Peegs.com & Inside Indiana - The Birthplace of Hoosier Hysteria

October 25, 2009

Ken Bikoff
Peegs.com & Inside Indiana Editor

Click here to see the full feature layout, complete with photos, that originally ran in Inside Indiana!

The Hoosier sports tradition is one of the proudest in the collegiate ranks, and what happens on the field has created memories, joy and sadness for the Indiana faithful over more than a century of action. What happens on the field of play has been great, but the surroundings in which those games are played are as much a part of the experience. Every other week through the 2009-10 school year, we will present the history of the athletic facilities at IU. In the first of our 12-part series, we take a look at the original gymnasium that kick-started the Hoosier athletics tradition.

For years the words "Assembly Hall" were associated with "winning" and "championships" and "basketball." Players celebrated on the floor. Titles were awarded. Trophies were handed out.

Oh, and there were the major theatrical productions. And the time spent as a hospital.

Wait, you didn't think we were talking about THAT Assembly Hall, did you?

See, the current Assembly Hall, which opened in 1971, isn't the first incarnation of the building on campus. In fact, IU has a habit of recycling names when it comes to athletic facilities (but we'll get to the Memorial Stadiums in a few months), and the original Assembly Hall is easily as important as the current building when it comes to telling the story of Hoosier basketball. It was the birthplace of Indiana's passion for the game, and it was a landmark on campus for nearly 40 years.

So what's the story behind the original Assembly Hall? For that, we'll have to go back to the late 19th century.

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In 1891, Indiana University made its first major commitment to physical education on the campus. Baseball and football had been around for a while, but there wasn't anywhere students could meet to exercise and keep their bodies in tip-top shape. After three years of thought, research and discussion, the University finally decided to spend some money to construct and equip a proper gymnasium behind Owen Hall, site of the current road that separates Owen Hall from the Memorial Union.

The new gym was a huge hit with students, and it quickly became apparent that the gymnasium wasn't really big enough to accommodate the growing student population. That population, by the way, was growing faster than wet gremlins. Student enrollment had doubled between 1888 and 1892, and it showed few signs of slowing down. Finding buildings that were big enough to hold all the students for major events was becoming a problem, and IU knew something had to be done.

In its biennial report filed in December of 1892, Indiana University reported that there simply needed to be more room for all the students. The report complained that Library Hall - which would later be re-named Maxwell Hall and had been built in 1891 - was already being forced into use as classroom space. Furthermore, the report stated that there was no assembly room where the students could meet in a body, and it was hoped that expansion of some of the facilities on campus could rectify that situation.

Despite the need, it would still take time for Indiana to take action to solve the problem. In fact, it took nearly four years for the administration to make a decision about what to do about the lack of space. In the meantime, Joseph Swain was named IU's ninth president in 1893, Kirkwood Hall was built in 1894 and the Arbutus was established.

Finally, in the summer of 1896, the administration turned to the dual problem of a lack of room for the student body to assemble and a lack of quality gymnasium space. It was clear that the original gymnasium built just four years earlier was woefully undersized for the growing student body, but that space could easily be converted for any other use, maybe even as a carpenter's shop. A new Men's Gymnasium would be built with the building also serving as a meeting point for the student body.

On Monday, Aug. 10, 1896, a contract was awarded to architect Philip Jeckel of Anderson, and Anderson contractor William E. Thompson was tapped to do the actual construction work. The general contract was for $10,310, and other items, including architect's fees, plumbing, wiring and heating, amounted to another $1,700, bringing the total cost of the construction to $12,010. It was a major outlay of money, especially when you consider that the original Men's Gymnasium had been built four years earlier for a total of $1,000 (That $12,000 in 1896, by the way, translates to roughly $317,400 in 2009 dollars).

One day later, sharing the same page as reports that Sheriff Adams had thrashed his wheat the previous Friday and yielded 18 bushels from 12 acres and that the same Sheriff Adams was housing just three prisoners in the county jail, the Bloomington Telephone broke the news of the new construction to the public.

"After thoroughly considering the matter the Indiana University board of trustees have decided to erect a gymnasium hall," the paper reported. "The immediate demand for the new building is that it may be used for a temporary chapel, and it is for this reason that it has finally been decided to commence work at once... It is expected to commence excavation Monday morning. The new building is to be erected on a knoll southeast of Kirkwood Hall and will be one story, of frame, with a basement and substantial in every respect."

The paper went on to report that the building was to be outfitted with comfortable chairs that could seat 1,200 people, and the expectation was that work would be finished Oct. 1.

"All lectures and public meetings will thereafter be held in this hall instead of the old college chapel," the Telephone finished.

Work began shortly thereafter on a building that was to be 125-feet long and 65-feet wide with a shingle roof. The main floor would be 90 feet long, and the building would include galleries along the north, south and west ends. Posts held up the galleries on the three sides of the building. A stage was built at the east end of the building to allow convocations, theatrical productions and other events to be held in the building. A dressing room was included, although it featured a dirt floor.

Unlike modern day construction, the work on the new Men's Gymnasium proceeded rapidly. When the school term opened Sept. 22, the Telephone reported that the incoming students, expected to near 1,000 for the first time, could expect a wondrous new facility in the near future.

"The most important material improvement of the new campus made within the year is a beautiful new building, designed as a men's gymnasium," the Telephone said. "It was begun during the summer, and the returning students will see it on its way toward completion. For the present the main floor will be used as an assembly hall, accommodating two thousand people. The other rooms will be used at once for a gymnasium, and will be equipped with complete apparatus, shower baths and lockers."

As the students went through the fall semester, the building slowly rose out of the ground. In fact, construction was a little slower than expected. The Oct. 1 completion date came and went without the building being finished. Mundane student life ran its course with the sound of hammering and sawing serving as the background. The students in Prof. Johnston's Latin class received the day off Oct. 7, according to the Telephone, "on account of boilicum on Prof. Johnston's noseicum."

The rival Bloomington World ran an illustration of what the gymnasium would look like as a finished product, and the paper reported that the new completion date would be Nov. 1. It doesn't seem, however, that construction was finished by that day, either.

The Dec. 8 edition of the Telephone carried the following announcement:

"The new gymnasium building to be used temporarily for a chapel will be dedicated the 18th by an entertainment under the management of the Glee club. The lower floor is to be gaily decorated and the occasion is to be made one of the most interesting of the college year."

The proceeds from the dedication would be split with 60 percent going to the Glee Club, 20 percent to the Athletic Association and the other 20 percent going to the contest committee.

Just four days after Governor-elect James A. Mount came out emphatically against continuing to allow football to be played in the state of Indiana, the new Men's Gymnasium was unveiled to the public.

"THE EVENT OF THE SEASON," screamed a headline in the Dec. 19 edition of the World.

"The new University building was dedicated last evening in the presence of the largest audience that ever assembled under one roof in Bloomington," the World reported. "The immense room was appropriately decorated with cream and crimson-the colors of the University. The mammoth flag of Wicks & Co. hung gracefully at the back of the stage, and the championship football flag of 1896 occupied a prominent space."

The hall was decorated with streamers of cream and crimson, and palms and other floral decorations filled every nook and open space in the building. The space was also lit by 150 electric lights, which, "made the room almost as light as day," according to the World. Fraternities reserved sections of seating and arrived as single bodies.

Then, at 8:15 p.m., the Glee Club made its entrance to a loud ovation, and President Swain received the same when he entered a few moments later. Swain moved to the front of the stage, and without any notes, he addressed the crowd.

"We have met tonight for a double purpose," Swain said. "First, to give a hearty greeting to the Glee Club of Indiana University. I need not sing its praises. It will speak for itself in tones that are louder, in notes that are sweeter and with accents more pleasing than any words of mine. May its voices be heard throughout the length and breadth of the commonwealth.

"In the second place, we have met to dedicate this new gymnasium. The erection of this building solved, for the present, three important questions:

First, Mitchell Hall can now be used for the Women's Gymnasium. Second, ample room will be provided for a Men's Gymnasium for several years to come. Third, with some inconvenience an ample audience room for large assemblies is provided until the demands of the work in physical training require the whole building. With the present outlook this whole building will soon be needed for the legitimate work of physical training. No better demonstration of the vitality of this work could be given than the fact that the Women's Gymnasium has prospered in a cellar and the Men's Gymnasium in a barn."

Swain stressed the importance of physical fitness in the training of a college student, and he thanked Thompson and Jeckel for their hard work on the project. He closed by making a not-so-subtle hint that the new building, while nice, didn't necessarily meet all of his expectations or solve all of IU's problems.

"I wish to thank the people of Indiana that they have had the wisdom to provide this building for the use of their children," Swain said. "If we are faithful to their highest welfare, I am sure that the people, in turn, will care for our needs and one day give us a permanent assembly room worthy of the University and the State."

The program proceeded with a musical program that included performances by the Glee Club, a violin solo and a song about the "amusing travesty on the feline tribe." The night closed with a Glee Club rendition of "Silent Night, Holy Night," which prompted the World to rave that "clearly no programme (sic) ever given in this city has been more favorably received."

Unfortunately, the glow surrounding the new Men's Gymnasium wouldn't last all that long.

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The new Men's Gym served its purpose well during the few years following its opening, but as enrollment continued to grow, so did the number of athletic teams. That meant that space in the gym was becoming limited, and juggling all the sports made scheduling difficult. Not only were regular gym classes being held, but baseball needed an indoor facility in which to stay in shape, and the track team needed to get out of the cold in the winter to prepare for the upcoming season.

The founding of a new basketball team in 1898 created an even bigger crunch when it came to space. The team only played on campus, however, and wasn't a varsity level squad. Still, the Men's Gymnasium hosted games between the students. Two years later, in late 1900, IU founded a university team with Athletics Director J.H. Horne as the head coach. Horne sent out a call for basketball players, and he slowly whittled the team down in workouts.

The team spent months preparing for its first season, and the Indiana University Student newspaper noted that push was starting to come to shove from a space standpoint in the Men's Gymnasium.

"The work Saturday morning consisted of baseball, basket ball and track work," the Jan. 28, 1901 edition reported. "Each day brings out the fact that we do not have near enough room for the various athletic teams. The basket ball men have learned the game and are now working on the finer points of the game in order to be able to take advantage of every possible play."

Shuffling between the different sports took some coordination. After all, with the track team actually running hurdles in the gymnasium and baseball knocking balls around, the gym could be a dangerous place. With the Hoosier basketball team drawing ever closer to its first official game - Feb. 8 at Butler - preparation was becoming difficult considering the limited space. IU needed more time to prepare, so the team decided to take a step back into the past.

The Feb. 7, 1901 edition of the Indiana University Student reported that the team had cleaned out the old gymnasium, which was situated behind Owen Hall and had been in use as a carpenter's shop and was practicing there. The first practice at the old Gym was reported to be "very brisk" and featured few fouls, and Horne decided on the six players who would comprise the team that evening.

The student newspaper also felt confident about the upcoming season - and program - opener vs. Butler at the Indianapolis YMCA, reporting, "Much interest is manifested in tomorrow's basket ball contest at Indianapolis. It will be the first game that our team has played this year and the outcome, while reasonably certain, is nevertheless a matter of much conjecture. Our team will no doubt win a victory but just how far superior we are to other teams remains to be demonstrated."

Despite bringing 100 fans along, it turned out IU wasn't superior at all. In fact, Butler scored win in front of a crowd that was reportedly swelled by the presence of college students who had been drawn to the city by "the State Oratorical contest." According to the Indiana University Student, Indiana shot the ball poorly and lost in the final three minutes when Butler "succeeded in throwing three goals in less than that many minutes, making the final score 17 to 22." Oddly, Indiana's official basketball records list the Hoosiers losing their first-ever game by a count of 20-17.

Thus, Indiana University basketball was born.

The team's first home game wouldn't come until 13 days later when the Hoosiers hosted the Bulldogs at the Men's Gymnasium Feb. 21. Despite nearly two weeks of preparation, IU again fell to Butler, this time by a score of 24-20. As a side note, Indiana's current official records claim the home game vs. Butler was played Feb. 28. This is wrong. IU played Butler Feb. 21, and on Feb. 28 IU's varsity squad took out its frustrations against the second-string team (ostensibly the junior varsity) by putting a 63-3 whipping on the JV at the Men's Gymnasium.

Indiana picked up the first of its 1,623 wins (and counting) March 8 vs. Wabash at the Men's Gym to finish its first season 1-3. In another piece of record-keeping mayhem, IU lists its record for the 1901 season as 1-4, but there is no evidence that Indiana played a listed March 15 game at Purdue. None of the newspapers - be it from West Lafayette, Bloomington or Indianapolis - reported on the game. The game was originally scheduled, but following the win over Wabash, the games were cancelled according to the 1901 Arbutus. Purdue, by the way, also lists a win over Indiana on March 15, 1901, by a score of 23-19, so the controversy over whether IU played Purdue twice in the first season remains.

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The Men's Gymnasium continued to host basketball games and other events through the years. On Jan. 18, 1904, William Butler Yeats, one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century, performed at the Gymnasium, and IU president William Lowe Bryant, who succeeded Swain, was inaugurated at the Men's Gymnasium in 1902. As time went on, there was a movement to try to find a better name for the facility than simply the Men's Gymnasium. A note from the IU Archives from March 27, 1900, that is listed only as being from "President Rep. to Bal.," suggests renaming the building.

"It would be more convenient to have a name for the Men's Gymnasium. I would suggest for the consideration of the Trustees the propriety of calling this building Foster Hall in honor of the Hon. John W. Foster, one of our honored alumni who takes a great interest in the University. He has showed his renewed interest this year by giving $50 for the Foster prize and allowing this year's interest to be added to the fund."

The suggestion, however, was ignored. Naming something on the IU campus after Foster wasn't. In 1963, the newest dormitory on campus was named the John W. Foster Quadrangle in his honor.

Despite the fact the team was improving as the years went on, crowds were small due to a lack of space. The galleries could hold 400 people and although an additional 1,200 could pack the main floor, comfort was at a premium. Playing basketball in the Men's Gymnasium also was a bit challenging and more than a little dangerous. Because it wasn't designed with basketball in mind, the posts that held up the galleries created dangerous obstacles just a few feet from the sideline. Saving a ball was fraught with trouble, and fans had to deal with obstructed views if they watched from the main floor. Floor burns, by the way, didn't exist back then. There wasn't a true finish on the floor, and the floorboards were badly scuffed, leading to more than a few skinned knees and splinters when players went to the ground for the ball. Records also show that a swimming pool was installed in the building in 1909, although the pool didn't last long. A stage was later constructed to cover the pool, but we'll get to that in a minute.

The facility's issues didn't keep the Men's Gymnasium from stepping back into the spotlight during the spring of 1911. With basketball proving to be popular in the state of Indiana, the Indiana University Boosters Club decided to sponsor a basketball tournament to crown the champion of the state. The winner of the tournament would be awarded an embossed seal emblematic of the championship of Indiana, and the players were to receive silver cups.

Twelve teams played in that first tournament. Rochester, New Albany, Morristown, Walton, Bluffton, Evansville, Crawfordsville, Anderson, Lafayette, Oaktown, Valparaiso and Lebanon participated, with Crawfordsville taking home the first title of what would become the Indiana state high school basketball tournament. Finding lodging wasn't easy, but the fraternities stepped up.

"Sixty-five Oaktown rooters appeared for room and board at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house," said a note in the 1911 edition of the Arbutus. "Special table manager assessments were declared by all organizations. Underclassmen slept in kitchen sinks, bathtubs and coal bins to make room for the guests."

Six games were played on the first day of the two-day tournament, and the fans were raucous. The Indiana Daily Student reported that "noise could be heard several paces from the buildings," and a capacity crowd was on hand to see the sixth game of the day, which got the chance to stick around and watch Indiana beat Wisconsin 21-18.

The next day six more games were played with Crawfordsville winning three games and dominating Lebanon 24-17 to win the state championship. Tickets to the championship game were $0.25, and it served as the opening game to a doubleheader that was capped off with an IU-Northwestern game. A capacity crowd of 1,200 watched the title game, then the building was cleared. Fans could reenter the arena if they paid $0.50 for another ticket. No record is known of how many fans actually bothered to drop the money to watch Indiana knock off Northwestern 41-12.

The students, meanwhile, were starting to sour on the Men's Gymnasium after only 15 years. The 1911 Arbutus credits a professor for doing the best he can in a less-than-perfect situation.

"Through the efforts of Dr. (C.P.) Hutchins (the head of physical training), the gymnasium, which we hope is nearing the close of its existence, has been improved in many ways. The addition of new apparatus and lockers, the building of the new pool and showers, as well as the strict discipline enforced have done much toward the formation of an ideal system of athletics and physical training."

The condition of the facility didn't have any impact on the high school tournament, which snowballed after the 1911 event. The Indiana High School Athletic Association co-sponsored the event with the Boosters Club in 1912, and 13 teams played in the tournament. Semifinals were played at Muncie, Vincennes, Indianapolis and Notre Dame with the finals being played in Bloomington. The next year, 38 teams arrived at IU to play for the title, forcing games to be played at the new Men's Gymnasium, the old Men's Gymnasium (now known as the Carpenter's Shop) and the Student Building. By 1914, 77 teams showed up, and games again were played at three locations. A net was dropped from the ceiling to allow multiple games to be played at once at the Men's Gymnasium although it isn't clear how that worked from a space standpoint. A blackboard was set up in front of Maxwell Hall to keep fans appraised of the scores from all the courts.

The limitations of space continued to be frustrating for students, but a major change was in the works for the building.

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By 1914, the building was in its 18th year of operation and was starting to show its age. In an effort to update the facility and improve the cultural impact of the facility, construction began on a modern addition to the Men's Gymnasium. The pool, which had been popular for five years, was covered during the fall when a new stage measuring 65-feet long and 26-feet deep was built at a cost of $3,500.

The IU Alumni Quarterly from January 1915, reported on the renovation by saying a "fully-equipped stage and auditorium has been for many years one of the most crying needs of the University."

"During the latter part of November and the first week of December, a large squad of carpenters was busy tearing out partitions, extending the north and south walls, and raising the roof of the east end of the Men's Gymnasium," the Quarterly reported. "Now a new stagehouse towers high above the old building, the peak of the roof being nearly sixty feet above the floor level.

The latest in fire protection, including an asbestos fire curtain that could be lowered at a moment's notice and a curtain of water that could be sprayed on the stage, were added for safety. The building was rewired with iron conduits - previously wires weren't sheathed in anything in the walls of the building - and the exits were doubled.

The Quarterly praised the renovation, but noted that "permanent relief will come only with the building of a complete modern auditorium, but no small degree of temporary relief is afforded by the increased room and advantage of the rebuilt gymnasium."

The Quarterly couldn't have imagined that it would be more than 20 years before a new auditorium would be built on campus.

Still, in the short term, the work paid off with Maude Adams - by far the most popular stage actress of the day - christening the new stage with a performance of "The Legend of Lenora" on Dec. 7, 1914. The performance was hailed as a major milestone in improving the culture in Bloomington and would lead to other major acts passing through town in the coming years.

The addition of the stage, however, signaled that the era of sports at the Men's Gymnasium was quickly drawing to an end. Students, in fact, were already plotting to convince the administration that a new gymnasium was needed. In the spring of 1915, the students tried to use a clever ruse to get what they wanted, even if they had to lean on the military to do it.

"A much discussed project during the term just closed was one to establish at the University a battalion of the Indiana National Guard, to be known as the Indiana University battalion," wrote the Alumni Quarterly from April of that year. "Some four hundred students of the University put their names to a paper stating their willingness to join the proposed organization ,and the approval of the faculty was asked for this use of the grounds and the University name.

"After considerable discussion and investigation by a committee to which the proposal was referred, the faculty on March 13 by a substantial majority voted its disapproval of the project. This decision was based in the main upon the view that it was inexpedient for the University by formal action to encourage young men while still engaged in their college studies to take upon themselves the obligations of a three-years enlistment in the State militia. There was also a feeling that a very considerable part of the students who signed the paper were not so much interested in the formation of a university military organization as they were in securing for the University an Armory which could be used as a men's gymnasium - a result which, it was urged, would follow the organization of the University battalion."

The plot, though denied, still managed to find a happy ending. One day before the faculty was called upon to vote, the Board of Trustees authorized the erection of a new gymnasium for male students as soon as funds were available. Indiana would get its modern gym after all.

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The Hoosiers played their last home basketball game at the Men's Gymnasium Jan. 5, 1917, hammering Rose Poly 35-9. The opening of the new New Men's Gymnasium - we know it's confusing, but blame IU, not us - brought about the end of sports at the old Gymnasium, but its days of usefulness were far from over.

In an effort to end the confusion over the old Men's Gymnasium and new Men's Gymnasium, it was sometime during this period that the former Men's Gymnasium was renamed Assembly Hall. It continued to host theatrical events, commencement ceremonies and other events, but the arrival of the Great War (later to be known as World War I) pressed Assembly Hall into much more important action.

First, the Spanish Flu pandemic swept over the world, and the disease actually shut down Indiana University for a month in late 1918. During that time, the Student Army Training Corps used Assembly Hall as a hospital with rows and rows of beds being placed on the main floor and in the galleries to handle the sick and dying.

"Skilled medical attention was given to the men when they became ill," the 1919 Arbutus wrote. "The women of Bloomington performed faithful service at the University Hospital in Assembly Hall, taking great interest in rendering any service which was in their power to the sick men at that place."

Beds were often placed outside of the building to allow them to air out after sick men had laid in them, and all efforts were made to keep the students healthy.

As the years progressed, Assembly Hall's star began to fade as it aged. For some reason, the building became repeated target of threats of arson. Deans of Men C.E. Edmondson and C.J. Sembower received an envelope Dec. 4, 1930, on which was written, "Dear President - It would be no surprise if students burn Assembly Hall when they are incited by such stuff as this." Enclosed in the envelope was a newspaper article detailing the fact IU had beaten Purdue 7-6 in the Old Oaken Bucket game, and Albert Stump, a two-time democratic candidate for Senator, had used the victory to claim that it was proof that things were going to be different now that Democratic president Franklin Roosevelt would be taking over. The article went on to quote Uz McMurtrie and Wayne Stackhouse, two local residents who were in attendance for Stump's comments.

Stackhouse described both the celebration following the Bucket win and the precautions that were taken against the burning of Assembly Hall, which was said to be "an ancient frame structure which is the university's only auditorium." McMurtrie seemed to favor arson.

"That is what we have needed down there for a long time," McMurtrie said in the clipping. "I only wished they had burned down that old building. It would have been a sure sign that the revolution had set in."

Assembly Hall was never set on fire, but it couldn't escape the march of progress. On March 21, 1938, the Board of Trustees ordered that the building be demolished to make way for a parking lot outside of the six-year-old Memorial Union. The March 22, 1938 Telephone lamented its passing by bringing up its history as the site of the first state high school basketball tournament, but it also called the facility a "ramshackle campus landmark."

Once the building was actually being demolished, the sentiment was a little stronger for one of the most important campus buildings of the first half of the 20th century. A poem appeared in The Indianapolis Star remembering the building, and the 1938 IU Winter Alumni Quarterly lamented its passing.

"Assembly Hall is going down, board by board," the Quarterly reported under the headline 'That Old Barn.' "No longer need officials worry for fear football enthusiasts will burn it down; no longer will visitors to the campus wonder about the why and wherefore of such a structure boasting of many handsome buildings.

"But shed a tear for Assembly Hall. Once the Men's Gymnasium, it was here that the state basketball tournament was born and nourished until it outgrew these quarters. Here hundreds of graduates received their diplomas, sometimes to the strains of "Then You'll Remember Me." Here many of the most famous actors, musicians and orators have appeared on its stage, which was made over in 1914 to enable Maude Adams to give a performance. And now the ether which once carried the cultivated voices of a Drew, a Sandburg, a Beveridge, a Breslau will be filled with motor honks and exhausts and other noises heard in all parking spaces. Sic transit Gloria mundi."

"Sic transit Gloria mundi," by the way, is a Latin phrase meaning, "Thus passes the glory of the world."

The glory of Hoosier basketball, meanwhile, was still growing in a different building across campus, but that's a story for another time.

Ken Bikoff can be reached via e-mail at kbikoff@insideiu.com. To subscribe to Inside Indiana, call 800.282.GOIU!

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