This month’s 30-Day Display features The Panorama, the first and only yearbook of the Candler School of Theology. Published in 1915, The Panorama documents Candler professors and students in the 1914-1915 academic year, including group photos of student clubs, as well as student artwork, quotes, and poetry. One of the most entertaining sketches appears on the Senior Class page. It depicts a large cathedral with the text ‘A Dream,’ standing in contrast to a ramshackle, one-room church with the text ‘A Reality.’ Similar light-hearted jokes still occur between students as they consider their futures in ordained ministry and receive church appointments, connecting them to their peers from over a century ago.

The Panorama also contains the story of the “Million Dollar Letter,” written by Asa Griggs Candler (1851-1929), a Coca-Cola executive. In the letter, Candler promises $1 million to endow the founding of the University. The Candler School of Theology was named for Candler’s younger brother, Warren Akin Candler (1857-1941), a Methodist bishop and chancellor of Emory University. From that initial endowment, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, established the Candler School of Theology in 1914. The founding of the School of Theology occurred just before Emory University was chartered in 1915, bringing together Emory College in Oxford with the School of Theology as its first professional school. Construction on the current Druid Hills campus also began that year, starting with the School of Theology building (now Emory’s Convocation Hall).

Come see The Panorama in the library’s 30-Day Display case on the second floor. Once it is removed from display, researchers can request this volume online for viewing in Special Collections.

The staff at Pitts Theology Library congratulate and wish all the best to the Class of 2024!

Written by Elizabeth Miller, Coordinator of Digital Initiatives