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Faces Behind the Façades

By Stacey Himmelberger

Statesmen and scholars. Entrepreneurs and visionaries. Writers and artists. More than 50 buildings on campus serve as lasting tributes to individuals who shaped not only Hamilton's history, but in many cases the history of our nation.

With the opening this fall of the Charlean and Wayland Blood Fitness and Dance Center and the Little Squash Center, we thought we’d take this opportunity to offer a glimpse into the lives of a few of our buildings’ namesakes.

Select a building from the list below, or a picture to the right to learn more.

BABBITT RESIDENCE HALL

AZEL BACKUS HOUSE

BEINECKE STUDENT ACTIVITIES VILLAGE

BENEDICT HALL OF LANGUAGES

BLOOD FITNESS AND DANCE CENTER

BRISTOL CENTER

BUNDY RESIDENCE HALLS

MARGARET BUNDY SCOTT FIELD HOUSE

BUTTRICK HALL

FILLIUS EVENTS BARN

KIRKLAND COTTAGE

LITTLE SQUASH CENTER

MCINTOSH RESIDENCE HALL

MINOR THEATER

PETERS OBSERVATORY

ELIHU ROOT HOUSE

SCHAMBACH CENTER

SAUNDERS HOUSE

SOPER HALL OF COMMONS

ALEXANDER WOOLLCOTT HOUSE

Other Hamilton buildings named in honor of...


Information for this article was drawn primarily from previous volumes of the catalogues of Hamilton and Kirkland colleges and the Hamilton Alumni Review; Hamilton College: A History by Walter Pilkington (Hamilton College, 1962); Hamilton College and Her Family Lines by William DeLoss Love II ’45; and documents from the College Archives. Other sources include: The Soper-Wheeler Co. (www.soperwheeler.com); “A Brief History of Bristol-Myers Squibb History” (www.bms.com); “In Search of the Heroes” series on Henry Harper Benedict (www.graceproducts.com); “History of Ilion Industry, Village of Ilion, Herkimer County, N.Y.” (www.rootsweb.com/~nyherkim/ilion/ilionindustry.html); Elihu
Root Biography (www.nobelprize.org); Barnard College Campus News, Jan. 4, 2001; History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West, 1614-1925 (S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1925); Limited Engagement – Kirkland College 1965-78: An Intimate History of the Rise and Fall of a Coordinate College for Women by Samuel Fisher Babbitt (Xlibris, 2006).
President Babbitt at Kirkland’s first general assembly meeting (1969)
Babbitt Residence Hall
Azel Backus House
Azel Backus House
Walter Beinecke (right) and former President Martin Carovano cut the
Beinecke Student Activities Village
Benedict Hall of Languages
Benedict Hall of Languages
Blood Fitness and Dance Center
Wiiliam McLaren Bristol
Bristol Center
Bundy
Bundy Residence Halls
Margaret Bundy Scott
Margaret Bundy Scott Field House
Buttrick Hall
Buttrick Hall
Milton Fillius
Fillius Events Barn
Samuel Kirkland
Kirkland Cottage
Jeff and Claudia Little
Little Squash Center
McIntosh Residence Hall
McIntosh Residence Hall
Minor Theater
Minor Theater
Christian Henry Frederic Peters
Peters Observatory
Elihu Root
Elihu Root House
Schambach Center
Schambach Center
Silvia Saunders
Saunders House
Alexander Coburn Soper
Soper Hall of Commons
Alexander Wollcott
Woollcott House