worsening depression, enrollment increased. The lack of funds for 1933 caused more concern as the legislature considered balancing the state budget by further cutting educational expenses. Knapp explained that if this occurred, he would have to cut salaries across the board. Then on July 28, 1932, he issued his valedictory report, which said, “to dismantle the work here at Auburn at the present time would be a crime.”
Once upon a time in Auburn
T
he president said the institute owed $563,000 in debt for the “instructional division,” with 61 percent of this in unpaid salaries. When he was done with his report, he resigned. The trustees appointed an administrative committee of three men to discharge the duties of the office of president, including Luther N. Duncan, director of the Agricultural Extension Service; Bolling Hall Crenshaw, head professor of mathematics – and engineering’s John J. Wilmore. The mild mannered 69-year-old dean of engineering, who did not like to speak in public, began by recapping the dismal financial situation. One of the most urgent needs of the institute was money for maintenance because Knapp had neglected old buildings while he built new ones. Roofs leaked, walls needed painting and the campus needed general maintenance.
Clockwise from top: Registration by hand; flathead Ford demo in class; long lines; The Road to Morocco begins at Tiger Theater
During the 1934 academic year, API awarded the largest number of degrees it had ever granted, but enrollment during the fall semester of 1934 dropped to the lowest level since the start of the depression. Engineering enrollment remained at about 41 percent of the total student body, after peaking at 52 percent in 1926. However, the engineering freshman class in 1934 was large, which augured well for future growth. Auburn limped along paying less than half of faculty salaries and the typical faculty member lived on $67.50 per month, or about $1,100 in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars. Resignations increased and despite a shortage of teachers, they hired few replacements. Wilmore appointed Charles Hixon as temporary assistant dean of engineering since his duties as chair took up most of his time. When Bibb Graves returned as governor in 1935, he appointed a presidential selection committee that picked Luther N. Duncan as president. Wilmore, 71 and obviously relieved to return to the School of Engineering, expressed his “genuine pleasure” with the Auburn Engineering 23