Magazine

St. Olaf Magazine | Winter 2025

February 6, 2025

Interactive Quiz: Can You Put These St. Olaf Events in Chronological Order?

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You might know plenty of fun facts about St. Olaf’s history, but how well do you know when things happened on campus? Take our timeline quiz to find out!

Put these 3 St. Olaf buildings in order of the year they opened on campus:

Mellby Hall
Steensland Hall
Holland Hall

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Question 1: Correct Order

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Question 1 Correct?

1902: Steensland Hall Steensland Hall was among the first buildings constructed on the young St. Olaf campus, a sign of the importance early college leaders placed on having a dedicated space for a premier library. One of the most iconic buildings on campus, the small Neoclassical Revival–style structure is nestled next to Old Main and featured in many of the most picturesque photos of campus. One of just two St. Olaf buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, Steensland has held many titles over the years, from library to recital hall to art gallery. Read more about the storied history of Steensland Hall here.
1925: Holland Hall Holland Hall was designed to mimic the architecture of the Mont Saint Michel abbey in France. It first housed the various science departments and administrative offices. A renovation in 1969 saw the addition of a spiral staircase tower on the north side, which was removed as part of another renovation in 2017. Today the building houses the Economics, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Social Work and Family Studies, and Sociology and Anthropology departments — and, given its resemblance to Hogwarts, frequently hosts the Harry Potter Night hosted on campus each year by students.
1938: Mellby Hall Mellby Hall was the first dormitory on campus built with gray limestone and in the Norman-Gothic style. Named for St. Olaf College’s first female graduate, Agnes Mellby, it is the oldest still-standing dormitory on the campus today. Read more about the people behind the names of St. Olaf’s residence halls here.

Place these 3 events in chronological order:

St. Olaf hosts the first Christmas Festival
The St. Olaf Band becomes the first American college music ensemble to tour abroad
The St. Olaf Choir embarks on its first national tour to the East Coast

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Question 2: Correct Order

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Question 2 Correct?

1906: The St. Olaf Band becomes the first American college music ensemble to tour abroad The St. Olaf Band, led by F. Melius Christiansen, became the first American college instrumental musical organization to conduct a concert tour abroad when they traveled to Norway. The St. Olaf Band was the first musical organization established at St. Olaf when “the idea first entered the heads of a few energetic young men” in 1891. The St. Olaf Orchestra wasn’t founded until 15 years later, in 1906, and the St. Olaf Choir was founded in 1912. Read more about the trailblazing history of the St. Olaf Band here.
1912: St. Olaf hosts the first Christmas Festival A St. Olaf Christmas program was offered to a large gathering of family and friends in Hoyme Memorial Chapel shortly before St. Olaf closed for the holidays. In the dim light of the chapel — decorated with pine trees harvested in Norway Valley — members of the St. Olaf Choral Union stood solemnly and sang in Norwegian. What began as a humble “St. Olaf College Christmas Program” evolved into the renowned St. Olaf Christmas Festival. Today more than 500 student musicians in five choral ensembles and the St. Olaf Orchestra perform a rich repertoire of classic Advent and Christmas compositions along with familiar carols and hymns from around the world, providing eternal messages of hope, peace, and healing.
1920: The St. Olaf Choir embarks on its first national tour to the East Coast Members of the St. Olaf Choir, led by founder F. Melius Christiansen, traveled to the East Coast for their first tour. The tour featured the St. Olaf Choir’s premiere performance at the world-renowned Carnegie Hall in New York City on April 27, 1920, as well as a visit with President Herbert Hoover at the White House. See materials from that tour in this online exhibit.

Place these 3 events in chronological order:

St. Olaf constructs a wind turbine on campus
The St. Olaf Natural Lands are founded
Regents Hall is featured in The World’s Greenest Buildings

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Question 3: Correct Order

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Question 3 Correct?

1990: The St. Olaf Natural Lands are founded Faculty, staff, and students led a large tree planting effort on former agricultural land west of campus on a day now used to mark the official beginning of the St. Olaf Natural Lands. St. Olaf now has more than 420 acres of restored native tallgrass prairie, wetlands, and woodlands adjoining the campus. “These areas provide a wealth of learning experiences for our students, from casual observations to independent research, as well as ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, decreased runoff, and wildlife habitat,” retired Natural Lands Curator Kathy Shea says in this reflection. Read more about the St. Olaf Natural Lands here.
2006: St. Olaf constructs a wind turbine on campus St. Olaf was the first liberal arts college in the nation to construct a utility-grade wind turbine for the sole purpose of providing energy directly to the campus. Nicknamed “Big Ole” by students and faculty, the St. Olaf wind turbine rises above 40 acres of college-owned land blanketed with solar panels. The college’s solar subscriptions, combined with the energy generated by its wind turbine, have enabled St. Olaf to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electrical power. Read more about our energy policies in practice here.
2013: Regents Hall is featured in The World’s Greenest Buildings Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences earned platinum certification — the highest rating attainable — from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system shortly after the building opened in 2008. At the time, it was the largest and most complex academic facility in the nation to earn the prestigious platinum rating. Over the last 15 years, thousands of students have taken classes, conducted innovative research, and worked alongside expert faculty in the world-class facility, and scores of Oles have gone on to develop distinguished careers and become leaders in their fields. Read more about Regents Hall here.

Place these 3 events in chronological order:

St. Olaf celebrates the founding of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
The first social dance is held on campus
Co-ed housing is allowed

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Question 4: Correct Order

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Question 4 Correct?

1961: The first social dance is held on campus Until the 1960–61 academic year, St. Olaf had a strict no-dancing policy. To say that St. Olaf was behind the curve in allowing social dancing is an understatement: Macalester College was tacitly allowing student dancing as early as 1903, and Carleton College permitted dancing on campus by 1919. In the decades since, St. Olaf has become a groundbreaking leader in dance as a performing art, complete with its own major, department, and first-of-its-kind national accreditation. Read more about how St. Olaf stepped into dance history here, and see a selection of dance-related items in the College Archives here.
1971: Co-ed housing is allowed The decision to allow co-ed housing on campus was made in January of 1971 by a committee of the St. Olaf Community Council. The 1971-72 academic year was the first to feature co-ed housing, although it was restricted to a maximum of six of the 10 residence halls and had to be approved on a floor-by-floor basis. Read more about the first academic year with co-ed housing in the 1970s section of this digital exhibit from St. Olaf Archives.
1988: St. Olaf celebrates the founding of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was founded on January 1, 1988 by the merger of the American Lutheran Church (ALC), the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC). To celebrate this new national denomination, the Cannon Valley Conference of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod held a celebratory worship service on January 10, 1988 at Boe Memorial Chapel at St. Olaf, one of the then 29 colleges of the new denomination. Bishop Glenn Nycklemoe ’58 presided alongside guest preacher Rev. David Tiede ’62, who was the president of Luther Seminary at the time. One hundred and fifty years after its founding, St. Olaf continues to be nourished by the Lutheran tradition. The Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community — established in 2019 — creates spaces to encounter Lutheran identity and tradition, navigate across lines of religious difference, and explore our individual and collective vocations in ways that open us to the needs of others.