Orange groves stretched up into the hills on one side of the first Loma Linda Hospital, while field surrounded its other three sides, when it opened in 1913.
After a second hospital opened in 1924, the first one became a men’s dormitory and was renamed West Hall. Last week’s trivia challenged asked when the building was torn down. Correctly answering 1942, and selected as the random winners, are Gerald Rezes, Tami Kerns, and Katja Ruh. Please e-mail pr@llu.edu to claim your prize, which must be picked up within 60 days.
In September of ’42, the male residents moved to a new men’s dormitory called Arthur G. Daniells Hall, which was located where the Alumni Hall for Basic Sciences now sits.
But who was Arthur Daniells? He was influential in Loma Linda University’s early years and president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for some 22 years.
He can be remembered as a man who impassionedly defended the continued existence of the College of Medical Evangelists (as LLU was called then) as a full-fledged medical school during a time when it faced many challenges, particularly in regard to the ability to provide adequate clinical facilities for medical student training.
In fall 1915, world Adventist church leaders met at Loma Linda and discussed the college’s future. After much discussion among men and women present, Daniells gave a powerful speech, concluding with “We can build up this school. We can do anything God wants us to do.”
Another person who defended the College of Medical Evangelists at the meeting spoke so powerfully that it was later written, “His words were so pointed and took such a deep hold that men who strongly opposed the continuance of the school were practically unable to answer [his] arguments, and those who were battling for the school took a new grip.”
Who was the man with such persuasion? Like Daniells, he has a building named after him on campus. Please e-mail the correct answer to pr@llu.edu by midnight Tuesday, Sept. 23, for a chance to win.
When the vote on the college’s future was taken, not a single hand was raised to close it.