Moving Forward

Enrollment at Wilson College fluctuated during the 1930's. While the Depression did have effects for the college, looking into the college's history during this time, one would not know it. It would seem that everyone was talking about the Depression in detail except for Wilson College. Beside discussions within the board of trustees, there was no real mention of the Great Depression anywhere else on campus. The student newspaper, The Billboard, might have shed some light on the Students' Aid Fund that was helping many students in need but little was mentioned. The newspaper instead focused on getting students involved in politics and world affairs. It would seem that the interest of the situation overseas and the threat of war overshadowed the Depression on Wilson’s campus. College campuses were becoming forums for the discussion of public affairs, they were no longer a cloister and that was evident at Wilson.^[1]

It would seem that the Board of Trustees had moved on from the Depression by the mid to late thirties as well. Further development and improvement of the physical plant of Wilson was the next interest of the administration. Remodeling and other improvements had already been slowly taking place at this time. For example, by 1935, the Building and Grounds Committee had completed the remodeling of the dining room at the cost of $39,017.64.  The Browsing Room on the ground floor of the library had also been completed by this time as well. ^[2] While it was quite clear that the effects of the Great Depression were noticed at Wilson, it was fortunate that financial resources came to them at just the right time in order to minimize the impact.

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     ^{1. Archie M. Palmer, “The College and World Affairs,” Wilson Alumnae Quarterly, May 3, page 10.}

     ^{2. Mary Rummel Omwake, “Report of the Alumnae Trustee,” Wilson Alumnae Quarterly, August 1933, page 35.}