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International Hall Records

 Record Group — Box: 01
Identifier: RG-126

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

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.

Related Materials: Records Within Springfield College Collections

  1. RG 110- Springfield College Building and Grounds Records
  2. Springfield College Trustee Records
  3. Springfield College Marketing and Communication Records--Scrapbooks and News Clippings
  4. Student Life—Photographs
  5. Student Activities Records
  6. Springfield College Yearbook Collection
  7. Springfield College Newspaper Collection
  8. Springfield College Catalog Collection

Subject

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

Contact:
Springfield College
Judd Gymnasia
263 Alden Street
Springfield Massachusetts 01109 U.S.A. US
413-748-3309