Principal of a mission school at Hofei, Anhwei Province, China.
NORTH ENTRANCE TO CAMPUS, 1953.
Under his leadership Shimer continued to prosper. Hathaway Hall was renovated in 1939 an the lounge refurnished through the generosity of Miss Zell Corbett, an alumna and later trustee; the college became a beneficiary of Mrs. Winona B. Sawyer's will; in 1940 the Carnegie Foundation made a grant of 600 notable musical compositions, the set valued at over $1,000; and that summer the school held its first summer session -- a six-weeks Summer Workshop in drama, art, creative writing, secretarial studies and crafts. In 1941 the Carnegie Foundation allotted a Carnegie Art set to the College which included 130 volumes on art and 900 classified reproductions. The fall of 1941 marked the opening of Georgian Colonial Glengarry Farm Stables for the classes in equitation that had been accommodated previously at the Colehour Stables. Made available through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel James Campbell, these were the finest facilities for riding in this region, and equitation became a regular art of the school's physical education program. A summer theater again offered five plays in a six weeks' period and instruction in music and art.
Dr. Bro promoted a cooperative student-faculty government for Frances Shimer. After Pearl Harbor the school promptly organized for Civilian Defense, each dormitory a unit; girls enrolled for Red Cross work, First Aid and Home Mechanics, Nutrition classes and an Ambulance unit. In these days Shimer girls were chaperoned to U.S.O. dances at the Ordnance Training School in Savanna and the Medical Training school in Clinton, Iowa. Service men were also invited to dances in the Shimer gym. Many alums joined the WAVES, WACS, SPARS or Women Marines.
Dr. Bro sponsored the International Relations Club, and in 1948 instituted "Dad's Day" on the campus. That year foreign students were welcomed to the campus and have shared life at Shimer ever since. The Y.W.C.A. that had flourished
