The 1930s
1930
- Stout enrollment is 520.
- First experimental cookery classes offered.
- Planet Pluto discovered.
- Photography flash bulb comes into use.
- Technocracy, the absolute domination of technology, becomes topic of
discussion.
1931
- Because of the Depression, Stout Institute experiences difficulty placing
graduates for the first time.
- Stout student Lloyd Aune dies of injuries sustained in a freshman-sophomore
scuffle; Board of Trustees commends administration and student body on
handling of tragedy.
- Mr. Lofgren thrills a Lyceum assembly crowd with tales of the Byrd Expedition
to the Antarctic.
- Star Spangled Banner becomes the national anthem.
- Gangster Alphonse "Scarface" Capone jailed.
- Hattie Caraway becomes first woman elected to U.S. Senate.
1932
- Stout Institute receives full college rank and recognition by the North
Central Administration.
- Lew Surett held a Lyceum audience spellbound with his talk on "Beauty
in Nature."
- Franklin Roosevelt wins landslide presidential election.
- Lindbergh baby kidnapped.
- Amelia Earhart is first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
1933
- The "Stout Tower" is the first yearbook in the country to
be printed by lithographic process.
- Women's telephone numbers first appear in student directories.
- The first issue of "Young Wings" appears, to stimulate literary
activity and to "show the world that Stout had skills outside the
practical arts."
- Adolf Hitler appointed German Chancellor.
- First concentration camps erected by Nazi Germany.
- Prohibition repealed.
- Popular songs include "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and "Stormy
Weather."
1934
- President Nelson urges Board of Trustees to hire a director of music.
- Stout enrollment drops to 400.
- FBI shoots "Public Enemy No. 1," John Dillinger.
1935
- Stout begins master's degree programs in Home Economics Education, Industrial
Education, and Vocational Education.
- Charles Eagle Plume -- "America's Foremost Indian Dancer" --
presents a spectacular program to the student body and faculty.
- Burton E. Nelson Athletic Field dedicated at homecoming game (Stout
6, Winona 0).
- Jazz becomes "Swing."
- President Roosevelt signs Social Security Act.
- Alcoholics Anonymous organized.
- Rumba becomes fashionable dance.
1936
- Tales of Paul Bunyan as given by Cal Crosshaul, recognized authority
on the mythical lumberjack, were enthusiastically received by a student
assembly.
- Jill Edwards, radio and lecture star, brings Stout students an interesting
lecture titled "Personality Pointers."
- The Vienna Boys Choir performs in a Lyceum appearance.
- Spanish Civil War begins.
- F.D.R. re-elected president by a landslide.
- Jesse Owens wins four Olympic gold medals in Berlin.
1937
- Crafts class studies the history of tin cans.
- An attempt is made to designate "Stout Hearted Men" as the
school song.
- Supreme Court rules in favor of minimum wage for women.
- Disney produces "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
- First jet engine built.
- Hindenburg dirigible disaster.
1938
- First Stout graduate students receive degrees.
- 40-hour work week established in United States.
- President Roosevelt appeals to Hitler and Mussolini to settle European
problems amicably.
- Supreme Court rules University of Missouri Law School must admit Negroes
because of lack of other nearby facilities.
- Orson Welle's radio production of H.G. Well's "War of the Worlds"
causes panic.
1939
- On their spring tour, the Stout Symphonic Singers performed for Mrs.
Roosevelt and were entertained for tea at the White House, represented
Wisconsin at the National Convention of Federated Music Clubs in Baltimore
and performed at the New York World's Fair.
- Stout Institute enrollment peaks at 625.
- President Nelson makes effort to limit enrollment.
- World War II begins.
- U.S. economy begins to recover, with orders from Europe for arms and
war equipment.
- Popular songs include "God Bless America" and "Beer Barrel
Polka."
- John Steinbeck completes "The Grapes of Wrath."
