Lawrence University

TIME AND TRADITIONS: 1890s

Lawrence Bicycle Club of Ormsby Hall, 1894

1894 Doc Sammy

A turning point in Lawrence's history occurs when Samuel Plantz returns to his alma mater as president. During his 30-year administration, the student body will grow from 200 to 1200; the faculty will increase from nine to 68; the endowment will expand from $100,000 to $2 million; and eight major buildings will be constructed. In addition, the Conservatory of Music will become a separate part of the university and a building will be erected exclusively for musical instruction.

Lawrence's first football team loses its opening game of the season to rival Ripon by a whopping 80-0. Only three Vikings had played the game before, while Ripon's team had been organized four years earlier and had already played three games that season.

Lawrence football team, 1894

1895 The Rock

Lawrence students find a granite boulder on Mosquito Hill near New London while on a geological expedition. They bring The Rock back to campus on a flatcar, engrave on it "Class of '95," and place it in front of Main Hall. Years later, fellow students steal it at night and place it in another campus location. Moving The Rock by stealth becomes a campus tradition.

1897 Women's sports

The first women's basketball team is organized at Lawrence, making basketball the first official team sport for women.

	Banquet of the executive committee of the Ski-Yah-Yah, 1893 spoof of The Ariel
Battalion of the Military Department, 1897
	Underwood Observatory
Alexander Gymnasium, built in 1892
	Pheonix Hall in Main Hall, the site of public lectures, exhibitions, oratorical contests, and entertainment.
Pheonix Hall was the meeting place for the Pheonix Society, a men's literary society chartered in 1855. In 1893, the society comprises 146 members, many of whom enter the Civil War; few return.

On to the 1900s

Milwaukee-Downer in the 1890s

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