Southern Methodist University Campus Memories

Doak Walker practicing, 1948

Dallas Hall, 1920s

SMU vs. TCU Basketball Game
Program (1955)

Four SMU Presidents, 1950s

[The 'Dinkey' Streetcar],
ca. 1916

Early aerial of SMU, ca. 1920s,
showing the campus and
Park Cities area

Gazing adoringly, 1958

About the Collection

Holding library: SMU Archives, DeGolyer Library

View more collections held by DeGolyer Library.

About the Collection

Overview

Welcome to the Southern Methodist University Campus Memories digital collection.

Here, you will find a wide variety of photos, texts, and videos of SMU during all phases of its history.

Although classes at Southern Methodist University started on September 1915, photographs of the Hilltop depict events that took place even before classes started. We have images of Dallas Hall under construction and during its building dedication. SMU continues to record campus happenings, and this collection reflects it.

Collection Materials

SMU has a rich tradition of recording its history through photographs. Ronald C. Knickerbocker, the first director of publicity, was hired in 1931. Mr. “Knick” (as he was known) served as the official SMU photographer for many years, and he took many of the aerial views that we have from the early decades. We even have several silent films that he recorded in 1939, 1941, and 1942.

Students, Faculty, Presidents, Staff and Visitors are represented in these images.Visit your favorite buildings, or request images that you want to see. We might have them — and, if we do, we will post them.

Some technical information: We have described or given dates for most of these photographs using our best judgment. Many of the photographs were taken by SMU staff or Laughead Photographers for publicity purposes. If you were there when the photograph was taken, you know more than we do.  Tell us. We do our best at identifying images, but we appreciate it when you tell us what you know about the photographs. Don’t be shy. Email us, and let us know.

Thanks go to interns and student assistants: Marci Mauriello, Carla Mendiola, Allison Osborn, Judy Kingkaysone, Joe Hesse, and Doug Mann for digitization, metadata and process improvement. Thank you, Dennis Moser, former digital projects manager, for originally encouraging the beginnings of this project. Enormous thanks go to Cindy Boeke, digital collections developer, and her former assistant Adrianne Pierce, for their patient guidance and assistance in building the infrastructure of this collection. Continuing thanks go to James Williamson, Margaret Cybulski, Elisa McCune, and Cindy Boeke for keeping us current, nudging us to add materials, and making us look good.