Cultural Life in 1900
Jesse Auditorium
(University Archives, C:0/47/2, Box 1, FF 12)
William Jennings Bryan
In the other wing of Jesse Hall, there was an auditorium for
entertainment and erudition. In the early days of 1900, William Jennings
Bryan, American statesman, lawyer, and presidential candidate, delivered
a lecture in the University auditorium entitled "Pending Problems." He donated the proceeds from this lecture to create a fund to support the publication of the Savitar.
(University Archives, 1900 Savitar)
This was not his first act of generosity toward the university. Three years earlier, the William Jennings Bryan prize was established for the best essay on government. The prize consisted of $17.50 in money or medal of equivalent value. There were some unusual instructions for those entering the contest: each essay was to be signed with a fictious name and accompanied with a sealed envelope containing the real name of the writer and bearing the fictious name on the outside. The 1900 recipient was E. F. Cameron, Jr, a junior law student.
E. F. Cameron
(University Archives, 1901 Savitar)
Mizzou Athletics in 1900
Surprisingly, rooms in Jesse Hall were also set aside for gymnasia.
Men were in the basement and women on the second floor.
Men's Gymnasium, 1900
(University Archives, 1900 Savitar)
Women's Gymnasium, 1900
(University Archives, 1900 Savitar)
In 1900, there was a new Director of Athletics, C.W. Hetherington, and he was given more authority than his predecessors. The university also experimented with a new organizational system. Instead of an Athletic Association, the Physical Culture Club was the order of the day. The Club consisted of a board of directors, an executive committee (a manager and a treasurer) all from the faculty, and a student manager.
1900 Athletic Statistics
(University Archives, C:22/3/5 MSU Independent, 06/1900)
Boating
1899-1900 saw the beginning of boating at the University of Missouri.
In their very first contest, Sewell and W.B. Burress, Charley Dearing, Crawford
White, H.B. Scott, and R.S. Edmunds edged their competition by one second.
They collected their silver cups and oar at a celebration at the Cottage
Hotel in Columbia. The success of their venture prompted the formation
of the M.S.U. Boating Association on March 8, 1900.
(University Archives, 1900 Savitar)
Football
The ability to choose classes, the diversity of those classes, and the increase in the number of students severed the once unified student body. Football, in one historian's opinion, reunified the student body: everyone was cheering for the same team (Rudolph 379).
In Missouri, there was a great deal to cheer about on the football field. The Savitar describes the 1900 football season as "brilliant in the beginning." It certainly was. In the first seven games, the Tigers amassed 164 points. Their opponents managed 0!
1900 Tigers
(University Archives, Savitar)
The students attending Missouri State University were aware of the drama of the close of the century. The 1899-1900 Savitar does mention the centurial marker but without much fanfare. The 1899 and 1900 issues of the student newspaper, The MSU Independent, barely touch upon the event. There was no evidence of anxiety and consternation. Those feelings of angst would wait for another 100 years and advances in electronic technology.
University Archives would like to leave you with a thought from Mark Twain who straddled the century in question and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Missouri (1902).
"Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower
is nothing but cabbage with a college education."
Sources consulted, University of Missouri Catalogue 1891-1901, Savitar 1898-1901, Board Of Curators Official Correspondence 1890-1902, Board of Curators Treasurer's Records 1897-1901, Board of Curators Executor Records 1892-1893, MSU Independent 1899-1900, Mary Paxton Keeley Memorabilia, "Max Meyer and the Psychology Department at the University of Missouri 1900-1930," The Columbia Daily Tribune, The Columbia Daily Herald, Frederick Rudolph The American College and University, Jonas Viles The University of Missouri, Frank F.Stephens A History of the University of Missouri and Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.
