My oldest son had a jazz band competition at Murray State University this month, and I had the chance to tag along. I have never been on the campus, or even near it. Despite being in Kentucky on numerous occasions, I have never been to that particular area within the state. Its about a three and a half drive from our home in the Memphis area. The trip meant that in addition to getting to see his high school band play, as well as a number of others, I had about an hour and a half of down time. And for me, that means a chance to explore and photograph campus. I was not able to prep for the trip the way I generally do, and that meant I was walking around without the benefit of knowing anything about the campus or the university’s history. I was walking around rather directionless just taking it in. I was not sure what all I would see. It is not a terribly large campus and although I didn’t get photos of every single building or landmark on campus, I did see virtually all of it. I had a doctoral student who did his master’s work there, and although he spoke of his time there, we never discussed the campus. All of this to say that when I walked around it was totally spontaneous and I had no idea what to expect. Not a bad way to make a campus visit, just different than my usual method. 

After the fact, I read the book “The Finest Place We Know: A Centennial History of Murray State University, 1922-2022" by Robert L. Jackson, Sean J. McLaughlin, and Sarah Marie Owens (University of Kentucky Press, 2022) and it was very helpful in getting to know the university. I also found some online materials which helped in the preparation of this post.  

The university began life as the Murray State Normal School, a name it carried for only four years from 1922 to 1926. Normal schools, which I will discuss in some detail below, were colleges designed to train teachers. Reflecting that mission, the school changed its name in 1926 to the Murray State Normal School and Teachers College. That name, like the previous one, would last only four years. The “normal school” moniker would be dropped in 1930 making the name simply the Murray State Teachers College. It would carry this name for eighteen years. As was the case for most teacher’s colleges, the institution’s mission changed to be more encompassing, so in 1948 the name would change to Murray State College. By 1966, the institution had grown to the point of offering numerous degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, so the name was changed once more to the current Murray State University. Today, Murray State has its main campus in Murray, KY, several satellite campuses, and a farm. The main campus covers just over 258 acres, and the institution enrolls about 9,500 students.  

It was a very sunny day, and the temperature was quite nice so during my break I explored the campus. Although distant from the mountains of eastern Kentucky, the campus is a bit hilly. It extends along a north-south axis with a newer development on the southern west side. The photos below generally follow my circuitous route around the campus. 

In the first set of photos, we have the Price Doyle Fine Arts Center. Price "Pop" Doyle was a professor of music at Murray State. He came to the university in 1930 and would serve as chair of the Department of Fine Arts from 1939 until 1957. That is a very long time to be a department chair! He was the inaugural chair of the department and served in that role until he retired from the university. The building is the tallest on campus. The building was dedicated on December 5, 1971. It is physically connected to the Old Fine Arts Building seen in the second photo. Old Fine Arts opened in 1945 and was completed without air conditioning. A significant fire broke out in the building in 1994 during a planned renovation. The third photo in this set is one of several gates dotting campus. The fourth is the Ordway Monument, the last remnants of Ordway Hall. Ordway opened in 1931 as a men's residence hall. The 31,000 square-foot building served in that capacity until 1972 when it was converted for use as office space. When I saw the old façade, I thought the building had been the victim of fire or some other calamity, but that was not the case. The building was simply razed in 2013. The final picture in this set is Ordway's original dedication plaque. Ordway's designer, G. Tandy Smith, Jr., was a prolific Paducah, KY based architect. He also designed the Pogue Library (see below) on campus. Many of his numerous structures are on the National Register of Historic Places. Included among these are the Johnson-Hach House in Clarksville, TN, the Kenmil Place House in Paducah, one of the many buildings in the downtown Princeton, KY Historic District, and the Pogue Library.

The next set is of the Henry Lee Waterfield Library. When I first saw Waterfield, I didn’t think it was a library. It just didn’t look like a library to me, at least the back end of it. I don’t know why, since libraries can look like just about anything. As it turns out, it started life in a different role. It began life as the student union with essentially the same name. Instead of the Henry Lee Waterfield Library, it was known as the Henry Lee Waterfield Student Union Building. It opened in 1959 with all of the typical accoutrements of a student union: a bookstore, cafeteria, ballroom, recreation spaces, and a post office. It cost less than $1 million to build (just over $10.5 million in today’s value) and looked very different, at least from the front where the new addition stands today. You can see the older portion of the building in the third photo. The former side was an open “u” shape and long awnings covered the sidewalk and entryway to the building. The university’s collections had grown to the point that the existing space in the Pogue library were no longer sufficient. A decision was made to expand the existing building and convert it into a library while subsequently constructing a new student union. A groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation and expansion of the space took place on November 22, 1976, and the library took over the space in 1978. They had a dedication ceremony in the afternoon of September 2, 1978. 

It is named in honor of Murray alumnus (Class of 1932), former Kentucky Lieutenant Governor, state representative, Speaker of the House, businessman, and Murray State Board member (1969-1973) Harry Lee Waterfield. Interestingly, he served two terms as Lieutenant Governor, but they were nonconsecutive.

The set below is of the combination structure that houses the Hutson School of Agriculture called the Oakley Applied Sciences Building. The building is named for Dr. Hugh Oakley. Oakley arrived on campus in 1946 having served in the Navy during Worl War II. He had been a public school teacher in Kentucky before the war. He came to Murray State to be the founding chair of the Department of Industrial Arts, a position he held from 1946 to 1965. He went on to be Dean of the School of Applied Sciences and Technology from 1965 to 1973 and subsequently served of the Dean of the College of Industry and Technology when the school changed names. He held that role until his retirement in 1977. The department had two interim homes until Oakley helped facilitate the purchase of three former military ordinance buildings in 1947. These surplus buildings were located in Illinois when purchased by the university. They were subsequently dismantled, shipped to Kentucky, and reassembled to create the since razed Industrial Arts Building. The current building was completed in early 1965 with the first classed being held there during the Summer 1965 session. The building would be renamed in Dr. Oakley's honor in a ceremony on April 25, 1992. Dr. Oakley passed away in December 2020 aged 88. 

As noted, in addition to industry and technology, the building is also home to the Hutson School of Agriculture. The school carries the Hutson name for good reason. A succession of Hutson's have contributed to Murray State since its earliest days. Nicholas Hutson was in the agriculture supply business at the time of Murray State's founding. He began the long tradition of Hutson family giving to the university. The family has given funds to start scholarships and various other causes and donated 160 acres for the university's lab farm. In thanks for these donations, the university named the school in their honor in 2010.

The set below begins with three photos of John W. Carr Hall. The building is named for Murray State’s first AND third president, John Wesley Carr. You read that correctly, he was president twice in non-consecutive terms. Later in this post I will introduce you to Rainy T. Wells, the man most responsible for the university being located in Murray. Wells worked tirelessly to raise funds for the institution and lobbied hard to have it located in Calloway County. According to Jackson, et al., (2022), he expected to be awarded the presidency for his work. The state had other ideas and selected Carr. Jackson and colleagues (2022) report that Wells was “bitterly disappointed” but the two found respect for one another and eventually became friends. In a gesture of friendship and goodwill, Carr stepped down from the presidency to a dean’s position after a mere three years to let Wells have a turn. It’s difficult for me to imagine this to be the case. Perhaps I am jaded, but the idea of someone leaving a presidency out of goodwill seems like an impossibility. I would imagine a more likely scenario would be a resignation coming from the exasperation of having Wells scrutinizing every action or perhaps Wells engaging in a political maneuver of some sort to force Carr out. After all, Carr was (obviously) well qualified for the job. He was also older than Wells. Why step down? My cynicism may be misplaced and having no original research on the topic I will have to assume that Jackson, McLaughlin, and Owens (2022) accurately detail a most generous situation in which Carr stepped down to let Wells have a go at it. Whatever the motivation, Carr was both the first (1923-1926) and third (1933 to 1936) president of Murray State. Interestingly, after he stepped down as president the second time, he also returned to a dean role.  

Born in Indiana in 1859, Carr was a long-time teacher and school principal. After decades in these roles, he went on to earn his Ph.D. at New York University (Class of 1913) at the age of fifty-three. He then had a number of administrative positions before being selected for Murray State’s presidency. The building which carries his name was completed in 1937 at an expense of $240,000 (about $5.5 million in today’s value). It was the first dedicated gymnasium on campus, and it still serves in that role today. It opened with the name “Health Building”. Somewhere along the way the name changed first to the “Carr Health Building” and then to the present John W. Carr Hall. I was not able to find out when these changes occurred.  

The statue of Carr was placed in front of the building in 2020. Former Dean of Education Dr. Jack Rose and his wife Janice made the principal donation to fund the monument.

The last two photos of this set are of the Blackburn Science Building which sits north of Oakley and northwest of Carr. The building, which I believe was originally called merely the Science Building, is named in honor of long-serving Murray faculty member and administrator Walter E. Blackburn. He arrived on campus as an instructor of chemistry sans a Ph.D. He completed his doctoral work at the University of Illinois (Class of 1944) while on faculty at Murray State. He rose through the ranks to be Chair of the Department of Chemistry and then, in 1968, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. Work on the building began in November 1947 and was completed in 1950 to the tune of $1,016,000 (or some $14.3 million today). A significant addition was undertaken in the 1960's which greatly enlarged the structure. This came with a $2,437,000 price tag (about $24.2 million in 2024 value). Dr. Blackburn passed away in 1974 and the building was re-named in his honor in 1975.

The set below is of the Murray State student union, known as the Curris Center. The building is named in honor of Murray State’s seventh president, Dr. Constantine Curris. Curris was one of those presidents who moved around, serving in that role at several universities. He was president of Murray State from 1973 to 1983. He then jumped to Cedar Falls where he was the president of the University of Northern Iowa from 1983 until 1995 when he moved to take the presidency of Clemson University. He served in that role for only four years at which time he took over the presidency of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. He held the position there until 2008. The Curris Center comes in at 135,000-square-feet and was completed in 1981. Construction began in April 1978 and the structure was completed in five distinct sections to increase its stability in an earthquake. Curris was something of a bargain, costing only $8.2 million (or about $39.4 million today) to construct. The first photo is the southwest corner of the structure which also has a good view of one of Murray State's many lamppost signs (see below). The next four photos are of the west façade and courtyard. The university's athletic logo is prominently displayed in front of the main entrance on that side of the building and the Murray State shield can be seen just inside the building (sixth photo). The inside has the racehorse design you see in photos seven and eight. Interestingly, those silver horses and blue backgrounds are relatively new. There are photos online taken in 2012 which show those spaces to be bare brick. The light fixtures have also changed, going from large brown rectangles to the sleek white LED's you see in these photos (see here and here). I have to say I like the original version better than what is there today. Another entrance is on the lower level on the north side of the building. Just a few feet away is the statue of Racer 1 you see in photos nine through twelve. The final photo in this set was taken in the lobby of the lower level. A blue bench with a giant figure reading a newspaper. I thought it was neat.

Next are two photos of the Collins Industry and Technology Center. When I saw the building, which sits across from the Curris Center, I judged it to be the older of the two buildings. To me, it looks like something from the 1970's, although some of its styling points are similar to Curris which could place it as a 1980's building. It actually opened in September 1991, and thus is quite a bit younger than Curris. It is named for Kentucky's first female governor, Marth Collins.

Murray State has something rather unique about it, at least as far as public universities in the U.S. go. It is organized around residential colleges. Residential colleges are centered on a group of students and faculty located within a residential system. There are a number of colleges and universities in the U.S. which have them, although these tend to be at private institutions. Most people in the U.S. think of them schools in the Ivy League or at places in the U.K. like Cambridge and Oxford. They are the result of Murray State president Kern Alexander (more about him below). He introduced the residential college system to Murray State in 1997. Inspired by the English tradition, Alexander sought to provide a unique way to bring students into the Murray State fold by giving them residential associations (whether someone is an actual campus resident or a commuter) identity. He oversaw the process creating eight residential colleges: Clark, Elizabeth, Hart, Hester, Regents, Richmond, Springer-Franklin, and White. There are residence halls with the same names as the colleges (of course), most of which pre-date the residential college system. Each college has its own coat of arms (see the bit about lamppost signs near the end of this post), traditions, and activities. It is an interesting idea that the students at Murray State seem to value and enjoy.

The first two photos in the next set are of the Elizabeth Hall and the Chestnut Pedestrian Bridge. There are more photos of the bridge below. It takes its name from the street over which it passes. The viaduct opened in 2023 and connects the main academic portion of the campus to the residential and athletics side to the north. In addition to allowing students to bypass traffic it removes the need to traverse two hills. The building gets its name from Elizabeth Harkless Woods, wife of Murray State's fourth president Ralph H. Woods. The building opened in 1964 and its style reflects that era. The building cost about $1 million to construct (about $10.3 million in 2024 dollars). It had the plain name "Women's Dormitory #2" when it opened. Woods was president of the university from 1945 to 1968, having the longest tenure in the role to date. He oversaw some of the most dramatic growth in the institution's history. Mrs. Woods passed away in 1976. I am uncertain as to when the building received her name. Of course, the residential college carries her name as well.

​​The last two photos of this set are of the Hollis C. Franklin College residence hall. It is one of the newer buildings on campus. It opened in September 2016. It is named in honor of its Marion, KY namesake, who was a banker and a long serving Murray State Board of Regents (1947-1956) member. It is actually the second building to carry this name. The original Franklin Hall opened in 1963 and was also a dorm. The older Frankling remained in-place and in-use during the construction of the new building. The new Frankin College building is considerably larger than the previous one. Old Franklin housed 330 students, whereas the new building houses 380. But it is not merely the addition of 50 beds that makes the building larger. Owing to a more modern style, the building affords its residents with more personal space. There are also more lounge and study areas in the new structure as well as a large meeting space that can hold 100 people.

The set below begins with three photos of the George S. Hart residence hall, home to the eponymously named residential college. As I approached the building, I thought it was merely one of those 1960's or 1970's style dorms that dot most American colleges: tall, plain, and utilitarian. For the most this is the case, but as I got closer I could see the neat exteriors on each end. Not exactly Gothic cathedral-style elegance, but they are neat additions to an otherwise Brutalist box. George S. Hart was born in Calloway County on March 1, 1893. he served in the Army during World War I, risking to the rank of Sargeant Major. After the war, he returned to Murray where he would leave an indelible mark on the community. Hart was mayor for twenty years and was president of the Bank of Murray. He was a long-serving member of the Murray State Board of Trustees. I was not able to find out too much about the building. I believe it opened in 1966, although I may be mistaken. I am also fairly certain the building has carried Hart's name since it opened, although again this may not be the case. The seven-story structure has space for 534 residents.

The fourth photo shows the Winslow Dining Hall (foreground) and Lee Clark Hall, home to Lee Clark Residential College (background). The Winslow Dining Hall opened in 1964. I was unable to find out anything about the building or its name. Lee Clark was a major force behind getting the university located in Murray. He was involved in business and farming in nearby Lynn Grove, KY. He was also a state representative. During his time in the statehouse in Frankfurt, he lobbied hard for the western part of the state in general and in particular for the college. History has it that he could have easily moved on to be a congressman, but he held no interest in the job. Instead, he went to work at Murray State. He was the superintendent of buildings for a time as well as the manager of the bookstore. He was also a seventeen-year member of the university's Board of Regents. The current building is the second to carry his name. The first, also a dorm, opened in 1962 and has since been razed. Given their near identical outward appearance, I assume the building opened around the same time as Richmond Hall (see below) which occurred in 2009. 

The fifth photo shows Hester Hall (foreground) which is the home to the Hester Residential College and the James H. Richmond Hall, home to the Richmond College Residential College. Hester is named in honor of long-serving Murray State Registrar Cleo Gillis Hester. She worked in the registrar's office from 1927 to 1960! I'm not certain when the building opened, but it looks the part of a 1960's or 1970's structure. I may very well be mistaken about this since the Hester Residential College did not come into being until 1996. The building may date from then as well. The eight-story structure is mixed gender. Like Clark, the James H. Richmond Hall is relatively new. The building is named in honor of Murray State's fourth president. Richmond was born in the rural community of Ewing, Virginia, a few miles from both the Kentucky and Tennessee borders. It is the second dorm to carry the Richmond name. The original structure opened in 1960 and housed up to 242 residents. The 45,912 square-foot building was demolished beginning in late December 2019. The new (current) Richmond opened ten years earlier in 2009 and houses up to 270 students. The building was extensively damaged by an explosion on June 28, 2017. A physical plant employee had run over a natural gas line regulator that morning setting the stage for the explosion later that afternoon. The building was largely vacant thanks to it being summer. No one was killed in the incident although one employee was injured. None the less, the south wing of the building, which is what you see in this photo, experienced significant damage. Two floors were largely destroyed. The building was repaired at an expense of $13 million (about $16.6 million in 2024 dollars) and re-opened in 2019.

​Finally, this set concludes with a photo of the collection of buildings known as the College Courts. The buildings make up 132 apartments across twelve structures.

The first photo below is the relatively new Susan E. Bauernfeind Student Recreation and Wellness Center. The building opened in 2005, although it looks much younger. It is quite large considering the number of students at Murray State. It has three basketball courts, an indoor track, racquetball courts, exercise facilities, recreational space, and two pools. Alumnus Arthur J. Bauernfeind (Class of 1960) and his wife Diana made a substantial donation to build the center which is named in honor of their late daughter. He is the former CEO of Westfield Capital Management and former member and chair of the Murray State Board of Trustees. ​The last two photos of this set are of the Chestnut Pedestrian Bridge looking south toward the Curris Center. They were taken a few minutes apart during and then after a change in classes.

The first photo in this set is Faculty Hall. I was not actually able to find out anything about the building online nor in my reference material or the book by Jackson, McLaughlin, and Owens. It is a fairly typical looking campus tower which houses the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. If you happen to know anything about it, please leave a comment. 

The last two photos of this set are of ​Alexander Hall, home to Murray State's College of Education and Human Services. ​Alexander Hall is named for Murray State’s 9th president, Kern Alexander. He came to Murray State in 1994 and stayed in the position until 2001. In a weird feat generally not seen outside of politics, he was succeeded in the presidency by his son F. (Fieldon) King Alexander. Before I delve into that fact, it leaves me with two questions: (1) how many people have served as a college president who had a child go on to serve as a college president? and (2) how many times has that been at the same university? I would venture a guess that this is one of the few times where a child not only followed in their parent’s footsteps but did so at the same university and immediately after their parent. Kern Alexander was born in 1939 in the small community of Marrowbone, Kentucky. He completed his undergraduate work at Centre College (Class of 1961), and then went on to earn a master’s degree at Western Kentucky University (Class of 1962) and an Ed.D. from Indiana University (Class of 1965). Having served on faculty at a number of universities, he was the 7th president of his alma mater Western Kentucky from 1986 to 1988. He established WKU’s community college during his brief presidency. His time there was notable for both controversies and his short tenure in the position (one being part of the other). As for his son, F. King Alexander was hired as Murray State’s president in a move that itself was described as controversial. The board of regents conducted the search in a less than open manner, serving as the search committee and the final approving authority for the hire. The faculty senate at Murray was none too pleased by that fact. It was during his tenure that Alexander Hall was built as was the Susan E. Bauernfeind Student Recreation and Wellness Center (see above). He left Murray to serve as president of California State University Long Beach, Louisiana State University, and Oregon State University. His hire at LSU was contentious, with the faculty senate there making a vote of no confidence in him which he withstood. His time at LSU would haunt him, however. His handling of multiple sexual assault cases at LSU resulted in the Oregon State faculty senate issuing a vote of no confidence in him as well. This time, the vote and the outrage in his handling of those cases resulted in his stepping down about a year into his tenure in Corvallis. 

The photos in the next set are of a newer complex of buildings on the west side of campus. The complex sits just south of Alexander Hall. Collectively, these buildings make up the Dr. Gene W. Ray Science Campus. Ray, a Murray State alumnus (Class of 1960) went to my alma mater the University of Tennessee for his master's in physics (Class of 1962) and his Ph.D. in theoretical physics (Class of 1965). The founder of the Titan Corporation, Ray was involved in the IT world in one form or fashion for most of his career. He and wife Taffin have given generously to Murray State over the years including a major gift to establish the Gene W. Ray Center for Racer Basketball. When the science campus opened in 2013 it was named in his honor. He passed away on July 28, 2023.

The buildings on the Ray Campus and the units they contain are part of the Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering, and Technology. Jones hailed from Marshall County, Kentucky, and attended Murray State as a nontraditional student. He was married and had two kids at the time and worked a night shift during his college years. He graduated with his bachelor's in chemistry and mathematics (Class of 1964). Life took him to Baton Rouge, Louisiana after graduation where he had a successful career in plastics.  The part of the structure on the right is the Biology Building. The building on the left is the Jesse D. Jones Chemistry Building. The clock, prominent in the middle of the complex, is named for Jones' father Jesse L. Jones. 
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The next set beings with photos of the front and back of Rainey T. Wells Hall. Wells is an important figure in Murray State history and is considered the person most responsible for te institution being located in Murray. Wells was born in Calloway County just outside of Murray in 1875. He received a bachelor's and master's degree from Southern Normal College in Huntingdon, TN. I will admit that I had never heard of that institution prior to reading about Wells. My initial sleuthing provided me with no information about the school. There is a Wikipedia page listing nine graduates of the institution (see here), as well as a page on a Tennessee genealogy page listing still more alumni (see here). As for information on the college itself, I have not found anything so far. There were other similarly named institutions and many small normal schools which have long since ceased operations for which information can be easily found, but the Southern Normal College is not among them. If you know anything about the institution, please leave a comment. I will either update this post or create a new one if I am able to uncover anything. But, back to Wells. 

After completing his studies in Tennessee, Wells returned to Calloway County where he founded the Calloway Normal School in 1899 in the town of Kirksey. He was only twenty-four at the time. Somewhere along the line, Wells must have "read the law" as they say. This was a common historical practice whereby you could become an attorney by studying the law and taking an exam without actually having to go to law school. He began work as an attorney in 1901. Another aside, I had never heard of the Calloway Normal School until reading about Wells either. The school continued for more than a decade after his departure but eventually closed in 1913. After his departure, he was elected to the Kentucky legislature and later became the tax commissioner for state. His experience with the normal school and his involvement in politics and government would serve him well in the effort to locate a new public college in Murray.

The early 20th Century was a time of expansion in the number of colleges in the U.S. Building on the foundation of the many Land Grant institutions created in the mid- and late-1800's, a new array of state supported colleges began to dot the landscape. Many of these were normal schools, colleges created for the purpose of training teachers. The name "Normal School" is derived from St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle's model for teacher's colleges. He established the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 1685 in France. The institution worked on the basis of teaching "normal" classroom values and behaviors to students. This process, the École normale in French, was subsequently used as the descriptor of teacher's colleges for hundreds of years thereafter. Indeed, the University of Memphis where I work was established as a normal school.

As K-12 education evolved, many states recognized the need for more robust teacher training and a boom in the establishment of new normal schools began. Kentucky had established two such institutions in 1906 - today's Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green and Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond. In 1921, the state decided to add an additional normal school in the western portion of the state. As was frequently the case, many communities vied for the opportunity to have the school located in their town. The state's Educational Commission received bids from numerous cities and towns. Wells sought to have the new school located in Murray. His efforts would prove crucial. Wells understood education; he had trained in a normal school and had founded and led such an institution. He also understood government and finance. As a politician, he knew how to rally people to a cause and the personality and presence to motivate people to action. He went to work immediately to secure the school for his hometown. He led the campaign which saw the community raise $117,000 (about $2 million in today's value). Some 1,352 people in the area donated to the cause. The funds would be given to acquire the land and support the construction of the first building for the new school. He rallied the community to support the effort by providing lodging space for students so that instruction could begin without the need for dorms. These efforts placed Murray head and shoulders above the competing towns and on September 7, 1922, the state officially chose it for the location of the new school. 

Things continued to move quickly. Wells and others worked to ensure the school's opening only one year later. The first 87 students matriculated in the Fall of 1923. Since insufficient time had passed for the creation of the campus, a temporary location was needed. Wells had worked out an agreement with the local school district to use classrooms in the high school. The first building on campus would open the following September. Wells had a part in most things during those years and was instrumental in the selection and hiring of the first president, Dr. John Wesley Carr (see above). He would serve as Murray State's second president from 1926 to 1932. After leaving that role, he became legal counsel for the insurance firm Woodmen of the World in Omaha, Nebraska. He retired home to Murray in 1947 and passed away in 1958. 

Wells opened as a dorm for women in 1925 and had space for 316 residents. It was later enlarged to have its own cafeteria and an infirmary. I am not sure when it was converted, but it is no longer a dorm. Today, the Department of Psychology and some other units occupy the building.

Next, we have the Business Building, home to the Arthur Bauernfeind College of Business. As noted above, Bauernfeind and his wife Diana are long-time benefactors to the university. The college of business began life as the Department of Commerce and did not become a free-standing unit until 1965. Thomas Hogancamp, who joined the department as a faculty member in 1948 and would later become chair in 1952, was the college’s inaugural dean. In the past, the building or buildings that house the business school on any given campus was just that – another building on campus. Sure, I like to look at all campus buildings and if something is interesting or notable in appearance or for some other reason, I make sure to cover it here in my blog. But something occurred to me during this visit which has not happened before. I am completing my master’s degree in management this semester at Austin Peay State University. As I was walking across Murray State and saw the business building, I thought “I wonder how they compare to us?”. It is a question I have asked myself before, but never with regard to a college of business. I imagine I will now have that question on my mind on every subsequent campus visit. Business buildings are often one of the nicer buildings on campus owing to the fact that business school alumni tend to give considerable amounts to their alma mater’s.​

The next set is of the Forrest C. Pogue Special Collections Library. When the building opened, it was known simply as the Library. The building is named for Pogue, a Murray alumnus (Class of 1931), noted historian, and one-time faculty member. After completing his undergraduate studies at Murray, Pogue went on to earn his master’s degree at the University of Kentucky and his Ph.D. at Clark University. He subsequently returned to Murray as a member of the history department. He was drafted in 1942 and after a year as a grunt in training, he was reassigned to be a combat historian, a role much more suited to a man in his thirties with a Ph.D. in history. He deployed to England and then to France after D-Day. Part of his work involved interviewing wounded soldiers in field hospitals. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Coix de Guerre during the war. After separating from the Army in 1945, he was hired as a civilian historian to continue his work. General Eisenhower chose him to write the official history of the European campaign, resulting in the book United States Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations: Th Supreme Command. He returned to Murray for a time in 1954 but left to continue his work at the George C. Marshall Research Foundation in Virginia. He continued to be a prominent military historian until his retirement in 1984. The university named the library in his honor in 1978. He donated his books and his personal papers and other items to the library in 1989. The building was completed in 1931.
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The set below begins with views of the west façade from the quad. On the right of the first photo is an unusual sight – the remnants of a tree covered with shoes. A tradition began in 1965 that Murray students and alums would nail a pair of shoes to the tree upon marriage. The pair would add one shoe for each partner. Some even return to add baby shoes upon the birth of a child. The tree apparently died at some point, but the tradition lives on. On the left of that photo, and subsequently in the next four photos in detail is a statue of Rainy T. Wells. The piece was created by artist Edward T. Breathitt III. An alumnus of American University, Breathitt is the son of former Kentucky governor Edward T. “Ned” Breathitt II. The piece was completed in 1997. Breathitt completed a statue of his father which is located in Hopkinsville, KY, the late governor’s hometown. Close-ups of the main entrance on the west side follow in photos six through eight. I love the intricate metalwork and windows. The doors are bronze and quite heavy. Apparently, there was some concern about their cost when the building was constructed. Rumors swelled that they were gold, not bronze, and that they cost $40,000! That would be about $751,000 in 2024 value. The cost was not that extreme, but the doors did come in at an expense of $14,000 (about $262,855 today). That is still a hefty sum. The building was completed in 1931 during the Great Depression. Given this context, it is not surprising that spending over a quarter of a million dollars on doors would be seen as extravagant and problematic. The lights are also really nice. Photo nine was taken just inside that doorway. The last two photos were taken on the opposite side of the building. The library has its own sub-library in the form of the James O. Overby Law Library. It received the name in 1997. Overby completed his law degree at the University of Kentucky (Class of 1940). He served as General Counsel for Murray for years. The last photo is the east façade entrance. Again, I love the metalwork, windows, and light fixtures. Pogue was the eighth building to be constructed on campus and the first dedicated library.

The first two photos of the next set are of the Lowry Center (on the left) and Wilson Hall as viewed from across the quad. Lowry is named for the colorful Clifton C.S. Lowry who was a professor at Murray State for forty-three years. He was known to be a demanding professor who pushed his students to do their best. He joined the faculty in 1925 and retired in 1968. The building is connected to the Pogue Library and was for a long time called the Lowry Library Annex. The building opened in 1967. I am not sure when it acquired the Lowry name. 

Given the building’s construction in the early 1920’s and the popularity of the former president at the time, you might think that Wilson gets its name from Woodrow Wilson. But the honor is actually to James F. Wilson, a member of the Murray Board of Regents. 

Wilson was the second building constructed on the campus. It opened with the very plain name of “Classroom Building” but as is often the case for new colleges, the building served many purposes. For a time, the library was housed on the third floor. The university’s first gym occupied the first floor. I suppose when you are dealing with an institution that is less than two years old you don’t have many options in terms of giving a building a notable name. The name was changed to the Liberal Arts Building at some point and eventually Wilson. I was not able to find out when that change occurred. Like most older campus buildings, many things have moved in and out of the space over the years. The third photo shows the east side of Lowry as seen from 15th Street. The fourth and fifth photos show the lovely entrance to Wilson on the south side of the building.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth photos show the Price Doyle Fine Arts Center on the right and the Lovett Auditorium on the left. Lovett was where my son's jazz band competition was being held. Lovett looks small compared to Doyle, but the view is deceiving. The auditorium has seating for 3,000 on two levels. When it opened in 1928, it was the largest theater in Kentucky. For nine years, it was the home of the Murray State basketball team. They would move out in 1937 when Carr Hall opened. The building is named in honor of Rainey Wells daughter Laurine Wells Lovett, herself a member of the Murray State Board. The ninth photo also shows Faculty Hall on the left.

The inside of the auditorium is quite nice despite its age and some deferred maintenance. I took some photos of it but decided not to publish them here since there were high school students there. It is a very nice place to hear a concert, and I have to say that some of the high school bands there were as good as any professional band I have heard. I was able to get a photo of the World War II memorial plaque you see in the tenth photo. That is quite the list consider just how small Murray State was during the period. The eleventh photo is a dedicatory plaque in honor of Mrs. Lovett. 

The final photo of the set is Sparks Hall. Sparks takes its name from Murray State’s sixth president, Harry M. Sparks. A native Kentuckian, Sparks began his career as a teacher, but had that role interrupted by World War II. He served in the Navy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After the war, he returned to the states and completed his doctorate at the University of Kentucky. He joined the Murray State faculty in 1948 and by 1952 had become a department chair. In 1963, he became the Kentucky State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He returned as president in 1968 and continued in that position until his retirement in 1973. The building houses a variety of administrative offices and was completed in 1967 before Sparks returned to campus. I’m not sure when it was named after him. 

Murray State's athletics facilities are located on the northern end of campus. The first thing I came to on my walk was the softball field, which you can see in the first two photos below. As you can see from these photos, they were tending to the field the day of my visit. I played baseball for many years as in my youth and I still love to go to games to this day, and in my eyes one of the best sights of spring is a baseball or softball field being readied for a game.  

In the background of the second picture, you can see the CFSB Center, home of the Murray State basketball teams. The last photo of this set is a better view of the main entrance to the CFSB. The arena was originally named the Regional Special Events Center when it opened in the fall of 1998. The state of Kentucky provided $18 million (roughly $36.9 million in 2024 value) in funding for the arena with Murray State committing $2 million (just over $4 million in today’s value) for construction in 1995. Thanks to delays and cost overruns, the arena eventually came in with a $23 million price tag (about $44 million in today’s dollars). The 188,800 square feet facility seats 8,600, but it has an attendance record of 9,012 in a March 2, 2019, game with Austin Peay State University which Murray State won. Thanks to a naming rights contract of $3.3 million in 2010 (about $4.7 million today), the building was renamed for Community Financial Services Bank. It was the first arena in the Ohio Valley Conference to have jumbotron style video screens installed in 2009. 

Below we have the Roy Stewart Stadium, the home of the Murray State Racers football team. It is the second football stadium for the university. From 1934 until 1973, the Racers played in Cutchin Stadium, which was subsequently demolished. Its location is now a soccer field which sits behind the Curris Center.

I don’t know if I was supposed to do so or not, but the stadium was open, and I simply walked in and went into the main set of stands. I could have walked out on the playing surface, but there were a couple of young men I presumed to be athletes running the perimeter of the field. I decided to not to press my luck and limited my experience to being in the stands. I found it interesting that the turf in Stewart is artificial. After all, there is an entire type of grass called Kentucky Bluegrass. I would have thought a natural playing surface of Kentucky Bluegrass would be the choice for Murray State, but such was not the case. The stadium can hold 16,800, but they have never sold out a game. Murray’s attendance record in Stewart 16,600, in a 1981 loss to Eastern Kentucky. By comparison, my alma mater Tennessee’s largest attendance at a game in Neyland Stadium was 109,061 in a 2004 game against Florida (Tennessee won). My other alma mater Texas Tech’s attendance record of 61,836 came in a loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2013. Forterra Stadium, the location of my soon-to-be alma mater Austin Peay State University’s football program has a record attendance of 12,201 which is a remarkable feat considering it technically only holds 10,000 people. That was achieved in a 2018 game when the Governor’s defeated Tennessee State University. Murray has not seen attendance meet or exceed 16,000 since 1981. 

The stadium is also technically a cemetery. Well, a pet cemetery. The first Racers mascot was a horse named Violet Cactus, who is buried inside the stadium. Violet Cactus was the only Murray mascot horse to carry that name; all the rest have been called Racer 1. 

The photos begin with a view of the stands from across the softball field. The gate was open, so I walked in thinking I would at least get a glimpse of the concessions part of the stadium, where I took the second photo. But, as I have noted, the place was completely open so I walked into the stands as can be seen in photos three, four, and five. The dedicatory plaque seen in the sixth photo is on the outside of the stadium. Across from the stadium is the memorial plaque seen in the seventh photo. It honors the passing of Murray native Gilbert Graves. Graves was the starting quarterback for Murray State who was seriously injured during a game at the then named West Tennessee Normal School (now the University of Memphis) on November 27, 1924. The 21-year old suffered a spinal cord injury. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was found to be paralyzed from the chin down. He died on December 5th. I didn't know it until serving on the dissertation committee of a former student athlete, but the main driver for the creation of the NCAA was the number of deaths and serious injuries which were rampant in college football in the early 20th Century. Despite the association being founded in 1906, such things were still all too common at the time of Graves' injury and death. Finally, this set closes with a bit of a blurry zoomed-in photo of the stands taken from the east on 12th street.

I will close as I frequently do with photos of the Murray State lamppost sign. As I have noted on many occasions in this blog, lamppost signs are everywhere on college campuses these days. So much so that it is surprising when you come across a campus that does not have any. Murray State is no exception. In fact, they not only have loads of them, they have many different styles as well. The most common is the Murray State Shield in navy blue on a field of gold - the university's official colors. A good example of this can be seen in the first photo of this set which was taken just outside the Curris Center. They also have a number which highlight notable members of the Murray State community. The second photo shows one of these of John W. Carr just outside of the building which carries his name. Each of the residential colleges have their own shield and they dot the walkway to and from the residential portions of campus. There were also a few leftover centennial versions, one in navy, the other in gold, still hanging near the residence halls.

After my last post on the College of Oak Ridge, I was talking with a friend of mine who remarked that collecting things from a college that never really was and a place to which I have no personal connection is kind of odd. Two things came to mind. First, he's right, it is an odd thing to collect in some sense but it does fit with my interests in things higher education. Second, he happens to be a collector of science fiction and comic book things so he has no room to judge! Anyway, he asked about the things I have collected over the years that are related to the places I where have attended school or worked. As it happens, except for my current institution (the University of Memphis) I do have some unique items for each of the institutions I have attended and worked. After we had chatted about them, I thought I would share two that are rather unique, including one that I imagine few people have.

Readers of the blog know that I did my undergraduate and master's work at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Football is king at UT and Neyland Stadium is the king's castle. It is a great venue for football. Although I have not been to a game there since August 30, 2003 when the Vols beat the Fresno State Bulldogs 24 to 6, it still remains the top of my list for college football stadiums. It is a storied place and the history of it should wait for another post. The stadium went from grass to Astroturf for the 1968 season. The Wikipedia page says that it was one of the first stadiums to move to artificial turf, but several other outlets say it was the first to have the turf actually installed. Regardless, the Vols took to the field on September 14, 1968 for their first home game on the stuff, tying the Georgia Bulldogs 17 to 17. All of the games I attended as an undergraduate and half of those as a master's student were on the Astroturf. The final game played on it was a November 27, 1993 game where the Vols blitzed the Vanderbilt Commodores 62 to 14. The artificial turf was ripped out the next spring and in the fall of 1994 the Big Orange took to the field to play on natural grass for the first time in 36 years. It remains a natural playing surface today. After they ripped out the Astroturf, the athletics department did what businesses like that do: they sold the turf as collectibles and made a pretty penny off it. Of course, I had to have a piece. I have no recollection what these things sold for or how many they sold. I seem to remember they came in different sizes. The one I have is about 4 inches tall by 5 inches wide. I looked on eBay today and found one just like this on sale for $225! I would have never thought it would go for that amount.

What surprised me then, and now, is the condition of the turf. I know there was likely something under it that is not part of what I have today, but the turf itself is maybe a centimeter or 0.39 inches in height. It is seriously folded over to one side. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the strands of the turf bending to the left. It probably looked quite different when it debuted in 1968, but by 1994 when I got a hold of a piece it was in rough shape. It could not have been too pleasant to play and get tackled on! This sits on a bookshelf in my home office.

The next is something that few people likely have as they were never sold. I was visiting campus in the late spring/early summer of 2005 with my now wife. The old Glocker Business Administration Building was being razed to make way for a new structure, the James A. Haslam II Business Building. Although they kept the front of the building (the part that faces Volunteer Boulevard), the rest was headed to the scrapheap of history. A large portion of the building was still standing during my visit. It was the weekend and there was no work going on at the site. The area was fenced off, but a few bricks were close to the Andy Holt Avenue side of the site (the area is now a pedestrian mall). I lifted the fence and grabbed a couple of bricks until I found one that was still mostly intact. This is it below. The first photo is the side of the brick that faced outwards. You can tell by the weathered nature of the bits that are still intact. I also keep this in my home office as a memento of days gone by. Although I was not a business major, I did have a class in the lecture hall on the first floor of Glocker. There were computer labs in the basement that I used quite a bit. The first time I used an Apple Macintosh was in that building in the fall 1988. I had previously only used PCs and the difference in how easy the Mac was to use by comparison was astounding! It was also the first place I ever used email. I had to request an email account, and then go through a training session to be able to use it. We had a limit of how many bits we could use per month and we were actually advised not to use it unless we had something important to email about!. In the basement were old Vax computers which were, at the time, the only ones available to students for email use. I don't remember the manufacturer, but they were modular units with a screen and keyboard together in one unit.

In 2002, I was able to go back to UT along with my good friend and mentor Brian McMahon. We gave a guest lecture in a master's-level Rehabilitation Counseling course being taught by Dr. James H. Miller. Dr. Miller was my major professor in my master's program and chaired my master's thesis. The very first publication I had as a doctoral student was based on that work and he and I share authorship of it. It was really incredible to be standing there in Glocker giving that lecture to students of my alma mater with two men who shaped my life more than either of them could ever know. Having this brick is not only special because it is a piece of lost UT history, but because of that visit and my time there as a student. 

Glocker opened in 1952 and was named in honor of Theodore Glocker who came to UT in 1914 to head its newly created School of Commerce (as business was named then). Commerce was not totally independent; it was a unit of the College of Liberal Arts (now the College of Arts and Sciences) until 1938. Dr. Glocker had received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1907. He stayed at Hopkins after graduating for a year before moving to Boston to teach at a Harvard-affiliated School of Social Work. He then moved to a faculty position at Washington University in St. Louis prior to moving to Knoxville. When Commerce transitioned to an independent unit becoming the College of Business Administration, he played a big role in that achievement. It is a shame the building had to go. It was too small for the current era, and I am sure had loads of problems. None the less, it was a great piece of architecture and had some unique mid-century elements on the inside. I understand why the new building carries the Haslam name. It was thanks in large part to a donation from Haslam that the university was able to construct the new facility. But I hate when the names of places meant to honor the dedication and resolve of those in the past are simply deleted. I hope UT and the College of Business finds an equivalent way to honor Dr. Glocker.

I have other things in my collection of old collegiate things and it seems I am slowly adding to it over time. My buddy said something about both of our collections as we ended our call that stood out to me. Whether it was some piece of science fiction history in his collection, or some odd ball university thing in mine, we have acquired many of our pieces by buying them. No doubt someone before us was interested in the topic and either acquired it when new or bought it themselves from a previous collector. He imagined some of it came to be for sale because the original owners either needed some money and decided to part with a particular item or because they passed and their family was getting rid of what they viewed as junk. At some point, I imagine my family may do the same unless I find a home for my collection before I head the way of the Dodo. For now, I am happy to have these two nice pieces to remind me of earlier times.