BRIAN POTH OF AUBURN CRANE AND RIGGING inspects the rebuilt mast and weather vane atop the newly refurbished Sheldon Hall cupola Nov. 12. Bob Lloyd ’81, the facilities design and construction liaison to contractors on the $10 million renovation, said the mast assembly includes some original, century-old parts. The working weather vane joins the cupola’s restored clocks.

The iconic Sheldon statue has been part of the Oswego experience for roughly a century and serves as a tie binding several decades of former students who recognize it as a common symbol.

Middle school French teacher and amateur photographer Samantha Decker ’09 became particularly enamored with the statue her senior year at Oswego. Her reflections below complement these images she captured on campus.

My interest in photography developed during my senior year at Oswego, I began trying to capture every memorable part of the campus and the city on “digital film” to look back at for years to come.

The statue of Edward Austin Sheldon was a favorite subject of mine, in part because it was easy to vary. I could get in close and blur the background, I could come from different angles, or I could zoom way out and get Sheldon Hall in the background. I also took to the Sheldon statue because it represented my pride as an Oswego student.

Every time I would return to campus after a school break, Professor Sheldon would welcome me home as I followed the windy road to the Hart Hall parking lot. As an education major (and now a teacher), I had several classes in Sheldon Hall. I was proud to attend an institution which started out as a teacher’s college and had such a fine education program.

I am so grateful that I left Oswego with all these visual memories.

Samantha Decker ’09 lives in Saratoga Springs, where she teaches French at a middle school, takes
photographs and develops websites.

The SUNY Construction Fund will spend $10 million to restore the exterior of SUNY Oswego’s flagship Sheldon Hall, with a keen eye to historical detail in this, the college’s Sesquicentennial year.

Sheldon Hall project coordinator Bob Lloyd ’81 of Facilities, Design and Construction at SUNY Oswego carries architectural plans for the $10 million historic preservation of the college’s “Old Main,” whose cornerstone was laid 100 years ago. Visible over Lloyd’s shoulder is the cupola and two of its four spaces for clocks, which will make a return during the extensive preservation project, expected to be completed in late 2012 or early 2013.

Clocks will return to each of the cupola’s four faces and its original copper roof will shine once more. Plans call for many other steps to restore the century-old sheen to the campus’s first building, just as the college celebrates its founding in 1861 as the Oswego Primary Teachers’ Training School.

The college, once located on the city’s west side, acquired its present campus in the early 20th century. The cornerstone was laid 100 years ago, and the building was dedicated in 1914 — the year
World War I began. For more about Sheldon Hall’s intriguing history, visit oswego.edu/150.

Bob Lloyd ’81, project coordinator for Facilities, Design and Construction at SUNY Oswego, said the college has worked with WASA Studio A, a New York City architectural firm that specializes in historic preservation, in planning the restoration.

“This is a special and enjoyable project to be involved with,” Lloyd said. “The goal for this wonderful building is faithful
historic preservation.”

The project is well under way. “We’re hoping to be substantially complete by fall 2012, though the project could move into 2013,” Lloyd said.

The work will include the following, from the top down:

• Cupola restoration, including clocks.
• Replacement of the roof with new copper over its concrete base.
• Replacement of the several courses of bricks just under the rooftop, and repair and replacement of decorative terra cotta moldings and panels above and below the bricks.
• Cleaning, with replacement as necessary, of the entire brick facade, including repairing and repointing the masonry.
• All new, historically faithful windows.
• All six columns that give Neo-Classical character to Sheldon Hall’s Washington Boulevard face will be replaced.
• Granite steps for the main entrance’s stairway, to replace the concrete laid over deteriorated original steps.

The building houses Admissions, International Education and Programs, Development and other offices, classrooms and a ballroom, in addition to students in east-wing residences.

Classes began meeting in the building in fall 1913. There have been numerous interior renovations and additions since. Sheldon Hall received its latest interior renovation in 2005, a $4.6 million restoration and reopening of the west wing.

Whether it’s actually crafted from the melted pennies donated by New York’s schoolchildren — as college lore has it — or paid for by their collected coins, the statue dates back to 1899. It depicts Sheldon instructing a small child, using the Oswego Method of object teaching. The founder holds a sphere, which was one of the objects that made up the tool kit of instructors in the Pestalozzian Method, which Sheldon popularized among American educators.

The statue was created by sculptor John Francis Brines and stood in the State Capitol in Albany until 1922, when it came to campus. It has moved over the years, from the front hall of Old Main to its lawn, from storage in the 1980s to “Sheldon Park” between Hewitt Union and Culkin Hall after refurbishment
as the 1985 Senior Class Gift, but wherever it stands, the founder’s statue remains a symbol of the institution. Generations of co-eds have claimed a seat on Sheldon’s lap and Oswego’s 75,000 alumni have waited patiently for the “apple” to drop.

“I remember they had a few of us who were president of our groups shake hands and talk with her,” she says. Also greeting Roosevelt were the late Betty Burden ’45 and the late M. Carol McLaughlin ’45.

Over the years, Oswegonians have received their diplomas in Romney Field House, Laker Hall, the Richardson Theatre downtown, and the new Campus Center convocation center.

The 1941 class graduated on the steps of Sheldon Hall because the auditorium had been destroyed by fire. The Centennial Class of 1961 graduated in an outdoor ceremony. And no matter how big the graduating classes get — this year’s May Sesquicentennial class numbered 1,400 — one unique feature of Oswego Commencements endures: Each student’s name is read aloud as graduates cross the stage to receive congratulations from their dean and the college president.

Class of 1945 when they entered in 1941.

When they entered in the fall of 1941, the Class of 1945 numbered 100 strong — the largest freshman class in the history of the Normal School. They spent a carefree autumn settling into local rooming houses, working hard in class, enjoying dances and flirting with members of the opposite sex.

Then came Dec. 7, 1941, and their world turned upside down.

“Everything changed when we came out of the movie theatre Dec. 7,” said
Denham Griffin ’47. The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.

Class of 1945 as seniors.

“First thing we asked was, ‘Where is Pearl Harbor?’” Denham said with a chuckle. “We didn’t have Mrs. [Isabel Kingsbury 1907] Hart’s geography course yet.”

They would learn where Pearl Harbor was all too quickly, and over the course of the next four years many more names as well: Omaha Beach, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima.

By the time 1945 rolled around most of the men were still in uniform. The graduating class was less than half of its original number, and mostly female. Only 41 would march across the stage in Sheldon Hall, rebuilt from a devastating fire in January 1941. The men would return as veterans, however, and go on to graduate in 1947, 1948 and 1949. Even today, reunions include members of classes from 1940 to 1949, many married to each other.

Calm Before the Storm

All that turmoil was just a blip on the horizon as the Class of 1945 got off the train or bus to begin their undergraduate adventure.

1945 Ontarion

“The railroad came into Oswego at that point and it was a nice day,” said
Denham Griffin. “The nice taxi cab driver said he had a good room for us, so my buddy and I said, ‘We’ll look at it.’”

At that time most students lived in private homes, three or four to a
room. Thanks to that cabbie’s advice, Denham and his friend the late Tom Richardson ’46 (who would become president of New Jersey’s Montclair State University) landed the jackpot — single rooms for $3 a week. “We were very pleased,” he added. Even after $3 a week for a supper meal at Herbie’s Diner, that left them plenty of money for books . . . and courting the girls.

Sylvia Norton Griffin ’47 lived during freshman year in Dubuque’s house, along with seven other girls, and worked to pay for her room and board. Later she would live in the Chetney house. “They had 20 girls, but only one bathroom. The tub was in a separate room,” she recalled.

Liz Grieve Leal ’45 lived in Shady Shore with President Ralph and Mrs. Alice Swetman. She did odd chores around the house for her room and board. “I was a ‘handy helper’ . . . I got Dr. Swetman’s breakfast and made Mrs. Swetman’s coffee and took it up to her. She liked to stay in bed and practice bridge hands.”

Moran

After finding a place to live, the frosh had to go through orientation. “One of the upperclassmen would write you a letter before school opened and he was your big brother and he explained what to expect,” said Ernie Leal ’47.

At that time freshmen orientation was a little different than today’s version.

“They used to hit you with paddles,” said Ernie, referring to the playful tradition. “And you had to wear an Oswego beanie and you had to sing all four stanzas of ‘O Blue are Ontario’s Waters.’”

In Uniform

Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Oswego students began enlisting in the armed forces. Throughout the war, they would leave, some never to return.

Bell

“A number from our class were killed, and there was no one to help us with that,” remembered Norma Sutherland Church ’45. “Three men I dated were part of that.”

Others spent years in the service,
returning to Oswego when discharged. Bill Gallik ’47 was in the original class of “60-Day Wonders.” He received his commission at Notre Dame University. “They decided we weren’t so wonderful — they gave us two more months.” He would serve on Chichi Jima and Guam. “I was on board a ship for 10 months before I
became commanding officer.”

Ernie Leal had to wait a bit. “A lot of fellows enlisted right after Pearl Harbor, but I was 18 and you had to be 21, and my parents wouldn’t let me.” He would enter the reserves for a six-month stint in the fall of 1942 and be shipped
right out.

Rose

Davis Parker ’47 signed up in 1943 and was trained as a weatherman. He spent two years in New Guinea before finishing his schooling. After he returned he would move to the Rochester area, where he met and married his wife of nearly 61 years, Jane.

President Ralph W. Swetman and other professors wrote frequent letters to student-servicemen abroad. Dave Parker remembers the librarian Mary Hennessey writing to him. One letter from Swetman, dated Aug. 15, 1945, filled the guys in on the annual summer session at Shady Shore: “We had a wonderful evening at the traditional weiner roast last night. The swimming was perfect, the hot dogs were still hot dogs (with the inevitable indigestion), but the community singing which followed was really good — with the best in barber shop harmonies.”

Wohl

Swetman concluded, “Even as this letter is being written, the thrilling news
of the Russian entry into the war, the atomic bomb and the Japanese peace
feelers, is coming over the radio. It will not be long now. When you fellows all get back, this college will hum as never before.”

Those boys who were lucky enough to survive the war did come back. Many would live in Splinter Village, where “the wind really whistled through the buildings, but we hunkered down and persevered as we had learned to do in WWII,” writes former professor William S. Reynolds ’49,
a student-veteran who worked as a carpenter to help maintain the complex. Many of the vets would wed their college sweethearts and are still married more than six decades later.

History-making Class

The Class of 1945 was entering Normal School at the tail end of the Great Depression. Parker remembers that times were tough economically. “Everybody was in the same boat,” he said. “Nobody had much money, but we made out OK.”

“We were content to go to the Oswego Theatre,”said Denham Griffin. “Thirty-three cents in the balcony and 44 cents in the orchestra.

Class of 1945 officers were from left: the late Dorothy LeBlanc Warner ’45, president; the late Elizabeth Carroll Vernon ’45, former secretary; Dorothy Emmanuel Paul ’45, secretary; the late Rosalie Carroccio Brezina ’45, vice president; and Margaret Kambas ’45, treasurer.

“We always sat in the balcony — 10 cents was a lot, at a nickel for a cup of coffee,” he said. “You had one suitcase; one or two people had a radio — that
was rich.”

“Every dorm had one phone — because the boys called for dates,” added Sylvia. “There were only three or four cars on campus, and they mostly belonged to handicapped guys. The girls didn’t drive generally.”

The Class of 1945 would make Oswego State history as well, as the college changed from a normal school to a state teacher’s college in their freshman year. They had a special way to express their joy.

“When we started there was a big sign in front of the two buildings — it read State Normal School,” said Denham. “In the spring, when the State Legislature gave a degree to the elementary education girls, we ripped down the sign, carried it through town and threw it in the river.” Parker added, “Wish we had it back!”

Norma Church remembered the sign-tossing incident as well. “We made
a circle and sang the alma mater,” she
said. “A policeman tried to get us to
disperse because we didn’t have a permit for a parade.”

The campus was honored by a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The late Betty Burden ’45 and the late M. Carol McLaughlin ’45 were among those to formally greet the First Lady on the
steps of Old Main (now Sheldon Hall). “I remember they had a few of us who were president of our groups shake hands and talk with her,” remembered Betty Reid Gallik ’45, who was president of the Women’s Athletic Association.

“I kept looking at her; she had this great big diamond pinky ring,” remembered Liz Leal. “She wasn’t a very good-looking lady but that big diamond just caught your eye. At that stage [of life] you were interested in that kind of thing.”

Mrs. Roosevelt was instrumental in bringing the Jewish refugees to Fort Ontario, the only place that housed World War II refugees on American soil.

MORE: Friday Night Fun

“We had some of the refugees in our classes,” remembered Norma. She and her roommate had two over for supper and the guests reciprocated by inviting the girls to a special concert at the fort.

While there were only two buildings on campus — Old Main and the IA Building (now Sheldon and Park halls) — the wartime classes were taught by faculty whose names grace most of the buildings on our present-day campus. Residence halls are named for Jimmy Moreland and Isabel Hart, and students today attend classes in buildings bearing the names of Marian Mahar and Gordon Wilber. Max Ziel’s name adorns the gym.

The wartime classes: They had seen history, made history and will always be a big part of the history of SUNY Oswego.