Morrill Hall and the Oklahoma Capital

David C. Peters
Special Collections & University Archives, OSU Library

Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College President Angelo C. Scott had a dilemma.  In his continuing efforts to address the facilities requirements of an expanding college, he recommended the construction of a large new administration and agriculture building in 1902.  Other Oklahoma Territorial needs were considered higher priorities that year, but he hoped the following year would provide new monetary opportunities for construction.  Uncertainty thirty-five miles away in Guthrie was to create barriers to his plan.

Nearing the last days of the Oklahoma and Indian Territories, the leading citizens and politicians of Guthrie, the territorial capital of Oklahoma, were concerned about efforts to move the state capital to Oklahoma City.  They turned to the territorial delegate to the US Congress, Dennis T. Flynn, for assistance.

In 1903 Flynn sponsored Congressional legislation that restricted the use of Oklahoma Territorial expenditures for construction of public buildings, thus guaranteeing a new state capital building could not be constructed in Oklahoma City and securing the capital in Guthrie, or so the citizens of Guthrie thought.  While Guthrie’s supporters were pleased, many others throughout the territory were not, as building programs for other public entities were delayed or eliminated, including those at the OAMC campus.

President Scott was determined to see construction continue and met this challenge with resourcefulness and political skill.  With the support and approval of the college board of regents he went to Washington DC in January of 1905 for the annual meeting of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations.  He attended these sessions with John Fields, Director of the OAMC Experiment Station.

Scott and Fields had two other objectives in addition to abolishing the prohibition of construction on the OAMC campus.  They also wanted a property title transfer for 640 acres of “school lands” located next to the existing campus, and an increased revenue adjustment for leases of property in the Cherokee Outlet that were designated to benefit the institution under provisions of the Morrill Act.

At least two factors were working in President Scott’s favor; he had earned a law degree before entering academia and his brother Charles had been elected to serve in the US Congress from state of Kansas several years earlier.  With his legal experience and Charles’ introductions Angelo Scott, with John Fields assistance, began their work with several subcommittees and Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon.  Fields stayed in Washington, DC for only a few weeks and then returned to Oklahoma and met with influential legislators in the territory.  After five weeks of meetings and drafting proposed bills for consideration, President Scott was ready to have his proposal submitted to Congress.  He identified the new building as “Morrill Hall,” a name closely associated with land-grant colleges through the extended efforts of Vermont Senator Justin Morrill.  Senator Morrill has served in the Senate until his death only seven years earlier.  All three of Scott’s initiatives passed during a unanimous consent hour and the OAMC president returned to Stillwater in mid February.

Scott and Fields continued their efforts to encourage Oklahoma legislators to fund the building of Morrill Hall after President Theodore Roosevelt signed the legislation into law on February 16, 1905 allowing construction at OAMC.  They invited territorial leaders and influential college patrons to campus the next day for a tour of college facilities.  The two men were successful and an appropriation of $100,000 was authorized two months later for several new facilities.  Morrill Hall was to be built and furnished for $78,000.

Architects were hired in June with the anticipation that construction would begin early in the fall.  The architect and an engineering professor, Richard E. Chandler, agreed with President Scott’s recommendation that the building’s exterior be of white or gray brick.  They wanted Morrill Hall to be “unique” and as Scott stated, “break this dead uniformity” of red brick facilities.  Scott also proposed that the new building have a gable roof on the north side to match the front facade facing south.  The regents didn’t approve either proposal, but they did agree to four columns on the south to enhance the “classical style” of Morrill Hall.  When the regents met at the end of October in 1905 they considered five bids.  They narrowed that group to three firms, but delayed a final decision until after they were able to visit the selected companies completed projects, or ones currently under construction.  The Oklahoma City firm of A. O. Campbell was selected with their bid of $62,800.  Professor Chandler was directed to manage the installation of fixtures, water, gas, heating, and electrical systems using the remaining funds from the appropriation.

Political bickering in Guthrie led to a legal challenge of the bid process.  The territorial governor, territorial auditor, Dennis Flynn, the regents, and others all jumped into the fray.  In the end Campbell retained the contract, but lowered their bid by $1,000. President Scott, however, was never reimbursed for his personal expenses occurred during his stay in Washington, DC.

On January 15, 1906 all animosity was put aside during a ceremony to set the cornerstone for one of the largest public buildings in the territory.  John Fields and Angelo Scott were both recognized for their contributions.  They in turn expressed appreciation to the citizens, and especially the farmers, in the Indian and Oklahoma Territories.  Completed in only nine months, the regents officially accepted Morrill Hall in mid-October 1906.

Oklahoma statehood a year later on November 16, 1907 brought with it new challenges and changes.  President Scott announced his resignation and he would leave office in the summer of 1908.  The board of regents for the college was dramatically reorganized and OAMC fell under the authority and control of the Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture.  Guthrie, despite all their previous efforts, eventually lost the state capital to Oklahoma City in 1910 and a disastrous fire in August of 1914 completely destroyed Morrill Hall.  Only the exterior walls remained, much of the early administrative history of the college was lost, but in a few years Morrill Hall was rebuilt.  Morrill Hall remains the second oldest building on campus and with Old Central are the only remaining facilities left from the territorial period of Oklahoma.

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