University of South Carolina Libraries
rolina Dean Arney Childs led her littl named in honor of the famous buildings off the actual cainpus, it was considered to be in a suit ably secluded spot for the young ladies. Melton Field originated in 1926, and in 1927 the campus was en larged by the Field House and Sloan College. In the following year the Melton. Observatory, named in honor of the Univer sity's president, was built. t One of the greatest additions ol :k Library Center General Assembly. The buildingi cost was taken care of by an ap propriation bill by the Sout) Carolina General Assembly ii 1987. t -Originally, the library wa: a named University Library, bu o in 1945, upon the passing o: d President McKissick, whose un tiring efforts made the projec possible, it was renamed the J1 n Rion McKissick Memorial Librara in his honor. e McKissick is considered one o the finest and most complete Ii braries in the South. A collectioi of 140,000 books can be found o1 its shelves. The collection of olde dworks is usually large and som Iof them date back before 1801. k Oddly enough, Carolina was 4 e years old beforea buailding Wa By JANE DOWE Exchange Editor Hammer! hammer! Up goe another temporary building, an the campus changes even mor from those days in 1908 when Th Gamecock was a baby and th campus was built entirely arouni the Horseshoe. Carolina's physi cal appearance today amazei those who lived, learned, and cam paigned for Bryan here just for3 years ago. The Wallace Thompson Infirm. ary *was erented in 1908 as a me morial by Mrs. Ann Jeter to hez nephew. The next year saw the building of Davis College, named in honor of R. Means Davis, Pro. fessor of History, and of the c"n tral heating plant. In 1911 the largest building or the campus was completed-Le. Conte-to house the science de. partments, and it was given a third floor in 1929. During the next years ne% dormitories sprang up on the campus - Thornwell, Woodrow Snowden, and Burney. The o4 campus wall was forgotten. Petigru College was competei just before the end of the Firs World War to be used as th law school. The university's first dormitor; for women-Wade Hampton-wa opened in 1924. One of the firs McKIssI< AS By JOE MOLONY Staff Writer The McKissick library is a liv ing memorial to the late J. Rio McKissick, beloved 19th presider of the University of South Car( lina. It was mainly through hi efforts that Carolina was .able i acquire such a magnificent an modernistic library. The building was constructedi 1941 by the W.P.A. of the Federi Works Agency at a cost of $600 000. It took two years for ti P.W.A. to construct it. Much a: guing and dickering with the Gei eral Assembly marred the proj ress of the construction. Hos ever, after two years of hai fighting, university officia headed by President McKissic reached an agreement with t1 Has .14S e band of coeds into their new "hotel South Carolinian, J. Marion Sims (b the century was the School .of C Education in 1931, composed of sa Wardlaw College, Peabody Gym- sp nasium, and Drayton Hall. fo With the action of the W.P.A. and the P.W.A. building began dc again on the campus. In 1937, lo Maxey College was completed and Bi was at first used only as an of- fi fice building. In 1939 it was used T1 as a men's dormitory and has dE since been changing hands be- m tween the men and women. Coker lu Replaces Of Learni erected on the immediate groundsS to house the student's reading I i matter. T In 1840, the Old Library, as it . was known, was constructed at b< Sthe present site of the Extension Division and Carolinlana library. It is reputed to be the oldest sep- jy arate library building to be erect- at cd on the grounds of ai United el States university. L Quite a few historical events 0' transpired under the roof of this ti Old Library. Chief of these hap- d. penings occurred upon the close d< of the War Between the States. "' SBecause of General Sherman's o: r damage to the Capitol Building in tl a his march through Columbia, the ti state legislature couldn't meet at e: 3 the Capitol. Therefore, it was RI s necessary for members of the bv O c"e Sim pug dol lev wo in hai of On wa pug chs use An wh an cal I ed " in 1940. Sims college was the ust, inset.) >llege was completed In the ere jrat me year. The W.P.A. was re- Pra Pr< onsible for McBryde College andiers r the swimming pool, too. str The University's two largest LIb ,rmitories were built in 1939, al- Ha tting one to eaph of the sexes. has ith Sims and Preston are the thi iest dormitories in the state. J ie construction of Sims was fer emed necessary because so ma any girls were rooming in Co- doi mbia. According to The Game- dei Carolinia ing At U mate to use the Old Library of ' e university as a meeting place. lib, his is believed to be the first to id only time that a library build Cai g was used by a law-making >dy to enact laws. wa dic Time passed quickly. Carolina's i irollment increased by leaps and >unds. Fireproof wings were Ided in 1927. A few additional to laniges were made, but the Old Pe ibrary was beginning to appear Ro itmoded. The library's facili- in es were not ample to meet the sol amand of the horde of new stu- qu mnts, so it had to be done away ne ith. Thus ended the life of one the most historical libraries in 10< ie United States. It also paved br le way for one of the most mod- foi -n libraries in the South, the J. an ion McKissick Memorial Li- in ary. th. W n k of that fall, the building of ts was slow and uncertain. he McKissick library, the last at building project on the cam 1, emerged in 1941 at a cost of re than six hundred thousand lars. With its eight floor als President McKissick stated ,t he doubted if many students aild see all parts of the library. lamilton College-the Naval ).T.C. Armory--wqs completed 1948. lut the growth of the campus I not been composed entirely new buildings. In 1981 the Acron Delta Kappa brick Iks were laid on the old cam ., Students welcomed the pur se of the plot of land to -be d for the Arboretum in 1986. d few students forgot the day % en the chapel bell ceased to toll I an electric system of bell ed them to classes. 'he overgrown university need more classroom space, and in summer of 1947 five tempo y war surplus buildings were eted on vacant corners of the pus and on Gibbes Green. gress moves on, and two oth are in the process of con action, one behind McKissick rary and one near Steward's 11. A house for graduate girls been bought on Sumter street 3 winter, too. Lnd so new faces meet a dif ent campus, as the university p - changes, but appearance sn't matter. We and the stu its of 1908 all love Carolina. na niversity he facilities in the McKissick ary are more than sufficent meet the demands of the rolina students. The influx of r veterans after World War II n't even faze this' beautiful eary, our reading rooms are open, the students-the Reference, riodical, Science, and Reserve oms. Each has an attendant charge, whose duty it is to ye the problems and answer' the stions of any student who ds advice and help. Every Carolina student should k with pride upon this fine li try, for it represents the ef -ta of some of the finest men : one of the finest presidents the university's long history