By Dr. Sylvia Bradley
SU Professor Emerita of History
Holloway Hall has been the center of the student experience since 1925. The Social Room – with its tall arched windows and wood paneling – was part of the final phase of the building’s construction, opening in December 1932. The formal setting became the venue for ceremonial social activities as well as less-than-formal student activities like studying, socializing and courting. For the students of that by-gone era, the Social Room was a place to both let their hair down and hang out with friends and to put on their finest for
Holloway Hall was everything to Salisbury University’s earliest students. It is where they learned and lived – and governing the living part of their experience was one woman: Miss Ruth Powell. Following the social mores of the day, she helped the students follow a strict schedule and develop into mannered and cultured adults. Her name may be familiar to those who attended SU long after these early years; SU’s dining hall in the late 1970s-1990s was named for her and stood where you now find Henson Science Hall.
To learn more about Miss Ruth and the social life of Sea Gulls during her time, read the following excerpts from Salisbury: From Normal School to University, the history book written by Dr. Sylvia Bradley, SU professor emerita of history, to commemorate the University’s 75th anniversary.
Miss Ruth: Keeping Socializing Civilized
If there was one person on that original faculty who more than any other became the real “spirit” of Salisbury to most students, it was “Miss Ruth Powell.” Describing the staff on opening day, a local reporter wrote of her, “It is sufficient to say that any mother will feel safe to trust her daughter in her hands.”
To everyone who attended Salisbury in the 20 years she was there, Miss Ruth was “social director, nurse, house mother, dietitian, counselor and friend. …” For the first few years, she taught science at the school and served as social director, a position she kept until her retirement. Later, she also served as the school’s dietitian and nurse. Her background, like that of most others on the faculty, had been in public education. With a B.S. from Columbia University, she started teaching in 1903 in the “little red schools” in Wicomico County, Nutter’s District. In 1908, Miss Ruth moved to Salisbury grade schools for seven years and finally taught home economics in Wicomico High School until she joined the Salisbury Normal staff.
Miss Ruth’s concern for students’ total education was pervasive. If a student neglected to say good morning to her or showed other signs of being “ill” (in her opinion), he or she would find vitamin pills on the lunch tray. Skipping a meal was a sure sign of sickness that called for a trip to the infirmary and a strong dose of castor oil.
When the college calendar was modified to set aside an examination week, every afternoon of that week she provided tea and cookies or tiny sandwiches in the Social Room. In the winter, she saw to it that a fire was always blazing in the Social Room fireplace. It also was her idea to have tea served by the various school clubs every Wednesday afternoon.
Students’ morals were scrupulously supervised. At school dances, if a couple seemed to be a bit too close, they were measured to be sure they were at least two feet apart. Smokers had to hide in the bushes in a dark corner of the campus. Girls, whose boyfriends came to visit them at school or take them out, were expected to introduce the young men to Miss Ruth. An alumna writing to The Holly Leaf in 1927 to describe her new teaching position commented, “Our superintendent gave us a little talk about how to act and to choose new friends, especially those of the opposite sex. I think he and ‘Miss Ruth’ have the same little speech. Even at that, it is a very good and a very true one.”
When the Social Room was completed in December 1932 with its cozy little alcoves on the side, they quickly were dubbed “beau corners.” Miss Ruth made regular rounds through the Social Room when her girls had gentlemen callers; the beau corners were officially off-limits, but before approaching, Miss Ruth began to jingle loudly the large bunch of keys she always carried.
Campus Living Means Structure
Life at the school in those early decades followed a strict schedule for everything from studying to socializing. From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. every evening was the social hour. All resident students met then in the Social Room to play games of any kind from tiddly-winks to auction bridge. Or they could dance in the auditorium to music from a Weltie-Mignon Reproducing Piano. One night a week the YWCA was in charge of the social hour, arranging contests and games, and serving refreshments afterward.
Quiet study hours, with all girls in their rooms, were observed every night from 7-9:30 p.m. Freshmen and sophomores were to have lights out by 11 p.m., though no such restriction applied to juniors and seniors. With some concern for grades, however, the rules allowed any girl to study until midnight on the night before examinations. Pay phones were installed in the dorms, but girls could not make any telephone calls on these from 7-9:30 p.m. or from 10 p.m.-7 a.m., though they could receive long distance calls at any time. Radios could not be played during those same restricted hours. Typewriters could not be used from 10 p.m.-7 a.m.; showers were also off limits during those hours. The laundry rooms were closed at 10 p.m. on weekdays and at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. All laundry had to be removed from the drying lines by 9:30 a.m. Sunday ironing was prohibited after 10 a.m. on Sundays. Smoking in dorm rooms was prohibited; girls who wanted to smoke could do so only in the lounges or “home corners,” and since all girls were expected to be in their rooms during evening quiet hours, this effectively prohibited any smoking during those hours.
FOR THE STUDENTS OF THAT BY-GONE ERA, THE SOCIAL ROOM WAS A PLACE TO BOTH LET THEIR HAIR DOWN AND HANG OUT WITH FRIENDS AND TO PUT ON THEIR FINEST FOR AFTERNOON TEA.”
Dress codes within the dorms made no restrictions on the girls, but the girls were forbidden to wear slacks, shorts, riding breeches or culottes in the dining hall, Social Room or any classes except physical education. Girls might go to breakfast or lunch with their hair wrapped in a turban, but turbans at dinner were forbidden except on the evening of special dances, parties and concerts. Hose were required for Sunday dinners and special occasions. For every rule violation, progressive punishments were spelled out for up to three offenses. Many punishments called for “campusing,” meaning the girl was restricted to the immediate campus for a specified number of days or possibly weeks. A “campused” girl could cross college Avenue to visit Riggin’s Store, a favorite gathering place for students, but if she were on “strict campus” even that distance was off-limits during the entire punishment period including weekends. “Strict campus” was the specified punishment for failure to secure permission to go home with anyone or to go any place when a note was required. More than three-time offenders of any rule could be referred to the SGA executive board for action.
Lighting the Flame of Inspiration
Candlelighting was another of Miss Ruth’s ideas. Having participated in a similar ceremony when she was a dorm student at Columbia University, she decided such a service would be an appropriate celebration for Salisbury’s first Christmas. The administration agreed, and she set about planning and organizing the affair. A large three foot red candle was purchased from the New York firm, then famous as the creators of the candle sent to Italy to burn at the foot of opera star Enrico Caruso’s tomb. On the night before students left Normal School for the holidays, all the girls, carefully instructed, slowly descended the stairs from the dorm to the Social Room in the north wing. The girls, walking in pairs, each carried a small unlit candle and sang Christmas carols. As they entered the assembly room, each student lit her candle from the large one, then placed it on a table at the side of the room. The girls sat on pillows scattered around the rooms listened to a reading of Dickens’ A Christmas Story, sang more carols, and recited “Twas the Night Before Christmas” in unison. After that part of the program, each girl was given a huge candy cane. Under the Christmas tree, at one side of the room, were several stockings filled by the students with gifts for children under the care of the Wicomico County Welfare Association. The county health nurse was present and officially received the stockings and gifts.
A student later explained, “The significance of the ceremony is very evident. Are we not lighting the small candles of our lives from the large one which is the Normal School? From it we are gleaning ideals to inspire us in our work and bring out the flames of energy, ambition and initiative which are lying dormant within us.” It was indeed an impressive ceremony, and the basic rituals remained for many years. The entrance procession, each student lighting a candle from the large one, singing carols and giving gifts to needy children continued well into the 1960s. In 1933, when the south wing was completed, it was moved to the Social Room, and that year was combined with a December Homecoming so the Alumni could watch again that moment from their own student days. As the student body became too large to permit everyone to light candles, it was limited to the College Chorus, but the ceremony continued basically unchanged.
There were some small problems, as could be expected. The second year the ceremony was to be held, Miss Ruth started preparations in November, but when she removed the large candle from its storage place, she received quite a jolt. The storage closet evidently was too warm for the candle, which was supposed to last 25 years but all the red color had faded out. Undaunted, she determined to repair the damage somehow. She tried melting other red candles to coat the outside of the large one, but that failed to work. Finally, she hit on a simple solution – she painted it. From 1927 until 1951, the candle was used annually with that coat of red paint. When it occasionally broke, she stapled it back together. Finally, in 1951, with only a few inches of it left, the College purchased a new large candle. Appropriately that Christmas, Miss Ruth (who retired in 1946 but still presided over the Candlelighting,) opened the ceremonies by lighting the new candle from the remnant of the old one.
Social Room
Enhancement
The Social Room’s appearance has changed very little in the nearly century since its completion. As SU approaches its Centennial, investment in the enhancement of the space is needed to expand programming and provide a more welcoming area for all who visit SU. The planned renovations include an ADA-compliant lift at the entrance, enhanced stairs, a fireplace insert, bookshelves, a coat closet, expanded storage areas, new furniture and rugs, and updated lighting. Another significant addition will be the establishment of a Faculty Book library to give prominent placement to the publications and scholarly work of SU’s exceptional faculty.
If you’d like to join the alumni and community members who have already contributed to the renovation fund, please reach out to Director of Development Amy Luppens at 410-677-0084 or asluppens@salisbury.edu.