Ives Hall
ASAE's First Historic
Landmark Rededicated

Kaye Ives McArthur and Robert Ives Dietrich (left), grandchildren of Frederick Walter Ives, participated in the rededication of Ives Hall, the Society's first Historic Landmark. ASAE President Robert Gustafson (right) presided during the rededication Nov. 20, 2003, at the Ohio State University's agricultural engineering building, 590 Woody Hayes Drive, Columbus, Ohio.  

     "The duty of the agricultural engineer to agriculture is plain. We should help the farmer in the better selection and use of equipment. We have educated the farmer and his wife to desire home comforts and sanitary features. But after we get the farmer to the point of using all these improvements, we must show him how to pay for them." F.W. Ives

Fredrick Walter Ives was born in Wisconsin, on November 20, 1884. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1908, with the degree of mechanical engineer.

Contributions to The Ohio State University: In 1909 he joined the University as an instructor in engineering drawing. While serving in that capacity, his talents attracted the attention of the College of Agriculture, and in 1914 he was named assistant professor of agricultural engineering, in charge of farm structures. He entered into the work with enthusiasm and understanding and was soon recognized as an authority and a leader in the field. In 1920, he was named head of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, a position he held
until his death.

Professor Ives designed a group of new barns on the university farm, which represented an expenditure of more than half a million dollars. He also designed and built his own home.
His interest extended beyond the field of professional duties. He was a staunch supporter of athletics at the University and was chairman of the board of advisors for the Y.M.C.A. He
was a member of Alpha Zeta and Phi Gamma Delta fraternities. He was also a member
of the University Lodge No. 631 F. & A.M. and of the University Grange No. 1620,
Patrons of Husbandry.

Contributions to ASAE: Prof. Ives was elected to membership in ASAE in 1916, and was one of the Society's most active and valued members. He was secretary-treasurer during 1919 and first vice-president in 1920. He was chiefly responsible for the organization of the college division of the Society and was the first chairman of that division. He served on many important committees, principally those associated with problems of agricultural engineering education and farm structures. In 1923, he was elected a member of the Council and also named chairman of the Farm Structures Division. In recognition of his immeasurable service to the Society, he was elected president to serve during 1924-1925.

Contributions to Farm Structures: In collaboration with Prof. Thomas E. French, he wrote a book entitled "Agricultural Drafting and the Design of Farm Structures," the first of its kind. In addition to his university duties, he served as contributing editor of "The Ohio Farm" and "Farm and Fireside." He was noted for his practical publication such as his paper "Some New Ideas in Group Planning of Farm Buildings," Transactions of ASAE XV1, 1922.

Professor Ives assumed office as the 18th President of ASAE in June 1924. While returning home after attending the best and most significant ASABE convention in the Society's history up to that time, he was seriously injured in a railroad accident near Chicago. He survived the accident only a few days.

In Feb. 20, 1915 issue of The Ohio Farmer, Ives used this plan that he had drawn to respond to the question of a Portage County farmer as to "Which is better, plank or mortise frame
for a barn?"

Ives Hall - 1925 - 2002
Formerly at the Corner of Neil and Woodruff Avenues

ASAE's First Historic Landmark
In 1926, Ives Hall, the original Agricultural Engineering building at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, was designated as ASAE's First Historic Landmark in honor of department founder Frederick Walter Ives.

History of Ives Hall
Elements of the current Ives Hall date back to a horse build on the NW corner of campus prior to 1906. In 1922, all work horses were moved across the Olentangy River and Professor Ives, Head of Agricultural Engineering, recommended "that the quarters vacated in the Old Horse barn be remodeled without delay as laboratories and offices for the Department."

Ives Hall Opened At Ohio State - Ohio's Agricultural Engineering Building Largest in U.S. (Excerpts from The Ohio Farmer, April 18, 1925)
With the opening of Ives Hall on March 30, Ohio State University attained the distinction of having the largest agricultural engineering building on any college campus in the country.
Ives Hall is a monument to the engineering skill of Fredrick W. Ives, head of the department of agricultural engineering until his death in July 1924.

• Almost an acre of floor space, 35,000 square feet, is provided on its two floors.
• Farm utilities such as water systems and lighting plants will be studied in a laboratory in the north wing.
• Home economics students will be taught domestic engineering and household mechanics in a large room in the south wing.
• The lecture room on the first floor at the end of the tractor laboratory is surrounded on three sides by corridors and must be lighted entirely by electricity. This room seats 240 people.
• Accessibility and ample light were two things placed first in planning Ives. Every laboratory, office and recitation room has enough windows and 100 watt lamps to flood the corners with illumination on the darkest days.
• Professor G. W. McCuen notes, "We hope to celebrate the completion of Ives Hall during Farmers' Week next winter with the largest machinery show ever held under roof at Ohio State University."

Ives Hall served the Department of Agricultural Engineering until the opening of a new Agricultural Engineering Building in 1987. Ives Hall continued to be used by other units of the University, including the School of Architecture, until its demolition in 2002.

Mary A. (Parks) Ives
First Woman Member of ASAE - 1921
(Material from: Agricultural Engineering, 2(6), June, 1921)

The first woman to be elected to membership in the American Society of Agricultural Engineers and, so far as the editors know, to any engineering society, is Mrs. Mary A. Ives, household equipment specialist for the Agricultural Engineering Company, Columbus, Ohio. Mrs. Ives, whose membership is of associate grade, holds a bachelor's degree in home economics from the Ohio State University, class of 1915, of which she was an honor student. Mrs. Ives is the wife of Fredrick W. Ives, head of the Department of Agricultural Engineering.

Mrs. Ives, in addressing a group of agricultural engineers, said, "I have discovered in working with household equipment that it is designed by men who have but little experience with the processes involved. Washing machines are built from the standpoint of sales talk or manu-facturing expediency, rather than from the housewife's standpoint. Clutches and controls are poorly designed and inconveniently located. As with every other new industry, there is a great deal to be learned from the consumer.

"The Society is glad to welcome as a member one who can present not only the preferences and requirement of the housewife but can apply engineering precision in giving due weight to the various considerations involved, and it is reasonable to expect that her work marks the beginning of a more thorough coordination between home and appliance design."