Wisconsin, which was later adopted by other states. For this, the Red Gym was designated a National Historic Landmark. State Historical Society (1900) The university's library had a good home in Assembly/Library Hall when it was built in 1879, but by the 1890s the library's books had overflowed into basements around campus. Meanwhile, the State Historical Society's collection - much of it irreplaceable - was jammed into the capitol building where it was vulnerable to fire. From 1895 to 1899 the state legislature approved funds for a shared building to solve both problems. Milwaukee architects Ferry & Clas designed the new building in Neoclassical style, with a broad Ionic colonnaded portico, and exterior of Bedford limestone. Inside are mosaic tile floors, marble staircases, and a large reading room. The building's footprint was U-shaped, with the historical society's stacks in the south end and the university's stacks in the north. In 1952 the university's library moved to the new Memorial Library building across the square and the Historical Society expanded to take over the entire building. Old Education Building (1901) Between North Hall and Science Hall is a Beaux Arts-style structure built in 1901 to house the College of Engineering. When outside architects didn't submit a satisfactory design and the need for a building was urgent, some of the engineering faculty designed their own building in a month and got the first section built in under a year. By 1933 Engineering had outgrown the building. Engineering moved to new buildings on the west side of campus, and the Education department moved in. Birge Hall (1912) Growing science programs had driven Engineering to move to its own building in 1901, and they continued to grow. In 1905 the Dean of L&S Edward Birge recommended a new Biology building to relieve crowding in Science Hall. State architect Arthur Peabody and Jarvis Hunt of Chicago designed a 5-story Neoclassical-styled structure behind Bascom and South Hall. It was completed in 1912, and initially called the Botany building. Wisconsin Alumni Magazine described entering from the Bascom mall side and seeing: ...biological specimens of general interest which fills most of the ground floor of the main building. Passing straight through the museum doors on both sides open into the auditorium, which seats about four hundred. There are two floors below this, the basement, which contained the department of plant physiology, and the sub-basement containing labs and work