With a principal and a faculty of three individuals, the newly organized College announced that the school would open with formal exercises on Nov. 13, 1900. Because the building intended for use on the opening day of the College was unfinished, the hall on the third floor of the Heisey Building on the corner of South Market and Bainbridge Streets in Elizabethtown was rented for class purposes.
By the end of the decade, Elizabethtown College had transformed itself into an institution with six different departments offering 16 courses of study ranging from a single term to four years, even though the emphasis was still on teacher training and commercial education.
A Look Through the Decade
1900 – Classroom instruction began on November 13, with a roster of six students and three faculty members.
1901 – The original building on campus, Alpha Hall was dedicated on March 4.
1902 – Student enrollment surpassed 100.
1903 – First Commencement held in the College Chapel in Alpha Hall on June 13. The ceremony recognized seven graduates.
1905 – Etown’s first athletic team, Baseball, was formed. The team was not allowed to play games against teams from other colleges because intercollegiate athletics were not thought by early College leaders to be in accord with Christian virtue and true education.
1906 – Elizabethtown College Alumni Association is formed
1906 – Rider Hall, the second building on campus was dedicated on March 4.
1909 – By the end of the decade, the College was able to boast of 5,000 square feet of cement walkways, a compound microscope, abundant slate blackboards, six typewriters, with more prepared to be installed, an organ, five pianos, a laboratory stand and fixtures, and more.
Snapshots of the Decade
-
- Heisey Hall, the site of the College’s first classes on the corner of Bainbridge and South Market streets in Elizabethtown
-
- Penmanship Class in Commercial Room of Rider Memorial Hall, 1906
-
- Etown students, 1908
-
- The first graduating class of 1904
-
- A pair of students in an Alpha Hall dorm, 1905
-
- A group of students in 1903
-
- Cohort of students from 1909
-
- Rider Memorial Hall and Alpha Hall, 1906
-
- The College’s first Baseball team, 1905
-
- The class of 1907 featuring Ralph W. Schlosser (top row, second on left)
-
- Profesor Jacob Z. Herr, proctor of Rider Memorial Hall, 1906
-
- Etown student body, 1908-09
Throughout Elizabethtown College’s 125th anniversary year, follow along as we share 125 compelling stories about the College’s defining moments, alumni stories, and fun facts since our founding in 1899 at etown.edu.