Reid Residence Hall Research Paper

Reid Residence Hall was built in 1925; it is the sixth dormitory added to campus. A residence hall, or dormitory, is a building primarily used for sleeping and residential quarters for a large quantity of students. At a small all-women’s college, a dormitory is all of these things, it is also a place of congregation, and the placement of the dormitories is to promote the safety and wellbeing of the students. The placement of the dormitories on campus is a special design to that of an all-woman’s college, though not built in a seminary style like Vassar, which was designed to be under one roof, the buildings of Sweet Briar face each other and are close together, promoting safety without a completely becoming forced under one roof (Horowitz,

32). Reid Dormitory was built to serve all the students need, rather than just be a dormitory, named after Fergus Reid, it is and essential part of campus, and the original presentation drawings survive today, though the full purpose of the building may not.
Reid was sixth of the seven dormitories proposed for the college, it accommodated eighty-eight additional students, it provided and extra kitchen and a dining room where all the freshmen could be served together (Stohlman, 161). The official name of the Dormitory being Fergus Reid Residence Hall, named after long time fried and leader of the college campouts, Mr. Fergus Reid. Fergus Reid was an accomplished businessman who served more than thirty-six years on the Board of Sweet Briar College (Stohlman, 165). Many on campus admired him; President Meta Glass admired him because he was a “generous and cultivated business man who believed in the education of women” (Harnsberger, 206).

President Meta Glass, once said something along the lines of, “no one really knows how generous he was to her… once when [the board was] starting to raise money he gave $50,000 ‘to start things with’… he often lent money and later refused payment” (Stohlman, 165). Ferguson played a major role in the development of Sweet Briar campus, eventually donating more money to library and dedicating it to his mother.

“Reid Residence Hall is a three story, fourteen bay, Georgian Revival brick building with a pedimented Doric entrance portico on the North Elevation” (Harnsberger, 206). Reid Dormitory is situated in the middle of the axial drive originally designed to lead from the former Refectory to a road to the south. It was placed on the southern side of campus, flanked by Grammer Dormitory to the left and a proposed seventh dormitory to the right; this seventh dorm was not built until 1956 (Dreams and Reality: Sweet Briar College and Ralph Adams Cram, Laing, 32). Ralph Adams Cram built this building as well; he clearly intended this building to hold its own against the Refectory, giving it a grand design. This is evident given its dual function as both a dormitory and a dining

hall. The plans for this building were completed on September 24, 1924; Cram and Ferguson then reviewed them, revising and initialing the prints on October 31, 1924 (Harnsberger, 206). The exterior of Reid was simplified and refined for economic reasons, but the interior was made more ornate than the interiors of the older dormitories. Looking at the front of the dormitory you see a "boldly projecting ionic portico…lifted up on the rusticated podium base” (Laing, 33). The entrance is reached by a flight of steps, similar to those leading up to the refractory. The building has a gable roof, which is a roof that is generally triangular, with two sloping sides that come together at a ridge, “creating end walls with a triangular extension, gables vary, [being a] inconsistency that builders try to avoid” ("Roof Shapes." This Old House). This roof is used rather than a hipped roof commonly found on all dormitories, linking to the refractory with its gable temple roof, attempting to compete but also create symmetry with the Refractory. The board protested the design of this building, stating that the estimates exceed that of what was proposed. Cram and Ferguson modified the plans to reduce the cost without “vitally affecting the construction of the buildings.” The obvious changes included the replacement of the “Ionic order with Doric; the substitution of the simpler form would have reduced the costs considerably” (Laing, 33). Doric being the most masculine of the three fundamental classical Roman orders, it is “characterized by columns of sturdy proportions, a simple capital and entablature with stacked bands of concave, convex and flat moldings” and Ionic being the most feminine, having columns of slender proportions, “an elegant capital with large volutes on the front and back and an elegant entablature” (Laing, 59-60). “The rusticated stone indicated for the podium base of the portico in the presentation drawing was replaced by brick, but the stone steps remained, and scored concrete to simulate rustication at the basement level continued the concept of elevating an important building” (Laing, 35).
A short flight of steps led up to the vestibule and another down to the dining hall.

A double flight of stairs led down to the dining room. The dining room itself was to be divided by a row of paired plaster columns running east to west. Windows look both north and south to create a bright and airy room. There was very little storage room was tucked into the east staircase, giving the impression that food was brought over to be cooked as needed, as many of the supplies remained in the refractory. Until the construction of Prothro Commons in 1983 this room functioned as the freshman-dining hall. This is an interesting concept, because one of the things that makes sweet briar so unique and gives it such a sense of community is the idea that everybody and all classes share a dining room. The idea of having a separate dining room for the freshman class raises the question of ostracization from the rest of the classes in a place where community should

exist.
The interior of Reid is the richest interior of any of the dormitories; this is because of its public face. Using stone, concrete and plaster, Reid has an exterior feel and the openings of its parlors give an interior-exterior blend that resembles eighteenth century English country houses. Pairs of fluted columns support a Doric entablature, and provide an entry into each of the parlors. Each parlor also contains fielded panel, which is a “raised or recessed panel with a wide flat surface surrounded by moldings, or a panel divided into smaller panels”, the west parlor added a decorative fireplace with a mantel “embellish with Ionic pilasters and varnished dark brown” (Merriam Webster Dictionary, Liang, 35).
The structure of Reid has stayed the same however the purpose of the building has changed over the years. In 2014 the parlors are no longer separated, creating a more open space, and possibly more inviting. The basement, now known as Reid Pit, no longer houses a second dining area, and has not since the opening of Prothro in 1983. The new structure of Reid includes a kitchen on the second floor, and the basement houses the chaplain’s office, student media, including the literacy magazine, yearbook and radio station (Residence Halls, Sweet Briar College). Reid competes with Pannell, also previously known as the refractory, being right across the quad from each other. The symmetry and competing features of Reid and Pannell define the buildings. The building has grown with the college, changing to accommodate the current needs of Sweet Briar. Even today Reid dormitory stands as a community space and a useful part of housing for students on campus.