Welcome

Council & Commission

Calendar

History
  Francis Eppes VII
  1851 - 1905
  1905 - 1947
  1947 - 1959
  1959 - 1980
  1980 - 1990
  Present

Partners

Resources

Commemorative Items

150 Home

FSU Home

Edward Conradi turned over the presidency of FSCW to Dr. Doak Campbell in 1941. Campbell quickly impressed the students with his contemporary attitude. However, with dormitory and classroom overcrowding, buildings in extremely poor physical condition, and the onset of WWII just around the corner, he had his work cut out for him.

Life on campus continued at a fairly normal pace during the war. On December 7, 1941 word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor reached campus. Panic began to set in. The Board of Control had military police stationed on campus to prevent a mass withdrawal from school. The U.S. government placed any city within 300 miles of the coast on alert, and students were told to assume at all times that Tallahassee was a target for German submarines patrolling in the Gulf of Mexico. Air-raid drills were performed several times a week and courses in "Defense Mechanics" and "Radio Code Practice" were added to the curriculum. Student eating habits were changed as menus were planned according to the food available. Eggs were sometimes served three times a day as a substitute for meat.

By September 1942 military troops were a common sight around campus. Though initially opposed to any fraternization between their "girls" and the soldiers stationed in the vicinity of Tallahasee, President Campbell and Dean of Students Olivia Dorman finally accepted the inevitable and arranged picnics, dances, at-homes, and Sunday music hours to which the girls could comfortably invite soldiers to campus.

Flastacowo 1943 (FSCW Yearbook)

Advance registration showed more than 2,400 students enrolled in early 1944. With inadequate living facilities, FSCW had already restricted enrollment to state residents. Now the college sought and was granted emergency permission from the War Protection Board to construct a temporary dormitory. Until the new building was completed, residents of existing halls were asked to take one more girl into their already tiny and dilapidated quarters. At Campbell's request, Governor Spessard Holland reassured parents that dormitory renovations were underway, and new construction would greatly ease the overcrowding. When New Hall (later renamed Magnolia Hall) was completed, its residents were pleased with the amenities it offered. Separate closets and dressers, a student lounge, kitchen and laundry room had not been provided in the older dormitories

Source:

• Sellers, Robin, Ph.D. Femina Perfecta: The Genesis of Florida State University, Tallahassee: The Florida State University Foundation, 1995.