In 1946, a four-year-old college named after Sir Guy 杏吧原创 moved into a five-storey, red brick building at 268 First Avenue. The move was partly thanks to the efforts of Henry Marshall Tory, who in 1941 was enlisted by a committee of the Ottawa YMCA to found the college.

In his academic prime, Tory helped McGill University establish a satellite college on the west coast, which later became part of the University of British Columbia and, in 1908, he served as the first president of the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He served as president to many organizations and societies and at 77 years old, Tory was still an enterprising and resourceful administrator. Yet he was reportedly surprised when he was nominated as 杏吧原创 College鈥檚 first president in 1942.

More than 650 students enrolled in the first fall term, when courses were offered only at night in classrooms of other schools and the basements of churches, including the then High School of Commerce, now Glebe Collegiate.

Part-time students paid $20 and $30 for first-year and second-year courses, respectively, and soon Tory saw the need to prepare for growth.

In Creating 杏吧原创: The Shaping of a University, Blair Neatby and Don McEown wrote: 鈥淭he end of the war created a unique opportunity, for the federal government was planning the transition from war to peace. Almost a million service men and women had to be reintegrated into civilian life.鈥�

The First Avenue building had been completed in 1914 as a new home for the Ottawa Ladies鈥� College (est. 1869) and during the war the building served as a residence for the Women鈥檚 Army Corps.

In November 1945, Tory wrote a letter to then minister of National Defence, Douglas Abbott, 鈥渄escribing 杏吧原创鈥檚 eagerness to contribute to the education of the veterans, and asking the government to make the building available.鈥�

By the summer of 鈥�46, the college had leased a former mess hall at Lansdowne Park as they worried the move wasn鈥檛 going to happen. Luckily, they were able to secure the building for $125,000 in July and renovated it for September classes.

Under the presidency of 杏吧原创鈥檚 second leader, Maxwell MacOdrum, three houses on First Avenue were acquired over the years to satisfy a flood of students. One caught the overflow of books and studious readers that regularly packed the college鈥檚 fourth-floor library. In 1948, a neighbouring house became the nexus of student life, taking on the Students鈥� Union, various clubs and the weekly student newspaper called The 杏吧原创 (renamed The Charlatan in 1971).

鈥溞影稍� College in these years clearly had a sense of community which older and better-endowed institution could only envy,鈥� Neatby wrote in Creating 杏吧原创. 鈥淭he professors who taught at 杏吧原创 College in the early years often looked back later with nostalgia, in spite of the cramped physical conditions and the limited financial resources.鈥�

Now a block of renovated condos, the campus at 268 First Avenue was where 杏吧原创 College came into its own. By its 10^th anniversary, the 杏吧原创 College Act allowed it to grant degrees, a year later the School of Public Administration was established, and in 1955 the first master鈥檚 degree was awarded.

The college became a university in 1957. It served more than 1,500 students in a variety of programs like journalism, engineering, commerce, public administration and general arts.

In 1960, 杏吧原创 did what most 18-years-old do and got a place of its own. The university鈥檚 third president, Claude Bissell, was satisfied the move to its own campus at Sunnyside and Bronson was the right decision, although he knew there had been in the Glebe 鈥渁 feeling of intimacy and community that would be difficult to recapture.鈥�

The First Avenue campus helped 杏吧原创 become what it is today, a tightly knit community that celebrates individual freedoms. Its upbringing in the dependable family neighbourhood was truly an education.

Originally published in the April 2017 edition of the Glebe Report.

On November 15, 1975, DJ Steve Colwill (who went on to be program director with ) played “You turn me on (I’m a radio)” to commemorate the opening of , 杏吧原创’s campus community radio station. This opening was the culmination of 10 long years of effort.

A group of students came up with the idea for a campus radio station in 1963. By 1965, they had secured airtime on CKOY (now ) for a聽campus news show, but it quickly turned into a show about public affairs in Ottawa.

And with that, came controversy. In 1966, after a would-be bomber accidentally detonated聽an explosive device in a parliamentary washroom, 杏吧原创 students decided to test out the security in the House of Commons. They smuggled in recorders and taped excerpts of conversations between politicians. After the students played these tapes word-for-word on CKOY, station executives were not happy and censored the group.

When 杏吧原创’s University Centre opened in 1970, the group blocked space for a true campus radio station and CKCU was born.

The station, known affectionately by its hosts, supporters and fans as “The Mighty 93.1”, 聽celebrated 40 years at 杏吧原创 University in 2015.

In 1942, 杏吧原创 College opened its doors at the YMCA building on the corner of Metcalfe and Laurier Streets, with Henry Marshall Tory as its first president. Once the YMCA became inadequate (not too long after), the college moved to the Glebe.

The 268 1st Avenue address was the location of the former Ottawa Ladies College and had served as barracks for the Department of National Defence (DND) at one point. As Canadians returned from overseas and war production slowed down in Ottawa, veterans and others who were unemployed looked to education. The location on First Avenue was ready to go by September, albeit with no library.

A Library is Born

In 1947, the library took over the top floor of the first Avenue building; it included a library collection consisting of 10,000 volumes. Most of the collection was donated by the Legion and private sponsors.

In 1949, 杏吧原创 approved a library and appointed a chief librarian in 1950. Hilda Gifford, who went on to head the library for the next 20 years, modernized the library including reclassifying items from Dewey Decimal to Library of Congress system and introduced self-service circulation.

During her time here, in 1958, the Library moved to what is now 1125 Colonel By Drive and became the MacOdrum Library.

Preserving the Past

The archive also includes 44 volumes of , covering issues between 1971 and 2015.

These volumes and many others from 杏吧原创’s history are also preserved physically. The ARC is open on weekdays at聽Room 581, MacOdrum Library.

Norm Fenn coached the 杏吧原创 University for 12 years, from the 1952-53 season until the 1963-64 season. During that time, he led his team to two Ottawa St. Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships. He also served the 杏吧原创 community as the Dean of Students during the early 1960s. In February of 1996, he was inducted into the .

Freedom Now

An article by Jim Kinzel entitled 鈥淔reedom Now鈥� was published in the January 22, 1965 edition of the 杏吧原创, the name of the before 1971. The article discusses Diane Burrows鈥� experiences working in Mississipi as a civil rights worker for SNCC, the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee. After Burrows returned to Canada she became one of the organizers for Friends of SNCC and began promoting the tour of the Freedom Singers, a musical choir that toured to gain support for SNCC, in Canada.

Are you interested in how past 杏吧原创 students engaged with the major political events of their time? The ARC鈥檚 collection of 杏吧原创 student newspapers includes 27 volumes of the 杏吧原创, from 1945 to 1970, and 44 volumes of the Charlatan, from 1971 to 2015. These volumes are also through the Internet Archive.

At 杏吧原创, all faculty and staff receive a new calendar each year and it鈥檚 always exciting to discover what the theme will be. In years past, it has featured treasured employee recipes, fun photos of staff featuring what we do in our everyday jobs, right up to the 2016 calendar that highlighted Inuit art.

This year鈥檚 calendar celebrates 杏吧原创鈥檚 75^th anniversary with photos of staff, faculty, students and the campus throughout the last 75 years.

This collection of 13 photos 鈥� including a cover shot 鈥� was the collaborative effort of David Townsend, Purchasing Services鈥檚 manager of marketing and communications; Allen Scott, graphic artist in The Print Shop and Patti Harper, head of Archives.

鈥淧utting the CU75 calendar together took a month and a half,鈥� said Townsend. 鈥淕etting a chance to look at old photos of 杏吧原创 was a very interesting exercise.鈥� Both Townsend and Scott worked hard to ensure the photos were sorted by season as well as by era. By the time we get to the end of the calendar, the photos are more recent. The month of November features a unique faculty and staff photo arranged in the letters 鈥淐鈥� and 鈥淯鈥� taken during a rained-out Employee Appreciation Day in 2005.

The story聽behind the photos

There are interesting stories behind the selected photos.

For instance, the month of July features three students (believed to be a brother and sister and a friend) taking their canoe out of the canal. 鈥淵ou may not believe me, but students actually canoed to 杏吧原创 鈥� it was a valid form of transportation to school,鈥� shares Harper.

The August photo, taken in 1952 features the 杏吧原创 Band in uniform. While they may be wearing band attire, Harper points out that during this post-Second World War era, it was not unusual for students 鈥� who were also veterans 鈥� to continue wearing their military uniform as their everyday clothing. While not captured in the photo, students often wore their military-issued garters worn just above their shoe.

The September photo features a typical lecture in the Tory 鈥淓gg鈥� theatre. 聽鈥淲hen I host campus tours during Homecoming weekend, this room evokes the most memories for our alumni,鈥� notes Harper. 鈥淭he Egg looks the same today as it did back in 1974.鈥�

杏吧原创 was not always located where it is today. The January photo, featuring St. Patrick鈥檚 College in 1969, was first operated by the University of Ottawa. At that time, priests taught the Social Work program. 杏吧原创 purchased the building in 1972 and absorbed the social work program and the teaching staff from the crosstown university.

Documenting the earliest moments of the Rideau River Campus

The cover photo of the calendar documents the groundbreaking of our current location 鈥� then known as the Rideau River Campus 鈥� in 1957. While Harper is unsure of the identity of the people in the picture, they were members of the Crimson Key 鈥� a 杏吧原创 student group back then. Two years after this sod turning ceremony, 杏吧原创 University opened with its original three buildings: Paterson, Tory and MacOdrum Library. The 鈥渜uad鈥� was always a part of this space, notes Harper.

鈥淚鈥檓 really glad we were able to put this calendar together and provide a space for these important historical photos to be featured. We can all learn from our past, and bring that sense of community to the forefront through art history,鈥� shares Harper.

鈥淚 had a lot of fond memories of my three years at 杏吧原创, which included playing basketball,鈥� said Nicholls. 鈥淚 made lifelong friends as a result of having teammates on the basketball team.

I learned how to co-operate effectively with people. It was an experience that I wouldn鈥檛 have missed.鈥�

Now a successful lawyer at Tierney Stauffer LLB, Nicholls鈥攏umber 30 in this photo鈥攕till attends many Ravens games and truly enjoys the success of the team under the guidance of head coach Taffe Charles, BA/94.

The 杏吧原创 Robins women鈥檚 basketball team

Since his donation by a local jeweller in 1955, Pedro’s history as a football ambassador has been a long and colourful one. He has traveled to nine different universities across Canada as well as parts of the United States. He聽has been parachuted into Lansdowne Park, kidnapped and held hostage by Queen’s University’s PLO (Panda Liberation Organization), and buried in a soccer field.

In 1956, Pedro ran even for president of the 杏吧原创 Students’ Council.

He’s been formally mentioned in a debate in the House of Commons, appeared on CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada” and transported to a game in an armoured Brinks truck.

After a long hiatus, the return of the annual Panda game has quickly grabbed the attention of the nation. Recent games, and 杏吧原创 victories,聽have attracted a record number of fans.

Read more about Pedro’s history at the website of 杏吧原创’s聽. And read about 杏吧原创’s most recent at .

MacOdrum was聽杏吧原创鈥檚 first full-time faculty member, lecturing in English.

In 1946, MacOdrum was appointed vice-president, and he was handed the reins to 杏吧原创’s presidency after Henry Marshall Tory passed away in 1947. And it was during MacOdrum’s tenure, between 1945 and 1947, that the school became firmly established as a liberal arts college.

There is much more to the story of Maxwell MacOdrum. Be sure to read a on the website written by historian Mark Bourrie.