Old Missoula

Journalism School at MSU Started Out in These Tents

These tents to the north of Main Hall were the first home of the Montana State University Journalism School when it was founded in 1914 by Dean A. L. Stone. The tents were provided by the U.S. Army and were heated by Army stoves.

When cold weather set in, the journalism students were forced into a small wooden building formerly used as a bicycle shed to the west of where the tents stood. Later the Journalism School was housed for a year or two in a wooden building a little south and east of Old Science Hall, about where the School of Forestry building is now.

Move Into ‘Shack’

After World War I, the journalism students moved into Marcus Cook Hall, a barracks built for use during training of troops for the “fight to save democracy.” This building fondly referred to as the “Shack” by students who used it, was the home of the Journalism School from September 1920 to September 1937. The present brick structure was completed in time for start of classes in the fall of 1937.

The reason the school started in tents was that Gov. Samuel V. Stewart would not release funds for a building because of an initiative measure to consolidate the higher schools of the state. He eventually released he funds which enabled the Journalism School to move into the second of the three wooden structures it occupied in the early years.

The photo accompanying this article shows the tents with the University’s Main Hall in the background.