In 1922 a library was established with funds donated by students and faculty members. After a period in which the number of accessions increased rather slowly, Dean Sadler provided funds from the budget for the regular purchase of books. The library has since grown rapidly and now performs a distinct service.
For some years dentistry and pharmacy students took English courses in the Engineering College with the engineering and architecture students. Although the College of Architecture and Design became a separate unit of the University in September, 1931, students of architecture still take part of their work in English in the Engineering College.
After a brief reunion with the Literary College under the regime of President Little, the department was restored in 1930 to independent status in the Engineering College.
In 1930 the freshman work was placed on an experimental basis in that it was fashioned after the model of orientation courses offered in various other universities. The opinion of some of the men in the technical departments, and of Dean Sadler in particular, was that the courses in English could be designed to direct the students into other cultural branches of learning. Hence, the content of the beginning courses for some years was devoted to a consideration of the social sciences in the first semester, and to science and the humanities in the second.
After Professor Nelson's resignation in 1936, Professor Jesse Earl Thornton (Albion '08, A.M. Michigan '20) served in his place until 1937, when Professor Carl Gunard Brandt ('21l, LL.M. '22) was named chairman. Among those who have served on the staff of the department since Nelson took charge of the work are the following: Otto C. Marckwardt ('01, A.M. '02), Charles Albert Langworthy (Albion '08, Ph.D. Michigan '21), Ivan Henry Walton ('17, A.M. '21), Christian N. Wenger ('15, Ph.D. '22), Carl Enoch W. L. Dahlström ('20, Ph.D. '28), Robert D. Brackett (Northwestern '09, A.M. Michigan '23), Carl Edwin Burklund (Western State Teachers '22, Ph.D. Michigan '28), William Henry Egly ('13, A.M. '19), Leo Kirschbaum ('28, Ph.D. '37), Wilfred Minnich Senseman (Columbia '33, Ph.D. Michigan '50), Webster Earl Britton (Randolph-Macon '27, Ph.D. Michigan '45), George Middleton McEwen (Park '31, Ph.D. Michigan '46), Joshua McClennen (Harvard '35, Ph.D. ibid. '40), and William Harrison Mack (Oberlin '13, A.M. ibid. '13).
During World War II the staff was increased radically in order to provide instruction for the students in the various Army and Navy training programs. Directly after the war, the department again expanded to meet the demands of the returning veterans. At its peak the staff numbered thirty-five, including both full-time and part-time members. The department has now resumed its normal size, and nearly all courses are being taught by full-time instructors.
The freshman courses no longer emphasize a particular subject matter such as orientation; instead, the reading materials are selected as a means of developing the student's insight and sharpening his understanding. This purpose also carries over into a variety of advanced courses covering American literature, world literature, general reading for professional students, the literature of science, the novel, the short story, and the drama. In all these courses, as well as in many of the speech courses, composition occupies a prominent place.
Interest in work in speech has been so marked that, in addition to large enrollments in the numerous courses offered, more than a hundred students regularly belong to the Stump Speaker's Society
