FACULTYDepartment ChairsThe department was officially created on July 1, 1917 and Dean Alfred Vivian served as the first interim chair until the arrival of Wilbur F. Stewart on September 1, 1917. Wilbur F. Stewart would go on to serve as chair of the department for the next 30 years. In addition to his duties as chair, Stewart also served as the state supervisor of Vocational Education from 1918 -1921.

STUDENTS

Faculty from the first ten years: Edwin Johnson, Ray Fife, Herschel Nisonger, and Harold Kenestrick.

1917 to 1927

The beginning faculty:Stewart appointed William Montgomery as an Instructor and Edwin Johnson in spring of 1918. Montgomery would leave later that year to take a position as a County Agent in Fayette County, a position he held for 40 years. Johnson would play a key role in helping to establish the initial curriculum until the sudden loss of his brother meant that he was needed back home. Ray Fife joined the faculty in 1920 and served for two years before he left to become the State Supervisor of Vocational Agriculture. Harold Kenestrick joined the faculty as an instructor in 1919 where he served as an itinerant teacher, relieving teachers of their duties so they could receive additional training. Kenestrick was appointed as an Assistant Professor two years later in 1922. Hershel Nisonger joined the faculty in 1920 and remained on the faculty until he left to join the College Administration in 1927.

CurriculumInitial CurriculumStudents in the College of Agriculture were required to complete two years of specified courses before they could begin scheduling the specialized agriculture courses to complete whatever major they were pursuing. Students were also required to complete farm experience each year so that they would have one full year of resident experience upon graduation.

The initial specialized courses for Agricultural Education were: The initial curriculum consisted of two courses: 101-102: Teaching of Agriculture in Secondary Schools 103-104: Practice Teach of Ag in Secondary Schools.

Semester to Quarter ConversionIn 1922, the College changed to the “Quarter Plan” which required the reappraisal and adjustment of all coursework. A committee worked for over a year to prepare for this conversion. Stewart reported that as a result of this process, the classes were “materially improved and better coordinated.”

401: Teach of Voc Agriculture in Secondary Schools402: Observation of Teaching Vocational Agriculture403: Supervised Teaching of Vocational Agriculture

Classes were also added for advanced undergraduates or graduate students:

601: Special Meth of Teaching Vocational Agriculture602: History of Agricultural Education603: Agricultural Ed and the Voc Education Mvmt

One class was added for gradate students only:801: Special Problems

The Point SystemIn 1922, the University Faculty adopted a “point system” which gave students something to “stimulate a higher grade of scholarship.” This gave students something more to strive for than just a passing grade and also made it possible to deny the degree to students whose work had been of “uniformly low grade.”

Training Center Locations

Worthington was the first training center added in February of 1918. Canal Winchester and Hilliard were added later that same year. The following year, training centers were added in Grovel City and Hamilton Township. In 1924, Hamilton Township was replaced by Westerville.

Worthington, Hilliard, and Canal Winchester were added in 1918.

Grove City was added as a training center in 1919 and Westerville in 1924.

The program used several inter-urban trains to get boys from Ohio State to the participating schools in the suburbs. In this picture c1924 Ralph Howard stands with OSU students as they wait for the train.

R1: Volney Applegate, Thomas Berry, Lester Geiger, Emil Grener, Millard Jordan, Fred Keeler, R2: Harry Kern, George Krill, Chauncey Lang, William Montgomery, Ralph Richardson, James Spence, Joyce Wilcox

1918

R1: Walling Corwin, Odin Hearing, Ralph Howard, George Johnson, John McGuffey, Herschel PinkleyR2: James Polk, Otto Smith, Thurlow Vickery Not Pictured: Lewis Barb, Daniel Byers, Harold Kenestrick, Robert McMurray, Hazelton Purvis, Charles Runk, Homer Walter

1919

R1: Thomas Allen, Orson Barker, Alvin Barr, Thomas Brownlee, Bernard Durbin, Mark Fuller, R2: John Graham, Arthur Halterman, Thomas Kennard, Clarence Rowland, Mark Simon, Thomas Wiley Not Pictured: Richard Helt, Harold Link, Bashford Reading, James Scofield, Russell Sunderland

1920

R1: Robert Barr, Fred Davis, George Dix, James Frew, Herman Gaebel, Neal GillamR2: Guy Glunt, Glenn Greek, Foster Hoffman, Herman Krohm, Chester Lang, Harvey Martin, Carl McElwain, Eugene MillerR3: Ulric Roush, Walter Smith, Ross Snyder, Whitney Stout, William Vanlandingham, Herbert Varney, Hoy Wagner, Harry WilliamsNot Pictured: Carlton Christian, Walter Fordyce, John Kauffman, Paul Mengert, William Parrish, Albert Sanderson, Joseph Schickedantz, Frederick Trapp, Roger Warner

1922

R1: Clarence Ashenfelter, Homer Barnhart, Theodore Bascom, Leonard Baver, Arthur Bell, Leland Bingham R2: Virgil Burris, James Clark, Huber Delinger, Virgil Dent, Harvey Dickerson, Clark Durbin, Carl Gibboney, George GrayR3: Ellis Halley, Curtis Jones, Walter Leppert, James Malick, Charles Nicholson, Clyde Roberts, Arthur Sandrock, John SchofieldR4: Mark Shanafelt, Harold Slager, Carl Stebbins, William Stevens, Carl Vandervort, Harvey Wagner, Warren Weiler, Harry H. WeiserR5: Paul Young Not Pictured: Murrell Baugh, Francis Bell, William Coulson, Arbor Fields

1923

1921

R1: Everett Barker, Nelson Beem, Bryon Bricker, Lester Campbell, Vance Clever, Russel ClymerR2: Paul Cunningham, George Everhart, Charles Fravel, Guy Geiger, Frank Haskins, Alfred Hedge, Jay McAnall, John McClellandR3: Arthur Neu, Glenn Rupert, Raymond Virtue Not Pictured: Donald Balliet, Harold C. Frey, Ray C. Spilker

R1: Willis Barger, Wilbur Beane, Clarence Brown, Robert Campbell, Arthur Clapp, John FinanR2: Harold Fleming, Paul Hartup, George Hasler, Arthur Hathaway, Chester Hutchinson, Thomas Johnson, James Kyle, Robert LangR3: Joseph Leavengood, Albert Paulus, Harold Pickering, Floyd Ruble, Forest Teeter, James Tressler, Melville Trucksis, Horace VandeveerR4: Chester Weaver, Cyrus Wright

1924

1925

R1: Thomas Cook, Chester George, Lester George, Albert Griffin, Paul Hanes, Harold LintnerR2: Howard McClarren, Benjamin Morris, Leonidas Walker, Willard Wolf, Francis Wolfe, Harry WrightNot Pictured: Laurel Carnahan, John Dunbar, H.R. Martin, Aaron Pancake, M.W. Rohrbaugh, P. Whittington

R1: William Barker, Ralph Blaney, John Davis, William Defenbaugh, Harrold Elliott, Joseph FrantzR2: Jerrold Haley, Arthur Lewis, Seymour McGuire, Harley Renollet, Byron Ulrich, Clifton Wenig, Glenn Zeller, Paul ZumbroNot Pictured: Howard Grice, Carlton Jackson, Charles Violet, Ross McKinley Work

1926

R1: Carl Barker, David Beall, Wilbur Bruner, Ralph Darling, Albert Davis, Wilbur FohlR2: Roscoe Franks, Richard Gisler, Wesley Green, Earl Hetrick, Ernest Hopkins, Harold Hursh, Harold Kennedy, James KreglowR3: George Krohn, James Owens, Donald Robinson, William Smith, Wilkin Teegarden, Wilbur Wood, Alan Woodrow, Ralph Zimmerman Not Pictured: Harold Drum, James Sanford

1927

Interurban Train RoutesThe training centers were located in the rural communities surrounding Columbus. The students could take advantage of the inter-urban train routes to spend half of their day on campus and half conducting observations at a training center.

Two important aspects of the vocational agriculture classroom are the class project and the home project. On the left is an apple trailer built by a class in Kenton and on the right several boys display their home projects.

DEPARTMENT LOCATIONS 1917-1927

When Wilbur F. Stewart began his employment as Chairman of the Department on September 1, 1917, he had an office in 103 Townshend Hall. The space in Townshend Hall was large enough for two desks, two chairs, two files and a typewriter for Mr. Stewart and a part-time student secretary. In 1922, the office moved to Room 209 in the Horticulture and Forestry Building (now known as Lazenby Hall). This space allowed for a reception / secretarial station and two small offices. This space also had a Spirit Duplicating Machine.

Townshend Hall Horticulture and Forestry Building (Lazenby Hall)

The Department purchased a Spirit Duplicating Machine like the one on the right in 1922. This machine used a sheet coated with a layer of wax permeated with a colorant. The pressure of writing or typing on the first sheet transferred the colored wax from the second sheet to the shiny/coated back side of the first sheet, producing a mirror image.

Instructors in Training Schools 1917-1927There were 18 instructors at the training schools in the first decade. Of these 18 instructors, 15 were graduates of Ohio State, two from Purdue, and one from Illinois. Many departmental graduates would become instructors for the training schools and many instructors would later join the resident staff in the department.

Worthington: William W. Montgomery (1918), Ralph H. Schreiber (1918-1920), Arthur Kennedy (1920-1930)

Canal Winchester: R. D. Kauffman (1918-1921), G.G. Everhart (1921-1922), Carlton Christian (1922-1924), Robert G. McMurray (1924-1930)

Hilliard: F. H. McMillen (1918-1920), Harry Atwood (1920-922), E.O. Bolender (1922-1934)

Grove City: Herschel Nisonger (1919-1920), Harold Kenestrick (1920-1922), John McClelland (1922-1925), Floyd Ruble (1925-1941)

Westerville: Fred Salter (1924-1925), Ted Merriam (1925-1928)

Hamilton Township: J. B. Lane (1919-1920), W. F. Bruce (1920-24)

Staff

The beginning staff:The department had five stenographers in the first decade. Clara Weishaupt was the initial stenographer for the department from January 1918 to July 1920. Weishaupt was followed by four other stenographers each serving less than three years: Lucy Folsom from 1920-1921, Mary Jo Hunter 1921-1923, Catherine McKinty 1923-1924, Mary Schimmel 1923-1926, and Beatrice (Babb) Geiler 1926-29.

Early stenographer Clara Weishauptwould go on to earn three degrees from Ohio State (BS, 1924; MS,1932; and PhD,1935) before becoming a faculty member in botany and plant pathology. Dr. Weishaupt spent 22 years on the faculty of the Department of Botany and received several honors including the Ohio State Distinguished Service Award, and the Ohio State Distinguished Teaching Award.

Graduate Studies

Graduate CourseworkThe first graduate courses were offered in 1922 and offered to advanced undergraduates or graduate students. The first graduate students in the department were current teachers of vocational agriculture with the first three Master’s degrees awarded in 1927 to instructors in the training schools: Harry Atwood an instructor in Hilliard, Arthur Kennedy an instructor at Worthington, and John McClelland an instructor at Grove City. Nisonger earned his MA at Columbia in 1926 and served as advisor to two of the first Master’s degrees.

1927Harry Atwoodadvised by J. J. FalconerIs Ohio agriculturally self-sufficient?

Arthur C. Kennedy advised by Herschel W. NisongerA study of the needs for training in farm mechanics in Ohio

John McClelland advised by Herschel W. NisongerAgricultural Instruction for part time groups in Ohio

Early agricultural instructors in action. The photo on the left is of the training center in Grove City

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1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927

1918-1927

Undergraduate Masters PhD

219Total Degrees

216Bachelors

3Masters

0PhD