Augustana College Augustana Digital Commons Reflecting on the Past Augustana Historical Society 2011 Reflecting on the Past Stefanie R. Bluemle Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois Sarah M. Horowitz Jamie L. Nelson Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/ahsreflecting Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation "Reflecting on the Past" (2011). Reflecting on the Past. http://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/ahsreflecting/1 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Augustana Historical Society at Augustana Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Reflecting on the Past by an authorized administrator of Augustana Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reflecting on the Past 150 Years of Augustana Stories Edited by Stefanie R. Bluemle Sarah M. Horowitz Jamie L. Nelson Rock Island, Illinois | Thomas Tredway Library | 2011 Copyright © 2011 by Augustana College 639 38th Street Rock Island, Illinois, 61201 ISBN 978-0-910182-47-8 Preface Augustana’s sesquicentennial was a year unlike any While each represents an enduring memory that other in the college’s life. During the course of 2010, will forever fix the year-long sesquicentennial in the there were more than a few red-letter moments: life of Augustana College, none of these can com- pare with contributions made to the observance by • We published Coming of Age: Augustana College, augustana.edu/150. This special website was conceived 1935–1962, by Tom Tredway, and reprinted early on in our planning for 2010 and was made not Augustana…A Profession of Faith: A History only viable but indeed vital by the leadership of the of Augustana College, 1860–1935, by Conrad Thomas Tredway Library’s Special Collections. Bergendoff – both predecessors of mine Augustana College owes a lasting debt of gratitude • The Augustana Symphonic Band, Choir, and to Carla Tracy, Jamie Nelson, Sarah Horowitz, and Symphony Orchestra performed at Orchestra Hall Stefanie Bluemle for their work in marshaling the in Chicago considerable scholarly resources of the Tredway • We celebrated our first joint event with Augustana Library in support of the anniversary observance. College of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, since that This includes the research and creativity of many school’s founding in 1889 colleagues across Augustana’s campus who, at the library’s invitation, prepared the essays and bio- • The U.S. House of Representatives approved a graphical sketches that made the sesquicentennial resolution saluting the extraordinary work of website come to life. Augustana in American higher education Thanks to their guidance, visitors were offered innu- • The college and community received a visit by the merable moments in time that, taken together, cre- Archbishop of Sweden, Anders Wejryd, continu- ated a vast mosaic depicting an institution that has ing a tradition begun by Archbishop Nathan successfully and effectively maintained its vibrancy Söderblom in 1923 and vitality for 150 years. I am very grateful for this book, which deserves to be reckoned as an unparal- • We celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first leled resource in understanding the history of this day of classes with fireworks over the Mississippi exceptional college. River during a community celebration in our hometown’s newly-dedicated Schwiebert Riverfront Park Steven C. Bahls President, Augustana College • We set a world record (for ice cream-eating, it should be noted) Introduction Contrary to popular belief, most librarians have collected and preserved in the Augustana College little time to spend perusing the research materi- Special Collections. Diaries, club minutes, photo- als in their care. Rather, their responsibility is to graphs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, the manage collections of books, journals, and manu- Observer, and the Rockety-I were invaluable resources scripts, with the intent of making them available in assembling these stories. It should be noted, as to researchers. So it was a rare treat when the 150th well, that many of the stories were written by rela- anniversary of Augustana College gave a number of tive newcomers to the “Augustana story”: librarians librarians at the college a special incentive to inves- and special collections student workers who did not tigate Augustana-related people, groups, and events personally know the faculty being profiled, or were and to spend time with the materials in the college not on campus for events such as the panty raid archives in much the same way our students might or teapot dome, and did not hear the stories at the for research assignments. knees of beloved alumni grandparents. We know, and wrote, about what could be distilled from the Some of the topics and people we chose to inves- historical record from the evidence that has been tigate had reputations that preceded our research, left behind. These stories, however, are only part while others developed from open-ended questions of a conversation. To continue this conversation, that we hoped would uncover interesting stories. visit Special Collections and research these people The stories in this volume were originally published and events or other aspects of Augustana history on a website as weekly stories with some correlation for yourself. Or, if you have materials to add to the to the school calendar, and as stand-alone biogra- college archives, contact Special Collections and add phies; the “Augustana Through the Decades” essay your voice to the historical record. was adapted from the online timeline. The weekly stories and biographies in this volume have been The editors would like to thank all the contributors re-arranged for readability in a loosely chronological to the weekly stories, especially those outside of the progression. library who needed very little coaxing (Kai Swanson, Ann Boaden, and Christina Johansson). Special These stories were a labor of love for all involved, Collections student workers Leslie Nellis, Rebecca and as the 150th celebratory year came to a close, Hopman, and Eric Castle created content for the we wanted to preserve them and make them avail- 150th website, and several other students supported able to an audience who may not have read them this endeavor and digitized countless photographs on the website. It is fitting to preserve these incar- (Kody Binns, Laura Burns, Maria Ford, Natalie nations of Augustana history, because they could Markovich, Kelsey O’Connell, Anna Pusateri, and not have been written without the assistance of all Elsa Woods). Kai Swanson, Beth Roberts, and Leslie the documents and publications that have been DuPree provided guidance and encouragement throughout the project, from the idea stage of the website through the publication of this book. Leslie DuPree and Eric Page designed and maintained the 150th website throughout the 150th year. Thanks also to Kurt Tucker and Cassie Trent for their design of this book. Augustana College Thomas Tredway Library and the Augustana Historical Society pro- vided the financial support to publish these stories in book form. Special thanks go to Carla Tracy, direc- tor of the Thomas Tredway Library, for her belief in the value of Special Collections and for permission to allocate our time in the service of telling these Augustana stories. The Editors Stefanie R. Bluemle, Sarah M. Horowitz, and Jamie L. Nelson Table of Contents 13 Augustana Through the Decades 39 Johan August Udden: Professor of Natural Stefanie R. Bluemle and Sarah M. Horowitz Science and Geology, 1888–1910 Sarah M. Horowitz 23 Why Rock Island? Jamie L. Nelson 41 Augustana Day, New Day: Early Women of Augustana College 26 Was Augustana the First School to Use Letter Ann Boaden Grades? Stefanie R. Bluemle 44 A. W. Williamson: Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, 1880–1905 29 Anders R. Cervin: Professor of Mathematics, Leslie Nellis Greek, and Natural Sciences, 1868–1878 Leslie Nellis 45 Anna Westman: Instructor of Mathematics, 1892–1894; Assistant in English, 1896–1897 30 A Celebratory History: Anniversary Tales Sarah M. Horowitz Sarah M. Horowitz 46 The Old Main Story: Designs, Domes, and 32 Carl Otto Granere: Professor of Swedish and Dolomite Latin, and College Librarian, 1871–1913 Sarah M. Horowitz Sarah M. Horowitz 49 Anders Bersell: Professor of Greek, 1880–1903 33 Early Science and Scientists at Augustana Leslie Nellis Stefanie R. Bluemle 50 Gustav Erik Stolpe: Professor of Music, 37 Reverend Henry Reck: Professor of Natural 1882–1893 History and English, 1871–1881 Margaret Rogal Leslie Nellis 52 Augustana Student Life in the 1890s: As Seen 38 Johan Harold Josua Lindahl: Professor of Through Lydia Olsson’s Diaries Natural Science, 1878–1888 Rebecca Hopman Sarah M. Horowitz 55 Claude William Foss: Professor of History, 74 On Tour in 1912 with the Wennerberg Chorus 102 Fritiof Melvin Fryxell: Professor of Geology, 121 George Arbaugh: Professor of Philosophy 1884–1932 Margaret Rogal 1929–1973 and Dean of the College, 1945–1974 Leslie Nellis Sarah M. Horowitz Sarah M. Horowitz 76 Jules Mauritzson: Professor of Swedish, 56 Finding out What They Might Do: The 1904–1930 104 Anchors Aweigh: The SS Augustana Victory 122 Harry Nelson: Professor of Mathematics Beginning of Women’s Athletics at Augustana Leslie Nellis Connie Ghinazzi and Astronomy, 1946–1988 Ann Boaden Sarah M. Horowitz 78 Knocking Lightly at Our Door: The 1918 106 O. Fritiof Ander: Professor of History, 58 Edward Fry Bartholomew: Professor of English Influenza Epidemic at Augustana 1930–1968 123 The Promise of Civil Rights Literature and Philosophy, 1888–1932 Jamie L. Nelson Sarah M. Horowitz Stefanie R. Bluemle Sarah M. Horowitz 81 I. M. Anderson: Professor of Greek, 1904–1944 107 Augustana College and the G.I. Bill 126 Stanley Erikson: Professor of Political Science, 60 The Handel Oratorio Society Leslie Nellis Stefanie R. Bluemle 1948–1974 Margaret Rogal Sarah M. Horowitz 82 Fighting for Reform: The Augustana College 110 Arthur Wald: Professor of Swedish and Dean 62 C.