MSUM Memories

Book showcases history of MSUM and the city of Moorhead

BY MEGHAN FEIR | IMAGES COURTESY OF MSUM ARCHIVES

From its inception in 1888 as the Moorhead Normal School to today’s Minnesota State University Moorhead, the university has undergone significant changes over time.

“MSUM Memories: Refl ections of the college and university,” a pictorial history book by president emeritus Roland Dille and university archivist Terry Shoptaugh, spans the course of Minnesota State University Moorhead’s 125 years. It’s part of the ongoing celebration of the university’s 125 th year anniversary.

Aided with hundreds of stories from students, faculty, local residents and school newspapers dating back to the 1920s, “MSUM Memories” embodies the school’s history and the city of Moorhead’s story, as well.

Moorhead’s beginnings as a “tent city” in the early 1870s gave way to structural advancement and a swiftly growing community, and by 1887, construction of the Moorhead Normal School campus had begun.

With Moorhead and MSUM’s rich history, there was plenty of material to choose from. “It was easy to find the stories we used. The challenge was picking the best ones to use for a book of the size we wanted,” Shoptaugh said.

As a 1974 MSUM graduate, Shoptaugh’s favorite portion of the book covered 1957 to 1974, when the university was Moorhead State College (MSC). “It was a bit like reliving my own college memories. Many of the most striking stories are from that period. It was then that students obtained more control over their education, the dorms were changed to allow male and female students in the same building, minority students began coming to the school in greater numbers, and women wrested more independence for themselves, both as students and as faculty. It was a dynamic time.”

The 215-page book includes stories from well-known alumni, like Broadway star Jan Maxwell and Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who describe their time at MSUM as a defining period of their lives and careers.

“I wouldn’t exchange my days at MSU for anything. It was the best decision of my life,” Bowlsby said.

Through personal stories and memories, Shoptaugh said the collection is intended to “preserve the history of the school” and to “remind everyone that the key to this type of education is the personal contact between the student and faculty. That personal contact is how MSUM has thrived for 125 years. It’s how we will continue to thrive.”

And, as Dille adds, the purpose of the book is “to focus on a number of interesting things of the past that ought not to be forgotten.”

Own your piece of MSU Moorhead history by getting your book through the MSUM Bookstore, 218.477.2111 or bookstore. mnstate.edu. A portion of sales will go toward the university’s Founders Scholarship. [AWM]