University grounds
I was on the road headed for Indianapolis for the weekend and had made one stop in Martin, Tennessee to visit the University of Tennessee at Martin. If you know the route from the Memphis metro area to Indianapolis, you may know that although it is a bit further, most mapping software would have you drive into Arkansas, up to Missouri, across Illinois, and into Indiana. I decided my route, a more direct path through Kentucky and straight to Indiana for the sole purpose of visiting a number of new colleges and universities. After UTM, my next stop was the University of Evansville. As is often the case, the University of Evansville began with a different name. It also began in a different location. Evansville began its life in 1854 in the small community of Moore’s Hill, Indiana. Moore’s Hill is roughly two hundred miles from Evansville. It is actually closer to Cincinnati, Ohio, than Evansville. It was there that John Collins Moore, the son of the town’s founder and namesake, sought to create a college. Moore had little in the way of formal education, but none the nonetheless saw the need and the benefits of having a college in the town. He donated funds and twelve acres of land to help create the college. Along with other prominent citizens and with the aid of three local men’s groups, including the Mason’s, Odd Fellows, and the Sons of Temperance, sufficient funds were raised and on February 10, 1854, the institution was formally established as the Moore’s Hill Male and Female Collegiate Institute. It would be two years until the first classes were offered, but the institution was on its way. Classes were started on September 9, 1856, and were held in the college’s first building although it was not yet completed. That would not occur until December that year, but things went well despite the incomplete nature of the building. The building would be called Moore Hall (some sources say Moores Hall), and it would remain the sole building on campus for the better part of fifty years. It was a rather large brick building which could hold up to 350 students in a variety of classrooms. Instruction was at all levels, K-12 and college. The first student to graduate would be Jane S. Churchill who completed her studies in 1858. In 1900, Stevens Gymnasium was completed on campus and a former store was purchased in 1903 for use as a science building. Another former store was purchased and converted into a dorm for women sometime in the early 20th Century. Another major academic building on campus would be made possible in large part by a donation from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. The cornerstone of that structure, which would be one of dozens of buildings on college campuses across the country called Carnegie Hall, would be laid in a ceremony on June 12, 1907. A grand, four-story structure, it was completed and dedicated the following year on June 18, 1908. The building cost about $48,000 to construct and outfit (which is about $1.6 million in 2024 value). It was designed by the Crapsey and Lamm architecture firm of Cincinnati, Ohio. The building would have steam heat and electric lighting (a point I note as it relates to the Olmsted Administration Building below). The building ended up going over budget, a fact that did not help the institution which had struggled with finances. Although the institution would eventually relocate, Carnegie Hall in Moores Hill still stands on the former campus. It was subsequently used as a public school and is now a museum. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. You can see it here. In the interim, the college had changed its name. It became Moores Hill College in 1887. Despite a growing curriculum and physical plant, the going was not easy, and the college struggled with financial issues. Moore Hall would catch fire and be consumed by the conflagration on November 4, 1915. With Moore Hall left in ruins, the college continued, but it was evident that change was needed to ensure its continued existence. The college had long struggled to maintain itself. Indeed, it had racked up a substantial debt to founder John Moore who continued to provide funding via loans from his business. This continued after his death with his estate continuing to support the institution. Salaries were drastically low compared to other institutions in the state, and at times the college reduced faculty and staff salaries by as much as a third because they simply could not afford to pay the remainder. By 1916, the debt was becoming overwhelming. The college had debts of at least $42,200 (or about $1.1 million in 2024 value) and only $220 (about $6,763 today) of cash on hand. There were a number of options which could be pursued to alleviate the problem, but many offered too little in the way of immediate or long-term promise. The most promising was a potential merger with DePauw University, another Methodist-affiliated college in Greencastle, Indiana. The idea was for Moores Hill to become a junior college feeder to DePauw, an idea which seemed well on its way to becoming reality in the year before the fire. Then president Harry A. King felt certain the merger would take place and left to take the presidency of Clark University in Atlanta. Meanwhile in Evansville, there had been talk of establishing a college. Local businessman and community leader George S. Clifford read about the fire in Moores Hill and seeing that the college was in need, consulted other local leaders and the Evansville Chamber of Commerce about relocating the school there. Receiving support for the idea, Clifford wrote to the board suggesting a move to Evansville. At the time, the merger with DePauw seemed imminent, and his offer was rebuked. Within a year, however, the merger was off. DePauw was not as sold on the idea as Moores Hill. The college was back at square one. King’s successor was Alfred F. Hughes, who joined the college in 1916. While getting settled in his office, Hughes found Clifford’s letter and brought it back to the attention of the board. Although a general consensus was reached that relocation to a bigger community would be a good idea, there was some discussion by leaders in the Methodist Church and the board about just where that should be. In addition to Evansville, Seymour, Indiana, which was closer to Moores Hill, was also in contention. Hughes and other representatives met with leaders in both communities. In Evansville, Clifford made the case by noting the city’s size and location. He provided a map which showed every college town in Indiana surrounded by a circle fifty miles in diameter. He included both Seymour and Moores Hill. Moores Hill’s circle intersected with ten other circles; Seymour intersected with several as well. But Evansville was more than 100 miles away from the nearest institution, including those out of state. Local citizens, led by Clifford then began a campaign to raise $500,000 to support the college in a move to Evansville with the condition that the Methodist Church match it. Before the fund raising had even begun, troubles mounted. First, although they were not interested in acquiring the college, leaders at DePauw were against the move. DePauw’s president George R. Gross felt it was improper for the church to fund what was essentially a defunct college when it and other Methodist-affiliated schools could use additional financial support from the church. Then on April 6, 1917, the U.S. entered World War I. Despite the hurdles, Clifford and the group in Evansville chose to move forward. Keep in mind that $500,000 is worth about $12.2 million today. But the support flowed in from all quarters. By May 3, 1917, the community had raised $514,000. The matching funds from the church would have to be raised by December. The campaign was not as robust on the church’s side, and in the end, it was only made possible when eight districts of the Methodist Church in Indiana signed a promissory note for nearly half of the funds. It was not ideal, but it was sufficient. The work was not over, for now the college would have to relocate, establish a campus, and first and foremost, get state approval for the move. The state obliged on February 17, 1919, with a charter to the effect that the new institution, to be called Evansville College, was a continuation of the Moores Hill thus easing the process. Interestingly, a provision of the new charter was that a major building on the campus be named in honor of John C. Moore since he was the founder in the original charter. This would happen, but not until 1958 when work would begin on a new Moore Hall (see below) on the Evansville campus. The college would open to students on September 16, 1919, but would do so without its own campus or buildings. Evansville would cobble together rented space in the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA), Evansville’s Central High School, and the basement of the Lockyear Business College in town. A space was even rented to provide dorm space for women. That fall, one hundred four students matriculated, with Norman D. Beach being the first to enroll. The troubles were not exactly over, and of course trials and tribulations continue for Evansville and all other colleges and universities, but the institution prevails. By the 1960’s, when enrollment was booming, the college’s offerings had become such that it changed its name to the University of Evansville. Today, more than 2,000 students are enrolled at the university which has an endowment of over $91 million. The university’s athletics teams, the Purple Aces, play in seventeen Division I sports. The university offers undergraduate studies in more than 85 majors, as well as a number of graduate degrees. When you arrive on campus, you are greeted by the sign in the first photo below. The area is known as Clifford Circle and the building beyond is the Olmsted Administration Building (more on both below). Behind the sign is a small area with a bench and the sign you see in the second photo. The site is dedicated to Michael E. Thorp, but I cannot find out anything about him or why the area is dedicated in his honor. I am not alone in my search. Blogger John G. West (no relation to me of which I am aware) visited Evansville in August 2009 and subsequently wrote that after some extensive searching he too was unable to find any information about Mr. Thorp. You can read his post here (read the one before this and you can see many photos of his visit sixteen years ago. If you know anything about Thorp, please leave a comment. The first stop on my visit is the wonderful Olmsted Administration Building. I love collegiate gothic architecture, and this is a truly fine example of the genre. As you can tell from these photos, it was late in the day and quite overcast during my visit. That gives the building a bit of a foreboding vibe to it in this set, but it is a beautiful structure. A groundbreaking for the building was held on June 21, 1921, making it over one hundred three years old during my visit. The campus, which had been farmland prior to the college relocating there, still the remnants of rows of corn from the summer before. The work went quickly, and it was ready for students and staff the following year. The first classes were in the building on June 12, 1922. An unusual aspect of the building was the fact that it was constructed without electric lights! I’m not sure why this was the case. Many colleges and universities of that era (and even today in the 21st Century) have their own power plants. Perhaps electricity was not available in this area at the time and the university, having just relocated to Evansville, could not afford to create its own power plant. As noted above, the college had electric lights when it was located in Moores Hill prior to the move to Evansville. I was not able to find out why it was built sans electric lights nor when electricity was added to the building. If you know please leave a comment. As is often the case, when the structure opened it was simply called the Administration Building. It was designed by the Miller, Fullenwider & Dowling architecture firm of Chicago, Illinois. As a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, it looks very much like Ayers Hall on The Hill there. This is not a coincidence nor is it a matter of two buildings being of similar collegiate gothic architecture. The firm designed Ayers prior to Olmsted and indeed used Ayres as the starting point for their Evansville design. The construction uses Indiana limestone blocks which are broken rather than sawed on their vertical ends (the sides of the blocks as you look straight at the building). This is considered to be the first instance where Indiana limestone was used with this style of cutting. Miller, Fullenwider & Dowling would design other academic buildings in this style including a law school building at Cornell University in New York and France Hall at Heidelberg College in Ohio. Firm principal Grant C. Miller did the work on Ayres, but I am not certain about the others including Olmsted. There is a great photo of Olmsted under construction on the Indiana University library website that you can see here. The building would be known simply as the Administration Building until 1981 when it was renamed in honor of long serving administrator and alumnus Ralph Olmstead. Ralph Evans Olmsted was both a fixture and pillar at Evansville and probably spent more time in the halls and in the service of the university than any other person. He was born in the tiny village of Shipman, Illinois, on September 13, 1899, the son of Charles Alpheus and Iola (née Williams) Olmsted. The youngest of eight children, he would first appear on the Evansville campus in 1919 as a member of the first class on the new campus. In a sense, he never left. He was there as a student at the groundbreaking for the building that would eventually carry his name. He even participated in the event. He graduated in 1923 and after a stint off campus as a reporter and teacher, was hired by then Evansville President Harper Earl Harper in 1925 as an assistant. He would stay with university for the rest of career and tallied forty-two years in the building. He became Executive Secretary (the Business Manager) in 1928, later taught journalism, and finally was the university’s archivist. His book From Institute to University (1973), provides a wonderful history of the institution to 1971, is a great read and something anyone interested in the university should acquire. He married Jane Elizabeth (née Wright) on June 12, 1924. They had four children, of whom daughter Susan spent more than twenty years working at the university. Olmsted is the keystone of a circular drive which surrounds a large green space. As noted above, it is called the Clifford Circle. It takes its name in honor of George Clifford and his wife Emily. The Clifford’s had been instrumental in bringing the college to Evansville and both would serve on the Board (Emily being the first woman to serve in such a capacity). Both would also receive honorary degrees for their service. The set below begins with five views of the front façade of the building, which many on campus refer to simply as Olmstead. The fourteen photos that follow are of the interior on the first floor. The main entrance is covered in plaques honoring those who have served and donated to the university, many of whom have names that grace the other buildings on campus. Photos twenty through twenty-three of this set are of the front of the building again. I was taken but the details in the stonework, windows, and the lovely light. The last three photos are of Clifford Circle. The next set is of buildings which are connected to one another. First up is Hyde Hall. Eventually named for Evansville President Melvin Hyde, the building planned with the simple name “Classroom Building”. Owing to President Hyde’s successful twelve years in office, the decision was made to name the building in his honor. The building was one of fourteen structures completed on campus during the 1960’s as the Baby Boomers flooded campus. Much of this occurred during Hyde’s tenure which began in 1955 and ended in 1967. Enrollment increased from 1,091 FTE in 1955 to 2,859 in 1966. Hyde was the first layman to be president of Evansville. A native of South Dakota, he had previously been a dean at Dakota Wesleyan University and Mount Union College (now the University of Mount Union), and then as an assistant vice president at Drake University before coming to Evansville. He retired to Colorado in 1967 where he passed away in Estes Park in 1978. The building opened in 1967. The first photo shows the main façade of the building. A plaza area, as noted by the plaque in the second photo, was added in front of the building in 1983. You can see some of the seating in the plaza in the third photo, along with the large stylized "UE" used on many university documents, athletic team uniforms, and more. The fourth photo shows more of the plaza seating area with the Krannert Hall of Art and Music (see below) in the background. The last photo of this set shows where Hyde connects with the Shanklin Theater. It replaced an existing theater in the Olmsted Administration Building. Initially, the university considered updating the space in Olmsted, but something outside of that structure was considered a better plan. The decision was made to make it part of the planned Classroom Building (Hyde Hall) which would allow it to have its own space and footprint and yet offer economy over building a completely separate structure. It too was completed in 1967 and its opening on April 14, 1967 saw a production of Hamlet. It takes its name in honor of the Shanklin family owing to an endowed gift from Robert F. Shanklin. The Shanklin family is quite notable. Robert’s father, James Shanklin, was a colonel during the Civil War. His uncles owned the Evansville Courier newspaper. His uncle John Marshall Harlan and his cousin John Marshall Harlan II were both Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Harlan Kentucky, seat of Harlan County Kentucky, is named for his distant relatives. The last and most recent portion of the building, not visible here, is the May Studio Theatre. The addition is on the back side of the structure. Fundraising for a new lab theater began in 1992 and was dedicated in 1994. A black box-style theater (not unlike the one at Montana State University which is literally called the Black Box Theater), it is named for alumnae Alice George May (Class of 1934). Mrs. May and her husband were donors to many causes at Evansville. The set below gives two views of what turns out to be the back of the Krannert Hall of Art and Music. I didn't realize it at the time, but the combined structure does not face Olmsted, but rather Rotherwood Avenue to the west. Its unfortunate that I missed that fact, as the more impressive side is the one we cannot see from this vantage point. The complex was completed in 1962 with a price tag of just under $2 million (just under $20.5 million in 2024 value). Herman C. Krannert was a highly successful businessman who founded and led a major producer of corrugated boxes called the Indland Container Company. He and wife Ellnora were philanthropists who gave to many causes and who were particularly supportive of higher education. They gave $400,000 (about $4 million today) to help fund the building and in recognition the building carries their name. A pipe burst in the building in 2019 and did considerable damage. The university used this as an opportunity and raised funds and fixed the damage and completely renovated the building which had a gala reopening on August 30, 2023. Around the same time as their donation to Evansville, the pair donated $2.73 million (about $28.4 million today) to establish the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University. It was the first named school at Purdue. That school would be renamed the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business in 2023 for Purdue's 12th president. I guess $28 million doesn't buy that much anymore since they changed the name. Later, they would fund the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at his alma mater, the University of Illinois. Their name also graces the campus of the University of Indianapolis' Krannert memorial Library. There is also addition to the Koch Center for Engineering and Science at Evansville which was supported by a large donation from the Krannert estate. The set below is of Sampson Hall, home of the Crayton E. and Ellen Mann Health Center, and the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building. Sampson had originally opened as the university’s bookstore. It was completed in 1959 as part of the McCurdy Alumni Memorial Union (see below) and would remain as the bookstore until it moved to a former pharmacy off campus in the early 1990’s. It was then repurposed as the student health center. The name comes from serving psychology faculty member and former department chair Delbert Sampson. Sampson was instrumental in the growth of the department during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The building was renamed in his honor in 1995. It was during his time that the university opened a chapter of the Psi Chi Psychology Honor Society. He and wife Mary endowed a scholarship for members of the society. Crayton Mann was an Evansville alumnus (Class of 1941) who was a hospital administrator. He and wife Ellen left money to the university upon their passing. In addition to funding the clinic, which was named in their honor, they funded a scholarship for students with disabilities. A large portion of the structure is called the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building. The older part of the building was originally the campus union. Since it opened, the Olmsted Administration Building had a lounge which was meant for student use. Although not a full-fledged union, it sufficed. By the early 1940’s, it was evident that a student union was needed on campus. Then president Hale began fundraising for a new engineering building and a student union just as World War II broke out. Despite the war, donations flooded in, some from active-duty military members. But building during the war was impossible as construction was stymied as all supplies were devoted to the war effort and those things that directly supported the military. In 1946, a former Red Cross canteen which had been used to support troops as they moved about the country, was purchased an installed where Hyde Hall and the Shanklin Theater (see above) now stand. It was called the Temporary Union Building, or TUB. In 1947, local community leader Robert D. Mathias led a campaign to finalize funding for a new permanent union. By October, $1,265,000 had been raised (about $17.9 million today). A chunk of that was from the estate of William H. McCurdy. McCurdy had long been a supporter and benefactor of the university. The building was completed in 1951 and was named the McCurdy Alumni Memorial Union in honor of both Mr. McCurdy and for the alumni of the university who were killed in the war. It served the university as its union until the current Ridgeway University Center opened in 2008. Then the business school moved in. An addition to the building was completed in 2007. Several generations of the Schroeder family have been associated with Evansville and it is through that association and the donations the family has given that the school of business carries their name. John H. (Henry) Schroeder was a member of and president of the Evansville Board when it was still called Evansville College. His son John C. Schroeder was also a member of the Board and board president. An interesting fact about both Henry and John Schroeder is that they were both graduates of Wabash College (Classes of 1942 and 1969 respectively) where they were both members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. The interesting part is not that they both went to the same college or were members of the same fraternity, as this is often the case with fathers and sons. But the interesting part is the Phi Gam connection as George Clifford and William Ridgway were Phi Gamma Delta men as well, albeit at different colleges. Clifford is memorialized on campus in the naming of Clifford Circle (mentioned above) and the Clifford Library (see below). The Evansville student union is named the Ridgway University Center (see below). I will admit, I have not looked for nor noticed a connection like this before although it could very well be the case for any number of colleges about which I have written. The first three photos show the side of the building as you walk your way from Olmsted. The portion on the right in the first and third photos is Sampson Hall. The arched doorway in the second photo is part of Sampson as well. The part on the left in these photos is Schroeder. The fourth photo shows the original entrance to the building, which is still actively used but which is supplemented by an entranceway in the new addition as well. The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library has a photo of this entrance online (see here). If you take a look, you will notice that the light fixtures by the entryway stairs are different. The earlier ones were taller and I rather like them better than the ones installed today. Inside you find the plaques seen in the fifth and sixth photos which are original to the structure honoring the students and alumni killed in World War II as well as Mr. McCurdy. There is also a large area recognizing the Schroeder family which can be seen in the seventh photo. The portrait was completed by Kentucky-based artist Jim Cantrell, who did his undergraduate work at the University of Nebraska (Class of 1958) and his master’s at the University of Northern Colorado (Class of 1965). The addition has a large atrium area, seen in the eighth photo, which was being prepped for an event of some sort during my visit. The last photo is the addition to the building. The next set of photos are all of the Koch Center for Engineering and Science. It is actually a combination building, consisting of three structures built decades apart from one another. The original portion of the building was began, I believe, in 1945. It was fully completed in 1947, with the entire structure being occupied that September. Parts of the building were already in use as early as 1946. I am uncertain of the total cost of the building at that point, but several sources ping the expense at around $700,000, which would place it at around $12.2 million in 2024 value. This would be the extent of the building for the next three decades. It was, for that time called the Engineering Building. What was first a large and enviable building became crowded and eventually overwhelmed by the mass influx of Baby Boomer students. An addition to the building was decided to be the best option. The addition would bring 30,000 square feet of new space for the sciences and engineering, bringing the total of the two buildings to about 90,000 square feet in total. A groundbreaking for the building was held in 1977 and it opened in (DATE). The building was made possible largely through donations in a dedicated fundraising campaign for the structure. The Krannert Charitable Trust donated $1 million to campaign in 1976, a figure that would be about $5.5 million in 2024 value. The space would be renamed in 1984 for Robert K. Koch and his family who had been generous donors to the university for some time and who donated $4.1 million to a development campaign in the early 1980’s. A final addition came less than thirty years later. In addition to enrollment growth, engineering and the sciences needed space to accommodate the multitude of new equipment in those areas. The addition brought additional space, a grand two-story atrium, and a large lecture hall. It was completed in 2002. The first photo in this set is the front entrance to the original 1940's section of the building. Matching the other buildings on campus at the time, it was designed in the collegiate gothic with the familiar stone. The second photo is looking northward with the original portion of the building in the foreground and the 1970's addition in the distance. The addition can be seen more clearly in the third and fourth photos. Although the color scheme matches the original, the style is completely modern. It might have looked just fine if it were not actually attached to the gothic original, but as is so often the case in such instances, it looks like a quick addition done to save money. The last photo of this set is the newest part of the building. Whereas the 1970's addition went the route of a modern structure that did not match the style of the original, takes the traditional approach. As such, it more closely resembles the original despite the fact that it did not open until 2002, more than half a century after the fact. The photo below is of two residence halls. In the foreground is the Hale Residence Hall, the older of the two structures. It opened in 1966, one of the many buildings erected on campus in response to the demand placed on the university by the massive increase in students during the Baby Boomer period. It is a coed facility which can accommodate 180 residents. It is named in honor of the university's 18th president, Lincoln B. Hale. Hale was a three-time alumnus of Yale, including his undergraduate degree from the Yale Seminary. What's interesting about that is the fact that he was an ordained Presbyterian Minister, a somewhat unusual fact given that Evansville is a Methodist-affiliated institution. Hale arrived on campus in 1939 as dean and registrar. The local paper carried the news, and in reflection of a much simpler time, noted the address he and his wife had purchased. He became interim president in 1940 and then president in 1941. He stayed in the role until 1954. He was then immediately hired to head a U.S. government mission to Israel. He passed away unexpectedly at age 58 while giving a speech in New York City. He was speaking and without warning stumbled and fell, dying at the scene. He was a private in the Army in World War I, and thus his ashes are inurned in a columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery. His wife Sallie Elizabeth “Sadie” (née Watton) Hale would live for another forty-eight years, passing away at age ninety-five in 1994. The building in the background is the Mary Kuehn Powell Residence Hall. It is one of three buildings on campus (that I am aware) which were designed by Jack H. Kinkel, one of the "sons" who is part of the Evansville-based architectural firm Jack R. Kinkel and Sons. Kinkel is an Evansville alumnus (Class of 1962). Evansville did not, and does not have an architecture program. Kinkel's undergraduate work was in business, but he went on to the University of Kentucky from which he graduated with a degree in architecture in 1964. He also did the design work of the Bower-Suhrheinrich Library and the Schroeder Residence Hall which are both detailed below. It too is coed and can accommodate ninety-six residents. It opened in 1993. Mrs. Powell was a long-serving trustee of the university. A native of Evansville, she graduated from Bosse High School and went on to earn an Associate's degree from Stephens College and a Bachelor's degree at Northwestern University. She met her husband there, he was a dishwasher for her chapter of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. He would go on to the chairman of the trucking and logistics firm Yellow Freight System (now YRC Worldwide). She passed away on February 14, 2011. The first photo in the next set is the Clifford Memorial Library. Clifford was the first dedicated building for the library. The library was initially located in the Olmsted Administration Building. Readers of this blog and armchair higher education historians will know that housing the library in the admin building is a very common theme in the history of many colleges and universities. The space in the admin building was quickly outgrown. Indeed, prior to Clifford’s construction, the Olmsted Building’s attic had to be used to store items that were not regularly used or checked out. In the years after World War II, the GI-Bill induced enrollment boom strained the space to the breaking point. Having long outgrown its space on Olmsted’s second floor, the library and its collection spread across the building as well as into a large temporary structure erected as part of a campus-side effort to cope with the massive influx of students. Evansville’s then President Hale went in search of funding and found a significant portion in the form of a challenge grant in the amount of $200,000 from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment. The Lilly Endowment, created by Josiah K. Lilly Sr. and sons Eli and Josiah of the famed pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company is one of the largest foundations in the U.S. and has donated to many colleges and universities and other causes for nearly 100 years. The grant came with the condition that the college had to raise the rest of the required amount, some $450,000, to necessary to complete the project. Hale would not stay on to see the library completed. The official groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 22, 1955, the very same day Hale’s successor, Melvin Hyde, would be sworn in as president. A time capsule was placed in the cornerstone the following year with microfilm and audio tapes (including one of Elvis Presley) and other items. Construction did not go perfectly as an error in the design work was found during construction. Libraries have to support far more weight that typical structures. The weight of books adds up quickly and when you have a collection that spaces multiple floors the framing must be substantial. The original plan failed to adequately address the issue of this enormous weight, but thankfully the issue was caught and corrected. I have written about the Herculean task of moving an academic library in the case of Montana State University and the University of Tennessee at Martin and the various means these and other schools have used to relocate thousands of books and other materials. In this case, the move was not too great in terms of distance as Clifford and Olmsted are in close proximity. In Evansville’s case, the director of the physical plant, a Mr. A.C. Biggs, devised a plan to connect the buildings via a cable car system. Along with a team of individuals, the system allowed the entire collection to be relocated in the new library in just two days. Although rearrangement and final tuning likely took place after, this was a remarkably fast relocation. The library is also named in honor of George and Emily Clifford. Their son James L. Clifford, a professor at Columbia University, was the speaker at the library’s dedication on March 19, 1957. His personal collection of books and papers are now held in the Evansville library. The new library was the first building on campus to be built with air conditioning and in addition to stacks, reading rooms, and study spaces, had an auditorium capable of seating 100 people. In all, Clifford has about 28,000 square feet of space. The remaining photos in this set are of a second library, the Bower-Suhrheinrich Library, which is the principal library on the Evansville campus today. The post-war boom in enrollment was soon followed by another which was both larger and longer lasting. The Baby Boom generation began enrolling in college in the early 1960’s. Having more enrolled students equaled more demand for library materials and space. Clifford’s collection had roughly 40,000 books when it opened in 1957. By 1965, it had reached more than 66,000 and by 1970 it had passed 100,000 books. The number of periodicals and other materials likewise increased. The increases would not only continue but would amplify during the 1970’s. Clifford was quickly being outgrown. The increase in holdings was a reflection of the enrollment and the library’s space was far too small to provide seating for the number of students on campus. The building could simply not provide the necessary space for study and research for the population of students now matriculating at the college. An addition, completed at a cost of $290,00 (about $1.46 million in today’s value) did little to slake the need for space. It was evident that a major addition was needed. A fundraising campaign began in 1983 with the goal of acquiring $5 million (nearly $16 million today) for construction of a 56,000 square foot addition designed by Jack H. Kinkel of the Evansville-based architectural firm Jack R. Kinkel and Sons. Among his many works are two dorms on the Evansville campus (see below), recreation center at the University of Southern Indiana, and a number of structures at Oakland City University, in the eponymously named city which is about thirty miles north of Evansville. A groundbreaking ceremony for Bower-Suhrheinrich was held on October 20, 1984. The addition was completed in 1986. American author and Indiana native Kurt Vonnegut spoke at the dedication on October 16, 1986. Although connected to the Clifford Library, the addition received its own name in recognition of a $1 million gift from Dallas Bower-Suhrheinrich. Her late husband William Suhrheinrich had been Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the university’s Board. It underwent a significant renovation which was completed in 2013. This saw a major makeover of the first floor. The design work for the renovation was completed by the architectural firm Hafer which has offices in Evansville and across the region. The second photo is a view of the Bower-Suhrheinrich Library as you walk toward it from the Olmsted building and the Clifford Memorial Library. The building on the left in that photo is the William L. Ridgway University Center (see below). The third photo shows the main entrance more clearly, and the fourth through seventh photos show other angles of the building as you walk around the structure toward the rear. The last two photos show the interior on the first floor including a dedicatory plaque just inside doorway. The set below is of Memorial Plaza. It harkens back to a terrible tragedy for the university and the community. The 1977-1978 Purple Aces basketball season was meant to be something special. The university had decided to pursue greater attendance and competition and had sought and received permission to become an NCAA Division I school for basketball that year. Bobby Watson was hired as the new coach and the season began with much hope. The team lost its first two games of the season, first to Western Kentucky University at home and then to DePaul University on the road in Illinois. They came home to win the third game of the season against the University of Pittsburgh but lost the fourth to an Indiana State University squad featuring future Boston Celtics legend Larry Byrd. The team was scheduled to play Middle Tennessee State University on December 14, 1977, in Murfreesboro but fate would intervene. Shortly after takeoff on Tuesday, December 13, 1977, the DC-3 charter flight operated by Air Indiana as flight 216, crashed. Watson and all but one member of the team was killed in the crash (David Furr, a freshman on the team had stayed behind thanks to an ankle injury. The crash was caused by human error. The pilot had failed to remove the gust locks on the right side of the aircraft. This caused the center of gravity to shift and thanks to the plane being overloaded the combination resulted in a nose-up orientation that could not be overcome. In addition to the team, the plane carried three student managers, the Athletics Department business manager, controlled, and information director. Two donors and a sportscaster were also killed in the accident. The assistant coaches were not on board as they were on recruiting trips. Four people initially survived the crash, but three died on the scene after rescuers arrived and one died within hours after being located. Furr would also die tragically two weeks later in a car crash that also took the life of his younger brother. The university had been planning to construct a plaza on campus, and the decision was made to make the site a memorial to those killed in the crash. Groundbreaking on the site occurred on March 30, 1978, but construction was not begun until after the relatives of all of the Evansville victims had been consulted. The two stone slabs you see lead to a cobblestone basin. The circular object is a fountain and when it is on provides a shape not unlike a basketball which some refer to as the “Weeping Basketball”. The next set has three views of Graves Hall, which sits next door to the Ridgway Student Union (see below). Graves is named after the university’s twentieth president, Wallace B. Graves. Graves was in the office for an astounding nineteen years from 1967 to 1986. He came to Evansville from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He was only forty-three when he took the reins of the presidency. Graves was a Texas native, having grown up in Fort Worth. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1943 and joined the army during World War II. He was a POW but escaped after five months. He went on to complete a master’s at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and a doctorate at the University of Texas. UT Austin, as it happens, is one of the most prolific institutions in terms of producing college presidents and has been for years. Graves took over at the height of the Vietnam war, but for the most part the Evansville campus was generally quiet and free of the more prolific protests and riots of that era. The university continued to grow in many ways as the Baby Boomers continued their progression through school and were subsequently replaced by their children, Generation X (or Gen X). I happen to be of that latter generation and have always thought the moniker was foolish. The Gen Z name that followed was even more ridiculous. We were, after all, called Generation X because ethnographers were uncertain as to what we would eventually be known for. The “X” was not a name; it was a placeholder. But I digress. The building holds nursing and health sciences and has had recent updates including some simulations labs. If I am not mistaken, there was once a dorm that sat next to Graves, called Hughes Hall. It was named after the first president, Alfred Hughes. It opened in 1958 and soldiered on before being shuttered in 2017. It was torn down in 2022 to make way for a new recreation center to replace the Carson Center (see below). I was not able to find out much in the way of details about Graves Hall, so if you know anything about it please leave a note in the comments. The set below is of the William L. Ridgway University Center. It’s a great looking structure that has an impressive appearance despite not being as large as many of the student unions I have covered in this blog. The building was designed by Mackey Mitchell Architects and the Hafer architectural firm, the same firm which did the plan for the renovation of the first floor of the Bower-Suhrheinrich Library. As you can see, it is a lovely two-story building which has 95,000 square feet of space. Mackey Mitchell is a St. Louis, Missouri-based firm which specializes in collegiate architecture. The firm was also involved in the design work for the Charger Student Union at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the South 40 Housing and Dining building and the Olin Business School Building at Washington University St. Louis, the Downing Student Union at Western Kentucky University, as well as residence halls and other structures around the country. Ground was broken for the union in July 2007 and was completed in August the following year. It cost roughly $23.9 million (or about $36.2 million in 2024 value) to construct. It is named in honor of long-serving university trustee William Ridgway. The university has a campus on a former grand estate in the U.K. called Harlaxton. Although the university had been using the location for some time, it came to be owned by Evansville courtesy of Ridgway. He purchased Harlaxton in 1978 for $180,000 (about $866k today) and donated it to the university in 1987. The first photo is the length of the building from the walkway beside the Bower-Suhrheinrich Library. There is a large courtyard in front of the building which you can see in the second photo. As you can see, one of the features is the university's Interfaith Peace Bell. I love when things like this are kept and put on display, so kudos to the university for that. Plus, the pedestal is incredible! It is, of course, a replica of the Olmsted Administration Building's tower. As such, it's a double treat. The third and fourth photos give two views of the building's main façade. The area behind where I was standing when I took the fourth photo is the planned home for a new student recreation center. The last three photos show some of the interior on the first floor including the lovely water feature and a plaque to Mr. Ridgway. The building has the standard array of food options, the campus bookstore, study areas, and support offices. The set below begins with three views of the Neu Chapel. When I was first reading about the university and ran across a note about the Neu Chapel, I assumed the “Neu” was the German word “new”, meaning this was a newer chapel on campus which had replaced an earlier one. This was not exactly the case. It is the German word for new, but its use in the case has to do with a person who was named New. Adam J. Neu was born in German Township, Indiana. His father died when he was only six, and he was raised in a single parent household by his mother in a small home in Evansville. He joined the Army in 1915 where he learned the art of baking, spending much of his time in the service as a baker stationed in the Philippines. He left the army in 1920 and returned to the states continuing his work as a baker for two years before starting his own business. He initially made bread but then expanded into cakes which his wife Georgia would hand decorate. The bakery did very well and eventually he took on a franchise of the Sunbeam Bread company and employed 150 people. He and Georgia were very active in the community and supported many causes in the city and region. He became a member of the Evansville Board in 1952. In 1964, the couple gave a donation of $350,000 (about $3.5 million in today’s value) for the construction of the chapel. The chapel was completed in December 1965 and held its first service on January 6, 1966. It was officially dedicated on March 15th that year by Methodist Bishop Richard C. Raines. The building is clad in Indiana Limestone and has a slate roof with shingles from Vermont. It houses a Holtkamp organ and can seat 450 people. In addition to regular church services, the chapel is a favorite spot for weddings. The last two photos in this set are of two dorms which sit adjacent to Neu Chapel and across the street from the Carson Center (see below). The fourth photo shows the front of New Residence Hall, a name I imagine is a placeholder until such time as a more formal name is chosen. A groundbreaking for the building was held on May 18, 2021, and it was finished in time to open to residents in 2022. It can house 293 people and has a “U” shape with the courtyard you see here in the middle. It has some 83,000 square feet of space. It cost $18 million to build. The building is located on the site of two former dorms, Bretano Hall and Morton Hall. The last photo shows the back of the dorm and in the distance, you can see the older Moore Residence Hall. Moore was built courtesy of a $500,000 gift from the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, an amount equal to about $5.4 million today. It opened in 1960 and can accommodate 240 residents. An addition was completed in 1963. It was initially a women’s residence hall, but it has since become coed. In the area where Moore now stands was once the site of temporary residences to accommodate the post-World War II student boom. Consisting of former military barracks, these were officially called the Campus Court Apartments and housed married students. By the 1950’s students began calling them Tin City thanks to their metal siding. They were not fully removed until 1961. You can read more about them here. The name is honor of the university’s founder John Collins Moore, thus fulfilling the requirements of the charter to have a building with the Moore name on campus. The set below begins with a bit of a distant photo of the Carson Center, the student recreation center on campus. Completed in 1962, Carson has multiple gyms, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, workout and weightlifting facilities, classrooms, and offices. I believe the facility is named after William A. Carson, local businessman and long serving university trustee. Attached to the Carson and seen in the second photo is the Fifth Third Bank Basketball Practice Facility. Evansville participates in Division I athletics and its most notable program is the men’s basketball team. Back in 2011, the team began playing in the Ford Center, a 290,000 square foot facility located about two miles from campus which seats 10,000 people. I wanted to swing by there, but time was not on my side. I have heard that it is a really nice facility. Despite that, and the fact that it is not too far from campus, both the men’s and the women’s basketball teams practice in the Fifth Third Bank Facility. It’s actually a little bit newer than the Ford Center. It opened in 2012 and provides 25,000 square feet of space. The initial cost, some $3.6 million (about $5 million in 2024 value) was made possible through donations to the athletic department. Although it’s not old by any means, it was none the less updated in 2019. The building you see in the distance in the second photo is the Schroeder Residence Hall. It's a coed dorm with men and women on alternate floors. It can accommodate 150 residents. Some sources say the building opened in 1994 and others 1995. It is named for John H. Schroeder who was a member of the Evansville board. Like the Powell Residence Hall and the Bower-Suhrheinrich Library, it was designed by local architect Jack H. Kinkel of the architectural firm Jack R. Kinkel and Sons. My time on the Evansville campus was brief, but I really enjoyed it. It is a smaller institution and the campus is structured in a way that makes getting around quite easy. Yet it has a spacious and green feel to it at the same time. As fate would have it, this past summer my family and I were on an extended road trip and on the way back to our home in the Memphis metro area we made a stop at a used bookstore in Nashville we frequent whenever we are there. I found a book there which, along with information found in other sources and on the internet, provided a good history of the university which aided in the writing of this post. If you are interested in learning more about the place, I recommend reading We Face the Future Unafraid: A Narrative History of the University of Evansville by George Klinger (University of Evansville Press, 2003). It is a good book and an easy read. I was able to get a like-new edition for $0.75! I told my wife at the time that I had I a backlog of books I wanted to read and didn't know if I would ever set foot on the campus but I could not pass up getting it for less than a dollar. Less than four months later, I was walking around campus. The final set of photos show three examples of Evansville's lamppost sign. The first is the most common, and has the stylized UE on a field of purple. The second and third photos show a second style that also adorns campus with a photo on top and a slogan and the UE on the bottom. I have always remarked that these signs are now ubiquitous and virtually every campus I visit has them. As I walked around Evansville I began to wonder. Are these going to be a standard for an extended period of time? Or are they so common as to have lost their appeal? I imagine they will stick around, but since everyone has them they have lost a little of their uniqueness. Time will tell.
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