Timeline of Hope in the 1930's and 1940's
1 2021-07-12T17:25:39+00:00 Grace Pettinger 184622d78a978911e2bfdd66bbb19f663dd01390 1 1 This is a timeline created on Knightlab Javascript that is interactive. You can click through the events and select events on the timeline to get more information. plain 2021-07-12T17:25:39+00:00 Grace Pettinger 184622d78a978911e2bfdd66bbb19f663dd01390This page is referenced by:
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The Great Depression and Hope Students
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How the Great Depression Impacted Hope Students
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2021-08-02T13:38:12+00:00
We originally hypothesized Hope students wouldn’t feel the weight of the Great Depression as students with enough money to attend a private college. In the beginning of our research, we had no reason to think differently. Looking at enrollment numbers, we found a small dip in enrollment, but otherwise, the Anchor didn’t mention the Stock Market Crash, sorority invitations did not reflect any cost cutting measures, the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., the campus’ primary volunteer groups, focused primarily on foreign volunteer work, and we even found an Anchor article that discussed the Sibylline sorority’s throwing of a “Depression Party” that made light of the economic situation throughout the country. It wasn’t until I took a deeper look at the Campus Gossip section and the Campus Editorials with student opinions that I found interest in the impact of the national crisis. More subtle mentions of the Depression, complaints from students in the Anchor about their lack of money, the petition for the blanket fee, the Sorosis Minutes, engagement with and interest in Roosevelt’s New Deal Programs hinted at the Depression’s impact on Hope students.It is important to note that much of the social and personal accounts of how the Great Depression impacted students come from the Anchor. The Anchor provides incredible student opinions that give a window into the everyday lives of students. However, relying solely on Anchor articles to understand students’ individual experiences does not give a completely accurate representation, as only students who wrote into the Anchor or the Anchor editors had the ability to share their opinions. How students actually talked about the Depression in personal settings remains relatively unknown. Fortunately, I had access to some personal scrapbooks and sorority minutes that allowed me to get a small glimpse into unofficial opinions and impacts of the event.
Following the general timeline of the Great Depression and looking at how students in the Anchor spoke about the Great Depression, we can see some general trends that reflect when the worst years of the Depression occurred. First, the initial crash of the stock market sparked little conversation, at least within the Anchor. As our professor, Dr. Janes, reminded us, students might not have been impacted right away by a stock market crash, as they most likely did not participate in the stock market. They would only feel the lasting effects later as the U.S. spiraled into mass unemployment, inflation, and shortages.
The first indirect mention of the financial crisis in the Anchor occurred in its initial call for a blanket fee that students would pay at the beginning of the year and cover all college activities. The blanket fee dominated the editorial of the Anchor from April 16, 1930 to April 29, 1931 when the student petitioned action passed through the Board of Trustees [1]. The blanket fee also appears in the Sorosis minutes. On May 30, 1930, the minutes state that at the meeting, many of the members signed the petition for the blanket fee, showing their support [2]. This is the first time any student records mention any economic conditions. Although it is not direct, students obviously took notice of the financial conditions of the time and felt their impact in their own world at Hope College.
The first direct mention of the economic conditions throughout the country in the Anchor appeared in the January 14, 1931 issue. However, this didn’t display the impact on students at Hope. Instead, the writer documents plans for students to attend the state Y.M.C.A.'s Student Conference on Unemployment to learn more about unemployment throughout the state. The article explained that the students would visit unemployment centers and unemployment relief agencies [3]. This led us to believe that Hope students themselves did not deal with financial issues early in the Depression. They learned about the issues around the country as if they impacted others, not them.
At this point, any mention of financial conditions appeared to be indirect or made lightly. For example, the Anchor wrote on March 18, 1931 a call for class dues, basing their argument on the necessity of student loyalty to school activities and to their Alma Mater [4]. On April 22 of the same year, the Anchor wrote that they would not have the ability to continue publishing newspapers because of lack of funds without mentioning the country-wide Depression to which these issues belonged [5]. These financial needs may have stemmed from the dwindling economy but the Anchor discusses them as isolated issues at this time.
Hope students also spoke flippantly of the Depression, leading us to believe that students were aware of the country’s condition and may have felt its effects but spoke about overarching circumstances without a deeply personal or emotional connection. The “Campus Gossip” column mentions the unemployment crisis in a joking manner on January 28, 1931 [6]. You can view this column here.
While the Anchor makes a rather indirect reference, its nod to the unemployment crisis displays the background knowledge Hope students had of the issue that would allow them to understand the joke. The Anchor also includes a description of the Sibylline Sorority’s "Depression Party" on September 30, 1931. Events within this evening included skits that made fun of specific low income positions, games, and dinner [7]. We have attached the full article here.Again, these specific Hope students display that they understood the state of the country, but did not have a personal connection to the struggle. However, many Hope students could have had difficulty during this time, but public social events and the Anchor seemed to ignore Hope’s struggle until it completely impacted students campus wide. Financially struggling students or those who directly recognized the impact of the Great Depression may have been excluded from public display. There could have been a level of shame for those impacted more directly from the unemployment crisis as well, causing many to avoid addressing the Depression’s impact on the Hope College student body as a whole.
We did find evidence that students did struggle at this time based on Margaret Kole’s scrapbook and recognized the financial difficulties as products of the Depression, despite the Anchor and Sibylline event only making indirect references of the crisis or making fun of the struggle others experienced. Margaret Kole’s scrapbook included letters from the Dean of Women, Winifred Durfee, and Edward Dimnent that led us to believe that the students at Hope felt even the most immediate effects of the Great Depression. Writing to Kole after her Freshman year at Hope, Durfee asks Kole who she will room with in the following year, as the woman with whom she had originally planned to live would not be living on campus in order to work. One woman who Durfee suggested as a potential roommate had worked for two years after high school prior to enrolling at Hope, making her a few years older than others in her class. She closed the letter assuring Margaret that she was “very glad that you decided to continue and I feel that you will never regret it” [8]. This hints that young people at the time may have juggled the desire to work and to attend college.
Edward Dimnent’s letter to Kole in August of 1932 reflected similar notions but more directly addressed the enrollment drop in the beginning years of the Depression. He very clearly discussed the current financial issues throughout the country and asked Kole to write to him if she considered leaving the college or “change your whole scheme of things”, even though she would be entering her senior year of college. He also asked Kole to recommend Hope to her friends who had recently graduated from high school, noting the importance of college despite financial difficulties [9].
This report of the college’s state as well as the Depression’s impact on students. In A Century of Hope, Wichers argues that Hope did not lose many students during the Great Depression; however, based on Maria’s enrollment research, Hope lost 67 students from 1928 to 1929 dropping from 501 in 1928 to 434 in 1929. At the lowest point in this lull in enrollment in 1931, Hope had 420 students enrolled [10]. To Wichers, who presided as president at Hope during both the Great Depression and World War Two, may have felt that this was only a small dip compared to the loss of almost all men at Hope during the war; however, at the time, it is likely that even this enrollment drop during the Depression seemed massive to the college.
By April 20, 1932, the Anchor more seriously named and discussed the Great Depression, as it began to affect the entire student body. In the article “Depression Blues”, the Anchor quotes a letter from a man to a New York banking house. The man writing the letter explained that he could not pay the bank collateral and explained his present situation and frustration with the lack of money he had compared to all of the taxes and fees the government required him to pay. He expressed desperation in his situation [11]. This article contrasts the tone of previous articles that referenced the Depression. They quote the letter as if to appeal to the trials that other students and people in the Hope community felt during the time, rather than making light of the situation or talking about financial issues without connection to the greater problem across the country. This article has a sober, understanding tone. By quoting the letter, the Anchor writer reflects the student body’s more direct and personal understanding of his desperation.
We found the most direct and obvious explanation of the difficulty students felt as a result of the Great Depression in the Anchor to be “Men Wanted”. Written for the March 8, 1933 issue of the Anchor, “Men Wanted” addresses men specifically but appeals to all citizens as if a battlecry. The author explains instead of brawn, the American people needed a warlike mindset that would allow them to rally together to beat their foe: The Great Depression [12].
This warlike approach to the Depression in a student newspaper demonstrates the impact the Depression had on students. No longer did students make fun of those suffering from the Depression or talk about financial struggles as a foreign trial impacting people of a different class. “Men Wanted” addresses the Great Depression as a countrywide issue that required the need of an army of “healthy, red-blooded, Christian, fair, honest men, who will fight the situation shoulder to shoulder” [13].
Even popular social groups such as sororities felt the effects of the Depression. While we do not have record of all of the sororities’ detailed written minutes, the Sorosis sorority documented in their 1931 Alumni Newsletter and their 1933 meeting minutes the little struggle of their members to meet due requirements. In the 1931 Alumni Newsletter they called for members to send in their dues and explained that all “Sorosis Alumnae Association money is tied up in the People’s State Bank” [14]. In their 1933 Meeting Minutes, dues again became a problem as the sorority treasury struggled to maintain funds. In the September 29 minutes, the secretary documented the Treasurer's report of only 8 dollars in the treasury and in the October 6 minutes, only two dollars in the treasury. By November 10, the president of the sorority threatened a “No mon, no fun” rule that forced members to pay their dues or the sorority would not host any parties [15]. This reflects the financial strain felt even by those in the most popular of social groups.
Many individual students had different experiences while living within this national crisis. One student, Ethel Swets played organ for local churches during her time at Hope from 1930. However, because of the lack of circulating paper money and the banking crisis, the churches she played for paid her in money that resembled monopoly money, representing “I owe you’s”. She did not include in her scrapbook if the churches ever made true to their promise, but she did include one of the dollars they gave her [16].
As the Great Depression impacted students more personally, they became more inspired to explore their ability to understand and aid the situation. One way to engage became politically. Students became very interested and invested in the politics in Washington after the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in November of 1932. All debate about the new president and his policies revolved around his New Deal programs. Most discussion centered on his hands-on approach that featured intense government involvement in the country’s economic recovery.
However, Wicher’s notes that the New Deal Programs that students so passionately debated helped save the college and students impacted by financial difficulty. He explains that the Federal Emergency Relief Act allowed the college to employ students on multiple campus projects in return for tuition, room, and board. We can see evidence of this occurrence and help from the government in the Anchor. In the February 21, 1934 issue of the Anchor, the main headline reads, “Hope Students Receive Federal Aid”. The authors proceed to detail the number of students Hope employed thanks to the aid, the requirements for workers, and the wages for student workers [17]. On March 7, 1934, the Anchor noted that the Federal Emergency Relief plan allowed Hope to pay student workers an additional 15 dollars per month [18]. Despite the college community’s critical debate of New Deal programs, the college relied heavily on funds from those programs in order to keep students enrolled and keep the college’s doors open.
As the 1930’s progressed, more and more Anchor articles communicated a more positive outlook on the Depression. On February 19, 1936, the Anchor reported a large reduction in debt in their paper from $1900 to only $600 [19]. On October 27, 1936, “Statistics Reveal Profit of $102,000 For College Graduate -- 63% Per Year” from the Anchor wrote that college graduates profited much higher than those who only finished high school [20]. While Students continued to debate about New Deal Programs and struggled to make financial ends meet, we can see a slight improvement as the rhetoric of how students wrote about money had changed in some articles. Students wrote more positively about money and displayed a level of hope in their financial situation.
We must acknowledge that these events and campus responses to the Depression did occur linearly, but rather at times all at once. As these trends occurred, they overlapped with one another, roughly creating a timeline of the Great Depression at Hope College in the eyes of the students. While we only have pieces of students’ experiences, we can see that our hypothesis did not hold up. Hope College students were not immune to the effects of the Great Depression. They felt the impact of the financial crisis and had a range of responses throughout the decade of the 1930’s.
References:
[1] "Unity", Hope College Anchor, 16 April, 1930., "Blanket Fee Goes Through", Hope College Anchor, 29 April, 1931.
[2] Minutes, 2 May 1930, Sigma Sigma Sorority, Records, 1906-[ongoing] (H01-1413), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI, 179.
[3] "Students Confer on Unemployment, Hope College Anchor, 14 January, 1931.
[4] "Obligations", Hope College Anchor, 18 March, 1931.
[5] "The Anchor Slips", Hope College Anchor, 22 April 1931.
[6] "Campus Gossip", Hope College Anchor, 28 January, 1931.
[7] "Sibyllines and Guests Prosper on Depression", Hope College Anchor, 30 September, 1931.
[8] Letter from Winifred Durfee to Margaret J. Kole in Memory Book, 1925-1933, Kole, Margaret J. (1909-1994). Papers, 1925-1933 (H95-1250), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI.
[9] Letter from Edward Dimnent to Margaret J. Kole in Memory Book, 1925-1933, Kole, Margaret J. (1909-1994). Papers, 1925-1933 (H95-1250), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI.
[10] Wynand Wichers, A Century of Hope (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), 204.
[11] "Depression Blues", Hope College Anchor, 20 April, 1932.
[12] "Men Wanted", Hope College Anchor, 8 March, 1933.
[13] "Men Wanted", Hope College Anchor, 8 March, 1933.
[14] Alumni Newsletter, 1931, Sigma Sigma Sorority, Records, 1906-[ongoing] (H01-1413), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
[15] Minutes, 29 September, 1933, Sigma Sigma Sorority, Records, 1906-[ongoing] (H01-1413)., 10 November, 1933, Sigma Sigma Sorority, Records, 1906-[ongoing] (H01-1413).
[16] Scrapbook, 1929-1936, Swets, Ethel Leestma Papers, 1929-1936 (H18-1988), Joint Archives of Holland, Holland, MI.
[17] "Hope Students Receive Federal Aid", Hope College Anchor, 21 February, 1934.
[18] "Emergency Relief Fund Distributed", Hope College Anchor, 17 March, 1934.
[19] “Huge Slice Made in Anchor Debt”, Hope College Anchor, 19 February, 1936.
[20] "Statistics Reveal Profit of $102,000 For College Graduate -- 63% Per Year", Hope College Anchor, 27 October 1936. -
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Hope College Early in World War II
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Describes what Hope's campus was like at the beginning of the war.
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2021-07-29T17:51:31+00:00
When World War II began in September of 1939, Hope College continued to be relatively untouched as the United States did not enter the war until 1941. Even with the Selective Service Act in 1940, men enrolled in college, with a few exceptions, often were able to defer enlistment in the military.
Editions of the Anchor in 1940 acknowledged the war, but it is not heavily featured. Each publication contained a section entitled “As I See It,” yet few of the articles urged students to participate and instead commented on the events overseas. One column by Dwight Grotenhouse asked the question, “Will We Have to Fight Germany?” and another reporter, George Lumsden, suggested continuing to give money to Britain to stay out of the war [1]. These articles indicate the men considered the possibility they may serve in the war, but were not actively preparing to enlist.
Women also considered their possible role if the United States entered the war. Nancy Boynton wrote a piece for the “As I See It” column claiming women provided valuable service in the last war in 1917 and will continue to do this if the war escalates. She writes, “The women did a limited amount of men's work in the factories, an extent which will be exceeded if our country enters war again. They drove ambulances, trucks in France, wore uniforms, made bandages, knitted socks, worked in canteens, had committees, replaced manpower at home, and gave priceless service for their country” [2]. Boynton opposed U.S. involvement in the war because the women would enter service industries instead of focusing on the home.
Furthermore, the Anchor featuring May Day on May 10, 1940 references the war in the headlines stating, “Europe Declares 24 Hour Armistice Today As Nazi Government Lauds Hope May Day.” This article jokingly claims that the Allied and Central forces halted the fighting because they were in suspense over the crowning of the new May Day queen [3].
World War II was discussed by Hope College students early in the war, but it did not become as prominent until the United States entered the war. The Anchor discussed the conflict, but speculated if the United States would even become involved in the war. However, certain events brought the reality of the war closer to Hope College.
In September 1940, the Anchor featured two refugees, named Paul Fried and Paul Gottwald, who fled to America from Austria after Hitler annexed Austria. Fried traveled to America after imprisonment in a German camp and Gottwald fled after being denied entry into school for his Jewish heritage [4]. Having refugees on campus may have made the situation early in World War II more real than Hope students originally perceived.
These first-hand accounts and the Anchor articles from the time illustrate that both men and women were conscious of the war, yet the campus atmosphere was not consumed by the events occurring in Europe.George Vanderhill, an alumni from the 1940s, reflected on this period in the book Hope at the Crossroads: The War Years. Vanderhill commented, “What is surprising and somewhat disconcerting is the fact that, in looking through the large cumbersome scrapbook I kept at that time, I find few, if any, references to what was going on in the wider world. Part of that, I’m sure, is the fact that we did not have the instant worldwide communication we now have” [5].
References:
[1] "As I See It," Hope College Anchor, January 29, 1941. "Will We Have to Fight Germany," Hope College Anchor, March 12, 1941.
[2] “As I See It,” Hope College Anchor, February 26, 1941.
[3] “Europe Declares 24 Hour Armistice Today As Nazi Government Lauds Hope May Day, ” Hope College Anchor, May 10, 1940.
[4] “Austrian Boys Feel America, Hope are O.K.,” Hope College Anchor, September 18, 1940.
[5] Eileen Nordstrom and George Zuidema, Hope at the Crossroads: The War Years (Holland, Michigan: Hope College, 2008), 15. -
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The Great Depression and Hope as an Institution
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Impact of the Great Depression on Hope College Financially
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2021-08-02T13:54:11+00:00
Our experience attempting to grasp the Great Depression’s impact on Hope College institutionally challenged us. We scoured the Board of Trustees Minutes, the Anchor, Hope at 150 by Jacob Nyenhuis, and A Century of Hope by Wynant Wichers, finding a variety of pieces of the full picture of the Hope’s response to the Great Depression. First, letters to the National Bank of Commerce in New York City from President Dimnent in October of 1928 indicate that Hope College sold their stock portfolio prior to the stock market crash in October of 1929, allowing them to avoid any major hit to their endowment as a result of the crash [1]. This surprised us as we found little indication of why he chose to do this. The Treasury Report of 1928, which would have evaluated the financial status of Hope College for the 1927-1928 school year reported that over time, the Permanent College Funds had increased in a constant ratio, and the preceding year had been no different [2]. However, the April 1929 Treasurer Report indicated a sudden deficit that the college would not be able to balance six months prior to the stock market crash. The Treasurer notes that the college increased tuition to aid their financial situation [3]. While we might wish that Dimnent predicted the crash of the stock market, the financial crisis that followed, and steered Hope to avoid financial disaster; however, it seems that Hope experienced financial struggle just before the crash of the Stock Market in October of 1929.The spiraling of the entire country into the Great Depression did not help Hope’s financial situation. In June of 1930, the Board of Trustee’s report to the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America noted the incredible deficit that the college would acquire by the end of year that would exceed that of earlier years [4]. This indicates a financial crisis much worse than the years of struggle in the late 1920’s.
We ran into many difficulties when researching the early and worst years of the Great Depression at Hope. Writers of Hope’s history, such as Wynant Wichers, Jacob Nyenhuis, and the Board of Trustees documents that include Treasury reports give differing stories of the decrease or increase of the college’s endowment. In A Century of Hope, Wichers writes that by 1931, the college’s endowment had suffered and a portion had gone into default. Wichers also explains that the Board of Trustees struggled most with recovering the endowment of all difficulties during the Depression [5]. Contrastingly, Nyenhuis writes that Hope’s endowment actually increased during the Great Depression [6].
Going back to the original sources, the Board of Trustees Minutes didn’t provide much clarity. While we have a few of the Treasury Reports for the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, they are all formatted in different ways with a variety of entries that indicate the permanent fund. We found Treasury Reports for 1927-1928, 1928-1929, and 1930-1931 that documented that the permanent fund and endowment receipts and disbursements balanced at $296,555.86, $364,386.99 and $108,553.21 respectively [7]. Sadly we do not have the treasury report from 1929-1930 to judge the immediate impact of the stock market crash. In 1928, the Treasurer listed the increase in the Endowment and Trust Account at $14,233.00 and the Operating Deficit at $5,909.45 [8]. In the 1930-1931 school year, the Treasurer Lists the endowment fund at an increase of $11,663.03 and the operating deficit at $8,221.72 [9]. Based on the Report to the General Synod for 1931, these entries indicate increases in the accounts or fund [10]. It is important to note, however, that the Treasurer Report for 1930-1931 listed the endowment and the trust fund separately. It is unclear if we should combine these numbers when comparing to the number listed as the 1928 increase, as the report to the General Synod did not include any note of an increase in the Trust fund that would make us believe the two numbers should be combined as a more important number than the $11,663.03 that the Board Reports in its more narrative report. Unfortunately, the 1929 report does not have entries for Hope’s endowment or operating deficit that can be compared with the 1928 or 1930-1931 entries [11].
Interpreting these numbers proves difficult because of our inability to accurately compare the entries based on the variety of ways the Treasurer reported Hope’s finances in a short number of years. If we do not combine the Endowment and Trust Funds for 1931, we see that the Endowment did increase; however, as did the operating deficit, specifically compared to 1928. The endowment increased less than in 1928 while the operating deficit increased more than in 1928. If we do combine the Endowment and Trust Funds for 1931, we find a completely different story. This would be a massive increase in the permanent funds of $25,630.53 [12]. If this is a more accurate analysis of the Permanent Funds, this may indicate an intentional funneling of money into this fund by the Board of Trustees, acknowledging the increase in the operating deficit as well.
Due to the number of differing secondary sources and the nature of the primary documents to which we have access, we had incredible difficulty interpreting what truly happened to Hope’s permanent funds in the midst of the worst years of the Great Depression. However, we do know that the Depression obviously hit Hope College with force, similar to the rest of the country. The 1931 Report to the General Synod states, “The economic situation of the country is having its effect upon the various phases of the work of the college. Gifts from individuals have decreased. A general shrinkage in receipts by all the agencies of the Church, the Board of Education included, is naturally reflected in the amount received by the College. Doubtless the enrollment has been affected also, but it is impossible to ascertain whether conditions of large unemployment bring an increase or a decrease in the attendance of liberal arts colleges. It is certain that the student group as a whole finds it hard to meet college bills” [13]. This narrative depicts a terrified college that struggled with the same issues the rest of the country faced during the darkest years of the Great Depression.
With the diversification of Hope’s investments, Hope’s financial future became a bit more secure. In June of 1932, the Treasury reported a much smaller deficit of $6,000 for the 1931-1932 school year. However, they do note that the deficit might be higher because of inflation during this time [14]. Reinvestment of Hope’s finances proved to be the saving grace for Hope College, according to Wichers. Looking at the Minutes from 1933, the Board of Trustees amended their financial by-laws in order to make investment easier. The minutes quote Mr. Winter: “Whereas, we find ourselves, under the present circumstances, handicapped by the terms of the by-laws with reference to the investment of our permanent funds, there-fore, be it resolved that in order to secure proper diversification and also possible future recovery of present loss, the Executive Committee be authorized… to reinvest funds secured by the sale of real estate or defaulted securities in securities listed on the New York Exchange, provided that in the judgement of the Committee, such securities be suitable for the investment of college funds” [15]. Wichers gave context to these amendments by explaining that Hope’s by-laws stated that the college could only invest in state and federal bonds as well as real estate securities for savings banks. By 1935, an executive committee through the Board of Trustees successfully sold the college’s stock in real-estate securities on the New York Exchange and reinvested the funds. This resulted in the increase of the endowment by 1938 according to Wichers. With the change of 1935, the Treasurer at the time stated that he believed that Hope would “weather the storm” [16].
Hope also made many sacrifices and changes in order to cut spending. One of the largest changes they made was the closing of the Hope High school in 1934. The Board of Trustees Minutes explain that this closure would save them $5,000-$6,500. The high school had become more of a burden than an asset to the college. It did not feed students into the college and could have cost the college its accreditation by the Association of American Universities. They also employed a number of other smaller measures to cut costs and acquire money [17]. On June 18, 1935, the Board decided that an annual meeting sufficed rather than a biannual meeting for the Board. Limiting meeting times would save money for the college [18]. The Board also communicated with other colleges to find other avenues to acquire funds. In the June 18, 1935 minutes, the secretary documented communication with Irwin J. Lubbers, president of Central College in Pella, Iowa and the future president of Hope College, about combining the two college’s efforts in fundraising to supplement the college’s income [19].
What I would argue as symbol of rebirth from the depths of the Depression and what Wichers argues was his greatest achievement in his administration was the much needed addition of the Science Building (now Lubbers Hall). According to the Board of Trustees Minutes, Wichers presented the Board with his plans for the new building on April 26, 1939, planning on campaigning for $250,000. Wichers writes that campaigning from the General Synod, gifts from Dr. Samuel M. Zwemer, Margaret, Bertram, and Albert Hopeman, fundraising from Holland and Muskegon alumni, and even some fundraising from Hope students from 1939 to 1942 allowed the college to fund the new building completely. Building began on June 3rd, 1941 and the Science Building was dedicated on September 16, 1942 [20]. As we look at the success of the fundraising and building of the new Science Building as well as the timeline of the Great Depression at Hope, we can observe a final push as Hope emerged from the Depression as complaints of lower alumni donations, little funding, and cash shortages turned to a successful fundraising campaign and necessary new building.
These efforts to diminish the financial burden on the college proved successful. The Hope College tradition lived on, but not without incredible costs to the college during the 1930’s financial crisis. Through reinvestment, cost cutting measures, and only a small lull in enrollment in the beginning of the Depression, Hope College “weathered the storm” of national disaster. Unfortunately, the records of this event’s impact on the college do not provide incredible clarity, but they do tell pieces of the true story of the Great Depression at Hope College.
References:
[1] Edward Dimnent, "Letter from Edward Dimnent to National Bank of Commerce in New York City", October 26, 1928, Dimnent, Edward D. in Dykhuizen, Adelaide (1905-1973) and Geraldine (1905-1988), Papers, 1868-1986 (H88-0046), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
[2] Treasurer's Report, 1927-1928, April 1928, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
[3] Treasurer's Report, 1928-1929, April 1929, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
[4] Board of Trustees Report to the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, June 1930, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
[5] Wynand Wichers, A Century of Hope (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968), 204-205.
[6] Jacob Nyenhuis, Hope at 150 (Holland: Van Raalte Press, 2019), 539.
[7] Treasurer's Report, 1927-1928, April 1928, Minutes Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246)., Treasurer's Report, 1928-1929, April 1929, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246)., Treasurer's Report, 1930-1931, April 1931, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI, 4.
[8] Treasurer's Report, 1927-1928, April 1928, Minutes Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246).
[9] Treasurer's Report, 1930-1931, April 1931, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), 4.
[10] Board of Trustees Report to the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, April 1931, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI, 1.
[11] Treasurer's Report, 1927-1928, April 1928, Minutes Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246)., Treasurer's Report, 1928-1929, April 1929, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246)., Treasurer's Report, 1930-1931, April 1931, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), 4.
[12] Treasurer's Report, 1930-1931, April 1931, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), 4.
[13] Report to the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, April 1931, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), 1.
[14] Treasurer's Report, 1931-1932, June 1932, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
[15] Winter in Minutes, June 10, 1933, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI, 50.
[16] Wichers, A Century of Hope, 205.
[17] Board of Trustees Minutes, April 25, 1934, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
[18] Board of Trustees Minutes, June 18, 1935, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246), Joint Archives of Holland, Hope College, Holland, MI.
[19] Board of Trustees Minutes, June 18, 1935, Minutes, Board of Trustees, 1866-[ongoing] (H88-0246).
[20] Wichers, A Century of Hope, 206-207.