Thursday, April 9, 1959: Ground breaking of Patterson Dorm

Ground breaking of Patterson Dorm (it is hard to tell who this is, any Alumni pin point who it is)

Even Mrs. Hazel Davis, with her husband watching, broke some ground.

The interior of one the dorm rooms in Patterson around 1971 or 1972

Going through some the 35 mm slides I acquired I ran across some more treasures. The top two slides that were scanned are from the ground breaking of Patterson dorm on Thursday, April 9, 1959, a little over 50 years ago. Next year Patterson Dorm will celebrate 50 years since it was finished and dedicated. It is great to see all the fun that they are having during this ground breaking to replace the Inner Circle that had been decaying.

December 7 marks 46 years since Dr. Gordon Davis passed away

December 7th not only marks Pearl Harbor's 66 anniversary, but also 46 years since Dr. Gordon Davis passed away. He passed away soon after the students went on the long break (Thanksgiving through New Years). He passed away on December 7, 1961 to the shock of the students when they returned from break to find that their president and professor had gone home to glory. He been ill for several months from a lung tumor before the Lord took him home to rejoin his father and brother in Heaven. What happened to his Bible still remains a mystery.

What memories do Alumni have of Dr. Gordon Davis?

Coming up: The interview with Dr. Woodrow Kroll (1965)

Colorized Photo of Hazel Davis

Here is a colorized photo of Hazel Davis, Gordon Davis' wife, that Mrs. Eleanor Krooswyk donated to the school. The texture is a hard cardboard and the paint used to colorize the former black and white photo appears to be watercolor. This was a common practice in the Early part of the 20th century, because of the expensive color film.

The making of Patterson Dorm

A few weeks ago I did a post about the first plan of what would become Patterson Dorm. To view that article click here. This is in a sense a sequel to that post. I was going through the 1960 and 1961 Theologues and I was looking at the pictures taken around the time of the construction of Patterson.

This is a drawing of what they thought Patterson would look like when
complete from the 1960 Theologue

The 1960 Theologue also showed the ground breaking with Dr. Gordon Davis and Hazel as shown below.
Also the building of the structure for Patterson Hall.

The photo above shows the side of Patterson. The main entrance near the RD apartment

is on the farther left of the image.

The 1961 Theologue showed the completed dorm and dedication. The photo below show Dr. Gordon Davis, Dr. Patterson, Dr. Lowe, and who appears to be Dr. Benson.
The pictures below show Dr. Patterson in a completed dorm room and the finished building from the driveway.
Patterson Hall is nearly 40 years old. It will turn 40 in 2010. It is still being used for the glory of God as a dormitory and classrooms in the basement.

The Davis Family

Here is a picture of the whole Davis family with the exception of Jackie Davis, Charles Davis' son. There are also two Summer Conference Speakers in the photo whose names I do not have. From left to right (back row) Guest Speaker, Gordon Davis, Hazel Davis, Mae Davis, Charles Davis, Guest Speaker (seated) John A. Davis and Etta Davis.