A century of change
Decline and fall of Oread buildings
By CHIP ROUSE
The University of Kansas is now a century and one year old just five years younger than the state itself.
The constitution under which Kansas was admitted as a state in 1861 provided for a state university, but did not fix its actual location.
During the early years of statehood, the selection of the university site, and the location of several other institutions, was a matter of considerable logrolling among politicians around the state.
FIRST OF A SERIES
In 1861, both houses of the legislature passed a bill placing the university at Manhattan, but Governor Charles Robinson, a resident of Lawrence, promptly vetoed it.
Another heated contest arose in 1863, this time between Lawrence and Emporia in their efforts to secure the university.
Lawrence eventually won the battle by one vote in the House of Representatives when the final decision was reached.
The bill locating the University of Kansas at Lawrence passed the Senate without contest, and became law after being signed by Governor Carney on Feb. 20, 1863.
Ouantrill Delavs Construction
No immediate steps were taken to form the University. The following summer, Lawrence underwent the terror of death and destruction by Quantrill and his raiders.
On March 1, 1864, the state legislature passed an act organizing the University which Governor Thomas Carney approved, and actual work on the construction of the campus was begun in the fall of 1865 and continued in 1866.
On Sept. 12, 1866, North College was dedicated and opening exercises of the institution were held.
The first staff of the University of Kansas consisted of three professors, a lecturer on hygiene, and a janitor. The three acting professors were Elial J. Rice, David Hamilton Robinson, and Francis Huntington Snow.
The total enrollment for the year reached 55, but Professor Snow claimed that none of the students were ready for the freshman class.
North College was finally dismantled on Feb. 8,1918.KU's first academic building had many tenants during its 52 years of life. When Fraser Hall was built, the State School for the Feebleminded was installed at the old College. When that school was moved to Winfield, the School of Music was moved to the building. When the Administration Building was started, the old College was condemned.
KU Gets Second Building
RC Gets Second Building By 1870, plans headed by John Fraser, the first active chancellor of the University, were started for the construction of a second building on campus to accompany North College. He presented his plan to the citizens of Lawrence, asking them to vote $100,-000 in bonds for the purpose.
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The bonds were voted in early in 1870, and the work of construction was begun.
When first occupied in 1872. University Hall, named Fraser Hall in 1897 after the chancellor, was the largest educational building in the U.S.
For a long while, the two buildings were simply referred to as the "Old Building" and the "New Building," but in 1877, the "New Building" was named University Hall.
The first graduation exercises for four seniors were held in University Hall Auditorium in June, 1873.
A History of Fraser
Fraser Theater, virtually junked after the University Theater moved into Murphy Hall, staged 650 performances between 1928-1957.
Until two years ago, Fraser and University Hall housed the departments of English, German, home economics, Latin and Greek, university extension, teacher appointment bureau, visual instruction division, correspondence study, and the Wilcox Museum.
The original 54 rooms of Fraser Hall had been divided into 70 by 1965. Electricity replaced the old gas lights in 1893, stone steps took over for wooden stairs, fire escapes were added, and the old red tile roof became shingles in 1953.
Destruction of Old Fiaser began in the summer of 1965 in favor of a $2,080,000 structure which officially opened for classes this spring.
An American flag and the KU banner still adorn the twin towers of Fraser Hall today.
When Fraser was first built, architects said it would probably last for no longer than 50 years, Keith Lawton, current vice-chancellor in charge of operations, said the structure stood for 93 years.
Chemistry Causes Problems
The departments of chemistry, physics, natural sciences, mechanics, engineering, and drawing were all housed in University Hall by 1870.
As the chemistry department began to grow, requests were made for a new building.
Being located in the low basement of University Hall, there was no way of removing the odorous and injurious gases which were produced. These gases frequently rose into the corridors and rooms above.
In 1883, an appropriation of $4,000 with permission to use an unexpended interest fund of $8,000 was granted by the legislature for the construction of a new chemistry building.
A site was selected 50 feet southwest of University Hall, and construction was begun in 1883 and completed by January. 1884.
The original chemistry building was soon outgrown, and within five years after its completion. Professor E. H. S. Bailey reported to the Board of Regents the need for a new building or a suitable addition to the old one.
Part of the problem stemmed from the fact that the department of pharmacy was also housed in Chemistry Hall.
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After 10 years of negotiations between Chancellor F. H. Snow and the Kansas Legislature, $55,-000 was finally appropriated in the spring of 1899, for the construction of a new building.
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The new chemistry building, later referred to as Bailey Laboratories and now known as Bailey Hall, now houses the School of Education at KU.
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Snow Hall of Natural History was dedicated by the University of Kansas on Nov. 16, 1886. In 1885, $50,000 was appropriated by the state legislature for a natural science building to store over 100,000 insect specimens.
A site about 200 feet west of University Hall—in front of present Watson Library—was selected, and work on the building began in the summer of 1885.
It had been found early in the
construction of buildings on Mount Oread, that it was necessary to rest the main walls on footings extending to solid rocks. Failure to carry out this precaution resulted in the gradual deterioration of original Snow Hall.
Daily Kansan Friday, May 19, 1967
By 1930, the building had been abandoned, and by 1934, had been completely dismantled.
Under the guidance of Chancellor Frank Strong, a $200,000 appropriation was received from the legislature for the purpose of replacing Snow Hall.
Ground was broken for the new campus structure in June, 1928, and by the following summer it was under roof. The building stands today in the same location directly west of Strong Hall.
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