Marion College
Marion, Virginia
1873-1967
E-Travel
Two histories of Marion College are available online. A Short History of Marion College (1948) by Goodridge Wilson was issued at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the college. The longer Marion College, 1873-1967 by Thomas W. West, the last president of the college, was written in 1970. Several issues of the Hatchet, the school yearbook, are available from either Internet Archive or JSTOR. The Roanoke Times was among the newspapers that covered events at the school.
History
Marion College was a product of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Western Virginia. Under the direction of Dr. John J. Scherer, Marion College opened in 1873 with 37 students, taught by a faculty of ten. The school was chartered by the commonwealth in January 1874. In 1915 it was accredited by Virginia as a standard junior college. Its liberal arts curriculum was supplemented by a normal nepartment, allowing Marion to produce well-trained teachers. Then in 1899 a business department was added.
The 1950 Hatchet shows a student body of 107, of whom ten were male day students. There were 31 second-year students (called Seniors); 61 were first-year students, and 15 were in high school. Students represented twelve states; two students were from Venezuela. Seventy-two students were Virginians, and ten were from Pennsylvania.
Marion students published a newspaper (The Squib) in addition to the Hatchet. As a Lutheran school it had chapters of the Y.W.C.A., the Lutheran Student Association and the Missionary Society. About a third of the students were members of the choir. But the top of student activity was the May Day festival. It included a May Queen and her court, including all senior women. The school’s top honor went to Miss Marion, the student who best represented the Marion Ideal. After 1938 school dances were allowed.
Because of issues with endowment, the library, and faculty salaries, Marion was unable achieve regional accreditation and so lost Lutheran support. It was forced to close in 1967, with records going to Roanoke College.
In 1910 the Marion people razed the old building and replaced it with a Classical-Revival style three-story brick structure, occupied in 1911 and finally completed in 1912. All school functions—classrooms, administrative offices, an auditorium, and dormitory-boarding facilities—were located under one roof. The building featured a two-story Ionic portico.
The gymnasium was only a small basement space, unsuitable for basketball. In 1924, following the emergence of sports programs, the school raised funds for a larger gymnasium. A new wing added space for a 90 x 60 feet gymnasium suitable for basketball, indoor tennis and bowling. In addition, the new wing added dormitory space for 50 more students and an infirmary.
This building now houses the Blue Ridge Job Corp. In 1984 it became a part of the Marion Historic District.
Bricks and Mortar
Marissa and Mary Gordon operated Marion Female School from their home, a large brick residence on West Main Street. Purchased by Major G. W. Smith, the property was passed on to Marion College for their first campus in 1873.
Blue Ridge Job Corp. Building. Image from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources 119-0012
Sports
School Colors: Purple and Gold
Marion College sports programs began at the intramural level. The 1901 yearbook shows images of two basketball teams designated as Hornets and Bumble Bees. By 1923 Roanoke Times reported that Marion “has given athletics an important place in its curriculum.” In addition to basketball, intramural competition included croquet, hiking, tennis, and track and field. The student body became divided between “Purples” and “Golds.”
In 1916 News and Advance reported that Marion would play a match game against a team from Mary Washington College—either outdoors or in “some suitable building in town.” This seems to be the beginning of intercollegiate sports. Newspapers began to take note of basketball games against college teams from Emory and Henry, Stonewall Jackson, Virginia Tech, Virginia Intermont, Sullins, Roanoke, National Business, and King. In 1925 with the new gymnasium, Marion became the basketball center for the area.
The 1967 basketball team, Marion College's last. Image from the Hatchet, courtesy of Internet Archive.
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