Troves of Knowledge | 59

ley. Mr. O’Kelley was a high-school educator and businessman from Loganville, Georgia, who had large land holdings and had been a Democratic candidate for the Georgia governorship in the t

1950s and 1960s. He was a strong The library staff breaks ground. The middle three figures are Sara Gregory (rear), Susanne Eady (center), and Fran Elizer (right ).

supporter of Methodist education and bequeathed gifts to Young Harris College, Reinhardt College, and Andrew College upon his death in 1968.22 Candler Hall served as the campus library for more than

architectural firm. The architects sought to contextualize the

seventy years, and Hoke O’Kelley

building to the existing campus facilities by incorporating

Memorial Library has now done so for nearly forty. The

Hoke Smith O’Kelley

modern variations on classical design elements such as arches and columns, porch and portico, and a tripartite wall division of base, center, and cap.20 The narrow, stacked windows are reminiscent of the tall, Gothic windows on Seney Hall, and Allen Memorial United Methodist Church provided the precedent for a pale brick. Budgetary restrictions negated the possibility of a desired third floor below the entry level. The cost of the building, including equipment, was $515,000.21 Funding came predominantly from the University, with a sizeable donation by Mrs. Millie O’Kelley Dubois, the sister of Mr. Hoke Smith O’Kelt

60 | Cornerstone and Grove

Dean Bond Fleming and librarian Sara Gregory

Soundness of body

Chapter Eight

Gymnasia, Athletic Fields, and Courts Physical education became part of the Emory College curriculum in the last decade of the nineteenth century. This is not to say that the students before that time refrained from sports, but on campus there were no facilities to encourage or accommodate what the trustees, administration, and faculty considered a distraction from serious academic and religious application. Their reticence spawned prohibitions that lasted well into the twentieth century: “All local college games are heartily encouraged by the faculty; but no intercollegiate games are permitted, as they are believed to be hurtful to the morals and to the academic efficiency of the student body.”1

Outdoor Facilities and Amenities

mory’s first athletic field was a baseball diamond. Responding to students’ persistent

requests, President Warren A. Candler successfully proposed to the trustees in 1889 that they authorize the clearing of two acres a short distance into the woods west of campus.2 Previously, students

had used a ball ground located a few blocks The original baseball field was in the woods west of campus. This picture is taken from the northwest. The obelisk of the Confederate cemetery is visible in the distance (right side).

northeast of campus near the Palmer Institute (now Palmer-Stone Elementary School).3 The college field was rudimentary; it sloped gently Soundness of Body | 61

but steadily downward from home

in line with the Soldiers Cemetery. Aerial photography

plate, so a well-hit ball had a decent

reveals the field as a stand of mature pines surrounded by

chance of rolling into Turkey Creek.

hardwoods. Pines grow in the earlier stages of forest

The field served its purpose for a

succession, which means that area was more recently open.

dozen years until the current field

The story of the current athletic field is one of further

was established and the old one

student initiative. In 1902, the student body raised three

abandoned to the regenerative

hundred dollars and purchased approximately two acres,

powers of nature.

to which a sympathetic citizen donated an additional one-

Today, a keen observer can t

This picture from the 1921 yearbook shows ROTC cadets in formation on the athletic field. Candler Hall is visible in the background.

make out the former site, which

gratitude for guidance in the endeavor by English professor

was immediately north and roughly

William Lander Weber. They deeded the land to the trustees

Professor of English William Lander Weber helped the students to raise money to purchase land for a new athletic field. In gratitude, the students named it Weber Field.

and-a-quarter acres. The students named it Weber Field in

62 | Cornerstone and Grove

with the stipulation that it would be used according to the purpose for which it was acquired.4 The field is now used for physical education classes, intercollegiate soccer, intramurals, and athletic clubs. In the past, it was also used for track and field events, intramural baseball and football, and ROTC marching exercises, as well as Field W. Troy Bivings, class of 1896.

Day games during student orientation

week in the 1980s. Members of the general public, the local YMCA, the county recreation department, and high school marching bands have used the amenity with the collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blessing. Though the susceptible nature of the expensive turf now necessitates stricter policies on noncollege use, Oxford

Dean Bond Fleming (left) breaks ground for the Cline Tennis Center with Pierce L. Cline (center) and Rev. J. E. Cline (right ) in 1970.

citizens regularly walk or jog on the path around the fieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perimeter. In 2003, a gift for the installation of field lights in honor of W. Troy Bivings (a graduate of 1896) by his daughter, Helen Bivings Crawford, and granddaughters Betsy and Helen Loyless was sufficient reason to rename it Bivings Field.5 There were clay tennis courts in the area behind Candler and Language halls for much of the twentieth century. In 1970, the Reverend J. E. Cline, his son Pierce L. Cline (Ox46), and their family presented to the This photo from the 1919 yearbook shows the clay tennis courts. Judging from the angle and position of the courts relative to the athletic field in the background, the courts seem to have been behind Language and Seney halls, somewhat further west than they are now.

college a gift of ten paved courts, the Cline Tennis Center. Dedicated in 1972, the courts are maintained Soundness of Body | 63

Fowler. A native of Covington, Fowler was a pioneer of women’s tennis in Georgia, amassing more than two hundred

COURTESY OF JUDY GREER

with an endowment bequeathed in 1979 by Mary Louise

trophies in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles competition between 1936 and 1961. In 1983, she was posthumously inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. She also taught tennis to innumerable youth of Newton County.

Hopkins (Hall) Gymnasium

hortly after President Isaac Stiles Hopkins left Emory

in 1888 to become the first president of the Georgia t

Institute of Technology, the students once again showed their

Mary Louise Fowler (center ) with Professor Judy Greer (left) and Dean J. William Moncrief (right ).

mettle by raising a thousand dollars to equip Hopkins Hall as the college’s first gymnasium. In his 1889 annual report,

Florida before them, do in a week, if their hearts were free

President Candler praised the students and goaded the

to it?”

trustees: “If a few schoolboys can raise one thousand dollars

Hopkins Gymnasium was a stuffy, ill-suited space for

for a gymnasium without missing a recitation, what might

vigorous exercise, but it sufficed until the Williams Gymnasium

not thirty prominent gentlemen, charged with the manage-

was completed in 1907. For a brief period Hopkins housed

ment of this great Church interest, with all Georgia and

the ROTC armory until the college installed an indoor

64 | Cornerstone and Grove

Hopkins Hall served as the college gymnasium from the late 1880s until the Williams Gymnasium was completed in 1907.

swimming pool and connected it to Williams Gymnasium with a raised concrete walkway in 1928. The small pool served students as well as faculty and staff families until the much larger, heated pool in the Williams Gymnasium addition opened in 1976.

Williams Gymnasium as it appeared in the early twentieth century, not long after it was completed in 1907.

good Methodist of Georgia will come to our help and say we shall have it.”6 In his 1904 annual report to the trustees, President James E. Dickey announced that the experiment with physical education was a success and urged the members to set as From the 1920s until the 1970s, Hopkins Hall housed the college swimming pool.

their next goal the construction of a more suitable athletic facility. Within a year, trustees J. P. Williams, Asa G. Candler,

George Winship, and F. F. Bullard had pledged ten thousand

Williams Gymnasium

dollars toward an expected project cost of seventeen thousand

n 1898, Frank Clyde Brown accepted a dual appointment

dollars. The board appointed a building committee that

as professor of languages and Emory’s first instructor of

included President Dickey and trustees William Patillo, Asa

physical education. Weekly exercise soon became a college

Candler, and George Winship.7 In gratitude

requirement, and increased use of Hopkins Gymnasium

for his leading gifts toward construction

underscored the building’s inadequacy. Closely following

of Candler Hall, Pierce Hall, and the new

completion of Candler Hall and the original Pierce Science

athletic facility, the trustees named the

Hall, the students and Professor Brown lobbied for a new

gymnasium in honor of J. P. Williams.

building: “What every student wants to see next in the way sium building. We believe it will not be long before some

of improvements at Emory is a new, finely-equipped gymna-

Jesse Parker Williams, primary benefactor for the construction of Candler Hall, Pierce Hall, and the Williams Gymnasium.

Soundness of Body | 65

Completed in 1907, the new building far exceeded initial

The base and capitals of the pilasters are terra cotta. The

budget projections but was a state-of-the-art facility

Ionic capitals have a nice regional touch—a dogwood blos-

unprecedented in the region:

som. The generous upper window openings are Roman

The Gymnasium is heated by steam, lighted by electricity, and furnished with hot and cold baths. An adequate supply of steel lockers, with combination locks, has been provided for the dressingroom, so that each student may have a separate apartment accessible to himself alone. A system of ventilation has been installed which constantly furnishes an abundant supply of fresh air to all parts of the gymnasium and as constantly withdraws all vitiated air from the building. Every effort has been made by the Building Committee to provide a plant modern in all of its appointments. This magnificent gymnasium, with its equipment, representing an investment of $27,500, in a measure, expresses the solicitude of the

arches that enclose double Venetian-style arched windows. Early photos indicate that the cornice and entry were painted a dark color, not white. The roof shingles are scalloped panels of pressed and painted tin.11 Originally, the first floor consisted of showers, lockers, an equipment cage, and weight room on the east side, the boiler in the southwest corner, and four small rooms along the north wall to the west of the entry.12 These small rooms served a variety of purposes at different times, including faculty offices, electrical laboratory,13 campus bookstore, and a small store called the “Co-Op” with snacks, stationery, and college memorabilia.14 Staircases at either end of the building led to the upstairs gymnasium. The gymnasium was well-equipped with parallel and uneven bars, stationary horse, trampoline, springboard, tumbling mats, and climbing

Williams Gymnasium is a beautiful example of the eclectic Italian Renaissance Revival period of the early twentieth century. Characteristics of the style typically include symmetrical

BRYAN MELTZ

institution for the physical well-being of its pupils.8

façades of stone, brick, or stucco with columns or pilasters, arched windows, a relatively diminutive entry with classical elements, and a low-pitched, hipped roof supported by a prominent cornice.9 The entry has Doric columns of Indiana limestone,10 a wide entablature, and a pediment crowned with a Greek antefix (the scallop-shaped adornment). The stone of the base is rough-cut local gneiss laid in a random rubble matable extends the full height of the first floor, encapsulating arched windows and causing the building to appear shorter. 66 | Cornerstone and Grove

sonry style with beaded mortar joints. Atypically, the water

A dogwood blossom on the Ionic capitals of Williams Gymnasium is a nice regional detail.

ropes, as well as painted courts for basketball, volleyball, and badminton. When unscreened, wide and numerous windows fill the room with natural light. The beaded-board ceiling and exposed trusses are particularly striking. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the room is a balcony-level running track with pitched turns and a fireman’s pole for emergency descent. The layout and features of Williams Gymnasium most likely were modeled after YMCA facilities built during the youth organization’s heyday in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.15 Until the 1970s, the physical education faculty themselves emptied and scrubbed the old swimming pool in Hopkins Hall after every quarter and repainted its court lines during the winter break.

refinished the Williams Gymnasium floor and

Students play volleyball in Williams Gymnasium while Coach Carlos Meyer monitors from the indoor running track above.

During Dean Bond Fleming’s administration, reprieve came from the Woodruff Foundation in the form of a $1,775,000 grant to upgrade five of the oldest campus buildings and, among other improvements, build and equip a gymnasium addition. In his memoirs, Dean Fleming writes, “I gave the P.E. faculty responsibility for consulting with the architect; they would use the building and should help plan it. I was relieved and pleased that the group wanted to keep the old gym, and just add the new building. The plant was tremendous. Our utilities bill went up considerably.”16 The P.E. faculty drew basic floor plans that they then shared with Abreu & Robeson Inc., the architectural firm that in the preceding decade had designed the “girls’ dorm” and dining hall complex and the new library. The faculty agreed from the outset that they wanted a utilitarian building, so they directed the limited funds toward as many The Co-Op in 1955, located in Williams Gymnasium.

Soundness of Body | 67

The gymnasium addition during construction.

athletic functions as possible rather than architectural

and expand Few Hall and, concurrently, transform the

ornamentation. Constructed by general contractor

Williams Gymnasium into an auditorium and dance studio.

Batson-Cook, the building is a minimalist box of concrete

The latter project cost $1,834,000 and also included a new

block and brick surrounding a steel frame. It has no

office suite for the P.E. faculty and athletics department staff

windows. Even so, the budget was insufficient to fully

and an addition on the rear of the building for an elevator,

realize the wishes of the P.E. faculty. On the south end of

fire stair, and lobby that was dedicated in honor and memory

the building, there were to be two racquetball courts. The

of Dr. Joseph Guillebeau—composer, painter, choral director,

concrete floor of the pool area was to have ceramic tile, and

and arts professor from 1955 to 1988.

outside the west side of the building, there was to be a patio

Project manager Barbara Black describes the balance of

from which a walkway would meander through the grove

preservation and improvements to the “old gym”: “The

behind Seney Hall past an amphitheater and connect to the

challenges to transforming the gym involved creating a multi-

tennis courts and athletic field.

At the turn of the millennium, Dean Dana Greene

purpose stage area that could be used for performances, but also dance classes and rehearsals. The transformation kept

oversaw implementation of plans to provide space for

the exposed wood ceiling and heavy timber trusses, suspended

the visual and performing arts. The college engaged the

wood running track, original windows, original wood floor-

architectural firm of Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein, PC,

ing, and the historic integrity of the volume of the space.”18

and general contractor Carter-de Golian Inc. to renovate

68 | Cornerstone and Grove

Room and board

Chapter Nine

Homes, Helping Halls, Dormitories, and Residence Halls In 1855, President Alexander Means reported that the four original brick dormitories had become “facilities for mischief” and recommended that they be closed. Not until President James R. Thomas made the same recommendation in 1859, however, did the trustees comply.1 In the seminal 1936 History of Emory University, Henry Morton Bullock states, “Then began the custom which prevailed for so many years, of students living in the homes of faculty members and other Oxford residents.”2 Actually, students had begun to live with faculty (including the president) and residents of Oxford well before 1859. At the Georgia Manual Labor School, some students had lived in two-room cottages. When the school closed in 1841, President Augustus B. Longstreet had three of the cottages disassembled Students at the Georgia Conference Manual Labor School lived in two-room cottages like the one shown above. When the Manual Labor School closed in 1841, President A. B. Longstreet had three of the cottages disassembled, moved to Oxford, and reassembled in the community to supplement housing for Emory students.

and reconstructed in the town of Oxford a few blocks from campus for use as student quarters. These were dubbed “Longstreet’s Quarter.”3 Surviving class rosters and college catalogs from 1850 through 1871 list students by name, hometown, and where on campus or in whose home they were living. As an example, the 1853–54 class roster records that students were Room and Board | 69

living in the homes of the following families: Andrew,

In the Fall Term of that year, ten young men

Bessent, Brase, Cook, Easley, Florence, Gaither, Griffin,

began housekeeping in the rented house. Among

Harper, Harwell, Hayden, Henderson, Jenning, Lane, Mann,

them were . . . W. T. Dumas, who originated the

Means, Murrell, Orr, Payne, Pearce, Pierce, Price, Rogers,

plan, . . . Kenneth McLain, . . . George R. Loehr,

Sasnett, Smith, Stansell, Starr, and Stone. It is also evident

. . . and others, who are now in different fields

from these rosters that the campus dormitories were called

doing good work as educated men. For three

East College and West College.

years the experiment was conducted in the little

From 1859 until 1913, all students lived off campus.

cottage. At the end it was proved to all who had

Even into the late 1980s, students occasionally lived with a

knowledge of the facts: (1) That cheap and good

faculty family or other Oxford citizens. And on multiple

board was in the reach of poor boys. (2) That in

occasions (as recently as 2007), when the student population

health, morals, social standing—among students

exceeded available campus housing, the college temporarily

and citizens—and scholarship, the Hall boys

placed students in college-owned houses in the community

ranked with the best.5

or in apartment buildings and hotels. For more than one Encouraged by the results, Haygood announced he

hundred years, between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth

would expand the “helping hall” system in five of the

centuries, the care of the students by the community at large

“largest and best homes in Oxford.” These homes were

sustained a direct town/gown connection.

The Helping Hall System

year into President Atticus Haygood’s administration,

a student named W. T. Dumas came to him with a

proposal for a housing system that would give students greater responsibility for their own lodgings and make housing affordable for those students with little financial

means. Haygood agreed to try it, and a six-room cottage

COURTESY OF HOYT AND LATRELLE OLIVER

subsequently named Andrew Hall, Marvin Hall, Florida

was rented in 1876:

70 | Cornerstone and Grove

W. T. Dumas, class of 1879, approached President Haygood with the idea for the helping hall system.

Florida Hall in the 1940s.

year are a number looking to the ministry.8

Encouraged by the results, Haygood announced he would expand the “helping hall” system in five of the “largest and best homes in Oxford.”

By 1895, Georgia Hall, Florida Hall, and “No. 4” were no longer in use. The remaining three were Marvin and Andrew halls plus another: Young L. G. Harris Hall. Harris’s gift to the college of the President’s Home likely played a role in the naming of the latter. The catalog from that year indicates the relative financial benefit of living in the helping halls: “Board can be had in private families at $10 to $17 a month. The highest board in Oxford is $50 for three months, and includes furnished rooms, table, lights, fuel,

Hall, and Georgia Hall. The other helping hall, called “No. 4,” was Haygood’s own home, “his family having since October, 1882, lived with the young men on the ‘Hall plan.’”6 The house Haygood owned and lived in then had been built by President Ignatius Few and was later purchased for the college in 1889 by Young L. G. Harris; today it is known as the President’s Home and serves as home of the dean of the college.7 President Haygood oversaw the helping halls and appointed managers who were responsible to him. Reports and promotional materials of the time praised the plan, revealed values, and even hinted at the opinions of some others in the community who housed students in their homes:

and servants’ attention. Board in Helping Halls is $8 to $10 a month.”9 By the time the system was discontinued, over one thousand students are estimated to have lived in the helping halls.10 At least two and possibly three of the homes that served as helping halls still stand today. The cottage in which the housing experiment started is recorded by one secondary source to be the “Old Griffin Place” in which The Blessed Town author Polly Stone Buck lived as a girl, now known as Zora Fair’s Cottage.11 The second is the President’s Home (“No. 4”). The third is Florida Hall, named for the preponderance of students from Florida who lived there.

The Transition Back to Dormitories

hough Emory presidents and faculty members had

Every year the “Hall” men have won distinctions—class honors, prize medals, or Literary

decried college-controlled dormitories since 1859, in

1901 President Charles E. Dowman pointed out to the

Society positions. Incalculable good has been

trustees that other schools had great success with a dormi-

accomplished through the “Helping Halls.” The

tory system and that the helping halls were in sad disrepair.

experiment has been long and thoroughly and

He asked for a new dormitory to be built on campus where

successfully made. None deny this, except one

students could be supervised more than when dispersed

or two, having, as they supposed, a competing

throughout the town.12 Dowman set things in motion,

interest. Among the “Hall” men of the present

though he did not serve as president long enough to see Room and Board | 71

the Atticus G. Haygood Hall built a decade later. In 1902, the trustees officially “abolished” the helping-

campus, to be named for President Haygood, who had died sixteen years earlier. The

hall system in favor of dormitories and a central dining

committee retained the services of Hentz & Reid, the well-

hall . . . located off campus. The differences from the

known and respected Atlanta architectural firm. By June 1913,

previous system seem to have been mostly semantic, for the

the building was largely finished, and it opened that year for

“dormitories” were simply Andrew and Harris halls, each of

the fall term. The final cost was approximately sixty-seven

which housed twenty students, and Marvin Hall, which

thousand dollars.18

housed twelve students.13 Professor William Lander Weber

The Atticus G. Haygood Hall was a handsome example

was made supervisor, and a “competent matron” presided

of neoclassical eclecticism of the early twentieth century. The

over a dining hall addition to Marvin Hall.14 The rest of the

1912–13 Emory Catalogue describes this greatly anticipated

student population continued to live with families or in other

building with characteristic detail of the time:

privately rented accommodations. For example, there were three small cottages dubbed “Angels’ Retreat” along the west side of Wesley Street.15 Marvin Hall was on the north side of Fletcher Street near its intersection with Wesley Street. It was purchased for the college on June 4, 1892, by Young L. G. Harris and named for a Bishop Marvin, who had delivered the commencement address in 1878. Marvin Hall burned in 1916.16

The building is of brick, having a frontage of 186 feet; the height, three stories; the outer walls, pressed brick, and the covering [roof], green terra cotta tiling. It will be heated with steam, lighted by electricity and supplied throughout with hot and cold water. The plans are what is known as the unit system, which divides the building into suites of four rooms. Each room has a satisfactory porcelain

“The Atticus G. Haygood Hall

lavatory with hot and cold water, a large closet for clothes; two single iron bedsteads; chairs; table, etc.

or years there has been an

In connection with each suite of rooms there are

insistent demand for a

two shower baths and one toilet, which are for the

modern dormitory at Emory.

exclusive use of the boys occupying the four rooms

The improved home conditions

in question. Connected with the dormitory is the

of our constituency have em-

most modern sewage disposal plant, which will

phasized the necessity for more

insure [sic] perfect sanitary conditions. This

comfortable students’ quarters

dormitory will accommodate 126 students.19

at the college.”

Perhaps the building’s most distinguishing feature was

The trustees formed a building committee in June

an Adamesque20 entry of Italianate and Greek elements: a

1912 and set a budget of fifty

crowning arch, broken pediment, and slender, smooth columns

thousand dollars for a new

with stylized Corinthian capitals. Above the recessed double

72 | Cornerstone and Grove

state-of-the-art dormitory on

Atticus Greene Haygood

doorway was an elaborate fan-light window. In February 1916, fire consumed Marvin Hall and its dining room. By the fall term of that year, the college had built a new dining hall and kitchen attached to the rear of Haygood Hall.21 The dining room was on the ground floor, and the kitchen was in the basement.22 The old dining hall still stands; in the basement—the former kitchen—is Dooley’s Tavern, an appropriately dark and dingy student party and dance hall. Oxford enrolled its first resident female students in the fall term of 1954. Unit D in Haygood Hall was dedicated for their use and became known as the “Doll House.”23 Faculty or staff supervisors had long lived The Atticus G. Haygood Hall was completed in 1913. It burned in January 1981. It was significantly larger than its replacement namesake.

on-site in apartments to maintain decorum as best they could, and in the absence of a sufficient janitorial staff they gave out demerits and assigned cleaning to the students.24 There were fire hoses in the hallways of each section, and sometimes when there were water battles, faculty members attempting to stop them might get washed down the stairs.25 The remains of the old sewerage system

Room and Board | 73

E. Dowman.29 The

tenance facility. The system had an open

latter was

“oxidation pond” (septic tank). In the late 1960s and early

finished in 1961. In

1970s, Oxford College became one of the first participants

part, the desire for

and contributors in establishing a modern sanitary sewer

its construction

system in Newton County.26

precipitated the decision to

Haygood Hall, which had been empty for several years,

Bonnell dormitory was named for Professor John Fletcher Bonnell.

caught fire during the 1980–81 winter break. The water

demolish the heavily

pressure was too low to fight the fire adequately, and the

worn but structurally

dormitory was a total loss. The next year, alumnus Bill

sound Old Pierce Science Hall.30

Allgood conveyed a small parcel of land to the college, which

are evident among the privet thickets behind the current main-

Dowman dormitory was named for President Charles E. Dowman.

All four dormitories were purely utilitarian and fit

the college in turn conveyed to the town of Oxford with a

the ranch style

contribution of $135,000 toward erecting a town water

popular at the time. They were built with

tank.27

concrete blocks and steel trusses, and sheathed in brick laid in the Flemish bond style.31 In their original configuration,

The Jolley Residential Center

the four buildings collectively could house nearly 270

n the mid-1950s, Oxford College (then called Emory-at-

students. In a 1979 renovation, Greek-style porticos and

Oxford) constructed its first new student housing since

trim and louvered shutters were added to “dress up” the

Old Pierce Science Hall had been converted in 1922 into a

buildings, and sinks were added to each room.32

dormitory for sophomores. The new building was named for former president James E. Dickey and built with funds from the local community. Faculty and staff members themselves supplemented the construction crew.28 Soon thereafter three more dorms were built and posthumously named for Professor Harry Harlan Stone, Professor John Fletcher Bonnell, and former president Charles Stone dormitory was named for Professor Harry Harlan Stone.

74 | Cornerstone and Grove

Dickey dormitory was named for President James E. Dickey.

Bonnell dormitory in the 1970s. Note the simple porches and parallel-parked cars around the quadrangle.

The Fleming L. Jolley Residential Center (JRC), named in recognition of a generous gift from an Oxford alumnus from the Class of 1943, was completed in 1995 during the t

administration of Dean William H.

Fleming L. Jolley

Murdy at a cost of $2.3 million.33 Ten thousand square feet of study rooms and common space connected the 1950s-era “boys’ dorms.” Designed by Lord Aeck & Sargent, the JRC includes a new façade of highly eclectic postmodern classicism, including plentiful molded columns of all three dominant classical styles (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian), repetitive arches reminiscent of a Roman aqueduct, and a railing along the roof line at the west end reminiscent of a New England–style widow’s porch.34 ERIK OLIVER

Construction of Bonnell dormitory. Behind it still stands old Pierce Hall, which was razed shortly thereafter to make way for Dowman dormitory.

The Jolley Residential Center (JRC) was completed in 1995 and linked the four 1950s/60sera “boys’ dorms” with ten thousand square feet of study and common rooms.

Room and Board | 75

for the project through the architectural firm of Abreu & Robeson.37 It should be remembered that when Seney Hall rose and took prominence on the Emory College campus at Oxford in the early 1880s, it too represented a drastic departure from the earlier campus convention of white stucco, Greek Revival, and Classical Revival styles. But Seney harkened back to the Gothic buildings of medieval universities and cathedrals. Jova’s design paid only the barest of tributes to the existing campus context. Raw, cast concrete sections were part of a “brutalist” movement The interior courtyard of the Branham and East dormitory complex.

considered more “honest.”38 Jova’s design included modern variations on arched porticos

and drew loosely on precedents like the metal

The “Girls’ Dorm”: Branham and East

y the early 1960s, plans for a “girls’ dorm” were set in

motion. The college capitalized on economies of scale by

mansard roof of Williams Hall and the lighter brick of Allen Memorial. The complex includes two wings of four stories each, connected by a two-story study

including a new dining hall and infirmary. The project ERIK OLIVER

was the final of many contributions made by Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady to greatly improve the physical plant. The new complex, constructed by Batson-Cook, was near completion when Dean Bond Fleming arrived in 1966, and it opened that fall term.35 The total cost was approximately $1.5 million.36 Architecture of the 1960s rebelled against tradition and convention by rejecting most classical styles and creating modern, future-focused alternatives. At the time, the appeal of physically asserting this fresh-start attitude among the crumbling monuments of Emory’s past must have been very strong. Henri Jova, who had won the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, was the principal architect t

76 | Cornerstone and Grove

East Dormitory and the dining hall.

and recreational space. The complex features double-occu-

At full capacity, Branham and East could accommo-

pancy rooms with in-room sinks, and communal bathroom

date approximately 230 students. By the early 1990s, the fe-

facilities at either end of the hallways. The roof deck of the

male student population had exceeded 50 percent of the

connector was popular among sunbathers for many years.

student body. In part, that shift led to an integration of the

On the bottom floor of the east wing, four rooms with bath-

former “girls’ dorm” and “boys’ dorms.”

rooms were designed to house college guests. The infirmary

In the 2006 Campus Master Plan, the East Village

was on the bottom floor of the west wing and remained there

Residential Center was projected to relieve severe overcrowding

until 2008, when offices and treatment rooms were included

of the residence halls and to empty Branham and East so that

in the East Village

the 1966 complex might be razed to make room for two new

Residential Center. In 1981, the west wing was renamed in

academic buildings in a place of prominence on the quadrangle.

honor of sisters Elizabeth and Martha Branham, members

New Haygood Hall ERIK OLIVER

of one of Oxford’s oldest and most prominent families.39

The “new” Haygood Hall, completed in 1989, occupies the same location and is oriented the same as the original Haygood Hall.

Room and Board | 77

ore than twenty years would pass before Oxford

Shortly after Dean Dana Greene arrived in 1999, Dean

College’s next new student housing project was

for Campus Life Joe Moon and his staff finalized plans for a

completed. In 1986, Dean J. William Moncrief accepted an ex-

new wing, which was opened for the fall of 2000. The archi-

ecutive position with Presbyterian College. When multiple

tectural firm for both the main building and the addition was

searches for a permanent replacement failed, President James

Tippett and Associates.43 Because of budget constraints, New

Laney asked former dean Bond Fleming to briefly assume his

Haygood Hall was made smaller and less ornamented than

former leadership role.40 A new dormitory had already been

its predecessor. The style of the building is characteristic of

projected, and the timing was such that it fell to Fleming and

postmodern government and institutional buildings con-

Dean for Campus Life Marty Kirkland “to decide where to

structed throughout the sprawling suburban communities of

put it, and what to name it, and to cut the size to fit the

the Southeast in the 1980s and 1990s.

budget.”41 Haygood Hall was completed and opened in

New Haygood Hall can accommodate up to 137 students. The concrete-block building has near-identical floors of

Murdy. It offered something quite new to the Oxford campus:

common baths, laundry, kitchenettes, study areas, and

coed floors.42

double-occupancy rooms equipped with lavatories. There BRYAN MELTZ

January 1989, during the administration of Dean William H.

78 | Cornerstone and Grove

The courtyard of the East Village Residential Center.

BRYAN MELTZ

buildings and houses 350 students. After consideration of multiple sites, a design team of administrative officers44 and residence life staff chose the current location to counterbalance existing student housing on the north and northwest sides of the campus and to reestablish the quadrangle as the center of pedestrian activity. A secondary goal was to give Oxford College a more visible presence on Emory Street. The location required cooperation from the Oxford City Council to rezone the site for public institutional use and to change a city

Exterior face of the East Village Residential Center.

ordinance to allow for taller buildings. The architectural firm are two interesting elements in the entryway. First is the continuation of the entry arch as a barrel roof in the secondfloor study area. Second, an engraved marble slab salvaged from the original building is mounted in the foyer. On it is written the 1912–13 construction dates, Haygood’s name, and his famous quote (paraphrased): “Let us stand by what is good and make it better if we can.”

East Village Residential Center

was Jova Daniels Busby, the project management team was Carter & Associates, and the primary building contractor was New South Construction. The pace of planning, preparation, and construction was frenzied—slightly over a year from concept to completion. East Village represents a milestone in environmental stewardship at Oxford

ompleted in 2008 at over 106,000 net square feet and

College. Under the University policy of

a cost of $28 million, the East Village Residential

constructing all new buildings according to the stringent

Center is Oxford College’s largest and most expensive

requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council’s certification

building project to date. The impetus emerged during a

program of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

2005 space needs analysis and was projected in the 2006

(LEED), East Village is the University’s first new building to

Campus Master Plan to relieve a severe housing shortage,

achieve a LEED Gold rating and the first LEED building in

upgrade housing options to contemporary standards,

Newton County. The criteria met included construction

provide generous study rooms and common space, and

practices, selection of materials, efficiency of utility systems,

establish a new home for Student Health Services and the

preservation of green space, selection of native plants for

Counseling Center. East Village comprises two L-shaped

landscaping, and storm water management. Room and Board | 79

Jay Wansley, an Oxford College graduate of 1990, was

Mediterranean of the Atlanta campus as

a member of the environmental design company that de-

an overlay based on [Oxford College’s] goal

signed an artistic and functional landscape plan for water re-

to create comparable living quarters. Thus

tention and treatment. Rainfall collected from the roof of

the building represents an interpretation of

the main lobby flows through a rain leader and into a collec-

Mediterranean Style blended with small town

tion basin, then overflows and cascades through the plaza

Southern pattern book vernacular of the

and landscape via curving, open rills and into pipes under a

nineteenth and early twentieth century. Our

grassy knoll. At the end of its journey, the water spills into a

decisions on materials and detailing had more to

circular pool in the center of the courtyard and is piped to

do with a Craftsman approach than the

an underground

relaxed Classicism and Greek Revival of the more

cistern from which it may be pumped for irrigation.

formal campus buildings.45

The complex employs two other storm water manage-

As an interesting side note, Henri Jova, who designed

ment techniques. The first is “linear bio-retention,” visible

the Branham and East dormitory and dining hall in the

along the building’s Haygood Street face. Rainfall flows

mid-1960s, was a principal of Jova Daniels Busby until

from the roof through gutters and downspouts to granite

his retirement in 2004.

cobble pads. Raised cobbles break up the speed of the

Dean for Campus Life Joe Moon and his staff made

gushing water. The rain then flows into areas along the

two design/policy decisions to further support a balanced

buildings where it filters back into the ground through

building represents experience forThe students. The first was the decision to lay out

fast-percolating soil. Specially chosen vegetation helps to

the floor plan in an a fashion similar to the preexisting interpretation of pattern

filter out contaminants and soak up any standing water.

of double-occupancy rooms with shared baths instead of

The second tool is called a “green street.” Rainfall flows from the street into a series of collection areas located behind the street’s curbs rather than into storm drains. These collection areas also contain a soil mixture with a fast percolation rate. Here, too, specially chosen vegetation filters out contaminants. Lead architect Andy Akard with Jova Daniels Busby describes the architectural style of East Village: To a certain extent, the design was intended to bridge the style of the campus and the neighborhood. It also has a bit of the

80 | Cornerstone and Grove

“

Mediterranean Style withpopulation, small town by lottery forblended the entire student instead of reserving all rooms in East Village for sophomores, Southern pattern book which would have physically split of the campus along class lines. vernacular the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

suites. A second decision was to make housing assignments

—LEAD ARCHITECT ANDY AKARD WITH JOVA DANIELS BUSBY

“”

Garniture of Green

Chapter Ten

The Campus Landscape

Trees form the backdrop, frame, and filter through which the campus buildings, impressive in their own right, transform individually and collectively into blended masterpieces of human and natural artistic expression.

An aerial view of campus c. 1940s. The carriage loop and walkways of the quadrangle are similar to the recently completed design. Old Haygood Dormitory is enlarged and featured. Note old Pierce Science Hall between Few Hall and Allen Memorial UMC. A sidewalk parallels Wesley Street on its west side, past the Haygood House and Old Church. On the horizon is open farmland.

garden.”1 In recent years, landscape architects have referred to Phi Gamma Hall, Few Hall, and the other Greek Revival buildings as “temples in the woods,” a seemingly age-old metaphor quickly adopted and woven into the collective campus culture and sense of place.2 The original town plan provided extraordinarily wide

In their turn and time, the seasonal palettes accentuate

street corridors to preserve the old-growth trees along them,

alabaster stucco, fiery brick, and the muted silver of lime-

while much of the forest to either side gave way to fields

stone and gneiss. At the cornerstone ceremony for Old Main

cultivated to support the college and the livelihood of

in 1852, President George F. Pierce remarked poetically that

Oxford’s inhabitants. By design, the corridors converged

as the campus had grown, “The wilderness [had] become a

on a large, quadrangular parcel set aside for the campus. Garniture of Green | 81

The buildings define the periphery of the quadrangle. This photo from 1947 shows Humanities Hall (Old Science Hall), Few Hall, and the original Pierce Science Hall (rear ), forming the east and northeast edges of the quad.

Placement of the first major structures in the 1850s along the a tradition replenished generation after generation. The buildings did not begin to fully enclose the quadrangle

ERIK OLIVER

perimeter indicates the intention of preserving a central grove,

until the first Pierce Science Hall rose on the northern side in 1903–4; the effect was not complete until dormitories, a new Pierce Hall, and the Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library were added between the mid-1950s and 1970. Much earlier, an oval carriage loop connected buildings out of vehicular necessity, and the grove was crisscrossed by pedestrian walkways, the most dominant of which extended the radial road corridors to the towering central campus building, first Old Main, later Seney Hall. During Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady’s administration, the carriage much-needed parking. For nearly forty years it remained thus, until in 2008 the loop and walkways were paved with bricks, and the quad was further reserved for pedestrian traffic—the phased 82 | Cornerstone and Grove

loop was paved to dispense with mud and dust and to provide

In 2008, the college replaced irregular and narrow concrete sidewalks and the asphalt parking circle around the quad with brick walkways, the most prominent of which extend the radial trajectory of the roads in the original town plan.

realization of a Campus Master Plan conducted at the turn of

been a policy of planting tree and shrub species native to the

the millennium. A few years earlier, under Dean Dana Greene,

Georgia Piedmont.

student parking had been removed from the carriage loop.

Monuments, memorials, and class gifts intermittently

Annually from 1883 until Emory College moved to

punctuate the quad and nooks between and behind buildings.

Atlanta, the senior class planted a tree on the quad before

The oldest and most prominent of these is the Few Monument,

Commencement.4 A brass bench placed in 1913 by L. O.

an obelisk of Vermont marble5 on a granite base surrounded by

Benton testifies that his class (1883) was the first to plant a

a wrought-iron fence. The Phi Gamma and Few societies and

class tree. The low, iron fence that once surrounded their tree

the Grand Masonic Lodge of Georgia placed the monument

now protects a replacement. In recent years, the sophomore

in 1849 as a tribute to Ignatius A. Few, founder and first

class at Oxford College has revived the tradition. The college

president of Emory College and a Mason.6

long has planted trees on campus in honor or memory of

On the eastern side of the quad lie three large slabs of

distinguished faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni. Since

stone, remnants of Old Pierce Science Hall.7 Between Candler

botanist Dean William Murdyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s administration, there has

and Humanities (Science) halls is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aquarium,â&#x20AC;? a gift from

Dooley, with spade in hand, helps to plant a tree in this photo from the 1952 yearbook.

Garniture of Green | 83

BRYAN MELTZ

the Class of 1930—a concrete-lined fish pond that was filled in after involuntary dunkings grew too frequent. Civic organizations of the town of Oxford also have bestowed gifts on the college. The rubble-style, northern entry gate bears a plaque made of pink marble quarried from Tate, Georgia,

Apparently lost, a scuba diver emerges from the “Aquarium” in this photo from the 1962 yearbook.

that testifies to the generosity of the Oxford Woman’s Club in 1929.8 The college has mimicked the style in subsequent The woods to the west of the developed campus serve as

installations. a field laboratory for botany classes, a contemplative and

The Few Monument, an 1849 tribute to Ignatius Few, founder and first president of Emory College, by students of the Phi Gamma and Few literary societies and the Grand Masonic Lodge of Georgia.

recreational retreat, a wind and sound buffer, and even a source of emergency funding. Dean Eady staved off a major budget crisis by timbering the forest heavily.9 The forest has regenerated slowly; however, the ground disturbance and loss of canopy contributed to the infestation of nonnative, invasive plant species. During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers who died in the Confederate hospital on campus and whose bodies could not be transported back to their hometowns were buried in a small clearing in the campus woods. Presumably hospital 84 | Cornerstone and Grove

“

This tree shall be our book and in its bark our thought we’ll character that every eye shall see our virtue witnessed. —CLASS OF 1907, PLAQUE ON FENCE AROUND STILL-EXTANT CLASS TREE.

”

administrators did this with the blessing of Emory President

The ladies of Oxford . . . worked . . . for many

James R. Thomas or the town commissioners.10 The Union

years to mark the resting place . . . with a

dead rest three-quarters of a mile away in a common row

marble record-tablet and to inclose [sic] them

grave in the town cemetery. Well into the twentieth century,

with a substantial granite coping and to

the college and local citizens honored the Confederate soldiers

overshadow the whole with a granite shaft

with large campus celebrations each year on Confederate

taken from the heart of . . . Newton County.12

Memorial Day.11 In 1927, Professor Harry Harlan Stone wrote the following about the Soldiers Cemetery:

Over the last hundred years, nature has reclaimed the old baseball field (see chap. 8); however, there are other points of interest in the woods now. In 1978, biology

showing the name and command represented

professor Curry T. Haynes led an initiative to establish the

by the bones within, but as they were made of

Hearn Nature Trail, named in memory of Elizabeth Candler

varying qualities of wood and paint, some

Hearn through a gift by her family. With funding from the

succumbed to the finger of Father Time and

Oxford College Alumni Board, the college restored and

the name, and in some cases the command,

rededicated the trail in September 2008 to celebrate

became unintelligible, and so that saddest of

and highlight the ongoing effort to free the woods from

all records is recorded on some—”Unknown.”

nonnative, invasive plant species. A stone gateway to the

BRYAN MELTZ

Originally, each mound had a head board

Initially the names and ranks of all soldiers buried in the Soldiers Cemetery were painted on wooden markers. By the time marble headstones were installed, the paint had worn away on several, rendering the remains “Unknown.”

Garniture of Green | 85

woods testifies to

crowded with many and diverse varieties of beautiful

the generosity of

shade trees, as well as our college campus; and all about it

the Alumni Board

are forests and groves which are readily accessible to the

toward this

student, and which serve to inspire as well as please

restorative work.

him.â&#x20AC;?13 Though the degree of seclusion and solitude

Just inside the

has diminished as development encroaches, the relative

woods is the

richness of the campus landscape and effort toward its

Column Circle, an

preservation remain strong.

outdoor classroom ERIK OLIVER

constructed for the trail rededication with segments of the four limestone columns from the original Haygood Professor Curry T. Haynes established the Hearn Nature Trail in 1978.

Dormitory. Deeper into the

woods, beyond the cemetery, is the Serenity Circle for Meditation and Outdoor Learning. The floor within the stone seat walls is a yin/yang symbol made of two different colors of slate. The Serenity Circle was a gift of the Pierce Program in Religion and the college in 2006 to honor the forty-year career of Dr. Hoyt P. Oliver, professor of sociology, psychology, philosophy, and religion from 1966 to 2006, and an alumnus from the class of 1954. When Oxford College considers the uncommon characteristics and strengths with which it enriches the Emory University family, the still-abundant verdure of its campus and surrounding community provides an environment increasingly recognized and sought after in society for a higher quality of life, study, and work. In 1904, the editor in chief of the Phoenix literary magazine remarked, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nature

86 | Cornerstone and Grove

has also done much for our little village. Its wide streets are

Professor Penny England teaches her class at the Serenity Circle for Meditation and Outdoor Learning.

Symbiosis

Chapter Eleven

ERIK OLIVER

The Emory Community at Oxford The Methodist Church established Emory College, which in turn founded the town of Oxford. Emory is one of few institutions of higher education that engaged in community planning from the outset, composing and orchestrating the systems, services, and cultural identity necessary for the educational endeavor to take root and thrive. It is not far-fetched to describe the town of Oxford of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an extension of Emory College; the community drew its reason for being and its vitality from the college enterprise and was dominated by prominent families, many of which were headed by a patron with a college appointment. Moreover, these families were in many cases quite literally an extended family. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Old Churchâ&#x20AC;? was a center of town life from 1841 until it was replaced by the Allen Memorial Church in 1910. Under the care of the Oxford Historical Shrine Society, it remains an iconic and frequently used community facility.

The Longstreets, Lamars, and Branhams were related by marriage, as were the Stones, Caperses, and Bonnells, as well as the Yarbroughs and Haygoods. The connections go on. Slaves were related by blood and intermarriage, and in all likelihood there were some ties between the races Symbiosis | 87

as well. These relationships were the foundation of a broad and

The Oxford Historical Cemetery

complex network of kinship dedicated to a common purpose.

Though the balance of power wavered in the years after

he Oxford Historical Cemetery has been called the

the college moved to Atlanta, the influence of Emory families

“Westminster of Georgia Methodism” for the number of

in Oxford continued through much of the twentieth century in

prominent Methodist leaders interred there when Oxford was

a steady but smaller measure. Deans of Oxford College of for various projects to mayors and town council members

a central commu-

BRYAN MELTZ

Emory University often made requests on behalf of the college

nity of the Georgia Conference in

who were also employees of the college. In a town of people

the

few in number but deeply connected, the notion of a conflict

nineteenth

of interest was rarely considered.

century. The headstones and

Contributions of African Americans to Early Emory College

monuments in the southeast

frican Americans—enslaved and later emancipated

corner of the

but socially controlled—played a pivotal role in

cemetery read like

Emory and Oxford’s collective growth and success. They

a Who’s Who of

quarried stone, made bricks, and labored to erect the campus

early Emory’s

buildings. Among them were skilled masons, plasterers, and

most prominent

carpenters.1 They grew crops, tended houses, and helped to

families, presi-

raise children and care for elderly members of prominent

dents, trustees,

white families. They also cooked meals, cleaned rooms, and

and faculty. Since

washed the laundry of countless Emory students. In payment

1965, the Oxford

some African American families received land—a deeply important symbol of freedom and self-determination.2 Serv-

for helping to rebuild the campus during Reconstruction,

President Ignatius A. Few died in Athens but was returned to Oxford and buried in the town cemetery. Nearby are the graves of many early Emory presidents, professors, and their families.

ice to the college and its faculty families was a primary source of employment for emancipated African Americans. The

Historical Cemetery Foundation Inc. and the city have maintained

this area. The northeastern

college’s move to Atlanta and the concurrent mass exodus

part of the cemetery was set apart for slaves and, later, eman-

of its faculty families must have had a harsh impact on all

cipated African Americans. Poverty dictated that most of

those who had been in their service and remained in Oxford.

these graves were crudely marked with simple headstones, wood plaques, or fieldstones. Over time and through neglect and carelessness, many of the markers were lost, and the area

88 | Cornerstone and Grove

became overgrown.

the Branham and Thomas-Stone homes and the President’s

In the early part of the new millennium, Oxford College

Home still stand and the ridge immediately west of Turkey

students and members of the local community began an

Creek were each called “The Hill.”

effort to reclaim the area. Through their efforts, the open

The northwest corner of town was “Texas,” so called

field of largely unmarked graves was incorporated into the

because for someone on foot it seemed about as far away

perpetual care of the cemetery foundation.

from the center of town activity as that state. Centered

The cemetery was not marked on the original town plan;

on Asbury Street between Soule and Watson streets was

it was created from four lots and segments of two road

“Shakerag,” where women scrubbed and boiled the laundry

corridors. For example, several of the earliest graves in the

of families and students and then shook out the clothes and

southeast corner are within the corridor surveyed for

hung them to dry on great, billowing lines. “Peasville” was

Collingsworth Street, which now swings south to accommo-

across the main road and directly east of Shakerag and

date them. In like fashion, Asbury Street bends west from its

extended to Dried Indian Creek.2 At the southern end of

original trajectory just before it reaches the cemetery.

town was “Rivers Hill,” named for the Rivers family that had owned the area and was related to Edward Lloyd ERIK OLIVER

Areas of Town

t barely two miles long and a mile

Thomas through marriage.3 The micro-neighborhood comprising the 1950s and 1960s houses along Dowman Street just south of campus

and a half wide,

is called “Faculty Row.” The college built and owns the

Oxford is a very small

seven ranch houses on the east side, which have provided

municipality, and it was

temporary housing for new faculty, staff, and occasionally

little more than half its

students. Faculty families have owned most of the homes on

current size until the

the west side of the street.

1950s. In earlier years, it

Historic Oxford Homes Connected to Emory

was subdivided further into areas and neighbor-

uite a few historic houses of early prominent Emory

hoods with names based

figures still stand in Oxford, as do homes that shel-

on use or topography.

tered and fed generations of students. The following is a

“Campus” was an obvi-

sampling of some of these best-known homes.

ous enough name, as was “Downtown,” a more

Orna Villa, The Alexander Means House

grandiose designation than a few small stores

1008 Emory Street The first-floor core of the house is said to have been built

warranted.

out of hand-hewn logs in the early 1820s by Richard Kennon t

The crest on which

Named areas of early Oxford.

Dearing, who migrated to Newton County and bought two Symbiosis | 89

a position teaching chemistry for the Atlanta Medical College. He returned to Emory some years later and taught until he was replaced in 1869 as an active faculty member by Isaac Stiles Hopkins.5 Means bought the Dearing house while practicing medicine in Covington, perhaps as early as 1828, when no plan had yet been developed for the Manual Labor School or Emory College. The house has been associated with him ever since and called by the name he gave it—Orna Villa. It is unknown whether Means enlarged it into its present form or whether Orna Villa is the oldest house in Oxford. The core of the home dates to the 1820s.

thousand acres to establish a plantation along the road

Dearing had done it some years earlier (the Greek Revival period in American architecture extended from the 1820s until roughly 1860).

between Covington and Walnut Grove.4 If Dearing began to clear his land for agriculture in the early 1820s along an established road, then when Oxford was established nearly two decades later, it would have been a less remote place than historically portrayed. Alexander H. Means had been a practicing physician and minister in Covington when he became the principal for the Georgia Conference Manual Labor School in 1834. Four years later he became Emory College’s first professor of physical sciences. He was elected president of Emory College in 1854 but resigned in 1855 to accept t

90 | Cornerstone and Grove

The oldest part of the President’s Home was constructed by Ignatius Few and later enlarged by Augustus Longstreet. This picture is from 1904.

STEPHEN BOWEN

presented it to the trustees to use as the official home for Emory presidents, it had had seven previous owners: four Emory presidents (Few, Longstreet, Haygood, and George F. Pierce); Professor William Sassnet, who planted the two magnolias that grew in front of the porch for over a hundred years to dominate and obscure the house;7 Emory trustee and financial agent W. J. “Uncle Billy” Parks and his wife, “Aunt Dolly,” who chronicled the advance of Union troops through Newton County; and Bishop Joseph Staunton Key, who had graduated from Emory in 1848 and bought the home for his widowed daughter to use as a boardinghouse.8 When Emory College moved to Atlanta, the home became the traditional During the renovation of the President’s Home in 2007, workers wore protective suits and masks to shield them from lead as they removed the old clapboards.

residence of the dean of the Oxford campus. During Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady’s administration, it was called Alumni Hall.

The President’s Home

The President’s Home has been renovated several times, most

1205 Wesley Street In the late 1830s Emory’s first president, Ignatius Few, built

comprehensively in 2007. In 2005, the University asked then newly appointed dean Stephen Bowen

a home that was incorporated into this plain-style Greek

and his wife, Nancy, to work with an architect to create a

Revival house. President Augustus B. Longstreet owned the

new, modern residence that would not be a perpetual mainte-

house after Few, and he added the front two external rooms

nance problem. The intention was to invest just the minimum

for guests, including circuit-riding ministers and, at various

amount necessary in the President’s House to keep it standing

times, students. Lucius Q. C. Lamar (who had graduated

as a possible venue for entertaining but not as a livable

from Emory in 1845 and later served as a U.S. congressman,

space.9 Most of this work fell to Mrs. Bowen. After several

senator, secretary of the interior, and associate justice of the

months of work, she concluded that, for the

Supreme Court) married Longstreet’s daughter, Virginia, in

allotted five-hundred-thousand-dollar budget, they could not

the north room, which Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady and Dean

create a structure that was anything as significant as the

William Murdy used for a billiards room and Dean Stephen

President’s House, but that they could recover the historic

Bowen uses as a woodshop. The Victorian gingerbread

home. She urged Dean Bowen to present a restoration plan

scrollwork on the front porch was added when the style was

to the University’s Ways and Means Committee, who ulti-

highly fashionable in the later years of the nineteenth century.

mately saw the wisdom of preserving an important part of

Before Young L. G. Harris bought the house in 1899 and

Emory’s physical history.10 Symbiosis | 91

the ground-level floors, including repair and replacement of floor joists and floorboards, the latter of re-milled and salvaged 1800sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; heart pine. The wooden clapboards had been

COURTESY OF JIM WATTERSON

Interior work included a near-complete reconstruction of

covered in paint with high levels of lead and were disposed of according to stringent Environmental Protection Agency requirements. Removal of the floorboards and siding exposed the house frame and revealed facets of the homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic construction. Before the contractors installed cementitious siding, they netted all of the walls, filled them with blown insulation, covered them with sheets of oriented strand stripped the decorative molding and replaced broken or

board, and wrapped the house with a vapor barrier. They

The Thomas-Stone House, constructed in 1837 or 1838.

lost pieces with replicas. The deteriorating windows were replaced with custom-made replicas fitted with insulated

continuously through the middle of the twentieth century.15

glass, and the porches were completely rebuilt. The house

It was restored in the 1970s by Jack and Jane Atkinson, who

renovation and improvements to the landscape cost

removed the broad Victorian porch of the late nineteenth

somewhat more than six hundred thousand dollars.11

century and replaced it with a smaller, pedimented landing. David and Vicki Eady now own the house, and it is also

The Thomas-Stone House

home to their parents, Virgil and Louise Eady. Virgil is the

1222 Wesley Street As payment for surveying the town of Oxford, the Emory trustees gave Edward Lloyd Thomas four lots, each about two acres. Thomas and President Few were friends, having worked in years past on the plan for the town of Columbus, Georgia.12 Thomas chose to settle in Oxford, and on the

namesake of Virgil Y. C. Eady, dean of Oxford College from 1945 to 1966, who married Susanne Stone, daughter of Harry Harlan Stone, the son of George W. W. Stone Sr.

The Branham House 1223 Wesley Street The Branham House was built by a Mrs. Williams, most

highest point in town he built his plain-style Greek Revival

likely in the mid-1840s. The Branhams acquired it around

frame house in 1837 or 1838. He died in 1852. The previous

1855 and became a prominent family of early Oxford.16

year he had sold his home to George W. W. Stone Sr.,13 who had graduated with the first class of Emory College. Stone had been professor of mathematics at the college for ten years when he bought the Thomas house.14 Members of the Stone family lived in the house almost 92 | Cornerstone and Grove

At one time in his life Mr. [Lucius Q. C.] Lamar was called on to make an extended absence from this country on important government business. Mr. Lamar placed his family under the care of Rev. W. R. Branham, Sr., whose brother, Henry Branham,

M.D., was a brother-in-law of Mr. Lamar, having

is thought to have been built in the mid- to late 1840s;

married the other daughter of Judge Longstreet—Miss

however, “there are records of a dwelling on these grounds

Fannie. Thus the [members of the] Lamar household

in 1850 owned by the widow of Professor George W.

were house-guests in the Branham home for an

Lane.”19 Lane, a clergyman, had been the classics teacher of

extended period.17

the Manual Labor School, served as secretary to the board of trustees, and became the first professor of ancient lan-

Descendants of the Branham family continued to own the COURTESY OF JIM WATTERSON

guages of Emory College,20 so if indeed this was his first home in Oxford, it might date to the late 1830s. It is called the Hopkins House because it was later the home of Isaac Stiles Hopkins, who graduated from Emory in 1859. Hopkins joined the faculty part-time for the 1868–69 academic year to teach science during the frequent absences of Professor Alexander Means. At the end of that year, Hopkins became a permanent member of the faculty.21 It was probably sometime soon thereafter that he took up residence in this house, where he continued to live as Emory’s ninth president from 1884 to 1889. Before the technology building (Hopkins Hall) was completed on campus, President Hopkins taught woodworking to

The Branham House, constructed in the early to mid-1840s. The sidewalk, now gone, ran very close to the homes along the west side of Wesley Street, past Old Church, all the way to the campus.

The current owners are Claude and Eva Sitton, who bought

There have been several additions to the house and ERIK OLIVER

house until the late 1980s, when it was willed to the college.

students at his home workshop.22

the plain-style Greek Revival house from the college in 1990 and undertook an extensive two-year renovation, which included removal of aluminum siding, replacement of the porch with a closer approximation to its original style, re-roofing with wood shakes, replastering the interior walls, and refinishing the floors.18

The Hopkins House t

1111 Wesley Street The original part of this plain-style Greek Revival house

The Hopkins House, constructed between the late 1830s and the mid-1840s.

Symbiosis | 93

numerous renovations. In its original form, “This house

Andrew’s case.24 The southern conferences refused to

probably consisted of two front rooms, four rooms to the

capitulate and instead split off to form the Methodist

rear, and a large hallway down the center of the house. There

Episcopal Church, South in 1845.

were both front and back porches and fireplaces in each 23

Records indicate that Andrews held more than a dozen

room.” In recent years, Hopkins House served as

people in slavery,25 not just the young woman named Kitty

a bed and breakfast. Now it is a private residence again,

who was a central figure in the controversy. The story

home of former Oxford College Dean William Murdy and

recorded by Bishop Andrew is that when interviewed by

his wife, Nancy.

President Longstreet and given the option of emancipation,

“Kitty’s Cottage”

Kitty chose to remain enslaved so that she would not be sent

1011 Wesley Street—behind Old Church In 1844 a heated argument erupted among the conferences of

to Liberia as the laws of Georgia at the time would have required. In turn, Andrew pledged that she would thereafter

the national Methodist Episcopal Church. The controversy

live “as free” in a two-room cabin of her own behind the

centered on slavery, particularly slave ownership by James

bishop’s house.26

Osgood Andrew, a founding member of the Emory trustees

This story is not accepted by all and is still sometimes

and a Methodist bishop in Oxford. The northern clergy

divisive. The cabin in which Kitty lived has been bestowed

insisted that bishops could not—must not—own slaves and

near-iconic status. While other significant homes of Emory’s

demanded that Andrew resign as bishop. Emory President

and Oxford’s history have been lost (and are being lost) to

Augustus B. Longstreet, who also owned slaves, facilitated

neglect, the small slave cabin was rescued from decay, given a more pastoral name (cottage as opposed to cabin), and

BRYAN MELTZ

moved four times. It was first moved to Salem Campground in 1938 by H. Y. McCord, who had graduated from Emory College in 1909.27 In 1994, the cottage was returned to Oxford—first to the cemetery, then to the north side of Old Church, and finally to its current location behind the church. According to the timeline of Andrew’s account and the Methodist denominational split, the structure was built sometime in the mid- to late 1840s. Early pictures show that it was at one time a carriage house,28 and a white family is said to have lived in the cabin before it was moved.29 It is now under the care of the Oxford Historical Shrine Society.

The Paine House “Kitty’s Cottage” originally was behind the home of Bishop James Osgood Andrew immediately north of Old Church. It was moved in 1938 to Salem Campground and returned to Oxford in 1994, and is now located behind Old Church.

94 | Cornerstone and Grove

1003 Wesley Street This Victorian home was built around 1885 by Bishop

BRYAN MELTZ

1875 to 1884, he owned and lived in what is now called the President’s Home at 1205 Wesley Street. He left Oxford in 1884 and was elected a bishop of the Methodist Church in 1890. When he returned to Oxford in 1893, it was because of deep personal debt and lingering illness; he and his wife moved in with her parents, the Yarbroughs.34 Friends, colleagues, and alumni rallied to honor Haygood with a home worthy of his accomplishments. It is unclear whether the plans for a house preceded and helped to bring about the Haygoods’ return in 1893, but if not, the idea was put into motion and the site chosen quickly, for on August 3 of the same year, the town commissioners “granted for $50.00 a 99 year lease to Bishop Haygood for Coke Street between The Paine House, constructed circa 1885.

George and Clark Streets.”35 Unfortunately, Atticus Haygood

Robert Paine, who for “thirty-four years, before coming to

did not live in this home for long. It was probably finished

Oxford . . . was teaching and supervising in town and county

in 1894, and Haygood died on January 19, 1896. Haygood

school systems in Georgia. He was eminently useful in

House is a Greek Revival “four over four” structure—four

various offices in his local church and in the Village of

rooms on each of two floors with grand central hallways.

Oxford; and in the lay activities of the church in district

Massive wooden piers dominate the front of the house. The

and general conferences.”30 His grandson, Robert Lee Paine,

space under the broad front porch originally was open and

was a professor of mathematics and history at the Oxford campus from 1920 to 1937.31 Still extant graffiti indicates that students lived in the house during the second decade of the twentieth century. The rear of the house was heavily damaged by a fire around 1915, and reconstruction included the addition of several rooms. Professor Paine’s daughters lived in the home until the 1980s.32 Forrest and Laura McCanless purchased it in the early 1990s and began extensive renovations, including restoration of the interior plaster, twelve fireplaces, woodwork, and shake roof.33

The Haygood House t

905 Wesley Street While Atticus G. Haygood served as Emory’s president from

The Haygood House, constructed circa 1894.

Symbiosis | 95

board walls are now clad in tin siding. Because additions to the

ERIK OLIVER

screened with lattice; the porch had a low railing. The claphouse were extended to the rear, from the front Haygood House closely resembles its original form. The home has had numerous owners and undergone several major renovations. Since the early 1970s, Jeff and Janice Wearing have been the owners and stewards of the Haygood estate. The Wearings dug the large pond to the south of the house, which the Oxford City Council permitted in 1977 to extend into the unopened George Street and Coke Street corridors.36

Florida Hall 312 West Clark Street This two-story plantation-plain farmhouse was most likely built and occupied in the mid- to late 1840s by William Galloway, who also built Few Hall and Old Main. It has t

Florida Hall, constructed circa 1848.

four two-story wings, roughly equal in size, that intersect in

The Mell-Dickson House, constructed circa 1838.

a broad central hallway to form a pinwheel shape. Florida during President Haygood’s administration and housed a preponderance of students from Florida. In 1973, Professor Hoyt P. Oliver and wife LaTrelle purchased the then-decrepit

ERIK OLIVER

Hall received its name because it served as a helping hall

structure and resuscitated it over two years. The front west wing was raised seventeen inches with a railroad jack and supported with hand-hewn beams salvaged from another building. Faculty and community friends helped remove the crumbling plaster and lath in a frenetic three-hour “rip-off” party. Cementitious siding was removed to expose the original clapboards. Since 1975, the home has undergone several more renovations.37

The Mell-Dickson House 202 Fletcher Street This L-shaped Greek Revival home is said to have been built 96 | Cornerstone and Grove

around 1837 or 1838 by William H. Mell. If it was the first

house. It may not be coincidence, either, that it is built of

home of the Mell family, then it was in the kitchen of this

the same material and in the same masonry style as the

home that Patrick H. Mell first taught classes for the children

foundation of Williams Gymnasium, which was constructed

of Oxford’s families. Patrick Mell went on to teach at the

in the same year. The Turners moved to Atlanta in 1919, and after two

University of Georgia. The home is now more commonly referred to as the Capers Dickson House. Judge Dickson

successive owners, the Budd family purchased it in 1924.

graduated from Emory in the class of 1869 and served on

Mr. Budd died around 1932, and in order to continue living

the faculty as professor of law from 1888 into the early

there, his widow housed students and was known to them

twentieth century. Its current owners are descendants of

as “Mother Budd.” The current owners, Claude and Jean

the Branham family.

Phillips, bought it in 1967. Major Phillips graduated from

Oxford in 1937 and Emory in 1939. While a student at

The Turner-Budd House BRYAN MELTZ

Oxford, he boarded in this home.41

Emory-Connected Preparatory Schools in Oxford

he first schools for children of Emory families date back

to 1839. While there is some question about where

these schools were in fact located, there is clear reference to

the Chapel-Academy and the Oxford Female Academy. In 1860 the Oxford community commenced construction of a

The Turner-Budd House, constructed in 1907.

201 Stone Street This unique stone house was built in 1907 by Dr. Edward Kimbrough Turner, who had joined the Emory faculty in 1903 as professor of Latin. His artist wife designed the house.40 She seems to have modeled it after earlier Greek and overall proportions are similar to those of the Branham

Revival homes in Oxford; for example, its two-story porch

The Palmer Institute was constructed in the early 1860s. It burned in 1910. The same site is occupied today by Palmer-Stone Elementary School.

Symbiosis | 97

red brick schoolhouse in the Greek Revival style. Professor James E. Palmer, who had been a member of the building committee, died in 1862; subsequently the school was named the Palmer Institute in his honor. With two to four teachers, it served ten grades, and (male) graduates were then able to matriculate into the sub-freshman

The Covington and Oxford Street Railroad.

class at the college.42 A stove fire destroyed it in 1910.43 When an expanded campus took its place, the school was renamed Palmer-Stone in honor of Professor Harry Harlan Stone, who—as a member and later chair of the county’s board of education—”was the main person who brought [the Palmer Institute] to a ten or twelve teacher school having about five hundred scholars.”44 Today, Oxford College maintains the historic Emory tie to Palmer-Stone Elementary School as a designated “partner in education” and engages the schoolchildren several times a year with events on campus. In Oxford, formal education for children of African American families began in the early 1870s with the

Rosenwald, a clothier who rose to become the president of Sears, Roebuck, and Company, and who was encouraged by Booker T. Washington to help improve African American education, particularly in the South. The Oxford Colored School stood in the heart of the Peasville neighborhood along Mitchell Street. It was abandoned when African American children started attending Palmer-Stone Elementary after integration of the school system in the 1960s. The remains of its foundation are still evident on a now privately owned farm.45

“Downtown” Oxford

s early as 1839, the Emory trustees encouraged estab-

lishment of essential businesses for the new town,

establishment of a school by the Freedmen’s Aid Society

such as blacksmithing, coach transit, and cabinet making.46

on land deeded by the Emory trustees for that purpose. A

Building materials for new homes and the campus buildings

second school was erected in the late 1920s or early 1930s

were brought in steadily. Livestock had to be fed. There were

with a grant from the Rosenwald Foundation that required

any number of everyday needs, and the two-mile distance to

a community match. The foundation was named for Julius

downtown Covington was relatively inconvenient. The new town and college required commerce.

98 | Cornerstone and Grove

Though the 1837 town design centered on Wesley Street, the road between Covington and Walnut Grove formed Oxford’s eastern boundary and naturally emerged as the main street. Mule- or horse-drawn carriages and wagons conveyed students, residents, guests, goods, and mail. An alumnus from

15th—the entire student body adjourned and went over to the Georgia depot at Covington, where they listened to an address by President Taft, while on his way from Augusta to Atlanta.”50 For nearly thirty years, the trolley made as many as

the Class of 1858 nostalgically laments in the 1908 Phoenix

seven trips per day.51 In his “Diary” of yearly events

that “An old Emory boy of the fifties visiting the historic

recorded in the college yearbook for 1917–18, Dooley

village of Oxford will miss many of the old landmarks that

protests, “November 4 [1917]—Student body bemoans the

held a sacred place in his memory” and includes among the

passing of the Mule Car. Oh! What will become of the traditions of Oxford?”52 The next year, a “motor bus” took its place.53 Thanks to student publications that were subsidized by advertisements of local merchants, we have some record of Oxford’s commercial activity. The 1895 Zodiac (the Emory yearbook) carries advertisements for C. J. Howell’s Grocery & Ice Cream and the general store of D. T. Stone &

The 1896 operating schedule of the Covington and Oxford Street Railroad.

Company. In 1897 L. L. Johnson’s (later J. Z. John-

son’s) store is listed. In 1898 Dr. T. M. Bryan advertised his listed landmarks the “old hack [horse-drawn carriage], driven

veterinary services from the rear office of Lee Hardeman’s

by Livingston, from the depot to the village.”47

stable. Physician Madison Bell’s ad states, “Vaccination is

The Covington and Oxford Street Railroad

a specialty. Much experience in administering chloroform

before applying virus. Calls answered on slightest provoca-

n October 1888, a mule-drawn trolley service called the Covington and Oxford Street Railroad was extended to the town. The track ran down the west side of Benson (now Emory) Street, turned onto Fletcher Street, and ended at a barn across from Old Church.48 The long ride up the hill toward Covington forced the mules to plod at a laboriously slow gait, leading students to quip, “We could take the car if we had plenty of time; otherwise we would walk.”49 The February 1909 Phoenix conjures up an interesting image of students moving en masse, by foot or trolley: “January

tion.” The advertisement of Henry Bass in 1901 claims he had fifteen years of service as Oxford’s barber.54 In 1903 and 1904 the Phoenix—the student-run, monthly literary magazine—lists several enterprises, including most of those previously mentioned plus F. A. Henderson’s store, J. H. Dorsey— Shoemaker and Repairer, Gunn’s Store, Jacobs Pharmacy, Dr. W. W. Evans, Smith’s Baggage Transfer and General Drayage, and the Arcade—a Symbiosis | 99

cooperative and “miniature department store” begun by an Emory student.55

The Arcade

he Arcade served a capacity very similar to mod-

ern college bookstores. Shelley Ivey started it in

the fall term of 1903 in one of the front rooms on either side of the Seney Hall foyer.56 Interestingly, Ivey graduated with the class of 1907, which would have made him a newly enrolled freshman when he started the enterprise, if indeed he adhered to a four-year schedule. His seems to indicate that

class photo

“Rock Store”—the post office and store of Frank A. Henderson in the early 1900s (also Howell, Gunn, Harwell, etc.).

he was somewhat

alliterative signs seem predictive of things to come; Emory

older than a typical

did not become a university until 1915.

senior, which might

Ivey operated a mail-order department through which

explain his entrepre-

students could acquire anything not in stock, “from a pin to

neurial acumen.

a house and lot.” Soon, larger

At first the Ar-

accommodations than the room in Seney Hall were neces-

cade offered basic school supplies, but Ivey very quickly expanded the inventory to include such things as sporting goods and A 1903 advertisement for the Arcade.

school memorabilia.

campus encouraged students to “See the Arcade Man for Universal University Utilities.”57 The history of the Arcade is chronicled in the December 1907 edition of the Phoenix, which makes Ivey’s 100 | Cornerstone and Grove

Harwell’s Grocery, shown in this photo from the 1960 yearbook, was located in “Rock Store.”

Signs posted around

sary, and the Arcade moved to the center of town.58 At the

decade. The 1918 Emory Campus

new location,

yearbook carries “Bill Burt’s Good-bye.”60 The Arcade

it offered a

was located on the corner of Whatcoat and George streets.

delivery service, soda fountain,

The last known advertisement was in 1921, under the proprietorship of W. A. Pate.61

General Stores

etween 1895 and 1909, no fewer than eight general stores and groceries are mentioned in Emory publica-

tions. A few stores seem merely to have shifted proprietorship and name, but in the first decade of the twentieth century,

Students, like these two in the 1962 yearbook, received their mail in the town post office, located in “Rock Store.”

and press. The Arcade was so successful that Ivey soon opened a branch store in Atlanta and, upon graduation, sold the Oxford store to fellow classmate W. T. Burt on December 2, 1907.59 Popular with the students, Burt ran the business for a

t t

The store of J. W. Branham.

The store of J. Z. Johnson.

A turn-of-the-century advertisement for J. Z. Johnson’s store shows how much Oxford’s few stores catered to the needs and interests of Emory students.

Symbiosis | 101

Allgood’s Grocery Store in the 1950s. The site was formerly occupied by the store of J. Z. Johnson & Company.

An early twentieth-century advertisement for the store of D. T. Stone & Company.

season on the weekends, brought from Atlanta by train.63

Wilbur “Squire” Carlton (graduate, 1913; faculty, 1917–18, there were at least four independent stores other than the Ar-

1921–54) recalled that it was in Henderson’s where he first

cade.

“saw shelled peanuts put into bottles of Coca-Cola.”64

What residents now refer to as “Rock Store” at the cor-

Henderson’s later became Harwell’s Store,65 which

ner of Emory and West Clark streets was the store of Frank

continued to receive and distribute the town mail until the

A. Henderson. Earlier it had been under the proprietorship

current post office was built in the mid-1960s. By the late

of C. J. Howell. It was co-located with the post office.

1980s, Rock Store had long been abandoned and was little

In addition to dry goods and tobacco, it carried oysters in

more than a shell with a collapsed roof when a young couple, Mark and Jill McGiboney, bought and renovated it. Numerous stores located there have come and gone in recent years. Immediately south across West Clark Street from Rock Store was J. W. Branham’s store (917 Emory Street), which was preferred by the faculty and “was as near to a club as they had.” It carried groceries, animal feed, and fertilizer.66 It burned in June 1903.67 The Allgood family operated a gas station on the same corner for much of the second half of the twentieth century. Just south of it were multiple small buildings that constituted an automobile re-

The store of D. T. Stone. The upstairs was used as a clubhouse by an Emory fraternity.

102 | Cornerstone and Grove

pair business.

One of these was a long and low stone structure. Its style

Cook’s. Under the latter proprietor, a billboard lacking punc-

and the time period in which it was built suggest that it might

tuation proclaimed “Jesus Saves Barbeque Sandwiches” (and

have housed Mr. Thacker’s blacksmith forge or Lee

a variety of other foods). The building had long ceased to operate as a grocery store when it burned in May 2008. South of Johnson’s was the store of D. T. Stone & Co. (814 Emory Street), one of the favorite hangouts of Emory students. The second floor was rented by a college fraternity. The establishment was “rather like an English pub, with checker games taking the place of a dart board,” and its soda fountain was known for “delicious chocolate milks covered with real whipped cream.” It had the first telephone in Oxford, and in the back of the store was a barber’s chair where Jim Rawlins cut the students’ hair. His services included “head scratch

This photo from the 1952 yearbook shows the Huddle, a popular pool hall and sandwich shop run by “Mother Ellis.”

10 cents, shave 15 cents, haircut 25 cents, [and] massage 25 cents.” D. T. Stone was “a philosopher with a keen sense

Hardeman’s stable. In 1996, the city of Oxford bought

of humor, a man’s man who was equally at ease in the

these properties and razed them.

presence of the college president, a U.S. Senator, or a janitor.

Directly east and across the road from Rock Store was

It was a customary sight to see President Dickey or one of the

the store of J. Z. Johnson & Co. (1002 Emory Street). It sold

professors sitting on an old rough, wooden bench in front of

school supplies to the preparatory students of the Palmer

the store talking to Mr. Stone.”71

Institute. Local legend has it that the first Coca-Cola in

Tucked behind a private home on the east side of Emory

Newton County was served at the Johnson soda fountain when Asa Candler sent a barrel of the new syrup to Oxford for the enjoyment of and classmates.70 A concrete-block grocery store replaced

his son Charles

Students enjoyed playing pool at the Huddle. The sign behind them reads, “Pool, ten cents a game. No betting. No profanity. No pool on Sundays.”

Johnson’s store on the same site. For several decades it was Allgood’s, then Mason’s, and finally Symbiosis | 103

Street across from the post office is a small stone structure.

Gymnasium (1906–7), Emmie Stewart had a pipe extended

This was the town jail, called the

to her house and purportedly installed Oxford’s first bathtub

calaboose. The story passed down is that the only inmate

with hot and cold running water: “Her friends of both sexes

was the mason, who in an inebriated state accidentally se-

made appointments, like visits to the dentist, and openly

cured himself for the night after installing the lock.

The second decade of the twentieth century saw several new proprietors and some new businesses. B. E. Dial took over the J. Z. Johnson & Co. store in 1909, and by 1916, Mrs. Johnson was advertising her home as “The Johnson

carrying a large towel and a cake of soap, proudly told anyone they met, ‘I’ve been invited to Miss Emmie’s to take a bath.’”75 The house burned in January, 1946.76 Oxford’s business district was diminished by Emory College’s move to Atlanta. Automobile use became more

House: High-Class Rooms and Board Especially Good Table Board for College Boys, Reasonable Rates.” J. E. Rawlins expanded into an independent Students’ Barber Shop, and his wife managed the Students’ Restaurant (1919). There were other names as well, including the general stores of J. O. Weldon & Co. (1908), W. C. Williams (1917), and the Harwells (1919). Two presses are mentioned: the Leaf Press (1911) and that of the Boland Brothers (1916).73 One famous town-center boardinghouse run by spinster sisters deserves particular mention. Where the current post office stands (907 Emory gabled Victorian house called the Stewart House. Emmie and Sallie Stewart had for many years operated a boardinghouse for students on Watson Street, west of the Branham House. In 1903, they bought the downtown house to improve their enterprise with a more central location.74 The sisters operated a large dining hall that was very popular among the students. When the waterworks were installed in the Williams

104 | Cornerstone and Grove

Street), there was a large, many-

“Mother Ellis,” surely by mistake, offers an Oxford student a Pepsi-Cola at the Huddle.

TRANSITION

Chapter Twelve

A Difficult Decision

[1912] One of the saddest deaths in the history of the college occurred this morning. This had been expected for a long time; but the student body was greatly shocked when the King [Dickey] announced in chapel that Oxford was dead.1 [1919] Emory has at all times been a leader among the colleges of the South, but when she moves to Atlanta this fall she will enter upon the brightest part of her history. Starting as a small school, she has progressed to such an extent that

“

This may be my last appearance in these classic pages due to the fact that these new-fangled notions are permeating this institution and the College goes to Atlanta, and I’m afraid I’m not flossy enough to go to the city. However, if I am left, there will be no regrets and I wish you luck!3 —DOOLEY (1919)

“”

her influence which, at first, was confined to the State, spread rapidly throughout the South, and by the time she reaches full stride, will be of national importance.2

The prevailing account of Emory in the early twentieth century is deservedly one of great ambition and excitement at the prospect of forming Emory University in Atlanta. Emory’s founders had intentionally established the college and town in a remote location, hoping to avoid the influence of what they considered urban vices. Their successors felt differently, as President James E. Dickey relates in his 1907 report to the board of trustees (chaired by Asa Candler, founder of the Coca-Cola Company and brother of former Emory President Warren Candler): While we have been greatly benefitted by the increased income from the Methodist Conferences, it has not yet in any way or sense taken the place of an endowment. Transition | 105

I have used all diligence in trying to secure

gymnasium subsequently named in his honor. He was elected

conditional gifts from the [General] Education

chair of the board on June 12, 1905; W. P. Patillo was elected

Board in order to spring our people to large

vice chair. Asa Candler was chair of the finance committee;

benevolence in the matter of endowment but

Warren Candler was secretary of the same committee.5 In

as reported to you at our last session, the

1906, Warren Candler was not present. On June 8, 1906,

objection raised by the said Board is the fact

W. P. Patillo submitted his resignation as vice chair. The

that our College is located in a village.—I have

board refused; he resigned anyway but remained a trustee.

abiding faith Mr. Chairman that in the years

The next day, the trustees elected Asa Candler in a 20-3 vote

to come Emory College will be abundantly

over Williams, who had declined reelection.6 The following

provided for; my fear, however, is that it may

year, in which Dickey made his speech to the trustees

suffer retrogression during the period of

and Williams Gymnasium was dedicated, both Candlers

procrastination on the part of its friends.4

were present, but Williams was not.7 Either there were no arguments in the open session, or Secretary/Professor Harry

Within the Emory community, the rest of the story is renowned. Asa Candler gave $1 million and land on which

Harlan Stone did not record them in the minutes. The relevance to the topic of this book of this somewhat

to build the new University (in the midst of a much larger tract

suggestive account is that Emory had recently completed five

he owned and subsequently developed). Warren became the

major building projects on the Oxford campus when it

University’s first chancellor. Both brothers were shrewd

moved, and very quickly after 1919, the whole physical plant

and ambitious, masterful at laying out a plan and gathering

began to deteriorate (as did the homes vacated by families of

support—tremendously successful. As trustees, they had been

administrators and faculty members). Thereafter, the difficult

engaged in an unprecedented period of investment on the

decision was what to do with the Oxford campus. The

Oxford campus in the twenty years before the move. Consider

resulting years of struggle with maintenance, inadequate

the following building timeline: Candler Hall, 1897–1898;

facilities, and various incarnations of the school are well

Pierce Science Hall, 1902–1903; Williams Gymnasium,

recorded in Dr. Joseph Moon’s 2003 history—Oxford

1906–1907; Allen Memorial Church, 1909–1910; Atticus G.

College: An Uncommon Place. The question of how best to

Haygood Dormitory, 1912–1913. The University was founded

demonstrate the relevance of the school at Oxford within the

in 1915. In 1919, Emory College left Oxford.

University fold has been a central challenge of every dean

Dickey’s report suggests that a possible move was a topic

for the last ninety years. Fortunately, their progressive work

of discussion as early as 1907 (probably earlier if Dickey felt

in cooperation with increasingly responsive University

emboldened to speak so frankly before the board). One

administrators has resulted in greater recognition of Oxford

wonders how open these early discussions were, even among

College’s unique contributions. As a result, there has been

the full membership of the board. J. P. Williams had been the

recent reinvestment in the campus buildings and landscape

primary benefactor for Candler Hall, Pierce Hall, and the

with pledges of more.

106 | Cornerstone and Grove

THE EMORY EXPERIMENT IN OXFORD

Epilogue

173 Years Later

n 1962, a Covington News reporter poetically described

Oxford: “Here folkways flow smoothly and serenely into

the larger aspirations of the scholar. Here the potentialities

of Emory tomorrow infuse with light its mementoes of a brave and devoted past with the confidence built on eternal verities.”1 Reassuringly, that description still fits. It is interesting to consider what might have happened had Emory College not moved to Atlanta. There might not have been a university at all, but if one had emerged in Oxford and succeeded as Emory has, quite likely the historic town and campus would have been consumed by the growth.

“

Here folkways flow smoothly and serenely into the larger aspirations of the scholar. Here the potentialities of Emory tomorrow infuse with light its mementoes of a brave and devoted past with the confidence built on eternal verities.

“”

By the same token, had the University not maintained some degree of connection with its birthplace, it is equally likely that there would no longer be an incorporated city of Oxford. Because things unfolded as they have, there have been two particularly positive outcomes for both Oxford and Emory. The first is that through perseverance the landscape of the historic campus and community has remained largely intact, and more than a few historic campus buildings and Emory homes have survived. Their presence helps transport the mind of the student, alumnus, employee, resident, or visitor back in time to grasp better the remarkable story of Emory’s evolution and achievement. The second benefit is that tens of thousands of Emory students have been introduced to higher education at the Oxford campus, where the core mission has always been Epilogue | 107

teaching. Those students have been nurtured by a faculty and

Though the city of Oxford has changed little in recent

staff that, through the smallness of its population and the

decades, the growth beyond its borders has been highly

nestling scale of the campus, have developed an almost

accelerated. For several years, Newton County has been

familial atmosphere. Few universities offer such diverse

listed among the fastest-growing places in the nation.

learning environments for undergraduates as Emory does

Metropolitan Atlanta has reached the doorstep. From just

through its parallel urban and still somewhat rural campuses.

south of Oxford comes the constant hum of traffic on

In the introduction, I wrote that change at Oxford has

Interstate 20; on either flank, adjacent industry dominates,

been incremental, and incremental changes over time give the

including a quarry to the west and an airport to the east.

illusion of no change at all. However, consider the student

Future historians will remark on how well we will have been

population of 1946, just sixty-three years ago. There were

able to gracefully accommodate inevitable growth while

322 students, all Caucasian, and all but 13 were male. Their

preserving Emory’s legacy.

difference was mostly denominational, not religious. Among

My professional roles on the Oxford College staff and in

them were: 183 Methodists, 86 Baptists, 20 Presbyterians,

the town have been to think, plan, and act strategically for

9 Episcopalians, 3 Lutherans, 3 Church of Christ, 3 Catholic,

the future of a sustainable college community, so if I may

and 3 nondenominational Christians. Religious diversity

editorialize a bit further, I suggest that Emory has the

meant there were 4 Jewish students. Eight students had

potential to help re-create a model for engaged learning and

“No Church” affiliation.

environmentally sustainable living at its historic birthplace.

In the 2008–9 academic year, there were 753 students

Emory has a record of taking a small bit of land and

enrolled at Oxford College. The racial and ethnic mix was

transforming it through research, teaching, service learning,

52 percent Caucasian, 29 percent Asian American, 14 percent

and life-culture into something wholly marvelous and

Black/African American, and 5 percent Latino/Hispanic.

contributing to society. In varying forms, that has been the

Women constituted 58 percent of the student population.

mission of this place from the beginning.

At 43 percent, the largest category of religious affiliation was “None.” Christians of all denominations collectively accounted for 40 percent, with Methodists at 6 percent. The next highest associations were Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist.3

Future historians will remark on how well we will have been able to gracefully accommodate inevitable growth while preserving Emory’s legacy. 108 | Cornerstone and Grove

BOB HUGHES

Oxford Today

The Oxford College of Emory University campus, 2009.

Oxford Today | 109

ERIK OLIVER

BRYAN MELTZ

Few Hall and the Tarbutton Performing Arts Center

BOB HUGHES

Seney Hall

Phi Gamma Hall

110 | Cornerstone and Grove

Phi Gamma Hall

ERIK OLIVER ERIK OLIVER

ERIK OLIVER

Humanities Hall

The Chapel

Oxford Today | 111

BOB HUGHES

ERIK OLIVER

Language Hall

BOB HUGHES

Jolley Residential Center

Hopkins Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Virgil and Susanne Eady Admissions Center

112 | Cornerstone and Grove

BRYAN MELTZ

The apse (now called the Rathskeller) of Candler Hall

The rotunda of Candler Hall

Oxford Today | 113

BOB HUGHES

BRYAN MELTZ

Candler Hall

BRYAN MELTZ

Allen Memorial United Methodist Church

Hoke Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Kelley Memorial Library

114 | Cornerstone and Grove

BRYAN MELTZ

ERIK OLIVER

Old Church

ERIK OLIVER

Old Church

Orna Villa

Oxford Today | 115

MICHAEL DALE

BRYAN MELTZ

ERIK OLIVER

East Village Residential Center

Haygood Hall

116 | Cornerstone and Grove

Pierce Hall

ERIK OLIVER

BOB HUGHES

Williams Gymnasium

BRYAN MELTZ

Williams Hall

The Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Home

Oxford Today | 117

ERIK OLIVER

BRYAN MELTZ

Florida Hall

ERIK OLIVER

The Branham House

The Hopkins House

118 | Cornerstone and Grove

The Haygood House

BRYAN MELTZ

The Milligan House, formerly used by the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity

ERIK OLIVER

High Point at Chestnut Grove. This 1820s home was moved from Covington in the 1970s to the former estate of Bishop James Osgood Andrew.

The Thomas-Stone House

Oxford Today | 119

BRYAN MELTZ ERIK OLIVER

This home served as the parsonage for Allen Memorial Church from the early twentieth century until the 1960s.

The Sherwood House, formerly used by the Sigma Nu fraternity

Rock Store

120 | Cornerstone and Grove

Notes INTRODUCTION 1

Atticus Greene Haygood, “The New South: Gratitude, Amendment, Hope—A Thanksgiving Sermon,” Sermon delivered at Oxford Methodist Church, Oxford, GA, November 25, 1880, 13.

CHAPTER 1 1

“Historical Highlights of Newton County,” Covington News, bicentennial edition, July 1, 1976, 1. The area is now incorporated into a subdivision by the same name, “Clark’s Grove.” 2 Henry Morton Bullock, A History of Emory University (1936; repr. Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company, 1972), 56–57; Peggy Lamberson, Main Street, Covington: From Its Creation to Modern Times (Covington, GA: Fowler Family Foundation, 1995), 28–29. 3 Research of tax records and real estate transactions conducted by the late Ted Davis, professor of history at Oxford College from 1965 to 1994, for the Oxford Historical Shrine Society in the 1970s; Bullock, History, 59. 4 Charles C. Jarrell, Oxford Echoes (1967; repr. Atlanta: Emory University, 1986), 42–43. 5 Laura Robinson Dodson, “The Story of Oxford, Georgia, and Its Historic Old Cemetery,” Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly 6, no. 2 (1970). 6 Bullock, History, 66. 7 Interview with LaTrelle Blackburn Oliver, Oxford College lecturer from 1966 to 1967. 8 Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 18 and 19, 1838; Bullock, History, 58. 9 For example, George and Lovick Pierce, Atticus Haygood, John Moore, George and Harry Stone, Charles Dowman, and John Bonnell. 122 | Cornerstone and Grove

Council Minutes of the Town of Oxford, Georgia, September 14, 1914. 11 Book of Ordinances of the Town of Oxford, 1883. (An Act to extend the corporate limits of the town of Oxford, in Newton County, and to exempt certain lands therein embraced from any additional rate of taxation on account of being embraced in said corporate limits. Approved January 7, 1852.) 12 Since 1997, the city of Oxford has been a participant in the Tree City USA program by annually planting and maintaining trees along its streets and teaching citizens, students, and college employees about tree care. As of 2009, there have been seven chairpersons of the City of Oxford Trees, Parks, and Recreation Board. Five of them have been administrators, faculty, or staff of Oxford College. 13 “Old Oxford . . . Radio Program Under Auspices of Georgia Society of Historical Research.” Emory College general records, Emory University Archives, in Emory University Special Collections and in a scrapbook in the Oxford City Hall; “Historic Oxford, Georgia: A Self-Guided Walking Tour” (Oxford, GA: Oxford Historical Shrine Society, 1996). 14 This seedling program was organized by forester Beryl Budd and Oxford College professor and city councilman Dr. Hoyt P. Oliver.

CHAPTER 2 1

Quote from Alexander Means, cited in George G. Smith, History of Georgia Methodism from 1786 to 1866 (Atlanta: A. B. Caldwell, 1913), 378–79. 2 Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 13, 1837, 24. 3 Emory College Trustee Minutes, December 8, 1837. 4 Lawton B. Evans, Phoenix, November 1903, 42. 5 Harry Harlan Stone, Phoenix, December 1908, 88.

Bullock, History, 173; Emory College Trustees Minutes, July 15, 1876, 119; July 17, 1876, 126; conversation with J. P. Godfrey Jr. 7 Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 13, 1837, 24. 8 Student rosters through the late 1850s list the students’ living quarters as East College, West College, or the name of the local family with which they boarded. 9 Account by alumnus Lawton B. Evans in Phoenix, Vol. XVIII, November 1903, No. 2. 10 Bullock, History, 85. 11 Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 21, 1862. 12 Receipts from the Confederate Army for rent of the college buildings are in the Emory University Special Collections, along with receipts made out to the Phi Gamma and Few societies. The two halls were used as dormitories for the hospital staff, along with two others used for the same purpose. The Oxford Methodist Church (“Old Church”) and the large auditorium in Old Main were used to house the wounded.

CHAPTER 3 1

George F. Pierce, “An Address Delivered at the Laying of the Corner Stone of a New Edifice for Emory College, Oxford, GA, February 23, 1852” (Macon, GA: Benjamin F. Griffin, 1852), 11. 2 The minutes of the Phi Gamma Society prior to August 29, 1846, were lost or destroyed. The first available history of the society is found in the 1894 edition of The Zodiac, which states that the society formed on March 7, 1837. Bullock (History, 116) remarks that the college did not open officially in Oxford until September 17, 1838—so the Phi Gamma Society may either have started at the Manual Labor School, or the date was recorded incorrectly by the Zodiac historian and thus should read March 7, 1839. To confuse things further, the 1910 Emory Comet gives a specific location for the first

meeting of the Phi Gamma Society in 1837: the house in Oxford later used as Young Harris Hall. However, it is unlikely that there was a house in Oxford in March 1837, because Edward Lloyd Thomas did not complete the survey for the town lots until April or May 1837. Nevertheless, the cornerstone on the current Phi Gamma Hall, which dates from 1851, says the society was instituted in 1837. 3 Zodiac, 1894, 140; Emory Comet, 1910. The Comet reports March 8 as the founding date. 4 Joseph S. Terry (Class of 1919), Phoenix, May 1909, 247. 5 Interview with Oxford College professor of classics Dr. Henry Bayerle about the proper forms of the Greek words. The plural form, “lovers of knowledge,” is a possible alternative. 6 Stone was later a professor of mathematics and progenitor of a five-generation line (to date) of Emory and Oxford College administrators, faculty, and students. 7 Emory Comet, 1910; Emory Campus, 1913. 8 Zodiac, 1893, 91. 9 Oxonian, 1908. 10 Emory Comet, 1910. 11 Bullock, History, 367. 12 Few Society Minutes, September 26, 1840, 122; Zodiac, 1894, 142; Emory Campus, 1911, 10. Bullock, History, cites the March 16, 1844, minutes of the Few Society and states, “The Fews as early as 1844 resolved to build a hall as soon as they could get the money” (122). 13 Phi Gamma Society, letter, 1848, Emory College records, 1836–1919, Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. 14 Phi Gamma Minutes, August 31, 1850. 15 Clyde W. Cooper, “Phi Gamma Anniversary Poem,” Phoenix, March 1908. 16 Receipts from the Confederate Army in the Emory University Special Collections include the hospital name and the amounts paid for use of the two literary society halls and Notes | 123

other campus buildings; see also Harry Harlan Stone, “Oxford in the Olden Days,” Covington News, October 21, 1927. 17 Emory Campus, 1919. 18 “Numerous Improvements Are Underway on Emory-atOxford Campus, Eady Says,” Covington News, March 21, 1946. 19 The current windows are replicas of those shown in the oldest historical photographic evidence. 20 Bullock, History, 367. 21 The general contractor was Carter-de Golian Inc., and the project included an additional $353,271 for site work.

CHAPTER 4 1

Bullock, History, 91–92; Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 16–17, 1849, 166–68; Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 18, 1853; and Southern Christian Advocate, July 8, 1853. 2 There are tapered sections of fluted limestone columns on a private lot in Oxford that are too narrow to have come from old Pierce Hall. These were formerly stored on the lot of the Stewart House (same site as the current post office) and may have come from Old Main. 3 Conversation with Oxford College geologist Dr. Steve Henderson. 4 A document in the Stone family collection called “Facts of Oxford’s and Emory’s Beginnings,” which was dictated by George Stone Jr. and presented to the Oxford Woman’s Club in the 1920s by Mrs. June Branham, states that Old Main “had about the same front line as Seney Hall, but was a much broader building, and was longer too.” 5 H. H. Stone, “Oxford in the Olden Days,” 1. 6 In the 1840s, Commencement exercises were held in the town church (“Old Church”). They would be held in the church again after Old Main came down in 1872 and until Allen Memorial United Methodist Church was built in 1910. 7 Stone and Branham, “Facts.” 124 | Cornerstone and Grove

Ibid. Bullock, History, 157, 161; Emory College Trustee Minutes, Treasurer’s Report, 1868; Stone and Branham, “Facts;” Stone, “Oxford in the Olden Days,” 2. 10 Atticus G. Haygood, “Seney Hall: An Address,” delivered June 8, 1881, at Emory College, Oxford, GA, 13. 11 Haygood, “New South.” 12 Bullock, History, 171; “In Memoriam: A. G. Haygood,” Atlanta Constitution, April 12, 1893. 13 Cornerstone inscription; an interesting aside is that in 1882, during construction of Seney Hall, a successor firm was established by partner Alexander Bruce and Thomas Henry Morgan. Bruce and Morgan designed the Newton County Courthouse, built in 1884; “Thomas Henry Morgan: Bruce and Morgan,” New Georgia Encyclopedia, http://www.newgeorgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id= h-659 (accessed July 1, 2009). 14 Bullock, History, 173. 15 Conversation with architectural scholar William R. Mitchell Jr. and architect Todd Dolson. 16 Ibid. 17 Bullock, History, 191, citing Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 1880, 246. These public documents included deeds and records of the town of Oxford, some of which are still in the University’s Special Collections. 18 Emory Catalogue, 1906–7, 27. 19 Emory College Bulletin, 1913, 6. 20 Bullock, History, 172; Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 25, 1881; Emory Catalogue, 1884, 26; Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts 4, no. 3 (March 1918). 21 Professor Emeritus Dr. Hoyt P. Oliver recalls that the attic space was covered in several inches of pigeon manure and that he took about four hundred pounds of it to fertilize his garden. 22 Phoenix, May 1909, 261; the prank took place on 9

November 3, 1908; Jarrell, Oxford Echoes. 23 Conversations with Sheilah Conner (assistant to six Oxford College deans) and others.

CHAPTER 5 1

Bullock, History, 79; Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 22, 1841, 101–2. Bullock writes, “He was also granted the use of the old church for his school.” This was not the Oxford Methodist Church; the cornerstone for that building had just been laid the month before, on June 22, 1841. 2 Bullock, History, 66. Bullock cites the original trustee minutes for his record of Haderman’s school, but for Mell’s school his source is a secondary source history by A. C. Mixon called “Emory in Infancy” in the February 1906 Phoenix—fully sixty years after the time period in question. 3 Bullock, History, 157; Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 16, 1869, 357. 4 Reference to the original lease is in the Old Church files at Oxford City Hall. 5 The record is unclear, but Commencement exercises apparently were held in the large chapel-auditorium of Old Main while it stood from the early 1850s through the early 1870s. 6 Phoenix, 1904, 280; Zodiac, 1895, 210; Wilbur “Squire” Carlton, In Memory of Old Emory (Atlanta: Wilbur Allen Carlton, 1962), 48. 7 Emory College General Records, Series 047, Box No. 1, item 14. No title; no date. Typed on United States Postal Service letterhead; possible author is Mrs. W. R. Branham, assistant postmaster; possible dates 1929 or 1948, when the town tried to put Old Church up for sale. 8 Reference to original lease and letters indicating a desire by the church to enter a new lease in 1948 are in the Old Church files of the Oxford City Hall. 9 Covington News, September 7, 1948. 10 Renamed the Oxford Historical Shrine Society Inc. in 1985. 11 Copies of the lease are in the Old Church files in the

Oxford City Hall. 12 Neal Bond Fleming, Of Me and My Family: Memoirs of Neal Bond Fleming (Oxford, GA: Author, 2006), Appendix xv, xvi. 13 “Preservation Plan: Historic Old Church, Oxford, Georgia” (Oxford, GA: Oxford Historical Shrine Society and Office of Jack Pyburn, Architect, Inc., March 1998), excerpted from the Executive Summary. 14 H. H. Stone, “Oxford in the Olden Days”; Covington News, October 21, 1927; November 21, 1974; Wilbur A. Carlton, The Oxford Church, North Georgia Conference (1952; repr. Oxford, GA: Allen Memorial United Methodist Church, 1973). 15 “Bits of Data about Historic Oxford” (Emory College General Records, Series 047, Box 1, Item 11). 16 “Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, 135th Anniversary Celebration: 1867–2002” (Oxford, GA: Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, 2002). 17 Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 19, 1848. 18 “Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, 135th Anniversary Celebration.” 19 H. H. Stone, “Oxford in the Olden Days”; Covington News, October 21, 1927; George W. W. Stone Jr., “Memoir,” Stone-Eady family papers. 20 George W. W. Stone Jr., “Memoir.” 21 Ibid. This deed is still in the possession of the Rust Chapel trustees. 22 Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 15, 1876, 119. 23 Ibid., 120. 24 George W. W. Stone Jr., “Memoir.” 25 Conversation with Godfrey. 26 Emory Catalogue, 1890–91, 26. 27 Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts 4, no. 3 (March 1918): 21. 28 Carlton, In Memory of Old Emory, 20. 29 Conversation with professor emeritus Dr. Hoyt P. Oliver, Notes | 125

who was a student at Oxford in the 1950s. 30 Emory Catalogue, 1910–11, 40. 31 Warren A. Candler, “Our Leaders and Their Labours Past and Present,” Address at the Laying of the Cornerstone of the Pierce Hall of Science, June 10, 1902. 32 Phoenix, November 1907, 62. 33 Candler, “Our Leaders,” 20–21. 34 Emory Catalogue, 1910–11, 40. 35 “Late Victorian Architecture: Overview,” New Georgia Encyclopedia, http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/ Article.jsp?id=h-2597&hl=y (accessed July 1, 2009). 36 Conversation with Henderson. 37 Polly Stone Buck, The Blessed Town: Oxford, Georgia, at the Turn of the Century (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 1986), 93.

CHAPTER 6 1

Confirmation of the original floor plan, which was still intact in the 1950s, by Marshall Elizer and Hoyt Oliver. 2 Conversations with Dr. Clark Lemons, professor of English and theater. 3 Joseph Moon, An Uncommon Place: Oxford College of Emory University, 1914–2000 (Oxford, GA: Oxford College of Emory University, 2003), 40. 4 Conversations with Mitchell, Dolson, and Andy Akard. 5 Ibid. 6 Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts 4, no. 3 (March 1918): 21. 7 Bullock, History, 177; Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 27, 1885, 358; June 19, 1886, 368. Dean Stephen Bowen, also a woodworker, recently turned replacements for the two spindles atop Hopkins Hall in his woodshop in the northern porch room of the President’s Home. 8 Emory Catalogue, 1885–86, 32. The reference to “four apartments” suggests that the two-story brick structure was either the unnamed recitation building. 126 | Cornerstone and Grove

Conversation with Mitchell and Dolson. Emory College Catalogue, 1893–94, 83. 11 Candler, “Our Leaders,” 12, 18. 12 Inscription on the cornerstone, now installed on the southwest corner of the 1962 Pierce Hall. 13 Emory College Catalogue, 1904–5, 36. 14 Ibid., 28; Emory College Catalogue, 1908–9, 31; Emory College Bulletin, 1913, 10; Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts 4, no. 3 (March 1918): 20. 15 Conversation with Mitchell and Dolson. 16 Conversation with Dr. Hoyt Oliver, who lived in Pierce Hall in 1953–54 during his sophomore year. 17 Moon, Uncommon Place, 98. 18 Conversations with former Oxford College professor of mathematics and business manager Marshall Elizer and Virgil Eady, alumnus and son of Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady. Both recalled that they knew of no structural problems with Pierce Hall and reflected that there was little consideration for historic preservation at the time in the face of high renovation costs and extremely tight budgets. 19 Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 6, 1903, 71; conversation with Rev. Tom Johnson. 20 Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 4, 1904, 106–7. 21 Conversation with Elizer. 22 Conversation with Mitchell and Dolson. 23 Conversation with Dr. Eloise Carter, Oxford College professor of biology. 24 Conversation with Diane Kirby Allgood, daughter of Bill and Marguerite Allgood. 10

CHAPTER 7 1

The specific building is unknown. H. H. Stone, “Oxford in the Olden Days,” 1. 3 Bullock writes, “When [Professor Harry Harlan Stone] took charge [of the library], the 10,000 books . . . were housed in Science Hall and shelved regardless of subjects” 2

(History, 250); Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 6, 1903. 4 Bullock states 1893, likely a typographical error (History, 228). 5 Emory College Catalogue, 1891–92; “Annual Report of the President,” 80. 6 Various college catalogs and bulletins of the period state twenty-five thousand dollars. Bullock reports that it was over thirty thousand dollars (History, 228). 7 Cornerstone inscription. 8 Conversation with Henderson. 9 Conversation with former Oxford College librarian Mrs. Fran Elizer. 10 Conversation with Henderson. 11 Oxford College Associate Dean and college librarian Kitty McNeill says this is not likely. The much larger Hoke O’Kelley Library was built to hold sixty thousand volumes. 12 Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts 1, no. 2 (May 1915). 13 Memory, 1984, 70. 14 The late professor of history Ted Davis, who also directed campus life activities, coordinated the interior redecoration. 15 “Program for a New Library Building,” Oxford College Library Committee, September 1965, 2–3; J. Hamby Barton Jr., Letter to Emory Vice President for Business Orie E. Myers, October 1, 1965. 16 Conversations with Bond Fleming and Fran Elizer. 17 Fleming, Of Me and My Family, 86. 18 “Program for a New Library Building,” 4. 19 Ibid., 3. 20 Conversation with Mitchell and Dolson. 21 Robert E. Williams, Memorandum to librarian Sara Gregory, April 16, 1971. 22 Typed announcement of O’Kelley Memorial Library naming in the Oxford College Special Collections, presumably by Dean Fleming or librarian Sara Gregory.

CHAPTER 8 1

Emory College Bulletin, 1913, 1. Bullock, History, 273; Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 22, 1889, 148. 3 W. C. Lovett (Class of 1874), “Emory Life, 1872–1874,” Phoenix, December 1908, 89. 4 Bullock, History, 273; Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 6, 1902, 11; Phoenix, October 1907, 17. 5 Moon, Uncommon Place, 171. 6 Phoenix, November 1903, 59. Curiously, no sooner was the gymnasium complete than Professor Brown, who had played a large role in the push for the new facility, left Emory College to pursue his studies at the University of Chicago. 7 Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 10, 1905, 149; June 13, 1905, 174; Bullock, History, 237. 8 Emory College Catalogue, 1906–7, 38. 9 Conversation with Mitchell and Dolson. 10 Conversation with Henderson. 11 Conversation with Mitchell and Dolson. 12 Conversation with Dr. Judy Greer, Oxford College professor emerita of physical education. 13 Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts 4, no. 3 (March 1918): 23. 14 Photos of the bookstore and “Co-Op” in yearbooks of the 1950s. 15 Dr. Judy Greer received a grant in 1994 to visit several campuses throughout the United States to research early gymnasium models. 16 Fleming, Of Me and My Family, 87. 17 Conversation with Greer. 18 Email correspondence with Barbara Black. 2

CHAPTER 9 1

Bullock, History, 93, 97; Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 21, 1855, 224; July 19, 1859, 282. Notes | 127

Bullock, History, 97. 3 Ibid., 85. 4 Students lived with the Oliver family, for example, when the author was in high school in the mid- to late 1980s. 5 Emory College Catalogue, 1890–91. 6 Emory College Catalogue, 1883–84. 7 Goodrich C. White, “Old Oxford,” an address by the president of Emory University, 1947. 8 Ibid. 9 Emory College Catalogue, 1895–96, 34. 10 The 1896–97 Emory Catalogue states that over eight hundred students had lived in them by that time, and the system continued for five years thereafter. 11 Susanne Stone Eady, “Oxford Homes,” Eady family documents; date unknown (1950s or 1960s). 12 Bullock, History, 235; Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 9, 1899, 469; June 10, 1899, 506; June 7, 1901, 570. 13 Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 8, 1906. 14 Emory College Catalogue, 1904–5, 37. 15 Carlton, In Memory of Old Emory, 6. 16 J. O. Martin, Covington News, May 2, 1946, 7. 17 Emory College Catalogue, 1912–13, 41. 18 Bullock, History, 239; Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 20, 1912, 221. 19 Emory College Catalogue, 1912–13, 41–42. 20 Englishman Robert Adam was one of the preeminent architects of the second half of the eighteenth century. He developed the “Adam Style” of early neoclassical design, which heavily influenced Western architecture in Europe and North America. 21 Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts 2, no. 2 (April 1916): 59. 22 Conversation with Hoyt P. Oliver. 23 Moon, Uncommon Place, 102. 24 Ibid., 70. 25 Account provided by Professor Emeritus Dr. Hoyt P. Oliver 128 | Cornerstone and Grove

from his days as a student in the 1950s. 26 Minutes of the Oxford Town Council, April 1966. 27 Minutes of the Oxford City Council, April 1982. 28 Conversation with Marshall Elizer, who himself worked on “Dickey Dorm” for forty-nine dollars per week. 29 Moon, Uncommon Place, 103. Marshall Elizer recounts that Dean Eady’s wife, Susanne, helped to choose the building names. 30 Conversation with Marshall Elizer and Eady. 31 Oxford resident Tony Ellis reported that his grandfather, Wales Ellis, built the four dormitories. The Ellis family has deep roots in Oxford and was particularly engaged in service to the college through ancillary enterprises (like construction, carpentry, and a sandwich shop/pool hall) in the mid-twentieth century. 32 Oxford College Yearbook, 1979–80, 19. 33 Covington News, February 25, 1995. 34 Conversation with Mitchell, Dolson, and Akard. 35 Fleming, Of Me and My Family, 86. Ray Eastmoore was the principal civil engineer when Batson-Cook built the Woodruff Library on Emory’s Druid Hills campus; he supervised Edmund Glover, who was the engineer on site for the Branham/East project. Ray Eastmoore was the uncle of Louise Eady, daughter-in-law of the late Dean Virgil Y. C. Eady. 36 “A New Building Consisting of a New Residence Hall for Women, an Infirmary, and a New Cafeteria, to Cost about $1.5 Million Completed for September 1966,” Covington News, July 1, 1966, 6B. 37 Conversation with Mitchell and Dolson. 38 Ibid. 39 Moon, Uncommon Place, 116. 40 Ibid., 146–47. 41 Fleming, Of Me and My Family, 86. 42 Moon, Uncommon Place, 171. 43 The main building was designed by Tippett and Associates, the addition by Tippett Clepper Associates. 44 The author was a part of this team. Subsequent information

comes from the author. 45 Email correspondence with architect Andy Akard.

CHAPTER 10 1

Pierce, “Address.” There is some confusion about the origin of this phrase, but the prevailing opinion after unsuccessful research into the “distant” historical record is that its first use was in the context of the March 1998 Campus Plan, conducted by Ayers Saint Gross (Architects and Planners) and Robinson Fisher Associates (Planners and Landscape Architects). 3 Designed Installations by Jim Williams did the brickwork for the quadrangle in 2008. 4 Various printed programs for Arbor Day Celebration and Class Tree Day in Emory University Special Collections. 5 Conversation with Henderson. 6 Inscriptions on the monument. Also, the Grand Masonic Lodge of Georgia provided the following: “A Special Communication of the Grand Lodge of Georgia convened at the Masonic Hall, in the village of Oxford, Newton County, by order of the Most Worshipful Grand Master, on the 26th Day of October, 1849, for the purpose of completing the erection of a Monument and of consecrating the same, to the memory of a most worthy and revered Brother, the Rev. Ignatius A. Few.” 7 Conversation with Hoyt P. Oliver. 8 Conversation with Henderson. 9 Conversation with Mrs. Emmie Johnson, daughter of the late Wilbur “Squire” Carlton, alumnus and professor at Oxford College. 10 The small cemetery appears to be partially within the sixtysix-foot-wide, unopened Howard Street corridor (the mirror image of Hamill Street), which may provide some clue as to how the site was chosen. 11 As examples, the cornerstone ceremony of Candler Hall took place on Confederate Memorial Day in 1897, and the May 2, 1946, edition of the Covington News gives an 2

account of an elaborate ceremony at the cemetery for Confederate Memorial Day with Emory’s band and joined by students from Palmer–Stone Elementary School, presided over by an Emory professor and the pastor of Allen Memorial UMC. 12 H. H. Stone, “Oxford in the Olden Days.” 13 William Faulkner Allen, “A Word about Our College,” Phoenix, May 1904, 272.

CHAPTER 11 1

Conversation with Godfrey, whose grandfather was a brick mason and worked on the college chapel in the 1870s—and possibly the three other buildings constructed concurrently as well. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Jarrell, Oxford Echoes, 43. 5 “Oxford in 1976: History of Town of Oxford,” Covington News, July 1, 1976, 10C; White, “Old Oxford”; Jarrell, Oxford Echoes, 33. 6 Bullock, History, 155. 7 Eady, “Oxford Homes,” 2. 8 White, “Old Oxford”; Jarrell, Oxford Echoes, 33. 9 The city of Oxford’s zoning code would not have allowed strict use as an unoccupied entertainment venue, however, and several residents with Emory ties beseeched the Bowens not to abandon the home. 10 Conversation with Dean Stephen Bowen. 11 The house was renovated by Ed Hutter & Associates. 12 Jarrell, Oxford Echoes, 43. 13 George W. W. Stone Jr., “About the House in Oxford,” document in a scrapbook in the Oxford City Hall; Stone-Eady family papers. 14 Ibid. 15 White, “Old Oxford,” 10. 16 Ibid.; conversation with current owner, Eva Sitton. Notes | 129

Jarrell, Oxford Echoes, 15. Conversation with Sitton. 19 Eleanor Pruitt, “Hopkins House,” a paper written by Pruitt when she was a professor at Oxford College in the 1970s and lived in the home. 20 Bullock, History, 62. 21 Ibid., 155. 22 Ibid., 174. 23 Pruitt, “Hopkins House,” 1. 24 President Longstreet was the uncle of James Longstreet, a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army and one of General Lee’s chief officers and strategists. 25 “Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, 135th Anniversary Celebration.” The included history was compiled from information gathered from documents of the Stone family, the History of Newton County by the Newton County Historical Society, deeds in the Newton County Court records, and the research of Dr. Mark Auslander, his Oxford College students, and Dr. Ellen Schattschneider. 26 George G. Smith, The Life and Letters of James Osgood Andrew (Author, 1884), 312–13. 27 Conversation with Pierce Cline. Mr. Cline’s father, Rev. Earl Cline, bought the property from McCord, who was a prominent Methodist and a wealthy businessman. Cline purchased the property specifically to preserve the cottage and reserved the right to remove the cottage to Salem Campground. 28 Conversation with Jim Watterson. 29 “Bits of Data about Historic Oxford.” 30 Jarrell, Oxford Echoes, 25. 31 Ibid.; Moon, Uncommon Place, 169. 32 Conversation with current owner, Laura McCanless. 33 Ibid. 34 Gary Hauk, A Legacy of Heart and Mind: Emory since 1836 (Atlanta: Emory University, 1999), 37. 35 “7 Commissioners First Governed Oxford in 1837” (author and date unknown), article located in a scrapbook in the 18

130 | Cornerstone and Grove

Oxford City Hall. 36 Minutes of the Oxford City Council, March–May 1977. 37 Conversations with current owners Hoyt and LaTrelle Oliver; Frances Cawthon, “The House that Nobody Loved,” Atlanta Journal and Constitution, May 16, 1976, sec. G, 1–2. 38 Bullock, History, 66. 39 Ibid., 176. 40 Conversation with the current owners, Claude and Jean Phillips. 41 Ibid. 42 Jarrell, Oxford Echoes, 50, 71; Buck, Blessed Town, 80. 43 Buck, Blessed Town, 91. 44 George W. W. Stone Jr., “Memoir.” 45 Conversation with Godfrey; National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Rosenwald Schools Initiative,” http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/sites/ southern-region/rosenwald-schools/ (accessed July 1, 2009); “African-American Education in Newton County, Georgia,” http://afro-newton.wikispaces.com/schools (accessed July 2, 2009). 46 Bullock, History, 67; Emory College Trustee Minutes, July 17, 1839, 51–52. 47 Frank L. Little (Class of 1858), “Oxford in the Fifties,” Phoenix, May 1908, 264. 48 Buck, Blessed Town, 37. 49 Carlton, In Memory of Old Emory, 5; Buck, Blessed Town, 35–37. 50 Phoenix, February 1909, 153. 51 Ibid. 52 Emory Campus, 1918, “Dooley’s Diary.” 53 Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts 4, no. 3 (March 1918): 20. 54 Zodiac, 1895, ix, xiii; 1897, misc. advertisements; 1898, 237, 244, 248; 1901, advertisements. 55 Phoenix, June 1903, 449, 467, 469, 472, 474; October 1903, iv, ix, xi; November 1903, ix, xi; December 1903, ix,

xi; January 1904, x, xii; February 1904, x–xi; March 1904, x–xi. 56 Phoenix, December 1907, 111–12. 57 Ibid. 58 Ibid. 59 Ibid. 60 Emory Campus, 1918, 111–12. 61 Carlton, In Memory of Old Emory, 3; Emocad, 1921 (advertisement). 62 Zodiac, 1895, xi (advertisement). 63 Buck, Blessed Town, 26. 64 Carlton, In Memory of Old Emory, 3. 65 Emocad, 1919 (advertisement). 66 Buck, Blessed Town, 28–29. 67 Phoenix, June 1903, 449. 68 Buck, Blessed Town, 25. 69 Zodiac, 1898, 244. 70 Buck, Blessed Town, 33. 71 Ibid., 31; Carlton, In Memory of Old Emory, 3. 72 Buck, Blessed Town, 32. 73 Emory Campus, 1911; Kinema, 1916, published by the Collegiate, Theological, and Academic Departments of Emory University; Emocad, 1919. 74 Obituary of Emmie Stewart in Emory University Special Collections—”College Mother of Old Emory Dies Here” —presumably the Covington News, though no source or date is listed. 75 Buck, Blessed Town, 30. 76 Conversation with Grace Budd-Spradley, who was living in the Stewart House the night that it burned. 77 Oxford Town Council Minutes, January 1947, November 1949 (Briar Patch); October 1954 (the Huddle); December 1963, February 1967 (Washeteria); Oxford College yearbooks, 1953–55 (the Huddle).

Emory Campus, 1912, 173. Emory Campus, 1919. 3 Ibid. From “Dooley’s Diary.” 4 Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 7, 1907, 223. 5 Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 10–12, 1905, 136, 167. 6 Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 8, 1906, 180; June 9, 1906, 208. 7 Emory College Trustee Minutes, June 7, 1907, 223. 2

EPILOGUE 1

Frank Daniel, “Emory-at-Oxford,” Covington News, December 20, 1962, 43. 2 “Interesting Facts Are Revealed in Study of Oxford’s Enrollment,” Covington News, October 17, 1946. 3` ”Oxford Facts: 2008–09 Academic Year, Total Enrollment,” http://www.oxford.emory.edu/a_distinctive_place/oxford_ facts/index.dot? (accessed July 1, 2009).

CHAPTER 12 Notes | 131

Glossary of Architectural Terms ACANTHUS: A genus of Mediterranean plants with spiny,

FASCIA: A broad horizontal band that represents the outer edge

lobed leaves. The leaf is a standard element in Corinthian

of a cornice or roof overhang.

architectural design.

FLEMISH BOND: A masonry style in which bricks are laid

ANTEFIX: An ornament attached at the apex of a cornice;

with alternating sides and ends.

literally “fastened in front.”

GABLE: The triangular portion of wall at the end of a pitched

ARCHITRAVE: The lower part of a panel of classical

roof.

entablature, resting directly on columns.

IONIC CAPITAL: Column caps of third classical Order,

CLERESTORY: A raised structure above a rooftop with a row

characterized by scroll-like shape.

of vertically oriented windows that provide light and ventilate

LINTEL: A horizontal member at the top of a door or window

the interior of a building.

that supports the weight above it.

COLUMN: A free-standing, cylindrical, or polygonal vertical

MANSARD ROOF: A hip roof divided by a steeper lower and

support structure with a decorative base and capital.

shallower upper portion, sometimes used to disguise an addi-

CORBEL/CORBELLING: A bracket used to support the weight

tional occupied floor or conceal rooftop mechanical equipment.

of structures above it; offsetting stones or bricks to support

MODILLION: An ornamental bracket under a roof overhang.

projecting features and provide variation in a wall panel.

PEDIMENT: A triangular gable enclosed on all sides by cornice

CORINTHIAN CAPITAL: The most ornate of the three

(horizontal and raking) and usually resting on a row of columns

classical Orders of column caps characterized by overlapping

or piers.

(Acanthus) leaves, cylindrical and symmetrical on all sides.

PIER: A square pillar.

CORNICE: A ledge or overhang with molding at the top of

PILASTER: A shallow wall projection that mimics a pillar, pier,

a building.

or column.

CRUCIFORM: Cross-shaped.

QUOINS: Stones or brick that form the corner of a building

DENTIL: Molding made of regularly spaced tooth-shaped

and are often distinguished in masonry style, color, or material

blocks in a cornice.

from the walls themselves.

DORIC CAPITAL: The oldest and simplest of classical Orders

SIDELIGHT: A vertical run of window panes on either side of

of column caps—a bowl shape that meets a square.

a doorway.

EGG AND DART: A design motif of repetitive and alternating

STRING COURSE: A projecting course of brick or stone that

ovular and pin shapes.

runs horizontally around a building, typically to emphasize

ENTABLATURE: The collective classical architectural elements

the junction between floors.

between columns and the eaves.

TRANSOM LIGHT: A row of horizontal window panes above

FAN LIGHT: A fan-shaped, semicircular window with radiating

a doorway.

panes.

132 | Cornerstone and Grove

BIBLIOGRAPHY “African-American Education in Newton County, Georgia.” http://afro-newton.wikispaces.com/schools (accessed July 2, 2009). Barton, J. Hamby, Jr. Letter to Emory Vice President for Business Orie E. Myers. October 1, 1965. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. “Bits of Data about Historic Oxford.” Emory College general records, Emory University Archives, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta (date unknown). Book of Ordinances of the Town of Oxford. Town of Oxford, Georgia, 1883. Buck, Polly Stone. The Blessed Town: Oxford, Georgia, at the Turn of the Century. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 1986. Bulletin of Emory University, School of Liberal Arts. May 1915; April 1916; March 1918. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Bullock, Henry Morton. A History of Emory University. 1936; repr. Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company, 1972. Candler, Warren A. “Our Leaders and Their Labours Past and Present.” Address at the Laying of the Cornerstone of the Pierce Hall of Science. June 10, 1902. Emory College general records, Emory University Archives, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta. Carlton, Wilbur A. In Memory of Old Emory. Atlanta: Wilbur Allen Carlton, 1962. ———. The Oxford Church, North Georgia Conference. 1952; repr. Oxford, GA: Allen Memorial United Methodist Church, 1973. Cawthon, Frances. “The House that Nobody Loved.” Atlanta Journal and Constitution, May 16, 1976. Cooper, Clyde W. “Phi Gamma Anniversary Poem.” Phoenix, March 1908.

Council Minutes of the Town of Oxford, Georgia. Town of Oxford, Georgia, September 14, 1914; January 1947; November 1949; October 1954; December 1963; April 1966; February 1967; March–May 1977. Council Minutes of the City of Oxford, Georgia. City of Oxford, Georgia, April 1982. Daniel, Frank. “Emory-At-Oxford.” Covington News, December 20, 1962. Dodson, Laura Robinson. “The Story of Oxford, Georgia and Its Historic Old Cemetery.” Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly 6, no. 2 (1970). Eady, Susanne Stone. “Oxford Homes.” Eady family papers (date unknown; est. 1950s or 1960s). Emocad. 1919; 1921. Oxford, GA: Students of Emory University Academy. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Emory Campus. 1911. Oxford, GA: Senior Class of Emory College. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Emory Campus. 1912; 1913. Oxford, GA: Student Body of Emory College. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Emory Campus. 1918; 1919. Oxford, GA: School of Liberal Arts of Emory University. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Emory College Bulletin. 1913. Oxford, GA: Emory College. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Bibliography | 133

Emory College Catalogue. 1883–84; 1885–86; 1890–91; 1891–92; 1893–94; 1895–96; 1896–97; 1904–5; 1906–7; 1908–9; 1910–11; 1912–13. Oxford, GA: Emory College. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Emory College Trustee Minutes. July 13, 1837; December 8, 1837; July 18–19, 1838; July 17, 1839; July 22, 1841; July 19, 1848; July 16–17, 1849; July 18, 1853; July 21, 1855; July 21, 1862; July 16, 1869; July 15, 1876; July 17, 1876; June 25, 1881; June 27, 1885; June 9, 1899; June 22, 1889; June 6, 1902; June 6, 1903; June 4, 1904; June 10–12, 1905; June 8–9, 1906; June 7, 1907; July 20, 1912. Emory College general records, Emory University Archives, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta. Emory College Trustee Minutes, Treasurer’s Report. 1868. Emory College general records, Emory University Archives, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta. Emory Comet. Oxford, GA: Senior Class of Emory College, 1910. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Fleming, Neal Bond. Of Me and My Family: Memoirs of Neal Bond Fleming. Oxford, GA: Author, 2006. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Hauk, Gary. A Legacy of Heart and Mind: Emory since 1836. Atlanta: Emory University, 1999. Haygood, Atticus Greene. “In Memoriam.” Atlanta Constitution, April 12, 1893. ———. “The New South: Gratitude, Amendment, Hope— A Thanksgiving Sermon.” Sermon delivered at Oxford Methodist Church, Oxford, GA, November 25, 1880. ———. “Seney Hall: An Address.” Oxford, GA: Emory College, June 8, 1881. 134 | Cornerstone and Grove

“Historical Highlights of Newton County.” Covington News, bicentennial edition, July 1, 1976. “Historic Oxford, Georgia: A Self-Guided Walking Tour.” Oxford, GA: Oxford Historical Shrine Society, 1996. “Interesting Facts Are Revealed in Study of Oxford’s Enrollment.” Covington News, October 17, 1946. Jarrell, Charles C. Oxford Echoes. 1967 (first published as a series in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate); repr. Atlanta: Emory University, 1986. Kinema. Atlanta: Collegiate, Theological, and Academic Departments of Emory University, 1916. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Lamberson, Peggy. Main Street, Covington: From Its Creation to Modern Times. Covington, GA: Fowler Family Foundation, 1995. “Late Victorian Architecture: Overview.” New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/ Article.jsp?id=h-2597&hl=y (accessed July 1, 2009). Library Naming (O’Kelley Memorial Library). Typed announcement. (Author unknown; Dean Bond Fleming or librarian Sara Gregory.) Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. “Memorial Day at Oxford Honored Confederate Dead.” Covington News, May 2, 1946. Memory. Oxford, GA: Emory-At-Oxford, 1954; 1955. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Memory. Oxford, GA: Oxford College, 1980, 1984. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Minutes of the Few Literary Society. Oxford, GA: Few Literary Society, September 26, 1840. Emory College Organizations, Emory University Archives, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta.

Minutes of the Phi Gamma Society. Oxford, GA: Phi Gamma Literary Society, August 31, 1850. Emory College Organizations, Emory University Archives, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta. Moon, Joseph. An Uncommon Place: Oxford College of Emory University, 1914–2000. Oxford, GA: Oxford College of Emory University, 2003. National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Rosenwald Schools Initiative.” http://www.preservationnation.org/ travel-and-sites/sites/southern-region/rosenwald-schools/ (accessed July 1, 2009). “A New Building Consisting of a New Residence Hall for Women, an Infirmary, and a New Cafeteria, to Cost about $1.5 Million Completed for September 1966.” Covington News, July 1, 1966. “Numerous Improvements Are Underway on Emory-at-Oxford Campus, Eady says.” Covington News, March 21, 1946. “Old Oxford . . . Radio Program Under Auspices of Georgia Society of Historical Research.” Emory College general records, Emory University Archives, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta (date unknown). “Oxford Facts: 2008–09 Academic Year, Total Enrollment.” http://www.oxford.emory.edu/a_distinctive_place/ oxford_facts/index.dot? (accessed July 1, 2009). “Oxford in 1976: History of Town of Oxford.” Covington News, July 1, 1976. Oxonian. Oxford: Senior Class of Emory College, 1908. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Phi Gamma Society. “Letter.” 1848. Emory College records, 1836–1919, Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Phoenix. June 1903; October 1903; November 1903; December 1903; January 1904; February 1904; March 1904; May 1904; October 1907; November 1907;

December 1907; March 1908; May 1908; December 1908; February 1909; May 1909. Oxford, GA: Few & Phi Gamma Societies of Emory College; Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Pierce, George F. “An Address Delivered at the Laying of the Corner Stone of a New Edifice for Emory College, Oxford, GA, February 23, 1852.” Macon, GA: Benjamin F. Griffin, 1852. “Preservation Plan: Historic Old Church, Oxford, Georgia.” Oxford, GA: Oxford Historical Shrine Society and Office of Jack Pyburn, Architect, Inc., March 1998. “Program for a New Library Building.” Oxford College Library Committee. September 1965. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Pruitt, Eleanor. “Hopkins House.” Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA (date unknown, 1970s). “Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, 135th Anniversary Celebration: 1867–2002.” Oxford, GA: Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, 2002. “7 Commissioners First Governed Oxford in 1837.” Author and date unknown. Located in a scrapbook in the Oxford City Hall. Smith, George G. History of Georgia Methodism from 1786 to 1866. Atlanta: A. B. Caldwell, 1913. ———. The Life and Letters of James Osgood Andrew. Author: 1884. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Southern Christian Advocate. South Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, July 8, 1853. Stone, George W. W., Jr. “About the House in Oxford.” Document in a scrapbook in the Oxford City Hall; Stone-Eady family papers. Bibliography | 135

———. “Memoir.” Stone-Eady family papers. ———, and June Branham. “Facts of Oxford’s and Emory’s Beginnings.” Paper delivered in the 1920s to the Oxford Woman’s Club. Stone-Eady family papers. Stone, Harry Harlan. “Oxford in the Olden Days.” Covington News, October 21, 1927. “Thomas Henry Morgan: Bruce and Morgan.” New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.newgeorgia encyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-659 (accessed July 1, 2009). White, Goodrich C. “Old Oxford.” An Address by the President of Emory University, 1947. Emory College general records, Emory University Archives, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta. Williams, Robert E. Memorandum to librarian Sara Gregory, April 16, 1971. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA. Zodiac. 1893; 1894; 1895; 1897; 1898; 1901. Oxford, GA: Students of Emory College. Oxford College of Emory University, Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library Special Collections & Archives, Oxford, GA.

136 | Cornerstone and Grove

CONVERSATIONS, CORRESPONDENCE, AND INTERVIEWS WITH AUTHOR Akard, Andy Allgood, Diane Kirby Baillie, Joan Bayerle, Henry Black, Barbara Bowen, Stephen Budd-Spradley, Grace Carter, Eloise Cline, Pierce Conner, Sheilah Dolson, Todd Eady, Virgil Elizer, Fran Elizer, Marshall Fleming, Bond Godfrey, John P., Jr. Greer, Judy Henderson, Steve Johnson, Emmie Johnson, Tom Lemons, Clark McCanless, Laura Millsaps, Cynthia Mitchell, Al Mitchell, William R., Jr. Oliver, Hoyt P. Oliver, LaTrelle Blackburn Phillips, Claude Phillips, Jean NEWSPAPERS Sirotkin, Jennifer Howard Atlanta Journal Sitton, Eva Atlanta Constitution Watterson, Jim Covington News

index Numbers in italics indicates figures and

Allgood’s Grocery Store, 102

Black, Barbara, 24, 68

photographs.

Alpha Tau Omega, 119

boardinghouses, 103–4

Alumni Hall, 91

Boland Brothers press, 103

Andrew, James Osgood, 37, 94

Bonnell, John Fletcher, 74

Andrew College, 60

Bonnell dormitory, 74, 75

Abreu & Robeson, 59, 67, 76

Andrew Hall, 70, 71, 72

Bonnell family, 87

Adam, Robert, 127n20

Angels’ Retreat, 72

bookstore, 46, 58, 66

African Americans

Anglo-Chinese College, 41

Bowen, Nancy, 91

churches for, Emory-connected, 37–38

“Aquarium,” 83–84

Bowen, Stephen, 32, 91

contributions of, to early Emory

Arcade, the, 99–100

Branham, Elizabeth, 77

Asbury, Francis, 14

Branham, Fannie Longstreet, 92

Atkinson, Jack, 92

Branham, Henry, 92

Atkinson, Jane, 92

Branham, J. W., store of, 101–2

Ayers Saint Gross, 23

Branham, Martha, 77

———

College, 88 formal education for, in Oxford (1870s), 98 Akard, Andy, 80 Alexander Means House, 89–90

Branham, W. R., Sr., 92

Allen, Young J., 41

baseball field, 61–62, 85

Branham family, 87, 92

Allen Memorial (United) Methodist Church,

Bass, Henry, 99

Branham House, 89, 92–93, 118

Batson-Cook, 68, 76

Branham/East Dormitory, 59, 75–77

Bell, Madison, 99

Briar Patch, 104

Allgood, Bill, 54–55, 74

Benton, L. O., 83

Brown, Frank Clyde, 65

Allgood, Marguerite, 54

Bivings, W. Troy, 63

Bryan, Samuel J., 17

Allgood family, 102

Bivings Field, 63

Bryan, T. M., 99

33, 40–42, 59, 76, 81, 106, 114 former parsonage for, 120

Index | 137

Index

Buck, Polly Stone, 42, 71

C. J. Howell’s Grocery and Ice Cream, 99

Dickey, James E., 39, 50, 65, 74, 103, 105–6

Budd family, 97

Clark’s Grove, 13

Dickey dormitory, 74

Bullard, F. F., 65

class gifts, 83–84

Doll House, 73

Bullock, Henry Morton, 34, 69

classroom buildings, 43–54

Dongwu (Suzhou) University, 41

Burt, W. T., 100

Cline, Earl, 129n27

Dooley, 83

Cline, J. E., 63

Dooley’s Tavern, 73

Callaway, Morgan, 56

Cline, Pierce L., 63

dormitories, 18, 25, 43, 44. See also

Campus Master Plan, 77, 79, 83

Cline Tennis Center, 63–64

Campus (Oxford neighborhood), 89

Coca-Cola, first time served in Newton

campus woods, 84–85

County, 102

individual building listings boys’ dorms, 74–75 coed floors in, 78

Candler, Asa G., 65, 102, 105, 106

Coke, Thomas, 14

girls’ dorm, 75–77

Candler, Warren A., 35, 41, 50, 56, 61,

college chapel (original campus chapel),

Old Pierce Hall used for, 51, 74

64, 106 Candler Hall, 31, 41, 45, 50, 55–58, 59, 62, 106, 113

17–18, 33, 34, 38 Columbus (GA), 13, 92 Column Circle, 86

original, closing of, 69 transition back to, after helping hall system, 71–72

Capers, William, 26

Commencement Hall, 34

Dowman, Charles E., 50, 71, 74

Capers Dickson House, 96–97

Confederate hospital, 18. See also

Dowman dormitory, 74, 75

Capers family, 87

Hood Hospital

Dowman Hall, 43, 51

Card, Janice, 58

Cook’s store, 102

Downtown, 89, 98

Card Student Center, 58

Co-Op, the, 66, 67

D. T. Stone & Company, 99, 102–3

Carlton, Wilbur “Squire,” 39, 101

cornerstones, 11

Dubois, Millie O’Kelley, 60

Carpenter, George S., 21

Old Church, 34, 124n1

Carter & Associates, 79

Pierce Hall (new), 52

Carter-de Golian, 68

Pierce Hall (old), 52

Dumas, W. T., 70 Eady, David, 92

Chapel-Academy, 34, 97

Cosby, G. B., 50

Eady, Louise, 92

chapels. See college chapel, prayer chapel

cottages, from Manual Labor School, 69

Eady, Susanne Stone, 48, 60

chapel services, 38

Counseling Center, 79

Eady, Vicki, 92

Chemistry Hall, 45, 47

Covington and Oxford Street Railroad,

Eady, Virgil, 92

civic organizations, donating to campus landscape, 83–84

98, 99 Crawford, Helen Bivings, 63

Civil War, effect of, on campus, 18, 20, 22,

Eady, Virgil Y. C., 22, 34, 48, 52, 76, 82, 84, 91 Eady Admissions Center, 48, 112

23, 34, 37, 84–85, 122n12 (chap. 2),

Dearing, Richard Kennon, 89–90

East College, 18, 70

122n16

Dial, B. E., 103

Eastmoore, Ray, 127n35

138 | Cornerstone and Grove

Index

East Village Residential Center, 51, 77, 78, 79–80, 116

Few Literary Society, 19, 20–21, 34, 55,

Gunn’s Store, 99

83, 84

Elizer, Fran, 60

Few Monument, 6–7, 83, 84

Haderman, C. J., 34

Ellis, Wales, 127n31

Few and Tarbutton, 24

Hardeman, Lee, 102

Ellis family, 127n31

Field Day, 63

Harris, Young L. G., 71, 72, 91

Emmerich, C. O., 51

First Methodist Church (Covington, GA), 40

Harris Hall, 71, 72, 122n2

Emory College

Fitzgerald, O. P., 56

Harwell’s Grocery, 100, 101, 104

beginnings of, 13, 19, 43

Fleming, Bond, 59, 60, 63, 67, 76, 77–78

Harwells, 103

engaging in community planning

Florida Hall, 70–71, 96, 118

Haygood, Atticus Greene, 28, 29, 36, 41,

from its outset, 87 histories of, 11

Fowler, Mary Louise, 64 Freedmen’s Aid Society, 37, 98

library collection of (ca. 1890), 31

70, 71, 72, 91, 95 sermon of, regarding postwar reconciliation, 12, 28

after move to Atlanta, 107–08

Galloway, William, 21, 26, 96

Haygood Dormitory, 49, 81, 86, 106

original buildings of, 16–18

general stores, 100–104

Haygood family, 87

original seal of, 25

George, Enoch, 14

Haygood Hall, 71, 72–74, 77–78, 116

transition to Atlanta, 105–6

Georgia Conference Manual Labor School

Haygood House, 81, 95–96, 118

Emory-at-Oxford, 74

(MLS), 13, 19, 37, 69, 90, 93

Emory University, 11

Georgia Conference of the Methodist

formation of, 105–6 Ways and Means Committee, 91

Episcopal Church, South, 34

Haynes, Curry T., 85, 86 Hearn, Elizabeth Candler, 85 Hearn Nature Trail, 85–86

Georgia Hall, 71

helping hall system, 70–71

Emory University Academy, 31

Georgia Institute of Technology, 48

Henderson, Frank A., 100, 101

England, Penny, 86

Georgia Railroad, spur of, going to

Hentz & Reid, 72

Evans, Clement A., 56 Evans, W. W., 99 Everett, A. F. N., 41

campus, 51 Georgia United Methodist Commission on

High Point at Chestnut Grove, 119 Hill, the, 89

Higher Education and Campus

History Hall, 45

Ministry, 58

Hoke O’Kelley Memorial Library, 55, 58,

Faculty Row, 89

Glover, Edmund, 127n35

F. A. Henderson’s, 99, 101

Grand Masonic Lodge of Georgia, 83, 84

Holcombe, W. H., 20

female students, first resident, 73

Graves, Iverson, 37

Hood Hospital, 22, 23, 27

Few, Ignatius Alphonso, 13–14, 17, 20, 23,

Greene, Dana, 23–24, 68, 78, 83

Hopkins, Isaac Stiles, 29, 47–48, 90, 93

Greer, Judy, 64

Hopkins Hall, 47–49, 67, 112

Gregory, Sara, 59, 60

Hopkins (Hall) Gymnasium, 64–65

Guillebeau, Joseph, 68

Hopkins House, 93, 118

71, 83, 88, 90, 91, 92 Few Hall, 16, 20, 21, 23–24, 40, 41, 45, 68, 81, 82, 110

59–60, 82, 114

Index | 139

Index

houses of worship, 33–42. See also

Landt Field Laboratory, 55

Mell-Dickson House, 96–97

Lane, George W., 37, 93

memorials, 83

housing, 69–80

Laney, James, 77

Methodism, 33

Howell, C. J., 101

Language Hall, 39, 44–45, 47, 112

Methodist Church, 87

Huddle, the, 103, 104

Leadership in Energy and Environmental

individual building listings

Humanities Hall, 39, 45–47, 82, 111

Design (LEED), 79

campaign for Georgia Methodist colleges, 52

Leaf Press, 103

slavery controversy in, 19, 94

infirmary, 76–77

Lewmans, M. T., 50

Visitors Committee of, report on Emory

Ivey, Shelley, 99

libraries, 45, 55–60. See also individual

Ivey and Crook, 52

building listings L. L. Johnson’s, 99, 101

facilities (1893), 49–50 Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 37, 41, 94

Jacobs Pharmacy, 99

Loehr, George R., 70

Meyer, Carlos, 67

J. H. Dorsey—Shoemaker and

Longstreet, A. B., 37, 69, 90–91, 94

Milligan House, 119

Longstreet family, 87

MLS. See Georgia Conference Manual

Repairer, 99 Johnson House, 103

Longstreet’s Quarter, 69

Jolley, Fleming L., 74, 75

Lord Aeck & Sargent, 75

Moncrief, J. William, 31, 53, 64, 77

Jolley Residential Center (JRC), 74–75, 112

Loyless, Betsy, 63

monuments, 83

Jova Daniels Busby, 79

Loyless, Helen, 63

Moon, Joe, 78, 80

Jova, Henri, 76, 80

Labor School

Moore, Arthur J., 36

J. O. Weldon & Co., 103

Marvin Hall, 70, 71, 72, 73

Mother Ellis, 104

J. Z. Johnson’s, 99, 102

Mason’s store, 102

Murdy, Nancy, 93

McCanless, Forrest, 95

Murdy, William H., 23, 48, 53, 75, 78, 83,

Key, Joseph Staunton, 91

McCanless, Laura, 95

Kirkland, Marty, 78

McCord, H. Y., 94

“Kitty’s Cottage,” 94

McGiboney, Jill, 101

Knox, James B., 44

McGiboney, Mark, 101 McKendree, William, 14

91, 93 Murphy, George, 51 New Church. See Young J. Allen Memorial Church

Lamar, Lucius Q. C., 91, 92

McLain, Kenneth, 70

New Haygood Hall. See Haygood Hall

Lamar, Virginia Longstreet, 91

Means, Alexander H., 15, 21, 27, 37,

New Pierce Hall. See Pierce Science Hall

Lamar family, 87

69, 90, 93

New South Construction, 79

landscape, 81–86

Mell, Patrick H., 34, 96

Nix Mann & Associates, Inc., 48

Landt, Fred, 55

Mell, William H., 34, 96

“No. 4,” 71. See also President’s Home

140 | Cornerstone and Grove

Index

Norrmann, C. L., 50 North Georgia Methodist Conference, 36

designated as Methodist historic shrine, 36 Emory-connected preparatory schools in, 97–98

Oxford College: An Uncommon Place (Moon), 106 Oxford Colored School, 98 Oxford Day, 32

O’Kelley, Hoke Smith, 60

expanding borders of, 14–15

Oxford Female Academy, 97

Old Church, 14, 34–37, 42, 81, 87, 115,

as extension of Emory College,

Oxford Historical Cemetery, 88–89

122n12 (chap. 2)

87–88

Old Griffin Place, 71

growth beyond borders of, 108

Old Main, 20, 25–27, 29, 33, 34, 43,

historic district of, added to

45, 55, 122n12 (chap. 2) Old Pierce Hall. See Pierce Memorial Science Hall

National Registry, 36 historic homes of, connected to Emory, 89–97

Oliver, Hoyt P., 86, 96

incorporation of, 13

Oliver, LaTrelle, 96

Old Church becoming property of,

Orna Villa, 14, 15, 89–90, 115 Orr, Gustavus, 37 Oxford, as municipality and campus, 11 after college’s move to Atlanta, 106, 107–08 elements of, sustaining sense of continuity, 12 families of, 87

35–36 participating in Tree City USA, 121n12

Oxford Historical Cemetery Foundation Inc., 88 Oxford Historical Shrine Society, 87, 94 Oxford Institute of Environmental Education, 54 Oxford Lions Club, 46 Oxford Methodist Church. See Old Church Oxford Shrine Society, 36 Oxford Woman’s Club, 84 OxHouse Science Center, 53–54

preparation for 1996 Olympics, 104 town jail, 103

Pace, James M., 56

town plan of, 13–15, 25, 81–82

Paine, Robert, 94

tree care in, 15

Paine, Robert Lee, 94

Oxford College

Paine House, 94–95

histories of, 11

aerial view of (c. 1940s), 81

Palmer, James E., 97

incremental changes in, 12

establishing modern sewer system in

Palmer Institute, 61, 97, 102

Oxford (GA) areas of town, 89 business district, diminished by college’s move to Atlanta, 104 city council of, rezoning site to allow for East Village Residential Center, 79 commerce in, 98, 99–104

Newton County, 74 relationship with Palmer-Stone Elementary School, 98 religious diversity of, 40

Palmer-Stone Elementary School, 97–98 Parkins and Bruce, 29 Parks, “Aunt Dolly,” 91 Parks, W. J. “Uncle Billy,” 91

Oxford College Alumni Board, 85–86

Pate, W. A., 100

Oxford College of Emory University

Patillo, William P., 56, 65, 106

aerial view (2009), 109

Patton, S. M., 56

student population of, 108

Peasville, 89, 98

Index | 141

Index

Peed, Mansfield, 39

Rivers family, 89

Phi Gamma Hall, 4–5, 16, 20, 21, 22–23,

Rivers Hill, 89

Smith, Osborn L., 21, 44, 46

Robinson Fischer Associates, 23

Smith’s Baggage Transfer and General

40, 41, 45, 81, 110 Phi Gamma Literary Society, 19–21, 55, 83, 84, 122n2

Rock Store, 100, 101, 120

church for, 33, 37–38

Drayage, 99

Rosenwald, Julius, 98

Soldiers Cemetery, 85

Phillips, Claude, 97

Rosenwald Foundation, 98

Soule, Joshua, 14

Phillips, Jean, 97

ROTC cadets, 62

steward’s hall, 18, 19

physical education facilities, 61–68

Rust, Richard S., 37

Stewart, Emmie, 103–4

Pierce, George Foster, 21, 26, 43–44, 49,

Rust Chapel, 37

Stewart, Joseph S., 29

Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, 38

Stewart, Sallie, 103–4

50, 81, 91 Pierce, Lovick, 43, 49, 50 Pierce Memorial Science Hall (Old Pierce

Stewart House, 103–4 Sassnet, William, 91

Stone, D. T., 103

Hall), 41, 43, 49–52, 74, 75, 81,

Saunders, Charles, 17

Stone, George W. W., Jr., 26–27

82, 83, 106

Schley, William, 43

Stone, George W. W., Sr., 20, 22, 37, 92

Pierce Program in Religion, 86

School of Technology, 47–48

Stone, Harry Harlan, 25, 26, 51–52, 74, 85,

Pierce Science Hall (New Pierce Hall), 45,

Science Hall (Old Science Hall), 39, 45, 46,

52–53, 82, 116

47, 55. See also Humanities Hall

97–98 Stone, Susanne, 92

Potts Construction Company, 36

Seney, George I., 28

Stone dormitory, 74

pranks, 32, 39

Seney Hall, title page, 25, 27–32, 41, 48,

Stone family, 87, 92

prayer chapel, 38–40, 47, 111 preparatory school, Emory-connected, in Oxford, 97–98 Presbyterian College, 77 President’s Home, 71, 89, 90–92, 95, 117

59, 76, 99, 110 library of, 2–3, 55, 56 pranks at, 32 tower bell of, 27, 32 Serenity Circle for Meditation and

Pyburn, Jack, 36

Outdoor Learning, 86

Student Health Services, 79 students, living with faculty and town residents, 69–71 Students’ Barber Shop, 103 Students’ Restaurant, 103 Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein, 24, 68

Shakerag, 89 quadrangle, 81–83

Sherwood House, 120

Taft, William Howard, 99

Sigma Nu, 120

Tarbutton, Gena, 23–24

Rathskeller, 58, 113

Sitton, Claude, 92–93

Tarbutton, Hugh, 23–24

Rawlins, J. E. [Jim], 103

Sitton, Eva, 92–93

Tarbutton Performing Arts Center, 24, 110

recitation building (unnamed), 39, 45

slaves

tennis courts, 63–64

Reinhardt College, 60

142 | Cornerstone and Grove

cemetery for, 88–89

Texas (Oxford neighborhood), 89

Index

Thacker’s blacksmith forge, 102

Williams, Jesse Parker (J. P.), 50, 56, 65, 106

Thomas, Edward Lloyd, 13–14, 89, 92,

Williams Gymnasium, 65–68, 97, 104,

122n2

106, 117

Thomas, James R., 69, 85

Williams Hall, 41, 42, 76, 117

Thomas, John R., 37

Winship, George, 56, 65

Thomas-Stone House, 89, 92, 119

Wood, Carey, 13

Tippett and Associates, 78

Woodruff Foundation, 31, 67

Tree City USA, Oxford’s participation in,

Woodruff Library (Emory University Druid

121n12

Hill campus), 127n35

tree plantings, by students, 83 Turner, Edward Kimbrough, 97

Yarbrough, John, 15

Turner-Budd House, 97

Yarbrough family, 87 Yarbrough Oak, 15

United Methodist Church, designating

Young Harris College, 60

Oxford as Methodist historic shrine, 36

Zora Fair’s Cottage, 71

U.S. Green Building Council, 79 Wagener and Gorenflo, 56 Wansley, Jay, 79 Washeteria, 104 Washington, Booker T., 98 waterworks systems, 51–52, 56, 79–80 W. C. Williams, 103 Wearing, Janice, 95–96 Wearing, Jeff, 95–96 Weber, William Lander, 62, 72 Weber Field, 62–63 Wesley, John, 13, 14 West College, 18, 70 Whatcoat, Richard, 14 White, Goodrich C., 51

Index | 143