Foggy Bottom Historic District
From GWUEncyc
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The Foggy Bottom Historic District, designated as a D.C. Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was established in 1987.
George Washington University is Washington's largest and best recognized university. The University has a long and rich history reaching back to the early years of the 19th century when it was known as Columbian College. In 1904, it was the school chosen by the George Washington Memorial Association to fulfill our first President's desire for a national university, as expressed in his last will and testament, and the school was thus renamed to commemorate this tie. As a 20th century institution it is a distinctly urban school – one whose educational mission is directly linked to its urban site. From the early years, it practiced an innovative educational philosophy and policy that was a direct response to the unique resources and needs of this city. Building on the value of its prime urban site, the University has been willing to struggle long and hard to develop a campus in its downtown location. The George Washington University Campus Historic District represents the history of the University's commitment to Washington, D.C. and its efforts to develop a prominent role as an urban educational institution.
The school's formal campus is basically defined as the area from 19th Street west to 24th Street and F Street north to Pennsylvania Avenue. But from the school's arrival on G Street in 1912 to the recent integration of new and old buildings along 20th Street, Square 102 has been recognized as the heart of this urban university. Composed of the entire Square 102 and adjacent buildings along 21st Street, N.W., the Historic District includes the University's most significant buildings, both historically and architecturally.
Each building plays a part in defining the significance of the Historic District. The location and juxtaposition of these structures manifests the philosophy and ideals of George Washington University and how events and ideas have transformed the physical expression of the school, how they have affected the development, of its neighborhood, and finally, how they have contributed to the culture of the District of Columbia.
1) The area relates the history of George Washington University's commitment to provide adequate facilities amid the pressures of urban life. From the purchase of 2023 G Street in 1910, its gradual collection of adjacent properties, the timely bequest of Woodhull House in 1921, the subsequent effort to organize Square 102 into a formal campus quadrangle with the Harris Plan, the impact of President Cloyd Heck Marvin, to the influence of its major benefactors, George Washington University's history and philosophy is captured by the buildings within this district.
2) The University's development in and around Square 102 has played an important role in redefining the neighborhood. Beyond the obvious introduction of an institutional aesthetic, the school's presence has significantly affected the economic focus of the area. An understanding of the effect and influence of the University on the neighborhood, and of its role as the major landholder is necessary to appreciate the impact of the school on this area. In 1912, George Washington University moved into St. Rose's Industrial School, which was on the seam of the West End and Foggy Bottom neighborhoods. Foggy Bottom was an area which mixed residential and industrial use; one of Washington's most prestigious residential areas during the second half of the 19th century, was in decline. It was easy for the school to begin appropriating property in the neighborhoods. By utilizing refurbished dwellings for classrooms and offices, it continued the residential ambience while meeting the school's needs. But in the 1920s and 1930s, as the University's enrollment grew, as it became a residential university, and as it sought to develop high visibility, it began a series of building ventures aimed at expanding the school's physical plant. Attempts to create a formal campus quadrangle, the demolition of many small-scale 19th century residential buildings and the erection of large-scaled modernist classroom structures interrupted the residential ambience of this area. The University spread and this growth blurred the distinction between the Foggy Bottom and the West End neighborhoods of the late 1800s.
The University, clearly responsible for disrupting the demographic patterns, imposed its own configuration upon the area, providing a new framework for neighborhood identity. While this has brought the destruction of many historic buildings, the University's continual fight to manage and maintain space for its institutional life has also had the positive effect of holding back the intense commercial development lining the borders of the campus.
3) This area symbolizes the University's response to Washington’s unique position as the federal city. It recalls the important role the University has had in fulfilling George Washington's wish for a national university. Further, these buildings are testimony to the University's commitment as an institution of higher learning in the Nation's Capital to provide quality education for both full and part-time students. In its early years, the school played an important role in redefining traditional educational goals and objectives to allow working people to attend college at night, to include accomplished professionals on its teaching staff, to encourage alternative approaches, to post-graduate study, and to actively support the integration of a residential college into the existing community.
George Washington University historian Elmer Louis Kayser, in Bricks Without Straw, has recognized the close association between the major structures of the school and the ideals of the men and women whose faith, dedication, and financial backing have supported it over the years. His book underscores the struggle the University has faced in its pursuit of a visual identity at its location. Unlike schools which were afforded large open space to present their aesthetic ideals, George Washington University did not have this luxury. Unlike those with the power to effect an autonomous master plan, George Washington University developed over the years within the physical and legal limitations inherent to an urban site. Beginning with the move to Foggy Bottom/West End in 1912, the school has slowly gathered space around it, first in Square 102, and then around the neighborhood.
The strength of George Washington University today rests in its independence of any denominational or other control; its location, happily chosen in the heart of the capital city, and utilization of the opportunities that that location offers; the loyalty and ability of its officers and faculty; the eminence of its graduates, particularly in the field of public service; the willingness of distinguished men and women to devote time and talents as Trustees; the faith of generous donors in its mission; and the inspiration of a worthy tradition and of a great name.
Today, Square 102 remains the heart of the campus, and its own development aptly mirrors the University's accretive development from a small college into a large urban academic center.
Buildings included in the Foggy Bottom Historic District
Woodull House
Original owner: Maxwell Woodhull
2033 G Street, N.W. Square 102, lots 24 & 25
Date built: 1855
Built by Maxwell Woodhull in 1855, 2033 G Street was donated to the University in 1921 by his son General Maxwell Van Zandt Woodhull, a University trustee and benefactor. Woodhull had been instrumental in the University's decision to move its campus to G Street, and his bequest of the house commemorates the relocation of George Washington University from downtown Washington to Foggy Bottom, making the house a symbol of the transformation of a residential neighborhood into a sprawling University campus. The two-story brick Italianate mansion commands the northeast corner lot at the intersection of 20th and G Streets, and is noted for its irregular plan, flat roof and projecting cornice. It is unfortunate that the architect of this house is unknown because the sophisticated treatment of the massing and detail reflects an experienced hand. The primary facade, on G Street, is arranged in a tri-partite composition with a slightly projecting central bay. This bay holds the entrance which recedes behind a stone arch supported by Gothicized colonettes and capitals, while to either side, are projecting wooden octagonal oriels at the first floor level. The 20th Street facade is plainer, but it, too, has a round projecting bay and a wooden oriel. The first floor two-light casement windows are set under round arches, while the windows on the second floor are four-over two, double-hung sashes.
Wetzel House
Original Owner: Margaret Wetzel
714 21st Street, Square 79, lot 845
Date built: ca.1853-57
714 21st Street is a free-standing brick dwelling. Built ca.1853-57 by an unknown hand, this is one of only a few substantial mid-19th century houses which remain in Foggy Bottom/West End. Solidly presented, this wel1-proportioned house stands three stories high and is three bays wide. Artful stone detailing plays off the severe plane of the brick facade, emphasizing the carefully placed windows. A terra cotta belt course separates the second and third stories and the molded and denticulated cornice is supported by end brackets. The flat surface, the attenuated proportions of the windows, and the molded stone hood molds above them reflect the Italianate style that pervaded design in Washington from the mid-through the late-19th century.
The building was acquired by GW in 1931. For many years it served as the University's Faculty Club. The University Alumni office occupied the building from 1974 to 1999. The exterior portion of the house was renovated in 1980. The house has played a significant role in University history. Students, faculty, and alumni have used the building as a campus center and the structure has played a vital role in campus life.
President's Offices
Original Owner: John Foster
Architect: George S. Cooper
700 20th Street, N.W., Square 102, lot 26
Builder: Theodore A. Harding
Date built: 1892
Architect George S. Cooper designed this dwelling for John W. Foster in 1892, complementing the adjacent house facing G Street to the west designed that same year by Victor Mindeleff. Together, the two houses are representative of late 19th century Washington row-house construction, both in scale and in excellence of the brick-work and ornamentation. Cooper took advantage of the house's corner site by orienting the entrance to 20th Street; this, being the longer facade, lends the house the appearance of grandeur belied by its narrow lot (16' 6" x 40'). An elegant stone stair covered by a porch supported by brick piers serves the entrance. Flanking the porch are two square projecting bays: one, three stories with a pyramidal slate roof; the other, two stories with a flat roof. A round one-story bay supporting an iron-railed balcony graces the G Street facade, and the mansard roof is interrupted on both facades by a cross gable. The surface of the smooth pressed brick is articulated by the rough stone belt courses and the window trim.
President's Offices
Architect: George S. Cooper
2003 G Street, N.W. Square 102, lot 27
Original Owner: John Foster
Date built: 1892
In 1892, Victor Mindeleff designed three houses facing G Street, in Square 102, for John W. Foster, and three facing 20th Street for owner/contractor Theodore A. Harding. Of these, the only one standing is 2003 G Street. Complementing the adjacent house to the east facing 20th Street, the two-bay facade consists of a simple round-arched entrance and a two-story round projecting bay. Like 700 20th Street, the mansard roof on this house is interrupted by a cross gable; rough stone belt courses, lintels and sills articulate the pressed brick surface.
Counseling Center
Builder: Bynam & Thomas
716-718 21st Street, N.W., Square 79, lot 828
Original Owner: W.H. Wetzel
Date built: 1888
This pair of semi-detached brick dwellings is typical of the middle class row houses built in Washington at the end of the 19th century. Modest in scale, the houses are noted for their matching projecting bays and their ornamental brick cornices. They were designed and built by the contracting firm of Bynam and Thomas for W.H. Wetzel in 1888. Wetzel, who resided in the substantial house next door (714 21st Street), probably had these houses built as a speculative venture. The popularity of rowhouses in this area at this time illustrates the change in the neighborhood's social orientation, from the fashionable society prevalent at mid-century toward the middle class. These are two of the small dwellings that the University purchased and adapted for new uses during the first quarter of the 20th century to meet its growing academic and administrative needs.
Corcoran Hall
Architects: A.L. Harris & A.B. Heaton
725 21st Street, N.W., Square 102, lot 838
Builder: Wardman Construction Co.
Original Owner: George Washington University
Date built: 1924
Built for George Washington University by Wardman Construction Company, Corcoran Hall was constructed as a classroom building. It was designed in 1924 as a joint effort of Albert L. Harris and Arthur Heaton, and compliments Stockton Hall (built only months later facing 20th Street). Four stories of concrete and steel framing are faced with brick and limestone; it is 136 feet wide and 55 feet deep. The building is rectangular in plan and mass. A centrally placed entrance is flanked by four segmentally arched windows on each side. The symmetrical order is continued by the first and second stories and the third and fourth stories, narrow limestone window enframements, and a simple cornice reinforce tine restrained mood of the composition. The proportioned facade is simple, both in organization and use of materials.
Stockton Hall
Architects: A.L. Harris & A.B. Heaton
720 20th Street, N.W., Square 102, lot 838
Builder: Wardman Construction Co.
Original Owner: The George Washington University
Date built: 1924
Stockton Hall was designed in 1924 by Albert L. Harris and Arthur Heaton to serve as the University's Law School. The restrained composition, the conservative use of materials, and the classical detailing represent the institutional Georgian Revival common to office buildings and schools of the early 20th century. It was intended to compliment Corcoran Hall which faces 21st Street, although it is slightly smaller (108 feet 6 inches wide and 65 feet deep). Built for George Washington University by the Wardman Construction Company, its four stories of concrete and steel framing are faced with brick and sandstone. The centrally placed entrance is articulated by scored sandstone and flanked by three segmentally arched windows on each side. Original downspouts divide the façade horizontally into three equal parts; the vertical lines are articulated by stone and brick belt courses and recessed brick panels under the third story windows.
Today the building is flanked by the construction of new classroom buildings in the post modern style designed by Keyes, Condon and Florance. This firm has incorporated the Jacob Burns Law Library, constructed in 1970 to the design of Mills, Petticord and Mills, and Stockton Hall into its total composition. By lacing the extant buildings together through the careful use of red brick and brownstone, a cohesive design is created in which the new structures complement the old both in form and material.
Samson Hall
Architects: Norris I. Crandall
2036 H Street, N.W., Square 102, lot 838
Builder: Frank W. Burnett
Original Owner: The George Washington University
Date built: 1930
Samson Hall was constructed as a laboratory for the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1930 for George Washington University by the contractor Frank W. Burnett. The architect was Norris I. Crandall, a University professor of architecture. The original building permit called for a one-story brick structure; then, in 1939, a second-story addition was built. Samson Hall is situated on the southeast corner of the intersection of 20th and H Streets and is oriented to H Street. It is 50 feet wide and 74 feet 9 inches deep. A simply massed building, its ornamentation is limited to subtle variations in the brickwork including recessed panels and arches, rustication between the second and third levels, a molded brick water table, and a belt course under the third level windows. The main entrance is centered in the facade which is five bays wide and has a projecting square bay at each end.
Bell and Stuart Halls
Architects: Weihle and Barnes
2029 & 2013 G Street, N.W., Square 102, lot 838
Builder: Charles H. Tompkins
Original Owner: The George Washington University
Date built: 1934-1935
Bell and Stuart Halls on G Street (two identical brick structures) flank a later building, Lisner Hall. Bell Hall was built in 1934 for George Washington University by the Washington construction firm of Charles H. Tompkins; Stuart Hall was built one year later. The building permit for Bell Hall does not indicate the architect and University legend places President Cloyd Heck Marvin in the role, but presumably it was designed by Edwin Weihle and R.D. Barnes, architects of Stuart Hall.
Sparse in ornamentation, with rectilinear lines and simple detail, these four-story steel frame classroom buildings typify the appearance of Washington office buildings of the 1930s. However, they depart from the norm by using brick, rather than concrete or cast stone, as the facing material. While the decision to use brick was one based on economics, the striated color pattern affected by the groupings of the different brick colors gives the buildings their unusual character; the variation suggests the pier and spandrel construction common to other contemporary buildings. The wide brick bands, coupled with large commercial windows, emphasize the horizontality of the structures. The entrances are skillfully rendered through the use of corbelled brick panels. The lighting fixture and doors of Bell Hall provide decorative relief in the Art Moderne style. These buildings represent the University’s first attempt at creating an institutional scale and design, one that was in sharp contrast to the domestic character of its other buildings.
Lisner Hall (formerly Lisner Library)
Architects: Waldron Faulkner
2023 G Street, N.W., Square 102, lot 838
Builder: Charles H. Tompkins
Owner: The George Washington University
Date built: 1935
Designed by Waldron Faulkner, Lisner Hall (originally known as Lisner Library) was built for George Washington University by Charles H. Tompkins in 1935. This is the first building the University dedicated entirely to library facilities. The head librarian worked closely with architect Faulkner to ensure that the building's design fit its function.
The bold juxtaposition of horizontal and vertical lines reflects the feeling of the Art Moderne movement, although this building does not have the smooth and fluid grace commonly associated with the style. The facade is arranged in a tripartite composition consisting of two, four-story rectilinear blocks, which continue the horizontal line of the adjacent buildings. The horizontal is interrupted by a six-story central pylon whose height is emphasized by the slender windows that rise in ribbon-like lines from the ground floor to the top on either side of the entrance. The brick-faced steel frame building is flanked by two identical structures, Stuart and Bell Halls. Together, they make a cohesive presentation of 1930s institutional architecture, stressing form and line rather than ornamentation.
Strong Hall
Architects: A.B. Trowbridge and Waldron
620 21st Street, N.W. Faulkner Square 80, lots 818-819
Builder: Charles H. Tompkins
Original Owner: The George Washington University
Date built: 1934
The Hattie M. Strong Residence Hall for Women was constructed to meet the growing demand for residential housing at the University. Designed in a Georgian Revival style of red brick, this seven-story building is 128 feet wide and 38 feet deep. The building is massed into three vertical parts; the central section is one-story higher than its flanking parts. A stylized pergola fashioned in brick sits atop each side section, continuing the cornice line of the center structure. Evenly spaced sash windows punctuate the symmetrical facade. A concrete belt course is set between the first and second floors, and again between the fifth and sixth floors, establishing horizontal divisions. The first floor level takes on the appearance of rustication providing a strong base for the composition.
Following the stylistic lead of the Harris Plan (which included Corcoran and Stockton Halls), the architects relied on principles and details inspired by the Georgian Revival but re-interpreted to meet a 20th century sense of scale or proportion. This is the last structure designed under the University's auspices that uses this style.
Hall of Government
Architects: Waldron Faulkner
710 21st Street, N.W.
Builder: Charles H. Tompkins Square 79, lot 845
Original Owner: George Washington University
Date built: 1938
Charles H. Tompkins constructed this edifice, known as the Hall of Government, for the University in 1938. Designed by Washington architect, Waldron Faulkner, it well illustrates of the character of institutional buildings being constructed in the city during the 1930s. While the form and line make a severe statement, the limestone facing and the application of subtle ornamental detail enrich an otherwise stern edifice. The building is seven bays wide and four stories high, complementing the contemporaneous structures on G Street. The vertical, limestone piers read on one plane, and the horizontal metal spandrels, recessed behind them, create a visual tension that unites the disparate parts into one object. This unity is further articulated by the fluted molding which connects the surface of the facade to the plane of the windows. An Art Deco allegorical figure is set into a square panel over the door which is flanked by limestone plinths and benches.
Lisner Auditorium
Architects: Faulkner and Kingsbury
730 21st Street, N.W., Square 79, lot 6
Builder: Charles H. Tompkins
Original Owner: The George Washington University
Date built: 1941
Lisner Auditorium was designed by the architectural firm of Faulkner and Kingsbury and built by Charles H. Tompkins in 1941. Composed of marble, the spare, even extreme, design removes Lisner Hall from the realm of the common stripped classicism of the period. While its inspiration is classical, the architects abstracted the design to its empirical geometric element, the cube. The architects repeated the rectilinear lines in the portico where the post and lintel system and monumental scale only suggest its classical roots. The polished metal vent to the left of the entrance and the panelled door on the H Street facade provide the only breaks in the taut surface. This building stands as a bold geometric expression and the University's outstanding contribution to modern architecture.
George Washington University had its beginnings in 1821 as Columbian College. This small, Baptist school was located in modest brick buildings at College Hill, a rural environment running from today's Florida Avenue north to Columbia Road. In the 1870s, the financial support of philanthropist and College trustee William W. Corcoran encouraged the decision to rename the school Columbian University. In the 1880s, the school gave up the College Hill site and moved to H Street, between 13th and 15th Streets, to accommodate the growing demand for advanced studies. There the school opened its University Building, a prominent Romanesque Revival style structure designed by William M. Poindexter and Joseph Hornblower, at the southeast corner of 15th and H Streets. Its Law School, a Georgian Revival block designed by Hornblower and Marshall, was placed directly to the east on H Street. But the convenience of the site at the center of the city's financial district meant high real estate prices, making the location infeasible for a University that dreamed of a formal campus.
With the turn of the century, the school grew more ambitious; was given the honor of being renamed the George Washington University; and sought in its educational goals to join the ranks of more established universities by developing a large self-contained campus environment. But the reality of the costs of such a move almost destroyed the institution. In 1912, in serious financial trouble, the University had to re-establish itself and moved to modest facilities at 2023 G Street. It was this event that marked the commencement of the school's association with the Foggy Bottom/West End neighborhood and its development as a major university. Following is the history of the University's physical expansion in the 20th century, detailing the circumstances that brought it to the neighborhood and led to its long term commitment to its location.
The National University
Charles Needham, president of Columbian University from 1902 through its rebirth as George Washington University in 1905, was a man of optimism, vision, but ultimately, failure. He was the man responsible for the small school's jump into national prominence and for its fall into financial ruin. With his appointment, he publicly criticized the folly of past over expenditure to improve the school's reputation and tried to place the college on a sound financial base through subscription and income-producing projects. But the lack of adequate facilities and the temptation to strive for a formal campus forced Needham to take action that ultimately proved unwise.
Columbian University was outgrowing its expensive midtown location at H Street between 13th and 15th Street. The school's buildings were spread around town and goals of "new buildings, dormitories and a setup for real student life"' had long gone unmet. But due to the high price of real estate in this prime area, consolidation at midtown was not possible. Seeking to fulfill these promises and develop the college into a major university, Needham intended to parlay valuable property owned around the city by the school into the money needed to establish a real campus.
Inspired by the City Beautiful movement, campuses around the country were being designed, redesigned, and relocated to meet the challenge of a new 20th century aesthetic. As early as 1902, Needham commenced a plan to move the school to an open space suitable for a planned campus. It was his dream that the school would become a major academic force in this country, and he believed that Columbian University would thrive if a true campus could be constructed. The local architectural firm of Hornblower and Marshall prepared sketches and plans which were approved by the school's Board of Trustees. Needham asked the Trustees to sell the Law School building, valued at $225,000, to finance the purchase of a five-acre site near the old Van Ness mansion. But, Needham's financing plan met with strong opposition. Undaunted in his goal, Needham arranged for loans to finance the purchase, doing exactly that for which he had condemned his predecessors.
Concomitant with Needham's efforts, interest in the establishment of a national university was growing. The George Washington Memorial Association, formed in 1897 by a group of influential and patriotic women, sought the founding of just such a national university "for the purpose and with the objects substantially set forth in the last will of George Washington." Washington's intention had been the development of a major center of academics sited within the boundaries of the District of Columbia. Independent of these efforts, John Wesley Hoyt, prominent educator, author and skilled organizer, had long sought support for his concept of a national university. Recognizing the significance of the Memorial Association, Hoyt was seeking ways to mesh his ideas with theirs, when in 1903 he wrote to Columbian University suggesting a conference to discuss the possibility of that school being developed into such a university. The school did not make a formal response to him, but by his second inquiry in 1904, the Board of Trustees was in the throes of negotiation with the George Washington Memorial Association. That year the goals of all three came together when the Association offered to fund the erection of building to be known as the Washington Memorial if Columbian University would take on the name George Washington University for its post-graduate program.
Soon, sufficient funds had been pledged to allow President Needham to publicly announce his plan to move the school to Van Ness Park. There a group of buildings would be constructed centering on an administration building to be known as the George Washington Memorial Building. This announcement was followed by the official change of the school's name to the George Washington University and a complete reorganization.
In keeping with the architectural fashion of the day, an architectural competition was set up by Percy Ash, the school's professor of architecture. Six major architectural firms from Washington, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston were invited to enter designs proposing a general scheme for the Van Ness Park site, and specific plans for the memorial building. A jury consisting of Charles McKim, Chairman of the Park Commission, Bernard Green, Superintendent of the Library of Congress, and Ash selected the designs of the New York firm of George B. Post and Son.
On January 28, 1906, the Washington Post published the winning scheme, a grand Beaux Arts complex intended to complement the architecture of the White House and other nearby public buildings. Unfortunately, the selected five-acre site could not meet the buildings program requirements and more land was needed. The school made plans to raise the necessary $2,500,000. But, despite their enthusiasm, adequate funds could not be raised. The change in plans had voided many earlier subscriptions, and money pledged was not easy to collect. Efforts to select an alternate, less expensive, site were unresolved. The real estate loans made to purchase the original site were due without there being sufficient funds for payment, making refinancing the only alternative. With the increased payments, more and more funds were needed, until principal funds had to be used to pay for operating expenses. With the added pressure of the financial Panic of 1907 shaking the entire city, the school's resources were soon depleted. The entire building scheme was dropped as the University found itself publicly embarrassed by its serious financial problems. The ambition of President Needham to turn a small college into a national university was called "rainbow chasing" by University trustee Maxwell Woodhull and the school that sought to create a major campus on a grand scale found itself unable to pay its professors.
The 1910 Formula
By 1903 the Board of Trustees was in chaos; the erosion of the financial resources, the failure to uphold admissions standards, and the forced retirement of professors as a money-saving move caused the school to be removed from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching list of approved fund recipients; and the U.S. Attorney General instigated an investigation into the University's finances. Needham resigned, and was quickly replaced by Admiral Charles Stockton. Stockton was faced with the University's bleakest hour as financial ruin, lack of proper space, and public embarrassment reigned. His task was to stabilize the school's finances, re-establish its academic standings, and find someplace to hold classes.
Charles Herbert Stockton (1845-1923) was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1865. Plunged into the Civil War upon graduation, he had an illustrious naval career commanding the U.S.S. Kentucky. Later he went on to head the Naval War College. He was appointed naval attaché at London and delegate plenipotentiary to the London Naval Conference of 1908-09. As the author of The Laws and Usages of War at Sea and Outlines of International Law, Stockton enjoyed widespread regard as a scholar. Always a naval man at heart, he never lost his precise habits. Kayser wrote of him:
Inclined to be short and rather stocky, but always military in carriage, President Stockton was dignified in both appearance and manner. As a college president he did not lay aside the habits of an admiral: punctuality, precision in speech, perfect frankness, a stern sense of duty. On his office door was printed "Office hours 9:30 to 12:30." This meant that he arrived at 9:30 and left at 12:30 precisely and without variation. Regularly his secretary made the uniform entries into his logbook as to weather and statements of important actions taken, and he signed his log before leaving for the day. Thought to be formal and aloof by those who did not know him, he was cordial to his associates and almost fatherly to the younger members of his official family.
Stockton's "formula" called for modest quarters and conservative policy. He sacrificed salary and prestige in his efforts to reorganize the school. Beginning by selling off most of the University's real estate holdings, reducing salaries, and cutting expenses to the bare minimum, Stockton was able to begin paying off the huge debts that had been incurred. Kayser describes Stockton's influence on the University: "To an institution which had gone through a series of traumatic experiences, there was something positively tonic in the calm, dignified, and assured manner of this distinguished officer who gave up the leisure of retirement to serve, without compensation, an institution calling for strong administration and deep understanding." He played the critical role in regaining the University's stability, both through his careful action and calm presence. With the most conservative of actions, he succeeded in reestablishing the University and placing it in its permanent home.
Stockton made a pragmatic analysis of the school's physical requirements. While the Law School and Medical School could remain in their existing locations without undue financial or physical hardship, the Department of Mechanical Engineering had to be mothballed due to lack of adequate space. The Department of Arts and Sciences had been squeezed into inappropriate rented space on Eye Street, but now this space was no longer available. Relocation was required.
In February 1912, the University rented a large vacant building at 2023 G Street, N.W. to serve as temporary facilities for the teaching of arts and sciences, as well as all the administrative offices. Kayser describes the building, known as St. Rose's Industrial School, as it was in 1912:
For the neighborhood, as it was then, the old St. Rose's School was an impressive structure. Located somewhat back of the building line, it had a small front yard that was a few steps higher than the pavement from which it was separated by an iron fence and double gates. Large maple trees shaded the yard and the front of the building. Although a second entrance was made later (1917), there was a time a single front entrance reached by a half-dozen brownstone steps. In front of the school was the traditional carriage block and gas lamp with a small letterbox fixed to the post. The building had three stories and a basement - half of which was above the pavement level and a mansard. It was built of red brick with brownstone trimming.
In June of that year, taking up an option to buy this building using borrowed money, George Washington University established itself in Foggy Bottom/West End. The University placed the entire Department of Arts and Sciences, as well as all the administrative offices, with the exception of the treasurer's office into this building. The University rented a large building at 2024 G Street to house the treasurer and his small staff, using the second and third floor for additional classrooms and sororities. The proximity of Quigley's Pharmacy at the southeast corner of 21st and G Streets was fortuitous since Lucien Quigley, a graduate of Columbian College in 1890, was sympathetic to the students and permitted his establishment to be used as the University's "real social center."
The 1912 purchase of 2023 G Street began a new era for the University. Forced into choosing a new location and spurred by the advice of newly elected Trustee Maxwell Woodhull, the Board of Trustees recognized the wisdom of locating here. 2023 G Street was on the western edge of the West End. That neighborhood had once served as the home of many highly-placed military, naval and governmental personnel, but the growing fashionable nature of the upper northwest had caused the grand houses that lined F and G Street to lose their appeal. The decline was further emphasized by the thriving industrial atmosphere of turn-of-the-century Foggy Bottom to the west. While the area no longer could meet high standards of residential fashion nor demand high real estate prices, it possessed the ultimate desirability of being close to the White House. In Foggy Bottom/West End, the University could develop a well-located campus without major expense, as long as it was willing to be patient.
Maxwell Woodhull and the Choice of G Street
General Maxwell van Zandt Woodhull was "largely responsible for bringing the University to its present location." Woodhull was devoted to the university and played several important roles in its development. This colorful character was widely known for his astute business sense, and worked diligently to stabilize the University's financial base. After his election as a trustee in 1911, he quickly established a position of considerable power on the University's Board influencing the school to move its operations to a rented building at 2023 G Street. Jessie Fant Evans, writing in the Washington Post in 1935, stated: “It was undoubtedly Gen. Woodhull's influence that was responsible for the University's removal to its present site in the G Street area.” In 1912, the University took up the option to purchase that building, and began renting other houses in the immediate area.
For the last ten years of Woodhull's life, the campus bordered on the edge of his property, placing him into the daily university activities. He was known as a man of unusual appearance and strict military etiquette. Evans described him:
Nearly six feet tall, the general was exceedingly erect, with a very florid complexion. He wore the Burnside style of whiskers. During his later years he always carried a gold¬-headed black ebony cane upon which he was accustomed to rest his clasped hands as he sat expounding his convictions or giving forth instructions. His gray, square-topped derby with its broad black band was a familiar sight in the neighborhood. Utterly unconcerned with changing fashions, the general at periodic intervals supplanted the old derby with a new one made precisely like its predecessors from a hat form which had been fashioned exclusively for him by his hatter.
Legends of Woodhull's interaction with University students abounded. Evans related stories of errant scholars "being summarily 'brought to time' by the General for some infraction of university regulations which he had witnessed in his progress up G Street. The General invariably handled these situations himself, cane in hand, without resort to university officials...." Beyond this personal interest in the school, his continuing financial support, and his participation in the direction of the University's policies, Woodhull played a critical role in 1915, organizing a student artillery corps that kept the University's enrollment intact during the war.
The School Expands
The school gradually demonstrated its new fiscal policy: rigid control allowing slow growth. Capitalizing on the vast numbers of federal bureaucrats and other white-collar workers desirous of continuing their education, the school's enrollment increased and hence, so did its income. Indeed, Stockton's 1910 Formula calling for "modest quarters, low maintenance, and double use of quarters and equipment by day and late afternoon students for the time made possible the impossible." Between 1912 and 1919, surplus funds were used to gradually, deplete the debt on 2023 G Street, and to acquire small pieces of property that expanded the campus. In 1913, land adjacent to the north of 2023 provided quarters for a mechanical engineering laboratory in a reconstructed building at the middle of the square. In 1914, one of the two mortgages on 2023 was paid off in full, and the adjacent property (and house) on the west at 2025 was purchased. In 1915, two more lots were acquired in Square 102 as was the property at 2017 G Street. In 1917, an additional $3,000 was applied to reduce the mortgage on 2023 and $2,000 was used to establish an Endowment, Restoration, and Accretion Fund to restore principal funds spent prior to1910. This slow garnering of property resulted in the acquisition of a sizable portion of the south side of Square 102.
The World War
In 1915, growing fear of a World War threatened the University. The draft conscripting 18 year olds was expected to have disastrous effect on the University's student base. General Woodhull was instrumental in the establishment of a school-sponsored artillery corps, allowing the young men to matriculate while preparing for war; however, this plan required additional facilities. Rather than buying, circumstances allowed the school the opportunity to rent large nearby buildings, at the price of considerable amounts of borrowed money. The Board felt that the financial risk was less than the prospect of a severely diminished student body. The university readied itself for the military induction on October 1913, choosing the large open space within Square 102 as the site of the formal ritual. This use set a precedent for the establishment of the University Yard and its incorporation into the University's ceremonial life. Within six weeks an armistice had been signed, releasing the men and the school from further military responsibilities. The careful planning of Woodhull and the Board had kept the school's population intact, and the quick turn of events allowed the school to be reimbursed for its expenditures. Further, veterans returning from overseas were attracted to the school's commitment to continuing education and the University benefited greatly from expanded enrollment.
Post-War Expansion
In August 1913, during the war crisis, President Stockton resigned and William Collier assumed the position of president of the University. Collier was a lawyer by training, and used his legal background to develop a distinguished career in public service. An expert in the field of bankruptcy law, a member of the New York Civil Service Commission, a special Assistant Attorney General under Theodore Roosevelt responsible for anti-trust enforcement, Minister to Spain from 1905 to 1909, and then a lawyer engaged in the private practice of international law, Collier was a lecturer on diplomacy at the University when he was appointed to the presidency. Collier had to face the post-war reorganization, as the abundance of students re-introduced the problems of a lack of facilities and staff.
Unable to balance off their increased income with the high costs of additional staff and space, these pressures took their financial toll on the school. Then, in 1919, Abram Lisner came to the University's aid by paying off the mortgage on 2023 G Street, N.W. Lisner's $24,000 contribution helped to stabilize the school's resources, bringing it closer to the goal of fiscal responsibility. In appreciation of Lisner's gift, the former St. Rose's Industrial School was renamed Lisner Hall.
While financial pressures were relieved, need for space was not. In the next few years, the school was forced to face the demand for more room. Having been burned in the past, the Board was very reluctant to begin a major building program. A conservative approach continued to be supported and the solution centered on the purchase or rental of additional buildings around Square 102.
The Commitment to Square 102
With Woodhull's death in 1921, his large two-story brick Italianate house was bequeathed to the University. The Woodhull family had resided in this house from 1855, the year of its construction, until 1921. In acknowledgment of his contribution to the school, Elmer Kayser wrote, "General Woodhull' s place in the history of the University will always be recalled by Woodhull House... because around the house has grown the great University of the present which he brought to G Street to be his neighbor." A bronze plaque displayed on Woodhull House commemorates the general's long association with George Washington University.
That same year, the Board of Trustees focused their attention on the Law School, which had been renting the upper floors of the Masonic Temple at 13th and New York Avenue. Developer and University trustee Harry Wardman encouraged the school to purchase the former Department of Justice building at 1435 K Street, facing McPherson Square. At the same time, plans were made and presented to the Board for the construction of a new building on Square 102 facing 21st Street. The bequest of the Woodhull House and the prospect of new construction on a nearby lot seemed to confirm the long-standing, but informal, commitment to Square 102, while the purchase of the property at 14th and K Streets would seem to contradict that policy. The Board delayed its decision, until finally it determined to purchase the K Street property strictly as an investment. They took the stand that the purchase did not affect their position on the University's commitment to its G Street location:
The Board, therefore, inserted in its resolution those very plain and positive words, 'that the passage of this resolution does not change the permanent policy of the University to locate ultimately all the activities [of the University] as far is practicable in the vicinity of the present buildings.'
As Kayser puts it, "The decision had been made."
The Harris Plan
Collier resigned the presidency in August, only three years into his term, to become ambassador to Chile. He had gone a long way to establish the political and diplomatic connections and attendant pomp and circumstance that George Washington University had foregone in its efforts to continue as an institution. Howard Lincoln Hodgkins, dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, was named president pro tempore. Hodgkins had been a part of the University since entering Preparatory School in 1875, and had gone through the ranks from student to professor to administrator. He had served as a major advisor to the University presidents for years, and was clearly the most knowledgeable of the operations and philosophy of the school. Despite his temporary role, Hodgkins' long-standing relationship with the school put him in an excellent position to introduce a major step toward the realization of a campus.
Strongly committed to President Stockton's intentions and the 1910 Formula, he was equally committed to the development of a campus suitable to the needs of a major university. In May 1922, at the Board's annual meeting, Hodgkins proposed the purchase of 2014 H Street, N.W. for $5,000 and an expenditure of $10,000 for renovations in the buildings on G Street. He then introduced a major plan to develop Square 102 into a campus. The plan was presented by Albert Harris, a professor of architecture at the University and the District of Columbia's newly appointed Municipal Architect. The proposal, soon dubbed the "Harris Plan," called for the use of the entire block of Square 102. "Eight units of similar construction and style, though with individual modifications" would create an urban version of the classic university quadrangle. Harris recommended that the first unit, to serve as classrooms, should be built on the northeast corner of 21st and G Streets on a lot 125 feet square, made up of the Woodhull property and 2027 G Street. Hodgkins and Harris recognized that the plan was ambitious, but the recent (1921) bequest of Woodhull House gave the University considerably more land for the development of a campus plan. It took a few months for the Board to approve this Plan, but by the end of the summer the Committee on Buildings and Grounds was authorized to go forward and to acquire as much property on the east side of 21st Street between G and H Streets as possible. In 1923, construction began on the first element of the Plan, Corcoran Hall. This building was the first to be built by the University in the Foggy Bottom/West End neighborhood. The building's plan was executed by Harris and Arthur B. Heaton. Albert Harris, the architect whose name is associated with this plan, was a man whose career followed unusual lines. A native of Wales, he accompanied his family to Pittsburgh in 1873, at the age of four. Moving to Virginia as a youth, he graduated from the Arlington Academy in 1893. He served an architectural apprenticeship in Chicago with the office of Henry Ives Cobb. Cobb, a designer of national significance, worked in Chicago, Washington and New York. Details of Harris' association with Cobb are not known, but Harris probably returned to the Washington area to set up an architectural practice as early as 1897. (A D.C. permit to build two houses at 1246-48 F Street, N.W. was issued that year naming an A.L. Harris as architect.)
It is known that he went to work for the architectural firm of Hornblower and Marshall in 1900, becoming the chief craftsman for this successful organization. During his tenure there, Harris had charge of their work on the National Museum (now the Museum of Natural History) and the U.S. Customs House in Baltimore, the firms two major commissions. In 1911, three years after Hornblower's death, Harris became a partner of the firm and was responsible for designing the Lothroop Mansion (Connecticut Avenue at Columbia Road) and the Army and Navy Club (Farragut Square). In 1912 at the age of 43, he received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from George Washington University and left Hornblower and Marshall to try his hand again at a private practice. Also in that year, he was appointed to the faculty of George Washington's School of Architecture, a position he held until his death in 1933.
From 1914 through 1921, Harris took on similar academic responsibilities at Catholic University, as well. In 1921, he was named Municipal Architect for the District of Columbia and in this position he was responsible for supervising a five-year building program for the public schools (McKinley High School and McFarland, Langley and Stuart Junior High Schools). His most notable achievement while serving as Municipal Architect was his role in coordinating plans for a new Municipal Center. Harris's involvement with planning this building was considered his greatest achievement: "The plan for the Municipal Center approve: by the National Commission on Fire Arts was regarded by Mr. Harris and his associates as one of the most notable pieces of his work in District service.”
Arthur B. Heaton, who associated with Harris on Corcoran and Stockton Halls, was born in Washington, D.C. in 1875. He graduated from Central High School, and then studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Heaton's work was described as "distinct and it is said that it always carried his trademark in some little detail he added." Some of the buildings he designed include the John Dickson home, the Methodist Home for the Aging, Washington Home for Foundlings, the Memorial Clinic at Garfield Hospital (demolished), the Y.W.C.A. at 17th and Streets, N.W. (demolished), branch offices for the Washington Loan & Trust Co. (his 1924 design for the 17th and G Street branch office [demolished] received an architectural award of merit in 1927 from the Washington Board of Trade), the McLachlen Banking Corporation, and the Chevy Chase Savings Bank. Sculptured relief panels depicting automobile details from his Capital Garage (1925 at 1320 New York Avenue [demolished] are preserved by the Smithsonian Institution's transportation division as "relics of Washington's most elaborate parking garage.” Heaton's public service centered on a deep interest in cleaning up slums and improving Washington's buildings. He served as Chairman of the Public and Private Buildings Committee of the Board of Trade and during the Depression was a leader in the "Renovise Washington" movement, an effort to repair and restore the city's homes while providing work for members of the building industry. A founding member of the Washington Building Congress, he served as its president in 1941-42. He was a member of the Board of the Equitable Cooperative Building & Loan Association and of the John Dickson Home.
The who, how, and why behind the conception of the Harris Plan are still unknown. What is clear is Hodgkins's interest in making the best out of the University's physical situation, yet he had publicly gone on record stating his commitment to the G Street location. Both he and architect Harris were University graduates and professors, and must have been keenly aware of the school's lack of adequate physical facilities. Harris' background and association with the University further places him in a position to have made the proposal. A 1912 graduate of the University's School of Architecture at the age of 43, Harris began teaching there the same year. He had a great deal of practical experience and had worked for Henry Ives Cobb during the period of Cobb's creation of master plans for the University of Chicago (c.1893) American University (c.1897-99). The introduction of the third person associated with this plan, Arthur B. Heaton, is unclear. The two buildings constructed under the Harris Plan, Corcoran Hall and Stockton Hall, were designed as a joint venture between Harris and Heaton.
Why Harris sought a collaborator, and why Heaton was chosen are unanswered questions. Harris, as the Principal Architect and a college professor, may have not been in a position to provide working drawings for his designs, and therefore, in need of the assistance of an established practicing architect. The choice of Heaton may have been the result of the friendship between him and president of the University's Board of Trustees, John Bell Larner. Larner and Heaton had a long standing association, first through the Washington Savings and Loan Company, of which John Larner was president and Heaton was architect of its branch offices, and secondly, through their having sat together on several Boards.
As preparation was made to implement the Harris Plan, the University selected a new President. William Mather Lewis was the chief of the educational service of the Chamber of Commerce when he was named to head the school. His background had been both educational, as headmaster of Lake Forest Academy, and administrative, as director of the savings division of the U.S. Treasury Department. Thrust into the task of developing the quadrangle (a.k.a. the University Yard), his first jump into the school's facilities was the recommendation that a gymnasium be constructed. A temporary structure of prefabricated materials was erected on the University Yard known affectionately as the "Tin Tabernacle," this building stood in place until 1976. But it did not thwart the progress of the Plan.
Corcoran Hall was dedicated on October 23, 1924. John Bell Larner, president of the Board of Trustees, led the ceremonies. Named in memory of William Corcoran, one of the University's first and greatest benefactors, the news reports of this occasion cited Larner's acknowledgment of all whose contributions "Made possible the erection of this magnificent building." The four-story brick building was designed to serve as classrooms and laboratories for the Department of Arts and Sciences. The building was presented in an institutional brand of the Georgian Revival style, complete with pediment door and stone foundation. The building was to set the tone and established the architectural style that would be used for the rest of the quadrangle. During the ceremony, President Lewis spoke: "This occasion," he asserted, "marks a constructive step in the development of a farseeing plan for the provision of adequate and artistic equipment. Indeed, the construction of this building was the school's most substantial investment in the development of a real campus.
Later in 1924, Harry Wardman once again suggested a plan of action. He offered to buy the Law School building at 1435 K Street (he had donated $5,000 toward its purchase four years before), and proposed the erection of a new building at 20th Street. This building would house the Law School, be constructed as part of the Harris Plan, and match Corcoran Hall across the square. Work began in December of that year. The building, completed the following year, would be known as Stockton Hall.
After two years, two of the eight planned structures of the quadrangle were already in place. The Harris Plan seemed well on its way until, suddenly, talks of a merger between the University Hospital, Garfield Hospital, the Washington Home for Foundlings, and the newly-founded cancer research laboratory that would be known as Warwick Memorial threatened to cause a major reorganization of the university.
The discussions regarding the future of the University Hospital and its Nursing School jeopardized progress for all branches of the school. No development plans could be moved forward until a decision on the health programs was finalized. It would not be until the end of Lewis’ tenure in 1927 that the University would be able to resume action on its physical plant.
The Marvin Campus
In 1927, Cloyd Heck Marvin was named President. Marvin would be responsible for establishing the University's location once and for all. But he approached the problem with an entirely different eye than his predecessors had done. The Harris Plan was the antithesis of Marvin's dream for the school. He was not satisfied to develop a single city block for the University; instead he looked to a wide expansion with the creation of new buildings representing new ideas. When Marvin became President he was 38 years old. He had been a university professor, a university administrator and a university president. A man with fierce opinions and the energy and fortitude to impose them, on others, Marvin rejected the Harris Plan and embarked on a program of physical expansion and centralized control. Aiding Marvin in his plans to refocus were the deaths in 1931 of three of the school's most powerful men - Larner, president of the Board of Trustees, Howard Hodgkins, Dean of Department of Arts and Sciences and president pro tempore from 1921-23, and Dr. William Borden, dean of the Medical School. While the loss of these men was severely felt, their absence opened the way for Marvin to implement his widespread reorganization without major opposition. Marvin rethought almost every philosophy of the University, revamping policies and procedures as he felt necessary. He introduced numerous new programs, including the School of Government, and capitalized on every benefactor he could. One of Marvin's priorities was the transformation of the University's facilities. In 1929, in an attempt to unify the wide variety of types, styles and sizes of University structures, Marvin ordered the majority of the University's buildings to be painted the same color. Elmer Kayser records that, "The president's predilections for white paint on the exterior and ‘Marvin green' on the interior remained a subject of conversation for years.” Marvin revealed his deep interest in gardening by taking personal charge of the plans for the University Yard. Working with Mrs. Lillian Wright Smith, the new president succeeded in transforming an open area into an attractive space that would both function and appear as the formal University Yard. It still holds the rose garden he planted. In 1930, the Washington Star reported on Marvin’s efforts:
"Entirely hidden from the public, the park on the University's grounds has been going on swiftly and silently until now the space enclosed by Corcoran Hall on one side, Stockton hall on the other end, numerous buildings of the University on the other two sides, has developed into a delightful park, with trees, gravel walks and comfortable garden seats, effectively cut off from noise and traffic of the streets."
Marvin's interest in the University Yard was symbolic of his plan for the development of a "bon fide campus." By committing the school to the beautification and maintenance of this open space, a sense of place was established, just as the use of one color of paint on University buildings. But Marvin’s plan was not limited to paint and landscaping.
Between 1928 and 1934, the school acquired 19 additional pieces of property. Through remodeling and renovations, the extant dwellings had been acceptable for classroom use. By this time Woodhu1l House had been renovated to serve as administrative offices. In 1930, the university constructed a laboratory at the northwest corner of Square 102, the edge of University Yard. Designed by one of its own professors, Norris Crandall, the building housed the reinstituted Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 1931, the University purchased 714 21st Street, one of Foggy Bottom/West End’s oldest structures. Built in the 1850s for Margaret Wetzel, the handsome Italianate style house boasts fine proportions and a grand scale. It featured four parlors on the first floor, six on the second, and four more rooms on the third floor. The rooms were refurbished as lounges, eating facilities, a student store, and a ballroom for its new function as the Student Union. More typical of the type of building the University purchased or rented to augment their facilities during this period are 716 and 718 21st Street. The buildings are good examples of the Washington approach to row house design. Simply massed with three-story octagonal bays, their detailing is created from a manipulation of the brick. Like other dwellings purchased by the University, the structures were used to house the classrooms and administrative offices required by the growing University.
In December 1934, the school renewed an ambitious building program. At Marvin’s insistence, the Board authorized the construction of a new building to be located on G Street between Lisner Hall and Woodhull House. The building was to cost $75,000 and house the Departments of Biology and Zoology, as well as some administrative offices. A second building was authorized on the other side of Lisner Hall. The two buildings, known as Alexander Graham Bell Hall and Gilbert Stuart Hall, were designed to match. Massed as simple rectangles, and constructed of used brick, the structures were not intended to be permanent additions to the campus. However, these two buildings were Marvin's first chance to demonstrate his far-reaching intentions for the University's campus development. Kayser aptly notes the buildings' significance:
At a time when many institutions were utilizing public funds of one sort or another to load their campuses with massive structures, President Marvin was pursuing a course of rugged individualism and expanding the University by its own resources. These two buildings, improvised by the president, and to an extent followed in later construction, ware designed for the utmost economy in their original cost and in maintenance.
By May 1935, Marvin's public position on the buildings had changed. The Washington Star quoted the University president: "He said the building now being erected represents the beginning of a new building program. Other instructional halls which will follow probably will be of similar architecture, adapted of modern municipal life." Marvin’s a "improvisation” followed sound architectural philosophy of the period, calling for the honesty in materials and purpose. Indeed, those buildings succeed as designs because of their stripped down appearance. Sparse in ornamentation, the striated color pattern of the used brick gives visual interest to the building, while suggesting the pier and spandrel construction common to other contemporary buildings. The economy that marked the buildings’ conception worked to its advantage as the wide brick bands, coupled with long commercial windows, skillfully emphasized the horizontality of the structures. The unfinished walls and exposed ceilings of the interiors, the exposed piping and wiring, and the hollow-tile room partitions were both inexpensive to build and lent an ease and flexibility required by the growing school.
During the same month that Bell Hall was authorized, Mrs. Henry Alva Strong gave the school $200,000 to build the University's first residential dormitory for women. Hattie Strong was an internationally recognized philanthropist when she became a resident of Washington, D.C in 1926. She quickly established her interest in, and support of, the George Washington University by founding the Hattie Strong Foundation in 1928 to provide financial assistance to University students. During the 1930s, Mrs. Strong served as a University trustee. This gift was the major step in transforming the University into the residential college that Marvin desired. Marvin publicly lauded the significance of the building:
Through Mrs. Strong's generosity, we will be enabled to give appropriate housing to many woman students who come to the George Washington University from all parts of the country, and to provide a center for all women's activities on the campus….This is a need that long has been keenly felt. Mrs. Strong's gift makes it possible for the University to develop in a direction in which hitherto it has been hampered by limited facilities.
Strong Hall is located on the southwest corner of 21st and G Streets and was the first building constructed by the University beyond the limits of Square 102. Designed by architects Alexander B. Trowbridge and Waldron Faulkner, the building is in the Georgian Revival style similar to the earlier Corcoran and Stockton Halls. The re-introduction of this style was made to acknowledge the residential function of the building; this was the last University building to be designed in the style.
As Strong Hall was being completed, Lisner Library was begun. This building, the first to be used by the University solely as a library, was made possible by Abram Lisner as a memorial to his wife who had just died. Abram Lisner made his fortune as the proprietor of the Palais Royal Department Store. Born in 1855 in Muningen, Germany, he arrived in the United States at the age of 12. His two older brothers, who had preceded him to this country, ran a dry goods store in New York. Lisner first began under their employ, but his talents were readily noticed and at the age of 15 he was hired as a buyer for B. Altman Company, one of the largest department stores in New York. Returning to his brothers' business a year and a half later, Lisner convinced them in 1877 to open a branch store in Washington, D.C. Early setbacks found Lisner's brothers retreating from the investment, so Lisner took on the business alone. He became so successful at his small store, located at 12th and Pennsylvania, that in 1893 he opened the Greater Palais Royal at 11th and G Streets, N.W. This change in location was considered by his peers as a questionable move, but the result was a further increase in Lisner's profits. He headed the business until 1924 when he sold out his interests to the Kresge Corporation. Lisner took his civic role seriously and served as a member of the Board of Trustees of George Washington University and the Georgetown Hospital, as well as a director of the National Metropolitan Bank. He died in 1933. With his wife Laura, who died exactly a year before him, Lisner was one of Washington's most outstanding philanthropists.
Lisner Library provided the University with a major artistic statement. An emphatic design, the composition presents a bold juxtaposition of horizontal and vertical lines reflecting the feeling of the Art Moderne style. The tri-partite building is focused on a six-story pylon whose height is emphasized by slender vertical windows. Flanked by Stuart and Bell Halls, Lisner Hall is the most prominent structure of the streetscape. On a modest scale, the three buildings create a cohesive presentation of 1930s institutional architecture, stressing form and line rather than ornament.
In 1938, Hattie Strong made a second gift to the University, that of the Hall of Government. The building, located at 710 21st Street, housed the School of Government, organized in 1927 as one of the first acts of Marvin's administration. This School had a $1,000,000 endowment due to the generosity of the Freemasonry Community. The building, also designed by Waldron Faulkner, clarifies the geometry of form that was introduced in Lisner Hall. Kayser described it: "In general, it matched in plan the earlier Marvin type of building, but it was constructed with outer walls of white stone instead of used brick and made a dignified home for the School of Government." Lisner's many contributions to the school merited him the public acknowledgment of the naming of Lisner Hall and Lisner Library, but his greatest contribution was still to come. In 1938, with his death, Lisner provided the University with its finest building.
At his death, Lisner's near $4,000,000 estate was split between family, friends, and two major institutions. He bequeathed $2,000,000 to establish, a home for aged and indigent women who were "bona-fide residents of the District, without discrimination as to religious belief, nationality or descent," and $1,000,000 to the University "for the erection and equipping of an auditorium." According to the will, the site, building and equipment were to meet the approval of the three trustees - George W. White, president of the National Metropolitan Bank, Leon Tobriner, prominent Washington attorney, and Dr. Cloyd Heck Marvin, president of George Washington University. Lisner had directed the trustees to pay $1,000,000 to the University to purchase a suitable site for the auditorium, if it was found necessary to do so, and for the erection of the auditorium building. It was Lisner's wish that the building was to be of marble construction and to be known as the Lisner Auditorium. The University responded to the gift; plans were quickly put in place to design and construct the auditorium. A site was selected at the corner of 21st and G Streets, N.W. facing Square 102. Lisner's bequest was supplemented by other funds, notably from the George Washington Memorial Association and Susan Dimock. Waldron Faulkner, designer of Lisner Hall in 1935, was selected to design this third tribute to the Lisners.
Lisner Auditorium contains a meeting hall, the first such space commensurate with the size of the student population, In addition to an art gallery (memorializing Susan Dimock) classrooms and workshops. The building was designed to serve the drama and speech departments, as well as all university organizations and student and faculty groups. With its sheer marble planes, the Auditorium transcends Faulkner's other work. The bold square massing and the abstracted columns that mark the facade graphically demonstrate Faulkner's ability to apply his aesthetic theories to his practice. Its exceptional design marks it as the most significant architectural landmark constructed for the University.
The Influence of Waldron Faulkner
Faulkner's contributions to the University illustrate the school’s growing financial resources, the concomitant desire to establish a sophisticated presence in the community and the architect's developing design skills. President Marvin had changed the direction of the University, firmly establishing his goals. Faulkner was an architect whose philosophy meshed with that of Marvin. Their synergetic relationship made it possible to materialize their ideas. The result was the establishment of a new form for the University, one which reflected Marvin's intention that George Washington University be seen as a major academic institution with an identifiable image.
Faulkner, born in Paris in 1898, educated at Yale, and apprenticed in New York, moved to the District of Columbia in 1934. His father was a painter and intimate of John Singer Sargent and Francis Millet. He spent his youth in Connecticut and graduated from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1919. He worked in engineering for a year before deciding to turn his career to architecture. He was employed in the office of R. M. Dana, Jr. and York and Sawyer, returning to Yale to pursue a B.F.A. He graduated in 1924, the recipient of an AIA student medal and a traveling scholarship to Rome. He practiced architecture in New York from 1927 through 1934. During this time he designed the Avery Coonley School in Downers Grove, Illinois and the original campus of The Madeira School in Greenway, Virginia. But the Depression made Faulkner look to Washington for work. In 1934, he moved here to work with another displaced New York architect, Alexander B. Trowbridge. Faulkner and Trowbridge designed the Strong Residence for the Y.W.C.A. (demolished) and Strong Hall for George Washington University. He then worked independently until 1939 when he established a partnership with Slocum Kingsbury. In 1946, they were joined by John Stenhouse. The firm became known as Faulkner, Stenhouse, Fryer and Faulkner from 1965 to 1968 when he retired. In 1973, at the age of 75, Yale awarded him a Master of Architecture degree.
Faulkner's work centered on institutional design. He was responsible for many school and college structures, as well as hospitals and office buildings. Beyond his work for George Washington University, Faulkner's buildings include Gallinger Hospital-Tuberculosis Ward (1940), D.C. Morgue (1940), Vassar College Infirmary (1940), Lisner Home for Aged Women (1940), Suburban Hospital and Nurses’ Home (1943), St. John's Episcopal Church, Bethesda, (1948); administrators and nurses quarters for ten veterans hospitals (1950-51); Salvation Army Building, Washington (1950), the Hannah Harrison School of Industrial Arts, Washington (1950) ; buildings for St. Alban's School, Potomac School, Mt. Vernon Seminary, Virginia Theological Seminary, Holton Arms School (1933-51); Veteran’s Administration Hospital, New Orleans, LA (with Favroz and Reed) (1968). His own house at 35th Street in Cleveland Park, completed in 1937, was called by Washington Post architecture critic Wolf von Eckardt as “among the city's first ventures into modern architecture. But - and this is characteristic of Faulkner's architecture - it is gently modern, a sublimated art deco."
Faulkner's work at George Washington University clearly illustrates his ideology. Consistent with contemporary architectural thought, his design philosophy centered around massing and proportions, not ornament or style. His buildings present emphatic statements abstracting classical principles to their most basic forms His continued selection as the architect of major university projects is not surprising. Strong, often severe designs respond to and create the urban environment envisioned by the University. In addition, just as the architect had cemented his relations with the University, he had captured the attention of its benefactors. Both Strong and Lisner had used him to design buildings they had donated to other institutions. Indeed, a man whose abilities matched the opportunity to design large institutional buildings, Faulkner's design philosophy was in perfect consonance with that of President Marvin.
Conclusion
Elmer Kayser captures the importance of the University's campus focus through the 1930s: “Never before in the history of the University had there been such tangible evidence of the institution's growth or of the energy of its president. There could be no possible doubt as to permanent location …Square 102 now contained an imposing group of buildings around an attractively landscaped University Yard. But construction had gone beyond the original square, and plans for other and larger structures were underway. The acquisition of property in the area was accelerated. The shape of things to come was apparent.”
Since 1941, George Washington University has continued to develop its campus. However, the buildings surrounding University Yard--Square 102--tell more about the physical evolution and development goals of the University than any other structures. The recent integration of the Jacob Burns Law Library, constructed in 1970 to the design of Mills, Petticord and Mills, into the Law School complex designed by Keyes, Condon and Florance currently under construction, is sympathetic to Marvin's plan for a prominent and cohesive image. The buildings on Square 102 and those across 21st Street - their sites, their styles, their forms, their intended uses and their juxtapositions - all coherently trace the social and thematic history of the campus.
Document Information
Images: 3
Photographic Credit: GW Magazine, 1970; Pictoral Bulletin, 1924; RG0031/Blueprints
Author or Source: Application for Historic Buildings Registry/RG0031
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist
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