Rocky Mountain College history

Anderson was born in 1890 in Ubet, Mont., and later moved to Billings and attended Billings Polytechnic Institute.

A former president of the College of Montana, Lewis Eaton, founded the Billings Polytechnic Institute (BPI) in 1908 as the first postsecondary institution in Billings.

Opened in 1909, Eaton Hall was originally known as the Science Hall.

She graduated in 1911 as a member of the first graduating class of the institute.

Completed in 1913 and originally called the YMCA Boy's Dormitory, Kenney Hall had rooms for 50 boys as well as a YMCA activities floor.

Built in 1916, Prescott Hall is named for Amos Prescott, a patron of Billings Polytechnic Institute.

Losekamp Hall's official dedication occurred during commencement week in 1919.

Intermountain Union relocated to the Billings Polytechnic campus after its Helena buildings were destroyed by a series of earthquakes in October and November, 1935.

The three schools became one entity in 1947 - Billings Polytechnic Institute, which was to become Rocky Mountain College - Montana's first and finest.

In September of 1957, President Herbert Hines began the project of building a new library.

The funds for the building were raised as part of one of the many major fundraising efforts by the Eaton brothers. It was the last permanent structure built on the campus until the Paul M. Adams Memorial Library was built in 1959.

Bair Family Student Center was constructed in 1960.

In 1965, RMCAD faculty member Clark Richert, along with a group of like-minded creatives, founded an artists’ community in Southern Colorado called Drop City.

In 1967, Drop City won Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Award for innovative and economic housing construction.

Opened in 1969, the Fortin Education Center is named in honor of local philanthropist Phillip N. Fortin.

Anderson Hall was completed in 1970, with 20,000 square feet for housing 82 students as well as the residence hall director.

Widenhouse Hall was built in 1971 in honor of a former president of the college, the Rev.

Alden Hall served as a men's dormitory until 1973 when it was converted to faculty offices and classrooms.

The fall of 1981 included the opening ceremony for the Bair Science Center, officially named the Charles M. Bair Family Center for the Sciences.

It is named for the Charles M. Bair Family Trust that was created after the death of philanthropist Alberta Bair in 1993.

In 1998, following a successful $4.2 million fundraising campaign, construction began on the new DeRosier Educational Resource Center, an addition to the Paul M. Adams Library.