Originally published in The News-Star newspaper, May 14, 2006

Colleges and universities seem to accumulate and store so many things as the years go by ... except, of course, that one very thing we are looking for at the time, like a copy of the sheet music for our original 1932 Alma Mater.

All kinds of things are stored at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. For example, Dorothy Wroten, the first registrar at Ouachita Parish Junior College, dutifully filed the grade cards filled out and signed by the very first professors for the very first students. They now sit in a vault under the watchful care of Carlette Browder, who now stands in Wroten's shoes. One can also find presidential papers from C.C. Colvert, class notes of William Hammond, OPJC football game contracts, orders for the sheepskin diplomas used in the first commencement and so much more. In addition to this archive of the day-to-day functioning of the college, there are also collections of valuable items that are available for scientific study. From their beginnings more than 50 years ago, these collections have grown into large, unique and significant bodies of knowledge available to scholars from across the world.

One of the earliest records of a scientific collection is seen in the fall 1955 PowWow in the form of a photo and article depicting Edward C. Whatley, assistant professor of biology, examining recently acquired collections of Indian relics donated by Victor C. Barringer of Monroe and T. Harp of Mer Rouge.

In the fall 1956, we see an addition to the science department in the form of a baby boa constrictor found in the Strauss and Son Wholesale Grocery warehouse banana room by "Northeast's veteran snake handler" Harry Petty. This baby boa was added to the collection, which the PowWow noted had grown considerably since Petty had turned his talents to catching them for Northeast. Perhaps he was NLSC's first herpetologist.

Beginnings - 50 or more years ago - that lead us to today with 80,000 jars and 12 million specimens of fish, 50,000 reptiles and amphibians and something called "NeilFest." In 1962, Neil Douglas arrived in Monroe with a trailer of specimens. This quiet, intense zoologist began then to build what is now the third largest university-based collection of fishes in North America and one of the major collections of amphibians and reptiles. Last week, students, alumni and friends past and present gathered on the third floor of Sandel Hall to honor Douglas and to open the zoological portion of the new Natural History Museum.

As visitors marveled at the displays depicting just a small sampling of what this portion of the museum holds, other attendees, Hugh Doney and Joe Saunders, smiled as they anticipated their turn at the upcoming opening of the archeological portion of the museum, while others were thinking about botany. For you see, "Neilfest" was only about one-third of this magnificent ULM collection.

So, 50 years later, we see another set of beginnings - this time in Sandel Hall.

Have a great day at ULM.

Dr. John Knesel, ULM Professor