Stephens: A Look Back - 1931

The 1931 Stephensophia goes into academic programs more so than yearbooks from the past several years, giving us more insight into education at Stephens than, say, social trends of the day as in previous years.

The yearbook staff this year has divided academics into five areas, and the book goes into detail about coursework, majors and extracurricular activities within each area.

Humanities includes arts, with lessons on soap sculpturing, lettering and color theory; clothing design; music and drama. Basil Deane Gauntlette, a graduate of the Conservatorie Nationale in Paris, heads the conservatory and is a piano professor. There’s also a new Music Week this year to let students who are involved in the violin quartette, string quartette, cello quartette, orchestra training class or vocal quartette show off their talents. A Sunrise Choir also performs each Sunday morning on KFRU (which celebrated its 89^th birthday yesterday, just FYI).

Vocations include secretarial studies--think typing, shorthand and dictation, as well as the education program, which since 1925 has had a lab school on campus.

 

Tool Subjects is used to describe home ec and languages and encompasses the campus publications, including the Standard literary journal, Stephens Life and the Stephensophia.

The Natural Sciences section includes chemistry, botany zoology and physiology.

The area of Social Sciences encompasses history and psychology.

The curriculum as a whole is designed to meet the actual needs of women living in the 20^th Century, we’re told, and each course is designed to be functional and show the importance of the subject in life outside of the classroom. This “real-world” teaching model is still used today but, of course, has “kept up” with needs of women as they’ve evolved.

Louise Dudley

Louise Dudley is now dean of faculty. We’re given a little background on her, including the fact that she was a social worker in the French Munition camps under the direction of the Young Women’s Christian Association and that last year, she sojourned to the Junior College at Long Beach, Calif., as an exchange professor of English.

Here’s what the Stephensophia staff also says about Dr. Dudley:

“Dr. Dudley once let slip the remark that she rather liked to be ‘hard boiled,’ but the twinkle in her eyes and the slight suggestion of a smile served as conclusive evidence that her ‘bite is not as bad as her bark.’ As a hobby, Dr. Dudley finds teaching Humanities most enjoyable or, when classes are not in session, the rather unique task of drawing house plans interests her.”

Also on faculty is Dr. Frank Nifong—as in Nifong Blvd. in Columbia. He’s director of health and physical education.

Lewine Hoefer is now dean of permissions and chairman of the board of deans, as well as an assistant in social sciences. You might recall, we met Ms. Hoefer in 1926 when she was a student and president of the Civic Association.

 This year marks the 10^th anniversary of Burrall Bible Classes and Ms. Jessie Burrall, who has been gone a couple of years now, visits campus to help celebrate. We’re told Vespers is now twice a week, and there’s also a new discussion group, “We Moderns,” held weekly to discuss various problems of leadership and religion.

The senior class is the first to be “brave enough” to host two formal dances, one without men and another to let students show of their “beaux” from back home.

Also this year, the freshman and sophomore classes—high school-aged women at this time—have been combined into a single unit, and students are known as “organization students.”

Again this year, the Stephensophia dedicates full-page photos to the Four-Fold Girl, Best Private Citizen and each woman who represents one of the Ten Ideals. This year, it appears they all posed at similar times in some of their best dresses. A few favorites: 

 And finally, couldn't resist sharing this timely winter scene with an elaborate snow person.