University of Montana: Stone Hall – Missoula MT

Description

The Journalism Building on the University of Montana campus in Missoula, now known as Stone Hall, was constructed with Public Works Administration funding in 1936-7.  The three-story brick structure originally housed the Journalism School and the printing press of the student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin, and now is the home of the Department of Geology, the College of Forestry and Conservation and the Central and Southwest Asian Studies Center.

According to the Montana Historical Society: “Dean Arthur Stone pitched four tents near the Oval in 1914, thereby founding the University’s School of Journalism. An old bicycle shed and later World War I army barracks served as quarters for this discipline, then considered ‘non-essential.’  After a long struggle, the Public Works Administration (PWA) appropriated building funds. Architects R. C. Hugenin of Butte and Norman DeKay of Helena designed the 1937 Renaissance Revival-inspired building, adding liberal modern touches and asymmetrically placed windows. … dedicated to Dean Stone, this building represents the hard-won acceptance of journalism as an academic discipline.”