What’s in a name?
UNL history embedded in buildings
By Mick Dyer
Staff Reporter
What’s in a name?
The names of the various buildings on UNL's
campus serve not only as identification but also
as part of UNL’s past. For example, Oldfather
Hall, the tallest building on campus, houses
several departments. The name Oldfather main
tains the memory of one of UNL’s more famous
figures. But the story behind the person is not
widely known.
Oldfather Hall: Charles H. Oldfather, pro
fessor of ancient history, joined the UNL faculty
in 1926 after receiving a Ph.D. from the University
of Wisconsin and a D.D. from McCormick Theo
logical Seminary. He became dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences in 1932 and retired in 1952.
During his long tenure as dean, many of the
problems associated with the great depression,
World War II, and the resulting veterans' boom
were successfully met and solved. Few university
deans could equal his record of service to the
institution.
As dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,
Oldfather epjoyed the confidence of the univer
sity administration and the support of his
faculty. At the time of his appointment as dean,
Chancellor Burnett found him, "a man of fine
education" and “a popular teacher." Dean Old
father saw the goal of the College of Arts and
Sciences as, “The molding of citizens who will
have an understanding of the world as it is and
an appreciation of what the past and present
have to offer. In short, it is the purpose of this
college to turn out intelligent and useful mem
bers of society.”
Avery Hall: Samuel Avery, born in Illinois in
1865, his family moved to a farm near Crete the
next year. He was appointed chancellor of UNL
in May 1909 and retired in 1927. He died in 1936.
Avery
Avery was an authority on insecticides. He
discovered the causes of the cornstalk disease
which had cost Nebraska farmers millions of
dollars annually. He also resolved the "bleached
flour case.” Because Turkey Red wheat, a newly
introduced winter wheat, yielded a slightly
yellowish flower when ground, people refused to
buy it. The millers then bleached the flour, but
the federal government demanded that it be
labeled as bleached and demand for it then
dropped. At a trial of the millers versus the
federal government, Avery gave evidence to
prove bleaching did not destroy the flour’s
nutritive qualities. The labeling order was re
scinded.
During WWI, after a hearing in which the
State Council investigated charges of various
faculty members being pro-German, Avery was
asked about the effect of so-called disloyal
professors upon the students.
“The students do not take the faculty as
seriously as the public does," he said.
Andrews Hall: E. Ber\jamin Andrews was
born in New Hampshire in 1884. He served with
distinction in the Civil War in which he lost his
right eye. He graduated from Brown University in
Rhode Island in 1870, where he later served as
mi-iiiiii min i in.win.
Andrews
president. From 1872 to 1874 he studied at
Newton Theological Institute and was ordained
a Baptist minister, occupying a pulpit at Beverly,
Mass. He was president and professor of
philosophy at Denison University in Granville,
Ohio from 1875 to 1879, and from there went to
Newton as professor of homiletics (writing and
preaching of sermons). In 1990 he became
chancellor of UNL until he resigned Jan. 1,1909.
An economist of some repute, he wrote two
books: "Wealth and Moral Law" and "An Honest
Dollar."
"We can 7 grow by entrenchment any
more than a business can. It must be
done by spreadi tig out_the u niversity
won 7 be doing what it can for the state
until it touches every field in its teach
ing. ” — E. Ber\jamin Andrews
Benton Hall: Allen R. Benton was born in
Cayuga County, New York, in 1822. .After obtaining
his B.A. from Bethany College in Virginia (now
West Virginia) in 1847, h^ opened a private local
academy in Fairview, Ind. He was an ordained
minister in the Christian Church as well as a
scholar of ancient languages. In 1871 he became
its first chancellor ever. He taught various
classes (there were four other professors in
1871) in history, political economy and con
stitutional law, intellectual philosophy, and the
history of philosophic thought. Throughout his
career as chancellor, he required daily attend
ance at the morning chapel services by all the
students.
While on a trip to the east, Benton sketched
the university seal that remains today.
During Benton's administration, 10 people
were graduated from the university.
In those days low faculty salaries were not yet
an issue. In a letter to his father, Benton said, "I
prefer to teach here for $4,000 than for $1,500 at
Indianapolis."
Lied Center for Performing Arts: The
building that is not yet a reality, is in memory of
UNL alumnus Ernst Lied. He graduated from
UNL in 1927, and later opened a car dealership in
Omaha. In 1959, he moved to Las Vegas to make a
fortune in real estate. At the time of his death in
1980, his total holdings were estimated at over
$100 million.
Lied’s estate is managed by his longtime
associate, Christina Hixson. D.B. Varner, of the
NU Foundation, contacted Hixson to find out if
Lied would have wanted to make a donation to
his alma mater. Hixson made a donation in the
torm of a matching grant of $10 million for "a
building of brick and mortar." The NU Foundation
gave Hixson three choices: a performing arts
center, a new state museum, or a new administra
tion building.
Morrill Hall. Charles H. Morrill was a
successful Stromsburg farmer and a NU regent
from 1890 to 1902. Morrill financed many paleon
tological and geological expeditions throughout
the state of Nebraska. Along with Dr. E.H.
Barbour, a professor of geology who shared his
passion for digging into Nebraska’s prehistoric
past, Morrill collected a plethora of geological
and paleological specimens. By the late 1890’s
the collection of fossils and rocks had grown so
large that there was no more room to store them,
much to Morrill's distress. He wanted a proper
facility to store and display the collection.
Morrill asked Chancellor Andrews, "If valuable
collections that are delivered to the university
i
authorities .... are to be buried underground
and stored in boxes piled up in corn cribs, how
can you expect citizens of the state to interest
themselves in this work?”
Morrill Hall was dedicated in 1927. It was
financed by tax funds prompted by a generous
donation to the university and state by Morrill.
In a let ter dated April 4,1920, that accompanied
his gift he wrote to Chancellor Avery : "1 am now
nearing 85 years of age. As I look backward
viewing my past life and my varied experiences, I
consider the 12 years I acted as regent and as
president of the board of regents of the University
of Nebraska the brightest and most interesting
period of my life."
Pound Hall: Roscoe Pound was born in
Lincoln, Neb., in 1870. He received three
academic degrees from the university — A.B. in
1888, M.A. in botany in 1889, and his Ph.I)., also
in botany, in 1897. He attended Harvard Law
school and was admitted to the bar in 1890. He
practiced law in Lincoln throughout the 1890’s.
In 1903 he became dean of the College of Law.
See BUILDINGS on 8
i