Laying the "Cornerstone"

Wednesday, December 29, 1965 Dear Ida -

We saw Miss Prout at the Post Office today and that reminded me that I had promised to tell you the story of the corner stone of the Home Management House at N.D.S.U.

As I recall the Home Management House was built during the 1922-`23 school year. It was decided that it would be very appropriate to place a corner stone in the building at the proper time. As I remember this ceremony took place in the Fall of 1922.

The ceremony was to consist of appropriate speeches by the faculty after which the stone with its copper box of mementos was to be placed by several Home Economics girls, assisted by some of the Architectural boys.

Well when the time arrived for the corner stone ceremony the Contractor, Mr. Ostby called me to say that in spite of his ordering the stone weeks before, he was sorry to report that it had not arrived. What could we do? The ceremony had been advertised and President Coulter had generously declared a holiday so that students and faculty who wished to attend would be excused from classes. It was decided that we would have to put on a temporary sort of ceremony anyway.

I decided, however, that the best thing would be to go ahead with the "show" and put in a temporary stone. I went to Mr. Anderson in the A.C. Carpenter shop and had him make a wooden box of the same outside dimensions as the real stone. He did a dandy job even to painting the box stone color and sprinkling sand onto the fresh paint to make it look like genuine Indiana Limestone.

We told the Architecture boys and the Home Economics girls of the substitution and asked them to act as though they were placing the genuine stone. I am sure that these students must have had some classes and acting experience with Prof. Arvold in his "Little Country Theater." They put that light wooden corner stone in place as though it was real stone. I doubt that many in the audience knew the difference.

After the ceremonies were over and the crowd had gone, the contractor and I removed the "stone" and rescued the copper box of mementos. I took the box for safe keeping and put it in the vault in the office of Dean Keene, then Dean of Engineering.

Several weeks later the contractor called me to say that the real corner stone had at last arrived and that he would like to put it in place if I would bring the copper memento box to the building. I took the box over and with Mr. Ostby and a stone mason we laid the real corner stone. The stone mason had evidently never laid a corner stone before for he quizzed me at length as to the contents of the copper box which was to be placed in the stone. After I told that the box contained mementos of that time - including a copy of the Fargo Forum, - which might be of interest to the people hundreds or thousands of years hence when the box might be discovered by some archaeologist digging in the ruins of this lost civilization. Evidently I spread it on pretty good for as we three were putting the stone into place, I noticed that the mason kept delaying things and kept feeling in his pocket. Finally he took from his pocket his tin of Copenhagen snuff which he carefully placed in the cavity of the cornerstone along side the copper memento box. As he threw in a big trowel full of mortar to properly bed the stone he remarked in his strong Scandinavian accent- "There now is something of mine to be dug up in the future."

I have often wondered what those future archaeologists will think and how they will try to explain that can of snuff which they will dig up from the ruins of a building that was dedicated to the education of young ladies. Would they think that Dean Bales, then Dean of Home Economics, and those who worked with her, were teaching these young ladies how to use this Danish snuff.

Well anyway I have thought of this many times since I left North Dakota and I wonder if any one there now has heard this story.

Will be looking forward to seeing some pictures of the campus as it is today.

Sincerely, Stanley A Smith

univarchives@www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu University Archives, 701-231-8914 Published by the University Archives, NDSU Last Updated: 5/19/04