"Bad times, troublesome times, this is what men say.  Let us live a good life, and the times are good.  We are the times; we make our times."
St. Augustine
Sermon 80,8

The Great Depression of the 1930s frustrated ambitious building plans.  These included a new library and a large quadrangle on the east side of campus.  All would be postponed for nearly two decades.  Meanwhile student enrollment fell to 700 in the fall of 1936, from a high of over 1100 just four years before.  Despite hard times, Villanova students enjoyed numerous dances in the new Field House, where big bands like Dorsey brothers played regularly.  The Villanova football team attracted wide attention, with two undefeated seasons in 1937 and 1938.  It was also in the 1930s that Mother's Day became and annual event at Villanova.  As prosperity started to return toward the end of the decade, the Villanova community began to worry about a troubled international scene and hoped that the United States could remain at peace.

Freshman rules, class of 1932

Program for "Look Who's Here."

"Look Who's Here"

Mother's Day

Student members of the Villanova College Sanctuary Society

A Novena of Holy Communions

Planting a tree on Mother's Day, 1949

Planning brochure, 1930

Personal Pledge Card for Clean Speech

Mendel Medal

Invitation to the Mendel Medal Award

Reverend Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.

Symbols of biology, chemistry, mathematis, astronomy, and physics...

Dance at Villanova Field House

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Students in Old Villanova College Library

East Campus, 1932 or 1933

Villanova College Band, 1937

Villanova College Band in front of Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery, 1930s

Seminar in Simpson Hall, c. 1940

Freshmen initiation in 1939 for the Centennial Class of 1943

Belle Air Ball

Aerial view of Villanova Campus, 1935

Blazer patch, 1936