1910-1919 1930-1939 Chronological History Home 1920-1929

1920

Second millage tax, for higher education support in Oregon, approved by popular referendum.

Engineering Laboratory (now Graf Hall) erected.

Enrollment: 3,077.

Population in Corvallis: 5,752; in Benton County: 13,744; in Oregon: 783,389.

1921

Campus residence provided for the President.

Non-resident fee schedule established.

Debut of OAC tennis; B. T. Simms, coach.

Margaret Snell Hall (now Ballard Extension Hall) erected.

Athletic grounds named Bell Field in honor of former regent J. R. N. Bell.

1922

Fifty-watt radio station built by Professor Jacob Jordan of the Physics Department in January and licensed as KFDJ on December 7. First broadcast aired January 23, 1923.

School of Basic Arts and Sciences established (formerly the Division of Service Departments).

Debut of OAC swimming.

New Commerce Hall (currently Bexell Hall) opened with a Business Show.

Inter-school athletic competition for women was discouraged.

Dr. George F. Zook, Specialist in Higher Education, rated Oregon Agricultural College as a standard institution in all respects.

1923

All work of less than collegiate standing abolished; e.g., the two-year vocational curriculum in commerce, the one-year program in forestry, and the two-year short course in pharmacy.

Debut of OAC polo.

Little Theater established by the Mask and Dagger dramatic club in the Administration Building (currently Benton Hall).

Student fee increased to $5.50 per term when the Barometer became a daily newspaper.

Extension Service initiated use of radio to broadcast education programs throughout the state.

1924

Oregon Agricultural College accredited by Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools. As a result, the college was also placed on the accredited list of the National Council in Education.

The American Association of University Women admitted OAC to membership which at that time consisted of 150 of the leading colleges and universities in the United States.

The University of Illinois gave OAC a Class A rating.

Regents of the University of New York formally register OAC as an approved institution in technical subjects; e.g., physical sciences, engineering, and pharmacy.

Pharmacy received recognition from the American Medical Association.

Pharmacy Building (currently Pharmacy Hall) erected.

Ulysses Grant Dubach, Ph.D., appointed first Dean of Men.

Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi installed on June 6.

OAC student Robin Reed won the gold medal in the freestyle wrestling 134.5 lb. weight class at the Olympics in Paris. Two years later Reed coached the OAC wrestling team to the AAU national championship.

First annual Freshman Week held on September 23.

Kent House (home management house) purchased (demolished 1991).

Memorial Union organized and incorporated.

The United States War Department rated Oregon Agricultural College as a distinguished institution for the sixth consecutive year.

First Women's Day organized. It became "Women's Weekend" in 1933 and "Mother's Weekend" in 1947.

1925

A.D. Taylor, a campus planner from Cleveland, Ohio, presented a revision of the 1909 Olmsted campus plan.

Edward Allworth appointed as the first Memorial Union Manager, a position he held for 38 years until his retirement in 1963.

College Museum formally opened on February 20 in temporary quarters on the ground floor of the Library.

Peavy Arboretum authorized by the Board of Regents on April 8.

Purnell Act passed on February 24 by Congress, which provided additional appropriations to state's experiment stations, primarily for research in agricultural economics and home economics. Oregon's Experiment Station received $20,000 in Purnell Funds for the 1925/26 fiscal year.

Radio station KFDJ licensed as KOAC; power boosted to 500 watts.

Ernest H. Wiegand developed a new brine method that led to the modern Maraschino cherry.

1926

Oregon Agricultural College placed on the accredited list of the Association of American Universities in November.

Child care laboratory provided by opening of Nursery School in Covell House.

Women's Building erected.

1927

Plan for faculty sabbatical leaves adopted by the Board of Regents on March 27.

Engineering Experiment Station established on May 4.

The name of the institution changed to Oregon State Agricultural College.

Debut of OSAC crew; James C. Othus, coach.

New greenhouses and the Poultry Building (now Dryden Hall) erected.

Tuition fee of $12.00 per term per student initiated by the Board of Regents.

State Drug Laboratory, maintained by the Oregon State Board of Pharmacy, established in the School of Pharmacy Building.

KOAC radio broadcasted the college's commencement for the first time on June 6. KOAC has broadcast every OSU commencement since that time, on television since 1958.

1928

Debut of OSAC golf; Tony Sottovia, coach.

Men's Dormitory Building (Weatherford Hall) and Physics Building (now Covell Hall) erected.

Memorial Union building completed; built entirely with private funds. Building dedicated June 1, 1929.

College budget: $1,903,349.

School of Vocational Education offered special evening classes for members of the faculty.

1929

Oregon Unification Bill approved by the Legislative Assembly, which provided for the unfication of the state-supported institutions of higher educatin under a single board; this board, the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, assumed control of all state (public) institutions of higher education in Oregon on July 1. An Executive Secretary was appointed in July, 1930. (The position was abolished on July 1, 1933).

Oregon State Agricultural College became part of the Oregon State System of Higher Education.

School of Pharmacy accredited.

Division of Physical Education established (C.V. Langton, Director; then Dean, School of Health and Physical Education; 1929-1964).