Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1963 University Daily Kansan
Page 7
A University Rich with History and Color
Pictures and Story By R. Dennis Bowers
To a student currently studying at KU, the University has often represented a fine place to graduate and a four-year challenge.
There appears to be little KU history worth troubling about and none of significance to stimulate thoughts of a long and colorful Mount Oread tradition.
BUT DEEP IN THE canyons of books in the basement of Watson Library are stacks of documents which write a story of KU history, a school with historical significance.
Files of dusty books bring forth countless post cards taken by instructors and Lawrence residents. They depict Lawrence as it was when Clark Quantrill and his small army left a wake of death and destruction in the August, 1863 raid. Lawrence and the university are revealed as they were on that long-distant September day when the university first opened. Kansas was only five years old at the time.
DURING THOSE first days, the faculty took stock of their students and found forty-nine enrolled. In
a few days, the number rose to 55. Of these students, not one was ready for college work. All had come for preparatory studies.
The staff consisted of three professors, a lecturer on hygiene, and a janitor. This school, on the edge of the frontier, was forced to rely on young men with little experience, or on older men who desired a change of locality in search of health.
GENERAL JOHN FRASER visited the campus by invitation on December 4,1867 and was elected president of the university the same day. A student of Fraser's wrote later; "In stature he was below the medium; but his sturdy, closely knit frame was impelled with a spirit extraordinarily active . . ."
Gen. Fraser's arrival in 1869 infused new life into the university. The enrollment increased, new teachers were added and the number of courses were expanded. Fraser Hall, then called University Hall, was built complete with hitching posts for student's mounts.
THE UNIVERSITY grew and so
did the need for more room. Blake Hall and Watkins Hall (the present Art Museum) were built. Watkins Hall was then called Chemistry Hall. Snow Hall was constructed next.
SPORTS were beginning to emerge on the scene. Football and baseball became intercollegiate sports between KU, Baker University and Kansas State University. A game between KU and Baker in 1890 is still contested. KU claims the victory 14-12 and Baker claims a 12-10 victory.
Campus organizations were forming, allowing an outlet for interests and talents. The mens glee club, the mandolin club, poetry club, drama club, Jay James, K-Club, the Kansas Editors and the KuKu's were organized.
AND THE UNIVERSITY adopted traditions—the yell, "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" had its origin over doughnuts and cider following a social meeting of the KU science club. The yell was originally, "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk" but was changed that year just prior to a football game. The word "chalk" originated from the
chalk outeroppings in the rock strata on the hill.
The crimson and the blue were not adopted until after school colors of maize and sky blue had been used. These colors were changed to just the crimson and finally the blue was added.
Much of the tradition and history has been forgotten and lies at rest at the bottom of those musty canyons.
NO LONGER do we have the annual Dandelion Day where students scatter with their dates across the campus grounds to pluck the yellow weeds. No longer do we have the Maypole fight where sophomores and juniors battled over who would get the Maypole. No longer is swimming permitted in Potter's Lake where diving boards and rafts were once busy.
Time brings changes. But the past is there and it is upon that past that KU, as it is now, was built. It is colorful and significant, and gives meaning and a kind of nostalgic retrospect which could be termed pride.
SO, BRING ON OKLAHOMA
—This KU football player, if he seems somewhat inadequately dressed for the occasion in his uniform, looks formidable enough even without shoulder pads.
THE SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS as it was in 1900. Although "Old North" was the home of fine arts, externally it relied on its name in a manner scarcely conceivable to today's architects.
FROM THE ARCHIVES comes this photograph of the women of Pi Beta Phi sorority as they dressed in 1892. Of course styles have since experienced an evolution from sun bonnets and long dresses to other more sporty-looking attire.