University of Wisconsin Eau Claire - Periscope Yearbook (Eau Claire, WI)

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A representative of the Area Committee and the contractor assist the president in groundbreaking ceremonies for Katherine Putnam Hall. Students meet near the Little Theater, the home of the College Players, whose productions give pleasure to college and community. 1941-1959 Expansion of the campus continued under President Davies. The Owen purchase in 1947 brought 20 acres on the bluff to the south and west of the university, and the Wilson purchase of 1958 added 23 additional acres. The 1957 conveyance of Putnam Park to the school added 200 acres of beautiful wooded land to the campus between the upper and lower sections. In 1952, a complex of four buildings at Garfield and Park Avenues was dedicated. The Campus Laboratory School and Brewer Hall, the education classroom building, marked continuation of a strong teacher education program. The new Little Theater and the campus radio station recognized Eau Claire’s reputation for excellence in dramatics and forensics, and the fieldhouse, capacity 3500. served both college and community functions. In 1959. the groundbreaking for the W. D. McIntyre Library celebrated the academic growth of the college. At this time, the college offered. In addition to degrees in education and liberal arts, a Bachelor of Science in medical technology beginning in 1955. Enrollment In the fall of 1959 was more than 1700. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt was welcomed by President Davies as she spoke in the new fieldhouse for United Nations Day. 5

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On January 1,1941, President William R. Davies took office. He had the dream of seeing the college become an influential force in the area. This dream was realized with the formation of the Chippewa Valley Forum, and an Area Committee representing the communities from which the college drew its students. New concepts of faculty responsibilities emerged as freshman orientation sessions and student advisement programs were developed. The demands of the war years were met by accommodating a corps of the Army Air Corps, and by training teachers for area schools to take the place of civilians drafted into service. The return of veterans to the college gave impetus to the renewed study of student personnel policies, to building programs and to new academic offerings. Accreditation by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges was granted In 1950, and in 1951, the State Teachers College became Wisconsin State College at Eau Claire. The Davies administration encouraged the development of student government and a student union. Finally, in 1959, the college center, providing food service, meeting and recreational rooms, bookstore and art gallery was opened. The need for housing was recognized by the aquisition. In 1946. of the Dulany Mansion, the construction of the Katharine Thomas Hall in 1955 and Katherine Putnam Hall in 1957. THE DAVIES ERA The first college dormitory was the con- State Street and Garfield Avenue, verted Dulany Mansion on the corner of

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THE HAAS ADMINISTRATION 1959. The need for adequate facilities in the sciences were ence Hall, opened in the fall of 1964, and dedicated in well met with the construction of the L. E. Phillips Scl- October, 1965. 6