Newspaper Page Text
The Campus Mirror
7
Clubs
Juanita V. Jernigan, ’32
When Spelman Seminary became a col
lege, June 1, 1924, the young women who
had been taking courses at Morehouse Col
lege and had been members of the clubs
there made plans for similar organizations
at Spelman. Accordingly, in the fall of the
same year the students returned ready to
organize clubs and to sponsor their own
student paper. The Press Club was organized
October 8, 1924, for the purpose of giving
financial management and direction to the
composition and editing of a student paper.
On November 12 of the same year some
members of the Press Club, with Estelle
Hailey as president, in order to give more
opportunity for literary expression, organ
ized a literary society winch was sponsored
by Miss Winifred J. Dunbrach in 1924-26
and by .Miss Elizabeth P. Lyons in 192(5-27.
The committee on constitution submitted
their report on February 2, 1925. It was
debated, revised and accepted. In naming the
organization it was the decision of the so
ciety to combine the names of two women,
one from the old and one from the new gen
eration of Negro women writers; accord
ingly, the name Wheatley-Fauset was chosen
for the society.
In the spring of 1925, on the suggestion
of the nominating committee, the society
voted that, because of the small number of
members and the uncertainty of their return
in tin* tall, they defer the election of officers
until the opening of the next college year.
Following the example of the Morehouse
Literary Club, the Wheatley-Fauset Literary
Society assumed the sponsorship of the
Emancipation Day celebration.
The society, in 1927, with Dorothy Rob
erts as President, wished to give more stu
dents an opportunity to take part in the
programs which could be only an hour in
length; therefore, they voted to divide the
society into two clubs, one for the study and
practice of story-telling and the other for
study and practice in debating. Mary Dunn
was temporary president of the story-telling
club and Willie Barnett, of the debating club.
The main society mothered the two clubs
during the year 1927-28, advised by Miss
Mae Neptune. At a meeting of the literary
club on November 14, 1927, when the pro
gram did not materialize, the adviser gave
an improptu lecture, which every girl re
members, on how to organize different kinds
of material and on how to listen intelli
gently to public speakers. By spring the
clubs had grown in membership and had ac
complished so much in their studies of story
telling and debate and in the giving of public
programs that the constitution of the main
club was rewritten in separate constitutions,
suited to each of the two clubs. The original
society still lives in its daughters, the Wheat-
ley-Fauset Story-Telling and Debating
Clubs.
These clubs could not have done so much
valuable work but for their devoted advisers,
who have been, for the story-telling dub:
1928-29, Miss Lillie Roudabush; 1929-30,
Mrs. Mary Juola llaga; 1931, Miss Sonya
Krutchkoff. For the debating club the ad
visers have been: 1928-31, Mrs. Margaret
Curry, and 1930-31, Professor B. R. Bra zeal.
These clubs continue to sponsor the Emanci
pation Day celebration and have come to be
classed among the annual gardens of pleas
ant college experiences.
Spelman Students'
Publications
The earliest Spelman student publication
of which we have any record is The Athen
aeum. This paper was published monthly by
the graduates and students of Atlanta Bap
tist College, now Morehouse College, and of
Spelman Seminary. Mr. John A. Mason and
Miss Claudia White (Mrs. Kemper Harreld)
were the first student editors. Mr. J. W.
Hubert and Miss Clara Howard were alumni
editors for the year 1901, according to the
May, 1901, issue, from which we quote. From
the beginning Mr. Benjamin G. Brawley, as
foreman of the college printing office, had
charge of the publishing.
When Spelman Seminary became Spelman
College in 1924-1925 a Press Club was or
ganized to meet the need for a separate col
lege paper for Spelman. The purpose of the
new school paper was to reflect the student
life and opinion of Spelman students, just
as The Athenaeum had done for both grad
uates and students of Morehouse and Spel
man. Suggested by this idea of reflecting,
the name Campus Mirror was given to the
new paper and Miss Mattie B. Harper was
the first editor.
The first issues of the Campus Mirror
varied from six to eight pages and were
mimeographed by the students. As the de
mand for the paper increased it was neces
sary for the staff, after the fifth number,
to send it to a printer for publication. Then
the paper assumed the appearance of a book
let about 6x8 inches. To the delight of the
readers the printed copies were easier to read
than the mimeographed ones. To the hard
(Continued to I'age 8)