Statues

Fall 2013

The original story of Nature Boy

Washington State University’s sculpture “The Reader” made its first appearance on campus in 1949. The Powwow, the college’s alumni magazine, carried the following story in 1949, which showed the mixed response to the large ornament dubbed “Nature Boy” by the students.

What’s New on the Campus?

by Bonnie Wamberg
November 1949, Washington State College Powwow

Campus conversational piece de’ resistance this month concerned the 30-foot limestone figure which now adorns one corner of the new Ernest Holland Library. Student opinion and comment blew hot and cold, for and against the 40-ton ornament. Some say it is beautiful, … » More …

Fall 2013

A small discovery

The giant limestone statue fondly nicknamed “Nature Boy” by Washington State students in the late 1940s was recently reunited with his four-foot-tall scale model.

The plaster maquette was created by sculptor Dudley Pratt as a preliminary step in carving the larger, 25-ton limestone statue that has hung on the west wall of the library since 1949. The model had been at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane almost since the late 1940s when it was given to WSU Board of Regents member Charles McAllister. He was dean to the cathedral at the time and hung it on the wall of the library … » More …

Spring 2010

Cougar pride

Though they attended Washington State nearly a half century apart, Gary Schneidmiller and Herbert Meeker share an unbreakable bond to a storied tradition.

For the past three decades, Washington State’s mascot, Butch, has been an anonymous student in a costume; however, for students who attended the school between 1927 and 1978, memories of Butch are much different.

“My first memories of our live cougar were when I visited Pullman with my parents. A trip by Butch’s Den was a mandatory stop from the perspective of a little kid,” said Schneidmiller, ‘71 alumnus.

“As a student I remember Butch in his den, the Butchmen who … » More …