Posing for a photo with the John Mackay statue, Betty Bowman and Jean Horning were the first two women to graduate from the Mackay School of Mines in 1937. The next female to graduate from the School was Margery McKnight Carr in 1951.
A place in history: the Mackay School
A look back at some remarkable images from the Mackay School's past.
Posing for a photo with the John Mackay statue, Betty Bowman and Jean Horning were the first two women to graduate from the Mackay School of Mines in 1937. The next female to graduate from the School was Margery McKnight Carr in 1951.
Posing for a photo with the John Mackay statue, Betty Bowman and Jean Horning were the first two women to graduate from the Mackay School of Mines in 1937. The next female to graduate from the School was Margery McKnight Carr in 1951.
Born the School of Mines in Nevada in 1888, the Mackay School of Mines is more than just an iconic building sitting opposite Morrill Hall on the 推荐杏吧原创's historic Quadrangle. It was one of a handful of mining schools that opened around then at Land Grant Universities to teach those untrained Gold Rushers the science of extracting precious metals - and John William Mackay, one of those eager early miners armed with little more than ambition and a strong back, would come to change not only this mining school but the entire University.
Mackay spent time in the California Gold Rush mining camps before arriving to mine the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, where he went from penniless Irish immigrant to multi-millionaire and one of four Bonanza Kings known the world over in a few short decades. While his fellow Kings cut and ran with their riches to big cities, Mackay's deep sense of gratitude to Nevada tethered him and his family.
Mackay's son Clarence, acting on his father's wishes, supported the then struggling Nevada State University for thirty years. Support included a complete redesign of campus, a new science hall, salaries for faculty and staff, athletic training facilities, the first Mackay Stadium and, of course, the Mackay School of Mines building and accompanying statue of a young Mackay and his pickaxe. Ten thousand people gathered for its dedication in 1908. "I want the School of Mines to stand for all that is high and best in the minds of future mining engineers," said Clarence at the ceremony.
Donations fueled new interest in mining education and related fields. By 1963, the building housed the University's seismological program and mining library, as well as the chemical engineering, mining engineering, geochemistry, geology, geophysics, geography, hydrology, hydrogeology and Earth science departments.
A lot has changed in the intervening years, but the Mackay School, its influence and its rich history continue to grow beyond its walls. Take a figurative stroll through some of that history in these photographs - and a literal one through the building itself next time you find yourself on the Quad.