Volume 9 , Issue 6

Seeking NWOSU Information

I'm hopeful that "Okie Legacy" readers will be able to provide some additional information about Northwestern's old "Science Hall." As most folks know, it has been called the "Fine Arts Building" for many years and now houses a number of administrative offices, as well as the Music department.

I'm attaching a found image from the internet of the building before its renovation. I do not have the date of the renovation, but believe it to be about 1950. I know that the facility was scheduled to be razed due to structural problems caused by the original "superstructure" atop the building in essence, the fourth floor. After an inspection, officials decided to remodel the building, remove the superstructure, add new windows and other amenities, and the building took on its present outward appearance (though there have been a couple of interior renovation efforts since the structural redesign).

The building is the oldest building on campus and turns 100 this year. We will have an official "birthday party" and hope to develop a more extensive history of the building. Stories from your readers will certainly benefit our efforts, particularly from the days when it was still a science building, though we welcome information from the time of the structural redesign, in the years prior to the 1975 (I think) remodel project, or even in the years since then. Though the focus is on the building itself, we certainly welcome stories of "old professors" who taught classes there or stories of campus life centered around the building.

Photographs, interior and exterior, will be very much appreciated, either as a donation to our museum or as scanned images to share with us. We can do the scans ourselves if necessary and can promise a quick return of photographs, postcards, and other items.

We know that there were several official college songs in the years before our current "Ride Rangers, Ride" and "Northwestern Alma Mater" were composed. If anyone has copies of the music or the words to any of these songs, we would very much like to have copies of them for our archives. One that I recall seeing a copy of music to began with the words "You have written your name in history, O Northwestern."

This is a year for celebrations -- Oklahoma's centennial, Fine Arts Building's centennial, and NWOSU's 110th. Like many schools and communities in the state this year, NWOSU will be presenting the musical "Oklahoma" this spring semester, April 25th through 28th, in Herod Hall Auditorium, 8:00 p.m.

Rodney C. Murrow, Ph.D., Ranger Class of 1971, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies,Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Alva ~ Enid ~ Woodward - EMAIL: RCMurrow@nwosu.edu   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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