College of Fine Arts and Communication 2023 Report

- 1903 - 1904 - 1919 1885 1885 Summer Chautauquas begin on the hill in San Marcos that becomes known as Chautauqua Hill. 1899 Southwest Texas State Normal School is founded by the 26th Texas Legislature to be built on 11 acres on Chautauqua Hill donated by the City of San Marcos. 1903 The Main Building is finished. Today, Old Main houses the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Dean of Fine Arts and Communication offices, and the college advising center. (PICTURED) - The Normal opens to 303 students taught by 17 faculty including Mary Stuart Butler (Music), Annie Pearsall (Drawing), and Lula Hines (later known as the “founder of theatre at SWT”). Her reading department develops into the Department of Speech and Drama. Classes in rhetoric are part of the required English curriculum. - Students and teachers form three music associations: the Mendelssohn Club (men and women), Schubert Club (women), and the Glee Club (men). The Shakespeare Society (women) promotes college drama. 1904 The Chautauqua Literary Society is the first debate club, followed quickly by the rival Harris-Blairs. The first Pedagogue (yearbook) is published; it prints annually until 1975. (PICTURED) 1911 The first Normal Star prints on June 30 with T.H. Leslie as editor. 1912 The building now called Lampasas Hall is built to house Manual Arts, Home Economics, a cafeteria, and Art. The Art Department remains there until the Fine Arts Building (now Taylor-Murphy) is completed in 1951. - The first annual senior play, A Bond of the Spirit , the first presentation of legitimate drama, is staged with numerous students and faculty involved. 1917 The English Department adds three courses: Drama Before Shakespeare, Modern Drama, and Shakespeare. 1918 The name of Southwest Texas State Normal School changes to Southwest Texas State Normal College to reflect its status as a degree-granting institution. 1919 Mamie Brown from San Marcos becomes the first person to earn a bachelor’s degree at the college. She is a singer with the Mendelssohn Club and the Liberty Chorus. - College enrollment hits a high of 1,386 in the summer of 1917, only to plummet to 650 in the summer of 1919, a result of the Great War and the flu epidemic. - The Bobcat Band is founded with 22 musicians and 11 instruments furnished as state expense. The band’s first performance is at a football game with the San Marcos Baptist Academy in November. D.D. Snow is its first director. (PICTURED) - The Rabbit’s Foot Dramatic Club, the first theatre club, is organized and presents Why the Chimes Rang . 1921 The Normal presents its first musical comedy, The Gypsy Rover . HISTORY of the Col lege 28 College Report 2023