Image of a group of male students lying in the snow, waving at the camera; The Physics Building on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan can be seen in the background.

Close-up view of the sundial located on the south side of the Observatory.

Bio/Historical Note: The Observatory was designed by Gentil J.K. Verbeke and constructed in two phases using local limestone from 1928-1930 for about $23,000. The R. J. Arrand Contracting Co. was contracted to build the Observatory Tower in 1928 for a cost of $6625. The firm completed the tower $353 under budget on 14 April 1929, for $6,272. On 20 June 1929 R. J. Arrand was again awarded a contract by the University, this time to build the small classroom wing of the Observatory for $15,640. Work on the classroom wing was completed on 23 January 1930 for $15,034.50. University funding for the construction of the building was supplemented by private donations. Along with the Field Husbandry Building, the Observatory would be among the last free-standing buildings constructed on campus until after World War II. A plaque with the names of many donors still hangs inside the dome of the observatory. Saskatoon residents will find many of the names highly recognizable even today. A sundial was added to the exterior of the Observatory during the 1940s. It reads:
I am a Shadow
So art thou
The observatory facilities are available for use by both university students and visitors to the campus. The telescopes and other scientific equipment are used by students during the laboratory component of their courses. University personnel regularly offer tours of the observatory to elementary and high school classes, youth groups and other community associations. The Observatory is staffed year-round on Saturday nights so that any visitor may view celestial objects through the telescope.

Aerial view showing construction of the Physics addition, with a partial view of the Bowl and Administration Building.

The ice on the South Saskatchewan River during spring breakup. On the west bank, looking east toward the University of Saskatchewan, Ellis Hall, and the University Hospital. Saskatoon, SK.

Ice jamming against a [Saskatchewan Landing] Bridge pier in the South Saskatchewan River during spring breakup. Saskatoon, SK. (A magazine article accompanies the photograph)

Geometric designs on a tall stand, situated outside at the Education Building.

Looking east at Arts Building; Thorvaldson Building in background.

Four men working in the lab in [PFRA Peterson Building].

Bio/Historical Note: In 1958 the federal government leased a three-acre site in what was then the north end of campus from the University for $1 a year. On that site was built the PFRA-Peterson Building, home of the northern Saskatchewan PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act) regional group. Staff worked on planning for the Gardiner Dam, soil conservation, and provided a variety of technical services to its prairie clientele. Sold to the University of Saskatchewan in 1998 for $1, the building's name refers to Bob Peterson, PFRA's first soil mechanics and materials engineer who was involved in the design and construction of many of the PFRA dams in Western Canada.

A straw shed, mainly used for the brood in the winter on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan

Jean G. Bayer, Department of English, 1915-1945, crouching by two ducks at an unknown location.

Bio/Historical Note: Jean Gordon Bayer joined the staff of the university in 1909 as President Walter Murray's secretary. Bayer previously had been his secretary at Dalhousie University. She arrived in Saskatoon in time to witness the registration of the first students. She was the President’s secretary, university librarian, and unofficial adviser to students. Bayer helped choose the university colours and motto, and was one of the founders of the Pente Kai Deka Society. In 1915, due to staff shortages caused by the Great War, Bayer was appointed Instructor in English. She proved so effective she was encouraged to continue, and took a year of study at Bedford College, London, prior to being formally appointed to the faculty. Like Murray, “she possessed a wide vision of the function of a university and, like him, she…dedicated herself to Saskatchewan.” “A most kindly guide” to her students, “many caught their first glimpse of what a literary ‘salon’ of the great days might have been in the genial atmosphere of tea and literature in her book-lined suite. She was a most loyal and cooperative colleague….She made it seem an easy thing to be happy and brave.” When Bayer returned from London in 1921 she was named Assistant Professor of English, a rank rarely held by women in that period. Bayer retained the post until her death in 1945. A scholarship in her name is available to a student who has completed at least two years of university studies

Group photo taken in in the bowl, in front of Saskatchewan Hall on the University campus.

View of students standing outside of the Native Law Centre at 420 Cumberland Avenue South.

Bio/Historical Note: The Native Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan was founded in 1975 by Dr. Roger C. Carter whose commitment to social justice issues convinced the University of the need for a Centre to facilitate access to legal education for Indigenous peoples. This was to promote the development of the law and the legal system in Canada in ways that better accommodate the advancement of Indigenous peoples and communities, and to disseminate information concerning Indigenous peoples and the law. Structured initially as an independent special project within the University of Saskatchewan, the Centre became a department of the College of Law in 1984. From the beginning, the Centre has nurtured innovation in its program areas of teaching, research, and publication. The Indigenous Law Centre continues to build upon that history and remains attentive to the contributions made as well as the challenges confronted by Indigenous peoples in Canada and internationally. Directors of the Centre have included: Roger C. Carter (1975-1981); D.J. Purich (1981-1994); J.Y. Henderson (1994- ) and Larry Chartrand (2017-). In May 2018, the Cree words “Wiyasiwewin Mikiwahp” were added to the Native Law Centre's name, so it will now be called Wiyasiwewin Mikiwahp Native Law Centre.

Exterior view of St. Andrew's College on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.

First border lighting, and glimpse of the auditorium from the stage of the Greystone Theatre

Looking northwest across the Bowl at the Geology Building under construction.

Bio/Historical Note: The construction of the Geology Building marked a return to the early style of campus architecture. The Department of Geology had been formed in 1927 and for the next six decades was based in the east wing of the Engineering Building. A growing faculty and student population had forced the department to cobble together makeshift accommodation in trailers and remote campus buildings. Designed by the architectural firm Black, McMillan and Larson of Regina, the building was given a neo-Collegiate Gothic exterior to blend harmoniously with the other buildings in the central campus. The two-and-a-half-storey building was erected just south or the Bowl side of the W.P. Thompson Biology Building, providing 8,543 square metres for office, laboratory, library, classroom, and storage space for rock and fossil samples. The exterior was clad with greystone and dressed with tyndal limestone. The dominant feature of the interior was a two-story atrium that featured the mosaics for the former exterior walls of the Thompson Building, a life-size skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex and geological and biological displays. The $18.5 million Geology Building was completed in 1988 and fused the space between Physics and Biology and linked, through a walkway, with Chemistry, creating an integrated science complex on campus.