"The College had no money for clerical help; therefore, the announcements to prospective students were prepared by the family in our living room. Of course, there was no Secretary to the President, but I could type at his dictation sufficiently to write the necessary letters, make lists of library needs for dealers, and help get the equipment, the chosen faculty, and the facilities of the College connected adequately for the beginning of the school. It happened that Mr. Birdwell was unable to meet certain faculty members when they came to the College for personal interviews, and I had a small say there in explaining to them the conditions under which the College would be put in operation."

Essay on SFA's Bulletin Number One

SFA Bulletin Number One is an interesting document. Since Birdwell was not sure that the college would get to open in the fall of 1923, he had neither the time nor the money to produce a regular catalog for distribution. Housing, for instance was much more critical, and Birdwell had pressed on the town to do whatever it could quickly. Without a faculty, and with no staff even allowed for in the budget, the promotion of the new college fell to the Birdwells.

Bulletin One, therefore, was no slick pamphlet. It is very modest, straightforward document, really nothing more than a flyer, that represented very closely what President Birdwell was thinking at the time. The word "preliminary" is even in the title of SFA's first official publication. Since the law changing the name of the colleges in the state, at least "normal" was not in the vocabular for this tract. Everyone who received Bulletin One were promised a more complete brochure if they actually applied to come to the new school.

Possibly written as early as the first of the summer, Bulletin One optimistically predicted that the main building would be open by September 18. It touted the positive modern aspects of the building's design, its equipment, and heating and lighting. "The library will contain . . ." - the operative word is "will" since there were no books at the time it was written. Mrs. Birdwell was busily compiling lists over the summer.

Bulletin One did highlight the college's commitment to rual education: "The college will earnestly try to help in the solution of the rural school problem. In East Texas the rural school is both indigenous and permanent. The people who live in the open country are of a hardy pioneer race, and are ambitious to educate their children. The Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College feels that it must send to the open country good teachers and trained leaders in educational affairs." While Bulletin One did plug the town's rich history and traditions, beauty, and assessibility, it naturally stresses more academic matters.

It remained true to its Normal School roots: "Its main business, therefore, is to prepare teachers for the public schools of Texas, both urban and rural." Admission requirements were identical with other teachers colleges across the state. For students who did not have the advantages of a good high school, two years of sub-college work were offered. It promised a faculty in keeping with national standards and experience, "who are ambitious to render genuine service."

"All courses lead to certificates, diplomas and degrees." The ones promised were in the fields of Agriculture, Education, English, Latin, Spanish, Home Economics, Mathematics, Manual Training, Chemistry Physics, Biology, History, Sociology, Economics, Physical Education, and Business Administration. Athletic activities, including football, basketball, baseball, tennis, and other college sports, "all under the direction of a competent coach," were also projected.

Expenses for room and board were estimated to be from $25 to $30 per month. No tuition fees were to be charged, but a matriculation fee of $15 and a student use fee of $5 was promised to cover the cost of athletic contests, lyceum programs, and so forth.

For further information interested parties were to write directly to President Birdwell, which of course meant to Mrs. Birdwell!

The quotations at the end of Bulletin One seem somewhat extraneous, but evidently, they were selected by Birdwell for inclusion because they expressed his thinking. First, he quoted George Washington's farewell address where the great man stressed the "primary importance" of providing a general education along with the vote. "It is essential that public opinion should be enlightened." Second, Birdwell quoted J. Sterling Morton, a former Secretary of Agriculture, that teachers had to be as skilled and as well trained as medical doctors. Bodies are going to die anyway; "a mind made monstrous by bad teaching dies not, but stalks forever among the ages, an immortal mockery of the devine image." Finally, Birdwell's quoted from Ellwood P. Cubberly, an advocate in the teacher's college movement. "Teaching is a calling which demands continual growth on the part of those engaged in it. The advance of our schools is so rapid that teachers who do not continue to increase their capacity for service in time cease to be of large usefulness to a system."

"Teaching is a calling"-these words from SFA Bulletin One are the words President Birdwell lived by and instilled into his students.

A Footnote: "The thing I always remember about him was that anytime he was remembered for his contributions, he always introduced his wife and had her stand and take part of the credit. Which, I thought was remarkable and I have never forgotten his attitude. I would say he was the most pro-woman of the three administrators [Birdwell, Boynton, Steen]." [Oral history interview in 1974: Dr. Lucille Norton, Women's Physical Professor from 1939-1977.]