St. Anthony Hall (now Center for Development Economics)

1884, October
Ground is broken for the new quarters of the Delta Psi fraternity.

1885, May 20
Delta Psi celebrates the laying of the corner stone of its new lodge with addresses by Frederick Ferris Thompson (Class of 1856 and founder of the Williams chapter) and the Rev. Charles Chuthbert Hall (Class of 1872). The lodge has been designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White in the “old English style.”

1886, March 15
Delta Psi celebrates the opening of its new chapter house, providing a banquet for representatives of the fraternity from Williams and other colleges. So many delegates come from New York that a special train makes the journey.

1905
A wing is added to the southwest of the original building. It contains a library, four studies, nine bedrooms and three bathrooms. In addition, the building has been wired for electricity.

1924
Plans are made to construct a new wing extending parallel to South Street from the east of the building.

1926, May 16
A fire, caused perhaps by faulty wiring, sweeps through the south wing. Total damage is estimated at $10,000 due to fire, smoke, and water damage.

1926, July 8
Repair of the damage caused by the fire, general remodeling, and the construction of the new wing begins under architect Roger Bullard and Perry Smedley, a Williamstown contractor.

1927, January 21
A second fire breaks out destroying the three floors of the southwest wing containing bedrooms and dining room. The fire is brought under control after firemen combat the flames for three hours, and “only after an unusual spectacle resulting when the ceiling of the dining room collapsed, the pressure exerted by this collapse forcing out most of the windows on the ground floor in that portion of the building.”

1965
Delta Psi and the College begin negotiations regarding use of St. Anthony Hall. The College would like to use it as a residential house, but the fraternity does not want it used as a dormitory.

1965
Negotiations are complicated by the possibility of Pine Cobble School leasing a portion of the building for future assemblies. It is suggested that the Cluett Center move to St. Anthony Hall.

1966
Negotiations continue, with Delta Psi wishing to retain more than one room in the building for fraternity use. In an agreement that specifies that the Hall will not be used for undergraduate housing, the College leases the building for use by the Center for Development Economics. (CDE had, since its establishment in 1960, been located in Cluett House.) The chapter room is still used for weekly fraternity meetings, renovations having been made by Russell Gibson and Van Dohlen, architects from Pittsfield.

1972
Negotiations between Delta Psi and the College end. St. Anthony Hall is the last of the fraternity houses to come to the College.