The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Alumnae Hall

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Institution Name: Columbia College (SC)
Original/Historic Place Name: Vera Young Thomas Memorial Library
Location on Campus: southeast campus quadrant
Date(s) of Construction:

1922	original construction
1953	renovation and expansion

Designer: unknown
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Colonial revival (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, education
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: granite

Walls: brick

Roof: slate

Function:

1922-1967	library
ca. 1967-present (2006)	other (meeting room and social functions)
ca. 1967-present (2006)	administration (Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumnae Office)

Narrative:
The Neoclassical style building was constructed in 1922 as the Vera Young Thomas Memorial Library. It was the college's first freestanding library and served as the library until 1967. The original one-room building was a gift from Samuel W. and J. C. Young, the former being the father of Vera Young Thomas who had been a Columbia College student. The building was renovated and expanded in 1953. After the completion of the J. Drake Edens Library in 1967, the name was changed to Alumnae Hall to honor all the College's alumnae.

The building is important to Columbia College because it is now the oldest building remaining on campus after the disastrous fires in 1909 and 1964. What used to be the main reading room for the library has been redecorated and serves as a social hall for campus functions. In addition to antique furnishings, the room houses the college's unique doll collection. Each graduating class presents a doll dressed in clothes representative of their time at Columbia College.

References:

Savory, Jerold. Columbia College: The Ariail Era. Columbia, SC: R. L. Bryan, 1979.