The summer of 2018 brought an event that some faculty in English had thought might never happen: the opportunity to relocate into one building.
Since the demolition of Denison Hall in 2005 and our removal to the first and basement floors of a partially-renovated Lafene the previous year, the English Department has remained stretched between three spaces: English Counseling Services Building (ECS), Eisenhower Hall (EH), and Leasure Hall (LS).
Three university presidents, three provosts, and four deans of Arts and Sciences later — and with thanks to each leadership team and our colleagues in Counseling Services — we finally could make the move.
Starting in May and continuing through June, as faculty members packed up their books and files, I worked with graduate student volunteers to clean out storage spaces and offices in Eisenhower Hall and Leasure Hall long occupied by English (20 years? 30 years?) in advance of the move to ECS. Along the way, we happened upon traces of the past and some unexpected treasures.
Here are a few highlights:
Object: Miniature Gutenberg Printing Press, with ink, roller, and moveable type.
Future life: Gifted to graduate student volunteer for rehabilitation.
Object: Brother EM-601 Electric Office Typewriter and User’s Guide, used by Ann Warren and fellow instructor Sandy Bussing.
Observations: 1) Old technology is larger and heavier than you remember. 2) Rebooting (“Turn it off and try again”) is a long-standing solution to troublesome technology.
Object: Poster with phases of the moon, taped on back of office door.
Observation: A surprisingly resilient object that has survived in an office-turned-storage space for more than 10 years.
Object: Moving label for English office relocations during the May-August 2007 renovation of the ECS Building’s HVAC: Willard for the summer months, EH 003 for the new destination.
Observations: 1) English Department faculty have been on the move a number of times during the past 15 years. 2) Scotch tape lasts longer than you might expect.
Object: Annotated phone with first names of key department faculty/administrators and staff during the 1990s and early 2000s: Jerry Dees, Linda Brigham, Sara Wege, Greg Eiselein, Anne Phillips, and Larry Rodgers.
Future life: Recycled, as some faculty give up office phones for lack of use — and to save some money in the face of budget cuts.
Object: Shelves with journals left by retired faculty members, published 1950s through 1990s.
Observation: “Modern” and “Contemporary” are relative and flexible terms.
Object: Sign listing English faculty with offices in Leasure during the 1990s and 2000s: Associate Professor Emerita Bonnie Nelson, Professor Tim Dayton, Associate Professor Emerita Linda Brigham, Professor Naomi Wood, and Associate Professor Christina Hauck.
Observation: More faculty have had an office in Leasure Hall that you might expect.
Object: Microfilm reader that migrated from George Keiser’s Eisenhower Hall office upon his retirement, stored in ECS basement for the duration.
Future life: Relocated to Seaton Hall in June for possible use by K-State Libraries, following the fire at Hale Library in May.
Observation: Vindication for the archival impulse to “hold on to that item, just in case.”
In the weeks ahead, stay tuned for “Summer Relocations II” with discoveries from the 2nd Floor of ECS, as well as updates about our renovations to the ECS space, landscaping of the old Circle Drive areas, and plans for the building’s name, as we make a new home for English as of 2018.
— Karin Westman, Department Head
K-State English 
I think I just experienced a virtual homecoming–hearing tales of Denison and Eisnenhower Halls, seeing names of professors from whom I learned a lot (and not strictly in the classroom): Brigham, Dayton, Dees, Eiselein, Phillips, Rodgers. Thanks!
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Naming of ECS? That’s wonderful! I’ll be looking forward to that post.
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