College Green

College Green. Coughlin Campanile and Coolidge Sylvan Theatre. In the 1920s, a move to beautify the campus and create a new center for student activities led to construction of the Coolidge Sylvan Theatre and Coughlin Campanile. Trees, shrubs, grassy areas, and vines combined with the theatre's brick and limestone architecture to create a green haven that held commencements, May Pole dances, ROTC parades, concerts, lectures, theatre productions, and other events., College President Charles W. Pugsley persuaded U.S. President Calvin Coolidge to dedicate the Lincoln Memorial Library, which borders the campus green, and Sylvan Theatre in 1927. Coolidge was returning to Washington after vacationing at the summer White House in the Black Hills. The Lincoln Library was the first South Dakota building constructed with funds from a tax on cigarettes and the first land grant building named for President Lincoln. Sylvan Theatre was designed by State's Art Professor Ada B. Caldwell., Easily the most recognizable structure on campus, the Coughlin Campanile was a 1929 gift from SDSU alumnus Charles Coughlin, a 1909 engineering graduate and head of the Briggs and Stratton Corporation. The tower's original chimes played dozens of popular tunes of the day. The chimes are now created electronically. The structure's real function, however, is symbolic: to instill pride in and devotion to SDSU., Above: The Coughlin Campanile and South Dakota State College (SDSC) landscaping. The S.D. Legislature authorized a name change in 1964 to South Dakota State University. , Top left: Graduation ceremony at the Sylvan Theatre, c. 1960. , Top right: Breaking ground for the Coughlin Campanile, 1928. , Bottom left: President and First Lady Coolidge at the dedication of the Sylvan Theatre, 1927.