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VOLUME VXIII—NO. FOUR
West Georgian Starts Series On
History ot West Georgia College
As spring gently spreads over
the campus of West Georgia, as
Summer, Autumn and Winter fol
low, history is being made. A cen
tury ago a wilderness covered
much of the site of W. G. C. cam
pus. During that hundred years it
grew into the institution we know
today.
In a series of articles in the
West Georgian the history of the
site of West Georgia and a his
tory of each building on the cam
pus will be unfolded.
“Land District No. 10, Lot No.
99;” these numbers were drawn
by Lawrence Richardson, of Co
lumbus County, in the land lottery
in 1825. He received title to ap
proximately 200 acres of land
which was somewhere west of the
Chattahoochee River. Afterwards
Carroll County came, and more
than a century later, in this same
lot of land was established West
Georgia College.
Richardson never saw the land
Governor Gilmer gave him. In
1839 it was sold at public outcry
to settle a claim against Richard
son. It brought $2,000 or about 10c
an acre. It passed into the hands
of William A. Walsh and later
Obadiah Wright. The latter clear
ed it and made improvements. The
price of cotton had jumped from
9 cents a pound in 1830 to 17 cents
five years later. Thomas Bonner,
from Clarke County, bought it and
a permanent dwelling house was
completed in 1844. This house still
stands although it has been mov
ed some 500 yards east of it’s ori
ginal location. It was later known
and still is as the Gunn House.
In the 1940 additional information
procured from an old negro known
as “Uncle Abe,” who was born on
the place in 1841 and lived here
McGILL SAYS INDIA
IS MAKING PROGRESS
. “If we can avoid a war, and if
we can continue to help India a
few more years as we have been
doing, that large country can be
come a great bulwark for demo
cracy between Southeast Asia and
Comunism and between China and
Russia. But it is a race, ‘the com
munists know that.”
These are the closing words of
Ralph McGill’s talk at West Geor
gia College Sunday afternoon, Jan.
27, and by far the most import
ant part
Not only is India being greatly
aided by the Western Democra
cies, he said, but the Indian gov
ernment is also doing something
for itself. It is fast removing the
generations-old shackles of ignor
ance, primitive existence, unsani
tary conditions and poor farming
methods that have retarded the
progress of the country for so
long.
Sunday’s meeting was presided
over by the Rev. J. Carson Prit
chard, a member of the faculty
and chairman of the Committee of
25, which launched the Amar
Singh project and carried it thru.
President Ingram, introducing
Mr. McGill, said that Carroll co
unty is “dedicated to democratic
thinking and planning.”
DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTEREST OF WEST GEORGIA COLLEGE
before the Civil War, gives us an
interesting and vivid description
of “the old home place” as it
looked to him during ihs boyhood.
The big house then stood on a
little knoll about halfway between
the road and the site of Melson
Hall. Twenty yards back stood the
kitchen where the house servants
cooked the food and brought it
into the dining room on large
trays. The slave quarters were
strung along the ridge from the
rear of the kitchen to the present
site of the Academic Building. The
slave burying ground was located
where Melson Hall now stands. A
little branch ran through and be
yond it to the Little Tallapoosa
River which was known as Deer
Stand.
In the red land west of the col
lege cotton grew abundantly and
this called for more slaves. “Uncle
Abe” was a young man of nineteen
when Lincoln was elected. • Then
came the war and in 1863 several
thousand Federal Calvary under
General Stoneman marched along
the road in front of the campus.
They were marching from Salem,
Alabama to join Sherman. They
raided the house and barns of “Un-
I cle Abe’s” master taking food,
i They did not burn anything how
ever and were good enough to
j leave “middlin meat.”
i In 1899 Uncle Abe was freed
'and then the land was deeded to
j trustees of the Fourth District
| where the A. and M. school opened
Jits doors in 1908 with J. H. Mel
son as principal.
| Thus the stream of history goes.
In the next issue of the West Geor
gian the facts and history of the
A. and M. school will unfold to
lead us to what we are today.
PRESIDENT'S
CALENDAR
Friday Night, February 15, 1952
Rotary Club Meeting—Ladies’
Night in Marietta, Georgia.
Sunday, February 24, 1952
Will make Layman’s Day Ad
iress at the First Methodist Church
of Rome, Georgia.
Monday, February 17, 1952
Visit campus at the University
of Missisippi.
Miss Downs Attends
| Teacher Edu. Council
On January 20-23 Miss Downs
attended the annual meeting in
Athens, Georgia, of Teacher Edu
cation Council. She served as a
consultant for the Committee on
Community Education and as
chairman of the Fourth District’s
Teacher Education and Profes
sional Standards of the G. E. A.
The council representatives were
from all the institutions in the state
that offer training for teachers.
Emphasis was placed on the closer
relationship between colleges and
schools.
Miss Downs has been invited to
serve as a member of the commit
tee to study and make recom
mendations for programs of teach
er education at Valdosta State Col
lege, March 3-7.
WEST GEORGIA"^COLLEGE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1952
Mr. Petersen Resigns
Faculty Position
Paul Petersen who has been
teaching at West Georgia Col
lege for five years has announc
ed his resignation. He will leave
March 9 for Columbus. Ohio.
He will take a position in the
ground patrol of the Naval Air
Reserve. He has been called to
active duty and it is for this
reason he leaves Carrollton.
Auburn, Emory,
Agnes Scott Win
Tourney Honors
Debate teams from Auburn, Ag
nes Scott, and Emory University
talked themselves into first place
honors in the Second Annual West
Georgia Intercollegiate Debate
Tournament held here Jan. 31-Feb.
2.
Auburn’s affirmative team, com
prised of Denison Ray and Her
bert H. Nelson, breezed through
the five sessions of argumentation
without a defeat, supporting the
contention that “The federal gov
ernment should adopt a permanent
program of Wage and Price Con
trol”
First place for the negative went
to Agnes Scott and Emory in a
tie, each having won three and
lost two and acquired 60 points.
North Georgia and Auburn nega
tive teams had the same won-lost
record of 3-2, but did not have as
many individual points and there
fore emerged in third and fourth
place.
Agnes Scott’s affirmative team
also captured honors, taking third
place; while West Georgia was in
fourth place, each with a record
of 3-2.
Ray and Nelson, members of
Auburn’s winning affirmative
crew, also won on the basis of in
dividual excellence, Ray getting
36 points and Nelson 34. Negative
individual honors went to Joe
Unger, of Emory, with 36, and
Harriett Rosenbaum, of Agnes
Scott, with 32.
Judges not only determined the
winner of each debate but also
rated the debaters on an indivi
dual point basis.
In assembly at the conclusion
of the tournament, Mr. Boroughs
and Mr. Ingram jointly announced
that the Third Annual Tourney
would be held next year and in
vited all the participating schools
to return.
Dramatics Class Plans
"Father of The Bride"
Plans Underway
For Big WGC Week
April 21 through 25 will be a
big week at West Georgia College.
This last week in April has been
set aside as West Georgia Week.
Interesting plans are in the for
mative stage. Theme for the Week
will be “West Georgia Serves.”
The Sacred Harp Musical Chorus
will present a program consisting
of the folk music of this particular
area on Monday evening.
Tuesday will be set aside as-
Founder’s Day. Ralph McGill, well
known editor of the Atlanta Con
stitution will be the guest speak
er.
Another well-known speaker,
Mr. A. C. Flora, past-president of
the National Education Association
will be our guest on Wednesday
evening.
The May Day Program and a
concert highlight the. program on
the 24. The theme for May Day
this year will be “Southern Me
mories”. The concert is one of the
Carroll Entertainment Series and
should be very entertaining.
Many plans are being developed
for the Parents’ Day Program on
Friday. These are the tentative
plans now and a definite announ
cement. will be made in the near
future.
Students and Alumni
Enjoy Annual Sweetheart
Dance February 16th
Spirits were gay and hearts were
happy as Dan Cupid reigned over
the Sweetheart Dance. It was a
glorious occasion of social activi
ties held at the college auditorium
on the night of February 16.
The auditorium was beautifully
decorated for the occasion. At the
front of the auditorium on either
side was greenery enclosed by a
small white fence. The entrance to
the walk was formed by a heart
shaped gate.
The highlight of the evening was
the crowning of Billy Mitcham
and Lee Anne Bell as King and
Queen of Hearts by President In
gram. The attendants along with
their escorts were in the follow
ing order: ,
Betty Jean Walker and Scott
Gray, Patsy Pugh and Charles
Bevis, Yvonne Watkins and Law
son Rollins, Joyce Cummings and
Charles Pharr, Carolyn Brown and
Eddie Potts, Sarah Baxter and
Ralph Marchison.
Alphi Psi News
The Alpha Psi is very busy mak
ing preparations for the May Day
Program, April 24. The girls in the
court have selected their outfits
and begun working on them.
Another project which the club 1
sponsored this month was making
valentine favors to go on the trays
at the hospital. Alpha Psi has
brought cheer to hospital patients
on other occasions this way.
CARROLLTON. GA.
The winter quarter dramatics
class has begun practice on the
play that they will present on
March 7. The play that has been
selected is “Father of the Bride.’*
The characters are: Mr. Banks, the
father, David Cooley; Mrs. Banks*
the mother, the Bank’s oldest son,
Herbert Cook; Tommy Banks,
Bank’s fifteen-year-old son, De
well Pitts; Buckley Dunston, the
groom, Hank Mosteller; Buz z, Tay
lor, Tommy’s friend, Dan Watson;
Peggy Swift, Ben’s girl friend,
Jenna Lee Wilson; Delilah, the
maid, Ann Ramsey; Miss Bellamy,
Mr. Bank’s secretary; Betty Jay
nes; Mr. Massoqla, the caterer,
Rene’ Boom; Joe, moving, man,
Robert Nix; Mrs. Puiitzka, the
eamstress, Winona Saturday; Pete,
furniture mover, Herschel John
son; Red, furniture Ralph
Maxwell; Decorators, Edith Head,
De Rita Frost, and Lee Ann Bell.
Mr. Row is directing' the pro
duction. Assistant directors are,
Melvin Criswell and Chris Lips
comb. . A . ■
West Georgia’s Dramatics De
partment is. certainly -pp, ther toes
as this play a
movie only one year ago.
All members of the class who
are not in the play-' ars t>dhrj* cast
in one-act playfe "which are to be
presenting during the last week of
the quarter.
Fillipino Educator
Visits West Georgia
Mrs! Lou Des C. Reyes, an in
structor in the Fillipino Women’s
University in Manilla, was a recent
visitor and observer on the West
Georgia College campus.
[ Mrs. Reyes, in the United States
under the Smith-Mundt Bill, was
mainly interested in observing l ,
mental hygiene and teacher in
struction, and the U. S. Office of
Education recommended West
Georgia to her. While here, she
visited Oak Mountain, and Sand
Hill schools, the county’s Negro
schools, and several college classes.
It was Mrs. Reyes’ first trip to
the U. S. and she liked it “very
much—wish I could stay longer,” 1
i she said.
Mrs. Hay Succeeds
Hogan as Cashier
Mrs. Margaret Hay succeeds
Miss Myrtle Hogan as cashier at
W. G. C. Mrs. Hay recently moved
to Roopville from Albany. The
Hays are planning to build anew
home in Roopville soon.
Previously Mrs. Hay had work
ed in Atlanta, but she has devoted
most of her time m recent years
to her family. She has a lovely
daughter, Jacqueline, age 12, and
her husband, Shelton, is a sales
man for a hardware supply com
pany. Other interests of Mrs. Hay’s
include Red Cross Work. She has
devoted much effort to this cause.
West Georgia College is honored
to welcome Mrs. Hay and her fam
ily.