Hyrum Manwaring

He led Ricks College through difficult times, when dissolution seemed inevitable, to a point where its future was assured.

[3] A couple years later, Manwaring left home for good to become a section hand on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad,[1] which was then building branch lines to various Utah coal mines.

"[2] In the spring of 1894, Hyrum (then 17), "accidentally dated" – his words – a local girl named Bessie Bird, taking her to a community dance.

Although BYA then mostly taught high school level classes, it is considered a precursor to Brigham Young University (BYU).

Her father, Charles Monroe Bird, was an influential man, both in the local LDS Church community and as a probate judge.

In the summer of 1898, just after turning twenty-one, he had gone back to the railroad to save for his sophomore year of high school.

After three weeks in Sydney, Australia, he spent his mission years in Tasmania, prior to returning to Utah in March 1903.

Their first child, H. Laurance, was born in April 1905, about the time when Hyrum completed his high school courses at BYA.

[3] The couple made ends meet financially with his teaching stipend, renting rooms to other students, and summer jobs for both of them.

Over the next three years, Hyrum earned his teaching certificate, took on increased responsibilities (and salary) at the prep school, and progressed toward a college degree.

[2] Manwaring's plan to complete his degree was interrupted at the end of the 1907-1908 school year, when George H. Brimhall, BYU's president, stated he had been appointed principal of the Uintah Stake Academy in Vernal, Utah.

They persuaded Andrew B. Christenson, who taught Biblical History and Literature at BYU, to become the Academcy's principal.

However, he then said he caught a vision of a bright future for the institution, a dream strengthened when he met the "energetic and eager" student body.

Early in his tenure, the school was certified by the state for teacher education and was thereafter known as Ricks Normal College.

[6] Outside his school duties, Manwaring and one of his brothers invested in a farm operation, with land south of Rexburg.

But the post-World War I recession hit rural areas particularly hard and they ended up deeply in debt.

[2] The spring before this move, Ricks had initiated its first night classes, and Manwaring had been one of the four instructors assigned to that duty.

[6] As the spring of 1930 approached, Manwaring received a letter from the chairman of the Ricks Board of Education.

When he addressed the Board at a special July meeting, Romney gave no indication of what his subsequent plans were.

Church finances remained somewhat precarious, so officials instructed the local Board to explore the possibility of giving (almost literally) the institution to the state of Idaho.

However, the idea was hotly opposed by supporters of the existing state schools, who did not want the education budget to be shared by another institution.

Manwaring pushed hard to increase enrollment, improve class offerings, and nurture the spiritual life of the students.

Although Manwaring felt like the church had "virtually closed the school," he travelled to Salt Lake City to make a personal appeal to save it.

While Manwaring received no guarantees for the future, Ricks was granted a healthy budget for the coming year.

[6] Manwaring said that, after they felt more secure, "I went to New York and took a graduate course at Columbia University and had a very pleasant and profitable summer."

[2] The entry of the U.S. into World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, severely impacted Ricks, as it did colleges and universities across the country.

Manwaring stepped up his recruitment efforts, highlighting the fact that Ricks offered officer training programs for the Army and the Navy.

Naturally, students and faculty participated in all the "home front" activities: war bond promotion, scrap metal and rubber drives, "Victory Gardens," and more.

[2] In early 1950, Clarke spent a short leave of absence at the University of California to continue his doctoral studies.

[6] More recently, the structure was remodeled to include two new stores, an expanded food court, a dance studio suite and space for student activities.