Archives West Finding Aid

Mining and geology were among the original subjects authorized to be taught at Washington Agricultural College and School of Science (later the State College of Washington, now Washington State University). The School of Mines was established during the reorganization of the college in 1917 under the new college president, Ernest O. Holland. The first school year began with L. O. Howard as Dean of the School of Mines. The Department of Geology remained a part of the College of Sciences and Arts until 1920, when it was incorporated into the new School of Mines and Geology. When Dean Howard resigned in 1926, Arthur Eilert Drucker (1877-1949) was made the Dean of the School of Mines and Geology, a position which he retained until 1946. In 1946 the name of the school was shortened to the School of Mines. At that time the school consisted of the Department of Geology, the Department of Mining and Process Metallurgy, and the Department of Physical Metallurgy.

The School of Mines and Geology conducted classes in the first School of Placer Mining for the Unemployed from 1932 to 1933. The Spokane Chamber of Commerce and the Northwest Mining Association co-sponsored the placer mining school in the summer of 1932. Wenatchee, Omak, Pullman, and Okanagon also sponsored placer mining classes conducted by WSC instructors. Eventually, 3,900 people attended the schools.