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• 1 media/PHOC0081.Oxford copy.jpg 2018-03-02T13:37:35-08:00 The Nest of Creative Rebellion 29 plain 2018-05-29T12:40:44-07:00 Laura Cortina
  
  Emory College (now known as Oxford College) and the town of Oxford were founded together in 1836 and organized in harmony to create a community focused on the Methodist ideals of worship and higher education.[i] When the Prayer Chapel became the permanent house of worship in 1875, it would quickly became more than a place of worship; an outlet and venue for performance, a nest of creative rebellion, home to the Glee Club, Mixed Chorus, and the Choral.[ii]  
  
  In 1875, the chapel was built in a way that “typified the ‘plain and decent’ edifice recommended by the Methodist Discipline during the nineteenth century.”[iii] This meant a minimal façade with understated Neo-Classical ornamentation on the overhang of its slanted roof, and two sets of double doors that opened to two isles of seating for the traditional purpose of separating genders.[iv] Despite the fact that at the time of the Prayer Chapel’s construction there were no women enrolled at Oxford College, and this would not change until 1953, the traditional seating design of the Methodist chapel was retained.
  
  The key to understanding the relationship between the Prayer Chapel and the Glee Club is in how Oxford’s student body interacted with the chapel. When daily prayer and masses were still a required component of the Oxford curriculum it was normal to hear song come from the chapel at least twice a day.[v] Though singing may have offered some relief to students, the rigidity of compulsory daily mass,[vi] may have led to the introduction of pranks. In Memory of Old Emory records a legendary prank, when the biology skeleton Dooley made his first appearance up on the chapel roof, in a buggy, smoking a cigar, and wearing a beaver hat, no less.[vii] Mounting a skeleton may not have been the most wholesome installation of art, but it did make for an unusual opening act for the Glee Club.
  
  This prank set the tone for what would be a long tradition of hosting vibrant--and less destructive--performance. Through the Glee Club, students found creative relief from the pressures of their academic and religious lives at Oxford. As a singing group, the Glee Club embodied what was popular for entertainment in the early to mid-twentieth century. Our earliest images of the Glee Club date back to the 1930s, when the young men were always photographed in suits, wearing neutral expressions, and in the solemn backdrop of the Prayer Chapel. Their black and white uniform speaks to the decorum that was required by the fine art of singing. Their setting was limited, however, because the chapel was the only building on campus equipped to host them for both practice and performance.
  
  Despite the formality that their occasion called for, the Glee Club is where the young men of Oxford found camaraderie and opportunities for leadership and growth under their director and accompanist. This image is such a memory, preserved. Members of the Glee Club stand gathered around their director who sits and speaks to them on the steps of the Allen Memorial United Methodist Church (Allen Memorial). It could have been that the day was marked as a photo shoot of the club for the yearbook or some other equally important occasion, but in between executing club business, some of the young men are chatting with each other at the back of the gathering. Those closer to their director are more invested in his words, and the director himself is expressing such animation and engagement with his students that it is impossible to ignore the bonds of friendship that Glee Club helped bring about, even between director and student.
  
  While men could find creative outlets in the Glee Club, there was no permanent space for women on campus until 1953. During the college’s earliest days, the campus had one small chapel located where the tennis courts are today.[viii] It served several purposes, most notably that of being a teaching facility for the girls of the town of Oxford.[ix] This motion was petitioned for by professor C.J. Haderman in 1847, and for a while the original chapel was the only way female students interacted with the Oxford College campus. Even then, the girls who attended the chapel school were not officially enrolled at Emory College (Oxford College), meaning they could not pursue degrees in higher education, but were instead a part of a preparatory school program.[x]
  
  By 1953 women are on campus, this time permanently with ability to seek a degree. Simultaneously, the Glee Club was still very much a popular source of entertainment on the campus, performing in both the Prayer Chapel and the Allen Memorial Church. The stage was set for women to become involved in the arts and further propel their development at Oxford, but the Glee Club was never made into a co-ed student group. Instead, two new singing organizations arose for female students to take part in. The Mixed Chorus, where male and female students combined talents, and the Choral, where female students were the stars.
  
  Chronology lends support to the idea that maybe the Mixed Chorus was established before the Choral. To understand the development of these two organization and student-led fine arts at Oxford College, I decided to research the trails left behind by two Oxford alunmi - Martha Lokey and Julia Wallace Crum. Martha Lokey was part of Oxford’s first co-ed graduating class of 1956.[xi] She is pictured as a part of the Mixed Chorus. Lokey is seated in the front row, just to the left of the accompanist dressed in all black. The Mixed Chorus, like the Glee Club, dressed for the occasion as performers; the girls in fine gowns and the boys is white suits. Lokey did not stop at the Mixed Chorus. Lokey and five of her friends founded a club called Dooley’s Dolls. At its founding, Dooley’s Dolls was meant to be a safe space for the women on campus. The idea was so popular that in the yearbook following its founding in 1955, almost every graduating girl is listed as a member.[xii] Though sisterhood was integral to the club, Dooley’s Dolls was founded on the primary purpose of “creating increased interest in dramatics and related activities.”[xiii]
  
  By the time of Lokey’s graduation we can now see a definite push—powered by women—toward diverse forms of dramatic expression. The Glee Club still enjoyed its popularity as “the most active club on campus,” providing entertainment at a Christmas concert, weekly chapel programs, and even going on winter and sprint tours.[xiv]
  
  Three years following following Lokey's graduation, Julia Wallace Crum was part of Oxford’s 1959 graduating class. Crum and Lokey narrowly missed each other during their respective enrollments in the College, but Crum’s participation in the arts allows us to continue this story. Crum is credited with having been a part of the Mixed Chorus, like Lokey, as well as soloist for the Glee Club, vice president of Dooley’s Dolls, and secretary for Choral.[xv] Julia Crum seemed to have a hand in all fine arts organizations, and set a new standard of inclusion for the Glee Club by being their soloist.
  
  Julie Crum shone her brightest when singing with her peers in the Choral. Find her on the right-hand side of the image, second row from the top; her smile is wide, as are the grins on all the other young women’s faces. Their director or faculty advisor stands to the side. The picture was taken at night, on the steps of the Allen Memorial Church, likely celebrating the end of an outstanding performance or season for the girls. Like the image above of the Glee Club boys engaging in conversation with their director, this image shows us how performance and art—especially the art of song—can foster joy and friendship.
  
  In 1959, Dramatics Club shone a spotlight on the fine arts, though distinct from the Glee Club’s influence. Created by members of the Dooley’s Dolls club, this new club was dedicated to “the purpose of offering a means of informal dramatic expression to those interested.”[xvi] While this was a step away from the formality that traditionally accompanied the performance of song at Oxford, it heralded a movement toward art clubs that help define the Oxford experience today. The Dramatics Club and all subsequent arts clubs at Oxford were built on the foundation of the Glee Club, who's very beginnings are traceable to the opening of Prayer Chapel’s double doors.
   

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  [i] Erik B. Oliver, Cornerstone and Grove: A Portrait in Architecture and Landscape of Emory’s Birthplace in Oxford, Georgia (Atlanta: Bookhouse Group Inc. [Emory University], 2009), 13.

  [ii] Oliver, 33

  [iii] Christopher H. Owen, “By Design: The Social Meaning of Methodist Church Architecture in Nineteenth-Century Georgia,” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 75, no. 2 (Summer 1991): 224.

  [iv] Oliver, Cornerstone and Grove, 39.

  [v] Oliver, 38

  [vi] Oliver, Cornerstone and Grove, 39.

  [vii] Carlton, In Memory of Old Emory, 20.

  [viii] Oliver, Cornerstone and Grove, 17.

  [ix] Oliver, Cornerstone and Grove, 34.

  [x] Oliver, Cornerstone and Grove, 34.

  [xi] Emory Junior College and Academy, Memory (Oxford, GA: Emory Junior College and Academy, 1956).

  [xii] Emory Junior College and Academy, Memory (Oxford, GA: Emory Junior College and Academy, 1956).

  [xiii] Emory Junior College and Academy, 55.

  [xiv] Emory Junior College and Academy, 47.

  [xv] Emory Junior College and Academy, Memory (Oxford, GA: Emory Junior College and Academy, 1959)

  [xvi] Emory Junior College and Academy, 68.