by John Barton, associate Professor of Speech Emeritus and Dean Emeritus, NWOSU
This is the third of a series of articles designed to recognize the work of many individuals who were responsible for getting Northwestern Territorial Normal School located in Alva, Oklahoma Territory in 1897 and for providing leadership to ensure quality education for the critical years that followed. Although much of the information in this series of articles is from Wayne Lane’s book Northwestern Oklahoma State University, A Centennial History (copyright 1996), there are many other sources such as oral history that has been passed down from eyewitnesses to the next generations. The most poignant example that I have encountered is the story of the burning of The Castle on the Hill as told to Paul Kinzie by his grandmother Mrs. Audrey Bainum Kinzie. During the early morning hours on March 1, 1935, the Kinzie’s were awakened by the noise of confusion caused by the fire, and they immediately went to the site. The vivid description that Mrs. Kinzie provided was that above the tremendous roar of the destructive fire she heard in the distance the pianos crashing down from the third floor as that floor gave way to the flames. Every time I see the film of the burning of the Castle, I think I can hear the pianos falling.
In January 1895, the committee charged with getting a normal school in Alva held its first meeting. During this meeting, the magnificent seven with S. L. Johnson as chair decided to advertise to see if any individual would offer to give Oklahoma Territory 40 acres of land for the establishment of a normal school.
The committee members were overwhelmed with the offers they received, and they had to decide which offer was the best. They decided that the offer made by H. Clay and Mable McGrath was the most desirable based on its location. (This location is the 40 acres of land located directly east of the current main campus across Highway 281.) A problem, however, arose when it was determined that the McGrath land had a “cloud on the title” which was not unusual at this time because of the confusion caused by conflicting claims after the Run of ’93.
The committee then decided to accept the offer made by J. T. and Agnes Fryer which is the current location of Northwestern’s main campus. The Fryers prepared a deed to the territory with a restricted clause requiring the land to be used for higher education purposes or it would revert back to the Fryers or their heirs.
In response to these developments, the McGraths offered to either deed the Fryers 20 acres of their land or pay the Fryers for 20 acres. The Fryers decided to accept the cash payment. The result of this was that these two families (the Fryers and the McGraths) equally shared in providing the 40 acres for the Northwestern location.
In 1969, two dormitories were built with one being named Ament Hall after Northwestern’s first president and the other being named Fryer Hall to honor the Fryers for their donation of land to establish the campus. The contribution of the McGrath family, however, was apparently overlooked as they were equally deserving as the Fryers. This makes H. Clay and Mabel McGrath unsung heroes of Northwestern.