Hilton U. Brown stands at the cornerstone during the Ross Hall cornerstone laying ceremony

Description:	Butler University Board of Directors President Hilton U. Brown (Class of 1880, M.A. 1882) stands at the cornerstone during the Ross Hall cornerstone laying ceremony on September 30, 1953. Brown added a copy of the Universitys 1953-1954 Annual Catalogue to a copper box, which was sealed inside the cornerstone, and he also troweled the first mortar on the cornerstone. Standing directly behind him is L. Gray Burdin (Class of 1935, M.S. 1937), Dean of Men and Professor of Speech. From left to right the people sitting on the platform are Skip Booher (Class of 1954), student representative; J. I. Holcomb, Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee and Vice President of the Board of Directors; Dr. E. Robert Andry (Class of 1930, M.A. and B.D. 1934), Head of the Department of Religion; Dr. James H. Peeling, Head of the Department of Sociology and faculty representative; and Frank Reissner (Class of 1934), Butler Alumni Association President. University President M. O. Ross stands on the ground next to the platform. Some of the other items added to the copper box during the ceremony included two photographs of the building under construction, added by Holcomb, and two copies of The Butler Collegian featuring details of the event, added by Booher. When the dorm opened on September 12, 1954, it was known as the Mens Residence Hall and was the first dorm on the Universitys Fairview campus. After Ross announced his plans to retire in 1962, the board passed a resolution to rename the building in his honor. The name of the building was officially changed to Ross Residence Hall in 1963. During Ross tenure as President of the University, the endowment doubled and the number of students attending tripled, while academic and admission standards increased. Ross also oversaw a building boom on campus, which included the construction of Ross Hall, Schwitzer Hall, the Pharmacy Building, Atherton Union, and the Holcomb Observatory, while Irwin Library, Lilly Hall, and Clowes Memorial Hall were all under construction when he retired.
Origin:	1953-09-30
Created By:	Houghtalen, H. H.
Source:	http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BldgsGrnds/id/2652
Collection:	Butler University Buildings and Grounds Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Geography:	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 39.836378, -86.169854 39.836378 -86.169854
Subjects:	Construction projects Construction equipment Scaffolding Cornerstone laying Dormitories College presidents College trustees College teachers College students Butler University--Alumni and alumnae Brown, Hilton U. (Hilton Ultimus), 1859-1958 Ross, Maurice ORear, 1897- Holcomb, J. I. (James Irving), 1876-1962 Microphone Chairs Butler University--Buildings College buildings Butler University--History Indianapolis (Ind.)--History People Booher, Skip (Gary Lee) Andry, E. Robert Burdin, L. Gray Peeling, James H. Reissner, Frank Ross Residence Hall Mens Residence Hall Cornerstones Fairview campus

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