Elizabethtown College experienced a boom in the roaring ’20s, steadily growing in enrollment and reaching 179 students at the end of the decade. Land purchases had nearly doubled the size of the campus and led to the completion of Lake Placida on a tract of land that had once only contained a stream of running water. During the decade, the College experienced enough financial support to construct Gibble Science Hall (now known as the Steinman Center for Communications and Art) and two new residential buildings, Fairview Hall (present-day Wenger Hall) and The Maples (which served as a Student-Directed Learning Community from 1992-21).
Student life blossomed with the formation of intercollegiate debate teams, theater clubs, and athletic teams. The Class of 1922 was the first to get accredited baccalaureate degrees after the Pennsylvania Department of Instruction certified the College’s degrees in four areas of study.
A Look Through the Decade
1921 – The College is accredited by the Pennsylvania Department of Instruction to grant baccalaureate degrees in art, pure and applied sciences, philosophy, literature, and theology.
1921 – The College’s alma mater is composed by Jenny Via, Head of the Music Department.
1921 – Jacob Gibble Meyer, Class of 1905, the first alumnus to serve as president of Elizabethtown College, is elected.
1922 – Men’s and women’s debating teams were organized.
1925 – Students and alumni complete the construction of Lake Placida, which was named by student Eli Engle ’27 for its setting as a peaceful site on campus.
1927 – Ralph Schlosser, Class of 1911, is elected President on Nov. 29.
1928 – The first intercollegiate men’s basketball game is organized and coached by Ira R. Herr on Dec. 8, and a women’s basketball team is organized and coached by Harry Bower.
1928 – Gibble Science Hall is completed and dedicated on May 26.
1928 – The first and last Elizabethtown College football squad is formed, playing five games.
1928 – Elizabethtown College is accredited for pre-legal education.
Snapshots of the Decade
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- Chemistry class, early 1920s
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- J.Z. Herr, I.W. Herr and S. H. Hertzler – the founders of Elizabethtown College, 1922
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- The Elizabethtown Volunteer Mission Band, 1926
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- Boaters on Lake Placida, mid-1920s
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- Men’s basketball team, 1929
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- Women’s physical education class, 1929
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- Senior class play, late 1920s
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- Students driving with a skier on a frozen Lake Placida, 1925
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- Students ice skating on Lake Placida, 1926
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- Rider Memorial Hall’s library and reading room, 1928
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- Performance of the Easter cantata, 1926
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- Fairview Hall (now Wenger Center), 1921
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.