5 July 2014

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Elsie Jenney Hardt

1891 — 1955

The College Years

digital image of Elsie Jenney Hardt's entry in the 1914 yearbook of Central Wesleyan College

The Pulse, 1914 (Central Wesleyan College: Warrenton, Missouri)

photograph from the 1914 yearbook of Elsie Hardt standing outside

This exhibit, ladies and gentlemen, is Elsie Hardt, the "assistant mouth-piece of the Senior Class." We will have you understand that SHE was born at Pekin, Ill., on April 17, 1891. We dare not say anything severe about Elsie, for we are not at all anxious to die a violent death. Of the many good thngs we might say about her, probably the best is that she has more than the ordinary amount of college spirit and will shout "Starkebaum" with the best of them. If you want information on any subject, go to Elsie. She knows Webster's and the Standard dictionary and the encyclopedias from cover to cover. She is another Senior who won oratorical fame this year, having carried off the second prize in the oratorical contest.

Now, Elsie, if you'll keep still a minute, we'll go on with the recitation.

Source: The Pulse, 1914 (Warrenton, Missouri: Central Wesleyan College, 1914), page [unnumbered; 33?].

Access to The Pulse courtesy of Central Wesleyan College Archives Digital Collection, Special Collections Department, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University (Kirksville, Missouri).

These images and appreciation of Elsie Jenney Hardt appeared in The Pulse, the yearbook of Central Wesleyan College, in 1914, Elsie's senior year.

The teasing about her relationship with "Starkebaum," another student at C. W. C., was repeated elsewhere in this issue of the yearbook. The romance must have had some foundation in fact, for Elsie and Arthur William Starkebaum, also known as "Starky," were married in 1915 at Warrenton, Missouri.

Why I am at Central Wesleyan

To study? — Beck.

To differ. — Gruber.

To dream. — Jacoby.

. . . . . .

To play basket ball. — Starky.

. . . . . .

To look after Starky. — Miss Hardt.

Source: The Pulse, 1914 (Warrenton, Missouri: Central Wesleyan College, 1914), page [unnumbered; 161?]. Emphasis added.

Access to The Pulse courtesy of Central Wesleyan College Archives Digital Collection, Special Collections Department, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University (Kirksville, Missouri).

Jokes

. . . . . .

Miss Hardt. I lost my Geology.

Mr. Beck. Starkebaum swiped it.

Prof. F. Why Starkebaum thinks one book in the family is enough.

. . . . . .

Source: The Pulse, 1914 (Warrenton, Missouri: Central Wesleyan College, 1914), page [unnumbered; 168?].

Access to The Pulse courtesy of Central Wesleyan College Archives Digital Collection, Special Collections Department, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University (Kirksville, Missouri).

The Pulse, 1914 (Central Wesleyan College: Warrenton, Missouri)

Goethenia Oratorical Association

Source: The Pulse, 1914 (Warrenton, Missouri: Central Wesleyan College, 1914), page [unnumbered; 113?].

Access to The Pulse courtesy of Central Wesleyan College Archives Digital Collection, Special Collections Department, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University (Kirksville, Missouri).

a selection from the the larger group portrait showing Arthur William Starkebaum standing beside two female members of the Goethenia Oratorical Association

Elsie Hardt?

Laura Martin?

In the yearbook, the individuals in this photo were not identified, but the list of the members of the Association included the names of Arthur William Starkebaum and Elsie Hardt. It will therefore take a little quesswork to match the names to the faces.

On the basis of other photos in the college yearbooks, I believe it is safe to declare that Arthur is in the very center of this crowd, literally. He stands in the middle of the middle row, flanked by two of the three female members.

Again from other photos in this yearbook (see below), I know that the woman in the front row is Edgiththa Grant, vice president of the Goethenia Oratorical Association. By process of elimination, the two women standing to either side of Arthur must be Elsie Hardt and Laura Martin. It is here that my certainty wavers. For the time being, I lean towards identifying the woman on the left as Elsie, the one who had captured "Starky's" heart.

The Pulse, 1914 (Central Wesleyan College: Warrenton, Missouri)

Educational Graduates

"Top Row, left right: Arthur Roeder, Chas. Stadtman, Theo. Beck, Wesley Weihe, Harvey Holt."

"Middle Row: Amanda Luelf, Edna Polster, Luella Vosholl, Edna Stueckemann, Emma Weltge, Anna Rinkel."

"Bottom Row: Elsie Hardt, Margaret Ditzen, Dora Jacobi, Edgiththa Grant, Ida Webermeier."

Educational Graduates

Elsie Hardt

The educational graduates of Central Wesleyan consist of those students who major in education. This department is one of the most important departments of the college because it fits the graduate for active work along some particular line. It was established at C. W. C. as a result of the increasing demand for efficient teachers.

The branches taken up in this course of study are determined by the State Superintendent of Schools in co-operation with the Missouri College Union and upon the completion of eighteen hours work the graduate receives a state certificate which is good for three years. This certificate enables him to work in any school of Missouri and also in many other states which recognize Missouri Certificates.

Source: The Pulse, 1914 (Warrenton, Missouri: Central Wesleyan College, 1914), page [unnumbered; 163?].

Access to The Pulse courtesy of Central Wesleyan College Archives Digital Collection, Special Collections Department, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University (Kirksville, Missouri).

To the White Rose

Oh, thou flower, with beauty rare,

That with fragrance fills the air.

Thou art loved by old and young

And to thee much praise is sung.

Sweet remebrances to all

Thy appearance doth recall.

With thy face so white and fair

Thou dost purity declare.

Thou art Queen among the flowers

Growing in the sunny bowers.

Thou must teach us how to bear

Every trial, cross and care.

Hardt

Source: The Pulse, 1914 (Warrenton, Missouri: Central Wesleyan College, 1914), page [unnumbered; 53?].

Access to The Pulse courtesy of Central Wesleyan College Archives Digital Collection, Special Collections Department, Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University (Kirksville, Missouri).

Brief Genealogy