KAl_C.»van,
THE TWIG
Volume IX
MEREDITH COLLEGE, RALEIGH, N. C., FEBRUARY 20, 1930
Number 15
Miss Rosa Paschal Writes
Of Her Travels In Europe
Some Red-Letter Days
Of Her Journey
Former Student Tells
Of Graduate Work
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Standards ofMeredithCoHege;
TO FORMER ^l\l\lW^Maintain Quality Student Body
Dr. Brewer Gives Aims Miss Smith Mentions
for the College ! New Scientific Books
Ever since Mae Grimmer's let
ter came asking me to write some
travel notes for the alumnae
Twig, I have been trying to de
cide what specific thing to write
about. I chose Geneva, which is
certainly of unusual interest
just now, and is so cosmopolitan
that a notice on a sight-seeing
bus is written in five languages.
I next chose Berlin, where last
summer I had a guide who talked
about his experiences during the
war and the revolution which
precipitated the armistice.
Again, I decided on Vienna, after
Paris the most beautiful Euro
pean city I’ve seen. I played with
the subject of St. Peter’s or Notre
Dame, of interesting castles,
guides I have had, English gar
dens, historic spots in Florence,
shopping in Paris, the contrasts
in Italy before and after Musso
lini, the reasons why everyone
should take Miss Ida’s course in
Art History as a preparation for
an European trip, examples of
how a knowledge of history vivi
fies travel and vice versa, cer
tain historic spots made famous
through literature, such as “The
Merchant of Venice,” “The Stat-^
Ue and the Bust,’* ‘'Kenilworth,
“Romola,” etc. Whatever I chose,
something else enticed me. The
result is I’m omitting any ac-'
count of art galleries, cities
stored with centuries of history;
and present-day interest, cathe-l
drals, castles, ocean voyages. I’m
just enumerating some of the
days which members of my trav
el groups count as red-letter
days. It would be interesting to
see the list Conductors Carmen
Rogers, Madge Daniels, or Anne
Eliza Brewer would make. Mine
is as follows:
1. The day on the Rhine with
its magnificent scenery and
world-famed vineyards, its me
dieval castles, some of them in
ruins and some used at the pres
ent time. The first time I had
this trip a group of people sang
a setting of Heine’s "Lorelei” as
we passed the legended, craggy
bluff which bears this name.
2. The Grand Corniche Drive
when we go up and up the road
which hangs high above the Med
iterranean, and descending on
the other side arrive at Monte
Carlo. Sometimes we are liter
ally in the clouds.
3. The Amalfi Drive, when for
one portion of the way we have
the mountain crags on one hand
and the blue Mediterranean on
the other, and for another por
tion both sides of the road lined
with vineyards and groves of
tropical fruits.
4. A night in the hotel which
was foi*merly the Cappucchini
monastery, where a delicious
dinner is served on a vine-cov
ered balcony by waiters with
such old-world courtesy that one
can easily feel she belongs to
earth’s elect. The beauty of the
outlook over the Bay of Salemo
on a moonlight night and the de
sire to get an early morning look
fConti»ua{ on page f«ur)
Cornell University,
Ithaca, N. Y., Feb. 5, 1930.
Dear Alumnae:
We have a very persistent (I
really mean hard-headed) Alum
na Secretary. She writes to
poor graduate students asking
for contributions for THE Twig.
She sends reply cards for use if
the requested articles are to be
forthcoming. When the cards
are not returned, she takes it for
granted that all is well and that
the articles are on the way.
I’m one of those hard-working
students she wrote to. She asked
me to tell what I’m doing. At
present I’m trying my best not
to wring the neck (mentally, of
course, for fortunately we are
separated by many miles) of a
certain Alumnae Secretary.
Let's see—tell about Cornell?
No use! The best I could do
would seem mild to those who
know the place, and to those who
happen not to be familiar with it,
the same words would seem the
fabrication of a wild imagina
tion. I will say only this, for the
benefit of those who may some
time be here: the general direc
tion to any place is, “Go up the
steepest hill you come to, not
stopping till you get to the top.”
No further directions are need
ed; you just naturally stop and
rest, after which you decide you
may as well go down again. Oh,
yes, we have snow practically all
(C'om jtr7iic(/ JH }>ntfc fou*'}
I am glad of an opportunity
to send greetings .to the Alum
nae of Meredith College, as well
as to other friends of the insti
tution. I am glad to be able to
report that we are in the midst
of a good session with excellent
prospects for the future.
We are trying to maintain the
traditions of the College and
hold the worthy place among the
institutions of the country which
has been secured through the ex
periences of the 31 years of op
eration. Efforts are being put
forth to improve our buildings
and grounds and also to develop
our curricula to meet the needs
of those who are coming for in
struction and training.
We cannot lose sight of the
fact that Meredith College is a
Liberal Arts institution prima
rily, but it is of great impor
tance to be able to connect this
liberal culture with the life of
fCoiUlnneil on page fmr)
GREETINGSTOOLDGIRLS
Lois Johnson Writes
Of Trip To Britain
Thomasville, N. C.,
February 2, 1930.
Dear AiumniE:
Our secretary has asked me to
write a letter about my trip to
Great Britain last summer. I
realize that five-months-old news
is pretty stale; so I am asking
you to blame her and not to call
me an ancient mariner for trying
to compel you to listen, at this
late date, to the story of my ad*
ventures.
I had five beautiful weeks,
rambling around England and
Scotland. I went with only one
cousin, and we were not attached
in any way to a party. I have no
desire to injure Carmen Rogers’
or anybody else’s business, but I
am heartily in favor of independ
ent travel—at least in Great
Britain.
We landed in Plymouth, in the
extreme southwestern corner of
England, and made a leisurely
trip up into the heart of the
highlands of Scotland; so we felt
that we covered as much terri
tory as possible in the five weeks
we were there.
The first thing that impressed
me after we landed—in fact, be
fore we landed—was the tidiness
of the whole country. The hill
sides were all covered with such
neat patch-work fields — one
green with growing potatoes, one
russet with the stubble of har-
(Ci/ntinued on page tw«)
(llr, llicliartl Tilnian Vaiiii was
pvesideiil, of Meredith Oollege fvnm
lEtOO-1915.)
My dear Old Girls:
Please suffer this address,
with the understanding that
“old” does not indicate age, but
endearment. In the opening of
another year I’m sending greet
ings and the hope that your
years may be multiplied. But
this is not wishing old age upon
you now or ever, but rather a
lifelong youth. I grew up with
the impression that old age and
longevity were synonymous. In
every man of many years 1 look
ed for signs of infirmity and
senility:
"A crook was liis bncli
And a melaiuiioly cratik
111 his Idiigli."
I assumed, of course, a back
ward look, lagging interests in
life, loss of sympathy with youth
and a wavering faith in men and
things.
But I’ve long since come to
ciuestion—yes, discard those im
pressions. Of course in bodies
like ours, we must expect grad
ual failure and ultimate dissolu
tion. But in spite of unfortunate
heredity and the natural toll ex
acted by relentless infirmities,
by a tolerable observance of
sanitary laws and a decent re
spect for our bodies, while we
may not defy old age, we can
delay its triumph. Gladstone
said he did this simply by giv
ing every morsel he ate 32 bites.
Remember he was still prime
minister at 90.
As to mental faculties also, we
must concede something to time.
But here too we have often ob
served how masterfully proper
discipline and right living have
set back the dead line.
But in the spiritual realm—in
experience and outlook and sym-
CContinueiton jmge two)
February 3, 1930.
Dear Mae Grimmer:
In replying to your request
for a letter, will the Meredith
family excuse it if I address this
chiefly to those who were stu- j
dents during the period 1908-•
1918? In the January, 1930, is-i
sue of Current History Weni
Ying Peng writes: “Within thej
last 20 years China has probably
gone through more changes
than all the changes during the
previous 20 centuries. Not one
but several great historical rev
olutions are taking place simul
taneously.” While China may
take the first rank in this, we
are all aware that the changes
in our own world have been ele
mental and complex, so that if
we have not met since the old
Meredith days we feel that we
are separated from those years
by a span far greater than the
number of years would indicate,
and that we are entering a new
era that seems to be marking
the beginning of another great
epoch in the history of life on
this planet.
After several years of study,
and research work in Raleigh, j
New York, and Boston, I was |
called to Converse College in i
1924 to substitute for a friend
who was ill, and from there I
came to Greenville Woman’s
College, where Miss Paschal is
Dean—to take charge of start
ing a department in Social
Science. Before this I had be-,
come deeply interested in some
phases of the more recent psy
chological studies, and in these
years here I have been contin
uing these studies, as seemingly
all of the recent books, partic
ularly in sociology, are per
meated with these theories.
During these years my mind has
constantly gone back to our
woj’k together at Meredith, and
I have long wanted to send you
a few thoughts of what these
changing times are meaning to
me.
First, it is a great time to be
living; second, life is change
and to live vitally we must adapt
to the changed conditions; third,
in judging what to retain and
what to let go, and of the new
what to accept and what to re
ject, it needs a fine sense of dis
crimination, and a measuring
rod of real values. We are get
ting some help from the recent
studies of the need for an im
personal emotional attitude to
ward work and toward life. One
needs to learn how to organize
and redirect the feeling side of
life; to be full-grown one needs
to be emotionally mature. In
group living there is also the
difference, as Charles Ellwood
says, between publtc sentiment,
founded on emotion and preju
dice, and public opinion, brought
about through thorough discus
sion and leadership.
The Annie Payson Call books
f Conetnue2 on ■saco fonr)
We’ll Have To Run Fast
To Stay Where We Are
Bn Di{. Mahy Lynch Johnson, ’17
Since the days when it was
weighted with the name of Bap-
ti.st Female University—a name
which would cause any college
to stagger—Meredith has striv
en unceasingly so to shape its
entrance requirements and its
curriculum that its work might
rank with that of the best insti
tutions in the State.
My first impression of the im
portance of reaching and main
taining a high standard I re
ceived from Miss Elizabeth
Avery Colton’s insistence that
the salvation of Meredith lay
in its rising above the ranks of
the mediocre. Its goal was mem
bership in the Association of
Colleges and Secondary Schools
of the Southern States—a name
to conjure with. Membership
therein at first seemed to every
one but Miss Colton to be as un
attainable as communication
with Mars, and to be totally un
necessary to Meredith’s well-be
ing as a college. The chief in
terest for the students lay in the
fact that the Southern Associa
tion was an excellent means of
avoiding too deep a probe into
our ignorance in sophomore
English, as Woman’s Suffrage
was in Dr. Dixon’s physiology.
You aiumnse of those days will
remember. But as for being ad
mitted ! Did not the Southern
Association require an enormous
arnount of endowment, teachers
with formidable degrees, and
more volumes than our library
ever dreamed of having? Did it
not demand 14 units when that
word was no more intelligible
than Sanskrit to many of the
high schools? Did it not frown
upon the preparatory depart
ment, which had then just as
many students as the College
proper? And would the Baptists
of North Carolina support a col
lege which would not admit all
the students who wanted to
come, however lacking they
might be in quantity or quality
of units?
But one by one the difficulties
proved to be not insurmount
able. First. Dr. Vann, then Dr.
Brewer, with the trustees, man
aged to secure sufi!icient endow
ment, an adequate library, and
the proper number of degrees in
the faculty. Like the dog’s tail,
by inches, the preparatory de
partment was cut off, a year at
a time. And Baptist girls and
their parents, with some of
other denominations, too, recog
nized the value of the work that
was being done—whatever hard
ship it might work for poorly
prepared students. The girls
came, bringing as many units
as possible, and making up the
rest. In the fall of 1921, Mere
dith was admitted to member
ship in the Association of Col
leges and Secondary Schools of
the Southern States. It was the
day we long had sought. Dr.
(Ci>Htiimed on poot three)