Centennial - Humboldt's First 100 Years

A donation of 51 acres from William Preston and the Union Water Company ensures Arcata will be the home of Humboldt State Normal School.

California Gov.Hiram Johnson establishes Humboldt State Normal School.

Instruction begins at 11th and M streets in Arcata. Pictured above is one of the first applications to the normal school.

Commencement day for HSU's first graduating class of 15 women. Susie Baker Fountain is first to receive her degree.

Humboldt State Normal School becomes Humboldt State Teachers College and Junior College.

Construction of Founders Hall begins atop Preston Hill.

Humboldt's first president, Nelson Van Matre, retires and is succeeded by Ralph Swetman who serves from 1924 to 1930. Arthur Gist takes over in 1930 and serves until 1949.

Humboldt plays its first intercollegiate football game against Southern Oregon Normal School, losing 33-0.

Another name change gives Humboldt the moniker Humboldt State College.

Humboldt State College establishes bachelor's of science degree in education. Liberal arts degree programs in economics and business administration, speech and home economics are soon to follow.

Forestry Club organizes

President Arthur S. Gist begins writing "Humboldt News Letter" for men and women in the armed services

Founders Hall (known then as the Main Building) is camouflaged with paint and ivy to avoid detection by the Japanese

Students build bleachers for Redwood Bowl

Jenkins Hall, completed

Marching band forms

Registration and grade recording now involves IBM punch cards

Lucky Logger is adopted as mascot

Parking fees established—$13 per semester

Football games are held in Eureka High School's Albee Stadium, as crowds are too big for Redwood Bowl

Forestry Building and Library are completed

Ronald Reagan visits campus during his campaign for governor.

Marine laboratory opens in Trinidad. Lab is renamed the Telonicher Marine Lab in 1979.

Students protest U.S. incursion into Cambodia.

Inaugural Humboldt Film Festival is held. Currently, it's the longest running student-lead festival of its kind.

Marching Lumberjacks return as campus scatter band after a 10-year absence.

Humboldt State College renamed California State University, Humboldt. This doesn't last long. By 1974 the school is known as Humboldt State University.

Arsonists set fire to Forestry Building, which reopens in 1980.

Aviary completed for Wildlife Department.

Wells Fargo donates it's former building, which then becomes home to HSU Natural History Museum.

Students adopt the “Graduation Pledge,” which reads, “I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.” Universities worldwide have since adopted the pledge.

Athlete and alumnus Mark Conover ('81, Natural Resource Planning & Interpretation) wins the marathon at the Olympic Trials and competes in the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Conover is inducted into the Humboldt State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.

Humboldt State Museum of Natural History Opens. Private donors and foundations from the community worked together to convert the former bank building, which had been donated by Wells Fargo.

Campus dedicates the 125-foot Pacific Hunter as a research vessel. The ship, a gift from the Gib Hunter and Eureka Fisheries, Inc, was originally commissioned as a Coast Guard Cutter in 1927.

Women's intercollegiate crew and soccer teams established. HSU is among the first in the CSU to meet the standards of a 1993 agreement between the Cal State system and the National Organization for Women, which calls for more equitable representation and funding between male and female sports programs.

Students vote 3-to-1 against adopting the Marbled Murrelet as school's mascot. The Lumberjack has been the school's official mascot since 1936, when it replaced the Thunderbolts.

Marine Wildlife Care Center established to care for oiled seabirds in the event of spills along the North Coast.

First Street Gallery opens in Eureka. Thousands of HSU Art students have since gained first-hand experience in museum and gallery practices.

Researchers from the Schatz Energy Research Center debut country's first street-legal hydrogen powered car, the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle.

Campus dedicates the 90-foot Coral Sea research vessel, replacing the Pacific Hunter.

Softball team wins its first NCAA Division II National Championship. The team would capture a second national victory in 2008.

Dr. Rollin Richmond succeeds Dr. Alistair McCrone to become Humboldt State's sixth president.

HSU receives a $7.4 million bequest from the Schatz Trust—the single largest gift ever given to the university. It brings the total contributed by Louis W. Schatz to about $15 million.

Alumnus Ken Fisher establishes the Kenneth L. Fisher Chair in Redwood Forest Ecology. It is the first named chair at Humboldt State and the first endowed chair in the world to support the study of a single tree species. Dr. Stephen C. Sillett is the first to hold the endowed chair.

The 84,000-square-foot Behavioral and Social Sciences Building opens. It's the first building in the CSU system to earn a LEED® gold rating—the second highest rating bestowed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Students vote to create the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund. Using funds from a self-imposed fee, the program supports student-designed energy efficiency projects on campus.

The student-designed Hydrogen Fueling Station debuts, connecting HSU to California's Hydrogen Highway. A pair of modified Toyotas comprise the hydrogen-powered fleet.

The Kinesiology & Athletics Building opens. The $44 million project includes a new pool, classrooms, offices and labs. Lumberjacks fans can now cheer on their teams in the spacious 17,655 square-foot gymnasium, which can seats 2,000.

HSU opens the College Creek Apartments near the south entrance of campus. The complex features room for 434 students and an NCAA-regulation soccer field.

2012 Women's Rowing team wins its first NCAA Division II National Championship.