Influence and Development
        Marvin Pittman Labortary School
 
    As President of Georgia Teachers College, Dr. Pittman worked closely with Walter L. Downs, Director of the Training School, and other college administrators to expand teacher training to several of the area's campuses. Demonstration class and seminars were established in Treutlen, Montgomery, Wheeler, Evans, Bryan, and Liberty Counties. It was during this time that T.C. was acknowledged as "The Only college in Georgia dedicated exclusively to the training of teaches. "In 1941 with the addition of all eleven grades and a faculty of twelve to the Teacher College's lab-School, enrollment increased to 311."

The new Marvin Pittman School building, completed in 1952, was dedicated to Dr. Pittman and was recognized nationally for its "valued service" until its closing in 1998.
 
 

"Lab-School dedication was most fitting Tribute..." 

"Dr. Pittman's outstanding 
leadership and progressive drive resulted 
in the naming of the laboratory school..." 

Joyner, Beth N. 
A Tribute to Marvin Pittman Laboratory School 1928-1998 
Marvin Pittman Laboratory School
1960

 
Photograph taken from 1960 Reflector 
 
 
 
 
Althought written about the Marvin Pittman Laboratory School, Dr. Pittman's educational legacy can clear be seen in the sentiment expressed in "What is Pittman?" 

WHAT IS PITTMAN?   

PITTMAN is an idea:   
 a belief in individual worth,   
 a belief in intellectual endeavor,   
 a belief that only through knowledge   
 comes understanding.   

PITTMAN is tradition:   
 the tradition and stability found in reputation,    
 a reputation of achievement with honor,    
 the tradition found in high standards of    
 perseverance, integrity, and ability,    
 the tradition of dedicated faculty,    
 the tradition of service freely given,    
 and of cooperation and dedication to a common goal.   

PITTMAN is spirit:   
 found in competition, be it on a basketball   
 court or in a scholarship exam,   
 a spirit of pride in achievement and in the    
 warmth and simplicity of the ever familiar,    
 a spirit of harmony and unity,   
  a spirit born of loyalty and faith in    
 individual interest and merit.   

PITTMAN is an awareness:   
 of both individual and group responsibility   
 and its importance in a complex society,    
 an awareness of opportunity and challenge,    
 an awakening sensitivity to that which is meaningful,    
 an awareness of purpose in life.   

PITTMAN is faith:   
 a faith in individual ability,    
 a faith founded on ideals of loyalty,   
 responsibility and understanding,   
 a faith in youth and its search for self knowledge,    
 a faith in future and its promise.     

Mr. J.A. Pafford    
Principal Emeritus 
 
 
The Rosenwald Fund
 
"In 1935 President Pittman, ..., approached the Rosenwald Fund directors with a carefully prepared study outlining the needs of rural education in south Georgia.  The out come of this is important meeting was the approval of a $30,000 grant..."  
  
"According to the Rosenwald Fund directors, T.C. was chosen as a recipient for several reasons: (1) it was in the heart of the state's largest rural area; (2) T.C. was already recognized as a leader in rural education; and (3) President Pittman was a nationally known leader in this specialty."  

"By the time the Rosenwald Fund was terminated in 1948, our school had received $75,666 in grants and scholarships."  
Shurbutt, T. Ray 
Georgia Southern: Seventy-Five Years of Progress and Service
 
Rosenwald Fund Scholarships and Grants

Rosenwald grants and scholarships included Thirty $250 scholarships awarded to teaching applicants throughout Georgia and  funds for the establishment of Denmark Junior High School as a model for rural teaching techniques.
 
 

   

In 1938 the New Library, "The Rosenwald Building" was dedicated to the generosity of Julius Rosenwald.


 
The Herty Pines: Pioneer Turpentining Experiment
 
Mature pine trees which were located on what is now Georgia Southern University property were used by Dr. Herty and his associate Frank Klarpp to test their newly developed "cup an gutter" technique of resin collection.  The new technigue which as highly successful over the old "boxing" method served to revolutonize the naval stores industry.  Dr. Herty also devised the first system for manufacturing newsprint from southern pines.
In 1935 Dr. Pittman presided over a ceremony dedicating a bronze plaque in honor of  Dr. Herty numerous accomplishments and contributions to the naval stores industry and the southern economy.

The following year in April 1936, the original pine tree on which Dr. Herty had begun his experiment was felled and a section of it preserved at the campus.

"The tributes to Herty in the 1930's are examples of ways in which President Pittman sought to publicize T.C's heritage, while at the same time emphasizing our role and promise for the future."
 


Dr. Pittman, Dr. Charles Herty, and other campus officials at the site of the dedication of a three-acre "Herty Pines" sight.
Photograph taken from Georgia Southern: Seventy-Five Years of Progress and Service by T. Ray Shurbutt
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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