Remembering Peters Hall as Campus Space


Basement of Peters Hall Before Renovation, Ca. 1952

Photo by Arthur E. "Pinky" Princehorn
Oberlin College Archives
On March 20, 1885, architects Weary and Kramer wrote to Charles
Grandison Fairchild (Financial Secretary for Oberlin College, 1882-93):
"There seems to be no other practical use for cellars in
Oberlin,...perhaps you will become reconciled to this in time."

Correspondence, Treasurer's Office, Oberlin College Archives

 

 

 

 

 

Remodeling of Peters Hall Basement, 1954
Kneeling is Jack Dunn, on the ladder is Ralph Hart, and in the
doorway is Howard Jent.
Photo by Arthur E. "Pinky" Princehorn
Oberlin College Archives

Admissions Office in Renovated Basement of Peters Hall, Oct.1954
Photo by Arthur E "Pinky" Princehorn
Oberlin College Archives

Beanie Worn by Preparatory Students
Class of 1905
Oberlin College Archives

 

George Holbrook White (d. 1893)

Photo by Ryder & Marceau, Cleveland

Oberlin College Archives

White served 17 years as Principal of the Preparatory Department of Oberlin College and Professor of Ancient Languages.
"(Peters Hall)...is superb beyond our expectation. I am bewitched by it. I told my class.. .that I had kept the thermometer at 64 degrees during the hour, but hadn't done anything else.... My little room holds 44 students easily. We have chairs with iron frames, joined by twos and threes for the students,-and placed in a semi circular form around the platform.... The dry closets are as sweet as the recitation rooms and do their part toward making life worth living."

George H. White to Giles Waldo Shurtleft, February 17, 1887 Shurtleff Papers, Oberlin College Archives

 

 

Frank L. Smith (Graduate Student, 1946-47)
Psychology Laboratory, June 1946
Photo by Arthur E. "Pinky" Princehorn
Oberlin College Archives

Students engaged in a Psychology experiment
Psychology Laboratory, n.d.
Photo by Arthur E. "Pinky" Princehorn
Oberlin College Archives


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