A trip through the years on USU’s Quad
Though the Quad is a familiar part of campus to all students, the use of the Quad has varied significantly throughout the university’s history.
Bob Parson, university archivist, said the idea of the Quad was part of the master plan of the University in 1912.
“(It was) a campus commons. Most institutions have a center of campus, a college green,” Parson said.
Parson said the Quad did not start out looking like it does today. For many years the Quad was used for military parades and drills. Drills were mandatory for all students until after the Korean War, though women could opt out of them by taking “physical elocution.”
The buildings around the Quad also have a military history, due to WWI, when federal funds were designated for barracks. Parson said the USU president at the time, E.G. Peterson, convinced the state legislature to match these funds to make more permanent buildings.
The four buildings were the Engineering building, the current Ray B. West building, the Animal Science building and the Plant Science building – now known as Geology building.
The Quad was completely circled with buildings in the 1930s, when once again federal funds for emergency relief during the depression helped construct the “Commons Building” which is now known as the Family Life building, Parson said.
The final building to complete the circle around the Quad was the first university library built on the east end, also during the 1930s.
After WWII, an influx of students made additions necessary, and according to the university website, this work was completed in 1967. It was dedicated in 1969, and renamed after the academic vice president, Milton R. Merrill.
Parson said the library remained open during construction in the 1960s, and the 1930 library remained but a box was built around it. The old library was demolished in 2006. Currently the site is again under construction for the new agriculture building.
“By the end of the 1930s, the quad was pretty close to the way it is now. The sidewalks weren’t in exactly the same place. A lot of the trees now were planted during the 1930s period,” Parson said. This development included irrigation, curbs and gutters.
Until after WWII, the main university buildings continued to be mostly clustered around the Quad. Parson said, “The Quad was campus.”
The Union Building (TSC) in the ‘50s, as well as the College Bluebird, met student needs and were near the campus. The College Bluebird opened in 1928 and was located just off campus where the LDS Institute building now stands. It allowed students a place to smoke, which was not allowed on campus until after the Second World War, said Parson.
Aggie Ice Cream was invented just off of the Quad in the basement of the Animal Science building by Gustav Wilster. Ice cream was sold at an outlet on the first floor.
“Famous Aggie Ice Cream,” which is a brief history of Aggie Ice Cream compiled by current nutrition and food sciences professor Donald J. McMahon reveals that Aggie Ice Cream was sold on the Quad until the 1970s.
Though military and ROTC drills were a prominent use of the Quad in its early days and through the world wars, an online collection of USU Historical Photographs shows the quad used for a variety of activities.
Snowshoe carnivals, with both male and female students participating, occurred throughout the 1940s and 50s. In the ‘60s there is a record of a Watermelon Bust. Parson also said the first football games were played on the Quad.
Before the Merrill library, the site at the east end of the Quad regularly became a tent city through the Cooperative Extension Farmer Encampment held throughout the 1920s.
The photography collection shows pictures of these, as well as “Encampment Newspapers.” One published July 28, 1922 mentions general sessions for the farmers attending, as well as baseball games and judging in dairy, beef, wheat, cattle and oats.
The encampment generally lasted a week or two, with livestock and crop classes for the farmers, and homemaking and child nutrition for the housekeepers, Parson said. He also said that this did not continue and was totally abolished by WWII, and possibly earlier in the ‘30s. The tent cities ended with the Rural Arts building, which provided visitors with a place to stay.
Today, True Aggie Night, A-Day and Day on the Quad, all facilitated by ASUSU, are regular Quad activities. Last summer the Alumni Band held their concerts on the Quad as well.
During good weather, many students use the Quad as a place to study, socialize and play sports, keeping with the original objective of the Quad in 1912 that it be a common area for students and faculty to enjoy.
– genevieve.draper@aggiemail.usu.edu