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| Like all other United States land grant institutions,
the University of Wyoming was entrusted with the creation and implementation
of programs that helped establish and refine agricultural practices
on the campus and throughout the city and state. This early photo,
taken from within the university’s first greenhouse, shows the
abundant flowers, plants, and saplings cultivated there to be replanted
around the sparsely covered eastern part of Laramie. The landscaped
areas around Old Main, where the Greenhouse’s early flowers
were placed, still exhibit the numerous perennials and large trees
that make the University beautiful. |
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Interior of University greenhouse. April 1898 .
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As a land grant institution, the University of Wyoming was also obliged
to maintain military programs that helped establish and refine defense
tactics for the nation. This photo shows one of the University’s
earliest artillery cadet classes, which included both men and women. Due
to the progressive mentality of the state of Wyoming, coupled with a small
student population, young women at the university were afforded many opportunities,
like cadet training, not available to women during that time period at
most other American colleges and universities.
Early Military Cadet Corps in Formation. No date.
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Continuing the tradition of a land grant institution’s participation in military preparedness, the University of Wyoming’s tenth President, Aven Nelson, allowed the school to house 250 men enrolled in the Students’ Army Training Corps beginning in 1918. This program, along with the earlier artillery cadet corps, helped establish a tradition of student military service. Opportunities included the Army Special Training Program, that operated as a flight school during the Second World War, and the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps, that can still be seen engaging in maneuvers throughout the school year around campus. |
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| Aven Nelson was one of the founding fathers and remains an important figure in the history of the University of Wyoming. Brought to campus to teach English by President Hoyt in 1887, Nelson quickly found himself teaching courses in botany and biology, which were standard at a land grant institution like UW. Nelson became an eminent scholars in the field of Rocky Mountain Fauna. He also acted as the University’s first librarian and tenth President. After nearly seventy years of service to the university, Nelson passed away at the age of 93. |
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Dr. Aven Nelson, No date. |
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