Wofford College - From The Archives

A Wofford diploma, in Latin

This being Commencement weekend, I thought today would be a good day to share an older Wofford diploma.  This one was actually never issued, as it isn't dated or signed by all of the college's officers.  I found the diploma in President Snyder's 1930s files.  The archives has other diplomas - some older, some much older.  I am still trying to determine when the college switched from Latin to English, but I think it was by the early 1950s. 

The Latin translation is provided by Chris Strauber, reference and web services librarian here at Wofford. 

The President and Trustees

of Wofford College 

established under the laws of the state of South Carolina

Greetings in God to all and to each reader of this

Be it known that we have decided to grant Cecil Guy Nichols, a young man of blameless character and versed in humane letters, after an open examination in the arts by the faculty and distinguished trustees of the College, the title of Bachelor of Science; and we grant to him the power to enjoy all the privileges and honors which anywhere pertain to that degree. Of which let this document and our names be the public evidence.

Granted on campus [ ] in the Year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and [ ] 

[ ], Chairman, H.N. Snyder, President
[ ], Secretary, [ ], Secretary

Snyder-The American College Commencement

In this radio talk, Dr. Henry Nelson Snyder, who was Wofford’s president from 1902 to 1942, talks with WSPA-AM’s Jane Dalton about the American College Commencement.  This segment is a portion of his longer radio talk from May 28, 1948.  Jane Dalton tells Dr. Snyder that she was invited to give a commencement address at Tucapau, which is known today as Startex, a small town in western Spartanburg County.  Dr. Snyder did not give any commencement addresses that year, but while he was president, he was always in demand to give high school and college graduation addresses. 

If you are reading this blog entry through a feed reader and you don't see a link to the sound file, you may need to click through to the from the archives site to actually get to the sound file.  The sound clip runs about four and a half minutes. 

Commencement Season - a multi-day affair

I found a letter recently, while processing President Henry Nelson Snyder’s papers, in which he declined a speaking invitation because of the pressures of “commencement season.” I thought it was an interesting expression, because today, we think of commencement as being simply the two days of events, or even simply the graduation ceremony itself.

However, Commencement in the 19^th and early 20^th century was a multi-day affair. A series of elaborate programs staged over 3 or 4 days, the festivities included debates, speeches, receptions, and the traditional baccalaureate and graduation exercises themselves.

The 1889 ceremonies saw sixteen students graduate – many of whom went on to achieve prominence in their careers. One became a long-serving United States Senator, another a Methodist bishop, and one was the president of Duke University. Theirs was the largest class in thirteen years. The program lists all of their speeches, which I suspect were actually quite short since they were delivered at the graduation ceremony. Before they graduated, they would have heard a Baccalaureate sermon on Sunday morning, an address before the literary societies on Monday morning, a debate between members of the Calhoun and Preston societies on the question, “That the organization of a Prohibition Party would be detrimental to the Nation” on Monday night, and a reception following the debate from 10 PM to 1 AM. I’m surprised they stayed up that late! Tuesday was the day of graduation, and was followed by the annual alumni address at 8:30, given by the Honorable Richard W. Simpson of Pendleton, and finally by an alumni banquet. Goodness only knows how long that lasted.

Even as late as the 1920s, the time of which Snyder spoke, Commencement season could go for 5 days, again beginning with an assortment of debates and speeches before the literary societies. By the 1920s, Class Day had become an institution at Commencement, usually happening on the Saturday before graduation. This consisted of the annual meeting of the alumni association, a banquet with the alumni, seniors, and faculty in attendance, and class reunions. Sunday was reserved for Baccalaureate in the morning and the annual address by President Snyder in the evening. Graduation itself was on Monday. This pattern – of class day, baccalaureate day, and commencement generally continued up into the 1960s.

Of course, I guess you could call the series of events that happen today at Wofford leading up to the actual Commencement ceremony a season of sorts. Between class receptions, Honors Day, Phi Beta Kappa day, sports banquets and fraternity and sorority events, students and faculty members are quite busy in late April and early May. 

Next week, I hope to share a word from Henry Nelson Snyder about the American College Commencement.

Images: the invitation from 1893 Commencement, a program, including the senior speeches, from 1889, and the cover of the program and the toasts from the 1889 alumni banquet. 

Commencement Traditions

Traditions can be curious things. How something becomes a tradition, especially at a place like Wofford, is even more curious. If something happens twice, it’s a tradition, and if it happens a third time, it’s as sacred as if it had been happening since 1854, and woe be unto the person who messes with it.

When we started having the Commencement exercises on the front lawn of Main Building in 1999, seniors (and some younger alumni on the college staff) wondered how the class was going to march through the front gates. From the late 1960s until 1998, Wofford commencement had taken place in Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, next door to the campus. Students and faculty members lined up on campus and marched through the gates, out into the world, and into the auditorium to receive their degrees. Freshmen were told that it was bad luck to walk through the gate before graduation day, and some of us purposefully walked around the gate for a while – until we realized how dumb we looked.

Nevertheless, some people on campus didn’t realize that the symbolic march through the gates had become a sacred tradition. “It’s just the way we go to the auditorium,” one person insisted. Others on campus warned the Commencement Committee that the members of the Class of 1999 were going to go walk through those gates no matter what anybody else said. And some students do still head that way, but a new tradition was created that year. Students march through a double line of faculty members, who applaud, high-five, or otherwise congratulate the new graduates. This May will be my tenth Wofford commencement as the college archivist, and with ten years of students marching through the applauding faculty, I’d say that’s a pretty firmly entrenched tradition. Unless it rains.

Other traditions surrounding Commencement have been around a lot longer than the faculty gauntlet or marching through the front gates. Along with their diploma, the college presents each student with a Bible. But, perhaps from the very first commencement, and certainly not long after, the faculty began to sign the Bibles. In the archives, we have about a dozen of these Commencement Bibles, as I like to call them, that alumni or their children have given back to the college over the years. We have examples form the 1870s, where only 5 or 6 professors signed, to examples in the modern era with dozens, if not over 100 signatures. The Bible has always been a King James translation. At various points, some faculty members have called for a shift to a contemporary translation. In the 1950s, one religion professor suggested a move to the Revised Standard translation, as he knew many of the scholars who had worked on it and thought it to be more appropriate for scholarly use. Traditionalists on the faculty objected, some suggesting that each time a new translation came out that people would want to adopt it.  Others made the argument that the King James translation represented something beyond simply being a religious text, that it was a work of literature as much as anything. Many faculty and staff members still spend an hour or so each spring signing Bibles – I did it last week and it took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to sign 383 Bibles. I’m glad I have a fairly short name.

While the Commencement ceremony itself has evolved somewhat – most notably, by dropping the senior speeches – some parts of that ceremony have remained constant. I can point to the traditional Wofford Commencement hymn, “From All That Dwell below the Skies,” which appears in the printed 1858 Commencement program, the oldest in the collection. It might not be a selection we’d choose today, but faculty members, trustees, and graduates have been singing it for 154 years.

Commencement season is a lot shorter than it was in the 19^th or early 20^th century. Perhaps we’ll save a lengthy discussion of the mixture of commencement-related events in years past for another blog entry.

Commencement at Wofford - 1858

Since we're getting close to Commencement, this will be the first in a series of posts on Commencement traditions at Wofford.  Over the next few weeks, I'll have some stories of past commencements, another talk from Dr. Snyder on the American College Commencement, an image and translation of one of the old Latin diplomas (translation provided by my colleague and Wofford reference librarian Chris Strauber), and I hope to talk about some of the traditions that surround Wofford Commencements. 

Today's entry will be about Commencement in 1858, 150 years ago.  The story is summarized from a July 29, 1858 story about the ceremonies from the Southern Christian Advocate, which was (and is) the Methodist newspaper in South Carolina.  Also, there's a copy of an 1858 Commencement ceremony program. 

Mr. Editor - Allow me space enough to give your readers an account of the Commencement festivities of Wofford College, which have just passed.  It was a week which, I am quite sure, will long be most pleasantly recalled by all whose privilege it was to witness the ceremonies.

The author of the article spent the entire week before Commencement at the College, attending the various examinations.  He reported on hearing the various classes stand for their final exams, and praised both the students' work and the faculty's demand for excellent scholarship.  He noted that the mutual respect and affection the faculty and students showed for each other, which he found in marked contrast from the institution he had himself attended. 

The Commencement Sermon was delivered by President (and future bishop) William M. Wightman on Sunday in the college chapel.  The text of the sermon came from Proverbs 1:10, which the author felt obligated to quote as "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."  His audience listened, according to the author, with "wrapt attention" and would not soon forget their president's "earnest, eloquent, and solemn teachings."

On Tuesday at noon, the college community heard Major F. W. Capers deliver the annual address before the Literary Societies.  Capers, the author reported, seemed to set his prepared remarks aside when he reached the stage and instead gave an impromptu address on the true responsibilities of education.  Later that night, the societies heard from one of their seniors, who gave a valedictory address before a joint Calhoun and Preston society meeting. 

Commencement Day itself was the climax of the week's activities.  The procession formed in front of the president's house on campus - a home that has since been demolished - at 9:30.  The ceremony itself, complete with addresses by each of the eleven members of the graduating class, ran some four and a half hours.  The chapel in Main Building was packed, according to the observer, but the audience behaved with the decorum and attention of a Sabbath congregation (whatever that meant; the writer leaves it to our modern interpretation).  The musical interludes were provided by the "inmates" of the "Blind Asylum" at Cedar Springs - a more polite way to describe them would be to acknowledge the students of the School for the Deaf and the Blind in Spartanburg.  Our author notes the musical numbers were pleasant, and were performed on piano, flute, and melodeon. 

The speeches were delivered, he says, in clear, distinct tones, and demonstrated noble thought and high moral sentiment.  At the end, the audience rose and joined in singing "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" - perhaps an appropriate way to end a ceremony that ran nearly 5 hours! 

For much of the remainder of the 19th century, Commencement season ran for the better part of the week.  We'll talk more about later Commencement weeks over the next few weeks. 

Dr. Snyder on Phi Beta Kappa

This is a selection from a radio talk by Wofford's fourth president, Dr. Henry Nelson Snyder, in 1948.  Snyder was one of the five members of Phi Beta Kappa who received the college's Phi Beta Kappa charter in 1941.  Several years after he retired, in 1948 and 1949, he presented a series of weekly radio interviews on Spartanburg's WSPA-AM, hosted by Jane Dalton, the radio station's woman's editor.  In this talk, from April 23, 1948, he talks about Wofford's recent celebration of Phi Beta Kappa day.  Since we're celebrating our annual observance of Phi Beta Kappa day at Wofford today, I thought this would be appropriate to share.    This segment runs just under 5 minutes. 

Some Advantages of Wofford (circa 1900)

Today, Wofford and other colleges rely on glossy admissions viewbooks, and now, attractive websites to show prospective students how their campus looks.  Before the days of full-color brochures, the college had to rely on the printed word.  Wofford's annually-published catalogue, in addition to describing the courses offered, admissions rules, and requirements for graduation, the catalogue also described the campus its atmosphere.  These words come from the 1906 catalogue, but they were the same in several other editions of the era. The photos are from Wofford College Illustrated, 1898, an early pictorial yearbook of the college. 

Some Advantages of Wofford
Situation-- Climate and surroundings have much to do with the kind of studying a student does.  No better climate can be found anywhere for intellectual work than that of the high piedmont region of upper Carolina.  It is salubrious and bracing, and stimulates mind and body to do their best.

Health-- No healthier place can be found in the South than Spartanburg.  The Wofford College campus, upon which the students live, is a high, well-drained hill, removed from the dust and smoke and noise of the city.  Students thus have within reach all the conveniences of the city, together with the healthful benefits of the country.  Besides these natural surroundings, so conducive to health, oversight is taken, as far as possible, of the exercise and sports of students.  A large, thoroughly equipped Gymnasium, under the care of a competent director, has been found of inestimable value, not only in preserving health, but in aiding the growing bodies of young men to a state of vigorous natural development.

Social and Intellectual Surroundings-- Spartanburg furnishes an unexcelled social and intellectual atmosphere.  The best entertainments - entertainments that make for the highest refinement - are constantly within reach of the student.  Music by famous musicians, lectures by men of world-wide reputation,  readings by authors who are making the literature of the day, are all means of general culture that help to educate in the very best sense the students of Wofford.

The first image is a view of the campus from the city standpipe - on the highest point in the city - you can see Main Building to the left and Alumni Hall (mentioned last week in the blog) in the middle of the picture, North Church Street in the foreground and the city in the background.  The second image is of student cottages on the outskirts of campus - not so different an idea as the Village of today. 

A faculty talk from 1950 - David Duncan Wallace

David Duncan Wallace, who taught history at Wofford from 1899 to 1947, was in his day the foremost historian of South Carolina.  His four-volume History of South Carolina, published in 1935, covers the early history of the state in greater detail than any volume published before or since.  He was also the college historian, writing the History of Wofford College that remains the standard source for the college’s early history.  He wrote on other topics – the state constitution, the Revolutionary American leader Henry Laurens, and state government.

After he retired from the faculty, Wallace continued to teach and write.  In this talk on June 28, 1950, he addressed the Wofford summer teacher’s workshop, and touches on the beginnings of the Korean War, on the meaning of the past, and on South Carolina as a “new old state.”  These excerpts run about 6 minutes. 

The Woodrow Wilson League

From The Wofford College Journal, December 1911. 

The steps taken by the students of the University of South Carolina and the University of Virginia in forming what is known as “The Woodrow Wilson League of College Men,” is to be commended by all supporters of Governor Wilson. Its object is to promote the candidacy of Woodrow Wilson for President in 1912. It has met with the approval of many of Wilson’s friends, and they believe it a wise step for the college men to take who want Wilson for President. 

We believe that this movement should be considered and promoted in every college where it is practicable. Truly, Wilson is the college man’s candidate, and such a step taken by the students of the country in their characteristic enthusiasm will aid materially in bringing about the object of the movement.  

His entrance into public life is hoped to be a beginning of a new era in the political world, namely, “the re-entrance into political life of the better elements of society.” This is bound to arouse greater interest among the people concerning our public affairs, and should not only make Wilson the college man’s candidate, but also the candidate of every true and all-round citizen. 

The main significance that the league will have will be to arouse among the student bodies of the land a greater degree of interest in public things, and to cause them to bend their energies in the effort to influence the public through the press, the platform, and even the stump. 

Whatever its outcome, the students of the above-named institutions are, as we have already said, to be commended for starting such a movement, and we believe we are safe in saying that Wofford joins in to help advance the adopted slogan: “We Want Wilson.” 

As President of Princeton, Woodrow Wilson had spoken at Wofford as part of the College’s Lyceum, an early 20^th century lecture series. Wilson, who was born in Virginia, grew up in South Carolina and Georgia, remains the only president of the United States to have earned a Ph.D. He served as president of Princeton before being elected governor of New Jersey in 1910. Wilson proved popular with Democrats in the South, but his strong college roots no doubt made him popular with college students and alumni. Wilson’s candidacy was probably not the first that Wofford students rallied behind, and it certainly wasn’t the last. 

Alumni Hall

I’m not sure any building on campus has had as many names as the Hugh S. Black Building. 

We still have a handful of nineteenth century buildings on the campus – Main Building and the four homes that made up the original campus. But I’m not sure that many people on campus realize that the building that houses Admission and Financial Aid offices is another structure dating from the nineteenth century.

Times seemed good in Spartanburg during the 1880s. With railroads and textiles, the city was experiencing its first taste of prosperity since before the Civil War. Wofford had never officially provided housing for students, preferring instead to let them board with families in the village or with professors on campus. The home-like atmosphere, trustees and professors felt, would be better for the students. But by the 1880s, with enrollment hovering in the upper 70s, and with students living in unused rooms in Main Building, the trustees decided to build three cottages to be used as dormitories.  

When the alumni got wind of the plan, in a spell of generosity, they asked to be allowed to raise the money for a single dormitory for the students. They pledged to raise $10,000, and they organized local alumni chapters throughout the state to raise the funds. The trustees accepted the alumni association’s offer, though it took some time for the alumni to actually raise the funds.

And so, with Masonic rites and with much of Spartanburg’s leadership looking on, the college laid the cornerstone of Alumni Hall on Friday, October 19, 1888. Edgar L. Archer, of the class of 1871, who had made substantial contributions to the construction of the building, led the opening prayer, and the featured address was a biographical sketch of Benjamin Wofford, presented by John Bomar Cleveland of the class of 1869, another significant donor and later a trustee of the college. President Carlisle also spoke.

When the building opened it was, as one observer described, “commodious and well appointed, and furnished with all modern conveniences, and is a pleasant home for many students.” The building, as originally built and as the photo shows, was four stories tall.

In 1895, Alumni Hall became the home of the Wofford Fitting School, which had been in operation since 1887 in the buildings of the old Spartanburg Female College, in what became the Spartan Mill village. Alumni Hall remained part of the fitting school complex until it was discontinued in 1924.  

As is the case with buildings at so many colleges, fire played a role in Alumni Hall’s history. On the night of January 18, 1901, a fire nearly destroyed the building. It was, as The Journal reported, a severe loss to the college.  In the aftermath of the fire, the Journal reported, “the kindness of the people of all parts of the city to the students of the Fitting School was very gratifying to the college authorities. Telephone messages came thick and fast to offer temporary homes to the young men, and they were soon provided for.” President Carlisle was reportedly unsure as to what action to take, but the trustees quickly decided both to rebuild the hall and to build a larger facility for the Fitting School’s classrooms. The new building, constructed next door to the re-named Archer Hall, provided extra recitation rooms for the students in the Fitting School. Archer Hall was rebuilt, but without its third and fourth floors, and took its new name from the largest original donor to the building.

With the closure of the Fitting School, Archer Hall reverted to the college. The building was used as a dormitory until the 1950s, though in the late 1940s, it was used as meeting space for fraternities. In the early 1950s, the building was re-conditioned for use as a dormitory to meet enrollment growth. With gifts from Spartanburg’s Black family, the building received its third name: the Hugh S. Black Dormitory. By 1959, it had become the home of various campus offices, and at that point, it became the Hugh S. Black Building.

In the early 1980s, the neighboring Snyder Hall was demolished, and in 1986, the Black Building was connected to the newly-constructed Neofytos Papadopoulos Building.  

Pictures: Alumni Hall-the Hugh S. Black Building-at different points in its long life.