Physical Address:
History Walk
Overview
In 1996 the ISU Alumni Association Board of Directors talked of a special project they could present to the University as a gift in the Centennial year. With earlier Alumni Association efforts to protect and refurbish Swanson Arch, the Board chose a beautification project around the arch. Working with ISU's Physical Plant, which had a design plan in the works, the Board voted to assume responsibility for the "History Walk."
The Walk's Design
The History Walk replaced the old sidewalk extending from Carter and 7th Streets (once the main entrance to campus) to Swanson Alumni Arch. The new walkway is composed of brick pavers separated by 15 engraved granite dividers which commemorate the significant dates in ISU's history; beginning with the founding in 1901, including institutional name changes, establishment of each of the colleges, and ending with a Centennial marker at Swanson Arch.
The Walk's Markers
Senator Theodore F. Turner was the author of Senate Bill 53, which was to establish and maintain the Academy of Idaho in Pocatello. The Academy operated as a two-year school offering college preparatory and industrial courses. The main buildings on campus were: Swanson Hall, named after Theodore Swanson, a member of the original board of trustees; Turner Hall, originally built in 1902 as the Girls' Dormitory and renamed in 1921 in honor of the senator whose work helped create the school (the building was converted to a men's dormitory in 1948 and back to a women's dormitory in 1957); and Faris Hall, the original boys’ dormitory, capable of housing 50 men. Nearly 70 students had enrolled by the end of the first term.
The mission statement for the Alumni Association is “to promote the welfare and to advance the objectives of Idaho State University through the sustained involvement of its alumni by providing philanthropic, intellectual, and social opportunities.” The Association is governed by a board of directors that meets three times a year. The Alumni Association was created and exists to provide a lifelong two-way connection between alumni and their university. It acts as the guardian of tradition, keeps members informed about their alma mater and their fellow alumni, provides opportunities for alumni to get together in social and educational settings, and promotes the needs of the university and its students.
Legislation was passed in 1916 to change the name from Academy of Idaho to the Idaho Technical Institute. The campus in 1916 consisted of Swanson Hall, Faris Hall and Turner Hall. The “I” that you now see on Red Hill was originally a “T” in 1916, representing the Technical Institute that lay below it. Red Hill was referred to by other names back in the early 20s, such as “Tech Hill” and “Red Bluff.” The entire student body spent one afternoon creating the “T” with picks, hoes and shovels.
In 1927, Governor Hyrum C. Baldridge signed Bill 160, creating the Southern Branch of the University of Idaho and officially changing the name from the Idaho Technical Institute. It was at this time that the “T” was transformed to the “I” that you see today. The sports stadium, later named Davis Field, was built as a Works Progress Administration project during the Depression in 1930. The original LDS Institute was built in 1929 and students put in 10,000 hours of labor at 55 cents an hour to build a road through the campus in 1933.
The College of Pharmacy is the oldest of the colleges on campus. It was in 1930 that Pharmacy was given the green light to offer a four-year degree to students. Thanks to the vision of acting President Norman B. Adkinson, the Pharmacy program first became a reality in 1918 when three students were enrolled. Because of the Depression, the facilities in Science Hall were inadequate to support the new program. The Legislature also provided that the School of Pharmacy would always meet the standards required by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. The Pharmacy program remained in the Science Hall until it made its final move to the new Pharmacy building created in 1942.
It was at this time that ISU first received its four-year degree designation. As it turned out, the 1913 bill was 34 years ahead of its time, because the type of college envisioned in Turner’s Senate Bill 94 was substantially achieved in 1947 with the creation of Idaho State College. The signing of the Twenty-Ninth Legislature’s bill in 1947 by Gov. C.A. Robins, himself a UISB alumnus, finally created an independent, four-year, degree-granting institution at Pocatello. Divisions within the new college included the College of Pharmacy, the Liberal Arts College and the School of Trade and Technical Education. The Division of Graduate Studies was organized in 1955, the College of Education in 1958 and the Division of Medical Arts in 1961.
Founded in 1947, the College of Arts & Sciences is ISU's largest and most comprehensive college. It was the cornerstone of Idahowidth="432" height="82" State College. In 1948, Idaho State College applied for accreditation with the Northwest Association of Secondary & Higher Schools. The Liberal Arts Division was recommended without qualification.
In 1954, President Carl W. McIntosh requested permission to add graduate studies to Idaho State College’s curriculum. On March 16, 1955 a bill unanimously passed both the House and the Senate that authorized Idaho State College to offer graduate work. Two years later, in 1957, the American Association of Colleges gave the school a rating of A-1. ISC then began to offer its fifth year curriculum. In 1959, the first master’s degree for Physics was approved by the State Board of Education.
Teachers were in demand as area communities realized the need to provide further schooling for their young people. During this era, Idaho State College saw its enrollment increase to a total of 2,400 students. In 1959, a demonstration school was opened. A one-way glass window allowed ISC Education students to observe a teacher working with young students in classroom environment.
Commerce classes were the first higher education courses offered in the Idaho State College catalog. The College of Business in the oldest program on the campus, although years passed before it was recognized as a separate division. In 1964, the College of Business Administration awarded it first degree. The College of Business relocated to its own building during the 1967-68 school year. In 1969, the first Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees were awarded.
The last step in Idaho State’s quest for university status occurred in 1963 when the Legislature passed and Governor Robert Smylie signed into law a bill creating Idaho State University. The University was charged to serve and give instruction to Idaho’s students in four-year courses in the sciences, arts and literature. The University was designated to grant the bachelor’s and master’s degrees and, with the approval of the State Board of Education, other degrees.
Health courses came to the forefront after World War I and World War II. The college was officially established on July 1, 1968. Dr. E.V. Simison was selected as the College’s first dean by then-President William E. Davis. On the top of the list of concerns was the need to expand the current training facilities. In 1970 the Life Sciences Complex was built. In 1976, Dean Paul D. Leiby announced the college was to become the College of Health-Related Professions.
History records that two of the first four graduates of the Academy of Idaho actually earned their certificates in “civil engineering.” In 1971, with the completion of the Lillibridge Engineering building, engineering took its own designation and split off to become the School of Engineering. Albert E. Wilson served as the first dean. In 1986, the school, after much debate, became the College of Engineering. It offered a BS in Engineering Management, a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, in 1997 a PhD in Engineering was offered.
Vocational training actually began the second year of the Academy of Idaho (1903), when courses were offered in domestic arts, domestic science, mechanical arts and mechanical engineering. In 1949, electronics instructor William Shiflett received national recognition in Radio-Electronics Magazine. The school has gone through as many name changes as it has course changes. In 1971, the Unites States Department of Labor cited ISU’s School of Vo-Tech in its official monthly, “Manpower.” In 1982, the Secretary of Education recognized the Electronics Technology program as “the best Electronics Program in the Intermountain West.” The year 2001 brought about the school’s current name of College of Technology.
The 2001-2002 academic year was dedicated to celebrating Idaho State University's 100th birthday. As we look back at our fine institution's 100 years of history, we also look forward to our second century, invigorated by a renewed appreciation of history and an understanding of how this university has evolved to its present day stature and quality.
From a small preparatory and industrial academy to a major public university, from 40 students to almost 14,000, from a single building to a large and beautiful campus, Idaho State University has been a place of growth, change and transformation. Homecoming 2001 proved to be the largest and most successful in Idaho State University's history, with over 600 ISU supporters coming back to share in a celebration of our 100-year history.
Figures of national prominence came to our Pocatello campus to help celebrate our anniversary. These included ISU alums Roger Williams and Hans Gregory Ashbaker, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Utah Opera, Dr. Patch Adams, and Dr. Carl Djerrasi and Nobel Laureate Dr. Steven Weinberg as our keynote speaker. Idaho State University celebrates 100 years of change, growth and educational service by commemorating its past, taking stock of the present and planning for the future.
