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 Hot
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| Most people know the history of Penn State as that of a school chartered in 1855 at the request of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society to apply scientific principles to farming. Since that time, Penn State has grown from that one campus at University Park to 24 locations statewide, and each of those other locations has its own history. Here are some of those stories, as they appeared in Intercom, Penn State's faculty/staff newspaper: A community's vision It began as a dream -- a dream by a group of local citizens to support an undergraduate center in Altoona. From its humble beginnings in an abandoned grade-school building, to its move to Ivyside Park in 1948 on the site of a former amusement park, and through its growth in the 1970s and into the 21st century, Penn State Altoona has seen many changes. For the full story, click here. Filling a niche What began as an assist in the "race for space" has led the University's graduate campus in suburban Philadelphia to reach for the stars. Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies was formed 39 years ago in King of Prussia as the King of Prussia Graduate Center (KPGC), to provide graduate level engineering science programs to the nearby General Electric Goddard Space Center (now Lockheed Martin Management and Data Systems). For the full story, click here. Part of the community An all-male student body. Crew cuts, or neatly trimmed hair styles with no hair below collars. Shirt pockets nestled with plastic liners that held an assortment of pens and pencils. T-shirts worn under long-sleeved plaid shirts, not as outerwear. And, ubiquitous slide rules proudly tucked through belts denoting personal identification as engineers. That general description typified Penn State McKeesport students in 1957, the year the first classroom building opened at the campus' present location. For the full story, click here. Fulfilling a need In 1907, the city of Uniontown in Fayette County was known to have 13 millionaires in the county, at a time when miners had good jobs making about $1 a day. The coal and coke era had produced a booming economy. But as this industry disappeared, the area struggled to find as lucrative a substitute. Citizens looked to education, and community leaders including Orville Eberly, Robert Eberly Sr., Jim Driscoll and Herman Buck strived to bring a college to the area. Several colleges, including Waynesburg College and the University of Pittsburgh, tried to foster a campus, but it was Penn State that ultimately was successful. For the full story, click here. Campus built on 'Butter Belt' Creamery ice cream! While Penn Staters everywhere salivate at the mere mention of those three yummy words, it's safe to say few know that Penn State's history was glazed with tasty frozen confections long before the first Creamery cow produced milk in the 1890s. In some ways, suggesting that the 33-year-old Delaware County campus is at the genesis of the University's ice cream legacy may seem tenuous, but it's really not that far-fetched. For the full story, click here. Industry-driven beginnings In May of 1915, two Penn State graduates, reacting to the needs of the anthracite mining industry, proposed the development of a Penn State Engineering Center in Wilkes-Barre. "King Coal" reigned supreme at that time in the Wyoming Valley and engineers were needed to improve mining methods and worker safety. The response from local citizens and civic organizations was overwhelming, and on Nov. 7, 1916, evening classes for 150 students began in what is now Coughlin High School. The new Penn State Department of Engineering Extension offered courses in advanced mathematics, surveying, reinforced concrete and mechanics. For the full story, click here. Special mission campus In 1914, a small industrial shop at Williamsport High School began offering education and training programs to adults. By 1918, many of the students in those programs were disabled World War I veterans needing new skills to re-enter the work force. From those humble beginnings arose the model for what would become -- 75 years later -- the state's premier technical college, Pennsylvania College of Technology, established in 1989 as an affiliate of Penn State. Penn College is a special-mission affiliate of the University, committed to advanced-technology education. For the full story, click here. From pickles to pilots to Penn
State, oh my! In the late 19th century, the land on which Penn State Harrisburg presently stands was known in Middletown as "the pickle farm." The H.J. Heinz Co. owned it and shipped the cucumbers and other vegetables to its Pittsburgh processing facility. Part of the land became an army camp during the Spanish-American War. In 1917, ground was broken for an Army Air Corps field, which still later became Olmsted Air Force Base. For the full story, click here. Keeping
a community's needs in full view The hills surrounding the busy Lackawanna Valley
cities provide a scenic backdrop for the Penn State For the full story by Deborah Brandt Johnson, click here. Founded
to save the trees In May 1903, the governor of Pennsylvania established the Pennsylvania State Forest Academy in Mont Alto. It was one of three forestry schools in the nation, after Yale and Biltmore, respectively. Joseph T. Rothrock, an arctic explorer, botanist and medical doctor founded the academy to train men for service in the state forests. Rothrock also was professor of botany at Penn State from 1867-69, and later taught at the University of Pennsylvania. Nearly 100 years later, the Forest Academy, now Penn State Mont Alto, still educates America's foresters, as well as students in many other academic programs. For the full story by Holly Cieri, click here. 90
Years And Counting Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the presidential race
with a landslide victory; Native American Jim Thorpe became known
as the world's greatest athlete at the Olympics in Stockholm;
Girl Scouts of For the full story by Kimberly Golden Benner, click here. Fulfilling
a need During the depths of the Great Depression, the Pennsylvania
State College was seeking a way to continue its tradition of bringing
education to the people. Since this was a time when many people
could For the full story by Susan Bartal, click here. Born from community need Penn State DuBois is named for the founder of its hometown, John DuBois, a lumber baron whose logging empire helped carve a thriving city out of the forests of rural Clearfield County in the mid-1800s. A name is not all the town and campus share, however. Since the DuBois Undergraduate Center opened its doors in 1935, the histories of the campus, the town and its founding family have become closely intertwined. For the full story by Michele Moyer, click here. Building
on the Behrend tradition The beautiful wooded campus of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, is a gift to the community from Mary Behrend, widow of Ernst Behrend, who founded the Hammermill Paper Co. in Erie in 1898. The Behrends lived on the grounds of the mill along Lake Erie until 1928, when they moved two miles south to the 400-acre Glenhill Farm, which overlooks the city of Erie. Today, the Glenhill Farm forms the core of Penn State Erie's 725 acres. For the full story by Loretta Brandon, click here. 'Guard
here the spirit' Picture a thin blue line as it serpentines its way through wooded hills, past a scenic duck pond, to culminate in formation at the circle embracing the large stone building that dominates the view. Abington's campus, once known as Ogontz, has belonged to Penn State for more than 50 years now, but for more than three decades another school occupied these grounds, and its history is a part of ours. For the full story by Terrie Smith, click here. Back to Hot Topics index |