Celebrating Our Sesquicentennial
Photographs from the Penn State University Archives
10th in a series
Making a class gift is a Penn State tradition that dates to 1890, when the members of the class of 1861-the University's very first graduates-presented a portrait of President Evan Pugh at their campus reunion. That portrait still hangs in the lobby of Old Main. The class of 1904 presented a clock for the Old Main tower, seen above in the first Old Main. The bell tower itself was not the original with the building, however. After a fire burned part of the roof in 1892 (perhaps giving rise to a current widespread but mistaken belief that Old Main itself burned down), the upper floor and the tower were remodeled in a "Second Empire" architectural style that featured a straight mansard roof with slate shingles, and finials and balustrades around a tall square tower. A new Old Main replaced the original in 1930 but the clock (with modernized works) remains. Click here for some contemporary views.

Visit the photo archive
for previous photos from our year-long historical series

Penn State University Archives is part of The Eberly Family Special Collections Library,
of the Penn State University Libraries.

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The Penn State Sesquicentennial web pages are maintained by the Office of Advancement Projects
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