Stevens Hall, planned by the architectural firm of Stephens and Josephans, was built in 1895 to house women students. It is still in use and is one of the oldest buildings on the Washington State University campus. It was named in honor of Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens. The building has been utilized consistently as a women's dormitory since it was first occupied. Other campus activities have been temporarily accomodated there as well. For instance, the Music Department was housed in the basement and the Home Economics Department and Women's Physical Education activities were held in the playroom during the 1890's. Following the burning of Ferry Hall in 1897, men were housed temporarily on one floor of Stevens Hall. State conventions have often met in the drawing room, and distinguished guests have visited there, including Helen Keller and her teacher, Miss Sullivan (April, 1915). It has been a frequent tradition for daughters to succeed mothers as residents of Stevens Hall.
The collection consists primarily of 97 mailed questionnaires, filled out between 1982 and 1984 by former residents of Stevens Hall. The questionnaires cover aspects of their lives and memories from when they lived in Stevens Hall. Additionally, the first folder contains a good quality copy of the survey, a university history timeline, and a few pages from what appears to have been a summary document from the surveys. The final four folders contain 28 Steven Hall photographs, dating from the 1910s-30s and 1960s-70s.
It should be noted that the students conducting the project describe these as "oral histories." The term is misleading - no oral interviews were conducted and all materials were print only.
The surveys are organized chronologically, based on when the interviewees lived in Stevens Hall.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions apply, as no permissions for reproduction were gathered with the surveys.
[Item Description]
Washington State University Stevens Hall Historical Questionnaires and Photographs, 1910-1984 (Archives 345)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
The materials in this collection were transferred to Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) on April 20th, 2014 by Margaret Kreder of Stevens Hall. They were retained as UA2014-08.
This collection was processed in April 2014 by University Archivist Mark O'English.
Washington State University Stevens Hall Records 1894-2002
Additional student goverment records and scrapbooks remain in Stevens hall.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.