14E
Wednesday, August 19, 1992
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Standing atop Mount Oread, North College was the first building on the University of Kansas campus. Other buildings are (top) the outside of Hoch Auditorium where the KU basketball team played (top right) before the construction of Allen Field House. Photos courtesy of University Archives.
KU buildings stand as monuments of University's growth and history
Spooner Hall stands as single original building
By Richard Mancinelli Special to the Kansan
Though Kansas was untouched by the plow in 1854, by 1864 the new Legislature already had passed a bill to build a university.
Of the first six buildings, only one remains standing today — Spooner Hall, built in 1894. Spooner was the sixth building on campus. It was preceded by North College, Old Fraser Hall, the Old Chemistry Building, the Old Snow Hall of Natural Sciences and the old chancellor's house.
The original 10th and 11th buildings are now the second-and third-oldest buildings on campus; Dyche and Lippincott Hills, Lippincott was originally called Green Hall. In August of 1743 all three buildings were put on the National Register of Historic Places.
Amos A. Lawrence of Boston, whose name the city bears, was influential in starting the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company to settle a free state and start a university. He sent two $5,000 notes to be used for "the advancement of the religious and intellectual education of the young in the Kansas territory." He requested that the university be named the Free-State College.
In 1866, Old North College was built with money raised by Presbyterians. Later, the Episcopalians took over the debt the Presbyterians could not pay off.
Twenty-six years and five buildings later, thennew Spooner library was built. Spooner's architecture, taken from a Basilical-type church design, was called Southern Romanesque at its dedication by its designer, Henry Van Brunt, a nationally recognized architect.
Rooms were arranged by Van Brunt to facilitate the stack system for handling books, which he used in designing libraries at Harvard and the University of Michigan.
Spooner was built at a cost of about $75,000. Spooner's walls were constructed from ashlar stone quarried from the site, according to the Regents Report of 1883-94. The library was trimmed with red quartz.
Kurt Brunner, Ottawa senior in architecture, said it was not known whether the stone actually came from North or South Dakota.
Brunner and five other architectural students are members of a summer architecture class taught by Barry Newton, associate professor of architecture and urban design. The class is making sketches of Spooner to be put in the Library of Congress and in a 1904 centennial exhibit to be shown in Spooner.
Because of the difficulty of heating Spooner and the desire that the library be more central to the campus, an addition, scheduled for the north side of the reading room, was dropped in favor of a new library.
On Aug. 1, 1924, 30 years after Spooner opened, Watson library was opened. After Watson's construction, Spooner was to be used for a home economics department. But when a $150,000 art collection was given to the University by Sally C. Thayer, the building was remodeled and renamed to be a museum. A skylight was added, and new floors were put in to accommodate the new museum of anthropology.
Lewis Lindsay Dyche, from the Wakarusa valley, hunted on the ground that was later occupied by the building named for him. He came to the University in 1877 as a peniless preparatory student.
Plans for the building were devised from a scheme planned by Dyche for years. The building's architecture was called Venetian Romanesque. The main entrance was modeled after the St. Trophie at Arles in southern France. The stone animal carvings around the outside of the building were constructed to reflect the building spurpose: the exhibition of principal birds and mammals of America.
The walls were constructed of native limestone and trimmed with stone from Cottonwood Falls.
See Old, Page 15.
THE STUDENT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WE'RE OUT TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!
FALLCALENDAR
Friday, August 21, 1 pm, Adams Alumni Center...Officer Retreat Monday, August 24, 7-8 pm, Adams Alumni Center...Get the Scoop from Boots
September 8-9,10am -2 pm, Wescoe...Membership Pick-Up September 9,7 pm, Adams Alumni Center...SAA General Meeting
Wednesday, October 7, 7 pm, Adams Alumni Center...SAA General Meeting Wednesday, October 21, 7 pm, Adams Alumni Center...Homecoming Prep October 23...Homecoming Parade Saturday. October 24...Homecoming
November 18,7pm, Adams Alumni Center...SAA General Meeting November 21...KU vs.MU Road Trip- The War Drum Exchange
Wednesday, December 2, 7 pm, Adams Alumni Center...Holiday Affair Saturday, December 12, 8:30 am, Adams Alumni Center...Survival Kits
- An awesome conclusion to your first day of classes.
- Make your own sundae-free ice cream, toppings and soft drinks!
- Enjoy great tunes spun by KLZR disc jockey.
NEWSTUDENTS!
Get the Scoop from Boots!
- Meet deans, faculty and other students.
- Sing "I'm a Jayhawk," "The Crimson and the Blue" and other traditional songs led by KU cheerleaders.
KU Address___ Zip___ Phone___
Home Address___ Zip___
Enclosed is my check for $15 payable to SAA.
Return to:
Student Alumni Association
Kansas Alumni Association
1266 Oread Avenue
Lawrence, KS 66045-1600
Or drop in Campus mail
- Tour the Alumni Center, learn about the Student Alumni Association, and pick up an application.
THREEWAYSTOJOIN
up membership application at Adams Alumni Center (third floor), 8-5 p.m, Monday-Friday. See Jedi B.
• Look for us on Wesco Beach on Sept. 8-9.
• Fill out the membership application below!
Name Class Year Maior
Monday,August 24,7-8 pm K.S."Boots"Adams Alumni Center A Hawk Week Tradition!
- An awesome conclusion to your first day of classes.
SAA OFFICERS
SAAPhone: 864-4760
President...Pari Smart
President...Paul Smart Vice President...Meggan Lawler Corresponding Secretary...Haeran Kim Recording Secretary...Jill McDonald Special Events Director...Andy Pitts Membership Co-Directors...Chad Moon, Dietra Stanley Publicity Director...Steve Ammerman Career Opportunities...Shana Gorsky Community Service...Kelly Harrell Campus Affairs..Jason Mueller Social Director...Brant Tryon Finance Director...Peter Beckett Scholarship Director...Ruth Martindale Homecoming Director...Leo Duncan Survival Kit Director...Ann Perry Art Director...Brad Krause Advisory Council. Rob Bletscher. Dustin K. Daugherty.Man
Advisory Council..Rob Bletscher, Dustin K. Daugherty, Mandy Plaster