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Thatcher Hall: a journey into the past

By Trent Dugas Slantriter 4 D 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 (1891- 1893), 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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T HURSDAY OCTOBER 7, 8PM • FRIDAY OCTOBER SATURDAY OCTOBER 9, 8PM SUNDAY OCTOBER 10, TICKET INFORMATION CALL MITCHELL HALL BOX OFFICE THATCHER Continued from page 12 displayed to make the rooms look authentic or actual items from the old men's dormitory.

A portrait of Richard Thatcher painted in 1938 hangs above the fireplace mantel in the lounge. The painting was recently restored for the museum. All chairs, couches woodwork, wood floors and trimming were restored and originals items.

The wood tables were originally used in the library in Evans Hall and the Murdaugh Hall cafeteria. Murdaugh Hall's basement was once UCO's cafeteria. "That's not the punch line," Reeder said. "The punch line is that the tables were made by state prisoners."

The walls and display cases are decorated with many items from Thatcher Hall's history.

Hanging on the lounge wall is the original dedication plaque honoring Richard Thatcher.

Reeder said he found the plaque in Thatcher Hall's basement, on the ground, covering a manhole with a cement block on top.

Photographs of decades of dorm life, from the opening in 1937 to its closing in 1994, line the walls.

Reeder said many replica items were bought at garage sales and were donated. He said they looked at old Bronze Books to get the feel of how the lounge and room looked.

He said since UCO is promoted as a traditional campus then other historical buildings, like Murdaugh Hall, should resemble Thatcher Hall's museum.

Reeder said Murdaugh Hall should remain a dorm but with a museum in the lounge. "Murdaugh Hall is the last vestige of old dormitories on campus and I would love to see it restored like Thatcher," Reeder said.

All the work on the restoration project was done by the hands of Facilities Management.

Reeder said the crew from Facilities Management took pride in restoring Room 136 because they felt part of it. "They took more pride in this one little project then they did someplace else on campus," he said.

The east side of the lounge has a room attached that serves as a study hall.

The room coincides with the lounge's dormitory decor and is utilized by the Academic Support Center.

Leigh Smith, Academic Support Center's coordinator, said they wanted to do more than make a room that matched the lounge. They wanted the room to also be useful. "We were interested in expanding our capabilities to tutor so we just decided that we could utilize the space as it was once used," Smith said.

The room is used as a writing lab for academic support and is garnished like the lounge.

The same room was used as a study room during Thatcher Hall's reign as a men's dorm.

Another part of the museum not finished will contain a section for certain people.

A history section honoring outstanding athletes who lived in the dorms and special people like judges, authors and college presidents who lived in the dorms will soon be finished.

Annette Ryan, Chambers Library Archives, said it is important to keep the memories alive on campus. "We have a hundred years of history on campus," Ryan said. "We have the beginning of Edmond and the beginning of our university which hold all of our history."

The opening of the museum is just in time for homecoming.

Thatcher Hall Museum will conduct open house from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on October 15.

For more information on tour times, contact Karen Price at 974- 2353. —Photo by Shauna Hardway Dale Reeder shows the old intercom system and mailboxes in Thatcher Hall that are left from the days it was a dorm. Reeder encourages people to tour the museum during Homecoming. We have a hundred years of historj/ on campus. —Annette Ryan Chambers Library Archives