Mementos and Memories Exploring the Artifacts of Mont Alto's past

Since the establishment of the Pennsylvania State Forest Academy in 1903, people have been living on campus and leaving items behind - or donating them back to us for preservation. These are often photographs, documents, yearbooks, or newsletters, but we have accumulated an array of distinct personal and scholastic artifacts over the years and have compiled many of them together in the 2024-2025 Mont Alto Library archival display.

You can view the display in person on the second floor of the library during our normal hours of operation.

Apparel Accessories

Early Forest Academy students were required to bring specific items of clothing to campus and don uniforms for forest patrol but that did not prevent them from finding ways to add some flair to their civilian apparel.

Clockwise, from top left:

  • 1954 Pennsylvania State Forest School patch, donated by Phillip Craul (1954, Penn State)
  • William H. Ludwig award given to Jacob Stauffer (1925, Pennsylvania State Forestry School [PSFS]) "as a top student and adjudged by the faculty to be the most proficient in applied forestry"
  • Text from the 1928 Birch Log regarding the establishment of Mont Alto's "social fraternity," Theta Phi Theta
  • An assortment of fraternity and campus pins: Two Xi Sigma Pi (National Forestry Honor Society) pins donated by Karl Mayer (1931, Penn State) and Rex Clouser (1932, Penn State); two acorn-shaped Theta Phi Theta pins donated by James O. Artman (1931, NC State) and Karl Mayer (1931, Penn State); one pink keystone-shaped pin with oak leaf and PSFA lettering (unknown)
  • Photo of Xi Sigma Pi initiation featuring J. Ellis Maustellar (1930, Penn State), Leonard A. Prichard (1930 University of Michigan), Thomas Carlyle Evans (1930, NC State)
After the merger of the Forest School with Penn State, many students opted to transfer to other institutions. North Carolina State was a popular choice and the students brought their traditions with them, including Theta Phi Theta, according to this article from May 1930 in "The Technician," NC State's weekly student newspaper.

Uniform Necessities

As mentioned above, Forest School students had specific uniforms they were required to wear for forest patrol or formal events on campus...and at least one "unofficial" accessory they were required to sport later on.

Clockwise, from left:

  • Freshman beanie, often called a "dink," donated by Albert Maxwell (1932, NC State). It was common practice at universities and colleges for first-year students to have to wear hats like this and address upperclassmen in particular ways
  • December 1905 photograph of Forest Academy students on horseback. Looking closely, you can see the Forest Reservation Officer badges on their jackets
  • Forest Reservation Officer badge, donated by Henry Clepper (PSFS, 1921)
  • Early 1900s photo showing (left to right), Paul Arnold (Forest Academy instructor), Ralph Brock (Forest Academy student assistant and member of first graduating class of 1906), George Wirt (Forest Academy director), unidentified man (possibly Harvey Frankenfield or Robert G. Conklin - both also student assistants and members of first graduating class)
  • Selection of uniform accessories, including epaulettes, buttons, and a belt buckle, all with the Forest School or oak leaf insignia
This March, 1925 photo shows a Forest School student in uniform while doing fire lookout duties at White Rocks. Firearms were part of the uniform while on duty, and although the front of the uniform is not visible, it's not difficult to imagine the Forest School belt buckle and buttons. (Photo donated by David Swanson [1926, Pennsylvania State Forest School])
This October, 1966 photo from the Record Herald shows a group of 5 freshmen wearing their dinks and name tags, as required - and checked - by members of the sophomore class

American Flags

Mont Alto has long been known for a high involvement of its faculty, staff, and students in the military. Over the years, several flags have been donated or retained as reminders of that service.

Battle Flag (top center)

This flag was donated by Henry Chisman, a 1932 graduate, professor of Forestry at Mont Alto beginning in 1935, and director of the Mont Alto campus from 1963-1970. During his long career, he also served as a lieutenant for the Navy and was the Naval Armed Guard Commander aboard the SS William Mulholland, a Liberty Transport ship. In a 1975 letter to Elizabeth Thomas (former campus librarian), Chisman writes about the night of May 11, 1944:

"At about 9:00 P.M. (2100 hours) we were in the Mediterranean and just off Algiers when we came under attack by German bombers and Torpedo planes. The ensuring battle lasted about an hour. This became known as the battle of Convoy UGS-40. After it was over I ran down the flag (ensign) which had been flying during the battle and ran up a new flag. The battle flag I put in my sea bag, brought it home and that is the flag you now have."

Top photo: battle stained flag (notice the 48 stars) from Henry Chisman; bottom photo: SS William Mulholland (from Naval History and Heritage Command)

Campus Flags (left, front)

Henry Chisman's letter mentions that he donated several flags to campus and it is possible that the next two were part of that gift. In a separate, undated letter, Chester Corsen (former assistant professor of English composition) writes to "Father Neal" in the Emmanuel Chapel about returning three flags that he had found in his attic.

"Of the two smaller flags, one (I don't know which) was the Campus flag, discarded when the new 49-star flag became official. It was presented by the Army Dept. of the Mont Alto Campus. The other small flag was the last flag to fly over the Forestry summer camp [handwritten: before that camp was discontinued c. 1965], and was given by the Forestry Dept."

Both flags have similar measurements and 48 stars (1912-1959); at this point, we do not know which one was from the Forestry summer camp and which was from campus (if Corsen's recollections were accurate).

Left: a 1918 photo of Conklin Hall with an American flag on the flagpole. Based on the date, this flag would have 48 stars. Right: an undated photo of General Studies showing the flagpole that had been in place there. The vehicle indicates this photo is potentially from the 1970s or 1980s, decades after the current 50 star flag would have been established.

Lion Coat

The Penn State Lion Coat tradition that ran from 1926 and into the 1950s was a way to distinguish members of the year's graduating senior class. Students would decorate, autograph, and hold contests featuring these dynamic jackets.

According to an April 24, 1951 article from The Daily Collegian, the class of 1926 first established the Lion Coat as a way to "signify the moving up of the seniors." Initially only available for male students, sale of the coats opened up to female students in 1927 and by 1936, they could purchase Lion Coats specifically tailored for women.

The tradition lagged during World War II but rebounded before dying out in 1953.

As seen below, Lion Coats were commonly decorated with cartoon and comic figures, pin up girls, school symbols, and anything else the senior wished to add, while leaving plenty of space for fellow students to leave their autographs. Over time, the Lion Coat committee began hosting contests to identify the "best" jackets.

The Lion Coat seen here has an assortment of signatures from members of the class of 1941 and although we do not know who donated it, the signature on the pocket says Edwin J Klopp - a class of 1941 Forestry student.

With a combination of illustrations and signatures, there is always something new to spy on this Lion Coat (unknown donor, class of 1941)

Baseball Uniform

Gifted back to the campus in 2023 by Gene Odato (Penn State, 1975), this baseball uniform was likely used by students in the mid-20th century

According to the 1914 Oak Leaf yearbook, baseball has been present on campus since the very first years of the Forest Academy, but without an official team until 1912 when a baseball diamond was created (potentially where the athletics building [the MAC] now stands).

This undated photo (c. 1936-39?) shows a baseball field at the front of campus, right where the MAC sits today. Other details in the photo: Emmanuel Chapel (right), railroad tracks, nursery (background), alumni gates (entrance to campus)

Over the following decades it would come and go, dependent on the number of students available to play, faculty/staff available to coach, and whether or not it was an intense fire season; several yearbooks mention conflicts between spring and fall sports with managing fire patrol duty and controlling wildfires when they started.

Outside of the photos of the 1958 baseball team included in the display, there is no record of a team existing on campus again until the early 1990s. Gene Odato was gifted this uniform while he was a student here in the early 1970s when coaches were cleaning out closets and there was no baseball team.

This #10 jersey is from Bacharach-Rasin, a company out of Baltimore that became well-known for their lacrosse sticks and closed in the early 2000s. The pants (not displayed) are from Kansas City, MO manufacturer/retailer, Lowe & Campbell Athletic Goods (acquired by Wilson Sporting Goods in 1931). Based on the tag, as determined by the Chevrons and Diamonds site, the pants are likely from the 1940s.

If you look closely at this photo from the 1950 Forest Echoes yearbook, you'll notice that half of the team is wearing uniforms that say PSFS; the other half say Penn State.

Instruments for Forest Work

In addition to any books, work clothes, uniforms, and horses, forestry students needed to have appropriate tools and instruments for their education and work

Clockwise, from top left

  • Keuffel & Esser Clinometer (undated, likely early-mid 1900s): Useful for measuring tree height, clinometers are still used today, though they look quite different
  • Keuffel & Esser, "Instruments for Forest Work" (1904): Keuffel & Esser was an American company that produced tools and instruments for surveying and drafting - and forestry. Their catalogs regularly included sections on "Instruments for Forest Work."
  • Chesterman 50’ Tape Measure: Inscribed with “Mensuration Class” and date of either '09 or '07 (Gift of Joseph Kaylor, PSFS 1927)
  • True Temper Tomahawk Hatchet: Handle contains two carvings - EAZ (likely Edwin Allen Ziegler, second and fourth director of the Forest School, 1910-1917 and 1919-1929) and J (purportedly for Joseph Rothrock, founder of the school). However, the company name on the blade itself was not used until Rothrock had passed away, making it unlikely that he would have used the hatchet in its current form.
  • Keuffel & Esser Hypsometer and Grademeter (as seen in 1913 K&E catalog): This tool, "as manufactured by us for the U.S. Forest Service," was used for both measuring the height of a tree and the grade of a road or slope.
  • 1918 Photograph of "Forest School students estimating diameter." It appears that the group of students may be doing so in two different ways - possibly with a diameter tape or a Biltmore stick.
This 1912 US Forest Service publication, "Instructions for Making Forest Surveys and Maps," provides detailed instructions on how to use their patented hypsometer and grademeter

Nursery Work

There was a significant nursery in the area and on the campus grounds and part of being a forestry student meant sowing, weeding, and tending to the various plants that were being established.

Clockwise, from left

  • Planting tamper, donated by Karl Mayer (1931, Penn State): Used in the Mont Alto nursery in the late 1920s, this tool was used to pack dirt around seedlings or over seeds.
  • Seed germination tester plate, from Herbst Brothers, New York: These plates would have been used to start growing seeds. Water goes around the outer rim, seeds in the compartments. The porous ceramic allows for the water to slowly make its way to the seed.
  • 1925 photo showing the Forest School students after a workday in the nursery. (Donated by G. Dean, PSFS, 1926)
This Herbst Brothers flier shows the complete set up for the germination tester, which included a tray and glass bowl.

Thank you to all former students, faculty, staff members, and other donors who have gifted us with these items and photographs that may have held such meaning and memories for them throughout the years.

If you have any questions about what you have seen here or further information about photographs or items, please contact Kristi Addleman Ritter at kra132@psu.edu.