A Time to Remember

A Time

to

Remember AN INFORMAL HISTORY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER COLLEGE

1884·1984

by Morton A. Schroeder Dr. Martin Luther College New VIm, Minnesota

Copyright Š 1984 by Dr. Martin Luther College All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America

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This book is dedicated to the Triune God and all who taught and all who learned at Dr. Martin Luther College

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FOREWORD As in the past, new books are appearing on the market in great numbers each day. Authors are writing on many different topics and subjects. Some of these books have become very popular and are among the best sellers. Others take their place among books that are read and then put aside. Still others find their way into only a few readers' hands and are quickly forgotten.

When a writer undertakes a project of writing the history of a school, and especially a centennial history which reaches back more than a generation, it is not an easy task. Not only is it necessary to do intensive research and seek out information from countless individuals, but it is of great importance to read many reports and review the minutes of countless meetings of the board of control, the faculty, and various committees. When all of this painstaking work is finished, the writer faces the gigantic problem of organizing all of the materials, determining an outline to follow, and finally writing the history of the institution in a readable and interesting style. He must be constantly mindful of his readers. His ultimate desire and goals are to have his readers not only want to refer to the book for some details of a given era of the school or seek out a subject of specific interest, but to experience great delight in reading the book from beginning to end and gain a clear picture of the events and happenings in the institution's history.

Professor Morton A. Schroeder was given the formidable task of meeting this challenge and writing the history of Dr. Martin Luther College. In preparation for the centennial of the college, the DMLC Board of Control commissioned Professor Schroeder to carry out this project. His assignment was to write a book which would not only carefully and flawlessly present an exact record of the events that took place in the early beginnings and during the stages of development of the college, but at the same time capture the spirit of the times and the pulse of the school he himself holds dear to his heart. We trust you will agree with us upon reading the book that he has successfully accomplished this goal.

Professor Schroeder graduated from Dr. Martin Luther College in 1941, a time when the college still offered a three year program to train young men and women for the teaching ministry. He obtained his bachelor of science in education degree in 1946 from Concordia v

Teachers College in River Forest, Illinois by attending summer sessions during his first years of teaching. One of the Christian day schools in which he taught and served as principal was St. Paul's Lutheran School in New Ulm where he renewed acquaintances and developed some close ties with Dr. Martin Luther College. Before coming to the college, Professor Schroeder had the joy and privilege of serving as teacher and first principal of St. Croix Lutheran High School from 1958-1971. Here he was confronted with many new situations and challenges in establishing and developing a Lutheran high school in a metropolitan area. In 1971 he came to Dr. Martin Luther College where he has served as professor in the English division.

Since he received his bachelor's degree from Concordia Teachers College, Professor Schroeder took a number of graduate courses at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. In the summer of 1974 he attended the University of Edinburgh in Scotland taking several courses which were both challenging and rewarding. In 1979 he returned to England once more and spent seven months visiting and studying many historic places where British authors were born, lived, wrote and died.

Professor Schroeder is a gifted writer. His style is always interesting and refreshing. He has authored a number of articles, essays, and books. His most recent book which has found a place in many Lutheran homes and has been enjoyed by all is Martin Luther - Man of God. It is with pleasure and with gratitude to God that we commend to you the book A Time to Remember as we are privileged to celebrate the centennial of our beloved Dr. Martin Luther College. Not only will graduates of this institution find joy in reading this book and adding it to their library, but friends of the college and members of our churches throughout the synod will find this book interesting and appealing. It presents the history of the college in a very informal, informative but at the same time delightful manner.

The college is extremely grateful to Professor Schroeder for his work and tireless efforts. Not to be overlooked in our expression of thanks is his wife, Bettie. Her encouragement, her assistance, and the many hours spent in typing the original manuscript are noteworthy of mention.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Lloyd Huebner, President Dr. Martin Luther College vi

Preface Old Main has watched over the campus of Dr. Martin Luther College, the city of New Ulm, and the valley of the Minnesota River for one hundred years. It has seen the trivial and the magnificent. It has heard shouts of joy and cries of sorrow. It has watched the seasons in their unending parade mark the passage of time. It has stood on the bluff while babies were born, grew into childhood and then adulthood, and finally passed from the earthly scene. Old Main has witnessed a century of events, something I chose to call "A Time to Remember."

Our foreparents are gone; their deeds remain. Surely we would be remiss if we, on the one hundredth birthday of this school which is dedicated to serve God and country, did not stand at attention for at least one day and say, "Yes, this is an opportune time to recall the past. Today is 'A Time to Remember.'''

Anachronisms abound in this book. For the sake of clarity and convenience I often use the names of the campus buildings which people use today. A glossary explains the various names in vogue throughout the years. Ellipses are omitted unless conditions warrant their use. I tried to avoid using antique terminology. Although the students were called boys and girls even into the 40s, I call them men and women. There is one exception: Hilltoppers is used until the history reaches the 60s. Quotation marks are used to indicate language not mine. However, the quotations are not documented in this informal history. If the reader wishes to, he or she may trace them in the sources given in The Back of the Book Pages.

New Ulm does not sit square with the world, and this posed problems with directions. I use them loosely, thus: If you stand on the front steps of Old Main and face the town, you are facing east; west is behind you, north is to your left, and south to your right.

The location of the synod's seminary, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary as it is now called (1959 Proceedings), causes some confusion.

During the 100 years of DMLC's existence the seminary was located in three places but had four addresses: It was located in Milwaukee from 1878 to 1893, in Wauwatosa from 1893 to 1929, and in Thiensville from 1929 to 1960. Although the seminary did not move, its Thiens-

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ville address was changed. The November 6, 1960 issue of the Northwestern Lutheran gives an "Addresses Change at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary." It lists the new addresses for the seven professors and gives the following for the seminary itself: "Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, 11831 N. Seminary Drive 65 w., Mequon, Wisconsin."

Insofar as I was able, I tried to relate the past to the present, contemporary events on campus to a broader world, and the individual item to the whole piece.

MAS

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Acknowledgments This book was written with the kind help of many, many people, and I want to thank them for their interest in it and their patience with its sometimes persistent and pesky author. I have tried to keep record of each person or group of persons who contributed time, information, counsel and advice, and technical expertise. Omission of any name was inadvertent and herewith my apology should such omission exist. Titles were omitted for the sake of brevity and uniformity. Occasionally this self-imposed rule was waived in the case of a married woman or widow whose maiden name I do not know.

Florence Raddatz Arras, William D. Arras, Herbert A. Berg, Ruth Siljan Birkholz, Mary Ann Gieseke Bode, John Brenner, Ruth Frey Brenner, Delmar C. Brick, Brown County Historical Society, Robert Buschkopf, DMLC Board of Control, DMLC business office secretaries, Armin Engel, Douglas Fillner, Warren G. Gerber, Arthur F. Glende, Ruth Lorenz Glende, Dorothy Kleist Grams, Evelyn Dorow Hansmann, Thomas Haar, Theodore J. Hartwig, Ludwig J. Hauser, George H. Heckmann, Marie Meyer Heckmann, Paul A. Helland, Thomas Henning, Thomas C. Hilger, Robert Hinnenthal, Frances Redeker Hoenecke, Roland H. Hoenecke, Lloyd O. Huebner, John R. Isch, Gerald J. Jacobson, Karen Janke, Roland J. Kahnert, Lucille Rengsdorf Kiekbusch, Pam Kitzberger, Arnold J. Koelpin, Robert H. Krueger, Dorothy Schlueter Kujawski, Emil Leitzke, Dale Markgraf, Arthur J. Meier, Ginger Sugden Melzer, Edward H. Meyer, Henry G. Meyer, John Micheel, Laura Meyer Miller, Minnesota State Historical Society, Al Mueller, Edwin H. Nolte, Emma Loeslin Nolte, Gertrude Vogel Nolte, Waldemar Nolte, John E. Oldfield, Kurt F. Oswald, New Ulm Public Library reference department, New Ulm Public Utilities Commission (Dennis Horner), John W. Paulsen, Theodore J. Pelzl, Martin B. Petermann and family, Deborah Plath, Darvin Raddatz, Naomi Sauer Radke, June Miller Ring, Lester Ring, Jane Schlavensky Ross, John A. Ruege, Bert Schapekahm, Florence Scharlemann, George Schimmele, Arthur J. Schulz, Regina Schulz, Erich H. Sievert, Herbert A. Sitz (deceased), David Stabell, Mrs. Jerome Timm, C. J. Trapp, Roger Vomhof, Deb Owens Walz, Amanda Wessel, Howard L. Wessel, Lucille Carmichael Wessel, Clara Oswald Wichmann, Gwen Zimmerman.

The Aid Association for Lutherans, Appleton, Wisconsin, underwrote part of the publishing costs of A Time to Remember. Their interest in a book of this nature and their subsequent generosity speaks well for the concept of fraternal life insurance.

I am especially grateful to President-emeritus Conrad Frey, at whose 'suggestion the board of control undertook the centennial history; Bruce R. Backer, the chairman of the centennial committee who at every opportunity

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encouraged the members of the synod to send me useful materials; Glenn R. Barnes, the ever-patient chairman of the committee in charge of publishing the book; Otto Engel and David W. Schroeder for doing research for the book; and my wife Bettie M. Schroeder who put the manuscript on a word processor.

Ames E. Anderson and A. Kurt Grams, my colleagues and friends, were kind enough to read the manuscript. To them my thanks for correcting errors of facts and suggesting changes in vocabulary, style, and content. If A Time to Remember has merit, they deserve praise; if it has none, I alone am at fault.

Morton A. Schroeder New Ulm, Minnesota July 13, 1984

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CONTENTS Chapter One: The Setting in Time and Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter Two: The Beginning Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

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Chapter Three: The Changing Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

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Chapter Four: The Triumphant and Tragic Years. . . . . . . . . . . ..

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Chapter Five: The Postwar Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

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Chapter Six: The Coming of Age Years

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Chapter Seven: The Watershed Years

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Chapter Eight: The Expansion Years

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Chapter Nine: The Consolidation Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 159 The Back of the Book Pages A Final Thought. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

A Beginning Dictionary of DMLC Words and Phrases The Names of the Campus Buildings Campus Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A Folio of Photographs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

The DMLC Alma Mater Sources Index

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173 175 179 181 183 189 191 195

Chapter

One The Setting in Time and Place Dr. Martin Luther College was born into a world radically different from the one which exists in the ninth decade of the twentieth century. Fundamental ways of doing things, of existing, of living, and of looking at the world and its inhabitants are diametrically different today from what they were then. The rudimentary division of time into work, play, and rest segments has altered so much that the pioneers would be hard pressed to recognize the present state of affairs as reality. Like Alice, they might be tempted to think they had fallen "down the rabbit-hole." And like Alice, they might be tempted to exclaim, "Curiouser and curiouser!" These differences are evident in conditions which existed in the home, town, state, country, and church.

Houses on the frontier in 1884 lacked electricity, running water, sanitary sewage system, and central heating system. Machines which depend upon electricity for their life's blood were distant glimmers in inventors' fertile minds. The pioneer lacked refrigerator and freezer, dish washer and dryer, electric stove, microwave oven, mixer and blender and can opener, radio and television, hair blower and dryer, computer, telephone, garbage disposal, clothes washer and dryer, air conditioner, humidifier and dehumidifier, and power tools of all

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kinds. Because running water was non-existent, the pump at the kitchen sink, the well in the backyard or at the corner two blocks away, and artesian springs were sources of water for cooking, washing, and bathing. Lack of sanitary sewage system required the use of what was euphemistically called an outhouse. The cook stove in the kitchen, a pot-bellied stove in the dining room or parlor, and perhaps one other stove in a room regarded crucial to the family'S operation tried to keep out the biting cold of a Minnesota winter. Subtract from life as it is lived today other products of the twentieth century, and a fair picture of the rugged quality of pioneer home life emerges.

Snatches of the pioneers' vocabulary and language taken from early records reveal a great deal about their lives and concerns: wagon, log house, "cut wood in the bottom lands for steamboats plying the river," "the claim was pre-empted," wild prairie land, "he broke prairie for the settlers, using two yoke of oxen for motive power," unbroken forest, cleared the place, "bought 80 acres of land for $700.00," "only one suit of clothes," homesteaded, and staked out.

New Ulm, Minnesota was little more than a frontier village during the decades between its founding in 1854 and the founding of Dr. Martin Luther College in 1884. Like its namesake in Germany during the age of the Romans, it was the ultimate limits of the military. A reconstruction of the village as it was in July, 1862, shortly before what has become known as "the Sioux uprising," reveals that only 237 buildings existed at the time, and they were scattered widely over an area stretching from what is now Seventeenth Street North to Tenth Street South and from Valley Street in the Minnesota River basin to about one block west of Garden Street at the foot of College Hill. The population of the village grew unevenly. It was 1309 in 1870, 2183 in 1873, and 2179 in 1875. By 1880, it had reached 2470. Representative occupations were architect, baker, banker, barber, beer wagon driver, blacksmith, bookkeeper, brewmaster, builder, butcher, carpenter, clergyman, clothier, coal man/iceman, confectioner, cook, cooper, cowhand, delivery boy or man, doctor, draper, drayman, druggist, drummer, express office clerk, farmer, flour tester, greenhouse operator, grocer, hardware clerk, harness maker, hat shop clerk, hotelier, jeweler, laundryman, liveryman, locomotive engineer, machinist, mason, merchant, nurse, ostler, photographer, postal clerk, postman, saloon keeper, section crew man, surveyor, tailor, tanner, teacher, telegrapher, tinker, tinner, trapper, undertaker/furniture salesman, woodcutter.

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The driver of the beer wagon was uniquely popular with the town folk. He plied the dusty streets during hot summer days and sold his beverage to those who had cash and container. Children - and this is reminiscent of David Copperfield buying his first brew, even though he was a mere tyke - were not excepted. In New Ulm, however, the beer baron assumed the youngster was acting as agent for the parent.

Early New Ulmites could, at one time or another, work in a foundry, train car repair shop, basket factory, broom factory, one of four cigar factories, sauerkraut-pickle-vinegar factory, sugar factory, woolen mill, flour mill, distillery, ice house, saw mill, one of six breweries, pop factory, one of two limestone factories, brickyard, wagon factory, and redstone quarry.

Boys and young men learned their occupations or trades by serving as apprentices on the job; they did not go to technical or vocational schools. Some careers required out of town schooling: doctor, dentist, architect, and others which demanded special skills. Career options for girls and young women were severely limited. They could look forward to being a housewife, a maid, a clerk in a limited number of stores, a nurse, or a teacher.

Music played an important part in the entertainment and social life of the villagers. Dance bands or orchestras proliferated, and social dances were held first in barns and later in various places such as Thrner Halle and, still later, in the armory. Sunday evening band concerts were presented during the summer in the band shell at German Park. Dr. Martin Luther College was involved in at least one of these early bands. Concordia Band, organized in 1884, was directed by the Rev. A. F. Reim, the second teacher engaged by the college. An early picture shows it consisted of ten members, enough to create melody, harmony, and beat.

New Ulm was a village of animals, too. When a farmer retired and moved to town, he took along a cow or two; his wife took her chickens with her. Some elderly New Ulmites can still remember the cowherd who during the clement days of spring, summer, and fall began at the south end of the village and collected all the cows and took them to the north end where lots of empty lots overgrown with grass provided ample grazing. New Ulm became a village of fences, designed more to keep out the neighbor's cows than the neighbor'S children.

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Horses were as necessary in New Ulm's early days as automobiles are today, and they were given special care and attention. The city saloons provided not only a back room where the patron's wife and children drank pop and ate bread and sausage but also a horse barn where his animal or animals were cared for. Fourteen years after DMLC was founded, the city had four livery barns located in or very near what is today regarded as the central business district. The livery met the trains, carrying either incoming or outgoing people and freight. Colorful, gaudily dressed drummers with their trunks and suitcases loaded with samples, no inconsiderable part of the liveryman's business, were taken from train to hotel. When their pitches and sales were finished, they were taken from hotel to train to move on to the next stop on their route. Meredith Willson's "music man," although he would not become a Broadway hit until 1957, was very much a part of the local pioneer scene; he was representative of the flashy salesmen as they came and went.

Dogs and cats were also part of the domestic scene, although their relative importance may have been reversed from conditions existing today. The village passed an ordinance which levied a dog tax, this in response to the complaint that there "were more dogs than people."

Cats, on the other hand, were a very scarce, necessary, and costly member of the household. Pioneers were willing to pay $5.00 apiece for them to help get rid of mice which had accompanied the very first settlers to the area.

Because New Ulm was built on the south side of the Minnesota River, the river proved to be both hindrance and highway for the early settlers. It was a hindrance for the farmers who lived on the opposite bank, for travelers who came from St. Paul, Shakopee, and Jordan, and for people who used the traverse des Sioux at St. Peter and followed the military highway between St. Peter and Fort Ridgely (now Nicollet County No.5). Two ferries, one slightly north of Fifth North Street and the other slightly north of Third South Street, provided a happenstance means of crossing the river. The crude vessels were ten to twelve feet wide and 22 to 24 feet long. The plank deck was circumscribed with a permanent railing except for those parts fore and aft where the gangplanks were attached. Humanpower, using an ingenious contraption consisting of rope, pulley, and anchor, which was a stout tree on each bank, propelled the craft back and forth across the stream. Permanent and reliable river crossings, not dependent upon the vagaries of water depth and current speed, did not

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appear until the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century. The original bridge which crossed the river in the vicinity of the present Highway 14 bridge was built in 1888. It was replaced in 1923 with a span south of the present structure. The present bridge was built in 1963. The Beussmann bridge, which is 4.1 miles up the river from city center, and the Courtland cutoff bridge, which spanned the river at Thirteenth Street South, were built, respectively, in 1891 and 1892, seven and eight years after the college was founded. The Beussmann bridge, built by the King Bridge Co., Cleveland, Ohio, is still used; the Courtland cutoff bridge was deemed unfit for travel and replaced in 1980 with a steel and concrete span at Twentieth Street South, 2.2 miles from city center. High water occasionally floods the road leading to the Beussmann bridge.

The river was also a highway. In 1853 the West Newton, soon followed by the Tiger and the Clarion, went up river to layout the site of Fort Ridgely and provision its garrison with adequate supplies.

During the 20 years that followed, steamboats ascended the river as far as Mankato or New Ulm in early spring when the water was high.

By late June the head of navigation was farther downstream: St. Peter, Henderson, Chaska, and Shakopee. One of the most dramatic moments in the history of Minnesota River steamboat navigation, as far as New Ulm is concerned, occurred on May 7, 1857: on that day the steamboat Frank Steele arrived. It had come directly from Cincinnati, Ohio with "60 to 70 new settlers." Some of the steamboats were freighters, carrying needed provisions to the settlement and wheat, other grains, and flour to the East. Some of the boats had romantic names, and it takes only a little imagination to reconstruct the excitement engendered by the arrival of the Wave, the Time and Tide, and the New Ulm Belle. This excitement most likely carried over to the painter of the famous and oft-reprinted picture, "Ansicht von New Ulm, Minnesota, 1860." This colorful panorama includes the river as it flows through the village, bearing upon its shallows no less than three paddle wheelers. Commercial, intercity river traffic died six years before Dr. Martin Luther College was born, and so no student at the new school benefited directly from this kind of transportation. The Otter was offered for sale in 1872, but no buyers came forth. Six years later it was abandoned above New Ulm, and the "last boat was gone forever from the river."

Although the last interurban steamer was gone, the river continued to serve the town on an intramural basis until as late as 1900. Produce for the merchants - and this included food for the

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students at Dr. Martin Luther College - was got in a rather novel fashion. The workers at Eagle Mill had built a steamer: the Elsie; those at Schell's Brewery had built a motor launch: the Alcantara. The Elsie and the Alcantara plied up and down the river at certain hours to pick up the farmers with their produce: eggs, milk, cream, butter, and vegetables and fruit. The farmers met merchants who with their delivery wagons had come down to river's edge to pick up the produce for their stores. When the selling, which often was trading and bartering, was finished, the merchants returned to town, and the farmers were carried back across the river.

The New Ulm Steamboat Company, which had purchased the Otter for $3,500.00 in 1869, tried to sell an unmarketable commodity when it put the vessel on the block three years later. Nobody was interested in trying to further his fortunes with the river and its unpredictable depth and current. Everyone seemed to know that the railroad was the coming thing. Already in 1861 the Winona, St. Peter & Missouri River Railroad obligated itself to lay a line to New Ulm by March 1, 1866. Although the target date was not met, the dream of efficient, reliable land transportation was realized when the first train arrived at New Ulm on February 20, 1872, between 6:00 and 7:00 in the evening. Operated by the Winona & St. Peter Railroad, which later became the present Chicago & North Western Railway Co., it opened a new era in land transportation. The first freight train carrying 600 bushels of wheat grown by local farmers left New Ulm on February 26, 1872. Before the automobile became the means of transportation, four passenger trains each way ran through New VIm daily.

Some had up to seven coaches and four baggage cars. The train remained a popular form of transportation for students attending Dr. Martin Luther College through the 1940s. One of the duties of the college buck, the faculty-appointed head of the student body roughly equivalent to the present president of the collegiate council, was to meet incoming trains, especially those that were scheduled to arrive in late evening or early morning, to see if anyone enrolled in DMLC got off. If someone did, the college buck was to make the person feel welcome and take her or him to the appropriate dormitory. When automobile and bus took away its last paying fares, the railroad was forced to discontinue passenger trains. The "Dakota 400," an attractive, brightly painted streamliner, ran its last run on October 25, 1960, and present day students know nothing about the railroad except that freight trains sometimes tie up traffic when the students are on their way out of town.

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The Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad, which came to New Ulm in 1896, took care of north-south traffic. Specials were run to the Twin Cities of St. Paul-Minneapolis at fair time. Students who were fortunate enough to go considered the outing - a 200 mile journey, round trip - a rare treat.

Minnesota was the thirty-second state to be admitted into the Union. The year was 1858. According to the federal census taken in 1860, the population was 172,023. The census of 1870 showed that the population had grown 156% and stood at 439,706. Minnesota, which ranked twenty-eighth out of 37 states, had 82,471 families living in 81,140 dwellings. However, most of these people lived south of St. Cloud and east of New Ulm. Settlement, which up to 1870 had clung to the edge of the hardwood forest, had begun to spread, albeit sparsely, out on the prairies of the west and southwest portions of the state. Some homesteaders had trouble coping with the treeless environment, and in 1873 the federal government passed the Timber Culture Act. Many settlers filed tree claims, grew tracts of timber, and grew shelter belts around their houses. By 1880 the population was 780,773, an increase of 77.5% over the previous decade. Of this number, 267,676 were foreign born: 68,182 spoke English; 107,768 spoke some Scandinavian language; 66,592 spoke German; and the rest - 25,134 _ spoke some other language. More than 61,000 land claims were filed by 1880, and one-seventh of the state was homesteaded. The average size farm was 145 acres. The principal crop was wheat, the censuses of 1890 and 1900 showing Minnesota to be the nation's leading wheat producer. It is difficult today to envision southeastern Minnesota, with its timbered acres, dairy farms, and corn fields, as a wheat belt. The principal industries were flour milling and lumber milling. The products of farm and industry were carried to market on 3,278 miles of railroad track. The state's two principal cities were St. Paul and Minneapolis. The population of each in 1880 was 41,473 and 46,887, respectively. St. Paul had only doubled its population in the decade from 1870-1880; Minneapolis had increased 31/2 times.

General Lucius F. Hubbard, the commanding officer of the Fifth Minnesota Regiment in the Civil War, was governor in 1884. He had been elected first in 1881 and reelected in 1883 - but only by men.

Although women had been given the right to vote in Wyoming Territory in 1869, the nineteenth amendment to the federal Constitution, which forbade denying or abridging the right of citizens to vote "on account of sex," was not ratified until 1920. Dairying became an

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important economic factor during Hubbard's second term; 63 creameries and 46 cheese factories were in the state by 1885. Although lumbering had been an important industry and remained so for years to come, it is strange to note that Paul Bunyan, who today is associated with the golden age of Minnesota's lumber industry, was unknown when Dr. Martin Luther College was founded. He is supposed to have been mentioned initially in a Detroit newspaper, the Michigan NewsTribune, on July 24, 1910. The first iron ore moved out of the Soudan mine on the Vermillion range in July, 1884, shortly after the cornerstone was laid at Dr. Martin Luther College. Additional discoveries made on the Vermillion quickened interest in the Mesabi, and Minnesota was on its way to becoming one of the world's great iron ore producers.

The United Sates was a relatively young and innocent nation in the 1880s. It had, it is true, fought a war to win its independence, another to maintain its place among the nations of the world, a third to expand its borders, and a fourth to establish its national unity and identity. But it had not yet engaged in the Spanish-America War, experienced the horrible carnage of World Wars I and II, and lived through the traumas of Korea and Viet Nam and their aftermaths.

A white boy child born in the United States in 1880 could expect to live to be 46.3 years old, a girl 50.1. A young man of 20 could expect to become 64.7, a young woman 68.6. A mature man of 40 could look forward to becoming 66.2, a mature woman 69.8. Comparable figures for 1970 are 68.0, 75.6, 70.3, 77.4, 71.9, 78.3. Those who lived to adulthood were concerned with practical matters as well as matters which uplifted the spirit and the mind. The brown paper bag, which is not high on the thought priority list of most people, was invented by Charles B. Stillwell in 1883. A year later the glass milk bottle, which today is primarily sought by antique collectors, was on its way to becoming the standard container for milk and, later, juices of various kinds. TWo years after this came Coca-Cola, a combination of cocalaced syrup and water. Introduced in 1886 by an Atlanta, Georgia pharmacist, it was advertised as a "brain tonic and cure for all nervous infections - sick headache, neuralgia, hysteria and melancholy." The Brooklyn Bridge, which linked America's first and third largest cities, opened on May 24, 1883 and its twin towers, built of stone and steel and arched in gothic style, were New York'sfirst skyscrapers. Only the spire of Trinity Church in Wall Street was higher. The Metropolitan Opera, purveyor to the nation of great voices and extravagant music,

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began life on October 22, 1883. Radio, television, and concert tours have brought this century-old institution to the students and faculty of another century-old establishment. And the Modern Language Association, which has opened many intellectual windows for Dr. Martin Luther College scholars, celebrated its one hundredth birthday in late December, 1983. Chester A. Arthur, who had succeeded to the presidency when the assassinated James A. Garfield died, was chief executive of our country from September 20, 1881 to March 3, 1885. The forty-eighth Congress consisted of 233 Democrats, 156 Republicans, and twelve others. All of the legislators were men. Jeanette Rankin of Montana would not become the first woman representative until 33 years had passed, and - with the exception of Rebecca L. Falton who at 88 served for one day in 1922 - Hattie W. Caraway would not become the first woman senator until 47 years had elapsed.

The German Ev. Lutheran Synod of Minnesota, under whose auspices Dr. Martin Luther College was founded, was begun in 1860.

In early summer of that year, six missionaries met at Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church in St. Paul and formed the organization. Two left soon because of language problems, and a third dropped out because of doctrinal differences. These founders were concerned about the spiritual well being of the widely scattered Christians who were arriving in Minnesota in increasing numbers. Under the kinetic and almost frenetic leadership of the mission-minded Pastor John Christian Frederick Heyer, they undertook journeys of up to 50 miles through the frontier wilderness to gather and serve small groups of Lutherans.

Their journeys were for the most part made on foot. Other means of transportation - horseback, horse and buggy, and boat - were either too slow, clumsy, and expensive or not readily available. These men, some of whom were preaching elders or preachers licensed by an esoteric, far away synod, travelled from place to place, organized preaching stations and congregations, taught and confirmed the children, preached the gospel, and administered the sacraments. They disregarded their own hardships, and unremitting poverty and toil were often their lot.

These men - devout, zealous, and apparently tireless in their work - came from a mixed theological background. Most of them had been sent out by the Pilgrim Mission House of St. Chrischona, near Basel, Switzerland. Others had' Methodist or Congregational background. Consequently, the early history of the Minnesota Synod was filled with the struggles of men trying to reach each other through

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THE SETTING IN TIME AND PLACE

God's Word and form a working relationship based upon the Scriptures and the Lutheran confessions. Charges of "lax in doctrine and practice" were not uncommon, and disciplinary actions and exclusion from fellowship strained the tiny organization even almost to the breaking point. The foundling synod took a positive step when it turned "its attention from a business-type agenda of committee reports to a fundamental study of the Word and its significance for the church body. " This positive action was almost undone by the synod's unwise association with liberal bodies: first, the General Synod and later, the General Council. These associations accomplished two things: they frustrated the desires of the Minnesota Synod to find compatability and they isolated the Minnesotans from the more conservative and orthodox Wisconsin and Missouri synods. After the Minnesotans severed relations with the General Council, they began discussions with the Wisconsin Synod, and in 1871 the two synods recognized each other as orthodox Lutheran church bodies. Severing relations with both the General Synod and the General Council meant cutting off subsidies which helped the struggling synod carry out its mission outreach. However, this was offset by the extraordinarily generous offer of the Wisconsin Synod to the Minnesota Synod "to prepare its pastors at Watertown [Wisconsin] without tuition charges, to offer free room to such students, to reduce the cost of board, and to permit them to share all donations the institution may receive," [provided the] Minnesota Synod [would] appoint a professor at Watertown and "support him with the sum of $500 per annum, the balance of the salary to be paid by the Wisconsin Synod." Both synods ratified the agreement, but the Minnesota Synod was unable to carry out its part of the bargain. Grasshoppers, as some aver, cannot be blamed for this, as the plagues did not begin until the summer of 1873. By that time a deficit of about $575.00 had already accrued in the professor's salary account. In 1875, Minnesota informed Wisconsin that it was unable to keep its promises, and the concordat was voided.

During the nine years the Minnesota Synod had existed, it had had three fundamental problems: disunity in doctrine and practice, lack of orthodox synodical fellowship, and a scarcity of workers. The synod had solved the first two by diligent study of the Scriptures and the Lutheran confessions and by aligning itself with the Wisconsin and Missouri synods. The third problem seemed to be a Gordian knot.

Statistics from 1867 reveal the extent of the problem: 22 pastors, 35

THE SETTING IN TIME AND PLACE

11

parishes, 53 congregations, and 3,000 communicants. The European connection seemed to be broken, especially because St. Chrischona, the primary source of German speaking pastors, had become so liberal in doctrine and unionistic in practice that the Minnesota Synod severed relations with it. Use of the seminaries of the Wisconsin and Missouri synods also failed, apparently, if one of the reasons for beginning Dr. Martin Luther College is true, because of the long distances involved. The use of a centrally located theological seminary, thought to be a practical reality when the Synodical Conference was established on July 10-16, 1872, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was never realized because the controversy on the doctrine of conversion, election, and predestination disrupted plans for cooperation. The Minnesota Synod was back to square one.

Enter the Rev. C. J. Albrecht and his dreams, hopes, wishes, and desires for a theological school in Minnesota. And enter also laymen who had concerned themselves with the solution to the problem of providing workers for the church. These men believed that the only solution was a school in Minnesota, one which would attract Minnesotans for church work in the state.

Depot and early New Ulm facades

12

The Rev. C.

t. Albrecht

Chapter

Two The Beginning Years The name of the Rev. C. J. Albrecht is intimately connected with the history of Dr. Martin Luther College. Generally regarded as the father of the school, Albrecht was a man of apparently inexhaustible energy and stamina. In an age of nonexistent or, at best, poor roads and tiresome horse or bone jarring horse and buggy travel, he was almost as ubiquitous as the angels themselves. The early records show him to have been here, there, and everywhere - almost simultaneously; and the reader of the record wonders how he got to so many different places in such short time spans. Albrecht was also a man of vision, and his foresight proved on more than one occasion to be a blessing to the church. Although the word was not part of the vernacular at that time, Albrecht seems additionally to have possessed that presence which we today call charisma, and he evidently used it, together with his speaking ability, to persuade his sometimes reluctant listeners that his was the only course to follow.

Christian Johann Albrecht, the child of Henry and Christina nee Schilling Albrecht, was born July 13, 1847, in Eschenau, Wuerttemberg, Germany. The first 25 years of Albrecht's life were instructive and fruitful, and they prepared him well for the four major, life changing events which occurred in his personal watershed year of 1872. He was graduated from St. Chrischona school and, conse13

14

THE BEGINNING YEARS

quently, almost fully prepared to take his place in the Lutheran ministry. He married Mary Frey, and she became the mother of their ten children. He and his young bride left their homeland and went to America. And in November he was installed as the pastor of St. John'S Lutheran Church, Lewiston, Minnesota, which had been founded in 1866.

The young pastor stayed only three months in Lewiston. In early 1873 he accepted a call to Greenwood township in Hennepin County, Minnesota. There he stayed for the next 91/2 years, ministering to his own flock and starting at least one other congregation in what is now Buffalo, Minnesota. His next and final pastorate was to be St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church, New VIm, Minnesota.

The Rev. Gottlieb Reim had been pastor of St. Paul's in New VIm since 1870. While on a sick call to the home of a member across the Minnesota River in Nicollet County, he had an accident and fell. The fall proved fatal, and he died on June 22, 1882. St. Paul's extended the call to Albrecht, and he began his ministry on August 20, 1882. This association of congregation and pastor lasted 42 years, and the blessings and happiness they mutually enjoyed was marred only by the untimely death in 1897 of Pastor Albrect's faithful wife after only 25 years of marriage.

Albrecht succeeded to the presidency of the Minnesota Synod in 1883. He was only 36 years old at the time. In this same meeting, the New VIm congregation proposed the founding of a synodical school in which young men could at most be prepared for service in the church or could at least receive a higher education without traveling to another state. Albrecht, the record indicates, had felt the need for this kind of school for some time. A well known quotation taken from A Century of Grace, the centennial history of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in New VIm, published in 1965, frames the matter in these words: "Pastor Albrecht. . . had keenly felt the need of a synodical school for the training of workers in the mission fields of this area. He was overjoyed, therefore, when laymen of his congregation proposed that he should consult the Synod about beginning such a school in New VIm. Pastor Albrecht travelled from congregation to congregation, proposing such a step. St. Paul's now offered the Synod the sum of $7,000 and a site of four acres if the school were located here."

Congregations which had contributed to St. Paul's rebuilding after a recent tornado must have been astonished at the rapid recovery of the patient.

THE BEGINNING YEARS

15

The basic facts - four acres of land and $7,000.00 - mean little unless the value of money can be determined. This is difficult to do, even in stable times. It is almost impossible to do in either inflationary or deflationary times. The period of the 1870s through the 1890s was deflationary, and debtor farmers protested vigorously at having to pay off their debts with currency that was increasing in value. They preferred an inflationary money which permitted them to retire their mortgages with currency that was worth less on payment date than at the time they had borrowed. Representative examples give some idea of the value of money in 1884 when compared with times before and since: The house at 212 South German Street, New Ulm, was built in 1865 at a cost of $600.00. It was sold seven years later for $2,900.00, the price including five lots. The majestic, Queen Anne style house on the corner of Center Street and State Street in New Ulm was built in 1887 for John Lind at a cost of $5,000.00. The Nicollet County courthouse in St. Peter, Minnesota was completed in July, 1881, at a cost of about $27,000.00. In October, 1883 the Lutheran congregation in Fairmont, Minnesota bought five small lots for $25.00 a lot. The minister who was installed as pastor of this congregation 50 days before Dr. Martin Luther College was dedicated was paid an annual cash salary of $175.00 and "other contributions for sustenance": eggs, milk, butter, and other food items. Each member of the congregation was asked to pay 5 cents a year for fuel. Although the earliest records of the New Ulm Brick & Tile Co. were destroyed in 1982, the grandson of one of the original owners estimated - on the basis of research he had done about 1980 - that the face brick which the company produced for Old Main sold for $7.50 per thousand. The price for the same brick today is about $75.00 to $80.00. Wages fluctuated from year to year, but the difference between those of 1884 and 1905 was not so great that it invalidates this figure: In 1905 workmen at the brick factory earned 17 cents an hour. During the 1890s a street car conductor in Minneapolis earned 16 cents an hour. If he worked ten hours a day, seven days a week, he could earn $22.40 every two weeks. The same pay and hourly schedules would net the conductor $48.00 during a month of 30 days. The dollar, with an arbitrarily assigned value of 100 cents in April, 1945, shrank to an actual value of 24 cents in October, 1979. The Statistical Report of the Wisconsin Synod cost $1.50 in 1975. By 1980 it cost $3.50, an increase of 133%.

The time for such an undertaking, when measured on a human clock, was not precisely high noon. Three natural disasters had struck

16

THE BEGINNING YEARS

Minnesota, and the pioneers, whether living on the prairie or in the town, were still recuperating from them. The great blizzard struck on Thesday morning, January 7, 1873. It maimed and killed people; livestock and poultry on which the settlers depended for daily food froze to death. The economic havoc which resulted lasted for years. In the summer of that same year (1873) and for four successive years following (1874-1877), Rocky Mountain locusts, which the settlers called "grasshoppers," denuded the land. One settler called them "a vast cloud of animated specks, glittering against the sun." More than 1200 farmers were impoverished in 1875. The governors of Dakota Territory, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska met in Omaha, Nebraska on October 25, 1876 to discuss the problem and seek solutions. Their utter helplessness revealed itself in their action: they created a "grasshopper commission." Six months later, the Honorable J. S. Pillsbury, governor of Minnesota, proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer to be observed on Thursday, April 26, 1877. The proclamation reeks with the fear the embattled pioneers felt: "In the shadow of the locust plague whose impending renewal threatens the desolation of the land, let us humbly invoke for the efforts we make in our defense the guidance of that hand which alone is adequate to stay 'the pestilence that walketh in darkenss and the destruction that wasteth at noonday.' Let us pray for deliverance from an affliction which robs the earth of her bounties, and in behalf of the sufferers therefrom let us plead for comfort to the sorrowful, healing for the sick, succor for the perishing, and larger faith and love for all who are heavily laden." The pain of five successive crop failures was mitigated only slightly by the gifts and handouts of friends, neighbors, and relatives whom the locusts arbitrarily had spared and by a $75,000.00 appropriation from the state legislature. Chickens were originally regarded as faithful allies, perhaps even saviors, as the gulls had been during the terrible cricket attack on Salt Lake City, Utah in 1848. However, they proved to be as ineffectual as the state appropriation. Their diet, which was increasingly restricted to the locusts as more conventional forms of sustenance disappeared, spoiled their fruit. The yolks turned red and putrid; eventually the eggs were inedible.

Less depressing and traumatic than the successive invasions of the locusts, yet worth mentioning because of the disaster which followed, are the heavy snows during the winter of 1880-1881 and the unseasonably early rains in the spring of 1881. They raised the Minnesota and Cottonwood rivers to flood stage, and the low lands had to be aban-

THE BEGINNING YEARS

17

doned. It seemed to the good folk that they had had their fair share of bad weather. Another was to strike.

The third natural disaster struck New VIm itself on July 15, 188l.

A devastating tornado ripped through the village between approximately 4:45 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Five people were killed, 53 were injured, and more than 100 houses were either partially or completely destroyed. St. Paul's church and parsonage were damaged extensively, and many of the parishioners' property was left in shambles. An appeal for help was broadcast, and $6,040.00 was given to the congregation to help the members build a new church.

Three factors seemed to go against the New VIm proposal for a Minnesota Synod school: the relative youth of St. Paul's congregation (it had been founded only eighteen years before), the natural disasters which had visited large parts of the state, and the poor financial condition which the congregation had found itself in after the tornado of 188l. However, the enthusiasm of Albrecht and some laymen, especially Friedrich Boock, E. G. Koch, and Carl W. A. Krook, carried the day. The New VIm congregation was so sure their concept of a school and their implementation of the idea would be accepted by the Minnesota Synod that it purchased a plot of ground south of Seventh South Street and west of Broadway. Excavation, which was begun almost at once, was halted when a clear title to the land could not be obtained.

The delegates to the 1883 convention of the Minnesota Synod, which was held in St. Paul's Church in New VIm, refused to be stampeded into making a commitment they could not keep. Some of the 30 pastors present surely must have remembered their synod's inability to live up to the agreement made with the Wisconsin Synod.

Others regarded the estimated cost of the building, $16,000.00, to be more than the tiny group could manage.

1883 was the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther, and the synod felt it could erect no finer memorial to the great reformer than a school which would be dedicated to the glory of God and the education of its young men. The discussions, we are told, were lengthy and deliberate, for the delegates realized the gravity of the undertaking. After much soul searching, the proposal was made and carried that a school should be established. It would have three divisions or courses: a preparatory school for prospective

18

THE BEGINNING YEARS

pastors, an academy for young men seeking a liberal arts education, and a business course. The preparatory school, which was called a "progymnasium," is described as a "junior college" by J.P. Koehler in his The History of the Wisconsin Synod. The business course, largely ignored by synodical writers, is mentioned frequently in The History of Brown County, Vol. II. More than one biographical sketch states, "He took a comprehensive business course in the Dr. Martin Luther College."

The site for the new college was not designated, and the building committee was authorized to receive bids from other communities until as late as September 15, 1883. If a more favorable bid were tendered, the building committee was authorized to accept it on behalf of the synod. A spirited contest developed among several cities, but eventually the choice was narrowed first to three and then to two sites, both of which were originally equally favored: New Ulm and Shakopee.

A building committee was selected: the geographic distribution of the members, whether by design or accident, was neat. Three members were from the metropolitan area: the Rev. Otto Hoyer, St. Paul; Mr. W. Lindeke, St. Paul; and Mr. F. Walther, Minneapolis.

Three members were from New VIm: Albrecht, Boock, and Mr. William Ruemke. The Rev. Leonard F. Frey, at the time pastor at Stillwater, Minnesota, was presumably to be the neutral or swing vote.

Hoyer became the first president of Dr. Martin Luther College, and Frey, who later served as field secretary for the college and assistant pastor of St. Paul's congregation, was Mrs. C. J. Albrecht's brother.

The building committee and the officers of the synod were instructed to have plans made for the building. They were further instructed to begin work only when $14,000.00 had been pledged and $7,000.00 had been given in cash.

An electoral board, given the responsibility of staffing the school, and a board of trustees, given the task of running the school once it began operating, were chosen by the synod. Albrecht's vision was several steps closer to reality. Fundamental problems, decisions, and solutions remained: choice of town and site within that town, collection of funds, construction of building, calling of staff, and enrollment of students.

New Ulm was chosen as the location for the school because, quite simply, St. Paul's with assistance of non-members put forth the best

THE BEGINNING YEARS

19

offer. And the site was clearly superior to that in Shakopee. When the lots in the south end of town were not available, E. G. Koch, who was a member of St. Paul's and one of the initial enthusiasts, offered to sell for $100.00 Outlot No. 321. It consisted of four acres of land located on the bluff which skirts the western edge of the town. His offer was accepted immediately. Everyone now agrees that the choice was an extraordinarily happy one. The campus elevation of 985 feet above sea level is more than 70 feet above the highest spot in town proper, the corner of State and Center streets. This height advantage provides an unparalleled view of the entire city and valley, a view students have enjoyed for a century. The records do not tell what the reaction was in 1884. Knowing the nature of humankind, complaints about the distance from town center and gripes about the steep hill surely must have dampened the ardor of the movers and pushers.

Disappointment and rash action born of frustration lay ahead.

Although three pastors were appointed to assist with raising funds, they were instructed by the synod to visit only those congregations which specifically asked for help, By the spring of 1884, only thirteen of the 30 congregations in the synod (43%) had collected funds. The remaining seventeen (57%) had done nothing. "Reaching Out," the recent fund raising effort of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod, would have been an ignoble failure had the same ratio of participants to nonparticipants prevailed. Obviously, the goal of $14,000.00 could not be reached with this type of cooperation, and it fell short by $2,000.00.

What is strange and impossible to explain is the cash contributed to the project. The goal of $7000.00 was exceeded by $551.21; 107.9% was collected. This was small consolation, however; the structure planned by the building committee could not be built for $14,000.00. The lowest bid received by the spring of 1884 was $16,000.00. In spite of these adverse conditions, the building committee had the basement excavated and the footings and foundations laid. But no contract was entered into, and work on the building stopped.

Albrecht, acting in his capacity as president of the synod, convened synod already in May, months earlier than the usual time for the convention to see if the project could be salvaged. The chairman of the building committee admitted that the committee had violated the synod's instructions. This was not difficult because the delegates knew, without being told, that the synod's stipulations had not been followed. What was more difficult followed: The chairman begged the synod's pardon for having acted impetuously and rashly. The

20

THE BEGINNING

YEARS

minutes do not record that anyone publicly forgave the committee.

Perhaps that was not necessary, for proposals speak louder than speeches. The convention then passed two resolutions: $10,000.00 was to be raised for the building, which at this time was a hole in the ground with footings and partially completed foundation. The building committee was authorized to continue with the construction, provided $16,500.00 of the now needed $18,000.00 would be pledged

by July 25.

Financial problems continued to harass the building committee, but construction had proceeded far enough so that the cornerstone could be laid. A day memorable in the annals of the Lutheran church was chosen: June 25, the 254th anniversary of the reading of the Augsburg Confession to the imperial German diet. The guest preacher was Prof. August L. Graebner, who had six years before been elected to a chair in the newly founded Wisconsin Synod seminary in Milwaukee. Graebner chose as his text I Samuel 16:11a: "And Samuel said unto Jesse, 'Are here all thy children?'" Prof. John Meyer (/s/ Joh. P. Meyer), who spoke at the diamond jubilee of Dr. Martin Luther College 75 years later, said that Pastor C. F. Albrecht, in 1884 president of the Minnesota Synod, told him "the leading thought of Dr. Graebner's address [was this]: He applied the question to the curriculum of DMLC and discussed the principles which must guide and govern all Christian education."

Congregations of the Wisconsin Synod which were being dedicated to the Lord's service at approximately the same time include Christ Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Raymond, South Dakota, St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Balaton, Minnesota, and Emmanuel Ev. Lutheran Church, Grover, South Dakota.

Mr. Herman Schapekahm, owner of the Schapekahm Construction Co., New Ulm, was both designer and builder. He modeled the building after the original structure on the campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, modifying that type of architecture with Victorian gingerbread. Schapekahm had learned to appreciate the grace and dignity of the seminary building during 1878 to 1880 when he studied architectural drawing and building in St. Louis.

The men responsible for getting the school into gear were aware of the conventional date schools opened, and they strove to meet it. This

THE BEGINNING YEARS'

21

was not to be, even though Schapekahm pressed his workers mightily, However, enough work was completed by the middle of October so that plans for a fitting dedicatory service could be arranged. The dedication service was held on November 9, 1884. The speaker was Pastor C. J. Albrecht, the man who since that day has become known as the father of the school. Choosing Albrecht to be the speaker was fitting and appropriate, for none other wore his three hats: one for pastor of the church which sparked the burning fire, another for president of the synod which underwrote the venture of faith, and a third for acting president-to-be of the college.

This original building, today called Old Main, still serves the college. It has dignity, proportion, symmetry, and rich texture, Five additions, made as and when the school grew, nestle around the base of the structure. Although they disturb the purity of the original lines, they are not especially offensive to the eye. An exception to this is the newest entryway added on the south side. The bricks do not match the original ones, and the whole piece resembles an unnecessary carbuncle on the building. The gothic windows were partially shuttered during the summer of 1983, a victim of energy conservation. But the sturdy tower topped by a graceful spire still stands, a sentinel watching over the town whose anti-lawyer and anti-clergy citizens once vowed "to keep religion out." Old Main originally housed kitchen, dining room, wash room, cellar, and housekeepers' rooms in the basement. On the first floor were a professor's living quarters and two classrooms. On the second floor were study room and classrooms. Four spacious bedrooms filled the attic. Through the years ceilings have been lowered, and walls have been moved and removed, all in response to the needs of a given era. But the building has never outlived its need. When a new building on campus deprived it of a fundamental function, the administrators found another use for the unused space. In 1984 the basement is print shop, the first floor is administrators' offices, the second floor is faculty offices, and the third floor (attic) is used by groups or individuals who seemingly have no other place on campus to call their own.

During the summer of 1884, while the crew working for the Schapekahm Construction Co. piled brick upon brick, the electoral board tried to form a faculty. The first man elected to a chair in Dr. Martin Luther College was Gottfried (Godfrey) Theodore Burk. Burk, the son of the Rev, and Mrs. Martin Burk of Germanville, Iowa, was born on January 8, 1862. He had attended Martin Luther College, Buffalo, New York and Northwestern University (College), Water-

22

THE BEGINNING YEARS

The original building. After an architect's sketch

town, Wisconsin. He was attending the theological seminary of the Wisconsin Synod, then located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when he received the call. The young man - he would be 23 in January accepted what must have been to him an extraordinary challenge, and thus began a career of service at the tiny school which would last for 59 years. For many of those years he and his wife, whom he married during the summer of 1885, lived in the large, boxlike house which stands on the northwest corner of the intersection of Center Street and Highland Avenue.

THE BEGINNING YEARS

23

Other calls, including two to August Graebner, the professor at the seminary in Milwaukee who had preached at the cornerstone laying in June, were returned. When no other option appeared and the year was fast slipping by, the indefatigable Albrecht took upon himself the duties of acting director. The Rev. A. F. Reim, pastor at Sanborn, a little village 38 miles west of New Ulm, offered to help the struggling school free of charge.

Classes began on November 10, 1884 - the 401st anniversary of the birth of the man of God after whom the school was named. Eight students - and this enrollment must have been bitter, bitter medicine to the people who had worked untiringly to get the school started presented themselves with the ages-long challenge: "I want to learn.

Teach me!" The initial disappointment was short-lived. By the following Easter, 44 students were enrolled in these departments: progymnasium, 9; academy, 29; and seminary, 6. The English language catalog, which evidently was printed first, does not list the seminary enrollment.

Admission requirements for the new college were simple, direct, and to the point: "Every applicant for admission," the Catalogue says, "must submit to the President satisfactory testimonials of good character; and the students coming from another college must present certificates of honorable dismissal from the institution where they pursued their studies." Once the student was enrolled, his continued enrollment was almost taken for granted: "Application for admission for the next scholastic year should be made as early as possible, personally or by letter, to the President."

Charges for attending the school were modest. The school year was divided into three terms. Tuition for the first term, which was sixteen weeks long, was $12.00. Tuition for each of the two following terms, each twelve weeks long, was $10.00. "Plain but substantial board" cost $1.50 a week. Incidental fees for the three terms were $1.75. Each resident student had to provide his own "bedding, fuel, and light."

Special terms were offered to students who intended to prepare for the ministry in the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Minnesota.

These dollar amounts become meaningful when compared with representative items offered for sale in the Sears, Roebuck Consumers Guide for 1900: long pants suits for boys, $2.00 to $10.00; upholstered couch, $8.00; briar pipe, 25¢ and Meerschaum pipe, $2.75; dressed

THE BEGINNING YEARS

24

sailor dolls, 25¢ to 50¢; slide trombone, $8.25; rubber nipples, 3<1:; American made watches, 98¢, $1.79, $2.65, $3.95; twelve piece knife and fork set, $2.25; baseballs, 5¢ to $1.15; bats, 5<1:to 75¢; "Ladies New Model Acme Jewel" bicycle, $13.75; ladies' patent leather lace shoes, $1.95; men's winter flannel shirts, 50¢ to $2.95; union suits, 59¢ to $1.95; ladies' plush capes, $9.35 to $15.75; bath tub, $13.00; and "our new American home upright parlor grand piano," $98.50.

The first Catalogue states with no equivocation that "the Word of God is to rule supreme" and that the "discipline of the school is to be shaped in accordance with this norm." Nonetheless, the faculty compiled a list of eleven requirements and a list of sixteen prohibitions.

Things Required: 1. Personal application to the President on arrival.

2. Regular attendance at class exercises, proper deportment during and satisfactory preparation for the same. Excuses for absences from class must be obtained from the respective teacher beforehand, if possible.

3. Attendance at the opening and closing exercises and proper deportment during the same.

4. Strict observance of the hours of study. *5. Strict observance of the hours of rising and retiring, except in case of special arrangement with the Inspector. *6. Suitable physical exercises during recreation hours. *7. Attendance on Sunday at the church in immediate connection with the Institution except where special arrangements have been made with the President.

8. Propriety in dress and personal appearance. *9. Cleanliness and order in the rooms before school hours, and preservation of the same throughout the day.

10. Due respect to the faculty.

11. Observance of such duly published additional regulations as the faculty may deem necessary.

Things Prohibited: *1. Leaving town without permission from the President.

2. Leaving the premises without permission from the President or Inspectors.

THE BEGINNING YEARS

25

3. Leaving class without permission from the respective Professor.

4. Tardiness at class or at opening and closing exercises. *5. Tardiness at or absence from chapel exercises before breakfast and before retiring. *6. Tardiness at or absence from the regular meals.

7. Injuring or defacing the building or the property of the school or of other students.

8. Conversing, calling or throwing anything from the windows.

9. Disorderly noise in or about the school at any time; outdoor games in places not assigned for the purpose, or on Sunday.

10. Bathing in the river without special permission by the faculty.

11. Introducing or using camphene, burning fluid, gunpowder or any sort of firearms or fireworks on the premises.

12. The use of intoxicating drinks or of tobacco, in any form, on the premises, without permission from the President. * 13. Visiting taverns, eating houses, saloons, or any other place where intoxicating drinks are sold; attending balls or theatrical exhibitions.

14. Playing at cards or other games of chance; indecent language or demeanor of any kind.

15. Membership of any secret society or so-called fraternity. * 16. Contracting debts without previous permission from the President.

Note. - The paragraphs marked with an asterisk (*) apply to those students only who board and room in the institution.

The first catalog - and those which have followed, including the latest - waxes poetic about the beauty of the campus: "[It] is beautifully located on an elevation overlooking the city, in a fine natural park."

The students of the new college were creatures of their day, and they lacked the amenities which, considered modern today, will be regarded obsolete tomorrow. The building which was their universe _ in it they slept, ate, studied, played, argued, laughed, cried, got homesick, and nicknamed their teachers - had no central heat, and each student had to saw, chop, and haul his own firewood and cart his own coal to satisfy the avaricious cravings of the stove.

Natural light, the primary source of illumination, was augmented by candles, lanterns, and kerosene lamps. Following Thomas Edison's

26

THE BEGINNING YEARS

invention of the incandescent lamp in 1879, the first electric lighting plant - New York's Pearl Street Station - was established in 1882, followed quickly by the first hydroelectric plant in the world in Appleton, Wisconsin in the same year. These power plants did the new collegians little good. Electric power was not generated in New Ulm until 1889. Street lights were turned on for the first time on September 7, 1889, and anxious people lined the streets to see what effect day would have on night. Eleven years later only 51 street arc lights, burning an average of 3.75 hours per night, were installed. Three years later the city voted to build a municipal power plant, thereby allegedly establishing a sure source of power. Consequently, the chore of washing smoky lamp chimneys and polishing the metal reflectors remained a vivid part of graduates' recollections.

In the beginning, rain water collected in cisterns was used for all purposes: cooking, drinking, washing, and bathing. Shallow surface wells were dug later, and finally a deep well was dug and a windmill was built to lift the water to the surface. The early students literally got up with the birds. Rising time was 5:00 a.m. from April through September and 5:30 a.m. from October through March. More often than not they went to bed with the birds, too. Their light sources were, at best, poor and, at worst, miserable.

Because so much time was spent with merely existing, the first students had little time for recreation. However, if they had the time and the inclination they could shop for necessities - thread, buttons, combs, lamp wick - at Crone Department Store. Founded in 1857, it was "the oldest mercantile establishment in New Ulm." They could eat at Eibner's, a restaurant whose beginning antedated DMLC's by one year. Located on the present site of Haus Messerschmidt, its soda fountain was later a favorite of the Hilltoppers for many, many years.

The Willamarie Room on the second floor, a fancy restaurant by local standards, was beyond the Hilltoppers' reach. Weather permitting and interest encouraging, they could entertain themselves by joining the nineteenth century equivalent of the knothole gang. Representative structures being built at the time included a "beautiful and commodious residence at 124 South German Street," the Union School on the site of the present junior high school between State and Washington and Center and First North streets, and the mansion built in 1885 for August Schell by Herman G. Schapekahm, the man who had built Old Main the year before.

THE BEGINNING YEARS

27

The curriculum consisted of a three year preparatory department and a four year academic department. The first accommodated "those wishing to enter the college department, which will be opened as soon as necessary." The curriculum included three years each of religion, English, German, and Latin; two years each of arithmetic, drawing, and history; and one year each of algebra, geography, Greek, and physiology. The academic department accommodated "those qualifying themselves for a thorough business life, or for higher studies."

This curriculum included religion, English, and German equivalent to that in the preparatory department. It also offered the following potpourri: commercial arithmetic, bookkeeping, and political economy; botany, chemistry, physics, and zoology; theory and practice of teaching, and logic; and French and civil government. Because six men who had had some advanced schooling and wanted to take theological courses had enrolled, the faculty unofficially created a department of theology. Whether the action of the faculty and the subsequent action of the pastoral conference approving the faculty's action was echt is purely academic. In 1885 the synod officially instituted a theology department. That fall twelve men enrolled in the new department. Albrecht must have found it ironic that only two were from Minnesota. One came from Wisconsin, another from Pennsylvania. The rest were from Europe: one from Austria and seven from Germany. He must have admired their zeal, wanderlust, and pioneering spirit which took them across an ocean and half a continent to enroll in a new school on the edge of civilization. He knew as he watched them trudge up the hill that they had all of their worldly possessions in the knapsacks' on their backs.

The electoral board meanwhile pursued the matter of calling a director or president. The Rev. Otto Hoyer, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, was found to have what the board believed to be the necessary abilities and proper credentials.

Otto Daniel August Hoyer was born in Germany in 1849. He was a member of the first graduating class of Northwestern College in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1872 and was graduated from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. As a student, he was regarded as "quiet and serious." Hoyer was interested in writing and literature, serving as editor of the Minnesota Synod's Synodalbote and the Michigan Synod's Synodalfreund. He had served on the original building committee which chose New Ulm as the site for the college. His contemporaries must have thought that he had a way with young people, for twothirds of his professional career was spent in the schools of what was to

28

THE BEGINNING YEARS

become the Wisconsin Synod. The electoral board provisionally appointed him as the "first professor" in January, 1885. In the spring of the same year he was definitely called as the director and "first professor." Generations of students who did not know that Gottfried Burk was called with a rank something less than professor have long given Professor Burk the honor of that distinction. Clarification of the record will not change that either.

Interesting stories of the Hoyer family's first days in New Ulm have gradually filtered down to the present. Dorothy Schlueter Kujawski wrote, "I can remember my mother, Agnes Schlueter nee Hoyer, telling us stories. . . . Whenever they baked bread, the aroma attracted the Indians who came to their door asking for some." Her recollection of her uncle's tale tells something about the first director's gentle nature. She also wrote, "My late uncle, Oscar Hoyer, often recalled the beautiful wild roses which grew along the railroad tracks where he often walked with his [sic] grandfather."

Dr. Martin Luther College tried to be as obliging to its students and as pertinent to its synod as it could. When several students in 1886 expressed the desire to become teachers, the school responded by opening a normal department in the 1887-1888 school year. The infant institution now had six departments: a preparatory department of three classes, a college department of one class, an academic department of four classes, a commercial department of somewhat ambiguous depth and duration, a German practical theological department, and a normal department. The commercial department is "ambiguous" to the twentieth century eye because it seemed to have no substance per se. The literature of the time sometimes places it within the academic division; sometimes it stands alone. Only if it is included within the academic division can this statement found in Bliefernicht's history be true: "In the very first year, and in the succeeding fourteen years, the academic department, both in regard to attendance and in regard to the scope of its work, was the mainstay of the school."

In the same year the normal department was begun, the F. H. Retzlaff Hardware Co. opened in downtown New Ulm. The store, which remains a highly visible presence on Main Street, has played an important role in the economic welfare of the college and its staff members. The third and fourth generations of the Retzlaff family continue the traditions begun by the founder, Frank H., and his two sons, Waldemar and Armin.

THE BEGINNING

YEARS

Director Otto Hoyer

29

30

THE BEGINNING YEARS

The faculty given the awesome task of adding the normal department without adversely impacting the programs already in existence consisted of Hoyer, Burk, and A. F. Reim, the Sanborn pastor who was called to full, permanent faculty status in 1885. Albrecht continued to teach in the theological department on a part-time basis. When it became obvious that help was needed urgently, Mr. Otto Gerstenmaier was called. He had taught at St. John Ev. Lutheran School from 1883 to 1888 and had been Hoyer's co-worker in St. Paul for one year before Hoyer accepted the call as director of the new school. Gerstenmaier was only 27 years old when he died on November 22, 1888. His unexpected passing created the burden anew, and it was lessened only when the Rev. Christian Reichenbecher was called.

Chapter

Three The Changing Years When Dr. Martin Luther College began the new school year on September 6, 1893, it was a school completely changed in purpose, scope, and service to the synod. Some of these changes came overnight, by concordat; others came slowly, by internal changes dating back at least to 1888.

When the board of control was seeking a replacement to fill the vacancy caused by Gerstenmaier's death, Hoyer apparently let it be known that the position of director was not to his liking. He may have felt that his peculiar talents could be better utilized working directly with the students in a pastoral way rather than being removed from them because of administrative duties. In any event, two calls were extended for the directorship; each of the men who received the call returned it. Had one of them accepted, Hoyer would have stepped down to the position of inspector. To have a director who is perceived to be disillusioned or dissatisfied with his office must be less than good for the teaching staff and student body. There must be a vacuum which nature needs to fill. And there must be a something or somebody who will fill it. In this instance, it was the Rev. John Schaller, pastor of the congregation in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

31

32

Director John Schaller

THE CHANGINGYEARS

THE CHANGING YEARS

33

Johannes (john) Schaller was born on December 10, 1859, in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended and was graduated from Northwestern College, Watertown, Wisconsin and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. His first eight years in the ministry were spent, successively, at Little Rock, Arkansas and Cape Girardeau. In 1889 he accepted the call to Dr. Martin Luther College; for three years he devoted himself primarily to teaching in the theological department, lecturing on the Old Testament and New Testament exegesis and church history.

Bliefernicht, whose history of the early years at Dr. Martin Luther College is seminal, never knew Schaller personally as teacher or coworker. Schaller moved from New Ulm eastward to the seminary at Wauwatosa at the same time Bliefernicht moved westward from the seminary to Sanborn, Minnesota. But Schaller's reputation was in the winds, and Bliefernicht paid him a handsome compliment: "His idealism and zeal soon made itself felt and added much to shape the later destiny and character of the school."

Schaller brought robust energy and enthusiasm to College Hill; it was not unlike the nervous energy Albrecht possessed. He also brought an incipient scholarship to the faculty, one which would produce Bibelkunde during his years on the campus. Later he would write his Pastoral praxis (1913) and Biblical Christology (1918). Countless numbers of Hilltoppers whose textbook in isagogics was The Book of Books never realized who John Schaller, the author and translator, was. And their teachers never bothered to tell them, either.

Although John Schaller was a weicome addition to the little faculty, his coming did not solve the problem of too many courses for too few teachers. Consequently, Candidate J. Hoeness, a graduate of Concordia Seminary, was called to the faculty in 1890. The enrollment had grown during the 1888-1889 school year. Every indicator pointed to continued growth. School and synod authorities became alarmed when a downward trend set in. By 1892, one of those crucial years which periodically appear in the affairs of people and institutions, the enrollment had fallen to 88. It would be a factor when synod met to discuss the future of the school and its own role in the evangelical Lutheran church in the Midwest.

Two significant questions came before the Minnesota Synod in 1892: The first dealt with the theological department of the college: Shall it be changed from its original practical nature to a theoretical course, or shall it be left as is? This question could not be dealt with

34

THE CHANGING YEARS

until the second, more fundamental issue was resolved: Shall the friendly relationship with the Wisconsin Synod be reaffirmed, strengthened, and converted into a federal union?

On October 11, 1892, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Michigan Synod, the Minnesota Synod, and the Wisconsin Synod formed "der Ev. Luth. Synode von Wisconsin u. a. St." (the Ev. Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin and Other States). According to the covenant, each of the synods remained an independent entity and retained legal rights to its property. The operation of the four schools - Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, Michigan; Northwestern College, Watertown, Wisconsin; the theological seminary, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Dr. Martin Luther College - was placed under the control of the general or joint synod.

This meant a complete transformation for the school. Like Pip in Dickens' Great Expectations, who was not when in London what he had been when in his native village, Dr. Martin Luther College would not be tomorrow what it had been yesterday. From this time on, barring unforeseen actions to the contrary, it would be the teacher training school for the joint synod. The course would consist of three preparatory or high school years and two normal or college years.

Although no longer in general use and often met with a disdainful look, the word "normal" has a legitimate history. It referred to a school for training high school graduates, usually in a two year program, to become teachers. The term was not unknown to the college faculty, for the local public school system conducted a normal school for many years.

Simultaneously, Dr. Martin Luther College was to be a feeder school for Northwestern College, offering what were then called the sexta, quinta, and quarta years. These classes were roughly equivalent to the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades.

A new era in the history of Dr. Martin Luther College dawned when the school opened for the first time under the new arrangement.

The day was September 6, 1893. The primary purpose, which the school has fulfilled for 91 years, was to provide teachers for the synod's elementary schools. Young men - and this became young women, too, in the near future - were to be given general knowledge which would make them full, ready, and exact men. They were to be given also technical knowledge and skills which would make them apt to

35

THE CHANGING YEARS

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An early teachers' seminary diploma

teach. They were to be imbued with Christian ideals and Lutheran convictions. Of them could then be said, "To some He gave teachers."

Radical changes occurred in the teaching staff, too. Hoyer accepted the call to be director of Michigan Lutheran Seminary, and Schaller accepted the call to succeed him at DMLC. Reichenbecher was forced to resign his chair because of a disabling stroke. Hoeness accepted a call into the parish ministry. The three men who were left - Burk, Reim, Schaller - obviously could not carry on the program of instruction. Three students from the seminary at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and one from Concordia at St. Louis were engaged to help.

One of the Wauwatosa men was John Brenner, who later was president of the joint synod for many years. The man from Concordia was Adolph Ackermann. He would return to the campus as teacher and director, leave the directorship under synodical pressure, and become president of the Minnesota District of the Wisconsin Synod.

When the theological department was closed at Dr. Martin Luther College, Albrecht's service was no longer needed. His formal ties with

36

THE CHANGING YEARS

the school were severed, and the father of DMLC directed his boundless energies into other channels. He continued as pastor of St. Paul's and remained president of the Minnesota Synod until 1894. He had been active in forming the joint synod and was for a time president of the China Missionary Society. At age 60 he still had enough stamina to help found St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church in Darfur, Minnesota.

Several changes were made during Schaller's presidency to strengthen the program of teacher training. An agreement was entered into with St. Paul's congregation which permitted the college to use St. Paul's school as a practice school. What is now St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran School was eight years old at the time the joint synod converted Dr. Martin Luther College into a teachers' seminary or normal school in 1893. Organized as a school society, the congregation permitted it to use the old church building which then stood on the present parking lot catecorner from St. Paul's Church. A certain Mr. Abele, who had come to New Ulm to study for the ministry at the new school, was in charge. Seventy-five pupils enrolled almost at once, and the school continued to flourish through the years. Students who were in their second normal year taught lessons to gain practical experience. The arrangement, although tuned periodically, was inadequate, and major improvements, which permitted large blocks of time for student-pupil contact, were not made for many years. J. G. Mohr was called during the summer of 1894, and he took charge of what was then called the pedagogical subjects. He also supervised the work in the practice school. If C. J. Albrecht can be called the father of Dr. Martin Luther College, Mohr can be called the father of the practice school or the cadet teaching program.

Ackermann, who must have made a splendid impression on his colleagues during his brief stint on the campus during the 1893-1894 school year, was called to a full professorship at the same time Mohr was. As events turned out, Mohr was less and Ackermann was more in the history of the school.

The problem of improving the quality of the teacher training program was not a mere academic exescise. It was a pragmatic necessity. As early as 1872 the Gemeindeblatt, the official organ of the Wisconsin Synod,. had said, "Church schools will have to be thoroughly improved." It complained that "many congregations still engage, or must engage, men of doubtful personalities as teachers." It decried their "indolence, indifference, stinginess." It called them

-----

----

- ----- ----------------------------------------

THE CHANGING YEARS

37

The 1895 faculty, 1. to r.: Ackermann, Reim, Burk, Schaller,Mohr "tramps" and spoke of their "misdeeds." "They are," the paper said, "itinerants who are ready to force themselves into every congregation and then create the most terrible confusion."

These teachers came from many sources: Some who came from Germany lacked pedagogical training. Some who had been students in the academy at Watertown, Wisconsin and expressed the desire to become teachers also lacked adequate professional training. And some, the Gemeindeblatt averred, "are an unhappy mixture of teachers from here and there who studied this and that." The problem was compounded by the humungous classes the teachers presided over.

One teacher taught 112 students in one room in a new school in Winona, Minnesota. An upper class in St. Jacobi in Milwaukee had 123 pupils. " These abnormal conditions did not dissuade congregations from starting schools. In 1893 Dr. F. W. A. Notz, the new school secretary of the new joiI1{synod, reported these facts: 141 schools in the joint

38

THE CHANGING YEARS

synod, 119 in the state of Wisconsin, 87 male teachers, 38 pastors teaching, 20 women teachers, and 8,805 pupils.

An early attempt to improve the quality of teachers did not work out. The Wisconsin and Missouri synods had reached an agreement which called for Wisconsin men to study at the Missouri Synod school at Addison, Illinois; apparently few chose this option.

Another attempt at improving the quality of education during Schaller's presidency was imposed from the outside. The Schulzeitung (school paper), the official journal of the Lehreroerein (teachers' association) of the Wisconsin Synod, appeared in February, 1876. It was turned over to the faculty of Dr. Martin Luther College in 1893.

Schaller was editor and Ackermann was business manager. The number of subscribers, which at one time was almost 300, gradually declined. It simply could not compete with its English-American

The Class of '95, 1. to r.: Otto Montgomery, Gustav Graf, Fred Vogelpohl, Otto Stindt, John Pelzl

.-----------------------------------------------------------------

THE CHANGING YEARS

39

competitors. The 1905 November-December issue carried the journal's obituary: "This number brings the last volume of the school magazine to a close. The income from subscriptions did not cover the cost of publication." Words of like sentiment are not unfamiliar in this day and age. The Junior Northwestern, the Wisconsin Synod's magazine for children, was discontinued for this same reason. The Lutheran Educator, the same synod's journal for educators in the teaching and preaching ministries, is striving to stay afloat by cutting its size and the quality of the paper and, simultaneously, increasing the subscription price.

The most significant change to take place during Schaller's presidency was the admission of young women in 1896. The decision to permit them to matriculate was amazing and farsighted, and it changed forever the appearance, fabric, and tenor of the school and campus. The records do not reveal the extent of the debate which preceded this decision - if, indeed, there was one. Nor is that knowledge particularly relevant and meaningful a century later. The fact is, however, the move was a stroke of minor genius; it was ahead of its time, and it would confer manifold blessings on the school system it was designed to aid. To measure the distance between Dr. Martin Luther College and the pragmatic reality of that time, the record merely has to show that the school which would later accept threeyear graduates of Dr. Martin Luther College and offer them a fourth year of college, Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Illinois, did not extend the same privilege to women until a generation later. In September, 1936 two professors' daughters, Ruth Bretscher and Ruth Kraeft, were permitted to enroll in the high school freshman class. The board of control allowed them to remain only that year, since the Missouri Synod had not yet given Concordia permission to enroll girls.

Permission to offer coeducation was finally granted to Concordia Teachers College by Missouri in 1938, provided the number of women did not exceed 30 % of any class.

Women teachers were an almost unknown quantity in Lutheran circles during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The wife of a certain Teacher Vosstaught some of the lower grades in St. Mark's School in Watertown, Wisconsin during the winter months of 1875. What the good burghers called her, we do not know; the term Lehrerin (woman teacher) did not appear in the records until 1880.

Thirteen years later, the Gemeindeblatt, the then official organ of the Wisconsin Synod, reported the existence of 22 Lehrerinen. The number, it was noted with some misgivings, was "steadily increasing."

40

THE CHANGING YEARS

Three years after the lament of the Gemeindeblatt and in the same year Dr. Martin Luther College took its unprecedented action, a Teacher Wedekind presented the following essay to the Lutheran teachers' conference of Wisconsin: "The Woman Teacher in Our Congregational Schools." Wedekind said, "Although German educators do not approve of teaching as a profession for women, many of our congregations appoint female teachers because the salaries are lower. Some even think it is best for little children away from their mother's care for the first time to be under a woman teacher. But that is a big mistake. Every experienced educator knows that the instruction of little ones - which must lay the foundation for the whole school - presents the greatest problem and requires the services of a trained schoolmaster."

The conference to which Wedekind delivered his paper "disapproved of women teachers altogether and urged all congregations to appoint only men - the very best ones for the lower grades." Some of the conference members doubted the Scripturality of employing women teachers. Their basis was the Apostle Paul's injunction against women teaching in the church.

The Lehrerverein (teachers' association) which sponsored the conference at which Wedekind spoke had published an education journal or school paper called the Schulzeitung. A writer in the December, 1896 issue stated flatly, "Anyway, teaching is not a woman's job." This is a remarkable statement, not only in itself but also in what it reveals about Schaller. As editor of the journal, he surely gave his writers unlimited freedom.

Dr. Martin Luther College has come a long way since it opened its facilities and curriculum to young ladies. To Miss Lillie Mohr goes the honor of being the first woman to be graduated from the normal department, this in 1898. Although only a few followed Mohr and availed themselves of the opportunity to get an education and become professionals until after World War I, by 1908 there were enough of them that they were being welcomed by conference chairmen and conference members were voting to discontinue smoking. In 1910 in what must have been a traumatic break through, traumatic for both speaker and hearers - a woman appeared on the program of the state conference of Wisconsin.

Wedekind, the editor of the Gemeindeblatt in 1893, the contributor to the Schulzeitung, and the long-ago conferences would be astounded

--

THE CHANGING YEARS

---- ---------------------------

41

to learn that on Saturday, May 19,1984,109 members (74%) of the Dr. Martin Luther College Class of '84 were women and that only 38 (26%) were men. They would shake their heads in unbelief to learn that the assignment committee, meeting in New Ulm, Minnesota on May 11 and 12, from the pool of candidates available, assigned only 36 men but 68 women to serve in the schools of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod. The man who said that "teaching is not a woman's job" would be stupified to learn that women graduates are sent to what some of the students attending Dr. Martin Luther College still regard as far away places: Arizona, California, Texas, and Florida. A few are sent even to Japan. Many are given difficult assignments: open a new school, teach kindergarten through fifth grade, play the organ, and direct the choir; open a new school, teach K-4, play the organ, direct the choir; and teach second and third grades, teach school music, and handle the organ and choir. And they do their work with skill, diligence, and devotion. The Statistical Report of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod for 1983 gives conclusive evidence that those who were once considered less than necessary have become an integral part of our elementary school system: 31,238 students in 399 schools are taught by 612 men and 972 women. The men make up 39.1 % of the teaching force; the women make up 60.9%.

Hindsight and retrospection are wonderful gifts. Using them without malice, or to demonstrate superiority, the conclusion can be drawn from this vantage point in history that God used, and continues to use, those who were finally permitted to be coeds in 1896 as an invaluable asset in the schools of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod.

Dr. Martin Luther College, which had been quite alone on the bluff since 1884, got a neighbor one year after women were admitted to the school. The foundation of the monument to Hermann had been laid already in 1887. The statue itself arrived in 1890. Statue and park were dedicated on September 25, 1897 "in the presence of a great concourse of people, numbering twenty-four thousand" (History of Brown County, Vol. II). They had come from far and wide, literally from all over the United States, to see this marvel. It stood on the highest point in the city, rose another 102 feet in the sky, and cost $40,000.00. And ever since that day, unless his fame has gone before, incoming freshmen ask, "Who is that?" The stock reply: "Hermann the German."

In the same year, the first telephones were installed in the city.

Businesses and a few residences were the first to be connected to a

42

THE CHANGING YEARS

central switchboard. Eight years later, in 1905, the New VIm Rural Telephone Co. took over the service. The Bulletin Board was an interesting service the new company offered. About 10:00 a.m. central rang five short rings. This was the signal for everyone to listen for reports on correct time, weather, the price of grain, eggs, and other commodities, and special events of the day. On May 3, 1984, about six months before the centennial of the college, the telephone company brought its name into the twentieth century. It is now called New VIm Telecom, Inc., and it serves the college with three incoming lines to the main switchboard, 43 extensions from that switchboard, and seventeen other private lines - a far cry from the primitive days of the early twentieth century.

The joint synod had not authorized Dr. Martin Luther College to have or promote a business course. The school, however, exercised some degree of independence and offered bookkeeping, commercial law, phonography or shorthand, and typewriting. Why it did so is not difficult to understand. The course was popular and obviously proved to be an important source of revenue. How it did so is another matter.

Ackermann, Burk, Reim, and Schaller were each theologically trained. Mohr must have had his hands full teaching pedagogy, supervising the practice school, and acting as inspector. The solution - and the synod must have concurred - was to call Otto Montgomery in 1899 to take charge of the commercial subjects. Montgomery, who was graduated from the teachers' seminary in 1895, was teacher in St. John Lutheran School, St. Paul, Minnesota. The course was discontinued in 1901 by resolution of the joint synod.

The faculty of Dr. Martin Luther College was very fluid in the early years. Death, disability, and resignation or acceptance of another call were not uncommon. Mohr is a case in point. He had been called to the college in 1894, and the task given him was challenging and inspiring. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, he resigned in June, 1900, and the number of teachers available for the next school year was decreased to five. The staff was completed for the 1901-1902 school year when J. E. Sperling, teacher of the Lutheran school at Appleton, Wisconsin, was called and accepted the position of professor of pedagogy and supervisor of the practice school.

The campus which Sperling saw in 1901 was quite different in size from the 1883 plot: Outlot No. 321, which consisted of four acres.

Outlot No. 320, located on the comer of Center Street and Summit

THE CHANGING YEARS

43

Avenue, that is, directly north of Outlot No. 321, was bought for $100.00 from a certain Bernhard R. von Glahm in 1885. Outlot No. 318, directly behind the original parcel, was bought two years later from the Haub estate for $200.00. E. G. Koch, from whom the original parcel was purchased, donated Outlot No. 319 in 1897. This parcel lies behind No. 320; it fronts Center Street and faces South Highland on the west. Two years later Outlot No. 317, which faces South Highland Avenue and lies south of Nos. 319 and 318, respectively, was purchased from Koch for $325.00.

The Schaller presidency saw other changes take place. A steam heating plant was installed in the basement of Old Main, and gone forever were the days of many logs, many stoves, and many fears of fire. A physical education building, which measured 25 feet by 40 feet, was built west of Old Main in 1901. The tales that come down through the medium of oral history are fascinating. The students played basketball in their gymnasium, if you will, but the building was not heated - even in winter. Parallel bars and a horse were provided at some later date, the story tellers reveal.

First basketball team

44

THE CHANGING YEARS

A major curriculum change took place in the preparatory department in 1903. Previous to this, this department consisted of three grades: ninth, tenth, and eleventh. Consequently, boys who were preparing for the preaching ministry had to transfer to Northwestern College and spend four years there before going to the seminary. The addition of the fourth year, the twelfth grade or tertia, permitted them to remain nearer home for an additional year. The Rev. John Meyer was called to teach the necessary Latin and Greek.

On November 13, 1905 it was Schaller's unhappy lot to represent the college at the funeral of his predecessor, Otto Hoyer, at Watertown. Hoyer, who would have been 57 on November 17, was mourned as a man with a "modest soul" who was "willing to serve wherever his services were sought."

The story of music as a vital and vibrant force in the life of the college also dates from the presidency of John Schaller. As early as 1901 he had encouraged efforts to systematize the music curriculum, and they produced, other than the obvious arrangements connected with the languages, what was probably the first prerequisite in the various curricula of the college. A certain level of skill was required in piano playing before pipe organ lessons were begun. These first steps did not mitigate basic problems: philosophy, staff, curriculum, syllabi, and equipment. The board of control asked for permission to call a man to the chair of music, and permission was granted by the joint

Male Chorus, 1910. Reuter, front center

THE CHANGING YEARS

45

Violin playing was regarded essential

synod in 1907. The board called the man who, together with his immediate successor, became known as DMLC's Mr. Music: Fritz Reuter.

Friedrich Otto (Fritz) Reuter, who was born in Germany in 1863, had held positions as teacher and cantor in his native land before coming to Canada in 1905. He was teaching in Chicago at the time he received the call to DMLC. Reuter came to the campus in the spring of 1908, and one of those happy associations of artist and institution began immediately. He fostered music by giving it a place and a

46

THE CHANGING YEARS

dignity hitherto unknown at the college. Class singing was begun, and male and mixed choirs were organized. He composed church music at a furious rate. One of his melodies, "New Ulm," which he composed in 1910, is in the hymnal presently used in the congregations of the Wisconsin Synod. Reuter made such an impact on the school that following generations have difficulty in realizing that he served DMLC only sixteen years before his untimely death in 1924. He was 61.

John Schaller's service to the college ended at the same time Reuter's began. When Schaller accepted the call to be director of the Wisconsin Synod's seminary and left DMLC, an enlightened and progressive era in the history of the college came to a close. He was succeeded by Adolph Ackermann, a member of the faculty who now accepted the dual position of inspector and director. Like his predecessors, Ackermann was a young man when he became president. Hoyer had been 36, Schaller 34. Ackermann was 37.

The Rev. Edmund R. Bliefernicht, who had been assigned to the Darfur-Mountain Lake parish in the spring of 1908 after finishing his studies at the seminary in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, was called to fill the vacancy caused by Schaller's departure. Bliefernicht, who continued to serve his parish until his successor took office, accepted the call and joined the faculty in October, 1908.

Chapter

Four The Triumphant and Tragic Years Adolph Ackermann was born on January 11, 1871 in Wuerttemberg, Germany. He came to America when he was fourteen years old and continued his education at Dr. Martin Luther College. After being graduated in 1890, he taught at Immanuel Lutheran School near the small village of Courtland, Minnesota. He enrolled in Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 1892. Ackermann was one of the four men who assisted the DMLC faculty during the traumatic year of 18931894. He was called to the faculty in 1894 and remained a member of the faculty until his resignation in 1918.

Other than the turnhalle mentioned in the previous chapter, Dr. Martin Luther College consisted of one building for 27 years. The original structure, affectionately dubbed Old Main when it reached its proper seniority, stood alone on the campus until 1911. But companions were in the offing. The first decade of the twentieth century brought fundamental changes to the school: growth in enrollment, changes in curriculum, and increased student expectations. In response to these pressures, Ackermann's first priority as president was to enlarge the physical plant to meet the needs of the day. A movement

47

48

DirectorAdolph Ackermann

THE TRIUMPHANT AND TRAGIC YEARS

THE 'lluUMPHANT AND ThACIC YEARS

49

was begun already in 1908 to build a boys' dormitory. Although "boys" offends the ears of the men who live in the building today, the newest telephone directory still has this listing: "Summit Hall- Boys Dorm."

If finances permitted, a second building would be built which would serve as a campus chapel-auditorium and music hall. The proposals excited some passions, and New Ulmites felt some anxious moments.

As soon as Ackermann's proposals were known, St. James and Hutchinson, Minnesota, perhaps still smarting from what some still believed to be unorthodox tactics used in locating the school in New Ulm in 1884, brought in offers to relocate it. Shakopee, which in the early 1880s had been one of the three sites under strong consideration for the location of the new school, was no longer in contention. Three factors saved the day for the status quo: The city of New Ulm offered to provide an adequate water supply, sewage facilities, and a concrete sidewalk on Center Street up to the campus. The one million gallon reservoir, which was built in 1909, still serves the college and surrounding area. Squatting on an artificial mound north of Center Street and west of Hermann Monument, it forms part of the panorama seen from the library. A protective railing would be built on the north side of the street to prevent people from falling into the deep ravine,

Center Street, c. 1910

50

THE TIuuMPHANT

AND ThAGIC

YEARS

Building the mens dormitory, October 11, 1910 and a little bridge or culvert would be built over the rivulet which permitted the slough water free access to both sides of the street. The New Ulm Commercial Club donated Outlot No. 322, the last four acre tract of land needed to square out a campus of 24 acres. It faces Summit Avenue and lies south of the original parcel. Thirty-one years later, on August 8, 1940, the original six plots of ground - Outlots No. 320, 321, 322, 319, 318, and 317 - were finally deeded by the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Minnesota (grantor) to the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Wisconsin (grantee). Sentiment played a prominent part, too. The school had become synonymous with New Ulm, and many people were uncomfortable with the prospect of changing the old for the new. Similar sentiments would surface some 50 years later when the prospect of moving the school to Milwaukee arose.

The Minnesota Synod in its convention in 1909 decided to keep the school at New Ulm. Funds were appropriated for both buildings. A four story, modem, fireproof men's dormitory measuring 124 X 38 feet, excluding the porch, was built at a cost of $45,000.00. Otto Tappe, who was born in Germany in 1860 and had come to America with his parents twenty years later, was the builder. His work as a carpenter prompted him to become a general contractor in 1890. The History of

THE ThruMPHANT

AND 'ThAGIC

YEARS

51

Brown County refers to his finished product as "the handsome dormitory of the Dr. Martin Luther College," and E. R. Bliefernicht, writing 23 years after the building was finished, was still impressed with the "separate study and bedrooms, sanitary lavatories, and shower baths." The gymnasium at the south end of the building was a great improvement over the tumhalle, according to the memoirs of those who were acquainted with both.

The Aula, as the chapel-auditorium and music hall was called, seated 300 people. Concerts, plays, and other public performances were regularly presented in it. Ten individual piano practice rooms abutted the wall above the east entrance, and the balcony, which seated about 50 people, was west or stageward from these rooms. This building was also supposed to house the proposed new pipe organ. A two boiler heating plant was installed in the basement and served as the central heating plant for the campus for fifteen years. Pipes and cement platforms in the basement and the capped chimney still standing firm against the west wall of the building are modern reminders of this old heating plant. The coal bin, which measures about 27 X 8 x 8 feet, still exists. Lying under the concrete pad north of the Music Hall, it serves no useful purpose other than to remind one of the dark and dank dungeons which appear in Sir Walter Scott's novels.

How coal was got into the bin remains a mystery. The large gap in the foundation on the south side of the building, now permanently closed with a wooden wall, must have been the opening through which the ashes were removed. The building cost $12,000.00.

Filling the coal bin

52

THE TiuUMPHANT AND 'TRAGIC YEARS

Although the heating plant is long gone, the tale of the fireman or engineer whose fondness for spirits befuddled him refuses to go away.

One student, who is now a dignified senior citizen, was a particular favorite of the engineer; when the engineer could not find his way to the boiler room, he went to the student for directions. The student never failed him. Another story concerns the fireman who had a truly amazing skill: he repaired violins.

John Loejjelmacher, DMLC's fireman and violin repairman The original building, now called Old Main, was remodeled and redecorated at this same time. The kitchen, dining room, and housekeepers' rooms remained in the basement. The first and second floors were converted into classrooms.

The dedication of the new buildings was held on August 20, 1911, and a crowd of 5,000 people gathered to take part in the historic event.

One source maintains that this was "the largest assembly of people in New Ulm's history." This, of course, immediately conflicts with the number of people alleged to have been present when Hermann was dedicated. A rich, cream and gold, oval lapel pin pictures the three buildings in the pose they hold to this day. Above and beneath the picture is this message: "Dr. Martin Luther/College/Einweihung/20, Aug. 1911. New-Ulm, Minn." The cost of both buildings, $57,000.00, must have startled Pastor C. J. Albrecht. Now 64 years old, he could remember the time in a different century when an extraordinarily handsome building, the first of the trio to grace the campus, was built for less than 1/3 of that amount.

THE ThIUMPHANT AND ThACIC YEARS

53

The men s dormitory from Old Main, Old Main from the men s dormitory, c. 1912 c. 1912

The Aula, c. 1912

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55

THE TIuUMPHANT AND ThAGIC YEARS

The new organ, promoted by Reuter and Ackermann even before the Aula was finished in 1911, was finally completed in May, 1914.

Built and installed for $5,000.00 by the Wirsching Organ Co. of Salem, Ohio, it received this glowing report from the organ committee: "The quality of the materials used, of the construction, of the action, and the voicing, satisfies, yes, surpasses the cherished wishes and expectations."

The Aula organ

56

THE TIuuMPHANT AND Taxcic

YEARS

TWofactors appeared to give the college an air of permanency in the early years of Ackermann's presidency. The new buildings and the remodeled original building added a considerable physical presence to the school. Townsfolk and others, who for some 27 years had thought of the college in terms of a lonely, albeit dignified, structure sitting on the bluff, now believed the institution was in New Ulm to stay. A growing student body - there were 115 students in Ackermann's first year as president - also made itself felt in the town. The stream of students going to Sunday morning worship service at St. Paul's was more dramatic then than it is today, simply because the present, much larger student body is more dispersed. Students have many options regarding transportation, churches, and frequency and times of service.

What was true of physical plant and student body was not true of faculty. When Ackermann became president in 1908, the faculty consisted of Burk (1884), Reim (1884), himself (1894), Montgomery (1899), Sperling (1901), Meyer (1903), Reuter (1908), and Bliefernicht (October, 1908). By the time he resigned in 1918, no fewer than five calls issued by the school had been accepted and six resignations from the faculty, including his own, had been tendered and accepted. To fill gaps created by the unseemly turnover, one seminary graduate, one seminary student, one Northwestern College graduate, and one area pastor were pressed into duty as inspectors, assistant instructor, and temporary linguistics professor.

The 1914 faculty, I. to r.: Reuter, Montgomery,Burk, Meyer, Ackermann, Mosel, Reim, Sperling, Bliefernicht

THE ThruMPHANT

AND ThAGIC YEARS

57

Orchestra, 1914

The story of the resignation of Adolph Ackermann as director of Dr. Martin Luther College is a curious amalgam of the exercise of raw, dictatorial political power and the misuse or non-use of ordinary common sense. The whole episode occurred in a time warp, also. Had it taken place a half century later, or even in the 1980s, the men who were unceremoniously hoisted on the petard of irrational war hysteria would have been, or would be, regarded as high minded freedom fighters.

The incident was made less tolerable by people's memories and their ability to count. Minnesotans knew that New Ulm had been settled by Germans less than 60 years previously. They knew, too, that New Ulmites had publicly celebrated German victories in the FrancoPrussian War. On August 8, 1870 news of the German victory at Forbach was celebrated with cannon fire. Six days later a public meeting was held to solicit monetary support for the German cause.

On September 10 a combination concert, dance, and supper was held at Turner Hall, again to raise funds for the German cause. And on January 31, 1871 gun fire saluted the report of the surrender of Paris.

That the first overt act in the war was made by France and that the French loss resulted in the overthrow of the Napoleonic dynasty was of no consequence in the atmosphere of 1917.

58

THE ThruMPHANT

AND ThACIC YEARS

Minnesota's population was roughly 2,000,000, according to the 1910 census. Of this number, 70% were either foreign born or of foreign parentage on one or both sides. Nearly 500,000 of the 2,000,000 were born either in Germany or Austria or were of German or Austrian parentage. Like the Nisei during the World War II, their foreign connections made them immediately suspect.

On April 16, 1917, ten days after the United States declared war on Germany, a bill to create the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety was passed unanimously in the state senate and with only one nay vote in the assembly. Fears of an uncertain loyalty from many in Minnesota's large German element caused the legislature to overreact.

The commission was to control seditious activity, ensure compliance with the military draft, and take steps to conserve food, fuel, and anything else they deemed essential to the war effort. The commission became a virtual government within the state government, employing its own agents and constabulary. Arbitrarily assuming powers and responding vigorously to the worst fears of chauvinists, the commission attempted to squelch political dissent which, it said, detracted from the war effort. William Watts Folwell, a New England Yankee not noted for pro-German sympathies, says this of the bill in A History of Minnesota, his definitive history of the state: "If a large hostile army had already been landed at Duluth and was about to march on the capital of the state, a more liberal dictatorship could hardly have been conceded to the commission." The commission was composed of Governor Joseph A. A. Burnquist, Attorney-General Lyndon A. Smith, and five laymen appointed by the governor to serve at his pleasure: Charles H. March, Litchfield, John Lind, Minneapolis, Charles W. Ames, St. Paul, John F. McGee, Minneapolis, and Anton C. Weiss, Duluth. Lind, the owner of the mansion on the corner of Center and State streets, had lived in New Ulm almost continuously from 1877 until 1901, when he moved to Minneapolis. He served in Congress from 1887 to 1893 and was elected governor in 1899.

Armed with unprecedented powers, granted an ample appropriation of $1,000,000.00, and backed by a nearly unanimous legislature, "the commission," Folwell reports, "proceeded to exercise functions the like of which the history of American law never disclosed." The history of the commission seems to indicate that it became intoxicated with its own ruthlessness and fed on its ability to cow Minnesotans into submission. The commission decided that, among others, the following arcane actions would be beneficial to the successful comple-

THE ThIuMPHANT AND TRAGIC YEARS

59

tion of the war: All licensed saloons were to close at 10:00 p.m. and remain closed until 8:00 a.m. Women and girls were to be excluded from saloons at all times. Dancing and cabaret performances were to be discontinued in places where intoxicating beverages were sold.

"Every alien" was to register and declare under oath the kind and amount of his property holdings. Strikes and lockouts were forbidden.

Sheriffs were required to compile lists of able bodied men not continuouslyemployed. No person not a citizen would be permitted to teach.

Persons who did not buy Liberty Bonds were encouraged to subscribe to them or be examined to determine why they were not doing so.

Battalions of home guards were to be organized. They were to "protect life and property" and "provide for the defence of the United States."

The commission took a farm crop and stock census, ordered barberry bushes eradicated, and interfered promptly and vigorously in many incidents of limited and local concern. It became involved in municipal and university affairs, and it did not think the Constitution suffered in any way.

The commission had been at its work for only a brief time when it learned that several meetings had been held and others had been advertised in various parts of the state in violation of the act of 1917.

The so-called "sedition law" made it unlawful to advocate resistance to the draft in a public place or at any meeting where more than five men were assembled.

One such meeting was held at New Ulm before America declared war on Germany. About a thousand people from New Ulm and vicinity packed the armory and listened to speeches by Mayor Louis A. Fritsche, Major Albert Pfaender, who was the city attorney, Father Robert Schlinkert, Captain Albert Steinhauser, Prof. A. F. Reim, F. H. Retzlaff, a prominent, local businessman, Dr. O. C. Strickler, and "Prof. A. Ackermann who made the most extended address of the evening." Ackermann spoke against the expected declaration of war on constitutional and semantic grounds. He read from the Constitution, defined treason, and, in general, set himself up as a perfect target for anti-German feelings.

A second public meeting was held on Wednesday, July 25, 1917.

About 8,000 to 10,000 people gathered in TUrner Park ostensibly to hear explanations of the draft. New Ulm's population was about 3,000 at the time. The purpose of the rally gradually shifted - and to this day nobody knows how - and what was to be an education meeting

60

THE 'lluUMPHANT

AND ThAGIC YEARS

became a "draft protest meeting." Involved in the proceedings in one way or another were Louis Vogel, the county auditor, Fritsche, Pfaender, Steinhauser, Retzlaff, and two men from the college, Wagner and Ackermann. Wagner spoke for the constitutional right of free speech and against the draft law, which he regarded as undemocratic. Ackermann said he had had a busy day and had not had time to prepare a formal speech. He spoke, he said, because he wanted to testify to the loyalty of the people of New Ulm. He favored sending petitions to the President and the Congress, and he lambasted Wall Street, England, France, and the member of the House of Representatives who represented the local congressional district.

The New Ulmites who had played a prominent role in the July 25 meeting also spoke in at least six other towns in the New VIm area.

Ackermann, in company with Pfaender and Retzlaff, spoke to about 2,000 people at Gibbon, thereby defeating his "New VIm loyalty" reason for participating in the rallies.

In the meantime two other persons connected with Dr. Martin Luther College went about their business, and the Minnesota Public Safety Commission never heard of them. In private they set out to compose "a national anthem" which sang the praises of America. Fritz Reuter and Lydia Goeglein Wagner were the people, and "America" was the song. Composed to raise funds for the Red Cross, it was scored for mixed choir, piano, and organ. The printed bill for the presentation boasted that "the entire program was rendered in English." The music was set in march tempo; the words were written in fulsome fashion: "America, most blessed land/ Where freemen ever shall gather/ Where high and low and rich and poor/ Unite as man with man." After recognizing America's bounties and beauties, the song closes with this paean, "My country, my glorious, glorious land."

Counter rallies were held, and New VIm became a "war torn city."

The temper of the times can be judged best by this little footnote: German Street was renamed Liberty Street. (It assumed its original name when the war ended, and it was not tampered with during World War II.) On recommendation of the Commission of Public Safety, Fritsche and Pfaender were permanently removed from office by the governor.

Gross indignities which split the community and the county medical association were heaped on the men. Vogel, able to prove he was

.-

----_

THE TIuUMPHANT AND TRAGIC

YEARs

61

shining a light on the courthouse flag during the July rally, escaped similar treatment. Steinhauser, who held no public office, was the "least repentant." He nonetheless suffered maltreatment by chauvinists who regarded loyalty and dissent to be mutually exclusive.

Finally, Adolph Ackermann, who had served the college as professor since 1894 and as president since 1908, was removed from office. The college board of control met at St. Paul on Tuesday, January 29, 1918. The then president of the Wisconsin Synod, the Rev. C. E. Bergemann, an ex officio member of the board, asked for Ackermann's resignation, reportedly after the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety threatened to close the college. The commission itself was not immune to pressure. The New Ulm Review, in the issue of February 6, 1918, reported, "It is currently reported that citizens from here kept the matter alive and that even if the Public Safety Commission had wanted to forget their plans to have Prof. Ackermann ousted they were prevented from doing so by activities from here."

The story of the presidency which began triumphantly and ended tragically has two footnotes: The Minnesota District of the Wisconsin Synod elected Ackermann its president in 1936 and for five additional, two year terms. When he turned the gavel over to the Rev. Oscar J. Naumann, who also had served on the faculty of DMLC, he was 76 years old. Ackermann soon fell ill and died three years later. The funeral address was delivered by the Rev. W. A. Poehler, president of Concordia College, St. Paul. The Rev. E.J.A. Marxhausen, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, rural Courtland, Minnesota, officiated at the internment. Pastors Emil F. Peterson of St. James, A. A. Haase of North Mankato, and Naumann of St. Paul also participated.

62

THE 'ThIUMPHANT AND ThAGIC YEARS

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Chapter

Five The Postwar Years The board of control which requested and received Ackermann's resignation immediately took two steps to keep the foundering school afloat. It appointed Edmund R. Bliefernicht, who had come to the faculty 91/2 years before, to be acting president. The board, which was to call Bliefernicht to the presidency at a later date, and thereby confirm its estimate of his ability, evidently thought he was not ready for the position at age 35. It had not felt that way in the case of Hoyer, Schaller, and Ackermann, whose average age upon assuming the office was under 36. The board's decision to call an older, perhaps wiser, perhaps maturer man may have reflected their concern for the trying times in which they were living. They first elected an individual who was 44; when he returned the call, they elected one who was 45.

The board believed that the Rev. John Meyer, who had served on the faculty from 1903 to 1915, had not only additional years but also charity and compassion. He would be able to heal the wounds brought on by the war and its unexpected ramifications. He would be able to restore confidence in the school which, if the enrollment of only 77 was a true indicator, had been severely shaken. Meyer accepted the call in 1918, but he was to remain at the school only two years. The ineradicable mark he was to make on the Wisconsin Synod was to be at a school other than Dr. Martin Luther College.

63

64

Director John Meyer

THE

POSTWAR YEARS

THE

POSTWAR YEARS

65

Johannes Peter Carl Meyer was born on February 27, 1873. He was graduated from Northwestern College in 1893 and from the seminary at Wauwatosa three years later. His first parish was at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He taught at Northwestern College and, following his first stint at DMLC, was pastor at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

According to the people who knew him best, he brought to his new calling extraordinary vigor and an exceptionally alert and keen mind.

He was also a humble child of God. The president of the Wisconsin Synod, the Rev. Oscar J. Naumann, said this of him at a later date, "Despite his exceptional gifts, he would not permit human wisdom to separate him from Scriptural truth."

On the faculty to help Meyer keep the ship of education from sinking and to steer it into more tranquil waters were three veterans: Burk, Reuter, and Bliefernicht. Newcomers were the Rev. M. J. Wagner, Richard M. Albrecht, Harry R. Palmbach, and Huldreich R. Klatt. Wagner, who was called from the parish ministry in Colome, South Dakota, began his work as inspector in the fall of 1916. He seemed to have been unhurt by his participation in the rallies of 1917, and he filled this office with singleminded fairness and disarming openness until his untimely death on March 26, 1931. His regimen as inspector is best characterized by his familiar expression, "My boys."

When the Dr. Martin Luther College concert choir sang at his graveside in Norfolk, Nebraska in May, 1939, none of the members knew Hans Wagner or what he had meant to the college. They had never read his obituary in which Bliefernicht had said with profoundly simple eloquence, "Wagner is gone." Nor did they know that that obituary was one of the longest ever printed in the Northwestern Lutheran. They were mature enough, however, to understand that driving through the gumbo of Nebraska's heartland to reach his grave was a gesture dignifying the memory of a man who was respected in his time.

Palmbach succeeded Reim, who had resigned in June, 1917, in the 1917-1918 school year. For nearly a half century, Peggy was Mr. Science-Mathematics in both high school and college departments.

When the classroom building, now known as the Academic Center, was built in the late 1920s, Palmbach was responsible for seeing that modern facilities and up-to-date equipment were included in it. To many students, Palm bach's most awesome talent was his ability to fire a spent piece of chalk at a waste basket in the corner of the room and hit his mark almost every time. Once, when someone moved the

66

THE

POSTWAR YEARS

basket a few inches from its ordained spot, Palmbach took a second, furtive glimpse and fired away. A friendly smirk spread across his face when he turned to receive the silent applause of his appreciative audience. Palm bach continued to teach mathematics and science in both the high school and the college until his retirement in 1966.

Albrecht succeeded Sperling as professor of pedagogy in 1916.

Klatt was called in December, 1917 to take Montgomery's place.

Montgomery had resigned shortly after the 1917-1918 school year began.

Actions taken at the 1919 convention of the joint synod resulted in changes in the high school department's entrance requirements, curriculum, and nomenclature. Before this time the high school was not a secondary school in the commonly accepted sense of the word.

Admission to the program came usually after confirmation and upon recommendation of the parish pastor. The prospective enrollee could have completed the eighth grade; however, he or she could have finished only the seventh grade and, in some instances, even only the sixth or fifth grade. The administration knew this, accepted it, and made provisions for it. The catalog for the year 1920-1921 has this note under "Entrance Requirements": "For the accommodation of pupils who could not complete the eighth grade in their home town, a preparatory class has been arranged." The same catalog lists ten eighth grade pupils on the school's roster. The stipulation was now made that only students who had finished the eighth grade could be enrolled. But getting rid of the old is difficult sometimes, and so it was with the eighth grade. Some people feared that this action would have an adverse impact on the enrollment. Their fears were not realized; contrariwise, the constituency seemed pleased with the higher standards, and the enrollment began to increase. No eighth grade students are listed in the enrollment figures for 1923-1924 and 1924-1925. And this notice finally appeared in the catalog for 1925-1926: "For the accommodation of pupils who have not completed the eighth grade, a preparatory class had been arranged. This class, however, was not considered an integral part of the school's course, and ... it will be discontinued." The announcement appeared for several years, and then it was dropped permanently.

In keeping with the 1919 synod convention recommendations, the curriculum was upgraded and made to conform more closely with the

THE POSTWAR YEARS

67

program of public secondary education. However, because of the peculiar nature of the school, the academic load imposed was weightier than the sixteen credits required for graduation from a four year, public secondary school. Stiff demands unknown in the public sector - required foreign languages and four years of study each in history, mathematics, and science - were set. Instruction in the basic tenets of Christianity added class periods to the school day, as did piano instruction for those who wanted to be teachers in the synod's elementary schools. A student who enrolled in the ninth grade in 19191920, intending to become a teacher, had religion four periods a week, English (5), German (6), mathematics (5), science (3), history (4), and music (1). If the student intended to be a pastor, he did not have to take music. Instead, he had to take Latin six periods a week. Religion, German, and Latin were "given through the medium of the German language." This is what all ninth grade students studied in their English class: "Selections from Masterpieces of American and British Literature. Written reports on three books from home reading list. . . . Systematic course in advanced grammar according to Kittredge and Farley, Advanced Grammar. Composition according to a suitable text. 1\venty themes: letter writing, narration, description.

Five selections committed to memory."

Many of the fourteen and fifteen year old boys and girls found the curriculum so demanding they withdrew. The enrollment statistics for the class which entered the ninth grade in 1919-1920 tell a grim story of optimistic beginnings and downhearted quittings. Thirty boys and girls enrolled in the fall of 1919. During the time the class attended the high school and was graduated in 1923, it gained three new students and lost seventeen. Of the sixteen who were graduated, only fourteen remained from the original group of 30. Eleven of the fourteen lived in New Ulm. This statistic mayor may not say something about the quality of dormitory life during this time.

The nomenclature for the four classes - sexta, quinta, quarta, tertia - was, at best, passing strange to the layman and, at worst, foreign and elitist. Consequently, their use was officially discontinued.

However, they continued to be used among the initiated well into the fifth decade of the present century.

Additional college level courses were introduced, but efforts to raise the level of instruction were hindered by the dual type of

68

THE POSTWAR YEARS

teaching required of the instructors. Conscientious teachers who found themselves alternately teaching high school and college classes felt a large amount of pain. Changing materials, approach, and methods was not done easily during a five minute break between classes. Many years later, a veteran professor, now retired from the staff of Dr. Martin Luther College, stated unequivocally, "The most significant and worthwhile change resulting from the separation of high school and college departments was the separation of teaching duties. A person was now either a high school teacher or a college teacher. He didn't have to juggle his person to satisfy the peculiar demands of each."

The board, president, faculty, and Minnesota constituency must have been gratified by other actions of the 1919 synod convention. In its meeting in 1917, the synod appointed an educational survey committee. It was to review the entire structure of education in the synod from elementary school through seminary. The committee made numerous recommendations to the 1919 convention of the synod. One of the most significant called for transferring the teachers' course from Dr. Martin Luther College to Northwestern College in Watertown, Wisconsin. There was vigorous support for this change in the state teachers' conference of Wisconsin and in Milwaukee. The recommendation was defeated. The vote appeared to be a vote of confidence for the changes being made at New Ulm. The issue would surface again in later years. One effort would call for the eastward migration of teacher training facilities - from New VIm to Milwaukee; the other would urge the westward movement of a junior college - from Milwaukee to New Ulm. Both issues would be debated with some heat and, at times, a bit of rancor.

Another resolution, this one brought about by the recommendation of the convention floor committee handling education matters, called for adding a third year to the college department. The convention, aware of Minnesota's normal school system, wanted the synod's school to conform to the established pattern.

Also gratifying had to be the action of the same convention which permitted the college to call two more men to take care of the increasing enrollment.

An oddity of Meyer's presidency was the presence on DMLC's campus of young women who had been students at Bethany Ladies

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THE POSTWAR YEARS

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Seminary, Mankato, Minnesota. Hard times had fallen on Bethany, and the school could not operate with an enrollment numbering less than a dozen. The eight exiles were not incorporated into the DMLC student body, but they formed a unit of their own, taking courses which DMLC offered which were compatible with their aims.

Meyer's presidency, the shortest of any in the history of DMLC, ended when he accepted the call to the theological seminary at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin in 1920. The board called as his successor Edmund R. Bliefernicht. Joining the faculty at the same time were the Rev. Adalbert Schaller, pastor at Redwood Falls, Minnesota and the Rev. Carl Schweppe, pastor at Bowdle, South Dakota. Bliefernicht would remain at the college until his unexpected and sudden death on January 30, 1947. Schaller would be an important member of the faculty for one score years. Schweppe, who had been on the staff as

70

THE

POSTWAR YEARS

assistant instructor during the 1911-1912 school year, would remain as professor and later as president until his retirement in 1966. At that time Schweppe would have been a part of the school for 46 of its 82 years. Small wonder his name and that of the college are inextricably intertwined.

The new director:Prof. E. R. Bliefernicht

Chapter

Six The Coming of Age Years When Edmund R. Bliefernicht assumed the presidency of Dr. Martin Luther College and simultaneously the chairmanship of the faculty in 1920, the men who sat around the table of authority were Burk (who was called in 1884), Reuter (1908), Bliefernicht (1908), Wagner (1916), Albrecht (1916), Palmbach (1917), Klatt, (1918), Schaller (1920), and Schweppe (1920). The average age of these men was only 40; their average length of service to the college was only 12.6 years.

At the close of Bliefernicht's presidency, two of the men were gone: Fritz Reuter had died in 1924, Hans Wagner in 1931. Added to the faculty were six men whose average age, at the time they were called, was an almost tender 32. They surely were in the prime of life, and they, together with the veteran members of the faculty, were going to provide the dynamics for the immediate future, for DMLC's coming of age years. During this fifteen year period, the average age of the faculty increased to only 47.8 years, and the average length of service to the school increased to only 17. The youngest of this new breed of young men was Victor F. Voecks, the first professor elected to the

71

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THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

faculty of Dr. Martin Luther College who was born in the twentieth century.

The first problem facing the new administration was housing for women. Persuading town people to keep women as roomers and partial boarders became increasingly difficult, and not uncommonly the burden fell on the professors' families. In 1920 the director's home, a large, twelve room house which sat on the verge of the hill overlooking Center Street, directly opposite the east end of what is now the Academic Center, was converted into a "girls dormitory."

This step was one large stride for womankind, considering the times and mindset in which it was done. The college catalog for 19191920 says that the "institution is open to young ladies," but they must "provide for their own lodgings in private homes." Some hope for housing was held out: "The idea of a girls' dormitory has been discussed, but no action has as yet been taken." The catalog for the following year was a great hopes raiser and dasher. It contains this extraordinary piece of uncertainty: "By action of the Joint Synod, the former director's residence was converted into a girls' dormitory.

However, the arrangement was tentative, and it applied for only the school year 1920-21. The Synod in its session 1921 [sic] will decide whether the dormitory for girls will become a permanent institution."

The catalog for the following year removes any lingering doubt. It says, in a surprisingly matter-of-fact tone, "By action of the Joint Synod, the former director's residence was converted into a girls' dormitory." A new era began; it culminated with the building of Hillview and Highland halls.

Members of the Class of '34, surveying the campus on May 30, 1984, remembered more vividly the tennis court and the driveway which circled it than the dormitory itself. The dormitory was designed to house twenty women, and some twenty to 25 lived in it during the 30s. A comment by one of the people helping to reconstruct the campus as it was reveals more about faculties and student bodies than it does about the building. She said: "The students always had to use the front entrance of Hillcrest Hall, which was toward Center Street.

And so we had to walk all the way around to the other side of the building when we came from classes." One man, thinking about an era long gone, was surprised to hear himself recalling an unexpected bit of trivia: "All I can remember," he said, "is that on the east side of the Hillcrest Hall was a clothes line where the girls could keep their

THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

73

Hillcrest Hall

dainties hanging." Embarrassed by the recollection which surfaced, he giggled a giggle and turned to something less quixotic.

None of the women and men could remember Miss Luella Sitz, the first dean of women on our campus. Then called simply and quite inelegantly "matron," Sitz held the position until 1924. Excluding the women who prepared the students' meals, she was the first woman hired by the college. Mrs. Henry Goeglein succeeded Sitz and held the position until the class of '34 was graduated. Her husband, Mr. Henry Goeglein, was assistant fireman, gardener, and groundskeeper during this same time. The Goegleins' daughter Lydia was married to Inspector Wagner. Goeglein was succeeded by Miss Ada Sievert for the 1934-1935 school year and she, in tum, by Miss Ida Ingebritson in 1935. Ingebritson retired in 1961.

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THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

During the same year (1920), a committee from the Norwegian Synod of the American Ev. Lutheran Church, a minority group which for conscience' sake could not become part of the merger which was to form the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, asked for permission to send young women and men to DMLC to be prepared for the teaching ministry. Such an arrangement was necessary because when these people withdrew from their former communion, they were left without preparatory schools of any kind. Although the request was granted willingly, a small problem arose. Nobody on the DMLC faculty was equipped to teach Norwegian, and the new group felt a working knowledge of the language was necessary for their teachers.

Oscar Levorson, one of the conservative minority, joined the faculty in 1922 in order to satisfy the felt need. Levorson was educated at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa and the University of Iowa at Ames. In August, 1923 he was called as full professor and remained with DMLC until his retirement in 1963. The synod which is today called the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) paid a part of Levorson's salary until Bethany College became a part of the ELS in 1927. In 1923 Levorson signed the constitution of St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church in New VIm and became a voting member of that congregation.

Theodore A. Aaberg in his A City Set On A Hill, his history of the ELS from 1918 to 1968, puts the matter differently. He writes, ", . . the Synod instructed the committee to confer next with the

Pathfrom Redeker Hall and Center Street to Old Main

THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

75

Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Synod in order to make arrangements for the training of parochial school teachers. The committee informed the 1921 West Koshkonong Convention that the Director of Dr. Martin Luther College (Wisconsin Synod) at New Ulm, Minnesota, had invited the Synod to use the school for the training of ELS students who wished to become parochial school teachers" (italics mine). Both Aaberg and S.C. Ylvisaker, writing in the Lutheran Sentinel (Vol. 30, No. 18), express their thanks to the Missouri and Wisconsin synods for the "gracious and solicitous care which these synods showed to their little brother, the ELS." During the fall of 1921 students who had been making music together in the men's dormitory sought help from the faculty in organizing a college band. They were encouraged to continue to play, but they were advised to get some student who was interested in music to be their director. Three of the men - Walter Nolte, Ernest Sprengler, and William Schweppe - asked Kurt Oswald to be their director. When Oswald consented, eleven students were persuaded to join the ensemble. The problem of instruments was settled by the age-old solution of supply and demand. Students who needed cash sold their horns to students who needed instruments. The group practiced in "Prof. Schweppe's classroom" (now Room 121) after class hours.

The band made its first public appearance at a basketball game in the gymnasium in the men's dormitory and, we are told by people who can remember, "the rest of the student body registered their appreciation and cheered them on."

During the 1922 spring recess the faculty gave the group permission to arrange for rehearsals in a room on the third floor of Old Main.

The room had been used for storage, and cleaning it proved to be a challenge. The young musicians were also entrepreneurs: They sold a large quantity of old magazines to a junk dealer and bought band music with the proceeds.

Oswald, who had no previous knowledge of band instruments, got a cornet during the summer of 1922 and learned to play so he could understand and appreciate some of the subtleties of band music and directing. Other students joined the charter members when school began in fall, and freshmen were induced to spend extra time as a class in order to learn to play their instruments better. The December, 1922 issue of the Messenger, the DMLC student magazine, had this comment: "The band is now in a flourishing condition, practicing

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THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

once a week." Open air concerts were given in April and May, 1923, and the band members thanked "all who have helped them financially and made their organization possible."

The morale of the band members was boosted substantially by four events which occurred in comparatively rapid succession. The band was acknowledged for the first time in the 1923 DMLC Catalog: "Band - One period per week. A volunteer organization under the leadership of a student director." It was invited to participate in St. Paul's annual mission festival. Its assignment was to accompany the congregation in its hymn singing. The Rev. C. J. Albrecht must have been mightily pleased to hear what God had wrought. The band introduced a radical custom on the morning of the commencement service in 1924. It was permitted to playa concert, if that is the appropriate word, on and from the roof of Old Main. Known as Turmblasen (tower trumpets or tower concert), this tradition in the manner of an old German custom continues to this day. The band of St. Paul's congregation had awakened the town with such a concert on the day the men's dormitory and the Aula were dedicated in 1911. The largest boost was provided by individual members of St. Paul's congregation. During the summer of 1924 they built a band stand in the general area of the northeast corner of Centennial Hall. The members of the Class of '34 remembered with "nostalgia that hurts good" Wednesday and/or Sunday afternoon concerts.

Campus Bandstand, c. 1925-1930

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77

The DMLC Band, 1929

Some measure of popular recognition came to the band. It played once more for St. Paul's mission festival and several times for St. Paul's Walther League meetings. During the spring of 1925 the band received seven weekend invitations to services and picnics in the New VIm area, usually traveling in an open truck supplied either by the college or by a farmer who belonged to the congregation the band was to visit. There was singing on the way, and when the truck stopped in a town along the way, the band broke out a number or two. The band continued as a student sponsored, student directed organization until 1943. Early directors included Oswald, Armin Rauschke, Carl Finup, Martin Albrecht, Meilahn Zahn, and Arthur Glende. When Albrecht, the third member of the Albrecht-Backer family to serve DMLC, was called as professor of music in 1943, he became the first faculty member to be director of the band, a position which he held until "about 1960." During his tenure, some of the unusual instruments were purchased: tympani, oboe, bassoon, bass horn, and French horn.

Albrecht remembers Waldemar Retzlaff, a local business man and member of St. Paul's, as one of the more generous patrons of the band.

Today, Dr. Martin Luther College has four bands: the Wind Ensemble (55 members), the Symphonic Concert Band (81), and the Jazz Ensemble (22), all directed by Roger Hermanson. About 30 students are members of both the Wind Ensemble and the Symphonic Concert Band. The pep band, which is student directed, varies in size from event to event.

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THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

Two significant faculty changes occurred in the 1923-1924 school year. Fritz Reuter, who had been called to DMLC to inaugurate a new deal in music and had succeeded far beyond everyone's fondest expectations, became gravely ill in 1922. He was granted a leave of absence from Christmas to the end of the school year. The slack was taken up by faculty members and men of the A class. Burk by this time had left teaching English and was concentrating his time exclusively to music.

The commencement concert given on June 12, 1923 was directed by R. M. Albrecht. One of the compositions, "Ich hebe meine Augen auf," was Reuter's work. When Reuter's health problem, which the school paper of March, 1923 said was "thought to be a nervous breakdown," did not improve, he was granted another leave of absence for the 1923-1924 school year. When Reuter died, Emil D. Backer, the second of the Albrecht-Backer family to serve the school, who had been hired on a temporary basis at the time of the original emergency, was called to fill the position.

Reuter and Backer were men of different but extraordinary gifts, and they served the college as director of the college choir for nearly a half century. To try to determine who contributed more to the rich musical heritage of Dr. Martin Luther College would be foolhardy and contrary to the Christian spirit. Reuter laid a fine, firm foundation; Backer built on that foundation a splendid edifice. The length of time each served is proportionate to the task the Lord assigned them.

Backer, who was born, reared, and educated in the New Ulm area, was one of Reuter's proteges. He attended DMLC and was graduated in 1914, almost the midpoint of Reuter's stewardship. The story goes that students who studied under Backer could, through the Reuter connection, trace their musical heritage back to Bach. Presumably the same can be said of any person who was or is a student of Backer's students. Backer, who was assigned to Bethesda Lutheran School in Milwaukee, promptly made the most of his opportunity by studying at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. After the conservatory conferred upon him his degree in music, Backer accepted the position of music supervisor in the public school system in Sidney, Nebraska. In 1922 he filled in for his ailing teacher on a temporary basis. As is the case with people who do well, the temporary position became when Reuter died a permanent call to the chair of music.

Backer filled this position longer than any other teacher in the history of the school.

THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

79

Mixed Choir in Aula, 1927. Emil Backer,front left Backer was patient to a fault, and how he suffered students who could not or would not sing a scale, play a cadence, or transpose a chord was and remains beyond the understanding of many of the perpetrators. Most of the atrocities occurred in the class room which, before the classroom building was built, was the stage in the music hall. Considered a soft touch by many, Backer had the happy faculty of getting their finest out of even recalcitrant singers. And those who were applauded with what appeared to be an offhand remark coloratura, basso profunda - responded to the encomium with elan and verve. They were willing, it seemed, to go off the high end or the low end or both ends of the scale for dear old DMLC. He also had the knack of picking music the students enjoyed singing, and the secular concerts on June Night were happy, festive occasions. Although Backer was eclectic in taste, many of his choices had a romantic, sentimental, nostalgic character. He also enjoyed a good waltz, a rousing tour de Jorce, and a running bass that rolled like the tide.

Backer had a nickname, too. He was called Ba - as in "Baa, baa, black sheep" - and the name, evidently taken from the abbreviation of his name in the college catalog, carried with it no disparaging connotation. Although their teacher was forgetful and was wont to mispronounce a word - his favorite was the ten lepers (leapers) - the students enjoyed and appreciated this man whom they knew to be a masterful musician, a friendly face, and a dandy dresser. To them he gave the campus an air of distinction, whether on or off the podium.

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The symbiotic relationship between Dr. Martin Luther College and St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church in New VIm, which had existed from the very beginnings of the college and which was strengthened when the Gemeindeschule was opened in 1885, was further strengthened in 1923. Two years before this the congregation had built a 50 x 80 foot addition to the school, thereby more than doubling the size of the building. The college and the congregation entered into an agreement which was mutually beneficial. The practice teaching program was given an air of respectability, and the congregation was given needed, valuable assistance in educating its children. A group of children consisting of the entire second grade and additional, representative boys and girls in the third, fourth, and fifth grades would be under the supervision of skilled professionals in the so-called practice room in the congregation's elementary school. For the first time since the college was directed to prepare teachers in 1893, the members of the graduating class would be given what was then considered regular and ample opportunity to observe master teachers and gain practical experience in teaching a class or classes under realistic conditions.

Variations of this program were adopted periodically, but the basic format remained intact until an entirely new and different program, professionally managed and skills oriented, was developed and implemented 41 years later. The men who were to put this new program into action were a veteran, Richard Albrecht, and the second newcomer to the 1923 college faculty, Albert Stindt.

Richard M. Albrecht, the first member of the Albrecht-Backer family to serve Dr. Martin Luther College in a professional capacity, was born ten years before DMLC was founded. One hundred ten years later his grandson, Bruce R. Backer, was to serve as chairman of the committee responsible for planning and carrying out the centennial celebration of the college. A bit of delicious coincidence, probably not fully appreciated when the appointment was made and accepted.

Richard Albrecht was born in Germany on November 25, 1874, the second of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Herman Albrecht. The family left Germany in 1883 and settled in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. The young immigrant decided to be a Lutheran school teacher, and he studied at Northwestern College and Dr. Martin Luther College to prepare for what was to be a long, long life of service to the Lord. He was graduated from Dr. Martin Luther College in 1896; years later, five months before his forty-second birthday, his alma mater called him back. He was to teach there for 38 years. His eightieth birthday

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81

was less than six months away when he laid down his chalk, eraser, and pointing stick in 1954.

The almost two score years during which Albrecht and the men who were his contemporaries sat on the faculty of DMLC were difficult years in the history of our country, difficult years which cast their shadows over DMLC: two world wars, one of which resulted in the resignation of the president of the college; an incredibly devastating depression which decimated the enrollment of the school and set at naught plans for curriculum expansion and improvement; and the Jazz Age, an era which tested some of the fundamental standards of decency which the school was trying to instill in its teachers-to-be.

Albrecht was called to teach German and education courses. His course in practical German, whether by design or accident - and we dare to assume it was the former - was not unlike modern linguistic courses in which only the language to be learned is spoken and which stress repetition as the mother of all learning. With his teacher's wand in hand, Albrecht quizzed by pointing and tapping. He was a short man, stout, and everlastingly looking over the top of his glasses which had slid beyond the bridge of his nose and perched precariously near the end. Woe to the student who failed to remember that he or she had learned only yesterday that the proper form was das Fenster. In those days, gender was an important fact of life.

Albrecht's main contribution to the well being of the synodical school system was his education courses and his position as supervisor of what was then called "the practice school." Together with Albert Stindt, his co-worker at St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran School, he set the standards which governed for many years the fine art of teaching and the discipline of learning in the Wisconsin Synod. The combination of advancing years and wiggling youngsters forced Albrecht to relinquish his practice school duties, and he spent the last segment of his teaching career coping with collegians.

Albrecht and his wife Selma nee Zielke were the parents of Erna Backer Rosenberg, the wife of Emil D. Backer and mother of Bruce R. Backer; Martin, who taught at DMLC from 1943 to 1962 and then accepted the call to Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary; and three other children.

Albert Stindt, who was Richard Albrecht's co-worker for many years, is a classic example of the "local boy makes good" case. He was

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born to John and Maria nee Oldenburg Stindt in New Ulm on December 27, 1883, his birth antedating by about eleven months the founding of the school he was to serve for 34 years. He died in New Ulm on December 30, 1971, three days after his eighty-eighth birthday. Except for 18 years spent teaching school in Lewiston, Minnesota, Stindt lived his entire life in the city where he was born.

Stindt attended St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran School in New Ulm. After confirmation he enrolled in Dr. Martin Luther College and was graduated in 1905. In 1923 he accepted the call to be professor of education, and his Introduction to Teaching course, impiously called "Avent" after the author of the textbook used in the class, was standard fare for all students for many years. Avent was strong on truisms, and it was in that class that embryonic teachers were told that one ingredient of success was heeding Pope's couplet: "Be not the first by whom the new are tried,/Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."

Albert Stindt was a gentle giant. Although big enough to carry his opinion by force if necessary, he seldom became angry or raised his voice. He was patient and long suffering, and his only visible sign of frustration was a rhythmic, silent tune which the fingers of one hand, held chest high, played on their opposite members. The students had a name for this mild mannered man; they called him "Pa Stindt." With a maturity beyond their years, they were acknowledging the gentle demeanor of this man who could set a little child on his knee and with a few apt words make the child forget the misery that had caused the tears to swell.

Richard Albrecht had accepted a similar call seven years earlier, and the two men were to find a congeniality in each other. Dissimilar in stature and disposition, each of them was freely able to call on the strength of the other to compensate for what he perceived his own weakness to be. Their association as members of the education department and as supervisors in the practice school spanned a quarter of a century, a remarkable feat when the trying times during which they served are considered. Albrecht retired in 1954, Stindt in 1957. They had served a combined total of 72 years at Dr. Martin Luther College, and their impact on the philosophy of teaching and its pragmatic application to the schools of the synod can never be fully evaluated.

Their contribution can best be measured by remembering that they were the teachers of many of the teachers who led the college and the elementary school system of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod into the twentieth century.

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83

Huldreich Klatt, another of the young men who came into their own during the Bliefernicht presidency, was the opposite of Backer, his classy colleague. Klatt, so the stories went, was color blind, and each morning his wife had to give him the correct combination of shirt, shoes, tie, and suit. Even so, his ties were said to be gravy stained, and his perpetually rumpled appearance gave him the look of a large but friendly bear who, ending his winter's sleep, had not yet had time to comb his fur. This is not to say that Klatt was a confirmed sloven. He was simply too busy, according to his sense of values and priorities, with more important things.

Klatt had been principal of St. Paul's Lutheran School in New Ulm before being called to the college faculty. Although he lacked formal, advanced training, he was an erudite man. He read omnivorously and knew the bibliography in his field. Klatt was not a clown, but he permitted his students to act like one if they were not grown up enough to conduct themselves otherwise. Stories of infantile behavior in his classes are legion, but the tellers do not realize even in adulthood that they and not their teacher were the clodpates in these incidents.

Klatt served the school as bursar, no easy task in the days when money was scarce, and also as vice president. His major contributions to Christian education and the philosophy undergirding it are two modest pamphlets. The first, "How to Make the Teaching of History Subservient to Our Christian Aim," was delivered to the Wisconsin State Teachers' Confer.ence at Jefferson, Wisconsin and published at their request. In his paper Klatt tried to make his listeners aware of the ultimate aim of all teaching. The essay formed the basis for a fifteen page booklet which he published in 1936. Titled History: An Outline from the Christian Point oj View, it affirmed the necessity of teaching all school subjects, but especially history, from a Bible-based perspective. In his summary, Klatt listed six results of teaching and studying history from the Christian point of view. Here is the sixth and final result in the booklet; it encapsulates Klatt the man, Klatt the teacher, Klatt the humble child of God: "And above all, the overwhelming grace of God, appearing on all pages of history, fills us with the one great desire in humbleness to thank and praise, to serve and obey ¡ " H im.

Reuter, who had never returned to the classroom after Christmas in 1922, died on Monday afternoon, June 9, 1924. The funeral services were held on Thursday, June 12, at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. The

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THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

Rev. C. J. Albrecht preached the sermon. Bliefernicht spoke briefly on behalf of the campus family, and John Meyer, president of the synod's seminary and former DMLC teacher and president, spoke on behalf of the synod. It was fitting that Emil D. Backer, who carried on Reuter's tradition for many years, directed the college choir as it sang Reuter's "Surely, He Has Borne Our Griefs." Committal was in the Lutheran cemetery, New VIm. Reuter's obituary, published in the New VIm Review on June 13, said, "[Reuter] was loved and respected by all of his acquaintances ....

His cordial and friendly manner appealed to everyone and he was a model citizen."

Reuter's reputation has been dimmed by time, and his choral and organ compositions are only occasionally sung and played today.

Students are no longer required to buy his Hochzeitsmarsch (1915) or his Weinachtsgeschichte (1921), as they once were. The "Christmas Story" is, however, performed annually at St. Paul's in New VIm. Edward H. Meyer, in his The Life and Work of Fritz Otto Reuter, an unpublished master's thesis dated June 29, 1972, lauds him as classroom teacher, piano and organ teacher, director, and composer. Meyer summarizes Reuter's work with these words: "The two compelling needs of the church for Reuter were (1) a college music program which could adequately train students for the teacher-musician profession, and (2) an adequate repertoire of church music literature. To meet the demands of these two needs he labored faithfully until his career was ended."

Twenty-eight days after he preached the sermon at Reuter's funeral and three days before his seventy-seventh birthday, the Rev. C. J. Albrecht died. His service to his God, his church, and his adopted land was varied, unstinting, unselfish. He had been in the preaching ministry 52 years, 42 of which he spent at St. Paul's in New Ulm. Four pictures hang in the foyer of Old Main; one of them is of Albrecht, concrete evidence that he will be best remembered among people of his persuasion for his living memorial: Dr. Martin Luther College.

The enrollment had dropped to 77 during 1917-1918, the last year of Ackermann's presidency, most likely in direct response to the rabid anti-German feelings that ran amok in our country. By the school year 1919-1920, it had begun to rebound; an increase of sixteen brought it closer to the hundred mark. It continued to rise during the euphoric years which our country experienced just before the collapse of the Bull Market and the Great Depression which followed.

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THE COMING OF AGE YEARS

In response to the early growth and anticipating further expansion, the board "elected the Reverend Richard Janke of Clarkston, Washington, to fill the new professorship at the Dr. Martin Luther College, which was created by the Joint Synod at its 1923 session." The board's letter to the Clarkston congregation admitted "that the work in the mission fields of the great Northwest is a necessary and blessed work, and that there, also, there is need of the best gifts that God has given our pastors." The board argued, however, "that the work in our educational institutions . . . in a still greater measure need [sic] good men as professors." Consequently, the board pleaded, "We now come to you with the hope that you may release your pastor so that he can accept the call we have extended to him."

The call which Janke received is typical of the calls extended at that time. Physically, it was written on a plain piece of paper. The letter written to the congregation was typed on St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran School stationery. The contents asked Janke to work "chiefly in the teaching of mathematics, with some work in English and German." The yearly salary was $1500.00 "with a bonus of 25%, the latter provision, however, being subject to change by the Synod or its Board of Trustees." Janke was also to be paid "an allowance of not to exceed $35 a month for rent." The salary and housing allowance appear almost ridiculous in the light of the inflated money in circulation today. Janke accepted the call in February, 1924 and remained at the college until his death at age 60.

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The 1928faculty. Front, 1 to r.: Albrecht, Sauer, Burk, Bliefernicht; middle, 1. to r.: Levorson, Klatt, Schaller, Janke, Palmbach; rear, 1. to r.: Backer, Stindt, Wagner, Schweppe

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A boarding school must by its inherent nature provide its students with the fundamental mechanics of living. It must have facilities for eating, sleeping, studying, playing, and grooming and personal hygiene. Dr. Martin Luther College did not have these facilities in necessary quantity in the late 1920s. Dormitory rooms were at a premium, even though various makeshift arrangements were hurried into. The food preparation and dining facilities were designed to accommodate a much smaller school population. The classrooms were inadequate in size, number, variety, and kind.

The joint synod rose to the occasion, and a four story, 70 x 34 foot addition to the men's dormitory was built in 1926. The cost was approximately $41,000.00. This wing, set at right angles to the original structure, was called the new dorm as late as the 1940s, and older students vied for one of its rooms with its supposedly superior accoutrements.

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the original Wisconsin Synod, which had been formally organized in May, 1850 at Granville, Wisconsin, was celebrated by the joint synod during this same year. A thank offering of $53,000.00 was collected and earmarked for the construction of a new classroom building. Old Main, now 42 years old, was pushed to its limits. Chairs to accommodate the overflow classes were placed in classroom aisles, and fire was a very real and very present danger.

Dr. Martin Luther College officials presented an expansion program to the 1927 convention of the joint synod. The plan called for the construction of a new classroom building, boiler house, and the remodeling and renovation of Old Main and the Aula. The convention reacted favorably to the demonstrated need and voted an appropriation of $328,000.00. There was, if we deduce from what Bliefernicht wrote in the Northwestern Lutheran about the cornerstone laying ceremony, no groundbreaking for the new building. The cornerstone, its location at the northeast corner of the building now well hidden by shrubbery, was laid on May 6, 1928. This, too, was different from an ordinary cornerstone laying. Bliefernicht's account in the Northwestern Lutheran states that "they place[ d] the cornerstone under the building," since "the laying of the brick for the second story was well under way and almost completed." The building was dedicated to the glory of God on Sunday and Monday, October 14 and 15, 1928.

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Cornerstone laying service

The rite of cornerstone laying. Pastor Emil G. Fritz

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Officiants and speakers for this occasion were brought in from near and far: Fairfax, Marshall, and St. Paul, Minnesota, Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Jenera, Ohio. A large, twelve page "Souvenir Edition" newspaper which measures 91/4 X 12 inches and is illustrated with six large pictures, demonstrates the importance of the event to the people of that day.

For the first time in the history of the school an architect other than someone from the immediate vicinity was selected to draw plans and specifications for the new building. Toltz, King & Day Incorporated of St. Paul suggested as appropriate the old English private school design.

The building is remarkably reminiscent of the school Richard D. Blackmore, the author of Lorna Doone, attended: Blundell's school, Tiverton, England. Whether there was sub rosa input is immaterial.

What is coincidental and interesting, however, is that Blackmore and Lorna Doone were favorites of the English teacher, Carl L. Schweppe.

General contractor was Standard Construction Co., Minneapolis.

The building, which measured 124 X 208 feet and cost $302,270.63, contained thirteen classrooms, chemistry laboratory, physics laboratory, a library, a combination auditorium-gymnasium, and locker and shower rooms. The classrooms varied in size, and science teaching was enhanced with an arena-like, tiered lecture room.

The classroom building

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The library, which inexplicably was considered adequate even for that day and age, was little more than a large room. Measuring approximately 80 x 33 feet, the room had stacks on one end and a combination book store and check out desk on the other. Reading tables occupied the middle area. The stacks consisted of five doublefaced cases and two single-faced cases, one against either wall. Each of the cases was about twenty feet long and six shelves high. The 7,000 volumes which the library had accessioned at the time occupied 1,440 running feet in an area covering not more than 800 square feet. The bookstore now occupies the space formerly used by the library, and marks on the cement floor show where the stacks and check out desk were.

The library

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The auditorium-gymnasium

The auditorium consisted of two parts: approximately 200 tiered seats which occupied the rear part of the stage and faced the audience and about 300 seats which sat on a sloping floor and faced the stage.

The 1914 Wirsching organ from the Aula was rebuilt and electrified by Ernest C. Vogelpohl and Norman Endacott and placed on the stage.

The gymnasium, which measured 68 X 76 feet overall, had a collegesize basketball court and bleachers on both sides. Folding doors, which separated auditorium and gymnasium during regular school hours, were opened for concerts, plays, services, commencement exercises,

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and any other activity which would draw a large crowd. Seating for 1200 people made the auditorium the largest in the town at that time.

The maintenance and janitorial crew consisted of Adolf Glaesemann, the superintendent of buildings, and one or two janitors. These men could not arrange the seating which converted a gym into an auditorium. Consequently, the students had to set up and dismantle the temporary seating in the gymnasium part of the auditorium. The seats, made of hard wood, were in sections, and lugging them from the basement to the floor and from the floor to the basement was not regarded extraordinary fun.

The remodeling of Old Main cost $30,000.00. Although the exterior was not changed materially, the interior was altered beyond recognition. The basement became the storage cellar. The first floor was converted into kitchen and two dining rooms: one for the boys and men, the other for the girls and women. The entrances to the dining halls were also segregated by sex. One half of the second floor was converted into a sick bay, the other into rooms for the housekeepers.

Two piano studios, a game room, and rooms for the maids occupied the third floor.

The auditorium-chapel or Aula became a music hall. The former stage was converted into an enclosed classroom to be used for harmony and vocal classes and choir practice. The first floor was divided into individual practice rooms; a full second floor was installed and divided into five organ practice rooms.

The city of New Ulm, which had built the water reservoir and made other improvements when the men's dormitory and the multipurpose building were built in 1911, also obliged at this time. It constructed a $200,000.00 sanitary and storm sewer system at the foot of College Hill.

A school by its intrinsic nature also must provide its students with fundamental opportunities to learn. It must have teachers on the log opposite the students. Synod recognized this and authorized the creation of another professorship. The board of control called the Rev. Edwin H. Sauer, pastor of Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, rural Goodhue, Minnesota to fill this post. Sauer, called to teach religion and languages, especially German, came to the faculty in January, 1928. When Wagner died a little more than three years later, Sauer accepted the position of inspector. He was the first inspector who was

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given the new title of dean of men. The title appeared initially in the DMLC catalog for 1934-1935. The title did not take, and inspector continued to be used throughout Roland Hoenecke's tenure as dean.

Illness forced Sauer to resign the inspectorship after the 1945-1946 school year. He taught a part of the 1946-1947 school year but was forced to give up teaching in the spring. The young man who took over his classes was Lloyd O. Huebner, a recent graduate of Northwestern.

Huebner was to return twenty years later as dean of students and in 1980 become president of the college he was temporarily helping.

Sauer's heart refused to mend, and he died on October 16, 1947. The man whom hundreds of students knew as "Just" (pronounced Yust) was responsible for the conduct of the largest number of men in the history of the school to that time. Three days after Sauer died, St. John's congregation in New Ulm held its first worship service. Eightyone people attended this service. Later, the church would be built where the pioneers had wanted to build Dr. Martin Luther College.

In its earliest years Dr. Martin Luther College was concerned only with the mental and spiritual well being of its students. It showed no interest in providing opportunities for recreation and games until 1901. Then the turnhalle was built, and some attention was given to physical education. Ten years later a gymnasium was built in the men's dormitory. Eleven more years passed before the next move was made.

In 1922 two tennis courts were made for the men behind their dormitory; one court was made for the women next to Hillcrest Hall. The map of the campus dated 1923-1927 shows a baseball diamond, but the outfield appears to end, sadly and indefinitely, in pasture and meadow. Foul balls the catcher might be expected to catch seem to be victims of too-close trees.

Harry R. Palmbach, who came to DMLC in 1917, was the school's first "athletics" director. He also served as basketball and baseball coach. When Oscar Levorson arrived, he was persuaded to coach basketball, and early pictures show Carl Schweppe with the baseball team. Asking teachers who carried a full teaching load to serve as coaches was fair neither to teacher nor to team. Consequently, Victor F. Voecks, who came to DMLC directly from the seminary in 1930, was appointed coach on a temporary basis for the 1930-1931 school year. He was called to the faculty as professor in 1931, and the temporary appointment was made permanent. He became athletic director when Palmbach resigned on May 11, 1932. Voecks held the dual position until 1947, coaching football, basketball, and baseball.

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Cheerleading was introduced to the campus in the same year Voecks became the called athletic director and coach. Karl Gurgel, then a high school junior and now a pastor in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, had seen cheerleaders in Wisconsin and thought the idea passing grand. He and his classmate, Waldemar H. Nolte, now a music professor at DMLC, were duly elected DMLC's cheerleaders at an informal meeting. Voecks, who had given his blessing, forgot to get the president's. Nolte writes in his footnote to athletic history, "Having properly issued the dose of medicinal sarcasm in our class, Prof.

Bliefernicht finally gave an enthusiastic O.K. to the entire project."

The times were simpler, and the students' social life was simpler, too. There were no sports for women, and interscholastic athletics for

Coach '-becks (rear, 4th from 1.) and Palmbach (rear, 4th from r.) with 1930 football team

Coach Voecks and basketball teams

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men were restricted to the three major sports. The seasons were short because of serious scheduling problems. Other than a few home games, the intramurals, vocal and instrumental concerts, two of which were given annually by the Marluts and the Aeolians, student directed choirs for men and women, respectively, which flourished in the 40s and 50s and died in the 70s, plays staged by the two drama clubs, and lectures presented by missionaries or speakers who belonged to some organization like the Chautauqua, the students' social life was uncomplicated. They played cards; pinochle, 500, and Schajskopj were favorites. "Pit" was a popular table game. The students entertained themselves at various kinds of parties, picnics, banquets, sleigh rides, and roller skates. Reflecting the times in which they lived, they had a "Hardtime Party" in 1932 and a "Hobo Party" in 1936. The June, 1940 issue of the Messenger carried a social note that shows how long ago 1940 is: "On September twenty-ninth the class motored to Courtland [a village about seven miles from New Ulm] and had a wiener roast in honor of Roland Bode." Three movie houses in downtown New Ulm presented a variety of shows, but frequently the students did not have the finances to swing two movie tickets and two "Tin Roofs" at Eibner's. A writer in that same June, 1940 issue "hope] d] to see more movie programs at the college in the future."

Shagging, the modern equivalent of going for a hike, was a favorite pastime, and collegians frequented Camel's Back and Dog's Back, two hills south of town, Hunter's Rest, and Green Meadows. The hills are gone now, victims of progress. They were leveled and used as fill when Center Street was widened and its grade made less steep. Because the public display of affection was frowned on, young love crossed Center Street to spoon in Denkmal Park. Hermann never revealed any secrets.

The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Dr. Martin Luther College was held on Saturday, June 16 through Monday, June 18, 1934. The early date was chosen because the committee in charge and the college administration feared the vagaries of a Minnesota winter.

Just the year before, they said, the Reformation festival to be held on November 12 had to be cancelled because a furious blizzard kept people even from the immediate surrounding area from attending.

Saturday was given to socializing and reminiscing at an informal banquet and class reunions. The Rev. John Brenner, president of the synod, preached the sermon in the festival service on Sunday morning.

The Rev. Adolph Ackermann, who had served DMLC as professor and president, read the prayers and the Scripture lessons. An anniversary commencement concert was held Sunday evening, and the anni-

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versary commencement service was held the following morning. Prof.

John Meyer, president of the seminary at Thiensville, was the speaker.

Because Director Bliefernicht's health prevented him from attending the anniversary activities, Carl Schweppe, the acting director, presented diplomas to seventeen college graduates and 22 high school graduates. The word "Acting" was inserted before the word "President" on the form diploma.

Bliefernicht's presidency was marked - and also marred - by unusual swings in enrollment. During the first year of his stewardship (1920-1921), total enrollment stood at 123. This number included two special students and thirteen boys in the eighth grade. It climbed steadily during the following eight years, reaching a high of 269 during the 1928-1929 school year. This figure included only one special student and none in the eighth grade. The collapse of the stock market in 1929 and the economic chaos which followed reached into all corners of the country, the remote areas of the Wisconsin Synod not excepted. Students whose parents were not gainfully employed and who themselves could find no work could not afford to attend college, especially one that was hundreds of miles from home. Enrollment erosion set in, and by the time ill health forced Bliefernicht to resign his office, the enrollment stood at only 131, just eight more than it had been fifteen years before. And six of the 131 must have quit almost immediately because the report given in the Northwestern Lutheran, written by Bliefernicht, says, "Enrollment for this year is 125."

These were, as Dickens would have said, "hard times," and Bliefernicht's comments in the Northwestern Lutheran (July 16, 1933) reveal how desperate conditions were: "During the past year we made every effort to operate as economically as possible. We tried in every way to conserve heat and light. A few examples may tend to illustrate this. We had pupils rise at 7 a.m., we closed off all but the most necessary rooms, we restricted the bathing schedule, we had all basketball practice stop at 4:30 p.m., we restricted the number of basketball games and programs of literary societies to a minimum, all this to save on fuel and light. We had the evening devotion in a small classroom. We had all telephones removed except those absolutely necessary." This is the report of an administrator who had prevailed upon the synod to create three more professorships, one of which was to be an athletic directorship, for a growing school population.

Bliefernicht was the first of two Dr. Martin Luther College presidents to be called Stubby, a nickname bestowed upon him because of

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his small stature. The Messenger referred to his size when it wished he could "pull down his own maps in the future" (june, 1939). In the same issue Florence Oehlke, in the traditional class will, "bestowed her extra height to any member of Professor B.'s class whom he asks to raise and/or lower the maps in his classroom." "Stubby tests" drove the students to "distraction," and his biting wit caused some students to wince, wither, and wilt. But forgotten in the lore of the school was the man's ability to take it as well as dish it out. He genuinely enjoyed a student who got one up on him, and he let certain of his colleagues who were in a position to pass on his pleasure know that he appreciated a ripe riposte.

The Bliefernicht presidency is sometimes given short shrift in formal writings or in informal discussions about the school. The reasons are several: Bliefernicht administered the affairs of the school during a period in the country's history which seems best forgotten. He was followed by an eloquent public speaker who became something of a cult figure - if that is possible in the Wisconsin Synod. He served the school as teacher 11/2 times longer than he served it as chief administrator. And he served the school in other capacities: librarian, principal apologist for Christian education, textbook author, and school historian. His An Elementary Christian Psychology was used as the basic psychology text at Dr. Martin Luther College for many years, and his A Brief History of Dr. Martin Luther College remains the seminal work in the field.

Using these reasons to make less of the Bliefernicht presidency than the facts warrant is less than fair. The school moved forward in several areas under his leadership. The physical plant was enlarged and improved considerably with the building of the classroom building, the boiler house, and the wing of the men's dormitory; the remodeling of Old Main and the Aula; and the conversion of the director's house into a modest dormitory for women. Additional men were called to the facuity, and the group, its individual members' duties more clearly defined, was stabilized. The groundwork for both the present day teacher training and instrumental ensemble programs was laid. The eighth grade was discontinued after the 1923-1924 school year, and a third college year ("the third normal") went into effect in the fall of 1928. The first three year class, which numbered only nine, was graduated in 1931. The school, in spite of the great depression and the lengthening shadows of an impending second world war, was beginning to point toward the watershed years of the 50s and 60s and the expansion years of the 60s and 70s.

Chapter

Seven The Watershed Years The presidencies of Edmund R. Bliefernicht and Carl L. Schweppe overlapped in fashion foreign to this office at Dr. Martin Luther College. The situation never occurred before; it has not happened since. Caused by Bliefernicht's illness and the board's inability to part the curtain which hides the future and its understandable reluctance to admit the seriousness of the illness, the overlapping created a condition in which one of the men was, for an awkward length of time, de jure president while the other was defacto president.

Conditions were normal during Bliefernicht's thirteenth year as president, and on May 20, 1933 he presented the annual report of the president to the college board. The college catalog for the 1933-1934 school year, which was printed at or about the same time, lists Bliefernicht as president. According to the time honored custom prevailing then, the catalog says that "The names of members of the faculty, except that of president, are arranged in the order of appointment." Schweppe was listed sixth. Ahead of him were Bliefernicht, of course, and Burk, Albrecht, Palmbach, and Klatt.

Conditions were different the next year. On May 12, 1934 the board passed a series of resolutions dealing with Bliefernicht's condition. No. 5 says, "Because of the impaired health of Director 99

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Bliefernicht, it was resolved to relieve him of all executive work for the time being. Prof. C. Schweppe was appointed acting director for an undetermined period of time, conditioned by further developments.

Mr. Retzlaff and the secretary were appointed to make further arrangements with the two men as conditions warrant." "Mr. Retzlaff and the secretary" were Mr. F. H. Retzlaff, a prominent New Ulm businessman, and Mr. Herbert Sitz, principal of St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran School. Both of them were longtime members of the board, Sitz serving as secretary for 30 years.

Although the president's annual report to the board had been written by Bliefernicht, resolutions No. 6 and No. 7 seem to indicate that the board felt Bliefernicht would be incapacitated for some time.

No. 6 says, "Prof. C. Schweppe was appointed vice director of the institution." No.7 says, "The faculty is requested to work out some plans by means of which the special subjects are provided with substitute teachers in case of need." The special subjects referred to included Bliefernicht's courses in psychology, isagogics, and American church history.

Members of synod were informed of the actions of the board in an announcement in the May 27, 1934 issue of the Northwestern Lutheran. The announcement spoke of "an indefinite period" and closed with this dictum: "This arrangement will be in effect until further notice."

The time frame for these actions was the depths of the Great Depresssion and the government's efforts to fight its corrosive effects.

Forty-six days after the board had met, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was established. June 27, 1934 became a landmark day in our nation's history. The FHA reformed the nation's mortgage lending practices and put the cost of owning a home within the reach of millions of middle class Americans.

The arrangement mentioned in the Northwestern Lutheran continued for a longer period of time than was anticipated. The catalog for the 1934-1935 school year listed C. L. Schweppe, acting president, and E. R. Bliefernicht, president. When Schweppe wrote the public notices for the beginning of the 1934-1935 school year, he signed his name but appended no title. A notice which appeared in the Northwestern Lutheran at this time is curiously ambiguous. It reported that Bliefernicht had been seriously ill since August 12 and was to be

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confined to his bed for some time. However, "the last few weeks he appears to have made progress toward recovery," the notice read. The sentiment expressed that which everyone was hoping and praying for.

The sentiment did not become parent to reality. The board held its annual meeting on May 4, 1935. No annual report of the president was given, and the board passed this resolution: "Help is to be provided for the faculty in the event Prof. Bliefernicht cannot resume work, or in case some other faculty member needs assistance." The last nine words of the resolution appear to be a strange afterthought. The board also instructed its secretary to send greetings to Prof. Bliefernicht and "to express its hope for a speedy and continued recovery." The catalog for the 1935-1936 school year repeated the listing given in the previous year's catalog.

Bliefernicht was never to return as president. The minutes of the annual meeting of the board of control of Dr. Martin Luther College which was held on May 9, 1936 contain two relevant paragraphs.

They officially mark the end of one era and the beginning of another.

The first says, "With regret the Board accepted the resignation of Prof.

Bliefernicht as director, as his physical condition has been such that the burden of the directorship could not be borne." The second says, "Prof. Carl Schweppe was unanimously chosen as director, and the call was extended to him." In the same meeting Schweppe read his annual director's report to the board, thereby indicating that he actually had been more than de facto president for the 1935-1936 school year. The catalog for 1936-1937 recognizes reality with this listing: "C. L. Schweppe, President, E. R. Bliefernicht, Vice President."

Carl Ludwig Schweppe was born in Brown County on July 18, 1892, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schweppe. He was educated in the elementary schools of St. James, Minnesota, the high school department of Dr. Martin Luther College, Northwestern College, and was graduated from the synod's seminary in 1915. He was tutor at Northwestern for two years and pastor of St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church, Bowdle, South Dakota from 1917 until 1920. The story is told that when he was called to Dr. Martin Luther College in 1920, the Bowdle congregation was loathe to lose him. He was granted a peaceful release only after the director of the college persuaded the members that their young pastor had a vital role to play in Christian education. The members of St. John's congregation were especially impressed that the good director had traveled all the way from Minnesota to their town.

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With the Rev. Carl L. Schweppe's acceptance of the call to Dr. Martin Luther College, a legend - 46 years in the making - was born. The townspeople called him Professor Schweppe. His contemporary colleagues shortened that to Schweppe, the double consonant taking on almost the function and sound of the letter "b." His students shortened that to Schwap. All called him unique - in some form or fashion, and a body of stories began to grow up around his person.

Some of the stories are true; some are of dubious ancestry. Woven together, they form the warp and the woof of an uncommon man endowed with uncommon gifts. They can be arranged into neat segments: Schweppe the man, Schweppe the teacher, Schweppe the president, Schweppe the citizen.

Schweppe the man was a bundle of curious contradictions and idiosyncracies. He had a notorious sweet tooth which he fed surreptitiously from an omnipresent bag of sweets tucked into an obscure corner of his desk. Everyone knew about his cache except his wife.

Like a little boy keeping his stuff and junk secret from his mother, Schweppe kept this secret from Mrs. Schweppe. Schweppe read voraciously, but he arranged his authors according to strong personal biases. Sinclair Lewis, whom he called Red as though he knew him personally, was great. Dorothy Parker was anathema. H. L. Mencken had a splendid wit but was tiresomely repetitive in his material.

Schweppe was consistently elected to be the moderator of St. Paul's church meetings. This had to be a standing tribute to his fairness and impartiality in settling congregational affairs. But he was not above settling those same kinds of affairs on the street corner, and he and a longtime friend held frequent and lengthy meetings on the corner of Washington and First South streets, a spot between church and home and near his crony's house. Although he was an avid Republican who never really conceded the '32 election to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he never took part in politics on the precinct or county level.

Schweppe's reputation as a teacher rests primarily on English and only secondarily on current events. He taught survey courses in American and British literature, but Shakespeare was his first love. He introduced many of his students to the joys, agonies, and mysteries of King Lear, Hamlet, Othello, Richard III, and Romeo and Juliet. He was great on the delights of words, and tyros whose interest he caught learned and remembered that "hold the mortice" means "remain firm under the shock." He brooked, however, few interpretations which differed from his. He reacted to a contrary opinion in a predictably

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sequential manner: a tilt of the head to the right, a quizzical look on his face, the right hand - fingers spread - pushed through his bushy hair, a guttural "Harumpff," and a "Well, maybe .... " Translated, this meant, "I really don't agree, and 1 don't see where you got it."

There is, though, this ultimate compliment: Many of his students, although they were as poor as the Falstaff who said, "I am as poor as Job, my lord, but not so patient," nonetheless kept their individual copies of "The New Hudson Shakespeare" edition. Schweppe's interest in world affairs and his knowledge of events occurring on a broader stage encouraged many of his students to become concerned with times and places and people and incidents beyond the confines of their restricted milieu. They subscribed to news magazines and began regular, planned reading programs, habits which persist to this day.

Schweppe's reputation as teacher surpassed that of administrator.

A longtime colleague said, "He never kept a carbon copy of anything he ever wrote." He had near-dictatorial powers and could threaten a wayward student with expulsion on the spot. He crossed out the name of one student on an assignment call and replaced it with another. On the other hand, he was known and is still regarded as a leader who had a real grasp of the synod and was able to save young, impetuous faculty members from the consequences of their rash actions. As president he was spokesman for the college, and sermonettes delivered at the opening of a new school year, at the annual Christman concert, and at the commencement service are remembered as jewels which sparkled in the mind's eye of the audience. Frequently these gems elicited sympathy for the principal speaker; Schweppe said more clearly in five minutes than the main speaker did in 25.

Schweppe believed it was his Christian duty and privilege to serve God and country. He was a member of the library board and the police and fire commission. When World War II broke out and our country implemented rationing, he was appointed to the ration board.

Although conventional wisdom makes him also a member of the draft board, this apparently is not true. There are no records of such affiliation either in the Brown County Historical Society or the Minnesota Historical Society. Local women who served as secretary of the draft board at one time or another - Leona Hesse, Hazel Meine, and Arlene Vetter - have no remembrance of him serving on that board.

The misinformation apparently started because of his many dealings with the board regarding the draft status of college men. Schweppe also served on the board of directors of Citizens State Bank in New

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Ulm for 36 years. Appointments and positions made Schweppe visible, and he was a recognized figure on Main Street.

Schweppe had a masterful command of the king's English, but he did not use that gift to write. He contributed news releases to the Northwestern Lutheran and articles on education to the Lutheran School Bulletin, but they lack the flair and verve of his spoken word. In 1943 he delivered an essay to the convention of the synod. Titled "The Government Chaplaincy in Appraisal," it reads like a paper which was "Published by resolution of the ... Joint Synod ... for distribution to all delegates." It is dogmatic and pedestrian.

Dr. Martin Luther College passed through several crises during the Schweppe presidency. When he took office at the beginning of the 1936-1937 school year, he faced a pattern of rapidly declining enrollment. Even though the graduates were few in number, many were not assigned to parishes. In 1932 ten calls were available for 22 graduates.

On June 16, 1933 an equal number of graduates found themselves outnumbering the available positions by eleven to one. One of Schweppe's first tasks was to convince congregations to ask for DMLC graduates to fill positions in their schools and not to settle for someone less well trained. During the middle and late 30s he wrote repeatedly in the Northwestern Lutheran about this matter. Sometimes he encouraged. Sometimes he begged, pleaded, cajoled. Sometimes - his frustrations a hair shirt which gave him no rest - he nagged and scolded.

Sometimes he used statistics: "Four of sixteen, all men, are still without calls." Sometimes he made rash promises: "They will all be placed by the time school opens in fall." These articles have not aged gracefully, and reading them in rapid sequence is downheartening and discouraging.

The 1930s were incredibly difficult years. Excerpts taken from letters printed in the Messenger reveal a consistent pattern of pain, a commingling of joy-sadness-gratitude, and a sense of irredeemable loss and nostalgia: From one who was forced to drop out of school: "Because of economic circumstances I was unable to return for the Senior year and graduate with you."

From one who found a lender: "I was able to find a kind benefactor who was willing to supply room and board for three years, the cost to be considered a loan."

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The newest style in graduation gowns Summit Avenue Prof. Schaller, his wife, and his binoculars Either Camel's Back or

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Coeds at Waldheim Note stone and inscription

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From one who received no call: "My parents managed to send me [an additional year] since there were no calls."

Frances (Meyer) Kopitzke, in a letter to her classmates describing what she had done since graduation, wrote: "So it was off to Bowdle that Fall [1936]. I taught in a basement schoolroom, had 33 pupils in all eight grades. Rev. Paul Albrecht was the pastor. I got $50.00 per month - the Mission Board of the Wis. Synod paid $35.00 and Pastor Albrecht paid me the other $15.00 - he had 6 children in school."

The following letter presents a poignant and vivid picture of what the "depths of the depression" meant for a pastor struggling to provide a Christian education for his parishioners. It is reproduced here exactly as it was written: Alexandria, Minn.

Aug. 10, 1933 Mr. Arthur Meier, Ormsby, Minn.

Dear Mr. Meier: First a few words of introduction. I am the pastor of Nicollet Ev. Luth. Congregation, located 10 miles from St. Peter, Minn., of the Norwegian Synod, Synodical Conference. At present I am spending a short vacation here at Alexandria.

We have a small private Christian Day School. Three families are trying to keep this school going. It is two and a half years since this school was started. Last year we secured a teacher from River Forest, a graduate, paid him $25.00 per month and board. The three families boarded him a while each. This year it looks as tho we must discontinue the school, as it has been so hard to furnish the salary even at 25.00 per month. But a week or two ago I drove over to see Prof.

Bliefernicht at New Ulm. He told me that he believed his graduates would be willing to go out for board and for whatever more we could give. In other words without any definite promise of salary and he gave me your name and address as well as the names and addresses of a few others. You are the first one I write to.

Now, then, as yet I do not know for certain whether or not we will be able to open our school again this fall. But in case we should decide to try again with an agreement as stated above, would you be willing to take the school for board and whatever more we can raise? It may not be 25.00 per month, probably not 20.00. We will have only about

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8 children. Term 8 months. Kindly let me hear from you soon. Address letter to St. Peter, Minn. R #3. I will be home in about a week or sooner.

The unsigned letter, if the envelope in which it was sent is proper proof, was written by the "Rev. O. M. Gullerud, R. R. No.3, Box 87, St. Peter, Minnesota."

The grinding hardships people experienced and endured during the Great Depression, graphically portrayed by this sampling of their letters, perhaps explain why those people took Donald Duck to their hearts when he was born in a little cartoon movie called The Wise Little Hen on June 9, 1934. Those same hardships can also be used to explain the popularity of the escapist "Tarzan" movies starring Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weismuller. The ratification of the nineteenth amendment by the necessary thirty-fifth state on December 5, 1933 found its roots in the desire to experience a little fun in a funless world. And the first major league all-star game on July 6, 1933 was born of a desire to find a hero in a life that consisted of bills and bill collectors. The depression also explains the instantaneous success of Pocket Books. Published in 1939 by Robert de Graff, they are rock solid testimony to de Graff's contention that "nobody misses a quarter." Even people who had not yet been caught up in the rising economy could afford an inexpensive edition of a book they had always wanted to read. Less than two years later Pocket Books had its first million-seller: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

When the depression had passed and the enrollment tide had turned some fifteen years later, it turned almost too quickly. Writing in the Northwestern Lutheran in 1950, Schweppe expressed a different kind of frustration. He said, "We have a large enrollment, larger than we had expected, and in some ways larger than we were prepared for." He fretted in writing. "We were," he said, "quite worried about getting this large group settled .... " His amazement took him back to the frightful 30s. He wrote, "The number of new students is 134, almost our total enrollment during the worst years of the depression."

One of the most significant events of the Schweppe presidency was the building of a residence hall for women, a remedy which corrected a long standing ailment. Although Dr. Martin Luther College had had a residence hall for men since 1911, it had failed to provide adequate, on-

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campus housing for its women students. Benign neglect, indifference, or financial inability seemed to be the cause or combination of causes.

Make-do seemed to be the strategy. As a result, the women were scattered about haphazardly. Some lived with private families in town. Others were quartered in Hillcrest Hall, which had been the director's home, and on the upper floors of Old Main. Some of the Old Main rooms were redundant; others were needed for the infirmary.

Still others lived in a house which lay in the valley north of Center Street at the foot of Summit Avenue. During the presidency of E. R. Bliefernicht, William Redeker, a semi-retired truck farmer, was persuaded to open his spacious house to women students. Redeker Hall, later called Bode Hall when ownership changed hands, appears on all maps of the college campus as though it were an integral part of it. And still others, a little later, lived in a large, private home owned

by Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Gerlach. The house occupies a grassy knoll south of what is now called Waldheim Drive. Now owned by the college, it, according to the 1983-1984 Student Directory, serves as a residence for men in the junior and senior classes.

The statistics for 1939-1940 and several years following which deal with housing for women are representative and demonstrate the problem. Hillcrest Hall housed 28, Bode Hall twelve, and Old Main fifteen. By 1943 Old Main housed 25, and the "facilities for housing girls [were] stretched to the limit." Half of the rooms which had been used for hospital purposes were dormitory rooms. In 1945 the college was advised by the synod's board of trustees to build a temporary structure. The War Production Board gave its permission, and an "emergency barracks" to house 36 women was built. Because the building was not finished by September, the 36 women were put up in part of the gymnasium, two classrooms, and what was then called the girls' room, the large classroom at the west end of the administration building (then and now room No. 119-120).

The contrast between the temporary quarters and the housing in the emergency barracks was outlined by a student writing in the December, 1945 issue of the Messenger. She said, "On Tuesday, November 20, 36 girls who had been living in the Administration Building moved into their new dormitory. Their patient waiting and uncomfortable living conditions were not in vain, for everyone agrees they have a pretty swell dorm. They were also given a free day to move, which was another reason to make the rest of us a little envious." According to the article the move lasted from 10:00 a.m. to 4

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p.m. The women moved their personal belongings in the morning, and during the afternoon the men of the college department moved the beds and other larger furniture.

In probably what is one of the very best examples of his writing, Schweppe set forth the problem of housing for women in an article which appeared in the January 16, 1949 issue of the Northwestern Lutheran. The article is a tightly reasoned, well constructed, and impassioned plea for something better for women. Placing the affair in its historical setting, he put Hillcrest Hall in its proper perspective.

Said Schweppe, "The main part of this project [was] the placing of wallboard partitions in the attic so that more bedrooms would be available." He concluded his argument with words which permitted no contradiction: "We should not expect them to go on like this indefinitely. " This was the situation just before Centennial Hall was built: Hillcrest Hall was required to house anywhere from 25 to 35 women; Redeker/Bode Hall, ten; Old Main, the second floor of which was called "The Annex" or "Annex Hall," 50; Waldheim, ten to twelve; and West Hall, the "emergency barracks," 36 plus. The remaining women were housed in private homes.

The twenty-eighth convention of the Wisconsin Synod meeting during the first week of August, 1945 authorized a building fund collection. Rough estimates of the needs translated into $1,138,000.00.

Dr. Martin Luther College was to receive $210,000.00 of this. In February, 1946 the St. Paul, Minnesota architectural firm of Toltz, King & Day Incorporated was hired to draw plans for a "girls' dorm."

The building was to cost $350,000.00. Excavating was begun on Monday, September 12, 1949, and a brief ground breaking ceremony was held the next day. Ideal construction weather followed. The excavated earth was used to fill low spots on the campus, the leveling work speeded up by volunteer student labor. The cornerstone was laid nine months later, on June 8, 1950. The evening was perfect, and the seven o'clock service preceded the commencement concert in the centennial year of the Wisconsin Synod. The Rev. Oscar J. Naumann, president of the Minnesota District, spoke, and the Rev. Arthur P. Voss, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, chairman of the synod's board of trustees, conducted the rite of laying the stone. Although the construction of the building was not hindered by any unusual circumstances, the building was not finished in time for the beginning of the 1950-

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1951 school year. Finally, during late September, 40 women who had been living under rather primitive conditions in what was then called the Ad Building moved into the unfinished structure. Five months later the women who had been living in the Annex moved in.

The building was dedicated on August 12, 1951 to the glory of God and the physical well being of the women who would call it home. A worship service was conducted in the auditorium. Prof. Emil D. Backer served as organist, and Naumann conducted the liturgy. Meyer, the former president of DMLC, preached the sermon. He was to return to the campus several more times, first in 1959 when the college was to celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary. The rite of dedication was performed by the Rev. Egbert Schaller, chairman of the college board of control, and the dedicatory address was given by Schweppe.

The attractive, well designed building occupies an enviable, approachable corner of the campus. It is L-shaped and two stories tall.

Each of the wings, which radiate from a central tower, measures 130 feet by 42.5 feet. The Messenger in June, 1947 called the tower room "a nice place for girls to study or relax." The full basement has, in addition to a lounge, kitchen, laundry, and other rooms necessary to the comfort of young women, a large room which is used as a gym. It measures 74x42x 16 feet.

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The last move took place during the latter part of November 1951.

Then eleven women who had reluctantly called the basement of Centennial Hall their home and were eagerly waiting to move were transferred to more adequate quarters in Waldheim.

The commitment to provide respectable, comfortable housing continued in minor mode for a dozen more years. The college purchased Waldheim from the Gerlachs. The second floor was completely remodeled, and the students writing in their own paper rated the five bedrooms, large study hall, and accompanying amenities pleasant, adequate, liveable. "The new Waldheim compared to last year has a more cheerful atmosphere," one Messenger reporter stated.

The first floor, also remodeled, became the home of Prof. and Mrs. Otis Stelljes and their two sons. They moved in in July, 1952.

Centennial Hall did not, however, satisfy the demands of a burgeoning enrollment. In a public announcement on October 18, 1953 Schweppe said all the rooms for the 1954-1955 school year were spoken for.

During that period when housing for women was a primary concern and occupied a large part of everyone's time and effort, Dr. Martin Luther College steadily tried to improve the quality of living and the effectiveness of its overall program. Some of the improvements were, in retrospect, mundane; others were important and had long lasting effects in the life of the school.

Schweppe enlisted the aid of other faculty members in trying to increase the enrollment and raise the caliber of students who were accepted. An example of such efforts from the early years of Schweppe's presidency may be seen in the subject of a paper which Richard Albrecht presented to the General Teachers' Conference on July 6-8, 1938: "What can we do to get more bright Christian boys to prepare as Teachers for our Christian Day Schools?"

In order to encourage more students who lived in New Ulm to attend the college, a kind of bus service was begun in December, 1938.

The college maintenance men converted a truck into a passable conveyance, and during the harsh, bitter months of December through March the vehicle made its rounds. It had room for eighteen students and teachers.

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During the 1938-1939 school year, the college accepted an A. B. Dick and Company mimeograph as a gift from the Aid Association for Lutherans, Appleton, Wisconsin. It was a foreshadowing of things to come. In the years which followed, the fraternal life insurance company gave most generously thousands and thousands of dollars to the college, helping to sustain important programs and the professional growth of the college teachers. And some three decades later the duplicator would grow into a large printing facility in the basement of Old Main. Its manager, Lester Ring, would have the responsibility of printing almost everything the school and its teachers needed.

The college broke new ground in another direction when Schaller on November 3, 1938 reported to the Wisconsin State Teachers' Conference that a "summer course offering five lecture courses covering nine days would be offered this summer." The institute was for teachers as well as pastors and included courses in homiletics, dogmatics, New Testament exegesis, church history, progressive education, and grade school arts. Itwas to be held from July 18 through July 28. Faculty members invited to teach were Dr. John H. C. Fritz and Dr. Th. Engelder from Concordia Seminary, Prof. Walter Schumann and Prof. G. A. Westerhaus from Northwestern, Mr. Emil Defner of Maywood, Illinois, and Schweppe.

In 1939, the women of the third normal class were given an added opportunity to hone their teaching skills. They were placed in charge of the kindergarten class at St. Paul's school for a half day throughout the week. Primary teachers on St. Paul's staff gave them some practical help and guidance.

The day after our nation celebrated its 160th birthday on July 4, 1936, the board of control of Dr. Martin Luther College announced that "Professor Carl Schweppe has accepted the call as Director." The announcement ended with a prayer: "May our gracious God give His blessing in abundant measure to the new head of the school, so that it in turn be and remain a true gift of God to His Church."

The first two decades of Schweppe's presidency were marked by a gradually increasing enrollment, one which again reached 200, the number enrolled during the boisterous days of 1924-1925 through 1930-1931. Those were the years when America thought the sky was the limit, and the college, too, was caught up in the optimism of an age. In 1945-1946 the enrollment reached 302, and in 1950-1951, the

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year Centennial Hall was used for the first time, it reached 418. For six consecutive years - 1951-1952 through 1956-1957 - it reached the 470s, 480s, 490s. It could not, however, reach 500, the number which some at the time thought would turn the school into a factory. The reason cited: "lack of room."

One phase of the space problem was supposed to have been solved by an addition to the dining hall in Old Main. Completed in the late fall of 1948, the renovated and expanded facility seated 320. The total enrollment for that year was 361. Within two years it had reached 418; within three, 471. It seemed that every improvement was a step or two behind reality. Dr. Martin Luther College and the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod could not catch up.

On September 5, 1955 the enrollment of Dr. Martin Luther College reached 504. Students who attended the school during the dismal years of the Depression and the years immediately following had difficulty believing the numbers. Schweppe said this: "This is the first time we have had over 500 students, but it so happened that more were willing to room in private homes than had been the case heretofore." He added these significant words: "We did accept all who were qualified to enter our college department unless their request came late in August." Although nobody knew it at the time, the relative sizes of college and high school departments most likely marked the beginning of the end of these two divisions as one unit under one head on one campus. The college enrollment was 211 or 42 %; the high school, 293 or 58 %. This was the -first time the college enrollment has surpassed 200, and it marked a continuing decline in the high school enrollment.

The high school had had 310 students in 1951-1952, 306 in 1952-1953, and 302 in 1954-1955. These figures were pointing directly to the synodical resolution which said, "Resolved, That a new preparatory school be erected in the New VIm area."

The number of graduates available for placement by the assignment committee was another matter. The small classes of the depression years and the selective service system era kept the supply of teachers limited. The class which was graduated on June 12, 1942 numbered eighteen. Two were awarded diplomas in absentia; they had been inducted into the armed forces. Two of the rest were called up for active duty later in June. The enrollment for the following year dropped from the previous year's 208 to 192. Eight men had entered military service; three were unable to return because older brothers

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had been or would be inducted. By some strange, unexplainable turn of events the enrollment of¡Northwestern College "soared to a new high mark," according to Prof. E. E. Kowalke, the president of that school. Three men and six women were graduated in 1943, and Schweppe said, "Our supply is exhausted." An average of thirteen students was graduated in each of the next four years. Conditions improved from 1948 through 1952: 28 were graduated each year, on average.

The classes which were graduated in 1953 and 1954 were unique.

In the fall of 1950 nine students offered to take the three-year course and be ready for assignment in the spring of 1953. The remaining fourteen chose to be members of the first four-year class. They were graduated on Friday, June 4, 1954 and were awarded the Bachelor of Science in Education degree. The occasion marked the culmination of the plan to make DMLC a four year college, a plan which had been delayed repeatedly by difficult times in the country and the synod.

About this time the college took an action which, although utilitarian in itself, was symbolic of a new day in travel and a new kind of student mobility. The campus roads were blacktopped during the summer of 1952. The improvement is all the more amazing in view of an announcement which appeared in the DMLC catalog for 19501951: "Automobiles for Students. The use of automobiles by students is strictly forbidden during the school year. No student is permitted to have a car on the campus or in the immediate vicinity." As late as the 1957-1958 school year, the catalog said, "The possession and use of automobiles by students at Dr. Martin Luther College are discouraged." The first college catalogs listed two railroads as the only means of reaching the city and the school. Even as late as the catalog which included the calendar for the 1923-1924 school year, directions for reaching New Ulm referred to "the Black and Yellow Trail." The trails were state highways, and they were called this because the official marker of the Minnesota trunk highway system was yellow with black lettering. The next catalog referred to "Highways 7 and 15," the numbers assigned to them under the Babcock Plan of 1920. In the catalog for the fifty-first year of the school, 1934-1935, Highway 7 received the number it carries today: U. S. Highway 14. And 32 years after the first blacktopping, the college provides permanent parking spaces for more than 350 cars.

That part of Waldheim Drive which for many years was known as Brain Lane got its moniker about this same time. Professors Erich R.

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Sievert and Martin Albrecht moved into two new houses in 1954.

Eventually a row of five brick professorages would bisect the campus and provide grist for people who wanted to debate the pros and cons of the need for and the method of campus expansion.

Tenured faculty members when Schweppe became president in 1936 were, other than himself, Bliefernicht, Burk, Richard Albrecht, Palm bach, Klatt, Schaller, Levorson, Emil Backer, Stindt, }anke, Sauer, and Voecks. Because Schweppe was president for so many years, two more than his three immediate predecessors combined, all of his contemporaries, with the exception of Voecks, were gone when he retired as president in 1966. They had accepted calls elsewhere, they had retired, or they had died.

Schaller, the first to leave, accepted the call to Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Thiensville, Wisconsin. Pastor Oscar Naumann of Toledo, Ohio, called to fill the vacancy, was installed on September 4, 1940.

Although Bliefernicht was ill when the school year began and Pastor LeRoy Ristow of St. Paul's Church helped out, he got well enough and strong enough to take over Schaller's librarian duties. He never got into the spirit of bird spotting, though. Schaller was an avid ornithologist and gave a pencil to the student who spotted the first of any bird to return in spring.

Burk retired from active service at the end of his fifty-ninth year in November, 1943. To succeed him, the board called the third member of the Albrecht-Backer family to serve the college: Pastor Martin Albrecht of Thiensville, Wisconsin. Albrecht fils, who was to give organ lessons and teach harmony, singing, history of church music, and school music, was installed on September 19, 1943.

The sixtieth anniversary of the school was celebrated about a year later, on Sunday, October 22, 1944. Burk was at the organ in the 10:30 a.m. service. Ackermann preached the English sermon, basing his remarks on I Samuel 7:12: "Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." As Ackermann looked at the student body, which numbered 245, he must have thought of the difficult days before, during, and after World War I. Pastor K} .A. Marxhausen of Courtland preached the German sermon. Schaller preached the sermon at the 2:45 p.m. service.

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The anniversary was bracketed by two significant events: one was theological, the other political. One would have an impact in the future; the other would be felt immediately. Three days before this celebration a young pastor was installed as professor at the seminary in Thiensville. His name: Carl J. Lawrenz. One hundred seventy-three days after the celebration a veteran politician died. His name: Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Several years later, Albrecht assumed a leading role in the formation of St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church, New VIm. He was a member of the original canvass committee and was called as temporary pastor on December 12, 1947 by the Minnesota District mission board. He accepted the call in 1948 on a provisional basis, and the college, aware of the significance of his new position, relieved him of many college duties during the 1948-1949 school year. The congregation became a formal organization in 1948.

The 1945 convention of synod had authorized a new professorship in high school mathematics and physical education. Eighteen men were proposed for the position; John E. Oldfield, a public high school teacher from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, was called on June 23, 1946 and began a career at DMLC which spanned 37 years. He was teacher, coach, athletic director, bursar, first financial aids office, computer pioneer, and friend to many.

Sauer asked to be relieved of his duties as inspector in 1946.

Although he had been seriously ill, he hoped he could continue as teacher. Pastor Roland H. Hoenecke of Chesaning, Michigan was elected from a list of 23 nominees. Hoenecke began his work as inspector in 1946, a position he held for nine years. Although Hoenecke was originally called to teach Latin and religion in the high school department, in addition to his inspector's duties, he remains best known as a superior dogmatics teacher and as a friendly man who has a kind word for everyone. His uncanny ability to remember students' names, their spouses, their places of work, education, and children amazes all who know him. Hoenecke, "Doc" to hundreds of students, retired in 1978 but remains a familiar figure on New VIm's streets. He is an avid, almost tireless walker.

Former president Edmund R. Bliefernicht was the first member of the first Schweppe faculty to die. The campus family and the city of New VIm were shocked to hear of his death and the manner of his

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death on January 30, 1947. The day was a typical January day in Minnesota. Professor emeritus John E. Oldfield was there, and he recalled the scene in an interview on Thursday, July 8, 1982: "It happened in January of 1947. At that time a young man was operating a bus line in the city of New Ulm. The bus in the morning would go south on Franklin to Twelfth Street, over to Broadway, back to Center Street, and then up the hill to the college. Now, Professor Bliefernicht lived in the middle of the block between Second and Third on Jefferson and would walk over to Second Street South and up to the corner of Franklin to get on the bus. 1 would board the bus at Fifth and Franklin, and we would together ride around the way, and Levorson would board the bus at the City Market downtown and ride up there. A few of the students from town would board the bus also and, of course, there were other riders on the bus for other areas, too.

But this one morning in January, blizzardy day, quite a lot of snow and rather cold, and 1 stood on the corner for a while and 1 thought, 'Well, maybe the bus can't get through.' 1started to walk up Franklin toward Second and here was a man just running and wondering what to do because, he said, 'The professor dropped over.' And here was Professor Bliefernicht lying in the snowbank. He was dead by that time.

Anyway, he told me that he had already called Mrs. Bliefernicht. So 1 tried to call Professor Schweppe, but 1 couldn't get him. We went into the family that lived on the corner, by the name of Schmid; he was the Hauenstein Brewery man. 1 used their phone and, evidently, Professor Schweppe was up on the hill already. So 1 went back out there and this man - I'm sorry 1 can't recall his name - said, 'Well, you'll have to go up to school and tell 'em about it up to school.' He said, 'The bus is here now,' and it was coming along. He said, 'I will wait here until the doctor and - whoever gets there.' That was fine, and 1 got on the bus.

When Professor Levorson got on the bus and sat with me, he said, 'Where's your seat partner?' And 1 had to tell him. 1 could see that it certainly hit Levy very, very hard. Anyway, we got up to school, and Schweppe by that time knew about it. The entire school knew about it." Bliefernicht, in the words he had used when Wagner died, was gone.

Naumann, whose true vocation was parish pastor and chief executive officer, had accepted the call to be pastor of St. John Ev. Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minnesota in 1946. The Rev. Cornelius J. Trapp, teacher at Wisconsin Lutheran High School in Milwaukee, was called to fill the Naumann vacancy, and he began his work on College Hill in 1947. Trapp, a fine English teacher who has forgotten more about

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words than many people will ever know, retired in 1979. He is a man of many talents: he can paint, play musical instruments, and grow beautiful begonias. He left a permanent mark on the campus. A longtime member of the building committee, he brought to the position a keen eye for detail and a broad vision which could see all the parts of the whole. He was a tireless watchdog, demanding the best from contractor and laborer.

Sauer was the second member of the first Schweppe team to die.

Sauer's teaching position was filled permanently by the Rev. Howard E. Birkholz, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Carrington, North Dakota and First Lutheran Church, Windsor, North Dakota.

Birkholz, graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in December, 1945 because of the accelerated program in force during World War II, was installed on September 8, 1948. He taught German and served first as assistant registrar and later as registrar of both high school and college departments. Birkholz died unexpectedly, apparently of cardiac arrest, on November 24, 1969. He had lived to see his high school alma mater become a school in its own right: Dr. Martin Luther High School.

Erich H. Sievert was also installed during the service which opened the 1948-1949 school year. Sievert was principal of First Lutheran School in La Crosse, Wisconsin when he accepted the call to the education division at DMLC. Sievert began his teaching career during the depths of the Great Depression. In a letter dated May 13, 1932, he was informed that St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church of Neillsville, Wisconsin would pay him $50.00 a month for nine months and provide room and board. The school enrollment, according to the letter, fluctuated between 50 and 70 students during the previous three years. Sievert was a practice teacher supervisor, dean of the summer school, and for many years chairman of the education division. The college celebrated his fiftieth anniversary in the public teaching ministry on Sunday, October 3, 1982.

Herbert A. Sitz, the principal of St. Paul's Lutheran School in New Ulm and longtime member of the college board of control, was himself elected to the college faculty and installed as teacher of history and English on September 12, 1950. Sitz later served as librarian and was able to spend some of his retirement years in the new library, a distinct and pleasing contrast from the cramped quarters in the administration building.

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Otis Stelljes was called to the faculty and installed on September 8, 1952. One of the most self-effacing teachers to occupy a tenured chair, Stelljes gave music lessons until illness forced him to retire in 1974.

Stelljes is a gifted artist, and he used his talent for working with pen and ink to draw some fine maps of the campus.

The Rev. Delmar C. Brick surprised himself when he accepted the call from Dr. Martin Luther College to teach in the high school department and to serve as dean of men for both the high school and the college. Brick had thought the position was a no-win situation.

The dean, according to conventional wisdom, was criticized if he did and criticized if he did not. Brick, formerly pastor of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Neenah, Wisconsin, assumed his office after the Christmas recess, in January 1954.

Richard Janke, who had been elected vice president and appointed librarian when Bliefernicht died, also died unexpectedly, on February 10, 1954. The first Schweppe faculty lost its fifth member. Janke's chair remained unfilled for nineteen months.

Richard Albrecht was the sixth member of the old guard to leave the first Schweppe faculty. He was replaced in the education division by the Rev. Martin Galstad following his retirement at the close of the 1953-1954 school year. Oldfield's move into the business and financial departments of the school positioned him to be of great service to the students when the enrollment explosion occurred. Harold Kaiser replaced him as coach and athletic director on September 7, 1954.

Brick, Galstad, and Kaiser came to DMLC, and Janke and Albrecht left within a half year of the time Drs. C. Walton Lillehei and Richard Varco performed their pioneering heart surgery at the University of Minnesota hospitals. And overseas, at this same time, the French garrison in the small town of Dien Bien Phu fell to General Vo Nguyen Clap's Viet Minh army. The French defeat meant little to America when it happened, but it led to the partition of Viet Nam, the establishment of the Communist regime in the north, and the involvement of American forces in the near future.

The long vacant Janke position was filled when the Rev. Theodore H. Hartwig was installed in the morning chapel service on Tuesday, September 20, 1955. Hartwig came to New Ulm from his parish, Riverview Ev. Lutheran Church, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Initially, his

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teaching duties were history in the high school and college departments and economic geography in the high school. After two years he was invited to teach religion courses in the summer school, and since that time he has taught history and religion and chaired the religionsocial studies division.

Harry Palmbach's teaching load grew increasingly heavy as the enrollment increased. Ralph Swantz, who had succeeded Sievert as principal of First Lutheran School in La Crosse, was called to help his former teacher enlarge and enrich the science curriculum and, it was assumed, to succeed Palm bach when he retired. Swantz was installed on September 5, 1956; Palmbach retired ten years later.

Albert Stindt was the seventh member of the first Schweppe faculty to lay aside his teacher's toga when he retired in 1957. He did, however, keep his hat hanging in the hallway; the board and the president asked him to continue to help supervise the practice school on a parttime basis, and he agreed to do so. His chair on the faculty was taken by Arthur J. Schulz, the present vice president for academic affairs.

The teaching staff was further decimated when Emil D. Backer's death on August 18, 1957 brought to eight the number of the first Schweppe faculty gone from the scene. Backer's son Bruce, the fourth member of the Albrecht-Backer family to serve DMLC, had been upon graduation from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary assigned to Winnebago Lutheran Academy in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. His position was tutor in the Emergency Teachers' Training Program. Backer was asked to transfer from Winnebago to DMLC to help with the music program. He did, and he remains with the college to the present. Martin Albrecht was appointed head of the music division at the death of his brother-in-law, and Backer's widow became the fifth member of the Albrecht-Backer family to serve the college when she joined the staff of instructors in instrumental music in the fall of 1957.

Another milestone in the life of the college was reached when synod celebrated the diamond jubilee of its teachers college on Sunday, June 7, 1959. The weather was bright, sunny, humid. The congregation filled every available seat in the auditorium, and an estimated several hundred people were forced to content themselves with overflow accommodations. Speakers for the occasion were Naumann, Pastor Waldemar Pless of Milwaukee, and Meyer. Pless used as his text

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Psalm 78:34-35. Meyer used the text which had formed the basis for the sermon preached at the cornerstone laying in 1884, I Samuel 16:11a: "Are here all thy children?" Meyer made this point; "Just as David was the center of Israel's political life, so David's Greater Son must be the center of all true learning in a school which serves Him and His Church. So it has been at this school for the past 75 years; so

by God's grace would we have it be for the future." The venerable professor was 86 years old at the time.

Both Burk and Backer, who had given a total of 92 years to music at DMLC, died before the new music facilities were finished. Had they been alive, they could have teased their president with a bit of pleasant kidding. Schweppe, as they knew, had a very definite opinion of concerts. "They're too long," he said. If he joked, he joked often. If he meant what he said, he found himself in an ironic situation on Wednesday, August 31, 1960. On that day the board of control, Carl L. Schweppe member ex officio, awarded contracts totaling $329,794.00 for the construction of a new music hall. In that building would be trained women and men who would help make concerts long. The architectural firm of Toltz, King, Duvall, Anderson and Associates had designed the building and drawn the plans and specifications. John Heymann Construction Company, a local concern, won the general contract with a low bid of $232,410.00. The contracts called for the construction work to be finished in 360 days. The board of control in its report to the synodical council placed the price tag for organs, pianos, and miscellaneous equipment needed to make the structure functional at $70,000.00.

The ground was broken in a brief, simple ceremony on Tuesday, September 22, and excavating was begun immediately. The work proceeded without major interruption, and the cornerstone was laid on October 25, 1961. The ceremony could have been held much sooner, but it was delayed so that interested students could participate in it, according to an article signed by "S" (Schweppe) which appeared in the Northwestern Lutheran. The building was dedicated on Sunday, June 3,1962. An overflow audience braving less than clement weather heard Naumann, the president of the Wisconsin Synod, stress the importance of proper types and correct functions of music in the church. Pastor Otto Engel, the chairman of the college board, served as liturgist and read the rite of dedication. Meyer spoke on behalf of the synod's seminary.

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Music Hall

The little building which had served the school as a music center for many years was now, 51 years after its dedication, forced to stare at a much larger and more impressive building, one which took from it its essential value. The older building would still be used, but it would now be called, unimaginatively, the Music Hall. The newer, larger structure would henceforth be the center of music on the college campus. The exchange of significance marked the second commitment of the Schweppe presidency. The first had been to provide women students with adequate housing. The second acknowledged the need for modern facilities to train musicians for service in the church.

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The Music Center is bisected by an impressive glass entrance and a foyer which provides a spectacular view of New Ulm and the Minnesota River valley. The vista is entrancing, regardless of the season of the year. The south wing of the building contains piano practice rooms, piano studios, and organ practice rooms. The north wing contains additional practice rooms, choir rehearsal room, band rehearsal room, and offices for members of the music division.

Floor committee No.5 of the 1955 synod convention "offered its considered judgment that 'approximately 100 teachers must be available to the Synod annually' in order to meet the needs of anticipated growth." Dr. Martin Luther College was producing nowhere near this number. During the years between 1953 and 1955, it graduated 31 four year students and nineteen three year students. In 1955, 29 undergraduates were given assignments.

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One of the plans designed to make up the shortfall was the Winnebago course. According to this plan women were to spend, successively, a summer at DMLC, a year at Winnebago Lutheran Academy, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and a second summer at DMLC. Called an "extension division" of Dr. Martin Luther College, it was taught by Arthur Koester; Herbert Jaster, who was succeeded by other assistant instructors; and members of the Winnebago staff. Seventeen women enrolled in the course in the summer of 1955. By the end of summer 1956 the seventeen were graduated. The plan, however, never really got off the ground. No figures were mentioned in the board's report for 1958. In 1960 nineteen graduates were offered to the assignment committee. The plan was discontinued after the 1960-1961 school year. The synodical council had resolved that the enrollment should be at least twenty. In its last year it attracted only ten students. The plan suffered from a lot of ailments, not the least of which was extraordinarily bad public relations. Regardless of their ability to teach, these women were unfairly branded "six weeks' wonders," a name not calculated to inspire confidence in the program in prospective enrollees.

The second step in providing adequate housing for women on the campus of Dr. Martin Luther College was taken thirteen years after the first. Centennial Hall had excited everyone when it was erected in 1948-50. Groundbreaking for a new dormitory for women took place on Friday morning, July 26, 1963. Pastor Otto Engel, the chairman of the board of control, Pastor Edward Birkholz, the senior member of the board, and Schweppe participated in the ceremony. The dedicatory service was held on Sunday, September 27, 1964, twenty days after the structure was ready for occupancy. Participating in the dedication ceremonies were Pastor Gerhard Press, the second vice president of synod and principal speaker for the day, Gerald Anderson, who represented the architects, Engel, and Schweppe. The building, designed to house 220 women, has four stories and a basement. Its decor fits the older buildings on the campus.

West Hall, the emergency barracks built in 1945 to accommodate an overflow enrollment for women, was converted into a resident hall for men. They moved into the building on September 7, 1964. The pendulum was swinging in the opposite direction.

Two months later Dr. Martin Luther College lost a longtime friend. Professor John P. Meyer died on November 10, 1964.

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When discussions centering on the purpose, location, and effectiveness of the synod's schools surfaced in the late 50s, five men were left from the Dr. Martin Luther College faculty that had served the church faithfully and well during the 20s through the 40s. Other than Voecks, who was in his 50s, the average age of the four faculty members in 1960 was 681/2 years. If the board and the faculty were to convince the members of synod that the college was a viable option, that it could produce teachers in quantities large enough to satisfy the demands of the schools within the synod, then the younger men would have to provide the new blood. These younger men had experienced the difficulties of the depression. They had seen their country fight World War II, and some of them had guilty feelings because friends and classmates had gone off to battle while they had been spared.

Some of them had been delegates to conventions of the Synodical Conference and had voted for the principle of in statu confessionis.

Some of them had been delegates to the 1961 convention of the Wisconsin Synod which voted to withdraw fellowship with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. All of these events or conditions left little or no room for the free and open discussion of basic problems connected with operating a private school system in a country which places a premium on public education.

These younger men were a diverse group. Eight of them had been trained to be Lutheran school teachers, and eight of them to be pastors. One was formerly a public school teacher, one a musician, and one a layman. They had not grown old in the service of the synod, especially at Dr. Martin Luther College. Consequently, they did not feel personally responsible or liable for what seemed to be a widespread loss of confidence in DMLC and its program for training teachers for the synod's elementary schools.

They met the challenges of the future against the backdrop of the report of the board of control in the 1958 Report to the Ten Districts of the synod. The board said, "The life of our school has entered a phase of impending change," and "a sense of urgency prevails because of the conditions under which we are operating and because of the decisions which the synod will be making relative to its teacher-training program." The board also said, "We cannot continue to operate for long with the present enrollment without making major adjustments in our plant. It is imperative that we obtain adequate facilities."

Four basic problems faced the delegates to the special convention of the synod held on the campus of Dr. Martin Luther College in

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November, 1962: 1) Where shall the synod locate its teachers college?

2) If the college keeps its New VIm campus, what shall the synod do to improve and expand its limited, crowded facilities? 3) What shall the synod do to insure a steady, reliable flow of qualified graduates for its elementary school system? 4) What shall the synod do to resolve and thus end the interminable debate on accreditation?

When the convention recessed, synod had resolved to undertake three major projects: 1) to develop Dr. Martin Luther College to serve a minimum of 500 students; 2) to begin a program for the training of secondary school teachers; and 3) to separate the synod preparatory schools from the synod colleges. It later voted approval of accreditation of DMLC by the University of Minnesota. This action implied approval of initiating action for self-improvement as the faculty had outlined in its "Self-Study."

Dr. Martin Luther College rose to the occasion, responding with verve to the challenge synod had handed it. A revitalizing program called "Venture of Trust" was laid out. Hartwig was coordinator of the committees which established the agenda and furnished the dynamics for its successful completion. Many of his colleagues regard this as his finest hour. In an interview taped about 22 years after the fact (May 31, 1984), Hartwig had fond memories of the entire episode. He said, "As for service to Dr. Martin Luther College, I suppose one of the highlights of my career as a teacher here was the work between 19611963. At this time, there was strong concern throughout the synod whether Dr. Martin Luther College could serve the synod adequately in providing enough teachers for our schools throughout synod. And in the synodical conventions at the time - I think it was 1961 with another special convention in 1962 - things seemed to be in a kind of touch and go situation. We didn't know whether the school would stay here or not." Other committee members were Birkholz, Brick, Hoenecke, Oldfield, and Schulz. "Venture of Trust," involving everyone who was directly connected with the college, took the theme of the 1962 convention, "Rise Up and Build," at its word. The faculty remembered the keynote speaker, the Rev. Carl Mischke, and his text, John 9: 14: "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." The words of the president of synod, the Rev. Oscar J. Naumann, came back to them: "It becomes a 'must,' therefore, to provide proper and sufficient workertraining facilities." Four executive groups were formed: self-study, building planning, reorganization, and recruitment. Their work was

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to be implemented by the efforts of the standing curriculum committee and the temporary educational survey committee. All of these groups were important to Venture of Trust. However, had recruitment failed, the rest would have had little or nothing to work for. Delmar Brick, dean of men and implied dean of students between January, 1954 and 1958, had been in charge of "worker recruitment for both the high school and the college." He continued his work when he accepted the call to teach Latin in the high school department. In 1970 he was called as recruitment director for the college only.

"Venture of Trust" was an intense effort to accomplish as much as possible in a relatively short time. And because it was work-intensive, the program was completed in less than a year. Some of its recommendations remained to be carried out during the years to come.

Teachers who would playa prominent role in the expansion years of the 70s were added to the faculty during Schweppe's last years as president: Adelia Sievert (1959), Raymond Brei (1960), Ames Anderson (1961), Martin Schroeder (1961), George Heckmann (1962), Meilahn Zahn (1962), Gilbert Fischer (1962), Waldemar Nolte (1962), Gertrude Nolte (1962), Victoria Schuetze (1962), Arnold Koelpin (1962), Howard Wessel (1964), Gary Carmichael (1964), Charles Luedtke (1964), Gary Dallmann (1964), Arthur Glende (1965), Ronald Shilling (1965), Marjorie Rau (1965), Otto Schenk (1965), Judy Kresnicka (1965), and Wayne Borgwardt (1965).

The new era called for a different kind of organization. It called for a flow chart, lines of responsibility, codified rules and regulations, and administrators to watch over the corpus. No one individual would be able to keep all the details neatly filed in their proper compartments in his mind. Arthur J. Schulz was named the academic counsellor; an academic council comprised of Schulz, Voecks, who was vice president, Sievert, Hartwig, Zahn, the registrar, Trapp, and Oldfield was established; and the names were first published in the college catalog for 1964-1965.

Schulz, who was to become almost indispensable to three presidents, Schweppe, Conrad Frey, and Lloyd o. Huebner, was born in Winona, Minnesota on June 22,1929. He attended Dr. Martin Luther High School and Dr. Martin Luther College from 1943 to 1950. He was assigned to Mt. Lebanon Lutheran School, Milwaukee in 1950.

Called to Dr. Martin Luther College after teaching seven years at Mt. Lebanon, Schulz was installed in the opening of school service on

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September 4, 1957. He assumed the chair in the education division hitherto held by his old teacher, Albert Stindt, and vacated when Stindt retired. Schulz's first committee assignments as a faculty member at DMLC were ordinary, but in the college catalog for 19661967, he is listed as the academic counsellor and director of student teaching. The question of Schulz's title came up during a meeting of the standing curriculum committee held on February 3, 1964.

Although the group favored "academic dean," Birkholz, perhaps acting in his capacity as registrar, was picked to call Schweppe to get his reaction. Birkholz returned with the intelligence that Schweppe preferred not to use academic dean. He said the president preferred "academic counsellor," a choice which from this vantage point in time seems to indicate he feared erosion of authority. Nor was he alone in his misgivings if, indeed, he had any. The academic council felt that the synod's advisory commission on education (ACE) objected not only to the title but also to the office. The DMLC group felt the position in no way violated the duties of a president of an institution as outlined in the synod's constitution and by-laws. The title "dean" was, of course, not unknown on the campus. Sauer had been given the title "dean of men" some 33 years previous. Later, in the catalog for 1968-1969, which would have been printed during Frey's second year in office, Schulz is called the academic dean. He has held the title ever since. He was also given the additional title of Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The new era also called for a new curriculum, and while the heads of the divisions and the other administrative officers hammered out their version of what the student attending Dr. Martin Luther College ought to learn, they invented a new language to accompany the new learning. They talked about "the departments" and the "so-called alternate plan." Things were "taken from the file" and then "refiled."

"Minimums" and "constants" evoked lengthy and sometimes heated debates. And on April 27, 1964 somebody who had discussed only the week before the matters now in the minutes asked the classic question: "What do 5 and 6 mean?"

When these men finished their long, arduous, and frequently frustrating task, they had come up with what the faculty believed to be a course of study which met the changing needs in the synod's elementary schools. It also kept pace with developments in the field of education. The curriculum was divided into three parts: general education, professional education, and areas of concentration. It is

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fine tuned from time to time, but basically the curriculum for the centennial year is the one developed at this time and which became fully operative by the 1970-1971 school year. Students are required to earn 82 credits in general education: English 15, mathematics-science 18, music 11, physical education 2, religion 18, and social studies 18; 42 credits in professional education: student teaching 8 and other education courses 34; and 14 to 15 credits in an area of concentration: English, mathematics, music, science, social studies. Total required credits for graduation are 138 to 139. Work connected with establishing viable areas of concentration continued from the 60s, through the 70s, and into the 80s.

President emeritus Schweppe posing with his favorite magazine. Issue is dated December 11, 1967

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During the time radical and innovative changes were being made on the campus and in the classroom, Schweppe felt the rigors of pain to a loved one, loneliness, illness, and creeping age. Mrs. Schweppe, a victim of cancer, died in 1964. College girls rented the upstairs of the Schweppe house and, we are told, spent as much time with Schweppe as possible. Mrs. Larry Zimmermann, a neighbor, cleaned his house and fixed his meals. He spent a lot of time with Mrs. Herman Aufderheide, a widow. She and her husband and the Schweppes had been longtime friends. They talked about the good old days, played cards or Scrabble, and went for drives in the country. Nothing, however, really makes up for a partner of 47 years; he was lost without Flora, Schweppe refused the honorary D.D. degree which was to have been bestowed upon him by Northwestern College on the occasion of its centennial in 1965. Schweppe retired from the presidency in 1966, but he continued to teach a few classes until his leg was amputated in 1967. Carl Ludwig Schweppe died on May 29, 1969. The funeral service was held at St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church; the Rev. Walter J. Schmidt based his sermon on Revelation 2: 10. Interment was in the local Lutheran cemetery.

An era in the times of Dr. Martin Luther College had almost ended.

Chapter

Eight The Expansion Years Conrad Frey was to the Schweppe presidency what Schweppe had been to the Bliefernicht presidency. Edmund Bliefernicht stayed close to home during his years as president of Dr. Martin Luther College, this statement to be taken both literally and figuratively. Because he lived in the days of pre-automobile mobility, he did not go far from home base. He did preach frequently, and he, his wife, their faithful dog, and their Dodge, which at the time was rather much a novelty, especially for a professor in a staid little college town, were frequently objects of discussion as they left town bright and early of a Sunday morning. Figuratively, Bliefernicht tended to his presidential knitting _ as he saw it. He administered his office, taught his classes, wrote in both German and English his articles for the church papers, wrote a psychology book he thought needed writing, and read materials which produced professional growth. No record exists of how often and how long he was gone from the office.

Schweppe expanded the horizons of the presidency. He was every whit as faithful in the performance of his college duties as was Bliefernicht. But he had a larger support team than Bliefernicht had, and he believed the president should move beyond the confines of the campus. Accordingly, he moved into the town and formed the first substantial relationship between town and gown. The times were 133

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different, also, and he attended more meetings connected with the synod than Bliefernicht did. Schweppe was in demand as a speaker for special occasions. However, these activities took him from the classroom only infrequently, and his students remember him as being, in their opinion, on the job.

Frey thought of the presidency in terms completely different from his predecessors. All of them were teaching presidents; Frey was not.

Most of them were preaching presidents; Frey was not. He was the chief executive officer of a company on the move, and he acted accordingly. He set up a chain of command which at the time he left office included two vice presidents, ten other support members from the faculty, and ten administrative staff members. He gave each of them a job, and although he let them alone to do it, he asked for and received reports to see that the work was being done decently, orderly, and on time. For his part he was unfailingly prompt in making appointments and in answering in writing any inquiry, regardless of its importance or consequence.

Frey moved out into a broader world. He was, as was Schweppe, a director of Citizens Bank in New Ulm, and he served on various municipal, community, and church boards and commissions. He was a member of the board of directors of the Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL), Appleton, Wisconsin from 1970 until his mandatory retirement at age 70 in 1984. He was chairman of the AAL board in 1980 an honorary post, he explains - and he served on almost every committee of the AAL board.

Frey was a joiner, too, but he did not join simply for joining's sake.

He sought some good out of every association he made. He belonged to the local country club, the Lions Club, the Center for Reformation Research in St. Louis, the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. According to Frey's personal 1979 Planner, he was gone from the campus 90 days, or one in every four days, excluding personal vacation days, during that calendar year.

Sometimes he went to commonplace places: Fairfax, Minnesota; sometimes he went to places perceived to be glamorous: Riverside, California or Phoenix, Arizona in November. Sometimes he went to places that made him cry: Mobridge, South Dakota for a meeting of the Northwestern Lutheran Academy closure committee; sometimes

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he went to places that made him shout for joy: Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin for a meeting of the interim committee assigned to open the newest of synod's campuses. He always went for a larger good: that of school, synod, church, and Lord.

His service to the Wisconsin Synod at large was broad and deep.

He served on or chaired boards and committees dealing with almost every aspect of synodical work. Some of his appointments were mundane. Some of them required a great deal of wisdom, tact, bulldog perseverance.

This radical change in the operating style of the president of Dr. Martin Luther College did not go unnoticed. There was some tuttutting and some cluck-clucking, but the board of control was solidly behind their new president. They appreciated his businesslike way of doing things. He established agendas, presented printed reports, and compiled background material so that the members of the board could vote intelligently. He also emphasized long range planning, and "Program Statements" covering six year periods were published regularly. And every interview on tape says, without any equivocation, words to this effect: "Frey was the best administrator DMLC ever had. He knew how to get the job done."

Conrad Frey was born in Phoenix, Arizona on May 29, 1914, just a little more than two years after the Grand Canyon State became the forty-eighth state to be admitted to the Union. Frey's parents were Pastor Immanuel P. and Mrs. Elizabeth nee Yanz anz) Frey. When Frey senior accepted a call to Graceville, Minnesota, Frey junior was enrolled in Dr. Martin Luther College High School. The year was 1927, and the youngster was promptly nicknamed Stubby, a name which has clung to Frey throughout his life. By coincidence the president of Dr. Martin Luther College at that time was also nicknamed Stubby. That the boy would succeed to the office of the man 39 years later was quite improbable.

a

Frey followed a predictable pattern for the next 22 years. He attended Northwestern College and the seminary. He was graduated from high school in 1931, from Northwestern in 1935, and from the seminary in 1938. He was tutor at Michigan Lutheran Seminary for two years, pastor of St. Bartholomew Lutheran Church in Kawkawlin, Michigan for 31/2 years, and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of our Savior in Detroit for 51/2 years. He and Charlotte Marie nee Frey were married in 1940.

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Frey's ministry took a different turn at this point in his career; he was never to return to the parish ministry. He accepted the call to be president of Michigan Lutheran Seminary in the fall of 1949, remaining in his parish until his successor was chosen. While he was president of MLS, he served one year as friendly counsellor to the Chinese Ev. Lutheran Church in Hong Kong. He received the call to be president of Dr. Martin Luther College during the Christmas season of 1965. He assumed his responsibilities on July 1, 1966, relinquishing them on June 30, 1980. Frey was succeeded by the DMLC dean of students, Lloyd O. Huebner, on the following day. Frey remains active in retirement. He continues to hold some of his former positions, and the synod is using his uncommon talents in an uncommon way.

Although emeritus, he serves on committees of substance, not the least of which is the administration survey committee of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod.

Three short years after ground was broken for Hillview Hall, the second resident hall for women on the DMLC campus, ground was broken for another significant building: Luther Memorial Union, the multipurpose gymnasium-auditorium-student union-refectory combination. The day was the last of the 1966 summer school: July 29,1966.

Some 300 people gathered to witness the historic occasion. The officiants were Schweppe, Engel, Voeckswho as vice president substituted for the absent Frey, and Trapp, the chairman of the building committee. The building was originally authorized by the synod in its 1959 convention. Construction costs amounting to $1,500,000.00 were taken from the Missio Dei Offering, a major fund raising effort of the synod.

The second significant event in the life of Luther Memorial Union occurred a year after the first. The cornerstone was laid on July 16, 1967. Participating in the brief ceremony were Frey, Engel, and Pastor M. J. Lenz, president of the Minnesota District of the Wisconsin Synod. Frey's brief address centered around the college's reaction to the success of the Missio Dei Offering. He said, "We express our gratitude to God who moved the hearts of our members. [They] have devoted their time and their talents to promoting the Missio Dei program."

The third significant event in the life of the multipurpose building occurred 287 days after the second. The dedication of Luther Memorial Union was celebrated on Sunday, April 28, 1968. Pastor James P.

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L. to r.: Naumann, president of WELS; Frey, president of DMLC; Engel, chairman of DMLC board of control

Schaefer, stewardship counselor of the Wisconsin Synod and chairman of the Missio Dei program, was the principal speaker. His remarks, based on John 20:21-23, were delivered to an audience estimated to number 1800 people. Also participating in one or both of the indoor and outdoor services were Frey, Engel, Lenz, and Naumann. Three members of the college faculty - Backer, Schenk, and Luedtke assisted with the music portions of the celebration. One of the interested guests was President-emeritus Carl L. Schweppe. No one was more aware of the drastic changes made on the campus since 1920 than he was. This public event had been preceded by a student centered ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, January 13, 1968.

Athletic Director Harold Kaiser performed the symbolic gesture to an appreciative high school and college audience.

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Luther Memorial Union, so named because it was born during the 450th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, consists of three units: student union, cafeteria-kitchen, and gymnasium-auditorium.

The Lancer mural, donated by the Class of '66, dominates the front entrance. Peripheral areas include rooms for student publications, game rooms, and a snack bar. The auditorium seats more than 2,000 people. The basement of the gymnasium has standard complementary rooms. The entire project is placed into proper perspective when this footnote is added: From 1953 to 1968 the student union of Dr. Martin Luther College was in the basement of the Music Hall, at best a dreary substitute for the real thing. A student who attended DMLC at the time called it "awful." Although Lois Sievert Bode did a good job of making it as colorful and as attractive as possible and it did experience a surge of popularity, it never was an important place for the Hilltoppers.

Two milestones in the lives of men intimately connected with DMLC occurred during the construction of Luther Memorial Union.

President-emeritus Carl L. Schweppe retired from teaching on April 25,1967. Professor-emeritus Richard M. Albrecht died on October 22, 1967. Together they had served Dr. Martin Luther College a total of 85 years.

In the convention of synod which took place between Schweppe's retirement and Albrecht's death, Frey showed that, although he loved a challenge, he was a cautious man who wanted to build on rock. The college board of control asked the synod to weigh carefully all the factors involved in beginning a program of secondary teacher educa-

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Addition to Academic Center

tion. As a result of this request, the synod directed the college to hold in abeyance the initiation of the program, thus setting aside for the time being one of the 1962 resolutions.

Construction continued on the campus of DMLC. The cornerstone for the new auditorium-chapel addition was laid during the convention of the Minnesota District, on July 31, 1968, a day later than originally planned. Engel and Pastor Edmund Schulz, then of Redwood Falls, Minnesota, were ceremony officiants. Schulz was chairman of the board of control of Martin Luther Academy. The spacious auditorium-chapel occupies space formerly used as an auditorium and gymnasium. A special balcony was designed and built for the memorial organ, which was to be installed at some later date when adequate funds were available. Six classrooms and a storage room for stage properties were added to the south side of the classroom building. Basement locker and shower rooms were converted into two large, tiered classrooms. The dedication took place on September 18, 1968.

Faculty members of the early Frey years were Glenn Barnes, LeRoy Boerneke, Clara Wichmann, Adolph Wilbrecht (1966); Irma Paap, Lois Schroeder (1967); LeRoy Levorson (1968); and William Arras and Roger Hermanson (1969).

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Frey's well known administrative abilities were put to the test during the school year of 1970-1971. It was one of growth unprecedented in the history of the college or, for that matter, of the synod.

Resulting directly from the strenuous work the faculty had been doing to refurbish the image of the school and the synod's 1969 decision to merge Wisconsin Lutheran College and Dr. Martin Luther College on July 1, 1970, the explosion presented extreme logistical problems, especially in the areas of dormitory space and faculty housing. Of even more critical importance was the calling of teachers equal to the number authorized for the faculty of Wisconsin Lutheran College.

Assisting the college with the tremendous task were the administration of WLC, the commission on higher education (CHE), the planning board for educational institutions, and the board of trustees of the synod.

In an overwhelmingly impressive and moving service held on October 5, 1970, fourteen teachers were installed as professor: Ames Anderson, Delmar Brick, Richard Buss, A. Kurt Grams, John Isch, Gerald Jacobson, LeRoy Levorson, William McCollum, Marvin Meihack, John Micheel, Darvin Raddatz, Francis Schubkegel, Ronald Shilling, and Harold Yotter. Grams, Meihack, Schubkegel, and Yotter had been members of the recently closed Wisconsin Lutheran College.

Their contributions to their new school were and continue to be impressive. A. Kurt Grams is the college registrar, Marvin Meihack is the baseball coach and co-director of the American Studies tours, Francis Schubkegel is chairman of the campus planning committee, and Harold Yotter is chairman of the mathematics-science division.

Five assistant instructors were inducted into office at the same time.

One of them, Joyce Schubkegel, also formerly a member of the Wisconsin Lutheran College faculty, is a tenured member of the DMLC faculty. Because of the imbalance of women students to men students, she fills an important position as director of the large, popular treble choirs. Edward Meyer had arrived ten months before.

The enrollment hit, what was up to that time, an all time high of 808 in 1970: 226 men and 582 women. They were housed in eight facilities on campus and in numerous off campus homes: Summit Hall, 96 men; West Hall, 34; the Annex (formerly the inspector's home), 11; Hillview Hall, 220 women; Highland Hall, 228; Waldheim, 10; the duplex, 18; Centennial Hall, 36. Seventy-five men and 49 women lived off campus, at a gross cost of $22,000.00 to the college. Ten men and 21 women either were local students or provided their own housing.

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The traditional six day week, consisting of full school days on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and half days on Wednesday and Saturday was changed to a five day week, Monday through Friday.

The third and for the time being final step in providing adequate housing for women on DMLC's campus was taken on a cold, blustery January 11 in 1970. On that day Heymann Construction Co. began work on the resident hall for women which the 1969 convention had authorized. Using modern construction methods - prestressed concrete and masonry load-bearing walls - Heymann finished the structure in slightly less than nine months. The opening of school was delayed to October 4, 1970 to allow for completion of the dormitory.

Highland Hall, like its slightly older sister, Hillview Hall, is a four story building. It shares a common lobby with Hillview, and together the two dormitories provide housing for 448 women. Built of rich red brick, it matched all the other campus buildings. The library, which would be completed in 1971, would be white and, consequently, different from the general ambience.

During this same year, more offices were laid out in the former dining areas in Old Main. An administrative complex was organized, and the offices of the principal administrators were centralized in an area accessible to students, business visitors, and guests. Old Main, a holdover from the nineteenth century, was given a utilitarian and dignified role in the twentieth century affairs of Dr. Martin Luther College. Extensive remodeling and modernizing was done in Summit Hall. New wiring was installed, and new flooring was laid. Fire proofing was enhanced with the installation of hallway and stairway fire doors and metal door frames.

Fifteen houses for faculty members were also built during 1970.

The average cost was $23,000.00.

Contracts for the construction of a new library building, also authorized by the 1969 convention, were awarded in mid-November, 1970. On the first day of the next month crews from two local building concerns, Wallner Construction Co. and Heymann Construction Co., began work on the $600,000.00 project. Hillcrest Hall, a longtime campus landmark which had served as a dormitory since 1911, was razed to make room for the new building. The cornerstone was laid on Monday, September 13, 1971, following the induction and installation

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of eight tenured faculty members: Ruth Eckert, the first called dean of women, Dennis Gorsline, Mervin Ingebritson, Robert Krueger, Thomas Kuster, John W. Paulsen, Morton A. Schroeder, and Frederick Wulff. The officiants at this rite were Engel and Edmund Schulz. The building was dedicated on October 17, 1971. Professor Edward C. Fredrich of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wisconsin, a former history and religion teacher at Dr. Martin Luther College, was the speaker. Frey was liturgist, and Professor Ames Anderson of the college faculty was organist. Four academy and college choirs formed a mass choir for the festive occasion. The rite of dedication, held in front of the library following the procession from Luther Memorial Union, was performed by Engel and Lenz.

The library has two levels. Surrounded by a dry moat, it is approached by a ramp leading to the main entrance on the upper level. The lower level holds the general stacks, a curriculum library, a children's literature library, a small archives room, a media center, and a computer center. The upper level accommodates a lounge, reading and study areas, periodical-reference-reserve shelves, circulation desk, work rooms for the library staff, librarian's office, and staff lounge.

Seminar, conference, and typing rooms and carrels are located throughout the building. The library has room for an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 volumes. It is one of the most pleasant buildings on campus, and original art works, stained glass foyer, and handsome appointments contribute to its purpose as a stimulating center for intellectual pursuit.

Library

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Lutheran Teachers College - Milwaukee, originally Wisconsin Lutheran College, was established by the Wisconsin Synod during its convention in 1959. Its purpose was to help supply more teachers for the synod's elementary schools. It was a junior college, and its graduates were expected to transfer to Dr. Martin Luther College for their junior and senior years. The name was temporary, and synod was expected to give it a permanent name at some later date. The school began operations on September 13, 1960 with about 60 students enrolled. The Rev. Robert Krause, who was principal of Wisconsin Lutheran High School in Milwaukee, was president. Ulrick J. Larsen was dean.

The enrollment for the second school year of the Milwaukee college was 87: 52 freshmen and 35 sophomores. Graduation of the first sophomore class took place on June 6, 1962. Fifteen members of the class were available to the assignment committee under the old two year plan. They had had cadet teacher training in the Milwaukee area for five weeks. Supervision was provided by a combination of their parish faculty supervisors, the synod board of education, and a committee of the college board. Eighteen transferred to DMLC, and the remaining two taught under "other arrangements." On September 22, 1963 the Rev. Robert Vosswas installed as president and Professor Siegbert W. Becker and Alfons L. Woldt as professors. They were the first tenured teachers to serve the new school. A $175,000.00 addition to Wisconsin Lutheran High School, which enabled the high school to accommodate the college, was dedicated on April 12, 1964. The school enrollment reached 107. By the beginning of the 1964-1965 school year the enrollment had climbed to 155. Projections for the next year called for more than 200 students. During the 1966-1967 school year the enrollment exceeded 200. Expectations for the new school ran high. A 55 acre plot at Bluemound and Sunny Slope roads in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee, was to be the future site of the new school.

Homes for the teachers were acquired. Detailed plans and specifications for the first academic unit, the estimated cost of which was to run to $1,177,000.00, were drawn up. But the synod decided otherwise.

The 1969 convention of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod, held on the DMLC campus from August 6 through August 13, was as important to the history of Dr. Martin Luther College as were the synodical conventions of 1892, 1919, and 1962. After five hours of debate and by a secret ballot vote of 150 ayes (65.2%), 65 nays (28.3%), and 15 unrecorded votes (6.5%), the convention voted to

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close Wisconsin Lutheran College and consolidate the synod's facilities for training teachers at New Ulm. The convention also resolved to keep the Brookfield land but sell the dormitory property in Elm Grove. The principal reason for closing the school, according to the convention floor committee, was the decline in the annual need for teachers. The 1961 projection of an annual need for 200 teachers was based on a higher birth rate. Dr. Martin Luther College, according to the report of the floor committee, would be able to meet the new projected need of 175 teachers annually.

Concomitant resolutions authorized the construction of the library and a residence hall. The convention also directed Dr. Martin Luther College to begin an intensive student recruitment program, and it recommended that nine professors and a dean of women be called as soon as possible.

The question of the location of the teacher training college, raised in 1919 and in the 50s and addressed repeatedly by the synod, was settled for the present.

People in Milwaukee, in Wisconsin, and in other points to the east were naturally disappointed, but they took the action of the synod in a becoming spirit. The last report of the board of control of WLC to the synod says in part, "The action of the Synod in the 1969 convention with respect to Wisconsin Lutheran College necessitated shifting from a state of growth and expansion to a state of withdrawal and dissolution. We found ourselves closing the college. Some things can never be disposed of or forgotten: the valuable service which this college has rendered . . . and also the treasured memories that it holds for many people."

Frey saw the inadequacy of a printing and duplicating room which measured about 6 x 24 feet and equipment which included little more than two spirit duplicators, a mimeograph, an electronic stencil maker, a Thermofax, and a folding machine. Lester Ring, a teacher at Fox Valley Lutheran High School, was engaged in 1969 to be the college printer. The print shop, which was an empty room when Ring arrived, grew steadily through the years, gradually annexing additional space as the needs demanded. Today it covers approximately 1700 square feet in the lower level of Old Main. The estimated value of the equipment is $70,000.00, and the paper inventory at a given time is valued at between $20,000.00 and $40,000.00. Two full time and

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two one-half time workers produce almost everything printed the college needs: syllabi, handouts, and tests for the instructors, brochures, programs, and catalogs. The electrostatic offset produces approximately 10,000 impressions a day throughout the calendar year.

A memorial organ fund was begun after the death of Emil D. Backer, the esteemed director of the college choir and longtime chairman of the music division. A committee was appointed by the college board in 1959, and a goal of $35,000.00 was set. In the spring of 1960 Dr. Paul G. Bunjes was hired as organ consultant and architect. Plans and specifications were adopted in September, 1969. The organ, built during the summer of 1970, was delivered on February 13, 1971 and installed during the next two months. It was dedicated in a 4:00 p.m. service on Sunday, April 11, 1971. The dedicatory rite was read by Engel, and the honor and privilege of playing the organ for the first time in public recital fell to Emil Backer's son Bruce. Seven years before this the younger Backer had given the first concert on the new $25,000.00 Schlicker organ in the chapel of Northwestern College. For the present occasion Backer chose a piece by Buxtehude and Phillip Nicolai's "Wake, Awake, for Night if Flying." The congregation joined in singing this powerful sixteenth century Lutheran hymn.

These men participated in the liturgical portion of the service: Frey, Backer, Oscar Siegler, Professor Eldon Hirsch, director of the choir of Martin Luther Academy, Professor Ronald Shilling, director of one of the college choirs, and Albrecht, professor at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and former chairman of the DMLC music division, who preached the sermon. His text was Philippians 4:4-5; his theme, "Rejoice in the Lord." The service ended with the singing of Emil Backer's "The Apostolic Blessing." The service was repeated at 7:30 p.m. Hoenecke, who had been manager of the college choir for many years and was treasurer of the organ fund, participated in this service.

The organ is technically a musician's dream and tonally a layperson's delight. It can roar like a lion and purr like a cat. Used for college chapel services, public services and ceremonies, and recitals, it has thrilled thousands of people with its magnificent voice. The May, 1971 board of control report stated that $67,480.00 had been collected for it.

Two weeks after the organ was dedicated, Sunday, April 25, 1971, Professor Ames Anderson presented the first public recital at 4:00 p.m.

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Memorial organ

That evening at 8:00 the College Choir of Dr. Martin Luther College, under the direction of Professor Meilahn Zahn, sang Brahms' Requiem.

Dr. Martin Luther College always had someone who looked after the business affairs of running a school. The title changed from time to time: bursar, business manager, business officer. The challenge remained the same: get the most for the least under the best possible terms. In the early years the task fell to the president. The work was onerous to him because he was a theologian, not an accountant. In later years the president persuaded a faculty member who was interested in numbers to take on the task. Huldreich Klatt served as bursar, and John Oldfield was business manager. The burden of juggling two careers - full time teacher and almost full time financier - proved onerous to teachers, too. And so laymen were hired for the position.

The board of control reported, for example, that Hugo Bilitz "will be our new business manager as of June 1, 1962." On May 8, 1964 the board reported that "the office of 'Business Officer' was established."

It further reported that "Mr. Ervin Seifert, a man of considerable experience in this field, was engaged to fill this position. "Seifert retired on January 31, 1973. The board thanked him for the services he had rendered "during the period of its [the college's] greatest over-all expansion." Seifert was succeeded by David D. Stabell, a graduate of Florida State University, who, at the time he was hired, was a cost analyst for a large corporation in Fort Worth, Texas. Stabell, who

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holds the office at the present time, has an office staff of four - larger than the faculty of a century ago.

Victor F. Voecks, who had come to Dr. Martin Luther College in 1930 as a young, unmarried graduate of the theological seminary at Thiensville, died unexpectedly on October 29, 1973. Voecks, whose original appointment to the faculty was temporary, served the school for 43 years in many and varied capacities. He was a teacher, primarily of Latin and church history. He was a coach, primarily of everything. Football frustrated him because his players were few and their bodies were small. Basketball was not much better for his sangfroid. Although height was not yet an overwhelming necessity, his players were shorter than the opponents. Baseball was kinder to him, and the Hilltoppers competed with some degree of success in that sport. He was also athletic director, this at a time when interscholastic games were hard to come by. Voeckswas elected vice president of the college to succeed Klatt, and he served Schweppe and Frey honorably and well in that position. As a member of the curriculum committee when significant changes were made, he favored change - but not for change's sake. When the faculty was inundated with new faces in 1970 and 1971, Voecks was not afraid to remind the uninitiated, the laggard, or the newcomer who intended to show the folks how things ought to be done that such a resolution was in the faculty minutes and such was the way things were to be done.

Voeckswas the last of the first Schweppe faculty to leave the scene.

His death brought an era to a close.

1939 football squad

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1938-39 basketball team

1939 baseball team

The Frey presidency was characterized by a broad spectrum of changes in both the interior and exterior life of the college. One of the most visible changes was the dedication of Lancer Bowl on October 5, 1974. Dr. Martin Luther College had fielded a football team during the Voecks' era, but it was dropped as an interscholastic sport when declining enrollments made scheduling impossible. Hilltopper teams could not compete on equal terms with even the B squad of Mankato

----

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Soccer in the 60s

State College, and playing high schools did less than boost the players' morale. Soccer was played for a few years after Gary L. Dallmann came to the school as coach and later as athletic director. Whether correctly or incorrectly, soccer was deemed not crowd worthy, and it was discontinued as an interscholastic sport. Dennis Gorsline was called to the school in 1971 to revive the football fortunes of dear 01' DMLC. Trapp, who was chairman of the DMLC building committee for many years, originated the idea of a bowl and persistently and stubbornly saw it to completion. In 1965, when earth was moved from a gully to provide a crown for the soccer field which lay behind the college owned homes on Summit Avenue, the site of what is now Lancer Bowl was tiled and permitted to settle. Peat was obtained when St. Paul's Church built its new school between Payne and Garden streets. Topsoil was added in 1974, and the field was sodded.

Trapp was able to convince Wallner Construction Co., which provided heavy machinery and manpower, to absorb a good share of the cost of preparing the field. About 1,000 people saw the first game and witnessed dedication activities. The seniors, who as freshmen had begun the program with Gorsline in 1971, were members of the squad privileged to play in the game held on the day the bowl was dedicated.

The college had moved a long way from the first football field, a more or less pasture paralleling South Highland in the area of the present baseball field. Voecks' problem remained Gorsline's. Finding colleges which were not only about the same size but which also had about the same manpower proved almost impossible for the athletic director.

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The areas of concern were "1. The need for a 'practice teaching experience' that provides significantly more classroom teaching (hands-on experience). Too limited a clinical experience - both in pre-student teaching and student teaching. The college should provide a much greater exposure to the working with children than currently exists. 2. An absence of formal faculty evaluations, and too limited faculty development efforts. 3. The lack of formal faculty qualifications (even within the DMLC context - in spite of generous institutional support of this effort). 4. Little or no data reporting upon the college's success in meeting its stated objectives (assessment)."

The team then made the following recommendation: "It is the unanimous recommendation of the Examination Team that Dr. Martin Luther College be granted accreditation at the bachelor's degree level; and that the next comprehensive visit be scheduled in five years, 1984-85. This recommendation is made because the Team found the institution to be meeting the requirements of the certification statements in a fully satisfactory manner."

Recognising the importance of point No.3 in the areas of concern, Frey encouraged the members of the faculty to continue their studies, whether formal or self-directed, and he and Schulz did everything they could to make funds available. The 1980 Report to the Ten Districts contains information representative of this phase of his presidency: on part time leave to study music, 1; on full time leave to study music, 1; beginning doctoral studies, 2; continuing research for doctorate, 1; completing doctorate, 2; studying at Yale, 1; on leave for a semester to study at Oxford, England, 1; and on leave for seven months to study literature in the British Isles, 1.

The 1962 convention of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod established Dr. Martin Luther High School as a separate school independent of the college. The synod also elected a board of control to operate the new school. It consisted of two laymen: Henry Hasse and Donald Wales; two teachers: Frederick Janke and Ervin Walz, secretary; and three pastors: Gerhard Birkholz, Edmund Schulz, and Norval Kock, chairman. The board called the Rev. Oscar Siegler to be the first administrator in 1963. No reason was given for using neither president nor even principal for Siegler's title. Perhaps the board was deferring to the president of the college; perhaps it was trying to avoid confusion. Siegler was graduated from Northwestern College and from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1940. He spent a year as tutor at Northwestern Lutheran Academy, Mobridge, South Dakota, five years

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Districts the board of control said that the "first step in determining the feasibility of accrediting our school, a self-study of our objectives and our means for achieving them, is being taken under the direction of the University of Minnesota." In 1960 the board reported that "the faculty is engaged in an intensive self-evaluation study." The 1962 report of the board said that "Klatt's unexpected retirement and consequent addition of extra work loads by Sitz and Hartwig slowed down progress on the self-study." Nevertheless, in 1963 the synod voted approval of the accreditation of the college by the University of Minnesota.

In 1970 the college hired a consultant suggested by North Central.

He visited the campus, and the long process of being accredited by a regional agency began. The college administration felt it advisable to pursue the process as deliberately as possible. Detailed progress reports were given to the Commission on Higher Education and the Board for Parish Education of the Wisconsin Synod, and the synod itself. In 1971, acting on a recommendation of the college, the synod encouraged the college to enter the accreditation process. The first self-study was begun and completed during the 1971-1972 school year, and Arthur J. Schulz, the vice president for academic affairs who carried the lion's share of the entire project, prepared a summary of the selfstudy and filed it with North Central on May 1, 1972. A four member evaluation team visited the college on April 22-23, 1974. The North Central report identified six areas in which the college was strong: fiscal soundness, committed faculty and students, clearly stated goals, efficient administration, excellent physical plant, and superior support of advanced study for the faculty. Candidate for accreditation status resulted in 1974. Another evaluation team visited the campus in 1976.

It reaffirmed the strengths of the college and noted that adequate progress was being made in three additional areas: library, curriculum, and training of faculty. Another visit was made on October 2224, 1979. The evaluation team recognized six strengths and four areas of concern.

The strengths were "1. A clear, understandable, and widely accepted statement of institutional purpose. 2. A strong financial operation - due, in large part, to the generous support of the denomination. No current fund or capital indebtedness. 3. A dedicated and committed faculty which is highly supportive of college objectives. 4.

A student body with high morale, dedication, and commitment. 5. A strong and effective administration. 6. A complete, attractive, and well-maintained physical plant."

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classroom. The classroom or cooperating teacher would act as day-today supervisor, and the college supervisor for a given area would act as overall supervisor. The college supervisor would be required to visit each student four or five times during the teaching experience.

According to the plan, all three - student, cooperating teacher, and college supervisor - were to discuss progress, attempt to solve problems, and work for improvements.

Between 1964 and 1977, 1300 students were placed in 131 different schools. They were supervised by 388 different classroom teachers. In addition to students who trained off campus, 438 women and men did their student teaching at St. Paul's. Many of the teachers in the education division were or are involved in the program to some extent.

The program became increasingly sophisticated as start up problems were eliminated one by one and fine tuning did away with current problems. Today each junior is given a fourteen page booklet, Student Teaching - Pre-registration bulletin, which outlines program procedures and practices.

The following college instructors were directly involved in the student teaching program during the 1983-1984 school year: Gerhard C. Bauer, Mervin J. Ingebritson, Roger C. Klockziem, George E. LaGrow, Rolland R. Menk, Irma R. Paap, Robert J. Stoltz, David O. Wendler, and Marlene F. Wendler.

The need for additional teachers at Dr. Martin Luther College continued into the late 70s and the first year of the new decade. Robert Averbeck, who replaced Adolph Wilbrecht as art teacher, was installed in 1977. Seven teachers and pastors were installed as professors on September 9, 1978: Fred Bartel, John Brug, Arlen Koestler, Lyle Lange, George LaGrow, Wayne Wagner, and James Wandersee.

Roger Klockziem (1979) was the last to assume duties at DMLC during the Frey era.

The accreditation of Dr. Martin Luther College by a regional accrediting agency, discussed and debated vigorously for years by the Wisconsin Synod, became a reality on May 7, 1980 by action of the commission on institutions of higher education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

This accreditation by a regional agency was preceded by accreditation by the University of Minnesota. In the 1958 Report to the Ten

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during the 60s, five practice rooms, as they were commonly called, were operated by the college for training student teachers. From the beginning of the program during Mohr's time to the present, the length of time spent student teaching varied from several hours and days to two weeks and, eventually, six weeks. Under the two weeks' to six weeks' programs, students who practice taught were required to make up all the academic work they had missed during their absence.

Howard L. Wessel, the director of student teaching, gave a lengthy report on the program to the members of the Wisconsin Synod in the Northwestern Lutheran on May 1, 1977. According to this report a major program change was instituted with the beginning of the 196465 school year. Increased enrollment at the college and a desire to increase the length of the student teaching term induced the college to seek additional facilities for the program. The result was the development of the off-campus student teaching program directed by Wessel.

He was called to the college from the Lutheran school in Red Wing, Minnesota and has been director of the program since its inception in 1964.

The length of the practice teaching term was extended to eight to nine weeks, and schools in the Appleton and Watertown, Wisconsin areas, in addition to five classrooms in St. Paul's in New Ulm, were invited to participate. Forty-four seniors were assigned to the Wisconsin areas in 1964-65. Nineteen schools and 31 teachers participated in the program. Wessel and George Heckmann were the pioneer off-campus supervisors, each serving one semester. The program expanded rapidly. La Crosse and vicinity was added in 1966-1967. In the following year that region became known as the Mississippi Valley area. The Milwaukee area was added in 1968-1969. The Southern Lake Michigan area, consisting of congregations in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan, was added in 1975-1976.

According to the 1964 reorganization plan student teaching was arranged so that what is ordinarily considered normal classroom work and student teaching would not conflict. The senior year would be divided into an academic semester and a professional semester.

Students would attend classes regularly during the academic semester, continuing to take advanced courses in English, mathematics, history, or whatever subject they were studying. During one half of the professional semester they would be immersed in the practical aspects of learning how to teach, and during the other half they would be in the

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work under his direction Brahms' Requiem, performed on April 17, 1977. James Engel replaced him at the beginning of the 1977-1978 school year. Engel held the position for three years and then was superseded by Roger Hermanson, the present director. Delmar Brick, who succeeded Roland Hoenecke as the manager of the choir, was manager during this time and holds the position today.

The boiler house, like Old Main, continued to grow as the school grew. A second addition to the original structure was built during the summer of 1977. Measuring 83 x 21 feet, it consists of two parts: The north part contains a locker room for the custodial staff; the south part is used for vehicle maintenance.

The program of supervised student teaching conducted by Dr. Martin Luther College reaches back to the early days of the school and its close relationship with St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran School in New Ulm. Mohr was the first person called to be supervisor of the program. He was followed by Sperling, Albrecht, Stindt, Sievert, and Schulz.

Others who were involved in the post one-room, Albrecht-Stindt era included Adelia Sievert, lone Brick, Victoria Schuetze, and Marietta Meyer. Supervision of student teaching gradually expanded beyond one room which held the second grade and a few third, fourth, and fifth grade students. The kindergarten was added and also a room consisting of seventh and eighth grade girls and boys, supervised by Erich Sievert. As the college had need, the program was expanded in the mutual interest of both college and congregation. At one time

St. Paul'sEo, Lutheran Schoolafter the 1921 addition

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Consequently, the Lancers during the twelve years of the modem football era lost two games for every one they won. The record, excluding 1971 when only scrimmages were held: 31 wins, 61 losses, 3 ties.

The greenhouse, which sits on the roof of the Academic Center, hidden from the casual visitor to the campus, was the brainchild of Ralph Swantz. Swantz believed that a plant laboratory was a necessity, especially after a science area of concentration was begun.

According to his vision, students taking Botany 71, an introductory course in plant biology which emphasizes the structure, reproduction, and function of plants in the biosphere, could use the greenhouse as a laboratory for plant experimentation. The experimentation, Swantz believed, could carry over into the work done in botany in the Lutheran elementary schools of the synod.

Swantz found a willing ally in Delmar Brick, the college recruiting officer and liaison between the college and the ladies auxiliary of the college. The auxiliary donated the handsome sum of $1,500.00 to get the project under way. In spite of other substantial contributions the cost, caught on the rising tide of inflation, reached $4,200.00. The laboratory measures 7.5x33x7 feet and is valued at approximately $15,000.00. During the winter months its lights, simulating absent natural illumination, are a pleasant sight, an oasis piercing the darkness.

As it had when it reached previous milestones, Dr. Martin Luther College celebrated the ninetieth anniversary of its founding. The year long celebration had this theme: "By God's Grace - A City Set on an Hill." The anniversary service was held on November 10, 1974, exactly 90 years after the first students had begun school in Old Main's now time-honored halls. Oscar Naumann was the festival speaker. He used as his text Matthew 5:14, the same one Albrecht, the father of the school and its first acting president, had used when DMLC was dedicated on November 9, 1884.

Three changes in tenured faculty members occurred during the anniversary year: Beverlee Haar became dean of women and Barbara Leopold, coach and instructor in women's physical education. Stelljes retired after serving the church 53 years. James Engel would fill the vacated chair at the beginning of the next school year.

Meilahn Zahn stepped down as director of the College Choir at the close of the 1976-1977 school year. He chose for the choir's last major

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as pastor of Crace Lutheran Church, Pickett, Wisconsin, and seven years as pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin.

He also held executive positions in the Northern Wisconsin District and the Wisconsin Synod. The faculty consisted of Siegler himself, Delmar Brick, Herbert Jaster, Raymond Duehlmeier, Martin H. Steffel, W. C. Peters, and nine other teachers whom the high school still shared with the college: Palm bach, Voecks, Oldfield, Birkholz, Stelljes, Kaiser, Swantz, Lloyd Hahnke, and W. H. Nolte. Administrative officers in addition to Siegler were Brick, vice president, Jaster, secretary of the faculty, Birkholz, registrar, Kaiser, athletic director, and Hahnke, dean of students. Frederick A. Manthey of Manitowoc, Wisconsin and Eldon C. Hirsch, Norfolk, Nebraska were added to the staff.

The land purchased for the future site of Martin Luther Academy amounted to a little more than 105 acres. Thirteen acres were bought from Henry N. and Anne D. Somsen, 90 acres from Ralph W. and Virginia R. Boettger, and two acres from the Evangelical and United Brethren Church of New Ulm. The three parcels were bought between August 2, 1963 and May 27, 1964. Estimates for the first phase of construction varied from $1,790,000.00 to $1,952,000.00. On May 8, 1964 the board reported that separate operational budgets for high school and college had been set up. The same report also said, "We eagerly look forward to the day when the Synod will be financially able to construct the buildings necessary for the complete separation of both departments on separate campuses." By the 1966-1967 school year the board was able to report that, except for several crossovers in teaching physical education and science, the two departments were virtually two distinct entities. The faculties were separate from each other, and each worked in its own sphere. During the three years Schweppe was president of the college and Siegler was administrator of the high school, they shared the same office facilities. This changed when Frey became college president, and Siegler assumed his own private suite on the second floor of Old Main. Hahnke left the deanship at the end of the 1965-1966 school year. Milton Burk, who had been professor at Milwaukee Lutheran College, became in 1970-1971 the first dean of only the high school. His counterpart in the college was Lloyd O. Huebner. Frey regards his assumption of the acting deanship during the 1966-1967 school year as one of the mistakes of his presidency. The two schools published separate catalogs for the first time for the 1967-1968 school year. Both of the departments continued to grow, but the increasing demand for more and more elementary school teachers required a larger college enrollment and a consequent

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smaller high school enrollment.

The physical separation of the two schools took place when the Wisconsin Synod purchased the beautiful Campion campus in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

Martin Luther Academy moved there, and on September 5, 1979 began its own existence as a school not in the shadow of a bigger sibling.

MLA Administrator Oscar Siegler

The growth in student enrollment during Frey's presidency was unparalleled in the history of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod.

According to figures compiled by the office of A. Kurt Grams, the registrar since 1970, the enrollment at the beginning of the 1965-1966 school year, the last of the Schweppe presidency, was 497. The opening enrollment for 1966-1967, the first year of the Frey presidency, was 559. It grew as follows in the succeeding thirteen years: 1967-1968: 617 1968-1969: 609 1969-1970: 636 1970-1971: 815

1971-1972: 732 1972-1973:676 1973-1974:660

1974-1975:667 1975-1976:718 1976-1977:739

1977-1978: 788 1978-1979: 826 1979-1980:850

During this same period the incoming freshman classes showed a like increase: 1967-1968: 141 1968-1969: 115 1969-1970: 143 1970-1971: 246

1971-1972:208 1972-1973: 195 1973-1974: 188

1974-1975:190 1975-1976: 236 1976-1977:243

1977-1978:246 1978-1979:251 1979-1980:257

This same fourteen year period saw a 46 % increase in the faculty: 46 to 67.

He signed his name C. Frey. And that is the measure of the man.

He went directly to the point, and his solutions to problems were neat, clean, compact. His fourteen year tenure as president of Dr. Martin Luther College was also compact. The years were exciting, and the expansion which took place in many directions left Dr. Martin Luther College in 1980 far different from what it had been in 1966.

Chapter

Nine The Consolidation Years Lloyd O. Huebner became president of Dr. Martin Luther College on July 1, 1980, an inauspicious time in the history of the school. The high water mark in enrollment had been reached at the beginning of the previous school year, and a period of decline had set in. During the 1980-1981 school year a modest decrease of 42 (4.94 %) to 808 occurred. The next year the enrollment slipped to 777, a decrease of 31 (3.84 %). At the beginning of the 1982-1983 year an erosion of 52 occurred. This was alarming because the rate of decrease increased from 3.84 % to 6.7%. The college began its one hundredth year of existence with an enrollment of 629. The school population had dropped another 96; the rate of decrease was 13.2 %. The freshman class in 1980-1981 numbered 233. In the three following years it dropped, respectively, to 219,211, and 146. The rates of decrease were 6.00 %, 3.65 %, and 30.8 % .

The drop in enrollment, like a pebble tossed into a pond, caused additional circles of contraction and consolidation. The faculty, after growing to accommodate expected increases in student enrollment, also declined. According to the college catalog for 1979-1980, the last one in which Frey is listed as president, the faculty numbered 67. This figure and those which follow include tenured professors and instructors and non-tenured teaching assistants and instrumental music 159

160

President Lloyd O. Huebner

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THE CONSOLIDATION YEARS

161

teachers. The next five catalogs give first an increase and then a decline: 1980-1981: 70, 1981-1982: 72, 1982-1983: 69, 1983-1984: 68, and 1984-1985: 66. The actual number of teachers available for the 1984-1985 school year is 64, according to the 1984 Report to the Twelve Districts. A catalog for a given year often, but not always, reflects the status of the faculty for the preceding year or what the administration at press time knows about the faculty status for the coming year.

Fewer students required fewer residence halls. Old, fuel inefficient buildings were closed, torn down, or temporarily vacated. West Hall was used as a dormitory for men for the last time during the 1981-1982 school year. Poor living conditions for the students picked to live in it and the always present danger of fire contributed to the decision to close it on September 23, 1982. The men who had moved in were transferred to Summit Hall and former faculty houses along Waldheim Drive. Its boarded doors remind passersby of another era as the building, now a nameless orphan with shabby dress, waits for someone to decide its future.

The Annex was declared expendable. Built as a professor's house in 1906, on a site roughly equivalent to where the south end of the Music Center was built, it was moved to its modern location south of Summit

West Hall

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The Annex

Hall in 1918. When it was closed as a dormitory at the end of February, 1982, the seven men who lived in it - Tim Cox, Dave Ebert, Bryan Von Deylen, Dave Krause, Keith Rusch, Charles Schleef, and Mark Schultz - regretted to see it go. The students were moved into Summit Hall, and the Annex was put up for sale. It was sold in May and torn down and removed from campus between July 6 and August 21. The lumber was used to build a calf shed, a feed bunk, and a lean to on the farm of Arlon Fritsche of rural New Ulm. On campus a grassy spot denies its existence. Sic transit gloria!

Centennial Hall was the pride of the campus in 1950. Now - a generation later - it stands empty. Used as a residence hall for senior women after Martin Luther Academy moved to Prairie du Chien, it was vacated at the beginning of the 1983-1984 school year. Its rooms were not needed because of the decrease in enrollment. Studies are being made to determine if it should be used as a men's dormitory during 1984-1985 and thereafter until the enrollment pendulum swings in the opposite direction. If it is used as a men's residence hall, Summit Hall will stand empty for the first time in 73 years.

Huebner was not the first president of Dr. Martin Luther College to enter the office under trying circumstances. Meyer inherited a serious public relations problem. World War I was not an event which encouraged free speech, freedom to assemble, and arguments with authority. Schweppe's problem was economic, and there was little he could do to speed national recovery.

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Huebner's problems were much like Schweppe's. The board of control recognized this, and in its reports to the districts of synod and the synod itself it said, "There is no doubt that the economy of our day is a cause for the enrollment decrease. While the costs for room, board and tuition continue to increase, family resources are shrinking due to inflation and a reduction in subsidies." Unemployment, also part of the larger economic picture, was specifically cited as a contributing cause: "Furthermore, the availability of student employment during the summer is still down from previous years."

An Old Main window before renovation

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As serious as the economic problems were, the board believed there was another, overriding cause. The following quotation is part of the board's report in the 1984 Report to the Twelve Districts, June, 1984: "But perhaps the greatest single cause for the drop in enrollment is the fact that 95 eligible candidates from the past three graduating classes received no assignment in May 1983. However, this number of unassigned teachers was reduced to 47 by October 1983." Huebner tied together the economy and the failure to be assigned in an article in Tower Topics, November 1982. He said, "Rising costs and high inflation caused many congregations to tighten their belts and not add a teacher to their staff or open a new school or another classroom.

Others filled their needs through other means by making use of qualified teachers within their own congregations."

The rising cost of education referred to by the college board and the president was partially offset by an active financial aids program.

A chart produced by Robert H. Krueger, the college financial aids officer, details the activities of thirteen funds between the school years of 1969-1970 and 1982-1983. The funds produced 11,104 grants, loans, travel subsidies, scholarships, work programs, and various social assistance programs. The total amount of money dispersed was $6,749,610.00.

Precise figures for the number of students who are unassigned are hard to come by. Graduates are volatile and mobile, and they change their plans regarding marriage and vocation. They determine that they do not want to be teachers, and their plans and expectations for the future no longer include the public ministry. With these variables in mind, Wessel, the director of student teaching, prepared a brief, informal report on this subject. Dated June 8, 1984, it reads as follows: "These figures represent students who were unassigned for one year after they graduated. Three women who graduated in 1983 decided to marry but would have taught if there had been vacancies for them to fill. They are included.

Men

Women

3

1981 1982

6

14

1983

11

31"

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The figures for the 1984 graduates were excluded because this book went to press before the July 24, 1984 meeting of the assignment committee.

The problem of unassigned graduates became so intense that both DMLC and CHE discussed the idea of introducing a fifth year enrichment program. On January 17, 1984 the college faculty voted to recommend to CHE that the program not be introduced "at this time."

New faculty members during the first half of Huebner's presidency were Rolland Menk (1980), David Wendler (1980), Thomas Zarling (1980), Mark Lenz (1981), Martin Sponholz (1982), Robert Stoltz (1982), and Marlene Wendler (1982), a temporary supervisor at St. Paul's School, New Ulm. In 1918 the board of control of Dr. Martin Luther College chose John P. Meyer to head the school during the trying times that lay ahead. In 1936 the board chose Carl L. Schweppe. In 1980 the board elected the dean of students, Lloyd O. Huebner, to the office vacated

by Conrad Frey, Huebner's colleague and friend.

Lloyd O. Huebner was born on March 7, 1925 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Huebner. Following his elementary schooling at First German Ev. Lutheran School, Huebner enrolled in the junior high school in Manitowoc. In the fall of 1940 he enrolled in Northwestern Preparatory School, Watertown and was graduated from there in 1943. Four years later he was graduated from Northwestern College. The following year Huebner served as assistant instructor at Dr. Martin Luther College. After three years at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Thiensville, he was graduated in 1951.

Huebner was assigned a parish in Akaska and Tolstoy, South Dakota, and he took with him his new bride, Inez Wahl. In December, 1954 Huebner accepted a call to St. John's Lutheran Church, Wood Lake, Minnesota. Three and one-half years later Jefferson County Lutheran High School Association called him to be principal of the high school the association was starting at Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Huebner served Lakeside Lutheran High School, as it was called when it was located in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, from 1958 to 1967. In 1967 Huebner accepted the call to Dr. Martin Luther College to be dean of students.

He attended summer sessions at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1968 and 1969. He took courses in counselling leading

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toward a master's degree, but he dropped the program because he was dissatisfied with the basic philosophy being taught in his classes. He served as dean until he became president of the school on July 1, 1980.

The computer era arrived on the DMLC campus during the first year of Huebner's presidency. Physically it had arrived in August of 1978 when a microcomputer, now used in the chemistry laboratory, was purchased. An ad hoc committee comprised of Professors Paulsen, Kuster, LaGrow, Luedtke, and Micheel reported their findings on the need for microcomputers at Dr. Martin Luther College in a report dated April 9, 1980. Fourteen computers were purchased during the 1980-1981 school year with the aid of bequests and gifts. Seminars were held for faculty members, and the president himself was seen in the lower level of the library trying hands-on experimentation. John Oldfield, then financial aids officer, put the records of his office on computer. He and John Micheel, a member of the mathematics department who had a broad background in computer course work at Mankato State University, Mankato, Minnesota, worked with recruitment data, academic records, and business figures, also teaching and trying to get the appropriate people in various departments of the college involved in the new methods of data storage. During the 19811982 school year 400 students received some kind of computer training. John R. Isch, chairman of the education division, wrote a grade book package to use with a well known computer. Other faculty members who involved themselves deeply with the new black magic and, in some instances, were able to get additional faculty members involved included Paul R. Boehlke, Harold Yotter, Ralph Swantz, and Gary Carmichael. John W. Paulsen succeeded Gilbert F. Fischer as director of media services when Fischer, after 22 years on the faculty, retired at the close of the 1983-1984 school year. On the campus at the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1984, were 23 computers of various sizes and potentials. Their estimated value for insurance purposes was $45,000.00.

Library holdings continued to grow during the Huebner presidency. Although the library had been a matter of grave concern when the college sought accreditation, the 1979 ad hoc library study committee proposed a purchasing plan which, if unhindered by lack of funds, would raise the library to accepted standards. Unfortunately, severe budget cuts during the past several years delayed these important goals. Schaller, Janke, Bliefernicht, Sitz, and Gerald J. Jacobson, the present librarian, were all stymied by the same lack of availability

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YEARS

of funds. Deb Plath, a library secretary, compiled the following list of library holdings as of June 30, 1984: Books Bound periodicals Government documents Periodical subscriptions Curriculum textbooks Children's books Disc recordings

50,611 12,984 4,206 364 7,119 9,892 1,960

Filmstrips Cassette recordings 16 millimeter films Microforms Slide sets Video cassettes Gallery hangings

790 416 50 424 46 26 58

On January 13, 1981 the academic council of the college introduced a program of advanced study designed primarily for administrators of Lutheran elementary schools in the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod. Called the Supervision of Instruction Program (SIP), it aimed to provide participants with a "basic understanding of the nature, methodology, dimensions, and problems of supervision." Participants must earn 21 hours of credit, fifteen in the program itself and six in what is called the Advanced Study Program in the Christian Ministry (ASP).

In the same year the synod directed the college to study the feasibility of offering selected "subject matter majors" through the summer school. The commission on higher education approved a program of majors in English, social studies, and general science.

Courses in English and social studies were offered during the 1983 summer school; courses in general science were offered in the 1984 summer session. These two programs, the ASP and the SIP, on- and off-campus workshops, a correspondence study program, an independent study program (ISP), and the regular summer school program are under the supervision of George H. Heckmann, director of special services.

Two faithful, long time members of the service crew retired during the 1981-1982 school year. Reinhold "Heiny" Heidemann was a familiar figure in many faculty homes. He was responsible for keeping the houses owned by the college in respectable repair. When he retired on April 23, 1982, many people thought they were losing a personal friend. Heinz Zickler, a German immigrant who found a new home in New VIm, worked in the college woodworking shop. Although his work did not bring him in direct contact with faculty members and their families, Heinz was a familiar face on campus. He took with him

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into retirement on May 20, 1982 an exquisite talent for making beautiful things from raw wood.

One of Huebner's more unpleasant tasks was the reading of a prepared statement on May 21, 1982 - before he read the assignments for the class of 1982. During the enthusiastic days of the 1970s, when large classes were being graduated and every graduate was assigned, call night took on, almost imperceptibly, the atmosphere of a carnival.

Younger classpeople reacted to the reading of the calls with less than dignified reserve. The faculty urged the president to take firm steps.

After explaining the work of the assignment committee and expressing regret that fifteen men and 34 women of the Class of 1982, in addition to seven summer graduates, were unassigned, Huebner said, "As we hear the assignments that were made, please consider the fact that we are learning of the place where the Lord will have these young people serve. Accordingly, these assignments should be read in the spirit of gratitude to Him who is calling these young people without giving way to excessive emotional displays due to distance or kinds of calls." "Call Night" has since become "Call Day Vespers," and reasonable calm exists when the assignments are read.

The summer school at Dr. Martin Luther College had its origin in the synod's efforts to abide by selective service regulations dealing with theological students. To keep the students in school, and thus keep them ineligible for the draft, summer classes were conducted on the campus of Northwestern College. Members of the Northwestern faculty, DMLC professors Stindt and Albrecht, and Hertha Sievert, a Lutheran elementary school teacher, were the teachers. The session, which lasted six weeks, was called "a farce" by one who participated.

"It had nothing to do with what we were studying," he said. He took a German class and an English class, and he recalled little more than "boys bringing frogs to class."

The summer school was returned to the DMLC campus in 1946.

Richard Janke was first dean, and attendance was no longer mandatory. Classes began on June 25, 1946. The DMLC Messenger for June 1947 reports this story: "During the summer of '46 D.M.L.C. offered for the first time in its history a summer course. Those attending consisted of eight of our classmates, who consented to accept calls as teachers, and the group of teachers that had attended summer school at N.W.C. the previous year. Those from our class who attended were Lois Fuhlbrigge, Lyla Johnston, Janice Kuester, Helen Kuske,

THE

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169

Dorothy Prausa, Agnes Schlund, Betty Wagner, and Ardella Zietlow."

The mechanics of the program could not have been clumsier had someone set out to make them so. Students enrolled in a three credit course were required to attend three consecutive summers to earn their credit for that course. In 1949 a committee consisting of Backer, Sievert, and Trapp was assigned to make concrete proposals for bettering the program. The committee proposed four: 1) the term was to be five weeks; 2) classes were to be held on Saturday; 3) three credit courses were to be completed in one summer session; and 4) the faculty was to be composed of DMLC faculty members and guest instructors from other schools in the synod. Sievert became the dean in 1950, a post he held for seventeen years. The enrollment gradually increased, and increasingly attractive brochures and flyers were printed and distributed throughout the synod. A major milestone was reached in 1967 when the program was placed on a self-sustaining basis. George Heckmann was appointed dean in 1968, a post which he still holds.

At the time Heckmann received his appointment, he was in charge of summer school and correspondence courses, the latter starting in 1968. Workshops were begun in earnest in 1968. The European travelstudy tour was begun in 1972. Led by Hartwig and Arnold Koelpin, a member of the religion-social studies department, it remains a popular offering of the summer school. Off-campus or extension courses were begun in 1974-1975 and the ASP in 1976. Heckmann characterized these years as "very busy years." The enrollment, excluding an extraordinary interest in the workshop "Helping Children with Learning Problems," which was offered three times, dropped slightly the last four years: 1981-295; 1982-395; 1983-277; and 1984-260. The summer of 1984 program consisted of nineteen courses in regular summer session courses, nine courses in the ASp, eleven on-campus and four offcampus workshops, one course in the SIp, and one American Studies travel tour.

What the European travel-study tour was to the Frey presidency, the American Studies travel tour was to the Huebner presidency.

Begun in 1982, it was the brainchild of Frederic Wulff, a member of the religion-social studies department. The pilot tour took Wulff, Marvin Meihack, co-director of the tour and religion-social studies department colleague, and the fourteen students through the eastern part of the United States. A second tour was conducted through parts of the West in 1983 and a third through parts of the South in 1984.

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THE CONSOLIDATION YEARS

The bell choirs, originally started in 1979, came into their own about 1981 or 1982. The 50 bells are worth more than $5,500.00 today.

They were given by Drs. Howard and Ann Vogel, the Ladies' Auxiliary of DMLC, the Alumni and Friends of DMLC, and interested individuals. Thirty-six students directed by Wayne Wagner made up three choirs at the close of the 1983-1984 school year.

In a matter quite unrelated to Academe, Huebner reacted favorably to adverse criticisms about the appearance of the campus and embarked upon an extensive campaign to beautify the college grounds. Redundant sheds and garages, some used by inspectors more than a half century ago, were torn down and carted away. The land they had occupied was landscaped, and grass, ground cover, and shrubbery replaced the ugly, bare dirt. Trees were planted to replace those which had succumbed to Dutch elm disease and oak wilt.

Interested members of the faculty were involved in tree planting in 1983 and 1984. A memo from "L. Huebner," dated April 10, 1984, stated that "the group [of faculty members] planted over 60 trees and shrubs [in 1983]." Flowering bushes were placed in strategic locations to hide unsightly foundations. Bushes which had passed their prime and were more deadwood than livewood were removed. The verge south of the Academic Center which refused to tolerate grass because of an underground steam pipe was covered with stone and concrete patio squares.

The 1982-1983 school year was one of the saddest years in the brief Huebner presidency. Professor emeritus Meilahn Zahn died on August 22, 1982. Zahn was chairman of the music division from the time Martin Albrecht left in 1962 until January, 1975. He continued teaching until his retirement at the close of the 1976-1977 school year.

Zahn continued the tradition of singing superior music in superior fashion, thus following the scores read and interpreted by Reuter, Emil Backer, and Martin Albrecht. DMLC's commitment to fine choral music, planted by these directors and watered by others too many to list, was demonstrated by the number of singers in the college choirs during the 1983-1984 school year: the College Choir, 62; the Chorale, 102; the Chapel Choir, 40; and two treble choirs, 157. The total of 361 was 57.4% of the beginning enrollment for that year. Zahn's renditions of Bach's St. John's Passion and Brahm's Requiem remain grace notes in the history of choral music at DMLC. Less than four months after Zahn died the campus family was saddened by the news that a beloved teacher had died. The teacher was Mrs. Elaine Bartel; the

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171

day, December 9, 1982. Although a member of the faculty for only a brief time - 1979 until her death - Bartel had carved a unique niche for herself especially in the hearts and minds of college seniors whom she had supervised at St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran School. The last addition to the campus - the easterly 269 feet of Lot A of Outlot 314 - was given in Barters memory. The land, deeded to the Wisconsin Synod in December, 1983, was the gift of Fred Bartel and his wife, Grace Hagedorn Bartel. Professor LeRoy Albrecht Boerneke also succumbed to cancer, dying on April 26, 1983. Boerneke, 53 years old at the time, had been a member of the DMLC faculty since coming to the college in 1966. He was the school's expert on the Soviet Union, teaching a social studies concentration course on the Russians from the sixteenth century until the present. Darvin Raddatz, who conducted chapel the day following Boerneke's death, called him "teacher, friend, colleague, and father."

Shortly before Boerneke died, Bruce Backer reported to the faculty on the progress of the centennial committee. In May, 1981 Huebner had appointed Professors Backer, Brick, Jacobson, Sievert, and Dean Haar to comprise in part the DMLC centennial committee. He also appointed Frederick Blauert of St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran School, New Ulm, and Pastor Warren Henrich of the board of control to serve on this committee. Huebner was a member of the committee by virtue of his office.

The committee reached out into every direction in its consideration of a centennial project. These directions included bell towers, statuary, carillon, mall, and a few other items. After the initial discussion the committee decided that the project should support the objective of DMLC: the training of ministers of the Gospel as teachers in the elementary schools of the synod. The committee also decided that the scope of the project should fit the current economic picture. The committee chose a project that would assist the library and then narrowed it to the area of children's literature. The committee hoped this kind of project would be of great interest to the alumni and friends ofDMLC. Project l00/CLR was born. The decision was made to divide this project into two parts: to establish an endowment, the interest of which would purchase children's literature as long as the school stands. The second part was to establish a children's literature room which would 1) be a well-decorated room; 2) be a well-appointed room with fine furniture for reading; 3) contain outstanding book

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collections; 4) contain outstanding art collections; 5) include visual and aural aids for the study of children's literature; and 6) contain tables and chairs at one end so that the room could also be used as a teaching station.

The administration of DMLC chose the media center as the room to be prepared for this purpose, the equipment in the media center to be moved into the present seminar room. The plan met with approval, and the board of control stipulated that a minimum of $50,000 should be collected for this purpose. No more than one-half was to be used for the refurbishing of this room. The rest would become the endowment.

The proposal was sent to the conference of presidents which endorsed the plan.

The sources of funds for this project will be alumni and friends, students, faculty, Lutheran elementary schools, and the Ladies' Auxiliary of DMLC. The board of control, according to Backer, endorsed the centennial motto which the committee had selected: QUIETNESS AND TRUST IN GOD - ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF STRENGTH. The motto is based upon Isaiah 30: 15.

Backer further reported that the anniversary year would be the academic year of 1984-1985, and the anniversary week November 411. The festival services will be on November 11, 1984, in the afternoon. Backer closed his report with this sentence: "Let the Centennial Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther College be a thanksgiving to God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

The Huebner presidency is more nearly current affairs than history. Consequently, an objective evaluation must needs await the passage of time. When that time has passed, Huebner will be compared with Meyer and Schweppe, able men who also came to the presidency when conditions appeared less than prosperous. Huebner is confident of the future, and in an interview he listed the talents and abilities he believes he has, gifts which will enable Dr. Martin Luther College to serve the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod fully and well: experience, listening ability, recognition of others' gifts, receptivity, understanding of college and synod structure, balance and concern of other units of synod, level head, deepseated interest in Christian education, understanding of and concern for students, pastoral leadership, and enjoyment of working with people.

Excelsior

A Final Thought The catalog for the centennial year of Dr. Martin Luther College contains this statement: "Dr. Martin Luther College exists to prepare qualified educators for the teaching ministry in the Christian day schools of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod."

The fundamental challenge facing the school as it moves into its second century of existence is to fulfill its function and, at the same time, remain true to its philosophy and purpose. As it does so, the bell in Old Main will ring each graduation day, announcing to all who listen that another group of dedicated teachers is going into the harvest fields.

173

A Beginning Dictionary of DMLC Words and Phrases Dr. Martin Luther College students developed their own language through the years. The language is not static, and what meant one thing to a Hilltopper in the 1940s will not necessarily mean the same thing to a Lancer in the 1980s. The fact is, it may mean something quite different as the school begins its second century. Representative words and expressions from the 20s through the 40s include some of these more prominent ones.

Annex, The-the residence south of Summit Hall used as a men's dormitory when it was no longer used for the inspector's home. construction of Centennial Hall.

Annexe, The-the residence south of Summit Hall used as a men's dormitory when it was no longer used for the inspector's home.

Beefing-complaining.

Boys' room-Room set aside for male students from downtown. A place to keep books, clothes; also a place to horse around. After the classroom building was built, the room which is the faculty lounge in the Academic Center was the boys' room.

Brain Lane-another name for either Waldheim Drive or the row of professorages which lined it.

Bucking-studying Bull session-a

diligently, especially for examinations.

variation of a gab fest.

Care package-package

from home with all kinds of food in it.

Checker-an ominous figure who prowled the halls of the music hall! music center to see if pianists or organists were really practicing. Two people in one practice room was forbidden, and the guest was asked to leave, sometimes impolitely.

College buck-president of student body. There were other kinds of bucks: table buck, dorm buck, room buck. They were the people in charge.

Comps-essays

written for comp class.

Cramming-after a student bucked, he or she crammed more detail into the saturated mind. Crammers do their cramming at the last minute to the last second.

Drag-to have special and unwarranted influence with people in charge, as in "having a drag with the prof."

175

A

176

BEGINNING DICTIONARY

Fag-cigarette.

Free nights-evenings per.

students could leave campus without taking a

Fuchs-the lowliest of creatures. A ninth grade student who had to be ready to run errands (shag) for older students at the drop of a request.

Gab fest-a variation of a bull session. Windbags, usually men, had bull sessions; serious minded people, usually women, held gab fests.

Gel-not subject to definition. Was imported from downtown. Always used with combination question mark & exclamation point at end of sentence: "Let's go to the show, gel?I" Always used too often, gel?I Girls' room-women's equivalent of boys' room. The girls' room was in present Room 119-120 in the Academic Center.

Grease-to

buck or cram.

Janie-member

of custodial or maintenance staff.

Kitchie-someone

who worked in food preparation area.

Kniep-omnipresent sugar syrup allegedly a good substitute for butter. Variant spellings exist.

Literary plays-interested students belonged to literary societies.

Their productions were literary plays.

Mail shagger-the male student who carried the college mail from the post office to the campus.

Methods courses-classes which taught the student how to teach religion, reading, and everything else.

Pers-shortened form of permission. Students were allotted a certain number of pers each month, and leaving the campus at night during study hours required a per. Students getting pers checked in and checked out with the inspector (dean) or his assistant (the tutor). There were other kinds of pers: per to smoke, per to go home.

P.K.-Profs

kid. Professor's son or daughter.

Practice teaching-what future teachers did after studying methods.

The faculty hoped that practice teaching would make splendid teachers from raw material. Practice teaching was done at St. Paul's in New Ulm until broader vistas were opened in 1964.

Schluff off-to class."

Shag-deliver

perform below one's ability, as in "schluffing off in upon command.

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177

Shagging- hiking.

Shagging, Candy-delivering candy from the campus canteen to various parts of the campus for a nominal fee.

Sponge-to rely on others.

Sponger, n., derived from v.-one who sponged. The ultimate putdown: "He's a sponger." Fag spongers were avoided like the plague.

Sponging, n.-name of, usually, lifelong disease.

Third normal-an

abnormal name for a college junior.

Tutor-usually a graduate of Northwestern College or a student from the seminary at Thiensville. The tutor did almost everything else except tutor: checked students in and out, checked the study rooms during study hours, conducted bed checks, and flirted with the older girls. Some fine romances and subsequent marriages were entered into with this system.

Uppish-snobby.

Wack-to get a share of; to ask for a position in line, as in, "I get a wack of that" or "Gimmie a wack of (whatever you want a part of)."

The Names of the Campus Buildings Academic Center. This building has been known by three distinct names: the classroom building, the administration building (the Ad. Building), and the Academic Center.

Annex. The inspector's house south of the "boys' dormitory" was called the Annex when it became a residence hall for men. It no longer exists.

Centennial Hall. Centennial Hall.

Central heating plant. Built at the same time as the classroom building, it was known for decades as the boiler house.

Duplex. The duplex. A large house at 500 South Washington Street.

Frequently inhabited by professors and their families before permanent housing was obtained for them. Used as a dormitory for women, complete with bunk beds, during the housing crunch.

Highland Hall. Highland Hall.

Hillcrest Hall. Hillcrest Hall. No longer in existence.

Hillview Hall. Hillview Hall.

Library. The library.

Luther Memorial Union. This name is applied to either the whole or parts of the gymnasium-auditorium-union complex. It is also called the Union, and a snack bar in it is called the Round Table.

Auditorium-chapel

in Academic Center

179

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THE NAMES OF THE CAMPUS BUILDINGS

Music Center. Music Center.

Music Hall. It was called the chapel-auditorium when it was built.

Sometime along the line it became known, although not universally, as the Aula. It was called the music hall after the auditorium was included in the 1928 building, and it became the Music Hall when the Music Center was built.

Old Main. Originally built in 1884, it was known as Dr. Martin Luther College. After the classroom building was built in 1928, it was called the "service building." The second floor was called The Annexe or Annex Hall during the time it was used to house women.

Summit Hall. When it was built in 1911, it was called the boys' dormitory. Later it became known among the students as the men's dormitory.

Waldheim. Waldheim. Originally used as dormitory for women; now

used as a dormitory for men. Married tutors and the dean of women occupied the first floor for a time during the 70s.

West Hall. "Emergency barracks," the temporary building (the Temp), the White House. Once called "a pretty swell dorm." Originally located directly west of the Academic Center, it was moved to its present location when Luther Memorial Union was built. Probably the oldest "temporary building" in the synod.

Campus Expansion The growth of the campus of Dr. Martin Luther College from the original 24 acres to its present 50 plus acres was more complicated than the neat and tidy acquisition of the first six outlots.

Outlots vary in size in different sections of New VIm. In the college area an outlot is a four acre parcel of land. It is usually 283.8 feet wide and 613.9 feet deep. The outlots facing Summit Avenue, which lies east of the campus, are - numbered from the intersection of Summit Avenue and Center Street and proceeding in a southerly direction Nos. 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, and 326, which abuts Woodland Drive. The outlots south of Woodland Drive are presently of no consequence to the college plat.

The first acquisition in this easterly portion of the campus was made on January 3, 1953. The college (in reality, the "Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Wisconsin and other States, a religious corporation," now the WELS) bought Lot A of Outlot 323 from Adolph E. Gerlach and Adeline Gerlach. This strip of land, 211.7 feet wide and 613.9 feet deep, cost $16,000.00. Waldheim and the three college houses at 19, 31, and 43 Waldheim Drive are situated on this strip.

On March 10, 1955 the college acquired sizeable acreage from Ella Backer: 1. Lot B of Outlot 323. It is a 71 foot wide strip of land which lies behind or south of 19,31, and 43 Waldheim Drive. It did not include the lot on which the house at 216 Summit Avenue sits. 2.

Outlots 324 and 325. This plot includes the land on which the houses at 224, 300, and 326 Summit Avenue are, the vacant lots between 300 and 326, and the football practice field west of those houses.

The property facing Summit Avenue was completed as a solid block on December 1,1971 when the college received the 70.8 by 200 foot parcel on which the house at 216 Summit Avenue sits. This property was received from the estate of Emma Abraham. The college legally turned the property over to the synod on February 7, 1972.

The 40 foot wide strip of land which lies between 216 and 224 Summit Avenue is Backer Street. It is maintained by the college.

On June 6 and 10, 1972 the college acquired the westerly half of Outlot 326 from Eldon and Rosalie Lendt and Herbert and Sadie 181

182

CAMPUS EXPANSION

Dumke. This is the land which lies behind the privately owned homes at 402 and 408 Summit Avenue.

The westerly half of the campus grew in still more complicated fashion. The original three outlots facing South Highland Avenue were numbered, beginning at Center Street, 319, 318, and 317. They included the land west of a north-south line drawn through the west end of the Academic Center and the central heating plant to Highland Avenue and from Center Street to a east-west line slightly north of a theoretical continuation of Waldheim Drive. Included on this property are the two residence halls for women, the student union, and the Lancer baseball field.

Beginning in 1956 and continuing up to and including December 16, 1983, the college obtained property on fifteen separate occasions.

The first was the purchase of Lot A of Outlot 316 from Leo A. Lamacker and wife on August 15, 1956. This is the land on which the houses at 47 and 59 Waldheim Drive sit and which includes the parking lot north of 223 Highland Avenue.

Six other parcels were bought from the Lameckers. In general the land includes the parking lot west of 59 Waldheim Drive, the Lancer Bowl, and the real estate on which the college owned houses at 223 and 225 Highland Avenue are located. Two lots were bought from Manderfeld-Neilson Lumber & Supply Co.; they hold the college owned houses at 227 and 231 Highland Avenue. Four miscellaneous easterly portions of Outlot 314, which abuts Outlot 325 midpoint between Summit and Highland, were obtained between 1978 and 1983. The grantors were George R. Hogen and wife, Frederick A. Manthey and wife, and Fred A. Bartel and wife.

A Folio of Photographs

,

Dining room in basement of Old Main

Physical culture class, 1909

183

\

A

184

"Dr. Eisenhart,"

as Prof. Bliefernicht called himself in 1914

Messenger staff, 1914-1915

FOLIO OF PHOTOGRAPHS

A

FOLIO OF PHOTOGRAPHS

185

Mixed Choir, 1912

Marlut Singers, 1934

Renovated cafeteria

186

Student union in basement of Music Hall

The Academic Center before renovation

A

FOLIO OF PHOTOGRAPHS

A

FOLIO OF PHOTOGRAPHS

19th century contemporaries

187

188

A

FOLIO OF PHOTOGRAPHS

DMLC Alma Mater Dr. Martin Luther College had no alma mater for almost nine decades. This situation changed with the advent of football in the 1970s.

The collegiate council sponsored an alma mater contest during the 1971-72 school year, encouraging both students and faculty to submit entries. The contest was continued 'during the next school year because the initial response was less than the council had hoped for.

Among the entries was one in which the text was written by Prof.

Cornelius Trapp and the music by one of his former students, Ronald Shilling. Shilling was at this time also a tenured member of the DMLC faculty. Trapp and Shilling had collaborated before this. During 1970 they had worked together to produce songs for The Junior Northwestern, then the children's magazine of the Wisconsin Synod.

During the spring of 1973 the Lancers remained after evening chapel to hear each of the entries. The anonymity of composers and authors was guarded zealously. The students and a committee of the faculty voted at the conclusion of the presentations, and that by Trapp and Shilling was selected as the official school song.

The alma mater was presented to the public for the first time during the annual commencement concert on June 7, 1973. The audience then joined the choirs, and since that premier performance, it has been sung at each commencement concert and at other fitting occasions.

The original score is reproduced on the following page.

189

THE DMLC

190

DMLC AUlA MATER

Ly(''''

~xt; c.

ALMA MATER

J. Trapp

Music: R. L. Shilling

I

I

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I

bring.

I

I I

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I

I

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I

I

Sources Official publications of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Minnesota District, WELS: The Reports to the Districts.

The Book of Reports and Memorials (BoRaM).

The Proceedings of the synod conventions.

The Proceedings of the Minnesota District conventions.

Statistical Report of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod for (various years), David Worgull, statistician.

Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod periodicals: Gemeindeblatt.

Lutheran Educator.

Lutheran School Bulletin.

Northwestern Lutheran.

Dr. Martin Luther College publications and documents: The annual catalogs from the 1884-1885 Catalogue to the Dr. Martin Luther College Centennial Year (1984-1985) Catalog.

Excelsior. Picture annual published by and for the students.

Messenger, DMLC. Student publication originally printed in magazine form and now in tabloid.

News and Notes from Dr. Martin Luther College.

News from the Hill.

Student Directory.

Tower Topics. The publication of the DMLC Alumni and Friends.

The minutes of the Dr. Martin Luther College board of control, faculty, curriculum committee/academic council, academic divisions; the president's Program Statement for 1977-1983, 1979-1985, and 1981-1987 and the Reports of the president to the board of control.

Accreditation documents: Educational Survey for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod-1962. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. 1962.

Miscellaneous faculty committee reports.

Report of a Visit to Dr. Martin Luther College. 1975, 1977, 1979.

Status Study of Dr. Martin Luther College, A. New VIm, Minnesota: Dr. Martin Luther College. 1972.

191

192

SOURCES

Local histories: A Century oj God's Grace and Mercy, St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1967.

A Century oj Grace, St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota. 1965.

St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1867-1967, Jordan, Minnesota. 1967.

Souvenir oj the Seventy Fifth Anniversary oj the Founding oj the Wisconsin State Teachers' ConJerence. 1946.

Magazines. Anniversary issues which chronicled the events and life styles of America during the last 50 to 60 years: Esquire. "How We Lived - 1933. 1983." Volume 99, No.6, June 1983.

Newsweek. "The American Dream," Fiftieth Anniversary Issue, Spring/1983.

Time. "The Most Amazing 60 Years in History," Special Anniversary Issue, Vol. 122, No. 15.

Newspapers: Mankato Free Press.

Minneapolis Journal.

Minneapolis Star,Minneapolis 1Hbune,Minneapolis Star and 1Hbune.

New Ulm Journal or The Journal.

New Ulm Review.

Books: Aaberg, Theodore A. A City Set On A Hill. Mankato, Minnesota: Board of Publications, E.L.S. 1968.

Blegen, Theodore C. Minnesota: A History oj the State. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 1963.

Blegen, Theodore C. and Jordan, Philip D., eds. With "flrious \.Vices. St. Paul: Webb Publishing Company, 1949.

Bliefernicht, E. R. A Brief History oj Dr. Martin Luther College.

New Ulm. 1934.

Board of Education, Wisconsin Synod. Our Synod and Its Work.

Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing Company. 1947. A similar book was published in 1964 with the title You and Your Synod.

Folwell, William Watts. A History oj Minnesota. Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society. 1926.

SOURCES

193

Freitag, Alfred J. College with a Cause. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1964.

Fritsche, L. A., ed. History of Brown County, Minnesota, Vol. II. Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc. 1916.

Fuerbringer, L., et al, eds. The Concordia Cyclopedia. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1927.

Geschichte der Minnesota-Synode und ihrer einzelnen Gemeinden, 1860-1910. St. Louis, Missouri: Louis Lange Publishing Company. 1909.

Golden Jubilee Hwtory of the Minnesota District of the Wwconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod and Its Member Congregations, 19181968. Minneapolis: The Minnesota District of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. 1969.

Kiessling, Elmer Carl. Centennial Memoir. Watertown, Wisconsin: Northwestern College Alumni Society. 1979.

Koehler, John Philipp. The Hwtory of the Wwconsin Synod. Ed. and with an introduction by Leigh D. Jordahl. Sauk Rapids, Minnesota: The Protes'tant Conference. 1981.

Lass, William E. Minnesota: A Bicentennial Historu. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1977.

Lueker, Erwin L., ed. Lutheran Cyclopedia. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1954.

Meyer, Edward H. The Life and Work of Fritz Otto Reuter (unpublished master's thesis). River Forest, Illinois. 1972.

Schmaus, Alfred. Recollections of New Ulm and vicinity at the tum of the century. n. p., n.d.

UbI, Elroy E., comp, A Chronology of New Ulm, Minnesota: 1853-1899. New Ulm, Minnesota: Elroy E. UbI. 1978.

Taped interviews: Delmar Brick, Class of '34 members (William Arras, Florence Raddatz Arras, Arthur Glende, Ruth Lorenz Glende, Gertrude Vogel Nolte, Clara Oswald Wichmann), Conrad Frey, Theodore J. Hartwig, Roland H. Hoenecke, Lloyd O. Huebner, H. O. ("Chuck") Ihlenfeldt, Arthur Henry Koester, Edwin Nolte, John E. Oldfield, Theodore Pelzl, Herbert A. Sitz, C.J. Trapp, Guenther Waedilich, and Adolph Wilbrecht.

Miscellaneous: Personal correspondence, souvenir booklets, programs and bills, clippings, broadsides.

Index Aaberg, Theodore A., 74, 75 Abele, Mr., 36 Abraham, Emma, 181 Academic Center, 65, 87-89, 98, 1l0, 140,151,170,175-176,179,182,186 Ackermann, Adolph, 35-38, 42, 46-49, 55-57,59-61,63,84,96, 117 Administration Building, see Academic Center Advanced Study Program (ASP), 167, 169 Aeolians, 96 Aid Association for Lutherans, 114, 135 Albrecht, C. J., 11-14, 17-21,23,33,3536, 52, 76, 84, 151 Albrecht, Christina Schilling, 13 Albrecht, Henry, 13 Albrecht, Mr. and Mrs. Herman, 80 Albrecht, Martin, 77, 81, 117-118, 122, 146, 170 Albrecht, Richard M., 65-66, 78, 80-82, 85,99, 113, 117, 121, 139, 152, 168 Alumni and Friends of DMLC, 170 American Studies travel tour, 169 Ames, Charles w., 58 Anderson, Ames, 129, 141, 146 Anderson, Gerald, 126 Annex, 141, 161-162, 175, 179 Annex Hall, 175, 180 Annexe, The, 175, 180 Arras, William, 140 Aufderheide, Mrs. Herman, 132 Aula, see Music Hall Averbeck, Robert, 154 Backer, Bruce R., 80-81, 122, 138, 146, 171-172 Backer, Ella, 181 Backer, Emil D., 78-79, 81, 83-85, 112, 117, 122-123, 146, 169-170 Backer Street, 181 Bands: Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, pep band, 77 Barnes, Glenn, 140 Bartel, Elaine, 170-171 Bartel, Fred A., 154, 182 Bartel, Grace Hagedorn, 171 Bauer, Gerhard C., 154 Becker, Siegbert w., 144 Bergemann, G. E., 61 Bethany College, 74 Bethany Ladies Seminary, 68-69 Bilitz, Hugo, 147 Birkholz, Edward, 126 Birkholz, Gerhard, 156

Birkholz, Howard E., 120, 128, 130, 157 Blauert, Frederick, 171 Bliefernicht, Edmund R., 28, 33, 46, 51, 56, 63, 65, 69-71, 84-86, 95, 97-101, 110, 117-119, 133, 135, 166, 184 Bode, Lois Sievert, 139 Bode, Roland, 96 Bode Hall, see Redeker Hall Boehlke, Paul R., 166 Boerneke, LeRoy, 140, 171 Boettger, Ralph W. and Virginia R., 157 Borgwardt, Wayne, 129 Boock, Friedrich, 17 Boys' Dorm, see Summit Hall Brain Lane, 116 Brei, Raymond, 129 Brenner, John, 35, 96 Bretscher, Ruth, 39 Brick, Delmar C., 121, 128-129, 141, 151-152, 157, 171 Brick, lone, 152 Brug, John, 154 Bunjes, Paul G., 146 Burk, Gottfried Theodore, 21, 28, 30, 35, 37,42,56,65,71,78,85,99, 117, 123 Burk, Martin, 21 Burk, Mrs. Martin, 21 Burk, Milton, 157 Burnquist, Joseph A. A., 58 Buss, Richard, 141 Call Night (Call Day Vespers), 168 Carmichael, Gary, 129, 166 Centennial Hall, 76, 111-113, 115, 126, 141, 162, 175, 179 China Missionary Society, 36 Chinese Ev. Lutheran Church, 137 Choirs: College Choir, Chorale, Chapel Choir, two treble choirs, bell, 170 Classroom building, see Academic Center College Hill, 2, 33, 92, 119 Concordia Seminary, 20, 27, 33, 35, 47, 114 Concordia Teachers College, 39 Cox, Tim, 162 Dallmann, Gary L., 129, 150 Defner, Emil, 114 Dr. Martin Luther High School (Martin Luther Academy), 136, 156-158, 162 Duehlmeier, Raymond, 157 Dumke, Herbert and Sadie, 181-182 Ebert, Dave, 162 Eckert, Ruth, 143 Emergency Teachers' Training Program, see Winnebago Program

195

196 Endacott, Norman, 91 Engel, James, 151-152 Engel, Otto, 123, 126, 137-138, 140, 143 Engelder, Th., 114 European travel-study tour, 169 Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 74 Excelsior, 173 Finup, Carl, 77 Fischer, Gilbert F., 129, 166 Folwell, William Watts, 58 Fox Valley Lutheran High School, 145.

See also 26, 42, 121, 135, 153 Fredrich, Edward C., 143 Frey, Charlotte Marie, 136 Frey, Conrad, 129-130, 133-134, 137141, 145-146, 148-149, 154, 157-159, 165, 169 Frey, Elizabeth Yanz, 136 Frey, Immanuel P., 136 Frey, Leonard F., 18 Frey, Mary, 14 Fritsche, Arlon, 162 Fritsche, Louis A., 59-60 Fritz, Emil G., 88 Fritz, John H. C., 114 Fuhlbrigge, Lois, 168 Galstad, Martin, 121 Gerlach, A. E., Mr. and Mrs., 110, 113, 181 German Ev. Lutheran Synod of Minnesota, see Minnesota Synod Germany, 2, 13, 27, 37, 45, 47, 50, 58, 80, 167 Gerstenmaier, Otto, 30-31 Glaesemann, Adolf, 92 Glende, Arthur, 77, 129 Goeglein, Henry, 73 Goeglein, Mrs. Henry, 73 Graebner, August L., 20, 23 Graf, Gustav, 38 Gorsline, Dennis, 143, 150 Grams, A. Kurt, 141, 158 Gullerud, O. M., 109 Gurgel, Karl, 95 Haar, Beverlee, 151, 171 Haase, A. A., 61 Hahnke, Lloyd, 157 Hartwig, Theodore H., 121, 128-129, 155, 169 Hasse, Henry, 156 Heckmann, George, 129, 153, 167, 169 Heidemann, Reinhold, 167 Henrich, Warren, 171 Hermanson, Roger, 77, 140, 152 Hesse, Leona, 104 Heyer, John Christian Frederick, 9

INDEX Highland Hall, 72, 141-142, 179 Hillcrest Hall, 72-73, 93, 98, 110-111, 142, 179 Hillview Hall, 72, 137, 141-142, 179 Hirsch, Eldon C., 146, 157 Hoenecke, Roland, 93, 118, 128, 152 Hoeness, J., 33, 35 Hogen, George R., 182 Hoyer, Oscar, 28 Hoyer, Otto Daniel August, 18, 27-31, 35, 44, 46, 63 Hubbard, Lucius F., 7-8 Huebner, Mr. and Mrs. Carl, 165 Huebner, Lloyd 0., 93, 129, 137, 157, 159-160, 162-167, 169-172 ISP (independent study program), 167 Ingebritson, Ida, 73 Ingebritson, Mervin, 143, 154 Isch, John, 141, 166 Jacobson, Gerald J., 141, 166, 171 Janke, Frederick, 156 Janke, Richard, 85, 117, 121, 166, 168 Jaster, Herbert, 126, 157 Jefferson County Lutheran High School Association, 165 Johnston, Lyla, 168 Kaiser, Harold, 121, 138, 157 Klatt, Huldreich R., 65, 71, 83, 85, 99, 117, 147-148, 155 Klockziem, Roger C., 154 Koch, E. G., 17, 19,43 Kock, Norval, 156 Koehler, J. P., 18 Koelpin, Arnold, 129, 169 Koester, Arthur, 126 Koestler, Arlen, 154 Kopitzke, Frances Meyer, 108 Kowalke, E. E., 116 Kraeft, Ruth, 39 Krause, Dave, 162 Krause, Robert, 144 Kresnicka, Judy, 129 Krook, Carl W. A., 17 Krueger, Robert, 143, 164 Kuester, Janice, 168 Kujawski, Dorothy Schlueter, 28 Kuske, Helen, 168 Kuster, Thomas, 143, 166 Ladies' Auxiliary of DMLC, 170, 172 LaGrow, George E., 154, 166 Lakeside Lutheran High School, 165 Lamacker, Leo A., 182 Lancer Bowl, 149-150 Lange, Lyle, 154 Larsen, Ulrick J., 144 Lawrenz, Carl J., 118

INDEX Lendt, Eldon and Rosalie, 181 Lenz, M. J., 137-138 Lenz, Mark, 165 Leopold, Barbara, 151 Levorson, LeRoy, 140-141 Levorson, Oscar, 74, 85, 93-94, 117, 119 Library, 142-143 Lind, John, 15, 58 Lindeke, W., 18 Loeffelmacher, John, 52 Luedtke, Charles, 129, 138, 166 Luther Memorial Union, 137-139, 179 Manderfeld-Neilson Lumber & Supply Co., 182 Manthey, Frederick A., 157, 182 March, Charles H., 58 Marluts,96 Martin Luther Academy, see Dr. Martin Luther High School Marxhausen, E.J.A., 61, 117 McCollum, William, 141 McGee, John F., 58 Meier, Arthur, 108 Meihack, Marvin, 141, 169 Meine, Hazel, 104 Menk, Rolland R., 154, 165 Men's dormitory, see Summit Hall Meyer, Edward H., 84, 141 Meyer, John P., 20, 44, 56, 63-65, 84, 97, 112, 122-123, 126, 165, 172 Meyer, Marietta, 152 Micheel, John, 141, 166 Michigan Lutheran Seminary, 34-35, 136-137 Michigan Synod, 27, 34 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 11,20,22-23,34, 50,68, 78, 89, 111, 119, 122, 129, 144145, 153 Minnesota, state of: Cities and towns Buffalo, 14; Chaska, 5; Courtland, 47, 61, 96; Darfur, 36; Duluth, 58; Fairfax, 89, 135; Fairmont, 15; Fort Ridgely, 4-5; Gibbon, 60; Goodhue, 92; Graceville, 136; Henderson, 5; Hutchinson, 49; Jordan, 4; Lewiston, 14, 82; Litchfield, 58; Mankato, 5, 166; Marshall, 89; Minneapolis; 7, 15, 18, 58, 89; Mountain Lake (Darfur), 46; Red Wing, 153; Redwood Falls, 69; St. Cloud, 7; St. James, 49, 61, 101; St. Paul, 4, 7, 9, 18, 30, 58, 61, 89; St. Peter, 4-5, 15; Sanborn, 23, 33; Shakopee, 4-5, 18-19, 49; Winona, 129; Wood Lake, 165

197 Highway system, 116 Historical society, 104 Iron ore industry, 8 Lumber industry, 8 People, 11, 58 Rivers Cottonwood, 16; Minnesota, 2, 4-5, 14, 16, 125 State, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16,27 Weather, 2, 16-17 Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, 58,61 Minnesota Synod, 9-11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 33-34, 36, 50 Mischke, Carl, 128 Missouri Synod, 10-11, 38-39, 75, 127 Mohr, J. G., 36-37, 42, 152-153 Mohr, Lillie, 40 Montgomery, Otto, 38, 42, 56, 66 Mosel, Hugo, 56 Music Center, 123, 125, 161, 180 Music Hall, 51, 53, 55, 76, 79, 86, 91-92, 98, 124, 139, 180, 186 Naumann, Oscar J., 61, 65, 111-112, 119, 122-123, 128, 138, 151 New Ulm, city of: Camel's Back, 96, 106 Chicago & North Western Railway Co., 6 Citizens State Bank, 104, 135 Concordia Band, 3 Crone Department Store, 26 Dakota "400;' 6 Denkmal Park, 96 Dog's Back, 96, 106 Eagle Mill, 6 Eibner's, 26, 96 German Park, 3 Green Meadows, 96 Haus Messerschmidt, 26 Hermann Monument, 41, 49, 52, 96 Hunter's Rest, 96 Heymann Construction Co., 123, 142 Retzlaff Hardware Co., 28 River boats, 5-6 St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church, 93, 118 Schell, August, mansion, 26 Schell's Brewery, 6 Turner Halle, 3, 57 Turner Park, 59 Wallner Construction Co., 142, 150 Willamarie Room, 26 Woodland Drive, 179 New Ulm Commercial Club, 50 Nolte, Gertrude, 129 Nolte, Waldemar H., 95, 129, 157 Nolte, Walter, 75

198 North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, 154-156 Northwestern College, Watertown, Wisconsin, 10,21-22,27,33-34,37,44, 65,68,80, 101, 114, 116, 136, 146, 156, 165, 168, 176 Northwestern Lutheran Academy, 135, 156 Notz, F. W. A., 37 Oehlke, Florence, 98 Old Main, 15, 21, 26, 47, 52-53, 75-76, 84, 86, 92, 98, 110-111, 115, 142, 145, 151-152, 157, 163, 175, 180, 183 Oldfield, John E., 118-119, 121, 128-129, 147, 157, 166 Oswald, Kurt, 75, 77 Paap, Irma, 140, 154 Palmbach, Harry R., 65-66, 71, 85, 939~ 99, 117, 122, 157 Paulsen, John W., 143, 166 Pelzl, John, 38 Peters, W. G., 157 Peterson, Emil F., 61 Pfaender, Albert, 59-60 Pilgrim Mission House, see St. Chrischona Pillsbury, J. S., 16 Plath, Deb, 167 Pless, Waldemar, 122 Poehler, W. A., 61 Prausa, Dorothy, 169 Press, Gerhard, 126 Project 100/CLR, 171 Raddatz, Darvin, 141, 171 Rau, Marjorie, 129 Rauschke, Armin, 77 Redeker, William, 110 Redeker Hall, 74, 110-111 Reichenbecher, Christian, 30, 35 Reim, A. F., 3, 23, 30, 35, 37, 42, 56, 59, 65 Reim, Gottlieb, 14 Retzlaff, Armin, 28 Retzlaff, F. (Frank) H., 28, 59, 60, 100 Retzlaff, Waldemar, 28, 77 Reuter, Friedrich Otto (Fritz), 44-46, 5556,60,65,71,78,83, 170 Ring, Lester, 114, 145 Ristow, LeRoy, 117 Rosenberg, Erna Backer, 81 Ruemke, William, 18 .

Rusch, Keith, 162 St. Chrischona, 9, 11, 13 St. John Ev. Lutheran Church and/or School, St. Paul, Minnesota, 27, 30, 42, 119

INDEX St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church and/or School, New Ulm, Minnesota, 14, 1719, 36, 56, 74, 76-77, 80-83, 85, 100, 120,150,152-154,171,176 Sauer, Edwin H., 85, 92-93, 117-118, 120 Schaefer, James P., 137-138 Schaller, Adalbert, 69, 71, 85, 106, 114, 117,166 Schaller, Egbert, 112 Schaller, John, 31-33, 35-40, 42-44, 46, 63 Schapekahm, Herman G., 20-21, 26 Schenk, Otto, 129, 138 Schleef, Charles, 162 Schlinkert, Robert, 59 Schlueter, Agnes Hoyer, 28 Schlund, Agnes, 169 Schmidt, Walter J., 132 Schroeder, Lois, 140 Schroeder, Martin, 129 Schroeder, Morton A., 143 Schubkegel, Francis, 141 Schubkegel, Joyce, 141 Schuetze, Victoria, 129, 152 Schultz, Mark, 162 Schulz, Arthur J., 122, 128-129, 152, 155 Schumann, Walter, 114 Schweppe, Carl L., 69-71, 85, 89, 93-94, 97,99-105,109,113-115,117-119,121, 123-124, 126, 129-133, 135, 137-139, 148, 158, 165 Schweppe, Mrs. Carl (Flora), 103, 132 Schweppe, Mr. and Mrs. Fred, 101 Schweppe, William, 75 Seifert, Ervin, 147 Shilling, Ronald, 129, 141, 146, 189-190 Siegler, Oscar, 146, 156-157 Sievert, Ada, 73 Sievert, Adelia, 129, 152 Sievert, Erich R., 116, 120, 122, 129, 152, 169, 171 Sievert, Hertha, 168 Sitz, Herbert, 100, 120, 155, 166 Sitz, Luella, 73 Smith, Lyndon A., 58 Somsen, Henry N. and Anne D., 157 Sperling, J. E., 42, 56, 66, 152 Sponholz, Martin, 165 Sprengler, Ernest, 75 Stabell, David D., 147 Steffel, Martin H., 157 Steinhauser, Albert, 59-61 Stelljes, Otis, 121, 151, 157 Stelljes, Prof. and Mrs. Otis, 113 Stindt, Albert, 80-81, 85, 117, 122, 130, 152, 168

INDEX Stindt, John, 82 Stindt, Mary Oldenburg, 82 Stindt, Otto, 38 Stoltz, Robert J., 154, 165 Strickler, O. C., 59 Summit Hall, 49, 53, 86, 93, 141-142, 161-162, 175, 180 Supervision of Instruction Program (SIP), 167, 169 Swantz, Ralph, 122, 151, 157, 166 Synodical Conference, 11 Tappe, Otto, 50 The Temp., see West Hall Trapp, Cornelius J., 119, 129, 137, 150, 169, 189-190 Venture of Trust, 128-129 Vetter, Arlene, 104 Voecks, Victor F., 71, 93, 95, 117, 129, 137, 148-150, 157 Vogel, Drs. Howard and Ann, 170 Vogel, Louis, 60 Vogelpohl, Ernest C., 91 Vogelpohl, Fred, 38 Von Deylen, Bryan, 162 von Glahm, Bernhard R., 43 Voss, Arthur P., HI Voss, Robert, 144 Voss, Teacher, 39 Wagner, Betty, 169 Wagner, Lydia Goeglein, 60, 73 Wagner, M. S. (Hans), 60, 65, 71, 73, 85, 92, 119 Wagner, Wayne, 154, 170 Wahl, Inez, 165 Waldheim, 107, 111, 113, 141, 180, 181 Waldheim Drive, 110, 116, 161, 181-182 Wales, Donald, 156 Walther, F., 18 Walz, Ervin, 156

199 Wandersee, James, 154 Watertown, Wisconsin, see Northwestern College Wedekind, Teacher, 40 Weiss, Anton C., 58 Wendler, David 0., 154, 165 Wendler, Marlene F., 154, 165 Wessel, Howard L., 129, 153, 164 West Hall, HI, 126, 141, 161, 180 Westerhaus, G. A., 114 Wichmann, Clara, 140 Wilbrecht, Adolph, 140, 154 Winnebago Program, 95, 122, 126 Wirshing Organ Company, 55 Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, 78 Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod (WELS), 19,41,46,82, H5, 123, 127, 136, 144, 154, 157, 172 Wisconsin Lutheran College, 141, 144, 145 Wisconsin Lutheran High School, H9, 144 Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, 81, 117, 120, 122, 143, 156, 165. See also 33, 35, 46,65,69,97, 148 Wisconsin Synod, 10-11, 15, 17, 20, 22, 34-36,38 Wisconsin Synod (Joint), 22-28, 34, 46, 50, 63, 75, 81, 85, 86, 97-98 Woldt, Alfons L., 144 Wulff, Frederick, 143, 169 Ylvisaker, S. C., 75 Yotter, Harold, 141, 166 Zahn, Meilahn, 77, 129, 147, 151, 170 Zarling, Thomas, 165 Zickler, Heinz, 167 Zielke, Selma, 81 Zietlow, Ardella, 169 Zimmermann, Mrs. Larry, 132

LEGEND 1. Old Main 2. Academic Center 3. Music Hall 4. Music Center 5. Summit Hall 6. Library 7. West Hall 8. Centennial Hall 9. Hillview Hall 10. Highland Hall 11. Waldheim 12. Luther Memorial Union 13. Central Heating Plant 14. Entrance Marker 15. Tennis Courts 16. Baseball Field 17. Football Bowl