People | From Woody's Couch

Category: People (page 18 of 52)

First women students were a surprise show but made mark on OSU

March 14, 2014 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

The Townshend family, 1884

In 1873, when two dozen young people showed up at University Hall to enroll in the then-new Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, two were women – in fact, they were the daughters of the first Professor of Agriculture.

Alice and Harriet Townshend were the youngest children of OSU Professor Norton Strange Townshend, who had stepped down from the College’s first Board of Trustees to teach agriculture classes at the new school. He was an advocate for women’s rights, and believed in higher education for all.

The former Townshend home in 1902. The family resided here from 1873 to 1895.

So, on the morning of September 17, 1873, Alice and Harriet, and their older brother, Arthur, walked from their home near 15^th Avenue and High Street to sign up for classes, according to an interview with Harriet Townshend published in the October 1948 issue of The Alumni Monthly. In the interview, Harriet Townshend said that College President Edward Orton Sr. “almost fainted” when the two sisters showed up because he was not expecting women to enroll in the new school. He left it to the Trustees to decide, and upon reading the legislative bill passed to establish the College, they determined that women, as well as men, could attend.

While Arthur graduated with the first class in 1878, it took two more years for Alice Townshend to earn her degree; however, Alice was one of the three students on the committee in 1878 who purchased the ribbons that adorned the first diplomas. The colors of those ribbons were scarlet and gray, and Alice helped pick them.

Harriet Townshend from when she was an assistant librarian at OSU in 1900

Harriet Townshend as an assistant librarian at OSU in 1900

Shortly after graduation, Alice married Charles Mayhew Wing; little else is written about her, except for her death on December 1, 1925.

Though Harriet Townshend never graduated, she worked as an OSU Library staff member for more than 30 years, making sure all of the materials had proper binding. Townshend never lived far from the University; her last residence was listed as 53 W. 11^th Avenue, which today is across the street from the Moritz College of Law. And she continued to be an advocate of higher education for women until her death at age 92 on April 29, 1950.

– Filed by C.N.

Alice Townshend-Wing (front row, second from left), and Hariett Townshend (front row, second from right), at a class reunion party in 1923

Alice Townshend-Wing (front row, second from left), and Harriet Townshend (front row, second from right), at a class reunion party in 1923

John Mount, a Buckeye through and through

February 21, 2014 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

John Mount speaks at his 1941 class reunion, 1991

A reporter once wrote that it took a World War to keep John Mount away from Ohio State. And it can honestly be said that John Mount’s stint in the U.S. Navy is the only time in his adult life that he ever left the University for a significant amount of time. Think about this: Mount’s service to the University has spanned roughly seven decades – more than a third of the University’s total history.

Mount, whose association with OSU took him from student to professor to University administrator, died Thursday. He was 95 years old.

John Mount was born on June 10, 1918 in Butler County, Ohio. He attended public schools before coming to Ohio State on scholarship in 1937 to study agriculture. While at the University, he was a member of Sphinx, Gamma Sigma Delta (National Honor Society of Agriculture), the University Livestock Judging Team, and the Townshend Agriculture Education Society. He was President of the College of Agriculture Student Council, as well as the University 4-H Club. He graduated in 1941 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture. He accepted a job with OSU’s Agricultural Extension Service directly after graduation, then took a leave of absence to join the U.S. Navy, where he fought in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific theaters. He returned home in 1946 to his alma mater, leaving again briefly to complete his master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1949.

John Mount, (top row, right), with the University 4-H Club, 1940

John Mount, (top row, right), as a student with the University 4-H Club, 1940

After returning to OSU, Mount held almost every job possible within the College of Agriculture and the University administration. He served as assistant 4-H leader, professor, and assistant dean and secretary within the College of Agriculture. In 1957 he became the Administrative Assistant to the President, and the following year became Secretary of the Board of Trustees. In 1960 he was named Vice President of Educational Services.

In 1968, Mount was appointed Vice President for Student Affairs, then a new position. It was probably the greatest challenge of his career at OSU, given the turbulent times in which he served. At that time, campuses like OSU’s roiled from sometimes tense and violent demonstrations over the issues of civil rights, women’s rights and the Vietnam War. Mount served as the administration’s liaison with students demanding deep changes in University operations. Mount spent countless hours negotiating with them. During the spring of 1970, an especially contentious period, Mount spent so much time meeting with students that he was admitted to University Hospital for a short period for exhaustion.

Mount with student Tracy Barber, no date

In 1970 he became the University’s first Dean of University College and Vice President for Regional Campuses. It is from these posts that he retired from in 1983 after 42 years of service.

Even in “retirement” there was no question of his leaving Ohio State. He remained involved in 4-H activities, served as the grand marshal of the 2004 Homecoming parade, and was one of six University professors to teach the OSU History course offered annually. Most recently he held the title of faculty emeritus.
At the Summer 1993 Commencement, Mount was awarded OSU’s Distinguished Service Award, for—at that time—almost 50 years of service. In 1983, the University Board of Trustees officially named the then-University College building after him.

During his retirement, Mount continued to volunteer with Freshman Orientation, saying, “I’ve been paid for the things I really enjoy doing. I don’t mind volunteering my time.”

– Filed by C.N.

“Wedded Husband” married Chinese culture with English language at OSU

January 31, 2014 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

Hong Shen, 1919

Nearly 100 years ago, a young man from China studying ceramic engineering at OSU wrote a play in English that was performed in University Hall. It was likely the first-ever English-language play written by a Chinese national to be performed in the U.S.

The young man’s name was Hong Shen, the play was called “The Wedded Husband” and it was performed in University Hall Chapel on April 11 and 12 in 1919 before a capacity audience of 1,300.

Shen was studying at OSU on a scholarship paid by the Chinese government. It was his first play written in English; previous works – “Fruit Vendor” and “Which Is It?” had been performed at his alma mater, Tsing Hua College in Beijing.

University Hall Chapel, c1900

The play was co-sponsored by OSU’s Cosmopolitan Club and the Chinese Students’ Clubs of OSU and Oberlin College, and all of the men’s parts were performed by Chinese students who, like Shen, had been sent to the U.S. by the Chinese government under the provisions of the Boxer indemnity fund.

According to a Lantern article, Shen received a telegram from professors at Goucher College and the Columbia School of Fine Arts to reserve tickets for them. (They were going to be in Columbus for a meeting of the Methodist Centenary Movement.)

The play is about a young woman, Miss Wang, who is arranged to be married to a gentleman named Master Chen. She agrees to the marriage out of filial devotion to her father but during the ceremony, she falls ill. The doctor suspects she is a victim of the plague that is ravaging the city and orders her to be quarantined. Master Chen, however, defies the order to care for his wife. He ends up dying of the plague, while Miss Wang recovers. She is then arranged to be married to Master Yang, but when she hears of how Master Chen risked his life for her, she changes her mind and remains a loyal widow.

Last November, OSU’s Institute for Chinese Studies put on a revival of the play in the Roy Bowen Theatre, in the Drake Union. It was part of a series of events honoring Shen, who left OSU in 1919 to study dramatic arts at Harvard before returning to China where he eventually became an important figure in modern Chinese theater, film and drama. His daughter recently donated a collection of his works to the University.

Ohio State nav bar

From Woody's Couch

Our Playbook on OSU History

Category: People (page 18 of 52)

First women students were a surprise show but made mark on OSU

John Mount, a Buckeye through and through

“Wedded Husband” married Chinese culture with English language at OSU

From Woody’s Couch

Search This Site

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Social Media & RSS