Willard Straight Hall
Encyclopedia
Willard Straight Hall is the student union
building on the central campus
of Cornell University
in Ithaca
, New York
. It is located on Campus Road, adjacent to the Ho Plaza and the Gannett Health Center.
's widow, Dorothy Straight
, as a memorial to her husband. The building was intended to lead to "the enrichment of the human contacts of student life", according to the speech Straight gave at the dedication of the hall. Cornell historian Corey Earle notes that in the era Willard Straight Hall was constructed, "it was unusual to have a building with no academic purpose". The concept of a "student union" building was a recent invention at the time—the first student union in North America, Houston Hall at the University of Pennsylvania
, had opened in 1896. When Willard Straight Hall opened its doors in 1925, it was still one of only a few such structures in the country dedicated to student life. However, Cornell provided on-campus space for student organizations since its earliest days. In January 1870, Andrew Dickson White
allocated a large room in the middle section of White Hall to be used as a "Society Hall." White donated $1,000 to furnish it subject to $300 in matching gifts from student organizations. Later, Barnes Hall was built to house the Students’ Christian Association in 1888.
In 1918, recently widowed, Dorothy Whitney Straight met a Cornell Agriculture student, Leonard Knight Elmhirst, who persuaded her to visit the campus. Elmhirst and Straight together with certain faculty members decided that the best realization of Willard Straight's wish that some of his estate be used to make Cornell a more "human place" was to build a student union building. Elmhirst graduated from Cornell and left for India in 1921. For the next three years, Dorothy Straight oversaw planning for Willard Straight Memorial Hall, which was to be built with part of her Whitney family
fortune in addition to Willard Straight's bequest. The cornerstone was laid on June 15, 1924 and the dedication ceremony was held on November 25, 1925. Elmhirst and Dorothy Straight had been married in April 1925.
Leonard Elmhirst came from a land-owning family in Yorkshire
, England. The seeds for his study of agriculture in Ithaca, NY and subsequent Dartington Hall
School and "Institute for Rural Reconstruction' in the agriculturally impoverished England of the 1920s were sown on his first visit to India
during World War I. Willard Straight Memorial Hall was designed by a noted architect of the day, William Adams Delano
, and constructed from the local "llenroc" bluestone
, a feldspathic sandstone; the architectural model for its Gothic revival style may have been the 14th-century Dartington Hall
in Devon
, which the newlyweds purchased in 1925.
From Willard Straight Hall's opening, the main desk was staffed by undergraduate students. In addition, the building's policies were set by a student-led Willard Straight Hall Board of Governors. However, the North Entrance was at first reserved for men, women being relegated to a second entrance at the south end of the building.
Prior to 1969, the upper floors of the Straight served as a hotel for Cornell's visitors and guests. The broadcast studios of the WVBR
Radio station were in a lower level. The building also housed the University Theatre, where until 1988 the Cornell Dramatic Club (formed in 1925 from the merger of the Dramatic Club and the Women’s Dramatic Club) staged almost 50 performances a year.
As Cornell built more dormitories on the West Campus and the North Campus, two additional buildings supplemented the Straight to serve students: Noyes Center on West Campus
and the North Campus Union (now Robert Purcell
Community Center) on North Campus
. The combined operation constituted the Department of University Unions. In 1970, with the advent of the University Senate, University Unions became a part of the new Division of Campus Life. In order to end duplication and tensions between the University Unions and the Dean of Students Office, University Unions merged into the latter Department.
fraternity unsuccessfully attempted to retake the building by force. Some of the occupying students left the building and returned with firearms in case of a further attack. Then the Students for a Democratic Society
(SDS) led by C. David Burak formed a protective cordon outside the building.
Ultimately, the Cornell Administration, particularly Vice President Steven Muller
, negotiated an end to the building takeover. However, the photos of the students marching out of the Straight carrying rifles and wearing bandoliers made the national news and won a Pulitzer Prize
for Associated Press
photographer Steve Starr
.
On campus, the Straight Takeover led to the formation of the University Senate, a restructuring of the Board of Trustees, a new campus judicial system, and the foundation of the Africana Studies and Research Center. By the end of the academic year, Cornell President James Perkins resigned.
Beyond Cornell, the Straight Takeover led to the New York State Legislature enacting the Henderson Law, which required each college to adopt "Rules of the Maintenance of Public Order." Vice President Spiro Agnew
referred to the Straight Takeover in speeches as an example of the excess of college students.
The offices of Cornell Cinema and the Dean of Students Office are also in the building.
Student activity center
A student activity center is a type of building found on university campuses. In the United States, such a building is more often called a student union, student commons, or student center...
building on the central campus
Cornell Central Campus
Central Campus is the primary academic and administrative section of Cornell University's Ithaca, New York campus. It is bounded by Libe Slope on the west, Fall Creek on the north, and Cascadilla Creek on the South.-History:...
of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in Ithaca
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It is located on Campus Road, adjacent to the Ho Plaza and the Gannett Health Center.
History
The construction of Willard Straight Hall was initiated by Willard Dickerman StraightWillard Straight
Willard Dickerman Straight was an American investment banker, publisher, reporter and diplomat.-Biography:...
's widow, Dorothy Straight
Dorothy Payne Whitney
Dorothy Payne Whitney was an American-born social activist and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Whitney family.-Biography:...
, as a memorial to her husband. The building was intended to lead to "the enrichment of the human contacts of student life", according to the speech Straight gave at the dedication of the hall. Cornell historian Corey Earle notes that in the era Willard Straight Hall was constructed, "it was unusual to have a building with no academic purpose". The concept of a "student union" building was a recent invention at the time—the first student union in North America, Houston Hall at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, had opened in 1896. When Willard Straight Hall opened its doors in 1925, it was still one of only a few such structures in the country dedicated to student life. However, Cornell provided on-campus space for student organizations since its earliest days. In January 1870, Andrew Dickson White
Andrew Dickson White
Andrew Dickson White was a U.S. diplomat, historian, and educator, who was the co-founder of Cornell University.-Family and personal life:...
allocated a large room in the middle section of White Hall to be used as a "Society Hall." White donated $1,000 to furnish it subject to $300 in matching gifts from student organizations. Later, Barnes Hall was built to house the Students’ Christian Association in 1888.
In 1918, recently widowed, Dorothy Whitney Straight met a Cornell Agriculture student, Leonard Knight Elmhirst, who persuaded her to visit the campus. Elmhirst and Straight together with certain faculty members decided that the best realization of Willard Straight's wish that some of his estate be used to make Cornell a more "human place" was to build a student union building. Elmhirst graduated from Cornell and left for India in 1921. For the next three years, Dorothy Straight oversaw planning for Willard Straight Memorial Hall, which was to be built with part of her Whitney family
Whitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...
fortune in addition to Willard Straight's bequest. The cornerstone was laid on June 15, 1924 and the dedication ceremony was held on November 25, 1925. Elmhirst and Dorothy Straight had been married in April 1925.
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England. The seeds for his study of agriculture in Ithaca, NY and subsequent Dartington Hall
Dartington Hall
The Dartington Hall Trust, near Totnes, Devon, United Kingdom is a charity specialising in the arts, social justice and sustainability.The Trust currently runs 16 charitable programmes, including The Dartington International Summer School and Schumacher Environmental College...
School and "Institute for Rural Reconstruction' in the agriculturally impoverished England of the 1920s were sown on his first visit to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
during World War I. Willard Straight Memorial Hall was designed by a noted architect of the day, William Adams Delano
William Adams Delano
William Adams Delano , an American architect, was a partner with Chester Holmes Aldrich in the firm of Delano & Aldrich. The firm worked in the Beaux-Arts tradition for elite clients in New York City, Long Island and elsewhere, building townhouses, country houses, clubs, banks and buildings for...
, and constructed from the local "llenroc" bluestone
Bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:*a feldspathic sandstone in the U.S. and Canada;*limestone in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S...
, a feldspathic sandstone; the architectural model for its Gothic revival style may have been the 14th-century Dartington Hall
Dartington Hall
The Dartington Hall Trust, near Totnes, Devon, United Kingdom is a charity specialising in the arts, social justice and sustainability.The Trust currently runs 16 charitable programmes, including The Dartington International Summer School and Schumacher Environmental College...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, which the newlyweds purchased in 1925.
From Willard Straight Hall's opening, the main desk was staffed by undergraduate students. In addition, the building's policies were set by a student-led Willard Straight Hall Board of Governors. However, the North Entrance was at first reserved for men, women being relegated to a second entrance at the south end of the building.
Prior to 1969, the upper floors of the Straight served as a hotel for Cornell's visitors and guests. The broadcast studios of the WVBR
WVBR
WVBR-FM is a college radio station that broadcasts to Ithaca, New York, and surrounding areas. It operates at 3 kilowatts from a transmitter on Hungerford Hill, in Ithaca. A translator on 105.5 FM provides a cleaner signal to certain areas of Ithaca...
Radio station were in a lower level. The building also housed the University Theatre, where until 1988 the Cornell Dramatic Club (formed in 1925 from the merger of the Dramatic Club and the Women’s Dramatic Club) staged almost 50 performances a year.
As Cornell built more dormitories on the West Campus and the North Campus, two additional buildings supplemented the Straight to serve students: Noyes Center on West Campus
Cornell West Campus
West Campus is a residential section of Cornell University's Ithaca, New York campus located west of Libe Slope and between the Fall Creek gorge and the Cascadilla gorge. It now primarily houses transfer students, second year, and upperclassmen. West Campus is currently part of a residential...
and the North Campus Union (now Robert Purcell
Robert Purcell
Robert W. Purcell was an American businessman and philanthropist.Purcell was born in Watertown, New York in 1912. He graduated from Cornell University in 1932, being elected during his last year into the Sphinx Head Society. Purcell then graduated from the Cornell Law School in 1935.He joined the...
Community Center) on North Campus
Cornell North Campus
North Campus is a residential section of Cornell University's Ithaca, New York campus. It primarily houses freshmen. North Campus offers programs which ease the transition into college life for incoming freshman. The campus offers interactions with faculty and other programs which are designed to...
. The combined operation constituted the Department of University Unions. In 1970, with the advent of the University Senate, University Unions became a part of the new Division of Campus Life. In order to end duplication and tensions between the University Unions and the Dean of Students Office, University Unions merged into the latter Department.
1969 building takeover
In the 1968-69 school year, the university judicial system was the center of a controversy in connection with the disciplining of African-American students who had engaged in a protest. As racial tensions escalated, some African-American students demanded amnesty for the accused protesters as well as the establishment of an Africana Studies center. On April 19, 1969, some of them occupied Willard Straight Hall, ejecting parents who were visiting for "Parents Weekend" from the hotel rooms on the upper floors. Subsequently, white students from Delta UpsilonDelta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon is the sixth oldest international, all-male, college Greek-letter organization, and is the oldest non-secret fraternity in North America...
fraternity unsuccessfully attempted to retake the building by force. Some of the occupying students left the building and returned with firearms in case of a further attack. Then the Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
(SDS) led by C. David Burak formed a protective cordon outside the building.
Ultimately, the Cornell Administration, particularly Vice President Steven Muller
Steven Muller
Steven Muller was the president of the Johns Hopkins University, serving from 1972 to 1990.He came to the United States in 1940, and he has been a naturalized citizen of the U.S. since 1949....
, negotiated an end to the building takeover. However, the photos of the students marching out of the Straight carrying rifles and wearing bandoliers made the national news and won a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography
The Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography was awarded from 1968 – 1999, thereafter being renamed as the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.-List of winners:...
for Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
photographer Steve Starr
Steve Starr
-Life:He worked for the Associated Press, Albany Bureau.His photograph of armed African American protesters leaving Willard Straight Hall at Cornell University, won the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.He married Marilynne Starr....
.
On campus, the Straight Takeover led to the formation of the University Senate, a restructuring of the Board of Trustees, a new campus judicial system, and the foundation of the Africana Studies and Research Center. By the end of the academic year, Cornell President James Perkins resigned.
Beyond Cornell, the Straight Takeover led to the New York State Legislature enacting the Henderson Law, which required each college to adopt "Rules of the Maintenance of Public Order." Vice President Spiro Agnew
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
referred to the Straight Takeover in speeches as an example of the excess of college students.
Current uses
The building currently encloses several dining facilities (Okenshields, The Ivy Room, and Cascadeli), and lounge spaces for students. A lounge on the south end of the building is named in honor of Leonard Elmhirst. Special facilities include: Several multi-purpose rooms used for dance and performance troups, Cornell Cinema (in the Straight Theater), Cornell Ceramics Studio, which just closed in May of 2011, a full service digital computer lab, newly remodeled 2nd floor Elizabeth Staley Office of Student Support and Diversity Education, 5th floor Student Activities Office, Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, offices and mailboxes for student organizations, the 4th Floor WSH Art Gallery, and the Browsing Library, International Lounge, and Music Room. A long-running joke among students concerns the placement of a power outlet on the ceiling of the staircase leading down to the Ivy Room.The offices of Cornell Cinema and the Dean of Students Office are also in the building.
Further reading
- Leonard Knight Elmhirst, The Straight and Its Origin, 1975, OCLC 2046429 originally serialized in Cornell Alumni News, 1974–75
- Peter PennoyerPeter PennoyerPeter Pennoyer AIA is an architect and principal of Peter Pennoyer Architects in New York City. Pennoyer, his partners, and his thirty associates have a national practice in traditional and classical architecture...
and Anne WalkerAnne WalkerAnne Walker is an architectural historian and author in New York City. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and a Master’s degree in Historic Preservation from Columbia University...
, The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich, Norton, 2003, ISBN 0-393-73087-5