1. Who was Ohio University’s first female graduate?

2. What is embedded in the brick terrace in front of the Class Gateway on the College Green?

3. What name do two buildings on campus share?

4. What was the claim to fame of Dr. Eliphaz Perkins, the first treasurer of Ohio University?

5. What name was first proposed for Ohio University?

6. What was the first campus building to be named for a sitting president?

7. During World War I, some students were dismissed in the spring before classes actually finished. Why did they leave?

8. How many buildings on campus are more than 100 years old?

9. On June 18, 1908, the University’s board of trustees formed a committee to obtain something for the campus green. What was it?

10. Name some other historical events that occurred in 1804, the same year Ohio University was chartered.

’Cat Facts answers

1. Margaret Boyd, AB 1873 and AM 1876, for whom a residence hall on West Green is named. The original Boyd Hall, built in 1907, was torn down in 1966 to make room for Alden Library.
2. A bronze replica of the Great Seal of Ohio.
3. Wilson Hall. One of the buildings, built on the College Green in 1837 and originally known as the East Wing, houses College of Arts and Sciences offices. In 1939, it was named for Robert G. Wilson, the third Ohio University president. A West Green residence hall, the other building was constructed in 1965 and named for Hiram Roy Wilson, a professor who served as secretary of the faculty, chair of the English Department executive committee and national president of the alumni association.
4. Perkins was the first physician in Athens County, arriving in 1800. He became the first treasurer of Ohio University in 1804 and also served as a trustee. He established schools and was Athens’ first postmaster, first county auditor and first apothecary. In 1954, a new East Green residence hall was named for him.
5. On Jan. 9, 1802, the Territorial Legislature passed an act creating American Western University in Athens. In an 1804 act recognized as the charter of the present University, the new Ohio Legislature changed the name to the Ohio University.
6. Ellis Hall, construction of which was started in 1902. It was named for Alston Ellis, the 10th president. It is one of the University's oldest and largest classroom buildings and accommodated the State Normal School. It now houses the departments of Classics, English and Philosophy.
7. To support the government’s campaign to boost food production in 1917, students were excused in order to work on farms through the end of that August. They received credit for the spring term if they were passing their courses when they left.
8. 25 buildings are more than 100 years old.
9. Squirrels. During a four-week vacation, President Alston Ellis visited leading universities and normal schools in the East. At Harvard University, he apparently noticed the squirrels on the lawn and returned to Athens with a desire to attract the creatures to Ohio University.
10. Some other noteworthy events in 1804:

• Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their expedition to explore what is now the northwest United States. Their trip from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back began May 14, 1804, and ended Sept. 23, 1806.
• Napoleon declared himself emperor of France.
• Haiti became the first Latin American state to achieve independence.
• Vice President Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel July 11 in Weehawken, N.J.; Hamilton died the next day.
• Englishman Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) designed and built a locomotive to run on rails.
• John Deere, inventor of the steel plow and founder of Deere & Co., was born.
• American author Nathaniel Hawthorne (“The Scarlet Letter,” “The House of the Seven Gables”) was born.
• French chef and inventor Nicolas Francois Appert invented the process for canning food.