Dormitories

President Frank Graves believed that campus living quarters were necessary even though the University would be responsible for any discipline problems which might arise. He contacted other institutions to explore their solutions and received mostly negative responses. "James Canfield of Ohio State University insisted that dormitories were destructive of the individuality of the student and brought all manner of trouble for the administration." (Gates, p. 84) The Legislature granted $50,000 to build two dorms, when Pres. Graves warned them that the lack of living quarters would prevent further growth of the University.

Living in the dormitory cost $8-$10 per month and "saved time, strength and disposition" because streetcar travel took 2-3 hours a day. For those who insisted on living in town, room and board was about $25 a month. (Gates, p. 85)

Lewis Hall

Built in 1896 as a dorm for men, by architect Josenhans and Allen at a cost of $25,000, Lewis Hall is named after the famous Pacific Northwest explorer Meriwether Lewis. At the same time, Clark Hall, named after his partner William Clark, was built for women. In 1922, however, both became women's dorms. Exterior walls of Lewis Hall are brick and the interior construction is of wood. New flooring was laid on the second and third floors and the plaster was repaired along with the installation of electrical receptacles in 1925. In 1939 the building was remodeled and made into classrooms and offices. (Ivester, Bldg. 007)

This Lewis Hall dorm room shows the individuality of the student who lived there. The University supplied beds, tables, chairs, bureaus and wardrobes, but students had to bring their own bedding and other necessities. Lewis and Clark Halls provided accommodation for 130 students. The quality of the food served in the dining room located in the basement area was the subject of some criticism from students and a humorous poem was printed in the Pacific Wave:

"You are old," said the youth, "and
your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than gruel;
Still, you ate shoes and blankets, and
your fortune did seek
In the North, 'mid privations cruel."
"In my youth, said the grandfather,
"I ate at the Dorm,
And took all my meals without sighing,
But my jaws, how they worked,--though
thin was my form,--
'Twas meat stew kept me tough and from dying." (Gates, p.86)

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