International Hall Records
Collection Scope and Contents
This collection documents the planning and construction of International Hall. The collection includes general information about the hall, floor plans, news articles, news releases (primarily on the dedication of the new residence hall), and photographs. The bulk of the collection is the photographs. Of particular interest are the planning materials. These are some of the original planning documents, inter-office memorandums and letters that discuss the decisions made regarding the construction (heating, materials used, electrical considerations, among many others) of the dormitory, including some from Springfield College’s president, Glenn Olds. There is also a list of materials in the cornerstone and photographs of President Glenn Olds speaking at the dedication ceremony.
Dates
- Creation: 1962-2011
Creator
- Springfield College (Creator, Organization)
- Springfield College Archives and Special Collections (Collector, Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Unrestricted
Conditions Governing Use
Rights status not fully evaluated.
Read our full copyright statement.
Historical Note
International Hall was the first new dormitory constructed after the tripod of dorms (Lakeside, Massasoit, Reed) were constructed during the 1950s. The target completion date for the dorm was September 15th, 1964 and the ground breaking ceremony was held a little over a year earlier on July 15th, 1963 at 10am.
The eight-story high rise housed 307 students and cost $1,137,000 dollars. By the time of its completion 1200 out of Springfield’s 1600 full-time students lived on campus. The eighth floor, which is now a large lounge, was originally a classroom. The dormitory was officially dedicated on October 17, 1964 during homecoming weekend.
On June 1, 2011, a category EF3 tornado hit the city of Springfield, Massachusetts and caused severe damage to Springfield College’s campus. International Hall, which was hit dead on, sustained the greatest amount of damage. The tornado shattered every window, tore all the internal doors from their hinges, jostled the furniture and blew dozens of mattresses into the lake. The entire building was renovated and repaired within twelve weeks, in time for students to move in, a task which could have taken at least a year. The tornado tore up trees for a quarter mile along the shore of Massasoit Lake and today students on the eighth floor can see out over the lake and into the city.
Chronology
1963: July 15th, 1963: Groundbreaking ceremony held.
1964: September 15th, 1964: Target completion date.
1964: October 17th: dedication ceremony held.
2011: June 1st, EF3 Tornado hits building.
Extent
.5 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Metadata Rights Declarations
Arrangement
Since this is an artificially created collection there is no original order. The collection is organized as follows: planning materials, floor plans, news articles, photographs and slides, and artwork. Other than digitized items, there is no particular order within the folders.
History of the Collection
There was no formal acquisition of the materials for this collection. The collection is artificially created. Materials were received from different places at different times. The Acquisition sources and dates of the materials are unknown.
Digitized Materials
Browse digitized materials from this collection. This collection is partially digitized.
Digital Materials Searches
Subject
- Springfield College (Organization)
- Title
- International Hall Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Amanda DiPaolo
- Date
- 2009-12
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2011-12: Revisions made to the finding aid by Jeffrey Monseau.
- 2022-07: Transferring information from the original Word document to ArchivesSpace.
Repository Details
Part of the Springfield College Archives and Special Collections Repository
Springfield College
Judd Gymnasia
263 Alden Street
Springfield Massachusetts 01109 U.S.A. US
413-748-3309
jmonseau@springfieldcollege.edu