During the Presidents' Council (Women's Interdormitory Council) meeting of October 4, 1961 a variety of suggestions were put forth in regards to curfew and rules, particularly those within the rule book/advice guide given to women students-Dis 'N Data:
In the subsection entitled "Women's Quarters at Denny Hall," Meredith gives us an insight to how rooms on the college grounds enabled day students (town students ?), commuters, and boarders to take advantage of the time spent on campus.
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Located in the basement, the women's quarters at Denny Hall consisted of: a small washing room, a toilet, a small kichenette, and a rest room. Although she mentions that the rooms were clearly makeshift, she also says that they were comfortable and in good condition.
The subsection entitled "Metzger Hall," in Dean Meredith's historical account of women at Dickinson, gives a general overview of the physical layout of the building. This subsection is followed by another, more detailed account of specific rooms, their inadecuacies, shortcomings and some scattered suggestions for improvement.
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In her essay, "Women at Dickinson," Dean of Women Josephine Meredith included a section entitled: "Value of Types." In it Meredith defines three types of students that attended Dickinson College. The description of each type briefly accounts for the value each group brought to the campus.
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Types of Students:
Biddle House was formerly the home of Edward W. Biddle, a Dickinson College alumnus and trustee. The building was purchased by the college on December 14, 1946 for about $25,000. The first use of it was as a women's dormitory in the 1940s.
The December 1957 issue of the Dickinson Alumnus documents the college's acquisition of Mathew's House for the use as a women's dormitory. Mathews House was the home of Col. Philip Mathews and his sister, Anne. The house would provide rooms for 26 female students. Mathews House would be the fourth small residence for women, along with Gibbs, Biddle and McIntire Houses.
The Sentinel newspaper in 1962 documented the progress of the building of the new women's dorm, Adams Hall, at the ground breaking ceremony. The newspaper mentions that the 125-room dorm will cost around $850,000 and is to be completed by August 1963. Among the people involved in the ceremony was the dean of women, Barbara Wishmeyer, as well as three students from the women's dormitory committee.
This memo outlines the cost of furnishing a female student's room in Drayer Hall. Interesting to note that in addition to a bed, mattress, a chair with desk, female students also had the use of an arm chair, two lamps, a waste basket and a pillow! The total cost is $253.60, which in 1952 had the same (2009) buying power as 2046.56 US dollars.
Drayer Hall, the first major building built by the college on the Benjamin Rush campus, was also the first building to be constructed with the women of the college in mind. An unidentified newspaper clipping anticipates a successful celebration for the dedication of the women's dormitory. The "celebration will be the first in the long history of the college arranged entirely for honoring Dickinson women." The Women's Day festivities include high ranking guest speakers, a luncheon, the distribution of honorary degrees to "eight outstanding women" by co-ed student sponsors, and tours of th
Written by Martha Slotten, this history of Metzger explains the building's early beginnings as a Prep School for Girls. After Drayer was built in the early 1950s, only freshman girls lived in Metzger until it was sold in 1963 and later dismantled. The completion of Drayer offered a local housing option for female students who would no longer have to walk many blocks to classes.