THEN & NOW
Rooted in Our History
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BY L AU RA SO RV E TT I | University Archives
In the spring of 1913, to celebrate the end of the 10th year of instruction at the California Polytechnic School, the students and staff orchestrated a three-day decennial celebration to coincide with the commencement of the Class of 1913. The anniversary celebrations included exhibits of the school equipment and schoolwork, the Annual Farmers Picnic, alumni meetings, and a historical pageant, where students acted out the history of California. At the conclusion of the pageant, students led a series of floats demonstrating the work done in the school’s three departments: Household Arts, Mechanics, and Agriculture. The culmination of the events was the evening graduation exercises, celebrating the 26 graduating seniors who completed the three-year curriculum offered by the school. The students (outfitted in their white creamery uniforms) pictured on the agricultural float were enrolled in the school’s agricultural program, which was first outlined
in Cal Poly’s 1901 Establishing Act. The act stated “the purpose of the school is to furnish to young people of both sexes mental and manual training in the arts and sciences, including agriculture, mechanics, engineering, business methods, domestic economy, and such other branches as will fit the student for non-professional walks of life.”
Photo Courtesy of University Archives
Courses listed in the 1913 catalog for students in agriculture included plant propagation, farm mechanics and carpentry, animal husbandry, agronomy, agricultural physics, and dairy courses. On-campus facilities included a creamery “in daily operation,” dairy barn and silo, greenhouses, incubator cellar, swine houses, and poultry houses that covered the 311 acres of farm and grounds. Special Collections and Archives collects, preserves, and provides access to materials of enduring historic value, including the University Archives.
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