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Page 24 text:
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In The Beginning There Was Bascom Hill ... Feature By Londa Guerin The students and faculty members who occupied Bascom Hall (then called Mam Hall) in the 1860s testified loudly that it was neither comfortable nor convenient. To keep warm in the winter they built fires on the floors in the basement, igloo-style, using wood from trees they had chopped down on Bascom Hill. A careless cigarette has been blamed for the fire that destroyed the large ornate dome on Bascom Hall on October 10. 1916. Most of the 4.868 students then in residence swarmed up the hill to save the building. They insisted on carrying out university President Charles Van Hise's office furniture, files, and papers, and dumping them into heaps on the ground. The original construction of Bascom Hall, a noted symbol of the University of Wisconsin, began in 1857. The doors were offically opened on August 10. 1859. The ninth annual report of the University Board of Regents declared that Bascom Hall's completion and occupation will consitute the true beginning of the university era.” The final cost of the building amounted to $63,200. Three years after the 1916 dome fire the state gave funds to the university to build the exedra. the semi-circular stone seat and steps which now decorate the lawn in front of the entrance to Bascom Hall. When the workers were digging the foundation of the exedra they uncovered the bones of two men. at first thought to be American Indians. When workers later found traces of cloth, buttons, and wooden caskets, someone remembered that University Hill had been the first Madison cemetery. The bones were eventually identified as those of Samuel Warren of Middlesex. England, who was killed by lightning June 15. 1838. while working on the first state capitol. His companion was a man named Nelson, who had died in 1837. The bones were carefully reburied and are marked by two grooves in the cement at the top of the south stairway of the exedra. During President Edward Birge's administration, a trend was started to name campus buildings for past presidents of the university. Florence Bascom. daughter of ex-President John Bascom. who served the university from 1874-1887. wrote sorrowfully from the East about meetings in Philadelphia of the ridiculously young” alumni of the University of Wisconsin. It seemed that the name of John Bascom was quite unknown among them. However, on June 22. 1920. Florence was pacified when on that day Bascom Hall was formally named and dedicated in the memory of her father. The Bascom Hill Historic District — including such 20
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Page 25 text:
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UPPER LEFT: A Bas com Hall office staff In 1914. BOTTOM LEFT: View of Main Hall in 1915. before the fire. OPPOSITE PAGE: Fire destroyed Main Hall's dome in October, 1916. The dome was never rebuilt. landmarks as North and South Halls. Bascom Hall. Music Hall, and the old Red Gym were placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service on September 24. 1974 North Hall the first building in the Bascom Hill area and the oldest structure on the University of Wisconsin campus, was constructed in 1850 and opened for classes in September 1851. It was designated as a National Landmark in 1966. Constructed of native Wisconsin sandstone. North Hall was built at a cost of $19,000. It was designed by John F. Rague. who also designed its South Hall twin, built in 1855. Both buildings were noted for their simplicity. North Hall originally housed, fed. and educated 50 to 65 men. Among them was John Muir, famed Scottish-American naturalist, geologist, explorer, author, and editor. who lived in North Hall for 10cents a day. Muir is also remembered on the university campus for his mechanical contrivances, such as his clock-attached device to light a lamp, kindle a fire, and tip his bed on end in the morning. The first three floors of North Hall served as dormitories and the fourth floor was divided into six public areas for lectures, study, and recitation. At first the building was heated by two hot-air furnaces. but these were removed during the Civil War for economic reasons, and stoves were placed in each room. Students had to supply their own fuel. In those days, students paid $5 per semester for their rooms and 80 cents a week for meals. Tuition was $10 a term. Sanitation facilities were primitive: the students hauled their water from a nearby well, and the poor condition of the outdoor privies was the subject of lengthy discussions among faculty members and regents. 21
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