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Hartley Hall

Coordinates: 40°48′23.32″N 73°57′41.96″W / 40.8064778°N 73.9616556°W / 40.8064778; -73.9616556
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hartley Hall
Hartley Hall in 2015
Map
General information
Address1124 Amsterdam Ave, New York City, New York
Named forMarcellus Hartley
Opened1904
OwnerColumbia University
Technical details
Floor count9
Design and construction
Architect(s)McKim, Mead & White

Hartley Hall was the first official residence hall (or dormitory) constructed on the campus of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus, and houses undergraduate students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. The building is named for Columbia alumnus Marcellus Hartley Dodge, who donated $300,000 for its construction shortly after his graduation. The building was meant as a memorial to his grandfather, Marcellus Hartley, the owner of Remington Arms, who died during Dodge's sophomore year and who bequeathed him the family fortune. Dodge hoped to create “the commencement of a true dormitory system" at Columbia.

Construction began on Hartley Hall in 1904 and it opened in tandem with Livingston Hall in 1905, welcoming students with its lobby of marble and oak. 200 students were housed in corridor-style rooms of various sizes. Lounges provided opportunities for social events such as teas with professors, although there was not yet an undergraduate dining hall on campus. Rooms of the period cost $3.30 per week, or $129 for the academic year, which, although more expensive than a roominghouse, ultimately allowed even poor students to afford berth there. University President Nicholas Murray Butler, who presided over the hall's opening, noted that "in the interest of true democracy," rooms were arranged to allow "the poorer student to live in the same building and the same entry with him who is better off, and so avoids the chasm between rich and poor living in separate buildings, of which there is so much complaint at Harvard."

Subsequently, the building became home, among others, to authors Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, who noted its cockroach problem.[1][2]

Overhauled during a 1980s renovation, the dorm is organized into mostly two-story suites, where up to 15 students live in single and double rooms. The suites' common space includes kitchens, bathrooms and living/dining areas. Along with neighboring Wallach Hall, it is currently part of the Living and Learning Center (LLC), home to suite-style housing that intermingles all class levels and features interactive events designed to draw them together. An application process is required to obtain housing in either of the LLC dormitories. Hartley also houses Columbia's undergraduate housing office. A small kosher deli used to be housed on the main floor. It was moved in 2007 to John Jay Hall.

Famous Residents

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References

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  1. ^ Kerouac, Jack, Vanity of Duluoz, p.66
  2. ^ Kerouac, Jack, Visions of Cody, p.198
  3. ^ "Hartley Hall". Columbia University Historical Justice Initiative. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  4. ^ Morgan, Bill (November 1997). Beat Generation in New York: A Walking Tour of Jack Kerouac's City. City Lights Books. ISBN 978-0-87286-325-5.
  5. ^ Druckman, Bella (2021-08-05). "Top 10 Haunts and Hangouts of the Beat Generation". Untapped New York. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  6. ^ "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  7. ^ "Take Five with Terrence McNally '60". Columbia College Today. 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  8. ^ "Take Five with Robert Alter '57". Columbia College Today. 2019-04-05. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  9. ^ "Former U.S. Ambassador Reflects on C.C. and "Carmania"". Columbia College Today. 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  10. ^ "Phil Kline '75 | Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
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40°48′23.32″N 73°57′41.96″W / 40.8064778°N 73.9616556°W / 40.8064778; -73.9616556