History and Symbolism on the WSU Campus

Photos and Writing by Doug Taylor

So often when faculty, staff, and students walk on to the Pullman campus of Washington State University, their eyes are buried in their phones. Text messages, social media posts, and the latest viral videos meet their eyes. All the while, they walk past objects, decorations, and even places that held meaning and significance in the lives of Cougs before us.

This project's aim is to display a few of these things, to get us to pause, to take a moment, and to train our eyes on the things and places around us. There are interesting things to see.

The bricks in this photo were part of the first building built on WSU's campus, called The Crib. I must've walked by this over one hundred times before I saw it.

Thompson Hall is the oldest building on campus, with a cornerstone set in 1894. That same year, the-then Washington Agricultural College fielded its first football team, going 1-1 for the season.

Named for the first governor of Washington Territory, Stevens Hall is the oldest dormitory and the second-oldest building on campus. It's 122 years old.

This top piece sits above the original entrance to Murrow Hall, which is now windowed off. At that time, the beehive was a common symbol for industriousness and scientific pursuit.

Along with the beehives at the former entrance, the greenhouse on the south side of the building tells the story of its past housing of science classes. Until this project, I had no idea the greenhouse was still in use. It is.

Decorative flower discs, called rosettes, wrap around Morrill Hall. They are a decorative way to add support to the bricks so the exterior structure of a building stays strong.

Now a branch office for a community college, the Math Annex (on left) was originally the Hydraulics Lab.

The Latin quote, from Cicero, above the south entrance to Bohler Gym reads "the safety of the people is the supreme law." Cicero did not have volleyball on the mind when he said it.

This compass actually points in the right direction. So, if you're in Fulmer Hall and get lost, get to the compass and find your way around.'

These seats are in Fulmer 226, a science lecture hall. One of the largest rooms on campus, it was also a designated nuclear blast/fallout shelter, as it disappears into the hillside.