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Fred Lynch
Fred Lynch retired in 2018 after capturing images for the Southeast Missourian since 1975, in that time moving from black-and-white to color, from film to digital and to video. The blog title is a nod to an earlier era of news photography and the 4x5 Speed Graphic: It's more important to be there for the shot than to worry about technical details.
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Statuary Hall in Academic Hall

Posted Wednesday, November 6, 2013, at 12:00 AM

In October 1904, 58 plaster reproductions of ancient, Medieval, and modern works of art were gifted to the Third District Missouri State Normal School, now Southeast Missouri State University, by Louis Houck.

They were the works of artist August Gerber of Cologne, Germany, who won a gold medal for the collection at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. The collection was installed by Gerber in Academic Hall in 1905.

Free-standing statues, relief sculptures and busts comprised the collection.

The statues remained in Academic Hall until 1959. They were moved to locations around campus due to space requirements. The collection found a new home in 1976 at Memorial Hall in the University Museum. The collection was moved in 2007 to the Aleen Vogel Wehking Alumni Center.

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  • A few of these statues (3 or 4) remained in Academic Hall at least through 1975. They were located outside the doors to the auditorium. I can remember cleaning around them as a student janitor in the early 70's.

    -- Posted by stevenbrookins on Wed, Nov 6, 2013, at 10:46 PM

  • There was also a bunch of them in the basement of Academic Hall in the early seventies. They were all beat up, hands broken off etc.

    -- Posted by John Bennet on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 7:30 AM

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