Olga Ross Hannon


Olga Ross Hannon was an art professor at Montana State College from 1921 to 1947. As an artist she is known for mountain landscape and Indian culture paintings.

Early life

Olga E. Ross was born on September 15, 1890, in Moline, Illinois, the daughter of Peter M. and Caroline Ross. She had one brother, Arthur E. Ross.
She attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1911. She then studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts; the Snow-Froehlick School of Industrial Arts in Chicago; and the Art Students League of New York.

Career

In 1916 Olga Ross Hannon was head of the art department at Ferry Hall, Lake Forest, Illinois. She then moved to Sheridan, Wyoming, and finally to Bozeman, Montana.
Hannon taught art at Montana State College from 1921 to 1947. Her purpose was to "prepare students for a practical realization of their talents". She was the head of the art department for 25 years. She served as acting dean of the Household and Industrial Arts Department.
John C. Ewers wrote that "these tipis were of religious significance, being part of a complex of sacred objects and rituals and taboos surrounding the Indian owners as long as they possessed the tipis."
As the head of the Art Department, Hannon granted $300 to Frances Senska and her first students, among whom several World War II veterans, to create a ceramics studio in the basement of Herrick Hall.

Personal life

On January 6, 1916, Olga Ross married Irving Hannon, who died a short time later.
Olga Ross Hannon retired in 1947 and died two months later, in May 1947 at Wickenburg, Arizona. She is buried at Moline Memorial Park, Moline.

Legacy

Hannon Hall, built in 1954, is one of the remaining two all-women's residence halls at MSU.