The Oregon Legislature established the University of Oregon in 1872. Eugene area residents raised $27,500 — nearly $500,000 in today’s dollars — through strawberry festivals, church socials and produce sales to buy seventeen acres of land to build the university’s first building, Deady Hall.

The UO opened its doors in 1876. Inside Deady Hall, five faculty members taught 155 students. The first graduating class — five students in all — received diplomas in 1878.