The Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 50, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, February 10, 1956 Page: 4 of 8
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Page Four
Friday, February 10, 1956
The Mepap
ABOVE: The lobby, foyer, office, and proctor’s quarters of the new dormitory are
shown in this Megaphone photo.
Tribute Paid Martin
Ruter, S.U. Founder
Ruter Dorrr
Dedicated S
RIGHT: The “television corner” of the Martin Ruter
The room is to the immediate right of the entrance.
Distinguished Mei
Attend Dedicatior
The dedication of Ruter Dor-
mitory on the Southwestern cam-
pus was attended by a long list
of outstanding persons. In addi-
tion to the large crowd of stu-
dents, parents and friends, and
townspeople, the guest lists in-
cluded many names well known in
the church and in public affairs.
Included among those present
were a former Governor of Tex-
as, several college and university
presidents, and the architect who
designed the building.
Numbered among the guests
were Dr. Willis Tate, president
of Southern Methodist Univer-
sity; Sterling F. Wheeler, vice-
president of SMU; Roy Farrow,
executive director of Methodist
College Association, Dallas; Dr.
Law Sone, president of Texas
Wesleyan College, Fort Worth;
Dr. Harold G. Cooke, president
of MeMurry College, Abilene; Ce-
cil E. Peeples, president of Lon
Morris College, Jacksonville; John
D. Wheeler, chairman of
Board of Trustees of Southw
ern, and Mrs. Wheeler of San
tonio; Dr. E. Heinsohn, men
of the Hoard of Trustees,
Mrs. Heinsohn of Austin; Mrs
H. Sisserson, Cleburne; Mr.
Mrs. Willard Russell, Hous
Mr. and Mrs. Cameron Faircl
Houston; the former Covei
and Mrs. Dan Moody of A us
and Miss Mary Moody, Tayl
Presider
Reveals
Portions of1 a “presidt
dream for his university” \
revealed at the first student
sembly for the spring semeste
Southwestern University.
Dr. Wrilliam C. Finch, presii
of Southwestern, revealed s
Tribute was paid here Sunday
to a pioneer Methodist missionary
educator in the dedication of Ru-
ler dormitory, new men’s housing
facility at Southwestern Univer-
sity.
The dormitory is named for Mar-
tin Ruter, who in 1837 came to
Texas as superintendent of the
first Methodist mision. He was a
leader in the founding of old Ru-
tersville College, chartered in 1840
and later merged with other Meth-
odist schools to form Southwest-
ern University.
“We can recall with genuine
satisfaction that in Martin Ruter
the Methodist Church sent one of
its most prominent and versatile
leaders to establish the church in
the Texas Republic and to help
pioneer in higher education,” said
the Rev. Dr. John O. Gross, Nash-
ville, Tenn., principal speaker at
the dedication.
Dr. Gross is executive secretary
of the Methodist Board of Educa-
tion’s Division of Educational In-
stitutions. The agency links 116
colleges, universities and semin-
aries to the church.
He recalled that Ruter, largely
self-educated, first came to atten-
tion as a “boy preacher” In his
native Vermont and later won
wide acclaim as a college presi-
dent. He was the first Methodist
preacher to receive an honorary
Doctor of Divinity degree.
He helped establish the first
Methodist acaremy in New Eng-
land, and old Augusta College in
Kentucky, and served as president
of both schools. He gave up the |
presidency of Allegheny College in
in Pennsylvania to go to the “Tex-
as mision field.” where he soon
became widely known as a “circuit
rider” preacher.
“The Methodist work a T^xas
started by Martin Ruter today
comprises 1600 pastoral charges
with 635,000 members, and eight
colleges and universities with an
enrollment of 15.000 students,” Dr.
Gross said.
Over 400 Guests
Numbered among the 400 guests
at the dedication service were Dr.
Willis Tate, president of SMU;
Sterling F. Wheeler, SMU vice-pre-
sident; Roy Farrow, executive di-
rector of the Methodist College
association, Dallas; also
Dr. Law Stone, president of Tex-
as Wesleyan college, Fort Worth;
Dr. Harold G. Cooke, president of
MeMurry college in Abilene; Cecil
E. Peeples, president of Lon Mor-
ris college, Jacksonville; John D.
Wheeler, chairman of the South-
western board of trustees, and
Mrs. Wheeler of San Antonio.
Dr. E. Heinsohn. member of the
board of trustees, and Mrs. Hein-
sohn of Austin; Mrs. C. H. Sisjjer-
j son of Cleburne; Mr. and Mrs. Wil-
lard Russell of Houston, Mr. and
Mrs. Cameron Fairchild of Hous-
ton; former Governor and Mrs.
Dan Moody of Auslin; and Miss
Mary Moody of Taylor.
Service Participants
Participating in the dedicatory
service were Bishops Wm. C. Mar-
tin of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area
and A. Frank Smith of the Hous-
ton-San Antonio area; Dr. Wm. C.
Finch, Southwestern president; Dr.
Floyd Curl, superintendent of the
San Antonio district; Dr. Monroe
Vivion, executive secretary of the
Texas conference, Houston; and
Dr. C. H. Sisserson, superintendent
of the Cleburne district of the Cen-
tral Texas conference.
The Rev. Martin Ruter, left above, and the building in which he first founded Ruter-
ville College. . .Rev. Ruter would be surprised; the building would be gone. Ruterville
College was the parent of Southwestern. The 116th Founders* Day anniversary will be
observed Sunday when formal dedication services will be held for Martin Ruter Dorm-
itory on the S.U. campus.
THE EARLY STAGES of the construction of the r
Martin Ruter Dormitory are shown in the above ph
taken last year.
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The Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 50, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, February 10, 1956, newspaper, February 10, 1956; Georgetown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth620841/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Southwestern University.