Page 12
THEVISTA
OCTOBER 7, 1999
Thatcher Hall: a journey into the past D
By Trent Dugas Slantriter
4 4 ear Dad, Please send money."
Those are the words typed on a single sheet of paper on a UCO student's 1940's typewriter. A walk through Thatcher Hall's lounge and Room 136 is a journey back into time when Thatcher Hall was a men's dormitory. The smell of yesteryear fills Room 136 of Thatcher Hall. Memories of college life and being away from home bounce off the room's walls. An antique Montgomery Ward radio sits on the bare-wood desk next to schoolbooks from the 40's, 50's and 60's. An old band instrument and a 1959 Bronze Book are scattered about the room. The Thatcher Hall Preservation Project is responsible for the trip through years past. UCO alumni Dale Reeder, Kathryn Kunc and Annette Ryan
are the committee members behind the Thatcher Hall Preservation Project. The project was designed to show part of UCO and Thatcher Hall's history to everyone on campus. Thatcher Hall was built in 1937 and named after the university's first president (18911893), Richard Thatcher. UCO was named the Territorial Normal School during Thatcher's time as president. The dormitory was UCO's first resident hall for men and holds plenty of antiquity. Thatcher Hall served as a resident hall for the Army and Navy pilots during World War II flight training courses and a resident hall for Air Force trainees during the Korean War. In 1994, Thatcher Hall shut down as a men's dormitory, making way for classrooms and office space. Reeder said, the committee's campaign to erect a museum in Thatcher Hall had not been approved before the crews gutted the inside.
"When they started turning it (Thatcher Hall) into classrooms, they began tearing things out and throwing things away," Reeder said. "We would get stuff they were throwing out and we would put it in the back of our cars, hide it, box it up and hope we would be able to use it some day." The preservation committee finally received permission from former UCO president George Nigh to turn the lounge and Room 136 into a museum. "In 1994, the administration decided they needed more space, which is understandable, because the campus was groWing," Reeder said. Their main objective was making Thatcher Hall's lounge a place of remembrance so people will always know who it was named for and that it was the first men's dormitory, Reeder said. Everything in Thatcher's lounge and Room 136 are either items from the 40's, 50's and 60's
V See THATCHER, Page 13 —Photo provided This is an old photo taken in Thatcher Hall, which used to be a men's dormitory. This photo and many more can be found when touring the museum during Homecoming.
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