| From
the February 9, 2006, edition of “Northwest This Week.”
The following is excerpted
from “Transitions: A Hundred Years of Northwest” by
Dr. Janice Brandon-Falcone. An illustrated history of the University’s
first 100 years, “Transitions” is available from the
Bearcat Bookstore on the first floor of the J.W. Jones Student
Union. The book can also be purchased online at www.nwmissouri.bkstore.com
or by calling (660) 562-1246 (ext. 1246 on campus).
At the same time (Northwest) awarded its
first degrees, it produced its first annual yearbook. Graduates
who received degrees while clad in caps and gowns for the first
time on June 6, 1917, also received new copies of an annual named
"Tower." Dr. E.L. Harrington, physics professor and
faculty adviser to the book's editors, suggested the name.
"Tower" documented the life of
the school during the year. It provided photos of faculty, administration
and students at each class level and also photographs of student
groups. The literary societies figured prominently as did the
football squad. Also appearing were a dramatic society, a singing
club, an orchestra, the staff of "The Green and White Courier,"
the yearbook staff, and an ambitious athletic program including
men's basketball and baseball, a women's intramural basketball
program, and women's volleyball and field hockey teams.
Some years "Tower" was smaller,
thinner and leaner on photos. ... Such was the case for the wartime
class of 1945. "We visioned pictures of all students ...
but our visions vanished as film was practically impossible to
get," the yearbook staff apologized. Regardless, the seniors
were pictured (five men, 58 women), as well as other classes and
groups, though the pictures were smaller and fewer in number than
previous issues.
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