Louisiana State University - Gumbo Yearbook

“he year 1886 brought the Univer- sity into an era of stability when the United States Gov- ernment generously gave the use of the buildings and grounds of the military garrison at Baton Rouge to the school, though the full title to the property was not invested therein until 1920, when an Act of Congress approved the transac- tion. The site of the University is an his- toric one. Within the confines of the campus have been quartered in past years the soldiers of France, England, Spain, the United States, and the Confederate States. Here, in 1779, occurred the only battle fought in Louisiana during the Revolutionary War, when a British garri- son was attacked and captured by the Spanish governor, Bernardo de Galvez. Spanish soldiers remained here until 1810, when their feeble garrison was expelled by a band of American adventur- ers led by Philemon Thomas, and this portion of West Florida was wrested from the control of Spain. Upon receiving the land grant from the United States Government, the Uni- versity entered upon a program of expan- sion and advancement. Enrollment was increasing rapidly in these years, espe- cially after the liberalizing of the military system to admit young men residents of Baton Rouge as day students. In 1905 the University was made co-educational, which added still more to the growing enrollment. President Boyd commented on the co-educational program in 1910: " The very presence of the opposite sex has a restraining influence, preventing the expression of coarse and unrefined thoughts which are too prone to obtrude Pentagon barracks in 1918 used as training facilities during World War I 8/Nostalgia ”