Following the death of Colonel Woodward on August 27, 1939, Major Douglas C. Woodward, the oldest son of Colonel Woodward and vice president of the Academy, assumed the duties as temporary president of the school. The Governing Board did not meet in formal session until December 18, 1939. At that meeting the son-in-law of Colonel Woodward, William R. Brewster, Sr., recently promoted to the rank of Colonel, was elected to serve as the Academy's second president.

A man of tremendous energy and enthusiasms, Colonel Brewster built on the foundations and plans Colonel Woodward had laid, projecting the Academy into ever-enlarging national importance.

From professor of mathematics and commandant, he was called in a time of crisis stemming from the death of Colonel Woodward to the presidency. Through the Second World War and the Korean conflict, he guided the Academy to new heights of service and usefulness. New buildings, a junior college that served well in a time of desperate need, an elementary school, increased enrollment, and incorporation of new and proven educational procedures marked his service as president.

William Roe, one of three children born to Edgar and Florence Adams Brewster, was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on August 15, 1896. His father was a member of a large family, SO large in fact that a section of the town was called Brewsterville. His mother was a member of the Adams family of Kentucky descended from the Adams of Massachusetts.

Prior to 1917, he lived in Arkansas attending public schools and the University of Arkansas from 1914-1916.

Of his early life, Colonel Brewster once said "I didn't do very well at the University SO Dad took me out of school and put me to work. I worked until the early part of 1916 when I realized that I wasn't making much progress. About that time the United States was moving troops to the Mexican border, and one of the trains stopped at Pine Bluff for a rest period. I found myself seated at a soda fountain beside a young lieutenant, a recent graduate of West Point. I didn't know much about West Point at the time because there had been no appointees from my district to either of the national academies during my life time. The lieutenant told me how I could get an appointment."

William Roe was successful in getting an appointment to West Point, but he flunked out because he had not learned how to study nor did he have a good academic foundation. When he left West Point, he entered Marion Institute, 1916 through 1917, an Alabama school similar to G.M.A., and it was there that he learned that failure could be turned into success. He was readmitted to West Point, and he subsequently completed the requirements for graduation, earning a Bachelor of Science degree and being commissioned in the United States Army in 1920. Thereafter, Colonel Brewster had the desire to give a second chance to each boy who had experienced academic failure but who had a desire to succeed.

A few months after being graduated from West Point, William Roe married Mildred Woodward, the oldest daughter of Colonel Woodward. They would have two children - William Roe Brewster, Jr. and Lucile Brewster Harder.

In 1920, William Roe entered the Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia and after completing the course remained there from June 1921 until June 1924 as an instructor in the small arms department. In September of 1924, he reported to the 33rd Infantry, Fort Clayton, Canal Zone and served there until he resigned from the Army in September of 1925.

He spent six months in the real estate business in Miami, Florida after leaving the Army. In April of 1926, he came to Georgia Military Academy where he was needed to help his father-in-law, Colonel Woodward. He remained there until his retirement after thirty-five years in 1961. During those thirty-five years, he served as an instructor of history and mathematics (1926-28), Commandant (1928-33), Superintendent and Head of the Math Department (1933-39), and in 1939, President. He became President Emeritus in 1961.

Cadets of the 1920-40 era will remember Colonel Brewster best as the erect West Pointer who preached and practiced his alma mater's motto: Duty, Honor, Country. They will remember his energy and his enthusiasm which he displayed daily while teaching algebra, geometry and ancient and American history. They will remember him as the uncompromising disciplinarian who said "no" when that was the only right answer. They will remember his booming voice which permeated all corners of the campus.

As a teacher, he had few peers. By his constant prodding, he upgraded the academic standards until the school was recognized as being one of the best in the South. He founded the West Point and Annapolis preparatory course - special prep classes giving extra instruction in mathematics - which was solely responsible for many cadets gaining admission to the United States service academies. His real enjoyment came from teaching.

The cadets of the 1940-60 era did not have the same personal contact with him as those of the previous years. They had, consequently, the tendency to be in awe of his authority. They remember him as the weekly speaker in Chapel who always asked for better grades and better conduct from his boys. He spoke on every subject whether it be current events or sex education.

With Colonel Brewster's presidency came an adjustment from a depression operation to a wartime operation, with not many teachers available since they were all being inducted into the service. With the shortages that were there, he had to devise a program that was, in a sense, operating twelve months of the year with graduation every quarter, because of people going into the military.

Under his leadership, the academic program was improved and the school took its place beside the best college preparatory schools in the nation. As a result there have probably been more cadets enter the United States service academies from G.M.A. than from any other secondary school in the South.

He guided the school's growth from 400 students to 1,000 students, reorganized the Academy into Junior and Senior Schools, and expanded the Junior School from 50 to 300 students. He allowed the school to grow, and for the first time the school accumulated some money.

He was innovative, brought in busses for transportation; renovated practically every building on campus. He was responsible for founding the Georgia Military Academy Junior College in 1940 and for initiating its termination in 1953. He planned and supervised the construction of the Junior School Building (Woodward Annex), the Administration Building (West Hall), the Rugby Hall Annex, and the Gymnasium.

Although he was a sound businessman, he did not want to get involved in fund raising. He just did not believe in it. He tried to upgrade the facilities, tried to make it more efficient. He covered the soft pine dormitory floors with tile. He put the school on a sound fiscal basis, without getting involved in fund raising. He kept the tuition low.

Georgia Military Academy weathered the anxieties and strains during World War II and the Korean Conflict. During World War II, all schools were urged to accelerate graduation. G.M.A. had continuous school. It was possible for a cadet to graduate from high school in two and one-half years, but he had to have ability and desire.

An estimated 1,500 alumni served in the armed forces with more than fifty per cent serving as commissioned officers. Approximately ninety are known to have made the supreme sacrifice. A monument in their memory was erected.

Among the cadets who enrolled in Georgia Military Academy each year were several post-graduate students. Some of these cadets were ready for college work.

The junior college department was needed in order that those cadets who were meeting college standards would receive college credit for their work.

Work on the college was begun in 1940 and the college was immediately accredited by the University of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Colleges. The Junior College received accreditation from The Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges in December 1951. In 1947, a Junior College Military Institute R.O.T.C. unit was established.

By 1945 the Junior College had grown so that the Board decided to prepare for the future by building a new Junior College building containing classrooms, living quarters, science laboratories, and recreational facilities for one hundred boarding cadets. Separated from the main (later auditorium, now Colquitt campus by Cambridge Avenue behind Memorial Hall, the Junior College offered a two-year general college course and a two-year terminal course.

The college operated with decreasing success until 1953. Many reasons were given for its decline. One reason concerned the problem of leadership in the Junior School and the High School because the cadet officers were housed in the Junior College building.

Another problem was that of enrollment. The number of cadets graduating from the Junior College from 1950 to 1953 began to decrease. It was noted that junior college enrollments over the country were down and that Georgia Military Academy might normally expect a continuation of the trend.

Other reasons were given for the closing of the college; one concerned selective service regulations. Once a cadet enrolled in the advanced course of the R.O.T.C., he was exempt from the draft until he completed college, provided he continued in a four-year college and agreed to accept a commission in the reserve corps and serve on active duty if necessary. The Department of the Army announced a change in this policy which would take the military units out of the junior colleges. If the change had been adopted, the junior college students would have been eligible for the draft. If this military program were lost, Colonel Brewster reasoned, then there would have been a future decline in numbers of students.

At the same time, the junior school program was growing rapidly and needed room for expansion. The Junior College, therefore, was not reopened for the 1953-54 school year, and the crowded junior school program moved into the Junior College building.

In the fall of 1937, there were twenty-five students enrolled in the Junior School. Foreseeing a significant increase in enrollment, the school purchased the former home of Colonel Woodward from Mrs. Mildred Brewster for the junior schoolers. A two story annex, approximately forty-seven by sixty-one feet, was added. Six classrooms and eight rooms designated as sleeping quarters were included in the new annex.

In 1943, the Junior School gymnasium, known as the Little Gym was built behind the Woodward annex at the end of the old parade field.

The Junior School, established in the early years of the school, had become a significant part of the Georgia Military Academy program. It grew slowly over the years, and by 1920, included grades six, seven, and eight. The growth continued until 1927 when the fifth grade was added with a total of sixteen students in grades five through eight.

In 1929, Captain Dwight Tayor Keith became the Junior School's first principal. Included in the faculty and administration of the school were Captain and Mrs. Keith, Sadie McKay, and Alice Paget. During that same year, the second, third, and fourth grades were added.

In 1940, the year following the death of Colonel Woodward, the enrollment of the Junior School had increased to thirty-seven students, all housed in "The Retreat." Over the years, the enrollment increased and by 1945 numbered one hundred and seventy.

With the addition of ten first grade students in 1950, the first full elementary school was complete. During this same year, the eighth grade became a part of the high school. In 1953, when the Junior school enrollment reached 252 students, the Junior School was moved to its present site in Tucker Hall.

In 1959, the Junior School, under the principalship of Colonel Harry Edwards, former mathematics and science teacher of the High School and Junior College, boasted an enrollment of 329 students and twenty faculty members.

During Captain Brewster's second year as president of the school, the kindergarten was added. In 1964, for the first time, girls were admitted to the Academy. During this same time, the military program for junior schoolers was discontinued.

The year 1970 saw further advancements for the Junior School. Tucker Hall, the 28,000 square foot structure which had formerly housed the Junior College, was completely renovated. The building was fully air-conditioned and carpeted, the rooms on the first floor were enlarged, and the two upper floors were converted from dormitory rooms to classrooms. The walkways around each floor were covered and the outside architecture changed to conform to the other buildings on main campus.

A new multi-level program was begun for the primary grades and the correlated curriculum was initiated for the middle grades under the principalship of Don A. Woolf, present Headmaster of Woodward Academy. The following year the pre- kindergarten program was started and the enrollment reached 456 students.

Earlier, at the end of World War II, Colonel Brewster had the gymnasium built. The 28,000 square foot structure, which was made from fabricated material designed for use as an airplane hangar, provided needed athletic and physical education space for the Academy. Upon completion of the gym, the auditorium (Chapel) was moved from Founders Annex into the renovated "old gym" and the library was relocated in Founders Hall.

Two major structures were completed by Colonel Brewster in 1956. The Junior School Gymnasium was built next to the Junior School Building, and a new Administration Building, which later became West Hall, was added to the front of the vacant gym (the auditorium). This structure, later dedicated to Colonel West, contained the administrative offices for the President, the Superintendent, the Registrar, and the Business Office. On the second floor were four new classrooms and a teacher's lounge.

In 1959 the school purchased one hundred and eight acres of land near Palmetto, Georgia. Known as GMAacres, the land contained a fifteen acre lake stocked with fish. The complex included a boathouse, a swimming pool, athletic fields, a dormitory, and a lodge with attractive living quarters. GMAacres served, for several years, as a full-time summer camp, football camp, and retreat for faculty and students.

With the administration of Colonel William R. Brewster, Sr., Georgia Military Academy continued its expansion. During his twenty year tenure as president of G.M.A., more than once and one-half million dollars were invested in new buildings and improvements to existing facilities.

Excerpt from “The Woodward Story”, by Robert Ballentine, published 1990 by Jostens Printing and Publishing; content used with permission of the copyright holder, Woodward Academy Inc., College Park, Georgia, USA.