Sep
21
Archival Chronicle features 100 Years of Student Life at BGSU
September 21, 2010 | All, Centennial, University Archives, Website | Leave a Comment
Students are the reason that Bowling Green State University is here. They come to prepare for careers in teaching, in business, or in service to others in many diverse fields. But while they are here, they affect each other and the Bowling Green community profoundly. With their own rituals and customs, they also reflect the times in which they live. In this issue of the Archival Chronicle, we focus on these special people.
This issue gives a glimpse of student life at BGSU over the past one hundred years. Whether taking notes in the classroom or gathering with friends, students have always remembered these years fondly. The photographs in this issue are found in the University Archives.
Sep
10
Centennial Perspectives: 1940 Time Capsule
September 10, 2010 | All, Centennial, University Archives | Leave a Comment
In 1940 the BGSU Senior class presented a Colorado Spruce to the University as their class remembrance gift. This tree was presented and planted in conjunction with the University’s first Honors Day program on May 17. This ceremony included the placement of a time capsule underneath the tree. This time capsule contained the names of the students of the class of 1940, class records, a copy of the “Bee Gee News” and clippings of current events from a global perspective. The capsule was to be dug up 75 years after its burial, making the upcoming event to occur in 2015. However, in 1958 construction workers putting in a sewer line to a new building uncovered the capsule and handed it over to the University authorities. The top had worked loose, and many of the contents were damaged by water. The contents were to be dried out, returned to the container and planted again near the tree. While the contents were dried out and replaced in the capsule, the container was never buried. In 1966, a student assisting in remodeling the Maintenance Building found the heavy container and opened it, discovering the contents to be those of the 1940 class time capsule. The contents were then given a home in the journalism office. A professor of sociology, Dr. Donald Longworth was a sophomore at the time of the time capsule’s burial, and actually dug the hole that housed the capsule. He recalls the tree dying and the replacement having been moved to make way for the building of Founders Quadrangle around 1955. As the capsule was never replaced in the ground after being unearthed in 1958, the myth that it is still buried in some unknown area on campus has now been disproved.
Sources:
BG News “Many are Named in University’s First Honors Day” 22 May 1940. Page 2.
BG News “Workman Finds ‘Time’ Capsule” 31 July 1958. Page 4
BG News “Campus ‘Time Capsule’ Uncovered 49 Years Early” 9 Feb. 1966. Page 1
BG News “Professor Recalls Time Capsule Story” 16 February 1966. Page 4.
Key Yearbook 1940 edition. Page 53.
Jun
9
Visitor Parking for Researchers
June 9, 2010 | All, News, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Construction projects on the BGSU campus have affected access to our parking lots. The construction and road work is expected to last until mid-August when the fall semester begins. If you are a visitor to our campus, we strongly recommend that you stop at the Visitor Information Center (near the Doyt Perry football stadium) on Alumni Drive to get directions to the parking lots that are open on your day of visit, and to get a parking pass. The Parking Services office can also provide parking passes.
Directions to the Visitor Center: From I-75, take exit 181 and turn toward campus (westbound). Alumni Drive is the first intersection on your right, and the Visitor Information Center is the first building.
For more information, contact the Visitor Information Center at 419-372-2336. Their hours are 8:30-5:00 Monday-Friday.
UPDATE 6/25/2010: As the widening of Ridge Street continues, access to Jerome Library is more complex. Parking is not available in Lot N (north of the building) and pedestrian access is detoured. To view a map of the restricted area and suggested walking routes, click on Pedestrian Detour Map at
http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/mc/page37873.html.
This site also contains the latest information on other construction activity and road closures. Construction is expected to continue through August 15, 21010.
UPDATE Fall 2010: The Library parking lot (Lot N) is now open to traffic. Researchers should stop at the Visitor Information Center for information about driving directions and parking instructions.