The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Rockefeller Hall

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Rockefeller Hall (front facade, view from the south), Bryn Mawr College

Institution Name: Bryn Mawr College
Original/Historic Place Name: Rockefeller Hall
Location on Campus: 200 N. Merion Ave.
Date(s) of Construction:

1900-1904

original construction Cope & Stewardson

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

Materials:

Foundation: schist

Walls: schist, limestone trim

Roof: slate

Function:

ca. 1904	dining hall
ca. 1904	residence hall
present	other (design studio)
present	residence hall

Narrative:
Rockefeller is in overall very good condition, and retains the vast majority of its character-defining features. Like the other campus dormitories, it has been subject to repeated campaigns of finishes renewal and minor alterations associated with systems upgrades. Rockefeller does not retain its original windows.

Rockefeller is significant as an important part of the group of Cope & Stewardson buildings. Like the Pembrokes, Rockefeller also frames a major campus gateway, and is a key part of the grand perimeter created as part of M. Cary Thomas's development of the campus as a leading national academic institution.

References:

Andropogon Associates, and Emily Cooperman. Bryn Mawr College Campus Heritage Initiative, Funded by the J. Paul Getty Initiative. Report. Philadelphia, PA: Andropogon Associates, Ltd., 2004.

Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz. Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges from Their Nineteenth-Century Beginnings to the 1930s. New York: Knopf, 1984.

Webb, Leslie A. Bryn Mawr College Historic District. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1984.