Looking east at the Chemistry Building; car parked in front.

Looking east at Chemistry Building.

Looking southwest as Chemistry annexes being moved; Chemistry Building in background.

Bio/Historical Note: The limitations of the original Chemistry Building became apparent with the massive influx of students at the end of World War II. The rise in enrollment put a strain on the resources of universities across the country. In response the federal government offered military surplus equipment and buildings to educational institutions at bargain prices. The University of Saskatchewan purchased nine surplus huts used at the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan airport at Dafoe, Saskatchewan, for $46,000 and joined them together to form Chemistry Annex One and Two. This “temporary” solution remained in place for two decades. The annexes were reconfigured in 1964-1965. The Thorvaldson Building opened on 6 June 1966. The annexes were removed by spring 1977.

Looking northeast at Chemistry Building. Landscaping in foreground; cars parked in front.

Looking north at north wing of Murray Memorial (Main) Library and Chemistry Building; trees in foreground.

Students standing in a laboratory are (l to r); Charles Sidney Rackstraw, Algeo Lloyd Anderson, Oscar Cleon Bridgman, Dr. L.E. Kirk, Professor Rodger J. Manning, William Elliott Walker, Arthur Wellesley Henry and A. Valoimar Vigfusson.

Looking west at Murray Memorial Library at left and Chemistry Building at centre. Corner of Biology Building visible at right.

Looking north at north wing of Murray Memorial Library at left and Chemistry Building at centre.

Robert (Bob) Teed operating Kjeldahl nitrogen analysis apparatus at the Cereal Chemistry Research Lab. The first stage of the two-step process shown entailed the boiling of concentrated sulfuric acid.

Bio/Historical Note: Robert Gordon Teed was born in Humboldt on 21 Dec.1924, He moved to Saskatoon and graduated from Nutana Collegiate. He joined the Royal Canadian Army in 1943, serving overseas from 1944 until July 1946, the last year as part of the Army of Occupation. In 1947 Teed joined the Department of Chemistry, where he worked as a technician until sickness forced him to retire. Teed died on 29 Dec. 1985 in Saskatoon.

Looking west across the Bowl at campus buildings (l to r): Marquis Hall, Arts Building, and Chemistry (Thorvaldson) Building.

Looking west at Murray Memorial Library at left and Chemistry Building at right.

Bio/Historical Note: Though the first recorded withdrawal from the University Library occurred in October 1909, nearly five decades passed before the Library had its own building. The early collection was housed either on the second floor of the College Building (later known as the Administration Building) or was scattered among a number of small departmental libraries. Plans for a new library building in the late 1920s were ended by the start of the Great Depression; but a dramatically reduced acquisitions budget was offset by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation in 1933. In 1943 the University hired its first professional Librarian. A combination of provincial grants and University fundraising financed the construction of the Murray Memorial Library. The library was named after the University’s first President, Walter C. Murray. Designed by noted Regina architect Kioshi Izumi working under H.K. Black, Architect, it marked a change in campus architecture away from the more angular and elaborate Collegiate Gothic style to that of the less expensive cube. Building materials included granite at the entrance and Tyndall stone as a wall cladding and window trim. In addition to the library, the building housed the College of Law, an office of the Provincial Archives and a 105-seat lecture theatre equipped with the latest in audiovisual teaching aids. The most dramatic transformation took place between 1970 and 1976 when a six floor south wing was added along with an extensive renovation of the 1956 structure. Designed by BLM, Regina, the south wing was unlike any other building on campus. Clad in Tyndall stone panels made to look like concrete (through a "bush hammered" finish), the grey almost windowless building is industrial and utilitarian in appearance. The University's master plan required buildings in the core of campus to be clad in stone. However, the "bush hammered" finish was used since the Library addition was built during a period that saw the flowering of "Brutalist" Architecture, so called because of the wide use of exposed concrete. The new (south) wing, originally called the Main Library, was officially opened on 17 May 1974, and also became the home of the Department of Art and Art History, the College of Graduate Studies and the University Archives.