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ACADEMICS

Geology Department Founded

Professor Alfred Woodford 1913 returned to his alma mater in 1915 to become an instructor in chemistry and received permission to teach the first geology class in 1919. After he earned his Ph.D. in geology in 1922, the College established a separate Geology Department under his direction. He would go on to teach at Pomona for a total of 40 years, retiring in 1955.

CAMPUS

Sumner Hall Moved and Transformed

A reincarnation of Sumner Hall occurred in 1921-22, when Sumner was dismantled and reconstructed in its present location east of Bridges Hall of Music in order to make way for the creation of the large central quadrangle anticipated in architect Myron Hunt’s 1908 campus plan. That Sumner Hall was preserved reflected its importance to the early history of the College. In the move, the building was turned 180 degrees to face east, and one wing was removed and relocated to Dartmouth and Sixth Street where it served as a studio for Art Professor Hannah Tempest Jenkins. Once stripped of its Victorian gingerbread, the wood building was encased in a tile-roofed stucco shell, resulting in a building within a building. Parallel to Bridges Hall of Music across Memorial Court, Sumner became, once again, the College’s central administration building, retaining this identity until the opening of Alexander Hall in 1991.

Marston Quadrangle

In gratitude for the $100,000 gift from founding trustee and President of the Board George Marston that made the College’s newly completed and landscaped quad possible, the Board named the new open space Marston Quadrangle.

ELSEWHERE

  • Ulysses, by James Joyce, was published in Paris on his 40th birthday.
  • Mahatma Gandhi was sentenced to six years--of which he only served two--in an Indian prison for sedition.
  • Joseph Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party.