Union at Old Dairy Hall, Courtesy of Berton M. Atkinson Archives
In 1916, the first amendment to the Minnesota Union constitution was made, establishing a branch of the Minnesota Union at the University Farm, now known as the St. Paul Campus. (It is not known at the time for how long this administrative structure was maintained) the Farm Union was established in what was known as Old Dairy Hall.
Lotus Delta Coffman, 1938, Photography Courtesy of University Archives, University of Minnesota
Despite improvements made Shevlin Hall and the Minnesota Union through the 1910s and 1920s, the original student union building was soon too small for the growing student population on the Minneapolis campus. In 1936, University President Lotus Coffman Formed a special Student Union Committee, and it was with his support that the construction of a new co-educational Minnesota Union was made possible. President Coffman died in office in 1938, the same year that ground was broken for what would be Coffman Memorial Union.
Coffman Memorial Union, 1940 Photograph Courtesy of University Archives, University of Minnesota
Again, the union building was paid for by student subscriptions, as well as through WPA funds. A new constitution was drafted for Coffman Memorial Union, recondition of its status as the single, co-educational Student Union on the Minneapolis campus.
Written by Jeremiah L. Mason
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