McMaster in the 1920s

1920 The post-war women continue to make strides towards equal participation as their male counterparts by increasing their activities in sports and athletics. In October of 1920, the First Girl's Field Day was held, a competitive track and field day for women only.

Meanwhile, back in Hamilton, the Chamber of Commerce launched a campaign to bring McMaster to Hamilton.

The McMaster Hamilton Alumni Branch was officially organized. It's first president was Rev. W.W. McMaster, pastor of the James Street Church.

1921 The Athletics Association begins to recognize the participation of the women athletes by awarding them with the letter and crest awards.

1922 The 'McMasterrifics' are formed. This sub committee of student body executive was an organized theatre company that performed skits and humourous plays.

The McMaster Alumni Association officially endorses a proposed move to Hamilton by way of a letter from association president Evan Gray to Chancellor McCrimmon.

Talk was heard among Hamilton locals of a medical school being included in the McMaster move.

1923 Chancellor Howard P. Whidden, a member of McMaster's first graduating class, takes the reins of McMaster University.

The Association of Faculty and Students became institutionalized to ensure that every student received some personal contact. Much like the mentoring programmes of today, each freshman assigned a faculty advisor to help adjust to their new environment.

Clubs that had disbanded before the war being to re-establish themselves.

The first year book for the graduating class was published, although it was not yet titled The Marmor.

McMaster administration again faced the issue of the cramped quarters on Bloor Street West. They found four viable proposals to deal with their limited space:

1. Stay where they were.
2. Federate with the University of Toronto and allow the Bloor Street and Eglington Avenue properties to become part of UofT campus.
3. Move out to the property still owned on Eglington Ave.
4. Move to Hamilton

They concluded that moving to Hamilton, at an estimated cost of $1,000,000.00, was the most practical option. These funds would cover the cost of a main building, science building, male residence, female residence, dining room and heating plant. The conditions of the proposed move were that the University maintain its charter, that the University sell all its Toronto land holdings and proceeds be directed towards the move, and that the citizen's of Hamilton embark on a campaign to help finance the construction of university buildings on a donated site. The campaign and plans to move would start and stop for the next 5 years.

Founder's Day celebrations were split into two events: Macopenite, for the merriment of students; and Founder's Day, held the day following Macopenite for faculty and guests.

1924 The Minister of Jarvis Street Baptist Church, T.T. Shields, began to publicly criticize the "modernism" at McMaster during the 1920s. The debate which began when Shields criticized the University for hiring a 'modern' professor, was hotly contested by the student body.

1924 Nip & Tuck society (started informally in 1913) recognized by student government as a disciplinary body for resident students:

"By the mid-1920s it gathered for late-night snacks, nipping into someone's room and tucking into the food; then members discussed who had violated residence codes. Card players were in big trouble! . . . When a student violated a residence rule passed by a resolution of the Student Body Executive, he could expect a nocturnal visit from the society. Its members handed a card to the offender describing his error and stating: 'it behooves us to enforce these official enactments by immersing all offenders. GET YOUR TOWEL AND COME.'"

1925 More changes on campus! This year marked the first time day students outnumbered residence students. To more actively represent the day students, the student government split in two: Student Body and Residence Council. The Men's residence kept the title of High Kakiak. As a sure sign of the times, women still not allowed the vote in the general student body elections. They, however, held their own elections for Women's student body president and year reps.

1926 A student government motion was passed to begin the initiation for all freshmen into the rites of undergraduate education, brotherhood, and seniority by the entire Sophomore class. Official complaints began in 1929.

The first Frosh-Soph banquet held to help reconcile the two groups after the rites of initiation. In line with the original Baptist principles, the banquet was most decidedly not a dance.

After 3 years of stagnation, talks again began in earnest for the proposed move to Hamilton. A committee of Hamilton-area businessmen and politicians offered a key change to the proposal: The citizens of Hamilton would donate $500,000.00 and 50-75 acres for the future site of McMaster University. McMaster University and the Baptist Convention would embark on a campaign to raise $1.5 million. Chancellor Whidden also committed that the half million raised by the citizens of Hamilton would go to the construction of a science building named Hamilton Hall.

1927 McMaster and the City of Hamilton officially agreed on a proposal to move the University.

1928 McMaster launches the "New McMaster Campaign." It was expected that the Baptist convention, alumni and friends of the University would cover ¾ of the $2 million cost of the move and the citizens of Hamilton would cover the rest.

1929 The depression hits and affects the "New McMaster Campaign." Several major pledges are left unfulfilled as industrialists recuperate. Construction begins on the Hamilton Campus, but is scaled back from the architect's plans that included an imposing chapel that connected University and Hamilton Halls.

The first two issues of the campus newspaper The Silhouette were published in Toronto.

McMaster: a snapshot of the Hamilton Campus

McMaster moves to Hamilton and the 5 new buildings on campus: University Hall housed administration, arts classes, and the library. Hamilton Hall, named in honour of the citizens of Hamilton who contributed for its construction, was dedicated to the sciences. Residence students lived in Edwards Hall (male) and Wallingford Hall (female). And the Refectory served as the dining hall. The sunken gardens on Main Street added to the idyllic setting of a University in the country.

Works Cited
Johnston, Charles M. McMaster University: 1/The Toronto Years. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976.

Johnston, Charles M. McMaster University: 2/The Early Years in Hamilton, 1930-1957. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981.

Johnston, Charles M., and John C. Weaver. Student Days: Student Life at McMaster University from the 1890s to the 1980s. Hamilton: D.G. Seldon Printing, 1986.

"Sadie Hawkins Day" 29 March 2002. The Official Li'l Abner Website. Online. Internet. 24 July 2002. Available: www.lil-abner.com

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