Here’s an image so unusual it left me momentarily disoriented:

At first glance I thought it was the front of Lovett Hall, but where’s the parking lot? In fact it’s the back side but taken from a really unusual spot–all the way across the quad where Fondren now sits. I can’t recall ever having seen such an image before. I’d guess it was taken sometime in the early to mid-1930s. Here’s a 1933 aerial shot of the quad in which you can clearly see the trees from above. Their position and size seem to be about the same:

I’m struck by the way they used trees to create a quad without buildings. They surely knew that those trees would eventually have to go. It’s hard for me to imagine planting trees intending to cut them down, but I suppose an institution that built its original buildings with lumber money wouldn’t be overly sentimental about such things.

Update: On second thought, I don’t think Willie is there. This makes it pre-1929.

Update Number Two from the Comments: Yeah, he’s there, just hard to see against the building.

Bonus: