PHIL WHITE Star-Tribune correspondent | Posted: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 12:00 am
LARAMIE - At least two blessings occurred on the University of Wyoming campus in the 1950s.
In 1954, after earning a master's in history from UW, Emmett Chisum became the reference librarian at the library, which at the time was located in the Aven Nelson Building. Then in the fall of 1958 Chisum and the university celebrated the opening of a sweeping new building at 13th and Ivinson called the William Robertson Coe Library and School of American Studies.
Chisum worked in the Coe building for decades, willingly and skillfully helping thousands of students and faculty find materials pertinent to their studies. More than any other person, the distinguished-looking man in the little office off the circulation desk came to be the heart and soul of the library.
On Thursday, the UW community celebrated the 50th anniversary of the dedication of Coe Library by sharing 500 cupcakes and a few 50-cent pieces.
But the day wasn't solely for nostalgia. Chisum - who is nearly 90, still resides in Laramie and visits Coe as often as he is able - has given the library a nice birthday present.
Chisum has pledged a $1 million estate gift to support the special collections reading room in the addition being constructed on the east side of the library. It will be matched with state tax dollars placed into an endowment by the Legislature.
This is the second such award from Chisum. The first was the establishment of the Emmett D. Chisum Library Endowment Fund, which supports the purchase of materials for the Grace Raymond Hebard Collection of publications about Wyoming and by Wyoming authors.
The $50 million addition to Coe Library, which is expected to be completed in a year, will house the Hebard Collection in the Chisum Special Collections Reading Room.
Maggie Farrell, dean of university libraries the past six years, said Monday the anniversary celebration has given UW's constituencies an opportunity to reflect once again on the generosity of William Robertson Coe.
According to research by the library's staff, Coe initially donated $1.2 million for the library and American studies building. Then, between 1951 and 1961, he donated about $4 million in total to UW. That is the equivalent of a $29 million gift today.
"I spoke to several alumni this past weekend who were here for their 50th reunion," Farrell said. "They were impacted by construction of the new library then, just as our students are now. One was saying he remembered when the first steel was put in place and several said they were so proud to see the new library being built."
Farrell said Coe was "a state-of-the-art library back then, very modern. It reflected that the university was growing and changing in the 1950s."
UW has been recognizing the anniversary with various events during the past 18 months, Farrell said.
"And next fall we will have the opportunity to do a dedication of Coe Library again, when the addition is completed," she added. "That's the best birthday we can give to the building. We're excited that we will be modernizing and expanding the library, while at the same time retaining the Coe name and the intimacy and significance of the original building."
Former Gov. Mike Sullivan, a Casper attorney, was an undergraduate in engineering when the Coe Library was dedicated.
"I was always appreciative of it," he said. "It was a very comfortable, pleasant place to be, the one place you could go and find some peace and quiet. Of course it was much different then. Nobody was looking at computers. We were all looking at books."
Sullivan said he worked as a part-time janitor in the American studies wing of the building during law school.
Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, a Cody attorney, said Monday that the Coe family has supported numerous worthy projects in Wyoming, including the W.R. Coe Memorial Hospital and the Buffalo Bill Museum, both in Cody. State Sen. Hank Coe and other members of the Coe family still reside in Cody.
Simpson's father, Milward L. Simpson, was president of the UW Board of Trustees in the '50s and served as Coe's Wyoming attorney. According to UW histories, Simpson and UW President George "Duke" Humphrey were instrumental in attracting Coe's attention to helping UW. Gov. Simpson was one of the speakers at the dedication.
"Coe was a very successful person, an awesome type of character," Alan Simpson said. "He had a lodge outside of Cody at Carter Mountain. He loved coming here, a place of solace and inspiration for him. He was a man of purpose and dedication."
Peggy Tobin of Laramie, who served as dean of women for many years, said the UW library was located in the Aven Nelson building when she was an undergraduate.
"We were really packed in there," she said. "We had to climb a ladder to get a book."
She returned to UW in 1961 for graduate studies and enjoyed what she calls "the elegant new facility."
The library's capacity was doubled with an addition that was completed in 1977. The 2009 addition will expand the facility to more than 280,000 square feet, with a shelving capacity for 1.6 million books. The library's "gate-count" last year was 526,000 people, Farrell said.
UW libraries programs also received a state-matched $1 million donation in 2004 from UW graduates and Wyoming natives Carol McMurry and Pat Spieles of Loveland, Colo. They summed up the importance of the library by saying, "No one graduates from a library, but no one graduates without one. Whether you are an athlete or an art major, the library is a hub of learning, research and student life. Choosing to donate to the library was easy. It benefits every UW college and every UW student."
Twin celebrations
LARAMIE - The University of Wyoming is joining its sister university in Russia in celebrating the 50th anniversaries of the main library buildings at both institutions.
Maggie Farrell, dean of UW libraries, said Saratov State University recognized the golden anniversary of its V.A. Artisevich Zonal Scientific Library in 2007.
The universities have produced a joint booklet describing the joint anniversaries. Farrell traveled to Saratov in 2005 to meet her colleagues there.
The two universities have an extensive history of cooperation and exchanges in recent years. UW students attend the Russian Language Program at SSU each year and there is an active faculty exchange. The two libraries are cooperating in sharing information to improve reference and student services, Farrell said.
LARAMIE - The University of Wyoming is joining its sister university in Russia in celebrating the 50th anniversaries of the main library buildings at both institutions.
Maggie Farrell, dean of UW libraries, said Saratov State University recognized the golden anniversary of its V.A. Artisevich Zonal Scientific Library in 2007.
The universities have produced a joint booklet describing the joint anniversaries. Farrell traveled to Saratov in 2005 to meet her colleagues there.
The two universities have an extensive history of cooperation and exchanges in recent years. UW students attend the Russian Language Program at SSU each year and there is an active faculty exchange. The two libraries are cooperating in sharing information to improve reference and student services, Farrell said.]]->