September 2018 – DreamersAndGiants.com

They’ve Seen It All…And Speak

They’ve seen it all for more than half a century.

The Twelve Apostles standing guard at the back of the sanctuary in Wesley Chapel have been silent witnesses to the life of the West Virginia Wesleyan Community year after year.

Students have come and gone. They have made beautiful music in Wesley Chapel, won many awards, and shown great enthusiasm for events like Spring Sing. They have been challenged by powerful speakers and celebrated the Christmas Season with Lessons and Carols.

Faculty have come and gone. They have marched in procession for countless convocations. They have given speeches and led prayers.

The Alma Mater and My Home Among the Hills have been sung with great gusto hundreds of times. The Orange Line Poem has been read as alumni have come back to celebrate their time at Wesleyan. The apostles have been listening.

And the Apostles have been there for all of it.

Carved from chestnut wood by Upshur County artist, Wolfgang Flor, these Silent Sentinals are full of meaning and personality. And yet, many have never noticed them or taken time to read the deep thoughts of Wolfgang Flor.

Wolfgang Flor was 38 years old when he was commissioned by West Virginia Wesleyan College to carve the apostles.

A native of Silesia, who escaped from Nazi Germany during World War II, Flor settled in rural Upshur County with his family. When given this huge task, he studied several books about the apostles and also consulted with Dr. Sidney T. Davis (Class of 1936 and The Dean of the Chapel) to find out more about the personalities and histories of each of the twelve. The words included with these photos are those of Wolfgang Flor.

Woflgang Flor died on December 2, 2017. But, his work lives on. Although he is a very well-known artist beyond West Virginia Wesleyan, his work has a very special place on our campus. He captured not only the apostles, but the very nature of what the college values.

Toward the end of his life, a new piece was placed at the front of the santuary. It is the Family Tree. He told President Pamela Balch that it felt like closure for him to know that his work would go on living in Wesley Chapel.

“The woman on the right is called “Poverty.” She represents the result of this imbalance of wealth. Her upturned face and folded hands portray her prayers for relief. She stands close to her daughter in an attempt to protect her from the injustices of the world. Of course, her under-nourished daughter represents all of the starving people in the world as she holds the empty place while we count her ribs.”

Yes, Wolfgang Flor’s work is the essence of West Virginia Wesleyan College. Our United Methodist Heritage and our committment to Social Justice are on display.

Click here to read more about Wolfgang Flor.

Just Passing Through?

As we hurry along our busy way, we seldom stop to look left and right at fixtures along our path, but even many of the pillars and gates that we walk through have stories. Here are a few examples.

The Atkinson Gateway

On the left side of the photo below, you can see a brick pillar. This sign, a familiar sight to the students in the 1970s, looks quite strange to those who walk the campus today. It would also have looked quite strange to those from earlier years. It is interesting to see a place through the eyes of other times.

Corner of College Avenue and Meade Street 1975

Corner of College Avenue and Meade Street 2018

When zooming in even closer, we see that the inner pillars have a sign on them indicating that they were erected by George W. Atkinson in honor of the Normal Class of 1913.

The class had honored him by choosing his name for their own, and the feeling was evidently mutual.

This is, by the way, the same George W. Atkinson for whom Atkinson Chapel was named in 1922.

College Avenue Gate Near McCuskey Hall

Another interesting set of pillars is at the end of Main Street as it intersects College Avenue. This set has no official name that I am aware of, but it did have a very specific purpose……to keep motorcars from running onto the campus in 1921. This had apparently become somewhat of a problem, and a chain was attached to the pillars – you can still see where the chain was attached.

Gates to Ross Field

As you approach the turnstile gates to enter Cebe Ross Memorial Field, there are two brick ticket booths. These each have signs and pillars off to the side which are full of history. Built from bricks that were saved when the Old Gym was razed in 1974, they each bear informational signage as well.

As we pass through pillars and gates, and as we pass through our lives, we would do well to notice the things Which Give us insight into the rich heritage all around us. If Walls Might Speak!

Gifts of Stories from the Past

I am sometimes asked where I find all of these stories about West Virginia Wesleyan College. One of the main places I find them is where Giants have placed them for safekeeping: student publications from the past.

Newspapers

The Seminary Herald

From 1893-1899, President Bennett Hutchinson wrote a newsletter called The Seminary Herald, which was basically intended to communicate with alumni and donors. On Pages In Time, a digital archive of West Virginia Wesleyan materials, you can find and read seven issues of this publication. These are the only ones in the library collection, and have been digitized for inclusion.

Pages In Time Tips Here

The Seminary Collegiate

In 1899-1900, two students began monthly publication of The Seminary Collegiate, which included student writings and orations, alumni updates, and campus news. There are forty-six issues of The Seminary Collegiate available on Pages In Time. Here are some examples.

Thomas W. Haught explains in West Virginia Wesleyan College: The First Fifty Years, that it appears that there were managing editors among the students for the first several years. These included:

1900
- W. H. Franklin – who became Professor of English at Marshall College
- C.H. King – who went into the ministry, serving in the Genesee Conference
1901-02
- George C. Kellar – who became mayor of Flint, Michigan
- Walter Barnes – who became Professor of English at New York University
1902-03
- George C. Kellar
- I. Emory Ash – who became Professor of Education at Ohio University at Athens
1904-05
- C.E. Goodwin – who went into the ministry, serving in the West Virginia Conference
- J.F. Throckmorton – who became an attorney in Parkersburg, WV

Naming the Pharos

In 1904-05, J.F. Throckmorton approached the Faculty for assistance in selecting a new name for the publication, as Seminary Collegiate no longer reflected the name of the school.

The faculty, of course, appointed a committee which included Miss Jessie Trotter and Thomas W. Haught as well as editors Goodwin and Throckmorton. The name chosen was The Pharos after The Pharos of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the world, which was a lighthouse guiding ships into the harbor.

The Pharos

Pharos Staff 1904 — The staff of the Pharos, 1904. Seated at left is Roy McCuskey, future college president (1931-1941)

In the fall of 1904, the newspaper continued as The Pharos, but the first issue of that title included on Pages In Time is Volume 6, #3 (1904-11).

Thanks to the generosity of Marjorie (McCullough) Modlin, class of 1957, the Friends of the Library were able to have these items digitized. At the moment, issues up into the 1970s have been included. Student interns are helping to keep this work moving forward. Marjorie gave those funds to honor the memory of her husband, Charlie Modlin, class of 1958, who was the editor of the Pharos during his time at WVWC. As it turns out, Charlie’s father was the Editor-in-Chief of the Pharos in 1925-26 and his mother also served as editor in 1925. Dr. and Mrs. Modlin wrote about the Pharos in the 1920s in this article for the Sundial in March 1966.

Modlin, Dr. and Mrs. in Sundial 1966-03 — Dr. H. Eugene and Mary (Sumner) Modlin

Murmurmontis

Another student-led publication, the first edition of the college yearbook, was the idea of the Junior Class (Seminary Class of 1904) and was published in May of 1903. Although most of them had never heard of such a publication outside of the larger institutions, Joe V. Gibson (#4 in the photo below) had heard of them and “dreamed dreams.”

The Editor-In-Chief of the first Murmurmontis was Charles Aubrey Jones, and he wrote an article in the 1910 edition entitled, The Making of the First Murmurmontis. You can read the article here.

The First Edition of the Murmurmontis was a true masterpiece and a heroic venture.

The name, Murmurmontis, was suggested by Frank B. Trotter and is Latin for “Voice of the Mountain.” Very representative of both the school and of West Virginia.

All editions of the Murmurmontis from 1904-2010 are available on the Internet Archive, although there were a few years during the World Wars and the Great Depression where none was published. Internet Archive Tips Here.

These voices are still echoing through the mountains through the streams of time. These voices are still telling the stories and shining the light.

Buildings That Build

Buildings. We pass by them every day.

We enter them without a thought that they might not always have been there.

First we build our buildings, and then they build us.

Bishop Frederick P. Corson echoed Churchill’s words on May 27, 1953 at the dedication ceremony of the Annie Merner Pfeiffer Library . His remarks cover a wide range of things that are relevant for today, and I would encourage you to take a look at what he had to say about such things as Liberal Arts, education and democracy, the great success and growth of WVWC, and more.

Building the Buildings

The buildings themselves provide the space for us to learn, live, grow, and share as a community. But buildings do not just appear by magic. They take a lot of planning and fundraising. Then they take a lot of detailed work by architects. Then, the hard work and sweat of those who build them. It takes time, effort, and resources to build buildings.

Construction of Fleming 1952 — Fleming 1952 (photo by Howard Hiner)

Construction 1963 Campus Center — Benedum Campus Community Center, 1963 (photo by Howard Hiner)

Chapel Steeple 1967 – Photo by Howard Hiner

Construction 2008 September Reemsnyder — Reemsnyder September 2008 – Looking from the parking lot toward the back of the library (photo by Allison Hull)

Working in the Buildings

People work in them once they are finished. There are those who work hard to maintain and clean them. People who do the painting, fix the windows, keep the air conditioning and heat at the proper levels. People who are locksmiths, carpenters, groundskeepers, and who make sure that the physical environment is clean, comfortable, and safe. It takes time, effort, and resources to maintain our buildings.

The more buildings there are, the bigger job this becomes!

On this Labor Day 2018, I especially salute all of these hard workers. Many I know by name because I have been in the buildings where they work. Others I do not know, but your work makes everything else possible.

Labor Day Graphic — Thanks for all you do!!!

Buildings Build Us

At a college, there are those who teach in them and those who learn. Through this process people are built just as surely as the physical brick and mortar building is built. It takes time, effort, and resources to build our students.

The Lynch-Raine Administration Building builds Business Leaders, Communicators, and Educators.
The English Annex builds writers and those who love literature.
Haymond builds historians, political scientists, and those who focus on issues such as Gender Studies and Social Justice. It used to build scientists, but Christopher and Reemsnyder do that now.
The Library provides resources and a space for learners to interact with all of the wisdom of the ages (and their own thoughts).
Loar builds musicians.
The Martin Religious Center, connected to Wesley Chapel, builds people who think deeply and who tend to spiritual matters. Our founders would be especially proud to know of Bishops Peter Weaver (1966) and Thomas Bickerton (1980), and several others who have become leaders in the United Methodist denomination.
Middleton builds Nurses.
John D. Rockefeller, IV Physical Education Center builds Excercise Scientists and Athletic Trainers.

The original building on campus is shown here with the student body in 1892. Included in that group of students would be Thomas W. Haught and several others who became trustees and faculty and administrators in later years. They helped to guide and build the school, and wrote the histories so that we would be able to know more about our heritage.

Class at Harmer Gateway 2018 — WVWC Class of 2022

This group (Class of 2022) is studying The Legacy of Dreamers and Giants (WVWC History) this fall. They will be learning about all of our buildings, those who built them, and those who have been built within the walls.

And the building goes on.

Month: September 2018

They’ve Seen It All…And Speak

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