The Tupelo journal., 1903-07-03


II Ii not often, especially in under.
takings for the public good. that the
anticipations of the promoters are
fully realized, sven after q long strug-
| gle. and II In indeed q marvel when
they arc surpassed In the beginning.
Yet such was the history OF the first
session NJ the Summer School OF
the South, ~inaugurated last summer
at the University OF Tennessee In
Knoxville, ~ meet tho growing de-
mand for professional instruction on
the part Of Southern teachers. More
than two thousand teachers from all
parts OF the South were In attendance
upon this first session. and Its success,
both as TO numbers and as TO the char
acter Of work accomplished, was 80 re-
markable that the friends, whose gen.
crosby rendered 1t possible in the
first place, have determined not only
to make 1t permanent, but to add to
its efficiency by providing e for
additional equipment and larger fac
ulty.
The Unexpectedly large attendance
upon the opening of the school last
June caused for a few days some lit
tie confusion in the arrangements for
board and lodging; but, forewarned is
forearmed, and this year visitors need
have no fear of difficulty on this score.
Students of last year will remember
that this congestion lasted only q
very short time. This year 1t cannot
occur at all, as adequate preparation
has already been made for more than
double the entire registration of last
year. The beautiful city of Knoxville,
situated In the midst of the magnif-
cent scenery of the East Tennessee
mountains, with its delightful climate
and its h%ospitable people, is an ideal
location for a summer school. It Is
essentially a city Of homes, and, In
response to an appeal from the man
agement, over one thouand of these
homes have been thrown open for the
accommodation of visitors. To be
more specific, although over a thou
sand students have already been reg
istered and assigned quarters, there
still remain, within a radius of five
blocks from the University, homes for
seven or eight hundred more. In 9TH
er portions of the city, easily acces-
sible by electric car, places have been
secured for another thousand. In ad-
dition to this, the management has
rented entire a sixty-room hotel in the
business portion of the city and two
excellently fitted boarding schools,
with a capacity Of three hundred, for
the accommodation of those who pre-
fer this freer life. On the grounds,
two large new dining halls have been
added as annexes to the Barbara
Blount and University Halls, and
equipped to provide meals for more
than fifteen hundred guests. To sum
up, ample accommodations have al
ready been provided for more than
three thousand students and arrange
ments made to secure as many more
If needful.
Time and space would fail to tell In
detail Of the improved equipment and
new buildings shown to be necessary
by the experience of last season or by
the outlook for the coming one. 1t
will interest former students, however,
to know that the main auditorium has
been entirely rebuilt with a much
higher roof, and a seating capacity of
three thousand, and executive offices
back OF the stage. This pavilion has
been very appropriately named JET.
ferson Hall, in honor of Virginia's
great educational statesman. Four
other pavilions for class work, with a
seating capacity Of four hundred each,
have been erected and named respect
lively, Curry, McDonogh, Wiley and
Ruffner, after these noble friends and
pioneers of education in the South,
while a large closed hall for nature
study and lantern work has been
called after the great naturalist, Au-
dubon. Ogden Hall is a permanent
building. one hundred by fifty feet,
erected Immediately in the rear of Old
College, and especially arranged for
school and library exhibits. Ladies
will be glad to know that a rest room
has been built for their exclusive use,
furnished with comfortable chairs and
touches. To this bath and toilet
rooms are attached, and a restaurant
adjoins, so that ladies whose rooms
are distant, and who find it inconven-
lent to go to their homes between
lectures will be made comfortable and
be able to get a light lunch If they
SO desire.
If one were to search the country
over it would be hard to find a more
beautiful or more attractive spot than
University Hall in these early June
days. The splendid buildings, the
magnificent view of mountains and
river. the cool, shady avenues, and
broad expanses of closely cropped
sward, render the campus a delight
fully inviting place. If material sur.
roundings ever prove uplifting and
inspiring, surely the founders of the
Summer School of the South were
wonderfully fortunate in securing for
this work such an ideal location.
After the Private View.