Buildings' names bear memories and tradition
By Virginia Marghelm Special to the Kansan
It may be unusual today to see the chancellor of the University of Kansas racing downhill on a bicycle, but students thought nothing of it when Francis Huntington Snow was chancellor from 1867 to 1874.
Snow would wheel out of the driveway in front of Fraser Hall and shoot down 14th Street with his coattails flapping. Because bikes at that time had no brakes, he hoisted his feet on the footrests above the front wheel and enjoyed the ride.
Snow, KU's first professor of mathematics and science, was a respected entomologist, but he also was known for his study of meteors. He correctly predicted a meteor shower, and he always was willing to buy meteorites from farmers who found them in their fields.
Behind the facades of buildings that bear their names are people who have left their money, as well as some memories, to the University.
The building that bears his name, Snow Hall, houses the mathematics department. And like many of the building namesakes on campus, his legacy probably is unknown to most students.
Here are some of their stories as recorded in archive files at the Spencer Research Library in Fred Ellsworth's "Our Amazing Chancellors" and in a thesis, "A History of the Scholarship Hall System at the University of Kansas," by Susan Rae Miller.
Consider Fraser Hall's namesake. Gen. John Fraser, the University's first appointed chancellor, came to the University in 1867. Fraser, a Scotsman who was a Union officer in the Civil War, gave up his post as
president of the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania to become the chancellor of the new University. In contrast to the University today, the one that Fraser came to consisted of two small buildings standing on a hill amid the plains of Kansas.
Under Fraser's guidance, enrollment rose so dramatically that Fraser was able to convince the Board of Regents that $100,000 worth of bonds was necessary to construct a new building for the University.
Neither Fraser nor the building lasted.
Fraser, although popular and respected, left in 1874 when the Legislature cut the University's funds. Old Fraser Hall was torn down in 1963 because it was determined to be structurally unsafe. But the building that was rebuilt on the site, used for various classes and offices, still bears Fraser's name.
William B. Spooner had no affiliation with the University other than his niece and her husband, but he liked them so much that he financed two buildings on the campus for them. In the 1890s, Spooner, a Boston merchant, donated $100,000 for the construction of a library and a chancellor's residence for his niece, Jane Snow, the wife of Francis Snow. That chancellor's residence stood where Douthart Scholarship Hall stands today.
Officially opened Oct. 10, 1894, Spooner Hall served as the campus library until it was moved to Watson Library in 1924. Spooner Hall housed an art museum until 1978, and World War II veterans used the basement as a residence hall in 1946.
Spooner Hall was only the sixth building on campus, and in the fall it will become the first to celebrate a 100th anniversary.
Elizabeth Miller Watkins dreamed of
becoming an artist. Instead, she became an important KU benefactor. Watkins, who attended the University for a year before moving to New York, was unable to find work as an artist. She got a job at the Watkins Land and Mortgage Company, where she met and married Jabez Watkins.
The wealthy couple eventually returned to the University and began to support it. After her husband's death, Watkins contributed money for several buildings, including:
Watkins and Miller scholarship halls. These women's halls were the first buildings donated by Elizabeth Watkins.She was concerned about helping young women who wanted to attain an education.
Anon-campus hospital. Watkins Memorial Health Center, which today is Twente Hall and houses the School of Social Welfare, was dedicated to the memory of her husband.
- The present chancellor's home. Watkins left in her will a provision that converted her home to the chancellor's home.
In 1944, after hearing the chancellor give a speech on the need for housing at the University, Joseph R. Pearson and Gertrude Sellards Pearson gave nearly $1 million to help finance campus housing.
They donated money to build a men's hall and a woman's hall, similar to other scholarship halls. The hall for men was called Pearson Scholarship Hall; the one for women was called Sellards Scholarship Hall.
The couple also financed two large residence halls, Gertrude Sellards Pearson Hall and Joseph R. Pearson Hall, which currently is empty.
Jill Bertone, Garnett freshman, lives in
GSP-Corbin, but she said she was unaware of its history.
"All I knew was that it was named after Gertrude Sellards Pearson," Bertone said. "No one has ever told me the story behind it."
Through their contributions, the Pearsonsmade housing available for nearly 1,000 students. However,they wanted to do more than just give money.
Joseph Pearson, an honorary member of the class of 1901, spent a great deal of time planning halls and learning about residence hall planning and financing. During the last five years of his life, he spent nearly every day planning halls and furnishing them.
After Pearson's death, his wife provided equity for another scholarship hall, which was called Grace Pearson Hall in honor of Joseph Pearson's sister, who died of consumption at a young age.
Although the construction of buildings on the University's campus has slowed considerably, John Scarffe, director of communications for the KU Endowment Association, said the financing of buildings by private individuals still occurred. The most notable gift recently was given by the Lied Foundation to build the Lied Center, Scarffe said.
"We continue to receive more money each year than the previous year," Scarfe said. A total of $33.3 million was donated for the 1993 fiscal year, a record sum for contributions.
"In 1992, $31.2 million was given," he said. "Indications are that the amount is still increasing. During the past 100 years, private gifts have helped provide 86 percent of KU's land and 61 percent of its buildings."
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