A "Bennett Buggy" travelling on Wiggins Avenue in Saskatoon. College Building) in background at left, Qu'Appelle Hall at right.

Bio/Historical Note: This image is one of the most requested photos in the University Archives. It was taken by an unknown photographer in about 1935. A 'Bennett Buggy' was a term used in Canada during the Great Depression to describe a car which had its engine and windows taken out and was pulled by a horse. In the United States, such vehicles were known as Hoover carts, named after then-President Herbert Hoover. The Canadian term was named after Richard Bennett, the Prime Minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935, who was blamed for the nation's poverty. Cars being pulled by horses became a common sight during the Depression. During the boom years of the 1920s, many Canadians had bought cheap vehicles for the first time, but during the Depression, many found they did not have enough money to operate them. This was especially true in the hard-hit prairie provinces. The increased poverty played an important role, as farmers could not buy gasoline. The price of gas also increased. Gas taxes were also one of the best sources of revenue for the provincial governments. When these provinces went into a deficit, they increased these taxes, making gas even harder to buy. In Saskatchewan, badly hit by the depression, similar vehicles with an additional seat over the front axle were dubbed "Anderson carts" after Premier James T.M. Anderson.

View of exterior of the POS Pilot Plant.

Bio/Historical Note: The POS (Protein, Oil and Starch) Pilot Plant is a research organization that specializes in extraction, fractionation, purification, and modification of biologically derived materials. The company, which was founded in July 1977, is located in the Innovation Place Research Park on the University of Saskatchewan campus. POS Pilot Plant, the largest pilot plant operation of its kind in North America, has grown from eighteen employees in 1977 to over ninety employees in 2003. The company employs people from a wide range of disciplines: scientists, engineers, technicians, operators, tradespeople, logistics and information researchers, and administrative personnel. POS Pilot Plant is dedicated to finding personalized solutions for clients' bioprocessing needs. Services provided include: process and product development, optimization and scale-up; hazard analysis and critical control points; protocols and good manufacturing practice plans; and ingredient sourcing, shelf-life testing and analytical development. There are also consulting services, and support services concerning materials management, maintenance, and information. The Plant serves bioprocessing industries including nutraceuticals and functional foods; cosmetics and fragrances; fats, oils and lipids; food and ingredients; animal feeds; and Biotechnology and agricultural biotechnology. In 2019 the plant was rebranded KeyLeaf Life Sciences.

Four men working in the lab in [PFRA Peterson Building].

Bio/Historical Note: In 1958 the federal government leased a three-acre site in what was then the north end of campus from the University for $1 a year. On that site was built the PFRA-Peterson Building, home of the northern Saskatchewan PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act) regional group. Staff worked on planning for the Gardiner Dam, soil conservation, and provided a variety of technical services to its prairie clientele. Sold to the University of Saskatchewan in 1998 for $1, the building's name refers to Bob Peterson, PFRA's first soil mechanics and materials engineer who was involved in the design and construction of many of the PFRA dams in Western Canada.

Colourful foliage and grasses are seen on the river bank in Saskatoon.

Geology Building under construction; winter scene.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

Image of excavation for foundation of the Geology Building. Chemistry (Thorvaldson) Building at left.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.

Group photo of the YMCA executive. Back row (l to r): Thomas Hunter Wells (chairman, devotional committee); George Arthur Harding (chairman, bible study); Reginald Miller Luckraft (vice-president); Abraham J. Leoppkey (treasurer). Front row: J.A. Graham (secretary); James W. Cruikshank (president).

Head and shoulders image of Takuji Tanaka, Associate Professor, Food & Bioproduct Sciences, College of Agriculture & Bioresources.

Looking north at Observatory.

Bio/Historical Note: The Observatory was designed by Gentil J.K. Verbeke and constructed in two phases using local limestone from 1928-1930 for about $23,000. The R. J. Arrand Contracting Co. was contracted to build the Observatory Tower in 1928 for a cost of $6625. The firm completed the tower $353 under budget on 14 April 1929, for $6,272. On 20 June 1929 R. J. Arrand was again awarded a contract by the University, this time to build the small classroom wing of the Observatory for $15,640. Work on the classroom wing was completed on 23 January 1930 for $15,034.50. University funding for the construction of the building was supplemented by private donations. Along with the Field Husbandry Building, the Observatory would be among the last free-standing buildings constructed on campus until after World War II. A plaque with the names of many donors still hangs inside the dome of the observatory. Saskatoon residents will find many of the names highly recognizable even today. A sundial was added to the exterior of the Observatory during the 1940s. It reads:
I am a Shadow
So art thou
The observatory facilities are available for use by both university students and visitors to the campus. The telescopes and other scientific equipment are used by students during the laboratory component of their courses. University personnel regularly offer tours of the observatory to elementary and high school classes, youth groups and other community associations. The Observatory is staffed year-round on Saturday nights so that any visitor may view celestial objects through the telescope.

Executive of the Morton Historical Association. Written on back of photo are names: K.M. Benson, Jean E. Murray, Ruth Smith, P. Jordan, Jean MacKay, Beth Stewart and Jack Purves.

Bio/historical note: Membership in the Historical Association, formed in 1917-1918, was open to any student who had taken one course in history at the University. Professor A.S. Morton fostered the society from the beginning and proved a source of inspiration in awakening and sustaining interest not only in ancient history and historical research, but also in modern problems and events. A photograph of members and a brief account of the Associations activities appears in most editions of the official yearbook or Greystone.

A.S. Morton and G.W. Simpson pose with the executive of the Morton Historical Association in academic robes. Names of members not supplied.

Membership in the Historical Association, formed in 1917-1918, was open to any student who had taken one course in history at the University. Professor A.S. Morton fostered the society from the beginning and proved a source of inspiration in awakening and sustaining interest not only in ancient history and historical research, but also in modern problems and events. A photograph of members and a brief account of the Associations activities appears in most editions of the official yearbook or Greystone.

Head and shoulders image of L.V. St. Louis, Associate Professor, Department of Economics.

Jean G. Bayer, Department of English, 1915-1945, crouching by two ducks at an unknown location.

Bio/Historical Note: Jean Gordon Bayer joined the staff of the university in 1909 as President Walter Murray's secretary. Bayer previously had been his secretary at Dalhousie University. She arrived in Saskatoon in time to witness the registration of the first students. She was the President’s secretary, university librarian, and unofficial adviser to students. Bayer helped choose the university colours and motto, and was one of the founders of the Pente Kai Deka Society. In 1915, due to staff shortages caused by the Great War, Bayer was appointed Instructor in English. She proved so effective she was encouraged to continue, and took a year of study at Bedford College, London, prior to being formally appointed to the faculty. Like Murray, “she possessed a wide vision of the function of a university and, like him, she…dedicated herself to Saskatchewan.” “A most kindly guide” to her students, “many caught their first glimpse of what a literary ‘salon’ of the great days might have been in the genial atmosphere of tea and literature in her book-lined suite. She was a most loyal and cooperative colleague….She made it seem an easy thing to be happy and brave.” When Bayer returned from London in 1921 she was named Assistant Professor of English, a rank rarely held by women in that period. Bayer retained the post until her death in 1945. A scholarship in her name is available to a student who has completed at least two years of university studies