Building Design

Architects



Changing Architecture over the Years

The architectural history of Jesup Hall has long been surrounded in myth and uncertainty. Of all of the mysteries, the greatest source of speculation has been the origin of the exterior color. In stark contrast to most other Williams College buildings, the exterior of Jesup is almost entirely comprised of painted brick. How the present-day pinkish-gray color was arrived at is a story that spans nearly the entire history of the building.

Completed in January 1900, the architectural design by George Tilden incorporated numerous architectural elements of the existing Thompson Laboratory buildings while adding several of its own to the laboratory campus. The building's rectangular construction, roofline cupolas, ornamental stone entryways, marble keystones, prominent dormers, and single hip roof are the most noticeable architectural features borrowed from the laboratories. To these, Tilden added a broad, sweeping porch, two sentinel columns, and a large central dormer bounded by massive chimneys. To further offset the building from the Laboratories, he cast Jesup Hall in old gold brick, a color dark enough that some mistook it for a shade of orange (OO). All of these elements combined with the siting of Jesup Hall at the far eastern end of the laboratory campus served to create a building that serves as both an anchor and a focal point for the quadrangle.

But before Jesup Hall could fully fulfill this role, something had to be done about Kellogg Hall. Sited just to the northwest of Jesup Hall, Kellogg Hall was a plain, utilitarian structure which had served the College as a dormitory since its erection in 1847 (B). Even prior to the completion of Jesup in 1900 discussions were underway among the Trustees about Kellogg Hall's future. At that time the building was widely considered to be well-worn and in need of repair in the near future. With the addition of Jesup Hall, the building became an aesthetic mismatch with the remainder of the quadrangle. Thus, shortly following the completion of the new building, the Trustees authorized Kellogg Hall's demolition. Kellogg Hall was razed during the summer recess of 1901 (B).

During the first ten years of its existence, Jesup Hall was plagued by structural problems. In 1904-05, the College spent nearly $6,000 shoring up the main floor of the auditorium which had been progressively sagging (BBB). This initially had been estimated to be an $875 project, but unforeseen difficulties were encountered driving the costs higher. At the same time other projects such as renovating the auditorium and replacing the gas lighting in the auditorium and reading room with electric fixtures were undertaken, adding to total cost. Another renovation, similar to the 1904-05 changes, occurred in 1910. This renovation brought several additions to the building: it extended electric lighting throughout the building, constructed a dormer window on the northwest corner of the 4th floor, and provided new toilet facilities to the dormitory resident on the 3rd floor. Outside of these improvements, the primary reason for this renovation was to reconstruct the stairs on the north side of the north side of the building, to reinforce the walls, and to strengthen the central staircase by replacing the wooden one with a stair of iron construction (EEE). To complete the list of structural problems, a renovation in 1908 (primarily focused on the exterior of the building) also had to replace the front porch with a more sturdy one of reinforced concrete (W).

Outside of the structural modifications to the building in the early 1900s, the College radically changed the exterior of the building in 1908. What resulted from this renovation was a colonial-style building which, from the outside, closely resembles the Jesup Hall of the present. During this conversion, the roofline was reconfigured: the cupolas and the dormers were removed and were replaced with dormers windows designed in the colonial-style. The front porch was removed and a new one of reinforced concrete constructed. This new porch was squared and lacked the sentinel columns which had graced the original design. To complete the conversion to the colonial style, the main entry way was reconstructed in such a way that the stone arch was removed in favor of a squared entry way supported by iconic columns. Above these, a large colonial window replaced the stone seal of the College. Finally, the exterior "old gold" brick was coated with a layer of yellow paint (A, W).

The reasons for the exterior changes of 1908 are largely unknown. Given the tight finances of the College at this point in its history, spending such a large sum as $5,000 on what appear to be mostly superficial changes seems suspect. A possible way around this dilemma is to postulate that the changes were brought about for more practical reasons. For example, the internal addition of the fire escape was likely brought about by the need for an additional exit from the auditorium. Furthermore, the emphasis in the historical documents on the new porch being constructed using reinforced concrete brings into question of the sturdiness of the original porch. This would lead one to believe that such a reconstruction was indeed necessary and that the sentinel columns were merely causalities of the reconstruction. Now, given the persistent structural problems in the early years of the building, it is not farfetched to postulate that the dormers and the cupolas may have been deteriorating faster than anticipated (especially given the fact that cupolas are notoriously difficult to maintain). This may have necessitated the changes in the roofline. The remaining changes to the west face of the building, could have been made to accommodate the colonial architecture of the roofline and porch changes. Similarly, the decision to paint the exterior yellow would have been necessary as the "old gold" brick would not have interacted well with the colonial architecture.

Compared to the first ten years, very few changes were made to Jesup over the ensuing years. The first major work on the building came about in 1918 to repair the damage caused by a fire which broke out on the 4th floor. During the repairs, the College changed the configuration of the 4th floor to create office space for student groups such as the Gargoyle Society and the musical clubs (Z, DD). Following these repairs, there was no major work done to Jesup Hall until a significant reconstruction was necessitated by a fire which broke out in the basement in 1937. The blaze scorched the center section of the building all the way up to the second floor (Q, JJ). Though the blaze was costly to the College and created a significant inconvenience to students while the building was repaired, it did provide an opportunity for the Student Activities Council to act upon a plan to reconfigure the student group spaces in the building (R).

A renovation of Jesup Hall's largely unused, dungeon-like basement was proposed in 1949. The converted space was to have been a social space for students, containing a food counter, dance floor, ping pong tables, and seating for roughly ninety people (Y). All indications are that this plan never made it to fruition as numerous students from that era do not recall the existence of such a space (HHH, III, JJJ).

As evidenced by the 1949 proposal, demand for such a "student center" space was high on campus, a demand which was fulfilled with the opening of Baxter Hall in 1954 (A). Thus, when Jesup Hall was restored in 1959, the work focused on improving the office and auditorium spaces within the building, rather than creating new student spaces. While the bulk of this work focused on the interior of the building, the exterior was painted for the second time in Jesup Hall's history. This time, the color chosen was pink with a slight hint of beige (A, BB, CC).

Between 1959 and 1984 few architectural changes were made to Jesup Hall. Then in 1984, a total renovation of the building was undertaken. Under the guidance of John Jordan, the entire interior of the building, save the floors, was gutted. Fire stairways and an elevator were added on the north and south ends of the building. The third floor was extended through the space created from the removal of the auditorium (H, BB). The building prior to the renovation had primarily contained offices and the auditorium; afterwards Jesup Hall housed the campus computer and network equipment, computer center offices, and classrooms.

Again in 1984, the exterior color of the building was repainted. This time only a slight change was made to the existing color (III). The new color was similar to the pinkish beige color applied in 1959 except that the new color contained a stronger purple element, making it richer. Supposedly, this slight change in color came about from the recommendation of a professional color coordinator whom the College hired at the time of the renovation.

While the slight color change in 1984 was scarcely acknowledged, the source of the original pink coloration is still the object of much speculation. The most prevalent rumor is that Mrs. Jesup preferred this color and requested that the building be painted this shade. As attractive as this might be, it is simply that, a myth. The fact of the matter is that Jesup Hall was not painted pink until 1959, long after Mrs. Jesup had passed away. It is possible that the original yellow paint color was chosen by Mrs. Jesup, especially given her involvement in the 1910 renovation, unfortunately there is no historical documentation to support this theory.

The most plausible explanation for the myth surrounding the pink color is that it is a half-truth. At the time of the 1959 renovation, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees was Henry Flynt. Flynt and his wife were keenly interested in colonial architecture, having founded Historic Deerfield outside of his role at the College. It is believed that Mrs. Flynt chose the pinkish-beige exterior color used in the 1959 restoration as it was her favorite (O, HHH, III). This explains both the myth and the color choice as it would be quite easy for Mrs. Flynt to be confused with Mrs. Jesup.