1891
James Huff Stout opened the institute to educate students in manual training and domestic science in a 2 story frame
building.
A REFLECTION ON ART IN EPHEMERA
STOUT'S HISTORY
Second Stout building
1894
The school introduced Kindergarten classes and 5 years later opened a Kindergarten training school.
1897
Fire destroyed the old building and what is now known as Bowman Hall was built. Stout had 3 departments; mechanic arts, domestic arts, & art.
1900
A gymnasium natatorium building was constructed and later destroyed in 1964. In 1901 The School of Physical Culture to provide physical training was opened.
1905
Training programs for the preparation of teachers of manual training and domestic science began.
1907
A Homemaker's program was added to the curriculum.
1908
To simplify administration of the various public and Stout
Training Schools, the Stout Institute was formed.
1910
James Huff Stout passed away and ownership was
transferred to the State of Wisconsin.
1913
The campus added a building trades building called Ray Hall
and in 1915 added the Home Economics building which is now known as Harvey Hall.
1917
Harvey initiated four-year degree programs in household arts and industrial arts.
1932
The Institute achieved full college accreditation.
1935
The Institute began offering graduate degrees.
1946
The school scrambled to secure additional faculty, housing, classrooms, laboratories, and equipment to accommodate influx of students.
1954
Robert L Pierce Library was opened to students.
1955
The institution came under the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents of the State Colleges.
1959
The campus introduced the Memorial Student Center.
1961
A major shop and classroom building, Fryklund Hall, was completed.
1964
The name change was authorized by the board of Regents. The School of Liberal Studies joined Stout's traditional schools of Home Economics, Applied Science, & Technology.
1965
The college introduced several new majors, including art. Hotel and Restaurant Management and Vocational Rehabilitation were added as a response to emerging needs evident in business and industry.
1971
The Wisconsin State Universities and the University of Wisconsin campuses merged to form the University of Wisconsin System.
1975
In addition to major remodeling programs, six new buildings were added: Applied Arts Building, Library Learning Center, General Services Building, Heritage Hall, Memorial Student Center, & University Services Building.
2001
The prestigious Malcom Baldric National Quality Award was given.
2007
The school was designated as a Wisconsin Polytechnic University.
OVERVIEW
What do a medicine bottle, a ruler, a film reel, and a soda can all have in common? The answer to this question lies within and around the walls of Harvey Hall. Built in 1916, Harvey Hall is the oldest building standing on the UW-Stout campus. From classroom space to faculty offices, from industrial design labs, to home economy labs, Harvey hall has been used for many things. As the uses have changed over the years, Harvey Hall has been significantly remodeled many times. The most recent remodeling of the space was in 2016 to mark the 125th anniversary of UW-Stout.
We are design graduate students at the University of Wisconsin - Stout. We have explored the history and culture of four out of the many discarded objects found in and around the walls of Harvey Hall. The medicine bottle, the ruler, the film reel, and the soda can illuminate not only the history of the Art & Design program at UW-Stout, but the journey made by us as students as we connect these objects to the world.
We would like to thank archivist Heather Stecklein for access to both the historical artifacts we researched and her many hours of patience and excitement in sharing with us all of the treasures- both artifacts AND information- lovingly archived at the University of Wisconsin Stout Archives.
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We would also like to thank Paul Barry and The Benders! Paul and The Benders were the cream of Stout's raging garage band scene and we couldn't be more delighted for their gracious permission to use their hit 1966 single 'Can't Tame Me' for our theme music. They've recently rereleased their Big Sound Records debut so check them out!
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THE MEDICINE BOTTLE
THE RULER
THE FILM REEL
THE SODA CAN
The Students behind the podcast - Pictured left to right: Nicolette Morgan, Dharshana Gopalakrishnan, Drew Hagen, & Shane Sanders
The Lufkin rule company is the manufacturer of this tailor’s square. It was originally named as E.T. Lufkin Board and Log Rule Manufacturing Company after its founder Edward Taylor Lufkin and was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1885 and later moved to Saginaw, Michigan. It is even today one among the leading rule-making companies such as Stanley, Starrett and Chapin-Stephens.
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Have you heard of ‘The Amazing story of measurement’? It is an advertisement booklet published by this company in the year 1949 that comically explains the history of measurement starting from the early hand measuring techniques of the Egyptians. Elmer Cecil Stoner was the artist for this booklet and from all the facts that I have it looks like he was one of the first African Americans to have worked in comic books.
1893
Because of success with the first building, Stout offered an additional, larger building for students.
First Stout building
1890's
Our first object, the medicine Bottle belongs to this time period
Bowmans Hall
1920's
The second object, the ruler dates back to this period.
1930's
The film reel which is our third object of study is from the 1930s
Fryklund Hall
1960's
The last object of study which is the soda can was in use during this period
Home Economics Building
A few facts about the object itself; the film is on 16mm cellulose in what I believe to be acetate stock (as opposed to highly toxic and flammable nitrate stock which was the standard up until the 1920s-30s) and is tightly wound on a 6inch metal film reel, taking up most of the reel and fits comfortably in the unmarked metal film canister film reels are typically stored in.
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The film is roughly 12 minutes long, entirely black & white and completely silent. Because of its fragility the original film negatives do not leave the archives; all my research is based on the digitized version which you will find on our website.
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And while the film wasn’t found inside the walls of Harvey Hall and was never officially labeled as “trash” per se, it was banished for many years to sit, discarded, amongst many other film reels, videotapes and old photographs as “junk”, which is a kind of refuse to some I guess, right? Only now is its real value measurable, sitting next to other artifacts of ephemera; an old soda can, a ruler, and an empty glass bottle.
​
The Fence
William Schulman, 1985
North of the muted Bottling Plant,
North of my Olga Brekke studio,
North of the bat-filled Baptist Church,
We filled all the niches,
in the old Farmers Store
Where Don’s Super Valu parking lot now stands.
North of our dusty spaces,
North of our acquired Art Center,
Between the Chancellor’s house and the Fraternity House,
between fantasy and practicality,
between the Pot Shop and the Sculpture Shed,
We built our fence of discarded aesthetic.
Our Fence became as mighty as Fort Snelling,
as visible as Elk Mound,
as representative of who we were
as Alizarin Crimson and Grog.
We watched as the community paid homage
Shaking tongues and twitching eyebrows,
at our Christo run wild.
The came singly and in pairs
Murmuring sotto voce how they thought they hated it.
But talk is talk
and Love is Love.
Our Fence
suffering this torment,
as ridiculed as Jackson Pollock,
more outrageous than senseless graffiti,
stood,
reflective,
gaudy,
joyful,
and held its ground with grace
and
without a single case of vandalism.
Eventually,
we moved East and a bit South
and lost our Fence
of vulnerability.
The Amon House
The Amon House
View of Infirmary in the Amon House
Images retrieved from: http://creativepro.com/scanning-around-gene-amazing-story-measurement/#