Festivities to mark 100th birthday of distinctive Jewett House dorm. Saturday, April 21, 2007

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – You could say that Tudor-style Jewett House has been an individual from the start. With its four-story U-shaped entry building fused at the rear to a nine-story tower, Jewett created a fascinating bookend to the nearby dorms it faces on Vassar College's residential quad.

And, while an extensive 2-year renovation of Jewett's interior was completed in 2003, Vassar was careful to protect the building's unique architectural integrity. As the second largest residence on campus after Main Building, Jewett House has been home to thousands of Vassar students – perhaps most famously the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Tudor-style Jewett House (as it appears today) opened in 1907 to provide more residential living space for Vassar students.

On Saturday, April 21,Vassar College will honor Jewett House's 100th birthday with a campus-wide celebration. Culminating months of research by a number of Jewett's current student residents, the centennial events will include a simulated trip through Jewett's past, the dedication of a historical gallery in the Jewett parlor, and a 1907-inspired carnival with games and rides. (See details on activities below.) Both current members of the college community and Vassar alumnae/i, many of whom lived in Jewett House, will attend the celebration.

MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF JEWETT HOUSE

Over the past several months Jewett's current dwellers have extensively researched their dorm's colorful and truly legendary history.

They've found that Jewett's folklore has been passed down like the furniture: Edna St. Vincent Millay '17 dramatically throwing herself out of the tower, her fall being broken by the third-floor roof; the ghost of one of the first Jewett residents haunting the hallway in the fourth-floor transept, her footsteps echoing behind your own; and the cries of an allegedly abandoned baby's ghost floating out of one of the bathtubs that has seen little use in decades.

The facts on Jewett begin with Vassar College's opening in 1865, to offer young women a liberal arts education equal to that of the best men's colleges of the day. By 1905, though enrollment was capped at one thousand students per term, Vassar needed to increase its residential space beyond the existing four quad dorms – Strong House (1893), Raymond House (1897), Davison House (1902), and Lathrop House (1901) – and the campus' original Main Building (1865). The college enlisted its own Professor of Art Lewis Pilcher, later the state architect of New York, to create a plan for the new building. The Tudor structure opened as "North" in 1907, but later was renamed "Jewett," after the college's first president, Milo P. Jewett – a Poughkeepsie educator often credited with convincing Matthew Vassar to open a women's college rather than a hospital or library.

As decades passed, and college residences became even more important centers for socializing and learning, Vassar decided that Jewett needed some twenty-first century updating, from completely new mechanical systems and wiring to a new elevator for the tower. In the plans developed with Herbert S. Newman & Partners, an architectural firm based in New Haven, aspects of Jewett were completely renovated to create more of a community feeling, including brand new lounges and study/meeting rooms. To maintain the residence's historic identity, other spaces, like the Jewett Parlor, were simply restored but otherwise not altered. Jewett is currently home to 195 students.

SUMMARY OF JEWETT HOUSE CENTENNIAL EVENTS

Jewett's Centennial celebration will be hosted by Christopher Smith '07, President of Jewett House, and the Jewett House Team.

Saturday, April 21
2:00-5:00 p.m.

Afternoon activities:

Jewett Historical Gallery (Jewett Parlor)
(Displays of historical memorabilia, stories, and photographs from the last century)

1907 Carnival on the Quad
(Including games, performances, bouncy castle, food, vintage films, and snacks)

Dedication of Jewett Parlor as Historical Gallery (Jewett Parlor)

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential, liberal arts college founded in 1861.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007.