50 years ago today, in a remote pasture between Airway Road and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the first shovel hit the ground for the construction of the Dayton Campus of Miami University and Ohio State University. This was to be a jointly run branch campus for each university, both of which had been offering courses in the Dayton area for many years, with the understanding that it would become its own independent state university once enrollment reached 5ooo students. So it was with this backdrop that a small but enthusiastic crowd gathered at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 31, 1963, on a rural hillside for the groundbreaking ceremony of what would become Wright State University.
The Air Force band provided music, followed by an invocation from University of Dayton president Reverend Raymond Roesch. Short speeches were provided by President John Millett of Miami University and President Novice Fawcett of the Ohio State University, followed by the presentation of citations to Stanley Allyn and Robert Oelman, CEO and president of NCR, for their vision and leadership of the Dayton Campus project. The ceremony culminated with the four founders, assisted by General T. A. Bennett of the Air Force Logistics Command, breaking ground for the first campus building, to be named Allyn Hall.
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- Spectators at the Dayton Campus (now WSU) Groundbreaking, May 31, 1963. (University Archives)
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- Original DDN caption (Oct. 13, 1963): “Dayton Campus: Airway Rd. Robert Eisenlohr Jr eng. surveys while building goes up in background.”
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- Dayton Campus (now WSU) Groundbreaking, May 31, 1963. Left-right: Novice Fawcett, S. C. Allyn, Robert S. Oelman, Gov. James A. Rhodes.
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- Original DDN caption (Feb. 21, 1964): “Frederick White in front of Miami-OSU Campus on Airway Rd.”
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- Allyn Hall under construction. (University Archives)
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- Original DDN caption (Nov. 1963): “Paving a Road to Miami Valley’s Future. New campus site for Branch Ohio State-Miami University.”
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- Dayton Campus (now WSU) Groundbreaking, May 31, 1963. Left-right: Novice G. Fawcett (Ohio State University), John D. Millett (Miami University), Stanley C. Allyn, Major Gen. T. A. Bennett, Robert S. Oelman.
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- Dayton Campus (now WSU) Groundbreaking, May 31, 1963. Left-right: Novice G. Fawcett (Ohio State University), John D. Millett (Miami University), Stanley C. Allyn, Major Gen. T. A. Bennett, Robert S. Oelman. Far right: Frederick White. (University Archives)
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- Allyn Hall under construction. (University Archives)
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- Original caption from DDN (July 1963): “New University site– Fred White, left, manager of the Dayton Campus, and Ed Likens of Lorenz and Williams, architects, look over progress of excavating being done.”
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- Original DDN caption (Sept. 13, 1964): “Three officials talk future plans. They are Howard Bales, assistant director of the college of science and engineering; Warren H. Abraham, assistant dean of academic centers of Miami U., and C. DeWitt Hardy, director of admissions.”
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- From original DDN article (21 Oct. 1962): “A long range master plan for development of the campus for Dayton’s branch university.”
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- Original DDN caption (June 30, 1963): “Allyn Hall will look like this when it rises over fields to open its doors in September, 1964.”
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- Aerial view of Dayton Campus (now WSU), showing Airway Road and the Warner farm (foreground), the “Dayton Campus” sign (lower left), Allyn Hall (top center), and a portion of Wright-Patterson AFB (upper right). (University Archives)
Photos in this gallery can be found in the University Archives collection, as well as the Dayton Daily News Archive (MS-458, Box 756, “Dayton Campus”).
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