University of Missouri - Savitar Yearbook (Columbia, MO)

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W ' 45. r IT WAS A LONG STRUGGLE, BUT MISSOURI ENIERGED, AND COLUIVIBIA BEOAME THE SITE FOR THE KNEW STATE 'U.' i' ln the beginning, there was a hole. It was an extraordinary gap in the ground! How did it get there? Where did it come from? VV ell, it was due to the work of one known as Mo Pioneer. He was a giant of a man, dressed in buckskin britches and coonskin cap who just bounded into Columbia! Mo had already made a name for him- self settling towns and building railroads. Once in Columbia he looked around him, pushed back his furry hat to scratch his head, and said, in a midwest twang, It's time to get things done around here! So he got a shovel and started dig- ging-one hole-this was the start. And, somehow, he couldnit loosen his grip on that handle. His arms worked the shovel again-hard, fast jabs at the earth-the dirt flew up, and soon there were five Mo Pioneer looked at his six holes and said, 'Tm gonna build my- self a college, and he took six columns and dropped one in each hole. There they stood, massive and tall, the beginning of a Yes, Mo Pioneer got things done all right, but he had to go through a lot of red tape to get a building permit. Mo wanted to start his spadework about 1830, when some friends in Washington decided to establish public higher education. But, Missouri mules were run- ning the Legislature, and Mo had to wait until they pulled together. Five years later, in 1835, Mo saw to it that the state received an :if Y Rv- - -- 1 ,X xx w , 'll X A 1 I SI. ' f 4 . ' 'af 1 X Agp' X X 1 T I X XX , R it Ri J WVR r A ii illicit lm ! k ii pm gl I in If! more holes. ' 'I S 2' ' . N fi f I university. , or Q . ! I it J, fl 8 endowment for the founding of a seminary of learning.

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THE STUDENT UNION-ITS TOWER TALL AND PENSIVE BIONUIYIENT TO SACRIFICE AND GROWTH.

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1892 AND ACADEIXIIC HALL LIGHTS UP COLUB'IBIA, NOT WITH EDUCATION, BUT FIRE AND ALL THAT WAS LEFT-sIx COLUBINS AND A NEVV IIXIPETUS TO PROGRESS. But, they were still stubborn in Jefferson City trying to use the money roi prisons And Mo thought he'd never get that building permit. This Pioneer Was a real one, though, and soon he met James S. Rollins. Rollins, Boone County's representative to the Legislature, after hobnobbing With Mo, de- cided to solve this controversy. He introduced a bill providing that a university be located in one of six counties, according to Whichever one made the largest subscrip- tion in land, money, or both. lt passed, and Boone County Won the seat of learning. Taking his cue from Rollins, Henry S. Ceyer, chairman of the House Education Com- mittee, presented the Ceyer Act, calling for the establishment of the University in 1839. NOW Mo sat back and waited to begin, While the first Board of Curators Was organ- ized in Columbia. This group had many difficulties, the main one being financial insolvency. The endowment had to be shared With other institutions, salaries for a faculty had to be obtained, buildings had to be erected. These problems Were par- tially solved in 1841 with the election of john H. Lathrop as first president of the University of Missouri. He arranged for the University to operate through the facil- ities of Columbia College, a private seminary. Because of the use of Columbia Col- lege's faculty, classes began in rather a temporary Way on April 13. Lathrop Went east that summer With 251,000 to purchase scientific equipment. On his return, the 'Collegiate and Preparatory Schools of the University Were fairly launched, and Mo started digging again. ' ' ln 1843 the dirt flew faster. The law finally permitted the organization of a Uni- versity faculty, in place of using that of Columbia College. All transactions now Went through the University, as it had become a legal entity. Mo Bioncer Was given the green light, so he mixed up some mortar and built the first official building around those six columns. 9