History Minutes

When Walter Candler developed the Lullwater estate in 1925, DeKalb County had not yet extended its electrical grid that far into the country. So, Candler brought the electricity to him by building a dam on South Peachtree Creek and a granite tower with a generator inside to supply power to his house. Today, the tower sits empty, nearly covered by vines and trees, but inside is filled graffiti and Latin phrases signifying that Emory secret societies sometimes use the tower as a meeting spot. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

The Gravity Monument is a large, pink marble structure hidden in the trees behind the Math and Science Building. Given to Emory in 1963 by Roger W. Babson, it signifies the importance of the sciences to humanity. In reality, though, it simply looks like a pink tombstone in the woods. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

Lullwater Preserve is a 154-acre oasis in the city. Emory bought the land and house in 1958 from alumnus Walter Candler. It's become the home of Emory's president, and a beautiful location for walkers, joggers, and those looking to relax in nature. It was once threatened for development, but is now protected land thanks to Emory.

Bobby Jones grew up in Atlanta, learning to play golf at the East Lake Golf Club. He is one of the greatest golfers of all time and is the only player to win the grand slam, all four majors in the same year. But, education was perhaps more important to Jones than golf. He received degrees from Georgia Tech and Harvard before enrolling in law school at Emory, graduating in 1929. In his honor, family and friends formed the Bobby Jones Scholarship in 1976. Every year, four Emory students go to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the birthplace of golf, for a year, and four St. Andrews students come to Emory. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

One of the oldest structures in Oxford, GA was built by Emory's first president, Ignatius A. Few, in the late 1830s to be his house. Three other Emory presidents lived in the home, and it was the site of the wedding of a future Supreme Court Justice. A Methodist philanthropist bought the home in 1899 and gave it to Emory to be the official house the school's president. When Emory moved to Atlanta in 1919, the house became the home of Oxford's dean, but it's still called the President's House. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

The Candler Mansion on Emory's Briarcliff campus is a beautiful yet eerie estate. Built in 1920 by Asa "Buddy" Candler, Jr., the second son of the founder of Coca-Cola, the 42 acre property once housed wild animals including four elephants: Coca, Cola, Refreshing and Delicious. In the 1960s, the mansion was turned into a mental health institute. Today, the house is boarded up, too expensive to renovate, but is still useful as a place to shoot scary movies and TV shows. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

The tiny white cottage tucked behind the Old Church in Oxford, GA was once the home to Catherine "Miss Kitty" Andrew Boyd, a slave owned by Emory's board of trustees resident and Methodist Bishop James Andrew. Her ownership directly led to the separation of the Methodist Church into northern and southern branches in 1844 after Andrew refused to let his slaves free. When the original headstone for Miss Kitty was placed, they put an incorrect name on it. A headstone with her correct name was placed Oct. 23, 2011. Author Mark Auslander wrote a book about Miss Kitty and the various myths surrounding her. You can read the Emory Report article about the book here: http://bit.ly/er_auslander_marbl To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

From 1923-1955, Pushball was a tradition on campus battled out between the freshmen and sophomores. It was played with a 180 pound leather ball and 25 people per team on the field with the goal to push the ball into the other team's end zone. It was banned in 1955 because it caused too many injuries. Pushball was brought back for one day only as part of Emory's 175th anniversary celebration. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

Phi Gamma and Few Halls, on the Oxford campus, are Emory's first and oldest academic buildings. Phi Gamma was the first literary society at Emory, formed just months after the charter was approved in 1837 and even before the campus plan was laid out. It grew so large that it split into another literary society, Few, named after Emory's first president. These two groups were harbingers to Emory's rise to national eminence in debate, and the Barkley Forum debate team was their legacy. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

Today, The Depot is home to a delicious Mediterranean restaurant called Zaya, but its history goes far beyond being an eatery. Built in 1916 as a train stop on the edge of Atlanta, it was a location where people could get on the Silver Comet and ride all the way up to New York City without switching trains.

Isaac Stiles Hopkins, Emory's president from 1884-1888, taught a number of subjects while on faculty at Emory, but he's best known for creating the Department of Toolcraft and Technology. He felt teaching students engineering and industrialization would lead the South out of its economic doldrums. Another Georgia institute of higher education became enamored with his work and hired him as their first president. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

In 1880, Oxford College, much like the rest of the South, had yet to recover from the Civil War. In a sermon from Oxford president Atticus Haygood titled "The New South," he preached about looking to the North for direction on how to rebuild the economy. New York businessman George I. Seney got hold of that sermon and started donating money to Oxford College to help it through the tough times. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

In 1920, Emory theology professor William Shelton bought antiquities from Palestine and Egypt and brought them back to Emory to use as teaching tools. Among them was a mummy who lived around 2000 B.C. He is the oldest Egyptian mummy in the Western Hemisphere. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.

Religion was a very important aspect of life for the Methodists who founded Oxford College. In 1841, they built a simple rectangular church called Oxford Methodist Church. Now known as Old Church, it's been expanded and renovated through the years and still is an important structure for the Oxford community.

When the Methodist Episcopal Church South split with Vanderbilt University in 1914, the church decided to created a new university in the Southeast. The question was where. The answer soon came in the form of a hand-written letter from Coca-Cola founder Asa Griggs Candler.

Each year at Commencement, the University mace is carried in the procession by the past president of the Student Government Association. Emory's mace was given to the school in 1965. It's made of gold and silver with a carving of Dooley, the "spirit" of Emory, at the tip.

Emory's first commencement took place in July of 1840, less than two years after the first classes began. No students actually graduated that year. That didn't happen until 1841.

The tree in front of the Psychology Building on Emory's campus has a much deeper connection to the university than most. It's a descendent of a live oak tree that once shaded John Wesley as he preached on St. Simons Island. Two centuries later, an East Palatka holly growing in the crook of the tree was uprooted by Warren Candler's wife, Antoinette, and planted on Emory's campus.

Lullwater House is a beautiful, Tudor-style home tucked away nicely in Lullwater Preserve. It was built in 1925 for Walter Candler and bought by Emory in 1958. Emory's presidents started living in the home in 1963.

On Emory's Clairmont Campus, it's easy to not notice the cemetery between student housing and a child-care center. It dates back to 1825 when an infant died, and her parents buried her on the hill. Her father then donated two acres around her for a cemetery and church.

In the Baker Woodlands behind the Carlos Museum lies what appears to be stairs. But it's really a sculpture built for Emory in the 1970s. Find out here how it helped Emory become the research institution it is today.

Two sitting United States presidents have visited Emory University, Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. And, both did it at the same location, Cannon Chapel. President Carter broke ground for the chapel in 1979 with his friend William Ragsdale Canon, while Presideent Clinton held his Southeastern Economics Summit there in 1995. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, visit Emory Report's website at http://bit.ly/emoryhistoryminutes. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, visit http://www.emory.edu/175.

The Church School Amphitheater was the site of Emory Commencement for nearly 20 years in the 1940s and 1950s. This was also the site of Emory's first televised event, the 1949 graduation ceremony featuring the vice president of the United States Alben W. Barkley as keynote speaker.

Henry Hornbostel was hired in 1915 by Emory University to design its first buildings on the Druid Hills campus. He is the reason most buildings feature red-tile roofs and pink Georgia marble. But, the architectural feature not often seen are tablets under the eaves of several buildings describing what is studied there.

On the first floor of the Goizueta Business School sits one of the original 17 trading posts from the New York Stock Exchange. When the NYSE installed new posts in the 1980s, the old ones were taken out and given to different institutions.

The Little Chapel in the Church School Building is a beautiful piece of architecture modeled after St. Stephen's Walbrook Church in London. Stained glass, intricate wood carvings, and a domed ceiling will leave you walking away in awe.

Emory University was founded by an original charter that started the school in Oxford, GA in 1836. It's hand-written on two pieces of notebook paper, front and back. To see the entire collection of Emory History Minutes, log on to Emory Report at http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT. And for more information about Emory's 175th Anniversary, log on to http://www.emory.edu/175.