The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Hanna Hall

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Hanna Hall (front facade, ca. 1910), Kenyon College

Hanna Hall (three-quarter view, ca. 2005), Kenyon College

Institution Name: Kenyon College
Original/Historic Place Name: Hanna Hall
Location on Campus: 204 South College Rd.
Date(s) of Construction:

1902-1903

original construction Schweinfurth, Charles

Designer: Charles Schweinfurth
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Gothic revival, Other (Glossary)
Significance:
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone

Walls: stone

Roof: slate; composite

Function:

1903-present

residence hall

Narrative:
The first building on Kenyon's campus by Charles Schweinfurth, the College's "supervising architect" in the early years of the twentieth century, Hanna Hall was completed in 1903. Its exterior is constructed of rusticated sandstone with bold ashlar moldings and stringcourses and distinguished by an arched main entryway with Perpendicular Gothic ornament. Funds for the building were provided by Marcus Hanna, industrialist, U.S. senator, and Republican kingmaker, who suggested that it be called "The Politicians' Barracks" (although it never was). Officially, the building is named for Hanna's wife, Charlotte Augusta Rhodes Hanna, who is memorialized in stone in the building's main entryway.

One of Kenyon's three historic residence halls (with Leonard Hall and Old Kenyon), Hanna Hall long housed members of three of the College's fraternal organizations: the Delta Phi and Phi Kappa Sigma fraternities and the Archon Society, which is now open to female as well as male students. Members of those groups still occupy some of the building's rooms, along with independent students of both sexes.

Hanna Hall, which was last renovated in 1988, is in good condition.

References:

Greenslade, Thomas Boardman. Kenyon College: Its Third Half-Century. Gambier, OH: Kenyon College, 1975.

Siekkinen, George. Kenyon College. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1975.

Smythe, George Franklin. Kenyon College: Its First Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1924.

Stamp, Tom. "This Will Do." Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin 22, no. 1 (Spring 2000).