Alumni Fountain, OHSU

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The alumni fountain on OHSU’s Marquam Hill campus, often referred to as the Mackenzie Hall fountain, was installed on August 29, 1963. When it was installed, an Oregonian newspaper article noted that it was the first fountain to be installed in Portland in over forty years. The three-ton, bronze fountain was designed by architect Lewis Crutcher.

Images

Mackenzie Hall and Alumni Fountain, OHSU Marquam Hill Campus, circa 1960s.

Black and white photograph shows sign in the foreground: Mackenzie Hall, University of Oregon School of Nursing. Behind the sign stands a round fountain plaza. Behind that, a large light colored brick building stands.

Marquam Hill campus viewed from the west, with the Alumni Fountain in the foreground, circa 1965.

Black and white photograph of Marquam Hill Campus centered on the 75th anniversary fountain in front of Mackenzie Hall and looking east. Part of Mackenzie Hall and Dillehunt Hall visible on the left hand side of the image, with a partial view of University Hospital South (OHSU Hospital) on the right. Mt. Hood visible in background.

Radiology Class of 1972, posing in front of the Alumni Fountain.

Photograph of the Radiology Class of 1972, in front of the campus fountain. Those pictured are raising their hands in peace signs, along with one person raising a fist - generally a sign relating to the black power movement.

Alumni Fountain dedication, 1963.

A black and white photo depicts a crowd of people in the background, watching four people standing in front of a fountain looking at a plaque.

Alumni Fountain installation, 1963.

Black and white photograph depicts a crowd of people watching a large round modernist object being placed on a round cement slab. A parking lot, houses and treed hills are visible in the background.

Alumni Fountain concept rendering, early 1960s.

An architect's rendering depicts a round modernist fountain with a tall plume of water visible in front of campus buildings and trees.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Presented by the Alumni Association of the University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU), the three-ton, bronze fountain stands five feet high and ten feet in diameter. When it was installed, the bronze piece of the fountain traveled to campus from American Sheet Metal Works on Northeast Glisan via a large truck with a police escort. In its earliest days on campus, the fountain could send plumes up to twenty-five feet in the air.

The fountain is a regular gathering space on campus, whether for planned occasions or for lunch or study. It has been dyed and turned bubbly for special events, and attracted birds and visitors of all ages. Each summer, the OHSU Farmer’s Market is held weekly on the lawn surrounding the fountain.

Sources

Kemball, Mark. “Happy BURTH-day to the OHSU fountain,” 96,000 Square Miles blog, OHSU. July 24, 2013. https://blogs.ohsu.edu/96kmiles/2013/07/24/ohsufountain/.

“Medical School Gets Fountain,” Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), August 27, 1963: 17. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M4MC8XNX

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M44748H1

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/2v23vv09c

Historical Image Collection: Fountain. Historical Collections & Archives, OHSU Library.