Schooling Sunday: Beuna Nell Crew, Second Gen Spelman Grad

On June 1^st, 1921, having recently recovered from a serious illness, my 2x great aunt Lula (Scott) Crew wrote in a letter to her alma mater, Spelman College, “I had no strength to speak of my little daughter of whom I have planned to enter Spelman as soon as she is old enough but my thots were of her.” 

Courtesy of Spelman College Archives.

Twelve years later, in 1933, her plans came to fruition. 

Beuna Nell Crew entered Spelman College three decades after her mother’s own attendance there. But the institution was still a center for Black opportunity and excellence, where young women could challenge themselves, possibly discover a passion, and prepare to contribute to their communities and perhaps even the world.

Beuna found her passion in biology.

Take a look at Beuna’s senior listing in the yearbook section of Spelman’s The Campus Mirror.

The Campus Mirror (Spelman College), 1 May 1938, p.4. Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/

Not only is Beuna’s major Biology, but she was also a member of the Biology Club for 4 years and served as its President in her senior year. Here’s a write-up of their first meeting of the 1937-38 school year, when they invited Dr. Otis William Caldwell, from Atlanta University, to present to their members:

The Campus Mirror (Spelman College), 15 December 1937, p. 2. Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/.

And check out the fun little rhyme that goes with her listing – each senior had one that lifted up her interests and personality. Beuna’s says:

“Interested in fish and other crawling, flying things;

Knows a lot about them, too – would you like a pair of wings?”

It’s probably not surprising, then, that her classmates voted her as “Most Scientific” in their Class Superlatives listing. (Although, to be fair, it looks like there were only 2 other Biology majors in her graduating class - Emmaretta Jenkins and Vesta Louise Rice - and no Chemistry majors. But I’m still calling it an honor! In any case, Vesta was named “Neatest” and Emmaretta was named “Most Botanical.”)

The Campus Mirror (Spelman College), 1 May 1938, p.4. Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/

As a side note, did your high school have a tradition of graduating seniors bequeathing specific traits or skills to the rising senior class? Spelman did, and Beuna’s are pretty funny. As a junior, she “received” Wilhemina Chapman’s “ego.” And as a senior, she bequeathed to Edna Kyle her “dainty steps.” I wish I knew the inside stories behind these!

Rising seniors, shown in The Campus Mirror (Spelman College), 1 May 1937, p.14. Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/

 

So, what did Beuna do as a Biology major? Well, she studied under Helen Tucker Albro, the Head of the department, who earned her Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D from Brown University, finishing in 1927. Dr. Albro spent time as a student in 1924 at the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole, MA, which sounds pretty cool. They still exist and are now affiliated with the University of Chicago. Other faculty included Grace Holmes DeLorme, Mary Logan Reddick, Birdie Lucille Scott (who transitioned from a Graduate Assistant to a Professor while Beuna was there), and Anna Grace Newell, who spent the summer of 1913 as a student at Flathead Lake Laboratory in Montana, “the second oldest biological field station in the U.S. and the oldest west of the Mississippi.” This lab also still exists, connected to the University of Montana. Again, pretty cool!

And what about her classes? I love a good class list, and here’s what was on offer during her senior year at Spelman, with a brief description quoted from that year’s Spelman College Bulletin (pp. 36-38):

• 101-102. General Biology: “…a survey of representative examples of plant and animal kingdoms and the principles which govern them…”

• 104. Introductory Botany: “A general survey of the various groups of plants with a brief review of the fundamental principles of plant physiology and anatomy.”

• 201-202. Comparative Anatomy: “Lectures upon all classes of vertebrates, supplemented by careful dissection of typical forms.”

• 203 and 204. Vertebrate Embryology: “An introduction to the principles of embryology based upon a study of the frog and the chick…”

• 300. The Teaching of Biology in the High School (Cross-listed with Education 300. Materials and Methods in Teaching, which would be customized by high school subject).

• 303-304. General Botany: “The first semester the course will treat the morphology and physiology of the vascular plants; the second semester the principal groups of plants will be considered with a view to acquainting the student with the plant kingdom as a whole.”

• 307. Introductory Entomology: “Lectures, laboratory and field work concerning the structural characteristics, habits, life histories, and classification of insects.”

• 311. Practical Biology: “…help the student understand and appreciate the more common plant and animal life of home, field, and forest.”

• 339. Household Bacteriology: “…designed to give the student a larger acquaintance with the structure and life history of micro-organisms which affect our daily lives, such as bacteria, yeasts, molds, and other fungi.”

• 401. Histology: “A study of the principal tissues of the mammalian body, together with practical work in the methods of microscopical technique.”

• 404. Cytology and Theoretical Biology: “Lectures and laboratory work on the cell, cell division, maturation, fertilization, and differentiation.”

The poem in her yearbook makes even more sense now, doesn’t it! I don’t know if Beuna took all of these classes, but I can tell you that Beuna’s time at Spelman spanned five years rather than the standard four. She began her studies in the 1933-1934 school year, but she didn’t graduate until 1938. The Course Catalog for 1935-1936 gives a piece of the explanation:

Beuna's first junior year listing. Spelman College Bulletin, April 1936, Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 83. Courtesy of Spelman College Archives, accessed via https://digitalexhibits.auctr.edu/exhibits/show/ourstory/spelman.

She is a Junior for the first semester only. But my guess as to what happened actually has nothing to do with her course load, and everything to do with her personal life. Beuna’s mother, Lula Scott Crew, passed away suddenly on January 14, 1936. I think Beuna temporarily left school to deal with here loss and help out at home.

But Beuna returned for the 1936-1937 school year and completed her junior year. One year later, on June 8, 1938, she graduated from Spelman College, fulfilling her mother’s dream.

The Campus Mirror (Spelman College), 1 May 1938, p.4. Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/

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Do you know more about Beuna Nell Crew’s time at Spelman College? Drop a note in the comment section below – I’d love to hear from you!