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The naming of the Galt Family
Instrumental Rehearsal Hall in the Falany Performing Arts Center at
Reinhardt College was celebrated on March 17, 2007. The new plaque
was unveiled by Nell Galt Magruder (center), Will DeLoach Magruder
(left) and Reinhardt President Dr. J. Thomas Isherwood. The popular
rehearsal and meeting room is named for Mrs. Magruder’s parents:
Odian P. and Nell Paschal Galt Sr; and her aunts Martha C. Galt and
Frances Galt. One of the oldest and most prominent families in
Cherokee County, the Galts have supported Reinhardt since its
founding in 1883. |
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Magruders
Continue Galt Family Legacy of Support with $50,000 Capital
Campaign Gift |
Mrs. Magruder thanked her family for taking part
in the occasion. “I would like to thank you all,” she said. “I’m
so glad our grandchildren could be here. This is a very precious
place.” Taking part in the festivities were front row, left to
right Will Magruder, Rebecca Magruder;
second row Bill Magruder, Nell Galt Magruder, (longtime friends
of the Magruders) Millie and Tom Fox; third row Shawna Galt, Kebra Galt, Carolyn Galt and Gaynelle Galt; fourth row Bill
Magruder Jr., Odie Galt, Putnam Galt; back row Reinhardt Dean of
Communication Arts and Music Margaret O'Connor, Reinhardt
President Dr. J. Thomas Isherwood and his wife, Bettye Jo
Isherwood. |
One of the
oldest and most prominent families in Cherokee County, the Galts,
gathered recently at Reinhardt College to celebrate the
continuation of their family’s legacy of support toward the
institution. The festivities honored a $50,000 capital campaign
gift to the Falany Performing Arts Center at Reinhardt from Nell
Galt Magruder and Will DeLoach Magruder of Canton, Ga. During
the festivities, the plaque designating the Galt Family
Instrumental Rehearsal Hall was unveiled. The popular rehearsal
and meeting room is named for Mrs. Magruder’s parents Odian P.
and Nell Paschal Galt Sr. and her aunts Martha C. Galt and
Frances Galt.
The Galts have
been associated with Reinhardt since its founding in 1883.
JoEllen Wilson, the College Vice President for
Institutional Advancement and External Affairs, explained: “When
Captain Reinhardt and John Sharpe went to the Methodist
Conference to ask for help starting a school, their friends, the
Galts, supported that decision.”
Mrs. Magruder
is the descendent of William Grisham and Jabez Galt, the
founders of Canton, Ga. These South Carolina natives
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came to Georgia during the land lotteries of 1822
and 1832. Their families have been prominent in business, civic
and social endeavors for generations.
“I cannot
imagine a family more devoted to the idea of the importance of
education than mine,” Mrs. Magruder wrote in a note to the
College. “My brother and I were spoon-fed that expectation of
finished college from pre-memory. It might later amount to
brain-washing, but it worked! Both of us felt very distinctly
the responsibility implanted that we become ‘educated’ people.
This made me an enthusiastic supporter of my own alma mater,
Hollins College (now Hollins University) and of various other
educational institutions.”
“I have never
forgotten Reinhardt College, which was important to my family as
Cherokee County’s single repository of higher learning, now
evolved into this vibrant, every-growing four-year college,” she
said. “I feel extremely proud to have my family remembered in
this place, because it represents the best of the hopes and
dreams, even beyond what they could have visualized.”
During the
luncheon and ceremony on March 17, 2007, Reinhardt President Dr.
J. Thomas Isherwood talked of Galts’ philanthropic ties to the
College. “There are so many families in our history who have
kept Reinhardt alive,” he said. “The Galts have surely been one
of these. During the dark days of the ’40s when our president,
Dr. Burgess, often passed the hat to make Monday’s payroll, this
family was there. We’re all thankful those days are behind us,
but we’re just as thankful for the consistent generosity of
people like these who make this wonderful facility and its
programs possible.” |
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Wilson also
remembered Mr. Galt’s generosity. “Dr. Burgess never failed to
leave a visit with Mr. Galt without a check in his hand! The
first ‘Cherokee County Grants’ (that today we raise funds during
A DAY to support) were established by the Galt family,” she
said.
The Galts
sisters, both Shorter College alumnae, were well known in the
community. Miss Martha taught piano and music theory at
Meredith College and then at the Women’s College of Furman
University. Nell Paschal, the librarian at Meredith and then
Furman’s Womens College, visited her friend Martha’s childhood
home and met Odian. They later married and settled in Canton.
Wilson shared
fond memories of Miss Martha, who had returned to Canton after
her father’s death. Martha was the organist, rehearsal pianist
or choir director at Canton’s First Baptist Church for more than
50 years. “I knew Miss Martha as a |
The Galt Family Instrumental Rehearsal Hall, a
popular rehearsal and meeting room in the Falany Performing Arts
Center at Reinhardt College, is named for Mrs. Magruder’s
parents: Odian P. (top Left) and Nell Paschal Galt Sr (top
right); and her aunts Martha C. Galt (bottom left) and
Frances Galt. |
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very professional musician,” Wilson said.
“Imagine the awe we choir members felt to be invited to her
home, one of the most beautiful and historic places, for the
annual choir Christmas party. When we raised our glasses, many
discovered bugs in the ice cubes! Others were dismayed as they
tried to put sugar in their tea, but were foiled by a
non-detectable hole in the spoon. ‘Miss Martha’ got such a kick
out of our surprises. I came to see this musical genius as also
a fun-loving and delightful lady with a real sense of humor.”
Nell’s
childhood memories of Reinhardt are also vivid: “I have
recounted numerous times the story of when my father insisted I
go with him to hear the U.S. Vice President Alben Barkley, who
was speaking at Reinhardt. Other visits in my youth were the
occasions of 9th District Literary Meets of junior and high
school students in everything from debating to piano. I
competed in debate as a high school junior and again as a member
of a musical trio in the ninth grade. As I recall, it was a
very big deal to come to Reinhardt.”
Reinhardt Dean
of the Communication Arts and Music Margaret C. O’Connnor
compared the Magruders’ gift to the movie, Pay It Forward. “A
little boy performs a random act of kindness and pretty soon the
community is embracing random acts,” she said. “The ripple
effect of this gift throughout our community will be felt long
after all of us here are gone. People like those on this plaque
understood the importance of paying it forward. They and Nell
and Bill will be a wonderful part of the future here at
Reinhardt and in the Falany Performing Arts Center. Because of
this generous support we’re going to enable little children to
come here and see performers from all over the world. We’re
going to be able to see freshmen come through the doors and
practice their pianos, guitars and drums to the wee hours of the
morning. So what we’re providing here today will be part of
this facility’s legacy for the future.”
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For more information
Office of
Marketing and Communications
top floor of Burgess Administration Building
media relations Lauren Thomas (770)720-5514
LHT@reinhardt.edu
marketing
Marsha White (770)720-5512
MSW@reinhardt.edu
graphic design Amanda
Brown (770) 720-5907
ALB@reinhardt.edu
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