Designed by Clarence Johnston, William B. and Ida B. Stewart Hall was constructed in 1923-1924 and originally served as the hospital for the West Central School of Agriculture. Construction costs totaled about $10,000, and it originally contained 25 beds, space for resident nurses and a kitchen (Granger). The building also hosted home nursing classes.
The building seems to have gone by a variety of names during the WCSA period but was most commonly known as Health Service. It replaced an earlier infirmary built during the federal boarding school period and located on what would become the mall. It is distinguished from other buildings on the south side of the mall by a more significant setback and its location mirrored the siting for the Superintendent’s House opposite the infirmary on the mall’s north side. The building is little changed since 1972 when a stair tower was added to the west end of the building (University of Minnesota Morris Historic Preservation Plan).
The hospital saw significant duty in the 1940s as the West Central School of Agriculture suffered through both a scarlet fever and an influenza outbreak during that decade. With the establishment of UMN Morris, Health Services was moved to Pine Hall and then in 1967 to Gay Hall. The building was then renamed Student Services and according to the 1962-1963 Bulletin it housed Admissions, Counseling, Housing and Student Activities. Apparently during the same period it was also known as the Administration Building, a title listed on the campus map in the 1965-67 Bulletin (University of Minnesota Morris Bulletin). Although Dean Rodney Briggs originally occupied an office in Edson Hall, by 1963 the Dean’s office had moved to the Student Services/Administration building. Thus, in 1964 William B. and Ida B. Stewart Hall was the locale of the best prank in the annals of UMN Morris when a group of students under the cover of darkness invaded Dean Briggs’ office and installed a wall-to-wall treatment of new turf grass. The pièce de résistance was a flag “liberated” from the local golf course (Granger).
In 1967 the building became the home of the Division of Education and administrative offices were moved to the newly renovated and renamed Behmler Hall. William B. and Ida B. Stewart Hall was known as the Education Building until 2023, when it was renamed after William B. and Ida B. Stewart for their leadership and legacy on the UMN Morris campus (Education Building Renamed in Honor of Bill and Ida Stewart).
