|
|
Shelby County |
Home 1915 History Index |
|
|
Shelby County |
Home 1915 History Index |
CHAPTER XVIII -- EDUCATION (CONT'D)THE WESTERN IOWA VOCATIONAL COLLEGE, OF HARLAN, IOWA.Contributed Upon Request of G. W. Cullison, of Harlan.This college is owned and controlled by a corporation organized under the laws of Iowa, not for pecuniary profit. It was organized on the 19th day of April, 1911, by L. F. Potter, O. P. Wyland, W. T. Shepherd, C. F. Swift and G. W. Cullison, all citizens of Harlan. Prior to that time one W. L. Hoff, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had purchased a tract of two hundred arces of land adjoining the city of Harlan, land this tract out as an addition to the city known as College Heights, and sold lots to many citizens of Harlan and vicinity with the implied understanding that the money arising from the sale of said lots should be used for the purpose of building and equipping a college. He platted the college campus and began the erection of the college building. He was unable to finish the building and had no means with which to equip it. It then became apparent to all that the college enterprise would fail unless some one other than Mr. Hoff would take hold of it and all the money so far expended would be lost. Under these circumstances the gentlemen above named organized the corporation, as above stated, purchased the interest of Mr. Hoff in the entire property and proceeded to finish the college building and furnish it for use as a college. It cost them, in addition to the amount received from the sale of lots, the full sum of thirty thousand dollars. The building, equipment and campus represent an investment of sixty thousand dollars. The main building is sixty by one hundred and twenty feet, three stories high, with a large and commodious basement. It is modern in design and architecture, and has numerous closets, wardrobes, lavatories and toilets. It has a library room, an apparatus room, two executive offices, a dining room and kitchen, a gymnasium, with shower baths and dressing rooms, a music room and practice rooms, a chapel, and four large commodious, well-lighted, well-ventilated school rooms and recitation rooms adjoining. It will comfortably accommodate five hundred students. It has a complete system of heating, lighting, ventilation and sewerage. It is the most perfectly planned and equipped building in the state of Iowa. The college is situated in the southwestern part of the city, with a campus of twenty acres, and commands the most enchanting view of the surrounding country to be found anywhere. The college opened September 4, 1911, and has added much to the educational facilities of Harlan. It aims to train young men and women for the active vocations, for useful and happy lives and to give its students power to do, to understand, to initiate and manage business affairs for themselves or others, and furnish them a chart and compass that will lead into the great fields of human knowledge and experience and bring to the student a well-poised culture and refinement. The college is now being conducted by the Professors McAdams, together with a corps of able assistants. Its courses of study are: 1—Academic, including English, Latin, history, geography, mathematics, physics, science, and politics; 2—Normal—The science and art of teaching mental and moral philosophy, and physiology; 3—Business—Penmanship, bookkeeping, commercial arithmetic and commercial law; 4—Shorthand and typewriting; 5—Vocal and instrumental music; 6—Manual training, domestic science, and agriculture.
|
