Laying the cornerstone of the Medical College. Attendees (l to r): J.S. Thomson, University President; Judge H.Y. Macdonald, chairman, Board of Governors; Angus MacPherson, mayor of Saskatoon; F.H. Portnall, assistant architect, Regina; Dr. W.S. Lindsay, Dean of Medicine; Hon. T.C. Douglas, Premier of Saskatchewan; and Mr. Justice Donald MacLean, University Chancellor.

Bio/Historical Note: A medical college was part of President Walter Murray’s design for the new University of Saskatchewan, and was consistent with his view that the university should serve the needs of the province. In 1926 a School of Medical Sciences was established, which provided the first two years of medical training. Between 1928 and 1954, 605 students completed the course and then went elsewhere in Canada for the clinical years. In 1944, a survey of the health needs of the province (Sigerist Report) recommended that the School be expanded to a “complete Grade A Medical School” and that a University Hospital of 500 beds be constructed for scientific teaching, clinical instruction, and research. A medical building was completed in 1950, a four-year degree-granting College was inaugurated in 1953, and University Hospital opened in 1955. The College admits sixty medical students per year, supervises the training of 200 residents, and provides basic science training to 330 students in Arts/Science. The aim of the program is to produce a “basic” or undifferentiated doctor capable, with further training, of becoming a family practitioner, specialist or research scientist. Between 1953 and 2003, the College of Medicine has graduated 2,134 MDs, of whom 30.5% were women.

Elevated view of dignitaries at the opening of the Medical Building. From l to r: Hon. T.J. Bentley, minister of Public Health; Dr. Arthur S. Moxon, chairman, University Board of Governors; Sir Henry Dale, chairman, British Medical Council; T.C. Douglas, premier of Saskatchewan; F. Hedley Auld, University Chancellor; W.P. Thompson; University President; Dr. W.S. Lindsay, dean of Medicine; Dr. J.F.C. Anderson, president, Canadian Medical Association, and Dr. John Fiddes, professor emeritus of Physiology.

Posed outdoor image of participants of a research seminar with Sir Henry Dale, chairman, British Medical Council, and members of the Department of Physiology during the opening of the Medical College. Front row: T.P. Ting; Dr. John Fiddes, professor emeritus of Physiology; Dr. Louis B. Jaques, head, Department of Physiology; Sir Henry Dale. Middle row: Ms. O. Maduke; Ms. G. Johns; Erica Lepp; Ms. M. Ogilvie; Ms. H,J. Bell (who later received the first PhD awarded in the College of Medicine; J.G. Ashwin; G.J. Millar. Back row: S.W. Levy; R. Schucher; J. Lowenthal; P.F. Solvonuk; G.N.P. Musgrove.

Students at work in the Medical Lab in the College of Medicine, from l to r: L. Upelwicks; R. Harrington; Theodoric (Ted) Nwafor Chukwulobe Agulefo; L.W. Wasew; T.R. Morris; P.C. Thorfinnson.

Looking northwest across the Bowl at the Geology Building under construction.

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.

View of the soundboard used at the Greystone Theatre, on campus at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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.

Image of students at work in the new offices of the University of Saskatchewan newspaper, The Sheaf.

George Horn, teacher, stands with his students in front of the Little Stone School; outhouse at right.

Bio/Historical Note: The original Victoria School, now known as the Little Stone Schoolhouse (LSS), was built in 1887 by Alexander Marr, known for owning the Marr residence, currently the oldest residential building in Saskatoon. The LSS building was not only Saskatoon’s first school and library, it was also its first public building. In the evenings, various community events were held here, such as dances, meetings and various religious events. The one-room school house was used until a two room school house was constructed in 1905, followed by an even larger Victoria School in 1909, officially assuming the role of the original Victoria School. In 1911 the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire raised funds to preserve and relocate the building to the University of Saskatchewan campus. The school was carefully dismantled and moved. Almost 50 years later, in 1967, the Saskatoon Council of Women raised money to renovate the building and officially opened the LSS as a museum. Later that year the LSS was declared a Municipal Heritage Site and eventually Provincial Heritage Property in 1982. The Little Stone Schoolhouse continues to play an important role in the Saskatoon community and on the University of Saskatchewan campus. The U of S took over the operation of the building in 1981 and the Diefenbaker Canada Centre has ensured the continued appreciation of this historical landmark. The main Little Stone Schoolhouse program focuses on a historical introduction and the docent roleplaying as a school teacher.

Construction of north wing of Murray Library nearing completion. Scaffolding on building at centre; pile of bricks covered with tarp 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.

Studio portrait/graduation photo of Walter Tarnopolsky from the Faculty of Law, University of Saskatchewan.

Head and shoulders image of George J. Thiessen, Education, 1964-1975.

Head and shoulders image of Dr. Thobani.

The tennis courts with the Hangar Building in background and a gravel road in foreground.

Head and shoulders image of George J. Thiessen, Education, 1964-1975.