From Hell Week to Homecoming: Campus Life at WT, 1953-1971 July 7, 2010

Still a young institution of less than half a century, West Texas State College entered the 1950s with two thousand students and 100 faculty. Two decades later, as West Texas State University, the campus served four times as many students under an expanded academic and administrative structure that reflected an ambitious growth in scope. During those crucial years, WT's staff photographers provided a detailed visual record of the campus, including administrative and student activities, special events, athletics and the changing physical environment. In 1988, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum received over 60,000 photographic negatives dating from 1953-1971, chronicling the rapid changes taking place on campus as well as the traditions that students cherish to this day. Primarily the work of photographer Gort Rushmer, this invaluable collection provides a window on the university's evolution into an educational center for the Panhandle region and beyond.