Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Hall
From GWUEncyc
Building
Title: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Hall (JBKO)
Address: 2222 I Street, N.W.
Square and lot, bordering streets: Square 55 (H, I, 22nd, 23rd)
Architect: Unknown
Date of construction: 1940
Original owner: Unknown
Description: Formerly known as Milton Hall, the name was changed in 1995 in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy, the former First Lady who graduated from the University in 1951 (she majored in Romance Languages). For Mrs. Kennedy, her degree from GW completed studies that she had begun at Vassar and at the Sorbonne. In 1961, President Kennedy received an honorary degree from GW and quipped that it had taken his wife two years to get her degree and "it took me only two minutes, but we are both grateful."
This eight-story two-bay building is faced with yellow brick and closely matches Munson Hall, immediately adjacent of it. The space between the bays is recessed and contains the entrance. Decorative motifs include cast stone scrollwork over the door and surrounding the first floor and eighth floor windows. Three medallions decorate each bay along a horizontal cast stone band above the sixth floor
Formerly on the square: Milton Apartments; Milton Hall began as a GW residence hall in 1981-82.; Liberty Baptist Church, 817 23rd Street (now a part of the School of Public Health)
Historic designation: None
The following is the text of a May 15, 1995 letter Senator Ted Kennedy wrote to President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg on the occasion of the naming of the building on behalf of his late sister-in-law:
"I want to express my appreciation to you and to all those who participated in the dedication of the Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Hall. This is a particularly meaningful tribute because George Washington University was the scene of many happy memories for Jackie while she was a student. I know she would be deeply touched that the University and the student body have chosen to honor her in this way."
"I hope that having Jackie’s name on the dorm will encourage future generations of students to read about her accomplishments and to more fully appreciate history and historic preservation. On behalf of the members of our family, my thanks for this wonderful recognition of Jackie whom we all loved so much."
Document Information
Images: 0
Photographic Credit: n/a
Author or Source: Reconnaissance-Level Architectural Survey of Properties in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C., 1999; University Archives collections; RG0002/President's Papers
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist
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