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Dear Dharumi:
Save American College is the main object of this blog spot you are maintaining so well. I would like the scope of the web spot be extended to include the institution, the trees, walls and buildings and everything that belongs to the College. As a person who uses the Panagal Road (for those who may not know where it is – it is the road between the American College and the Government Rajaji Hospital) at least twice every day I am pained to see that the compound wall on that side built by the College is almost uncared for. Many trees from inside the College campus have over grown and have caused damages to the wall in a few places. The wall is already broken open in one place. The city corporation is now working on the canal adjacent to the wall. They cut the over hanging branches of our trees without much care causing greater damage to the wall and also to the trees. May I draw the attention of the persons concerned in the College to prune those trees nicely so that the wall is saved and the greenery is also well protected? I wonder whether the college still has the Ground Superintendent. Long ago when I was in active service in the American College a visitor from USA mentioned that “it is the most campus looking campus”. We should be proud of that and preserve it.
A brief history of Panagal road: That road was really a part of the College for a long time but freely used by the college and the public of Madurai. A look at the James Hall, Binghamton Hall and Zumbro Hall will show that the front elevation of those buildings face that road. During those days the road that runs straight through the College from West to East was a public road and people going to Madurai Taluk Office that was located just outside the campus on the eastern side (beyond Barton House) were using it. This was happening till early sixties of last century. A canal (some times referred to as the Nolting Canal) was running parallel to that road. In the early fifties Principal S. J. Savarirayan completed the actions necessary to swap the road running through the College with the road on the southern side. A wire fence was erected at that time to mark the boundary. When the city municipality took over that road they named it after Panagal a name prominently associated with local (city) administration those days. The main building Sri Meenakshi Government College that used to house the offices of local (district board) administration those days also has the name Panagal associated with it. The Panagal park in Mambalam (Thiagarajar Nagar, Chennai is also well known). Though the road was transferred the canal could not be transferred for a long time. The transfer took many more years and finally it was completed when Dr. M. A. Thangaraj was the Principal with the help of a senior IAS officer of Government of Tamilnadu Mr. Ramakrishnan (an old student of the College). It was during those intervening years Mr. Nolting a missionary Bursar of the College ordered the canal to be filled up and landed the College into some trouble. The trouble was over come by reopening the canal. May be that is how the canal earned the name.
There is lot of interesting history associated with the College and its properties. I hope the College will one day commission a group of persons to prepare a detailed history of the College. I am sure the mission board that still has some association with the College might be interested in supporting such a project. During the research we may discover many more facts about the College. I am making this appeal as an old student (1951-55), as a former faculty member (1959-94) and now a friend of the College after retirement in 1994
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2 comments:
நா.கண்ணன் writes .......
தருமி சார்
புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள்!
நா.கண்ணன்
Dr. Riesz writes ....
Dear Seenu,
Greetings and best wishes for the New Year.
I do follow Dharumi’s entries and was very excited to read your contribution . There are several important ideas introduced.
First is the importance of the Head of the College to take detailed account of the status of the entire campus. We both remember Principal S.J. Savarirayan who used to walk the entire campus each morning very early – with the Grounds Superintendent. This gave an intimate look at everything that was going on, and a person to whom was given the orders to rectify any faults found. I do believe this to be one of the things that maintained the Campus in a stable condition for many years. Cannot this be resumed in some contemporary way? I do hope so.
Then – the detailed history of the College! How terribly important this is. You have given some details about Panagal Road that surely would be lost otherwise. And I am sure that there are many aspects of the past in the College that retired Faculty and Students would recall.
But to coordinate and implement the production of a history requires a couple of important things. First, the Principal of the College must be the first promoter of the idea! I am very sure that his appeal to the Mission Board or to the Endowment Fund would result in financial support – IF it were accompanied by a plan for action. Second, that plan MUST have a single college–oriented person of writing skills and organizational experience to lead the actual collection of historical events and to organize them into a readable format.
I have some hope that this would be carried out, but these ideas must be mooted to the Principal by someone whom he trusts – can you be that person? I know you are very busy but this is an organizational effort that you would be admirably equipped to carry through, given institutional and financial support.
Joyce and I continue to remember the days when we were colleagues with you. Just yesterday we had a day when Champion and his wife visited us from Birmingham, Alabama and we talked of the Good Old Days in PGP.
You email response would be very much appreciated.
Love to you and your family from both of us.
Dick and Joyce Riesz
January 4, 2010
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