| Summary: | Comptroller of the University of Washington, Herbert Thomas Condon, writes to President of the University of Washington, Henry Suzzallo, to describe the current condition of the State Museum on campus. After doing a basic inspection of the museum and its accounting, Condon delivers this report to President Suzzallo, covering the topics of the taxidermist on staff, anticipated growth in collections, the tasks faced by museum director, Thomas S. Hall, the work of janitor Kresge, the work of a student assistant, and the amount of useless material housed by the museum. Concerning the taxidermist, he writes that the Board of Regents has already decided that a taxidermist should not be on the museum's staff. He notes that the taxidermist is currently involved in collecting and even does utility work. At present, the taxidermist is mounting a sea lion and will next treat a buffalo skin. As for the museum collections, Condon cites Director Hall's belief that there is a deficiency in"local mammals" while Professor Gunthorp wishes for 50 "local wild birds" and other mammals be "mounted on sticks" for his classes. The department of aeronautics similarly desires 50 fish models so students may study airplane models and aeronautic problems. On the task of administration, Condon writes that Director Hall communicates frequently with US governmental departments, teachers, museums and also takes "popular inquiries." He notes that Hall is writing papers on Native American smoking pipes and relics from local tribes as well as a bulletin for the Pacific Northwest Bird and Mammal Society. Hall is also in the midst of classifying specimens from the excavation of the Ballard locks and from Roche Harbor. Condon notes that this work has put Hall and his assistant far behind on their work of "card indexing and cataloging" for the museum. Condon also mentions a Mr. Kresge who works as the museum's janitor and a student assistant who works half days on the herbarium specimens. Condon believes the museum currently houses much worthless material including old bones, wood samples, fruits, vegetables and content from previous exhibitions. In view of all that he has observed, Condon recommends that: there be no change in the tasks of the director or his assistant, the museum terminates the taxidermist, the museum abolishes the student assistant position after June 15, the museum director and janitor work on getting rid of waste material, and the museum building be replaced with adequate facilities. In 1854, territorial governor, Isaac Ingalls Stevens, suggested that a university for Washington Territory be established. The school did not officially open until November 4, 1861 with 30 students. In 1862, the Washington territorial legislature incorporated the school and appointed a Board of Regents. Throughout the university's early years, the university consisted not only of college curricula but also preparatory school curricula. The school faced constant changes in administration, enrollment and financial support in its first twenty years, often closing due to lack of students or funds. By the 1890s, the school had grown by leaps and bounds and exceeded the size of its original campus. A graduate of the school and later professor, Edmond Meany, served as head of a committee to choose a new site off of Union Bay, further north and east of its current site. In 1895, the school formally moved to this new campus. In 1902, the school numbered about 600 students but by 1913, there were about 3,340 students. From 1915 to 1926, Henry Suzzallo served as the University's president during which time the school underwent massive changes in new building construction. The current Burke Museum was originally founded in the late nineteenth century by members of the Young Naturalists Society on campus. The building contained their collection of natural history specimens. In 1899, the museum was officially designed as the Washington State Museum, gaining in its collections and research. From 1909 to the 1920s, Frank S. Hall served as the museum's curator and later, director. During his administration of the museum, he attempted to make the aims of the museum to represent Washington state, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. From 1909 to the 1920s, the museum's collections were housed in a building leftover from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific (AYP) Exhibition, the California Building. When this building started to lake, the museum's collections were moved to the Forestry Building. This building, however, was infested with beetles and in 1923, the museum's collections moved again, this time into various departments or storage around the university. In 1927, the collections were reassembled in the Washington State building, yet another structure remaining from the AYP Exhibition. In 1962, a new building was constructed for the museum and the museum itself was renamed the Burke Museum following a major bequest from Caroline McGilvra Burke in honor of her spouse, Thomas Burke. (Source: HistoryLink at http://www.historylink.org) Henry Suzzallo (1875 - 1933) was President of the University of Washington from 1915 to 1926. A graduate of Stanford University, he went on to earn his Ph.D. in 1905 at Columbia University. He was the deputy superintendent of schools in San Francisco, an assistant professor of education at Stanford and adjunct professor of educational sociology at Columbia. In 1930, Suzzallo was president of the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching. Under Suzzallo's presidential leadership, the University of Washington experienced impressive growth in terms of scholarship, teaching, student population and new buildings. He was especially invested in the construction of an impressive library building. Suzzallo was dismissed from his position by the Board of Regents when he butted heads with Governor Roland Hartley over the control of the school. Herbert Thomas Condon (?-1952) served the University of Washington in a number of capacities for several decades. He first worked as the university's registrar beginning in 1903. Over the course of nine years, he served as comptroller, dean of men, dean of students, and grounds superintendent. He attended the University of Michigan and earned a law degree. He later served as the secretary to the Board of Regents for about 30 years. He retired in 1951 as Dean Emeritus of Students and Advisor to the Board of Regents.
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