The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Presser Hall

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Presser Hall (ca. 1930), Randolph-Macon Woman's College

Presser Hall (interior, Recital Hall), Randolph-Macon Woman's College

Institution Name: Randolph-Macon Women's College
Original/Historic Place Name: Presser Hall
Location on Campus: 2500 Rivermont Ave.
Date(s) of Construction:

1930	original construction

Designer: unknown
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Beaux-Arts classicism, Colonial revival (Glossary)
Significance: history
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: concrete

Walls: brick

Roof: slate and built-up

Function:

ca. 1930-present (2006)

academic department building (music)

Narrative:
The Theodore Presser Foundation of Philadelphia was a major contributor to the construction of the building. It is named in honor of Theodore Presser, who in October 1883 began the publication of the Etude magazine in Lynchburg. It was dedicated on April 16 and 17, 1930. The building was termed "a gem of architecture," and it was said "that it had an atmosphere unusual in a new edifice," that "one feels, that the auditorium has always been there, and that it has been the scene of some great historical event". Presser Hall is a useful and much admired feature of the campus and has made possible the growth of the Music Department. The recital hall is known on the campus and in the Lynchburg community for its excellent acoustics and its beautiful architecture. Renovation of the recital hall was scheduled for 2003.

References:

Cornelius, Roberta D. The History of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1951.

Randolph Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, VA. Historic American Buildings Survey photographs. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/ National Park Service, n.d.