Brian Ernste

F01

Mankato State University Lower Campus

Mankato, Minnesota is a very interesting town. There are many things that came to my mind when I was trying to decide what to write my walking tour essay on. I thought maybe on the formation of the downtown, or maybe the silk stocking district, or maybe something like that. I then sat down and asked myself how MSU was started and I realized that that would be a great thing to look into. So I not only chose it because I had to find a topic to write this essay on, but I also just plain wanted to find out what MSU is really about.

When we went on the walking tour, we didn’t see much of the buildings from the lower campus. We sort of just walked by them. My dad attended MSU when it was in the lower campus and just hearing stories from him made me want to learn more about it.

The Mankato State University Lower Campus stands out as a fairly important part of Mankato’s past and present. Not only did that help get the city set on a good foundation with their economy, but the buildings are still used today as governmental buildings. This, is known as adaptive reuse.

The first day of class was held on October 7^th, 1868. At that time, it was known as the Mankato Normal School. It was started through donations that were received over a 2 year period, so then the Normal School was authorized to be built in Mankato. That was the 2^nd State Normal School in the state.[1]

The first principal of the Mankato Normal School was George Gage. He was the person who got everything going on it’s feet. He was the man responsible for getting all of the funds together to get the school started.[2] Today, two residence halls are named after George Gage. These are the two “landmark” towers on campus known as Gage A and Gage B.

Old Main Today. http://www.intech.mnsu.edu/cherrington/Tour/TourPages/MankatoTourPage2.htm

After two weeks of classes in 1868, the Mankato Normal School was moved to a partially permanent area of the Shaubut building in downtown Mankato. In 1870 the Old Main building was completed. This is a three story building that basically gave the school it’s “face”. [2]

In 1872, George Gage was succeeded by his assistant Julia Sears. She was offered the assistant principal position for a wage of $1500. Sears was not too excited about getting paid such a low wage so she decided to complain to the Chairman of the Board, George Gage about her unjustly treatment. The position would go to a man by the name of Cornelius Hyde if Sears turned down the offer. Since no conclusion was really ever reached, both Sears and Hyde came to their office on the first day they were due in. A week later, the job was given to Hyde. On September 9^th, 41 of the students decided to walk out as of form of protest against the position being given to Hyde and not Sears. If these students did not return with in three days then they would be expelled. At the end of all of this controversy, thirty-two students ended up being expelled.[5]

Seventy of the Mankato residents signed a petition trying to get the board to re-instate Sears to her position. These residents included some of the well known businessmen of the city and did have some great impact on the decision. After four months of deliberation, there was no change in the decision of the board. Cornelius Hyde would take over the position of Assistant Principal. Those students who were expelled were seen as heroes to many people for their courageousness during the situation.[5]

Over the next few years, there were many changes in the administration. Many new principals and presidents were put into office as some left the area or passed away. Some of the other advancements that the school had during this time were a few sports teams. In 1889, the first football team was organized and in 1922 the first basketball team was put together.[1]

In the year 1921, the name of the Mankato Normal School was changed slightly to accommodate it’s new curriculum. The name of the school was now the Mankato State Teachers College. The state gave the school permission to offer a four year curriculum. The first four-year degree was given out in 1927.[3]

- 1 Daniel Buck Hall (Photograph by Brian Ernste)

In 1922, the Old Main building was destroyed by a disastrous fire. The state legislature responded though, and by 1924 funds were put in place to help rebuild the building. This building was also known as Old Main.[6]

For quite a while there weren’t any dorms on campus for the students to live in. The school was losing some of their incoming enrollment because many people wanted to send their daughters to a school where there would be dormitories for them to live in. Finally in June of 1913, Daniel Buck Hall was constructed. This was going to be an all women’s dorm. This building project cost about $75,000 and housed around ninety women. This building actually was a state of the art facility for the time that it was built. It had fire places and porches for the girls to enjoy. It also offered a fantastic view of the city of Mankato. [7]

Through out the next few years there were many changes in the Mankato State Teacher’s College. Enrollment grew and new buildings were put up in what seemed like almost every year. They began charging tuition and the curriculum was continually growing. [3]

After WWII there was a huge surge in enrollment to the school. The capacity was overflowing, which caused for the decision to expand the campus. There wasn’t anywhere to go except up the hill. Senator Val Imm was one of the main influences is getting funds and community support with the campus expansion. The Highland Location was prime at the time so they didn’t waste any time with it.[3,4]

Due to the enrollment surge and the campus expansion, the administration of the school decided to change the name of the school again. This time it was changed to Mankato State University. Finally, they received the pride of being called a university. This was a large part of the breaking point, deciding whether or not to give them the funds for the highland campus [4].

Slowly over the next few years, the classes moved out of the lower campus and into the upper campus. Classes might not have remained in those buildings, but I’m sure that many memories are still there.

Now, In the year 2001, the school has gone through some more changes. It received a change in their mascot. In 1977, the school decided to drop the previous name, The Indians, and change to The Mavericks. Also, the name of the school was changed again. September 19^th, 1998 the institution’s name was changed to Minnesota State University, Mankato. [4]

There are still many things that are the same around here almost 140 years later. I am sure that there hasn’t been any loss in pride for the school. If anything, the pride has grown. MSU is a great school and thanks to millions of people, it has been able to stay that way up until now and hopefully many years to come.