Bowdoin College Bowdoin Digital Commons Bowdoin Histories Special Collections and Archives 1988 The Architecture of Bowdoin College Patricia McGraw Anderson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoin-histories Part of the American Art and Architecture Commons, Architectural History and Criticism Commons, Education Commons, and the History Commons Recommended Citation Anderson, Patricia McGraw, "The Architecture of Bowdoin College" (1988). Bowdoin Histories. 3. https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoin-histories/3 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Special Collections and Archives at Bowdoin Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Bowdoin Histories by an authorized administrator of Bowdoin Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BOWDOINThe ArchitectureCOLLEGEof Patricia McGraiv Anderson Photographs by Richard Cheek 1 The Architecture of BOWDOIN COLLEGE The Architecture of BOWDOIN COLLEGE Patricia McGrawAnderson Photographs by Richard Cheek Bowdoin College Museum of Art Brunswick, Maine 1988 Published with the assistance of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Parts of the glossary of this book first appeared in Portland and are used here by permission of Greater Portland Landmarks, Inc. cover: John G. Brown, Bowdoin Campus, ca. 1822, oil on canvas, Bowdoin College Museum of Art. design: Michael Mahan Graphics, Bath, Maine photographs: Richard Cheek. Archival material and illustrative photographs courtesy of Special Collections, Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, Bowdoin College. typesetting: The Anthoensen Press printing: Penmor Lithographers ISBN: 0-916606-13-9 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 87-71827 Copyright © 1988 by the President and Trustees of Bowdoin College All rights reserved 3153 CONTENTS PROLOGUE FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THE FIRST WALK: The Quadrangle i Massachusetts Hall 9 Maine Hall 1 Winthrop Hall 17 Appleton Hall 19 The Chapel 23 Seth Adams Hall 29 Memorial Hall 33 Mary Frances Searles Science Building 39 Walker Art Building 43 Hubbard Hall 49 Hyde Hall 5 3 Flagpole The Memorial 5 7 Harvey Dow Gibson Hall of Music 5 8 Coleman Hall 61 Nathaniel Hawthorne-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Library 63 Class of 1922 Fountain 67 The Visual Arts Center 69 THE SECOND WALK: The Back Campus and Mall 73 Heating Plant 8 5 Sargent Gymnasium and General Thomas Worcester Hyde Athletic Building 88 The Polar Bear 93 Dudley Coe Health Center 95 Curtis Pool 97 Moulton Union 10 Moore Hall , 104 Sills Hall and Smith Auditorium 107 Parker Cleaveland Hall 109 Dayton Arena 1 1 1 Malcolm E. Morrell Gymnasium 1 The Tineman 1 1 1 THE THIRD WALK: The Perimeter n 7 The President's Gateway 119 Rhodes Hall 121 Commons Hall 123 Class of 1878 Gateway 124 Getchell House 125 Ham House 127 The First Parish Church 128 Chamberlain House 133 Franklin Clement Robinson Gateway 1 3 5 Alpha Delta Phi House 137 Burnett House 139 Class of 1875 Gateway 141 Alpha Rho Upsilon House 143 Beta Theta Pi House 145 Theta Delta Chi House 147 Psi Upsilon House 149 Ashby House 1 5 Boody-Johnson House 1 5 3 Warren Eastman Robinson Gateway 1 5 6 Chi Psi House 1 5 8 Delta Sigma House 161 Delta Kappa Epsilon House 163 Little-Mitchell House 164 Coles Tower, Wentworth Hall, and Chamberlain Hall 167 Alpheus Spring Packard Gateway 171 Baxter House 173 Zeta Psi House 175 The Pickard Field Complex 177 Alpha Kappa Sigma House 181 Whittier Field, Hubbard Grandstand, and Class of 1903 Gateway 183 Pine Grove Cemetery and Pine Street Apartments 185 85 Federal Street and Marshall Perley Cram Alumni House 189 ENDNOTES [ 93 GLOSSARY 202 BIBLIOGRAPHY 209 INDEX 215 MAP 224 PROLOGUE To walk through the Bowdoin campus is to walk through the history of American architecture. The Federal period, the Greek Revival, the Gothic Revival, the Victorian, and the modern— all are to be found here. Each age has left its imprint, and today the buildings of Bowdoin stand as a record of the changing tastes of our forebears. The student, who President Hyde hoped would learn "to count Art an intimate friend," lives daily with that opportunity. The very campus is a part of the liberal arts experience at Bowdoin. It is most appropriate, therefore, that a book heralding the architecture of the College be published and that it take the form of a series of walks. Not only may the uninitiated discover this remarkable world, but we who have grown too easily accustomed may have our senses quickened to the beauty that surrounds us. Books, like buildings, do not simply grow. They result from visions, encouragement, hard work, and practiced skills. In the foreword that fol- lows, Katharine J. Watson and Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., have acknowl- edged many whose labors have made this particular book possible. Others are cited by Patricia M. Anderson. I would like to second their praise and gratitude. I would also like to thank Katharine Watson, Earle Shettleworth, and Patricia Anderson, for without their continuing concern this opportu- nity to rediscover the Bowdoin campus would not exist. A. LeRoy Greason President Bowdoin College Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/architectureofbowdOOande FOREWORD The campus of Bowdoin College, especially the central quadrangle, is one of the most beautiful in America. That beauty has evolved from an interweaving of natural site and architecture with tradition. But the splendor of the architecture remains largely unsung, so familiar are the buildings to those who use them. They have served most often as a quiet backdrop to the human events of the College's history. The publication of a book to celebrate the architecture began as the dream of John R. Ward '83, who developed a reverent attachment to the campus buildings. As an undergraduate, he began his research, sharing his findings with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. In 1983 and 1985, as the result of Mr. Ward's interest in the buildings and his considerable enthusiasm for the project, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, granted the Museum of Art funds sufficient to initiate publication and to insure fulfillment of Mr. Ward's dream. With the guidance of an advisory committee, John Ward spent a year on research and writing; Richard Cheek was commissioned to take the photo- graphs. After the initial year, Patricia McGraw Anderson, one of Maine's most distinguished architectural historians and preservationists, assumed authorship of the book. With devotion and determination, Mrs. Anderson has pursued the diffi- cult challenge of sifting through voluminous archival materials and separat- ing fact from legend. In her text, she changes the traditional way of viewing the campus and awakens readers to the significance of the architecture. Deftly, she provides insight into the history of each building, placing Bow- doin's development within the larger context of campuses and curriculums across the country. With authority and delicacy, she traces the appearance of buildings and teaches her audience how to look. Katharine J. Watson Director Bowdoin College Museum of Art Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. Director Maine Historic Preservation Commission ACKNOWLEDGMENTS is the College's buildings which give lasting It substance to the history of the institution. Thus The Architecture of Bowdoin College becomes also a history of an educational institution founded nearly two hundred years ago. I am, therefore, delighted to acknowledge the help, support, and encourage- ment of my Bowdoin College colleagues and friends who played roles in the making of this book. With pleasure I acknowledge the thoughtful leadership of Director Kath- arine J. Watson, whose vision of the museum's collections includes, always, the work of art in which they are housed, Charles Follen McKim's 1894 Walker Art Building. To the administrative assistant to the director, Roxlyn T. Yanok, I am indebted for her oversight of the complexities of this project and for her friendly counsel. I am grateful to Helen Semerdjian Dube, who undertook the work of typing, provided research for the fraternity buildings, and offered assistance in countless ways. All the museum staff members deserve my hearty thanks for their support, their interest, and their enthusiasm. It is always satisfying when a necessity becomes a pleasure; so it was working in the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library. Arthur Monke and his staff gave their help with unfailing good humor. Particular mention should be made of Dianne M. Gutscher, curator of Special Collections, and her assist- ant, Susan. B. Ravdin '80, whose willing and patient involvement is deeply appreciated. I am also grateful to A. Laura McCourt and John B. Ladley, Jr., for their services, cheerfully rendered. The cooperative nature of this institutional enterprise is reflected in the help of the Office of the Treasurer; the Department of Physical Plant; Janet B. Smith, assistant to the president; and William D Shipman, Adams-Catlin Professor of Economics. Professor Shipman's own publications on early Bowdoin and Brunswick architecture were invaluable, as was his help during the course of the project. I am grateful to Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, for his agency's support of this undertaking, for his own generosity and swiftness in providing help and information, and for his careful reading of the final manuscript. I wish to acknowledge John V. GofTs work on Felix Arnold Burton for the commission, and Greer Hardwick's work on Kilham and Hopkins, which came to my attention through the kind interest of Richard M. Candee, director of the Preservation Studies Program at Boston University. In my quest for information on other college campuses, I am grateful for generous responses from Boston University, Dartmouth College, Mid- dlebury College, Princeton University, Smith College, Trinity College, Wellesley College, Williams College, and Yale University.