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! CChe !
THE ANNUAL OF
DREXEL INSTITUTE
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PUBLISHED BY THE CLASS OF '28
t PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
1928
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CONTENTS
1. Alma Mater
2. Faculty
3. Seniors
4. Undergraduates
5. Athletics
6. Government
7. Clubs
8. Fraternities
9. Publications
10. Events
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Anthony J. Drexel
September 13, 1826----J une 30, 1893.
THE private and publi c life of Anthony J. Drexel, the founder of Drexel Institute,
was one of unsoiled honor and sincerity. In an indelible record of good deeds,
wi se counsel, and unstinted gener osity, Mr. Drexel has left f or coming generati ons a
just measure of his tr ue character.
Anthony J. Drexel was the second son of Francis Martin Drexel, to whom he
was indebted for a childhood and earl y manhood spent under strict discipline and
exacting care. Francis Martin Drexel was a student of languages and the fine arts,
with an especial talent in painting, and thi s love of music and the beautiful in art
was inherited by his children. The evenings were spent with their father, who guided
their study of music and the languages, with the result that Anthony and hi s brothers
were finished linguists and musicians. When later he planned the Drexel Institute,
Mr. Dr.exel made beauty an important element of the design, producing a building
whi ch was eminentl y suited f or the shrine of Art, Science, and Industry.
Anthony J. Drexel al so inherited the sound business sense and financial ability
of his father. At the age of thirteen he entered the banking house of Drexel and
Company, which hi s father had founded. onl y several years before, and rapidly
assumed a large part in the development of this important institution. After the
death of his father in 1863, Anthony Drexel and his brothers, Francis and Joseph,
continued and extended the business. Mr. Drexel made certain that every act of the
house was based on the soundest principles of banking and finance, and no specula
tive ventures were permitted. He regarded banking as a public trust, with one of
its important duti es that of furnishing solvent businesses the means of preventing
bankruptcy during periods of temporary financial di stress. " Mr. Drexel did this
under all manner of circumstances from the humbl est to those invol ving the safety
or r uin of ver y large corporati ons where, if relief had been withheld, wide-spread
disaster would have f oll owed. "
The crowning act of Mr. Drexel's life was the founding of Drexel Institute.
Knowing full well the dread bleakness of a life which is useful - but entirel y devoid
of beauty-his desire was to give young men and women a school in which, amidst
surroundings of beauty and culture, they could pursue their studies. To thi s end
he gave freely of hi s wealth and thought and time.
That he has succeeded there can be no doubt. Altho he died shortl y after the
opening of Drexel Institute willing hands gladl y carri ed on his noble work- its
culmination knows no time or bound.
Thirty-five years have passed, yet increasing numbers know his name. Each
year a host takes up life's tasks, doing them better and more nobly because of the
beneficence of one who has passed on. But has he? As we near the close of our days
at Drexel we feel this cannot be.
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Cyrus H. K. Curtis
FREQUENTLY one learns that a loyal alumnus of some college has given his Alma
Mater a large sum of money, or a new building. But it is not so common for men
who have no undergraduate training to realize its needs, its deficiencies, and volun-
tarily to contribute large sums toward the necessary improvements. Yet Drexel Insti-
tute is so signally fortunate as to have such a friend in Mr. Curtis.
Cyrus H. K. Curtis was born in Portland, Maine, on June 18, 1850. In 1876 he
came to Philadelphia and became the publisher of the TRIBUNE AND FARMER. Building
on a foundation of uncompromising business integrity he attained a world-wide repu-
tation as a publisher. He now owns two newspapers; the PuBLIC LEDGER and the
NEw YoRK EvENING PosT.
Mr. Curtis received only a public school education and he has often expressed
regret that he had not the opportunity of advanced study in a modern type school.
In an address at Drexel Institute Mr. Curtis said that if he had taken college work it
would have been at a school of the type of Drexel, where the practical as well as the
theoretical is given, where " the hand as well as the head is taught" .
Three years ago Mr. Curtis was elected to the Board of Trustees of the DreJ;'el Insti-
tute and since that time has taken a deep personal interest in the school and its work.
His first large gift was a subscription of $100,000 to the endowment fund. Later he
gave an additional $100,000 to the same fund. This he followed with a gift of $50,000
for rehabilitation and new equipment. Then, learning of the need for an adequate
organ in the Drexel Auditorium, his next gift was a beautiful new organ. This won-
derful instrument was installed at a cost of about $75,000, and is one of the finest in
the country.
Great as was this beneficence it was totally eclipsed by Mr. Curtis' latest gift-a
new engineering building to be erected at a cost, with equipment, of $600,000. This
building will be placed just east of the present building on Chestnut Street and will
conform architecturally with it. It will contain laboratories, offices, classrooms, and
a gymnasium, all of which are greatly needed.
The students at Drexel are under life-long indebtedness to Mr. Curtis for his gen-
erosi ty. His gifts were for definite aims and in their fulfilment student life and work
at Drexel have been proportionately improved. Nor has the recognition of his philan-
thropy been confined to the student body alone. On the east side of the Great Court
there is a bronze tablet. One reads:
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF
THE GENEROUS BENEFACTIONS OF
CYRUS H. K. CURTIS
TO THE
DREXEL INSTITUTE OF ART,
SCIENCE, AND INDUSTRY.
ERECTED BY HIS FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INSTITUTE
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THE DREXEL PICTURE GALLERY
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THE DREXEL MusEUM
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Board of Trustees
President
ALEXANDER vAN RENSSELAER, M.A
.Vice President
GEORGE w. CHILDS DREXEl,
Treasurer
ANTHONY ]. DREXEL
Secretary qnd Assistant Treasurer
CHARLES T. BACH
Term Ends October, 1928
LIVINGSTON L. BIDDLE, A.B. .NATHAN HAYWARD, RA.
CHAS. E. BRINLEY, B.A., Ph.B. HoRACE P. LIVERSIDGE
CYRus H. K. LL.D. D. ]. McCARTHY, M. D.
GEORGE w. c. DREXEL ,JOSEPH M. STEELE
SAMUEL M. CURWEN
JoHN R. DREXEL
Term Ends October, 1929
H. GonooN McCoucH, A.B.
EFFINGHAM B. MoRms, A.M., LL.B.
ALEXANDER vAN RENSSELAER, M.A.
]AMES T. wALLIS, M.E.
]QHN As:aHunsT, A.B.,
GHARLES T. BACH
ANTHONY J. DREXEL
EDGAR c. FEI.:TON, A.B.
Term Ends October, 1930
Litt.M. A. ATWATER KENT, E.E.
A. ]. DREXEL PAUL, A.R
] . RODMAN A.M.
W"-LTER M. ScHWARTZ
President of the Tnstitute
KENNETH GoRDON MATHESON, A.M., LL.D., Sc.D.
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FAr.IJL ~
DR. KENNETH GoRDON MATHESON
Greeting From the President
THE year that has passed since my last greeting has been unusually encouraging in
progress and results. The largest enrollment in our history indicates the increas-
ing interest of earnest young men and women in the educational advantages we have
to offer. Valuable and extensive equipment has been installed. The additional
Million Dollar Endowment Fund has been completed largely thru the splendid gen-
erosity of the children of our Founder and the equally magnificent gift by Trustee
Curtis and the General Education Board. Curtis Hall of Engineering with full equip-
ment has become a reality thru the repeated and splendid generosity of Trustee Cyrus
H. K. Curtis. This addition to plant and equipment will prove epoch-making in the
history and efficiency of Drexel Institute.
Of greatest moment to all connected with the institution is the fact that its
academic standards have been recognized and approved by the official authorities
concerned and thereby, Drexel Institute has been duly and justly enrolled among
the accredited colleges of the country. All of this cooperative accomplishment is
important and encouraging but, without cant, it falls short of highest values unless
built upon the Eternal Verities which underlie all true character. Truth, honesty,
courage and love are paramount needs of today. In a word, the spiritual development
which Drexel craves for her children as a crowning preparation for their leadership
-not only in business and the technical professions but in civic righteousness as
well. With all of our getting may we get true understanding.
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J. PETERSON RYDER, S.B. , Dean of Men
RuTH A. L. DoRSEY, A.B. , Dean of Women
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Senior Class History
HOARY with age, embellished with antiquity as may be the time honored maxim
" Histor y repeats itself," it will never be in ahy measure, applicable to a chronicle
of the Class of 1928. And since the enshrouding mantle of time may veil from
our sight the gleaming beacon of accomplishment, it is encumbent upon the historian
to enumerate the events of our four scholastic years. Such a task is a difficult one,
for the class was of nece sity divided into many smaller groups which pursued dif-
ferent and unrelated paths. But no other apology need be offered, for to us is
attached that badge of di stinction, that inimitable touch of superiority, that makes one
secure in the convi ction of our elevation above the plane of mediocre classes.
It is an inevitable fact that Alumni , upon viewing their college days in retrospect,
will tell us that two occasions seem emblazoned upon the tablets of memory- the
day of entrance, the first, and Commencement, the last. Slightly less than four
years ago, we entered the portals of our great institution for the first time. Some
three or four hundred innocent youngsters, we encroached upon the sacred
precincts of the Great Court and made our acquaintance with that "guardian angel,"
the Dean of Men. How we made our acquaintance with the Comptroller in that
unending and trusting line. And how the ensuing days of confusion, of embarrass-
ment, of excruciating torture now whirl thru our minds in a kaleidscope of entangled
recollections.
But the months flew, as they are in the habit of doing; the halls and corridors
began to take on the aspects of some regularity in their arrangement; and the fact
became evident that all instructors are not inhuman. True we were frequently called
for judgment and found ourselves in a state of weakness or extreme insipidity; but
more frequently we faced the blind goddess of justice in the robes of the upper
classmen. Such a spirit as ours, however, could not be subdued by these means,
and in a memorable rebellion we cast aside all indignities, the Court serving as
the field of honor on which we justified ourselves and incidentally endangered the
beauties, inanimate and otherwise. This victory was followed by the conquering oi
the " unknown" on the third floor, whereupon we departed for vacation or industry,
with eager anti cipations of the exalted position of Sophomores and all rights and
privileges thereof.
The following two years, due to the Cooperative Engineering Course, divided
the class to a greater extent than before, with the Tesult that many of the events are
onl y a dim recollection as told by a classmate. The latter part of the year found
the school engulfed in a maelstrom of action, the occasions being the innovation of
the May Festival and the "bigger and better" Senior Ball. This affair proved a
colossal success and its inauguration was but a forerunner to those destined to follow.
The Junior year was, from all angles, the most outstanding of our college career.
Studies had reached the critical point- and only the fit survived this test. Mean-
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whil e about us we were impressed with the man y changes and additions. The old
Library was closed and doomed to relegati on and whil e we labored, in the confusion
of the Court a new and worthy edifi ce was being prepared. Downstairs an upper
deck of fool-proof lockers was being erected to partiall y replace the old mahogany
furniture. In the j ournali sti c fi eld we made a decided step in the directi on of progress
when the Triangle came into existence and fill ed a long felt need in the school, at
the same time enabling the Drexerd to change its policy and become trul y a coll ege
comic.
Still more events made thi s year worthy of mention, the first being our own
greatl y successful Junior Prom, which needs no wordy embellishment. The second
was the additi on of an annex to our group of buildings- the opening of Linton's
just around the corner-an answer to the food question. The same gentleman was
later to furni sh us with a suppl y store and "Gifte Shoppe," only to doom us to
disappointment when his altruisti c dreams proved to be bubbles.
And then with what exhilarating emotions of ecstacy we hailed the day that
brought us to the beginning of the Senior year. How we were lifted on evanescent
cl ouds of glory when we entered that final age, the apex of our ambition . And
how fitting at thi s time we should become impressed with Dr. Matheson' s repeated
beli ef and illustrations of Drexel' s increasing prestige. Then too, we had visions
of future athleti c superiorit y. The new coaching staff, ably directed by Mr. Halas,
a pupil of Knute Rockne, gave us our first hint of athletic success.
Meanwhile we were deni ed the use of the Auditorium due to renovati on and
the installation of a loud-speaking system, and just as it was on the point of com-
pleti on we were astounded by the munificence of Mr. Curtis who presented us with
our wonderful organ. This marvelous bequest was followed by a second of greater
magnitude, and a new engineering building was made possible.
Of the Senior Ball- our own Senior Ball- need we say more than that it was
a success fr om every standpoint ?
And now we awake to the reali zation that our final day at Drexel is approach-
ing. With hearts laden with sombreness and with something akin to tears .in our
eyes, a feeling of devotion and respect for Drexel In titute settles upon us, which
as the years roll by, will weigh more heavily upon our soul s.
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