History of Ohio Wesleyan University - Depression Years

Depression Years

During the 1920s the chapel service was dropped and sororities came into being. Edgar Hall came into use and Selby Stadium was built. Austin Manor and Perkins Observatory was constructed and Stuyvesant Hall was planned.

The 1930s were marked by the effects of The Great Depression years. Even before 1929 there had been a shrinkage of enrollment, alumni donations decreased, and faculty size remained the same resulting in the Soper (1928–1938) and Burgstahler's (1939–1947) administration battling mainly financial problems of survival. During the early 1930s the university administration undertook curriculum adjustments. Greek and Latin seemed to decline in popularity, business administration and economics continued to remain attractive, with the social sciences, English, pre-medicine and history among the largest enrollments at the school. The registrar in these years stated that these years saw a student "increase from eastern states and from Ohio cities, the number of foreign students and the fact that about seven hundred of our students contemplated some form of further educational work". By the 1930s, the number of Methodist students had appreciably declined to a minority among the student body.

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Famous quotes containing the words depression and/or years:

    Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the grand-daughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me. Slavery is sixty years in the past. The operation was successful and the patient is doing well, thank you. The terrible struggle that made me an American out of a potential slave said “On the line!” The Reconstruction said “Go!” I am off to a flying start and I must not halt in the stretch to look behind and weep.
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    Talleyrand said that two things are essential in life: to give good dinners and to keep on fair terms with women. As the years pass and fires cool, it can become unimportant to stay always on fair terms either with women or one’s fellows, but a wide and sensitive appreciation of fine flavours can still abide with us, to warm our hearts.
    M.F.K. Fisher (b. 1908)