Ellen Malmon '88 (left) and Celia Liu '88, now working architects, on the architectural walking tour led by Peter Carini during commencement weekend.
The air was filled with comments such as "I never noticed that window" and "That's a great tower," and pointing and staring were proper etiquette for once, as Peter Carini, director of the archives and special collections, led a group of over thirty people on a campus architectural tour during commencement weekend.
In addition to learning about the eclectic architectural elements characteristic of MHC's gothic revival buildings and a bit about the origins and designers of these structures, tour-goers were given a drama-packed campus history lesson, punctuated by devastating fires and even a tale of a haunted dormitory (supposedly haunted by the spirit of a woman who committed suicide in Wilder's attic). Even Carini learned something, when Susan Houser Bishop '48 informed him that the 1852 "pump house" was referred to as the "cat house" in her day, a reference to a time when feline specimens used for biology experiments were kept there.
Two alumnae in the group seemed to be particularly entranced by the architecture they were discovering anew. Friends Ellen Malmon '88 and Celia Liu '88 are now working architects themselves. Malmon noted that as a student, "I used to walk around and just look at the buildings. This architecture and my job in the archives inspired me to become an architect." Liu, who was encouraged to study architecture by Malmon and now teaches the subject at the University of Virginia, commented, "Architecture is all about fostering a sense of community, and MHC does this exceptionally well in all areas."
Building a sense of community was Mary Lyon's intent when she first began thinking about the building that should house her school. According to Carini, Lyon envisioned a design that would encourage students and faculty to live and learn together. The only models for such an environment during Lyon's time were prisons and asylums. In 1837, Lyon realized her dream with the construction of the seminary building, which served as dormitory, dining hall, kitchen, library, teachers' residence, laundry, classrooms, gymnasium, business office, heating plant, and wood and coal storage until it was destroyed by fire in 1896. Ever since, buildings have come and gone at Mount Holyoke, but what has endured is something that initially appears less tangible than bricks and mortar--a commitment to Mary Lyon's sense of community and scholarship being one.
For further information about Mount Holyoke's history and architecture, Peter Carini recommends Anne Edmonds's A Memory Book: Mount Holyoke College 1837-1987, from which he drew heavily when creating this architectural tour.
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