Early classes at Iowa State had class names and mottoes. The Class of 1894 was known as "The Gourds," and their motto was "ever climbing." Here is a poem about "The Gourds" written by Dr. Carver, which appeared in the IAC Student (forerunner to the ISU Daily), on November 13, 1894.
Legend of the Gourds
Beside a silvery babbling brook,
O'er hung by many a shady nook,
A little group, perchance was seen,
To cluster on the verdure green
Upward it grows to a daring height.
With wonder, awe, and thought sublime
We rejoice to see it ever climb.
With magic hand a fairy maid
Just o'er our heads a wand displayed,
In slumber thus we lay and dreamed
That things were often what they seemed.
Through sunshine and shadow, wind and rain,
onward and upward, still the same,
Perchance our vine one morning seek,
and venture now to take a peep,
A wafting breeze did a kindly deed,
And lay at our feet a tiny seed,
heaven its dew upon it shed,
As there it lay on its earthly bed.
See, O! See at once for sure we knew,
That buds from each little branchlet grew,
No perfume it scattered on the desert waste,
As each sepal opened so pure and chaste.The sun his glory upon it lent,
And many a sparkling sunbeam sent,
We watched, and to our surprise
The seed began to grow in size.
Wondrous fruit of all size and kinds,
To suit the most fastidious minds,
The people 'round with rapture roared,
Ho, see those green and worthless gourds.
At last the seed coat burst in twain
Still fostered by the sun and rain,
One day a tender little root appeared,
So frail that for its life we feared.
Our hearts within us seemed to sink,
As we see and know what the people think,
Upward, onward ever climbing,
Closer 'round some object twining.
Many, many rootlets from this grew,
Just the number no one knew,
When at last it had a firm foot-hold,
Some monstrous leaves we saw unfold.
Alas! be this all and nothing more,
We ask ourselves o'er and o'er.
One day the fruit mature in size,
Hung wondrous thick before our eyes.
To some object near it always clung,
But into empty space it never swung,
Many came from far and near,
To see this plant we held so dear.
Some thrifty merchants from afar,
Heavily ladened many a car,
From North to South from East to West,
These gourds were sent to places best.
From night 'til morn, from morn 'til night,
Through all the land, both far and wide,
To every nation they're supplied.
*Many made some measure prime,
Others held the sucrose fine,
And when the chimney tall and straight,
our motto gently stood in wait,
While some smeared and daubed the paint
To a dizzy height, they thought they'd faint.
Some weary traveler on business fraught,
Is oft' refreshed by a cooling draught,
From the crystal icy murmuring spring,
Held by this grand old gourd of which we sing.
*Some so light and dizzy grew,
They put their figures wrong side to,
After all seemed satisfied,
And arms akimbo, hands in side.
You doubtless know the legend old,
Of which I'm sure you've oft been told,
That water is never half so sweet
As that which is held by this cup so neat.
Up comes the class of '94,
Onward, upward still they soar,
Landing on the pinnacle high,
The gourd with motto greets the eye.
Go from palace to hut, and where'r you will
Our gourd is there, its mission to fill,
At the festive board it rests content,
In history's light 'tis not exempt.
Full four years have come and flown,
The seeds for many a harvest are sown,
From North to South, belt to belt,
We hope to make our presence felt.
Withdraws the wand doth the fairy maids,
And from our eyes the vision fades
Uprising from our lowly seats,
Each the vision oft repeats.
The mission lands 'cross the far off sea,
The lot is cast for some to be,
To teach some wayward souls the way,
others in this country stay.
Through glen and glade through hill and grotto
Long searched we for a motto,
"Ever climbing" seemed so fitting,
That we all agreed in just one sitting.
When the "Lord of the harvest" shall call for his own,
The golden grain from the seeds were sown,
We'll take him as talents one by one,
and Trust he may say to us well done.In work and play in wholesome fun,
this motto in our actions run,
When called upon to assert our rights,
We were always topmost in the fights.
*Note: Stanzas 22 and 23 refer to an individual from the Class of '92 who climbed the university's smoke stack to paint his class year on it. It ended up reading as P2 as opposed to 92.
About Carver Images of Carver Resources
George Washington Carver All-University Celebration
Copyright © 1998, Iowa State University. All rights reserved.
Comments: Tanya Zanish-Belcher, Head, Special Collections Department
Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library
Revised: 07 July 2008
