Elm Street The Quadrangle.pdf
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. FORM A -AREA MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220MORRISSEY
BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Assessor’s Sheets USGS Quad Area Letter Form Numbers in Area 31A-67 Easthampton NTH.475; 2237-2245 Town: Northampton Place (neighborhood
or village): Smith College Campus Name of Area: The Quadrangle-186 Elm Street Present Use: dormitories Construction Dates or Period: 1922-1936 Overall Condition: good Major Intrusions
and Alterations: Acreage: 8.29 acres Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Date (month/year): December, 2010 Topographic or Assessor's Map ___
see continuation sheet
Continuation sheet 1 ___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. Use as
much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Describe architectural, structural and
landscape features and evaluate in terms of other areas within the community. The Quadrangle of Smith College consists of two large dormitory buildings, each of which is divided into
three or more houses and is known as the Great Quadrangle. Two added dormitory buildings north and south of the Great Quadrangle were later additions that expanded the original quadrangle.
By location on the greater quadrangle they are as follows: The west dormitory of the Great Quadrangle is made up of Cushing, Martha Wilson and Gardiner Houses. Cushing House is a Georgian
Revival style building. It is three-and-a-half stories in height, constructed of red brick with with marble trim as a beltcourse, and as window lintel keystones. It has a side-gable
roof that is slate-covered and from which rise four chimneys and eleven dormers. The building is sixteen bays long and three bays deep. At the first story level on the east end of the
building the first bay is open and creates an arcade with one arch on the north and three on the east. The arch is repeated at the main recessed entry on the north where an arch is flanked
by two straight-lintel openings above which are rondel openings. At the second through third stories on the east elevation is a wood, oriel window supported on consoles. Windows in Cushing
have 6/6 sash and at the cornice level is a row of dentils. The second house of the west dormitory is Martha Wilson House. A Georgian Revival style building, it is east-facing, three-and-a-half
stories in height and constructed of red brick with marble trim. As at Cushing House, the marble forms a beltcourse and arch keystones. The building has a side-gable, slate-covered covered
roof and centered on its fifteen bay façade is a cross-gabled pavilion three bays wide. The center bay of the pavilion is in shallow relief and becomes a five-story, square tower that
beaks through the front-gable and is topped by an open, arcaded, wooden belfry. The main entry to Martha Wilson House is in the pavilion through its open, arcaded first story. The center
entry arch is flanked, as at Cushing, by straight-lintel openings. Paired, end-wall chimneys are located on the north and south and two more chimneys are set at the ridge. On the roof
are eight pedimented dormers. Martha Wilson House has two, stucco-covered wings on north and south ends. The wings are one-and-a-half stories in height under side-gable roofs that end
in cross-gable bays. The wings are curved in plan and beneath the side gable roof they are three bays long, the three bays being open arches. The cross-gable bays are three bays wide
in a Palladian window composition beneath a pedimented gable. The wings attach on the south to Cushing House and on the north to Gardiner House. Gardiner House, the third building of
the west dormitory is a mirror-image of Cushing House. Forming the north dormitory of The Quadrangle is the building known as Franklin King and Laura Scales Houses that was added in
the second building phase. This dormitory is set on a higher level than the east and west dormitories and is reached from the lower level by a double-ramp stairs set into the hillside.
The stairs are brick with cast stone railings and vase-shaped balusters. King-Scales dormitory is U-shaped in plan, and has a four-story center section under a hipped roof with wings
at each side, three stories in height and beneath side-gable roofs. The building is constructed of red brick with marble and wood trim. Georgian Revival in style, this building’s center
section is eight bays wide and it has two round cross-gables, each three bays wide at its center adjacent to a single bay at each side of a 6/6 window. The round cross-gable bays are
20th century interpretations of English Renaissance features and have at their first story six arched, full-length windows with marble keystones above their leaded fanlights. The outer
bays at the first story contain trabeated entries. A marble beltcourse above the first story windows supports eight pilasters framing the six center bays. In a departure from classical
architectural principles, the marble beltcourse has no means of support. The pilasters rise two stories and terminate at a projecting cornice, which again has no means of support. The
third story’s center six bays are framed by four pilasters that rest on the cornice. At attic level in the rounded fields are two oval windows of leaded glass and keystone surrounds.
The curved wings of eleven bays at each side of the main block terminate in front-gable pavilions that are four bays wide. The eleven bays of the first story in the curved section of
the wings are separated by pilasters that support a narrow stringcourse between first and second stories. First story windows are full-length and have 12/12 sash. In the stories above,
the windows have 6/6 sash. The hipped roof pavilions at each end of the wings have a cross-gable bay centered on their roofs. The cross-gable bay is four bays wide and at the first story
has a rounded bay window flanked by two flat-lintel windows; the second and third stories are framed by paired pilasters that support the eaves returns of the front-gable. In their gable
fields are leaded elliptical windows. Of all the dormitories, the Franklin King-Laura Scales takes the most liberties with the classical canons of architecture to create an imaginative
Georgian Revival elevation. Its north elevation that faces Elm Street presents a symmetrical composition that is only somewhat less detailed. The second dormitory of the Great Quadrangle
is on its east side. It is composed of Jordan, Ellen Emerson, and Morrow Houses. Like Cushing, Martha Wilson, Gardiner on the west, the east dormitory is C-shaped in plan. Jordan and
Morrow Houses are mirror-images of Cushing and Gardiner, continuing the Georgian Revival stylistic theme. Ellen Emerson, however, is
Continuation sheet 2 unique. The main block of Emerson is three-and-a-half stories in height under a side-gable roof with end-wall double chimneys. It is eleven bays wide and there are
six, flat-roofed dormers with paired windows at the roof edge and two small front-gabled dormers at the upper attic level. At the first story the west façade, the three center bays are
part of an open passageway between the inner Quad and Paradise Road. The main passageway is a segmental arch flanked by two straight-lintel openings and within the passageway columns
support the barrel vault. Metal-covered, hipped roof porticoes supported by columns shelter three bays at each side of the open passageway. The three openings at each side are made up
of double-leaf, French doors. Between first and second stories of the brick building is a marble beltcourse. At the second story in the center bay is a pair of French doors that open
on to a small iron balcony. The remainder of the openings are windows with 6/6 sash. The main block of of Ellen Emerson has stucco-covered wings at each side. They are two-and-a-half
stories in height, under slate, truncated, side-gable roofs and they are each seven bays long. The roofs are ornamented with Chippendale-patterned balustrades. The east and west dormitories,
then, are reflections of each other with large main brick blocks and smaller stucco-covered wings that connect to identical brick blocks. However, they vary in both plan and elevation
sufficiently to avoid an unrelieved symmetry and to appear as if they had evolved over time. The south dormitory is like the north located on a higher plane in the landscape and is reached
by a double-ramp staircase identical to that on the north. It is on the south side of a cross street, Mandelle Road. The south dormitory is a building with a central courtyard, so is
itself a small quadrangle. It is made up of Wilder and Comstock Houses. The north, east and west sides of this dormitory are brick, three-and-a-half stories in height under slate-covered,
truncated hipped roofs. The fourth side on the south is a stucco-sided section, one-and-a-half stories in height under a hipped, slate roof. The north façade is thirteen bays wide. It
has a center cross-gabled bay that is four-and-a-half stories in height. The cross-gabled bay has a first story entry through a Serliana, above which is a wooden, rounded bay window
that rises three stories. At each side of the cross-gabled bay are two bays slightly recessed followed by three bays that project to the plane of the cross-gabled bay. In the outer three
bays are double end-wall chimneys at each side. The east and west elevations are sixteen bays long and to relieve the long expanse of brick walls, they have corner quoins and entries
in three-story, arched and recessed bays. The entries are sheltered by pedimented porticos on posts. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Explain historical development of the area. Discuss how this
relates to the historical development of the community. From a Form B of 1977: “Cushing House. Opened in 1922, this dormitory at the southwestern corner of the Great Quadrangle was named
in honor of Eleanor Philbrook Cushing, B. A., 1879 Smith (first graduating class). M. A. 1882 Smith. She was professor of Mathematics at Smith 1881-1922 (and the first alumnae to become
a member of the faculty); first President of the Alumnae Association 1881-83; Professor Emeritus 1922-25. Certain of the furnishings were given by the Class of ’93 and their daughters,
to honor a beloved teacher and class officer. Jordan House. Situated at the southeast corner of the Great Quad opposite Cushing, Jordan opened in 1922. Mary Augusta Jordan, B.S. 1876,
M.A. 1878, Vassar; L. H. D., 1910 Smith; Ph.D. 1921 Syracuse; was professor of English Languages and Literature at Smith College from 1884-1921 and Professor Emeritus 1921-41. A professorship
in English is named in her honor. Inside the house is a portrait of Mary A. Jordan, done by Elizabeth Telling, Smith ’04, as well as a medallion by Alice Morgan Wright, Smith ’04, presented
by the faculty. Ellen Emerson House. Located across from Martha Wilson House and parallel and adjacent to Paradise Road, Ellen Emerson House, completed in 1922 occupies the southern
[Sic.] end of the Great Quadrangle. From Concord, Massachusetts, Ellen Emerson (Mrs. Charles Milton Davenport) graduated B.A. 1901, M.A. 1904 from Smith. She was a granddaughter of Ralph
Waldo Emerson. Her achievements include: one of the first social workers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, 1906-1910; President of the Alumnae Association, 1911-13; Associate
Director of the Smith College Relief Unit in France, 1919; Chairman of the Smith War Service Board, 1921; and Alumnae Trustee, 1916-21. Morrow House. Completed in 1926, Morrow lies at
the northwestern corner of the Great Quad. This house was named for Elizabeth Reeve Cutter Morrow, Smith ’96, in whose memory Cutter House is also dedicated. Among other accomplishments,
she served as President of the Alumnae Association, 1917-20; Alumnae Trustee, 1920-26; Trustee, 1926; and Chairman of the 50th Birthday Gift Committee. A Library of Poets was donated
to the house from her friends. Gardiner House. Gardiner was opened in 1926, at the northeast corner of the Great Quad, opposite Morrow House. Henry Norman Gardiner (B.A. 1878, M.A. 1888
Amherst, L.H.D. 1924 Smith) was professor of philosophy at Smith 1886-1924; Professor Emeritus 1924-27; first Secretary and Treasurer of the American Philosophical Society; and a contributor
to the “Philosophical Review” and the “Psychological Review.” Martha Wilson House. Dominating the northern [Sic.] end of the Great Quadrangle the clock and bell towered Martha Wilson
House, finished in 1926, completes the original Quad layout. Martha Wilson (B.A. 1895 Smith) was president of the Alumnae Association 1905-09; Trustee of the Children’s Memorial Hospital,
Chicago; Founder of the Central Council of Nursing Education. In the tower is the original College Hall bell given by Mrs. Seelye and later removed to accommodate the chimes.
Continuation sheet 3 Mandelle Quadrangle. Composed of Comstock and Wilder Houses, the Mandelle Quad was built in 1929-30, designed by Ames, Putnam and Dodge, and made possible by a bequest
from Mary S. Mandelle of Detroit. The two neo-Georgian style houses face onto Mandelle Road. Comstock House. Named for Ada Louise Comstock, first Dean and a graduate (1897) of Smith;
she was also President of Radcliff College (1923-1943). Wilder House. Harris Hawthorne and Inez Whipple Wilder were connected with the Smith Department of Zoology, and Professors (1892-1928).
Mrs. Wilder (Ph.D. 1900 Brown, M.A. 1904 Smith) was an author and Professor of Zoology 1902-1929. Laura Scales-Franklin King Houses. Completed in 1936 by Ames, Putnam, and Dodge, this
final segment of the Neo-Georgian styled Quadrangle is flanked by Elm Street and the Great Quad. Laura Scales House. Laura Woolsey Lord Scales (B.A. 1901 Smith, L.H. D. 1931 Smith, Litt.
D. 1939 Dartmouth) was the first warden at Smith (1922-24; among her achievements are: Museum Instructor, Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1913-1920; First Dean of Women, Carnegie Institute
of Technology (1920-1922; and Warden Emeritus of Smith (1944-). Franklin King House. Named in honor of the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds at Smith Franklin King House commemorates
Mr. King’s 50 years of service to the College, 1887-1937. He was made an honorary member of the Alumnae Association in 1925. The Great Quadrangle. Cushing, Ellen Emerson and Jordan were
completed in 1922 with part of the college’s $4,000,000. Fund. Morrow, Martha Wilson and Gardiner Houses opened in 1926, constructed with alumnae funds which commemorated the College’s
Golden Anniversary. All ten dormitory buildings were designed by the Boston firm of Ames, Putnam and Dodge, and built between 1922 and 1936. Constructed on a large rectangular area of
land bounded by Elm Street, Paradise Road, Mandelle Road, and Kensington Avenue, this pre-planned residential area accommodates nearly one-third of all Smith students living on campus.
“ Comstock and Wilder Houses. Mandelle Quadrangle.
Continuation sheet 4 Gardiner (L.) and Jordan (R.) Houses with King-Scales in background. Ellen Emerson House. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Beers, F. W. County Atlas of Hampshire Massachusetts,
New York, 1873. Hales, John G. Plan of the Town or Northampton in the County of Hampshire, 1831. Miller, D. L. Atlas of the City of Northampton and Town of Easthampton, Hampshire County,
Massachusetts, Philadelphia, 1895. Smith College Archives. Walker, George H. and Company. Atlas of Northampton City, Massachusetts, Boston, 1884. Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire County,
Massachusetts, New York, 1860.
Continuation sheet 5 Data Sheet Address Name MHC# 186 Elm Street Cushing Hall NTH.475 Jordan Hall NTH.2237 Emerson Hall NTH.2238 Morrow Hall NTH.2470 Gardiner Hall NTH.2471 Martha Wilson
Hall NTH.2472 Comstock Hall NTH.2473 Wilder Hall NTH.2474 Laura Scales Hall NTH.2244 Franklin King Hall NTH.2245