Dale Hall

Dale Hall, opened in 1967, and Dale Hall Tower, occupied two years later, were named for the eminent University of Oklahoma historian, Edward Everett Dale. Born in 1879, in old Greer County, Dale spent his boyhood working as a cowboy. When still a youngster he taught school at the Kiowa-Comanche reservation and soon became superintendent of several small schools in the area, despite not having graduated from high school himself. Inspired by a recruiting visit to Greer County from OU's first president, David Ross Boyd, Ed Dale was determined to get an education. He entered the University of Oklahoma when he was 29. He earned a B.A. here in 1911 and an M.A. at Harvard University in 1914, and promptly returned to Norman as an instructor of history. In 1922, he received his Ph.D. from Harvard, where he studied with the preeminent western historian Frederick Jackson Turner. , Professor Dale served as head of the Department of History from 1924 until 1942. In 1944, he became one of the first four recipients of one of OU's highest honors – a George Lynn Cross Research Professorship. By the time of his retirement, in 1952, he was one of the best-known historians of the American West and Southwest. He published more than two dozen books and numerous articles on every aspect of the region's past. , A member of the crucially important Merriam Survey of Indian life in 1928, he was a pioneer in the study of the Native American history. He wrote a textbook on Oklahoma history which was widely used for many years. One of his many contributions to the university was in persuading oilman Frank Phillips to donate funds to gather materials relating to western history – the Phillips Collection became the nucleus of the present Western History Collections. , Dale was known for his informality, his kindness, his hospitality, and his easy, gentle, self-deprecating wit. “I have yet to be convinced”, he once said, “that a grouchy temper is a sure indication of scholarship.” Dr. Dale and his wife Rosalie lived very near these buildings and watched with pride as they were being built. Well into his nineties, he was present on the day they were dedicated and spoke to the large crowd that had come to honor his half-century of service to the state and the university. , One of his longtime colleagues remarked: “Most men of consequence dazzle others with the force of personality. Edward Everett Dale dazzled those about him with the force of utter simplicity and confident ingenuousness.”