Charles Alonzo Rich Builds the New Dartmouth



Contents

Introduction
List of Illustrations

I. The University Arrives
II. Democracy
III. Spirit
IV. The Anomaly

Epilogue

Works in Hanover
Works Elsewhere

Bibliography

A thesis by Scott Meacham, 1998

Charles Alonzo Rich
(Dartmouth College Library)

Charles Alonzo Rich
Builds the New Dartmouth
1893-1914

Introduction

This study investigates the two dozen buildings that Charles Alonzo Rich designed at Dartmouth College between 1893 and 1914, first as a member of the firm of Lamb & Rich and then in solo practice beginning in 1899. The College was expanding into a university at the turn of the century, a shift that was in some ways a difficult one. By highlighting such traditional collegiate values as "democracy" and "spirit" in the new buildings, Rich and his patrons sought to ease the transition to the modern Dartmouth. This attempt becomes evident in the buildings in specific ways: plan, program, style, the use of found objects, and siting. But not all of his work was so sensitive; the monumental ambition of Rich's initial designs can explain his project as a whole.

The most recent and thorough study of Dartmouth's architecture is Vanessa Patrick's 1978 UVa. thesis on the Green and its buildings. That work covered several periods of time, and this study intends to look deeper into one of them. In investigating the history of campus design, this study also draws from Paul Turner's Campus, first published in 1984.

In many cases on the following pages I attribute acts to Charles Rich that were indeed his, though the decisions behind the acts very likely belonged to someone else. The building committees of the College, which included both Presidents Tucker and Nichols as well as such active Trustees as Parkhurst, Kimball and Streeter, were the real moving force behind the new construction. Not all of the minutes of the two successive building committees survive, and those that do largely record decisions made rather than the reasons behind them. The pages of The Dartmouth and other sources can help fill in the blanks, but the exact motivations that created a building can never be entirely clear now that a century has passed.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Anita Dole of Dartmouth FO&M, Stephen Bailey of the West Lebanon Public Library, William Flynn of Saucier + Flynn, and the house at 12 Webster Avenue for their assistance. My family deserves thanks, especially for help in finding illustrations and books. I appreciate the help of the professors on my thesis committee: Richard Guy Wilson, Kevin Murphy, and my advisor Daniel Bluestone. I would like to thank the whole staff of Hough's Room in Baker Library for their interest and assistance, including the invaluable help of Anne Ostendarp and Philip Cronenwett. My warmest gratitude goes to Mrs. Harriet Drew and her family.

List of Illustrations | Top

Figure Illustration

1.
Charles Alonzo Rich, from the dedication page of the Aegis 1908(Dartmouth College Library).
2.
Map of Dartmouth College (Tucker, 310).
3.
Old Dartmouth Hall and New Dartmouth Hall (1904-6) by C.A. Rich (Emerson, ed., [63]).
4.
Alumni Gymnasium (1909-11) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
5.
Heating Plant (1898) by Lamb & Rich (Emerson, ed., [105]).
6.
Parkhurst Hall (1910-11) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
7.
William Jewett Tucker (Keyes and Clark, eds., 50).
8.
Albert Einstein and Ernest Fox Nichols, no location given (Brown and Rieser, 25, from Dartmouth College Library).
9.
Wilson Hall (1884-5) by Samuel J.F. Thayer (postcard).
10.

New Hampshire Hall (1907-8) by C.A. Rich (Barrett, 121).
11.
Culver Hall (1870) (postcard).
12.
Wilder Hall (1897-8) by Lamb & Rich (postcard).
13.
Medical School (ca. 1811 and later) (Barrett, 103).
14.
Tuck Hall (1902-4; now McNutt Hall) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
15.
Blair and Stafford Little Halls (1897 and 1899-1901), Princeton, by Cope & Stewardson (Architectural Record 27, no. 2, 136).
16.
Columbia University (1897), New York City by McKim, Mead & White, view by H.M Pettit (Moses King, King's New York Views).
17.
Columbia University (1894), by McKim, Mead & White, site plan (Four American Universities, 191).
18.
Hugh Lamb (King, Notable New Yorkers, 394).
19.
Hitchcock Hall (1913) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
20.
Hitchcock Hall, first floor plan (Office of the Bursar, 16).
21.
Fayerweather Row (1899-1900; 1906; 1910) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
22.
Fayerweather Hall, first floor plan (Office of the Bursar, 8).
23.
South Fayerweather Hall, second and third floor plans (Office of the Bursar, 12).
24.
North Fayerweather Hall second and third floor plans (Office of the Bursar, 10).
25.
Massachusetts Row (1907-8; 1911-12) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
26.
North Massachusetts Hall, first floor plan (Office of the Bursar, 22).
27.
Northrop and Gillett Houses, Smith College (1910) by C.A. Rich (American Architect109, no. 2091).
28.
Northrop House, first floor plan (after plan in Buildings File, Box 239.2, Smith College Archives).
29.
Astral Apartments, Brooklyn (1886) by Lamb & Rich (American Architect and Building News 20, no. 568).
30.
Robinson Hall (1913-14) by C.A. Rich (American Architect 109, no. 2091).
31.
College Hall (1901; now Collis Hall) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
32.
College Hall Trophy Room (postcard).
33.
New Hubbard Hall (1906) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
34.
Reconstruction of southeast corner of the Green in 1775 showing original buildings of Dartmouth (after Aldren A. Watson's 1964 reconstruction in Hill, 41) (Scott Meacham, 1998).
35.
Mt. Morris Bank, Brooklyn, New York (1883-4) by Lamb & Rich (American Architect and Building News 13, no. 383).
36.
Reed Hall (1839-40) by Ammi Burnham Young (postcard).
37.

Crosby Hall (c. 1810) showing 1896 addition and renovation by Lamb & Rich (postcard).
38.
Wheeler Hall (1904-5) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
39.
Foster-Hutchinson House (c.1688), Boston, Massachusetts (Morrison, 475).
40.
McPhedris-Warner House (1718-23), Portsmouth, New Hampshire (Chandler, 146).
41.
Y.W.C.A., Lancaster, Pennsylvania (postcard).
42.
University Hall (1770-71), Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (postcard).
43.
Massachusetts Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1718-20) (Architectural Record 26, no. 4, 295).
44.
Connecticut Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (1750-) (Embree, ed., 7).
45.
Massachusetts Building (1893), World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois ("State Buildings," The Vanished City).
46.
Second Town-House, Boston, Massachusetts (1712-13; restored 1882) (Chamberlain).
47.
Richardson Hall (1897-8) by Lamb & Rich (postcard).
48.
Tuck Hall, preliminary drawing of front facade (Dartmouth College Library).
49.
West side of the Green looking north, before 1900 (Leavens and Lord, following 187, from Dartmouth College Library).
50.
Berkeley Preparatory School, New York, New York (1890-1) by Lamb & Rich (American Architect and Building News 30, no. 775).
51.
Browne and Merideth Apts., Boston, Massachusetts (1890-1) by McKim, Mead & White (Roth, 141).
52.
Milbank Public Bath, New York, New York (1904) by C.A. Rich (Milbank Memorial Fund, 14).
53.
John Bell Scott Memorial Laboratory, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut (1903-4; now Davenport Hall) by C.A. Rich (Scott Meacham, 1998).
54.
The Playhouse, New York, New York (1911; demolished 1968) by C.A. Rich (van Hoogstraten, 134).
55.
Barnard College, New York, New York (1896-98) by Lamb & Rich (Architectural Record 27, no. 6).
56.
Dartmouth Hall recitation room from Aegis 1908 (Dartmouth College Library).
57.
Dartmouth Hall before painting (Dartmouth College Library).
58.
"Redstone," Short Hills, New Jersey (1882; burned 1934) by Lamb & Rich (American Architect and Building News 12, no. 349).
59.
Herman Ossian Armour Residence, New York, New York (1880) by Lamb & Rich (Collins, 34).
60.
Old Rider Farm, Bellport, New York (1889) by C.A. Rich, showing antique columns (R[ich], "The Summer Home of an Architect").
61.
"Redstone" hall fireplace drawing (American Architect and Building News 12, no. 349).
62.
"Wooden column" sketch by C.A. Rich, 1882 (Rich, "A Pleasant Trip," 184).
63.
Wentworth Hall truss at top of stairwell after 1912 C.A. Rich renovation (Scott Meacham, 1998).
64.
Sanborn Hall (ca. 1810) after 1894 renovation and rear addition by Lamb & Rich, view of front facade (postcard).
65.
Dartmouth Hall missing from the Old Row after 1904 fire (Dartmouth College Library).
66.
Proposed addition to the Medical School (1903) by C.A. Rich (The Dartmouth 25 [June 1904]: 2).
67.
Nathan Smith Laboratory (1907-8; demolished 1990) by Edgar Hayes Hunter (Barrett, 103).
68.
Site plan of west side of the Green in 1899 showing changes by C.A. Rich (adapted from Sanborn Map Co., 1894; 1899; 1904 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
69.
Site plan of west side of the Green in 1906 showing changes by C.A. Rich (adapted from Sanborn Map Co., 1899; 1904, 1912 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
70.
Site plan of west side of the Green in 1911 showing changes by C.A. Rich (adapted from Sanborn Map Co., 1904, 1912 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
71.
Site plan of west side of the Green in 1914 showing changes by C.A. Rich (adapted from Sanborn Map Co., 1912, 1922 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
72.
Moor Hall renovation (1897-8) by Lamb & Rich (postcard).
73.
The Green from the southwest looking north ca. 1904 (postcard).
74.
Quadrangle (1895) by Lamb & Rich, proposed site plan (American Architect and Building News 49).
75.
Butterfield Museum (1895-6) by Lamb & Rich (postcard).
76.
Site plan of the Quadrangle in 1895 showing changes by C.A. Rich (adapted from Sanborn Map Co., 1894; 1899 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
77.
Site plan of the Quadrangle in 1901 showing changes by C.A. Rich (adapted from Sanborn Map Co., 1899; 1904 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
78.
Site plan of the Quadrangle in 1910 showing changes by C.A. Rich (adapted from Sanborn Map Co., 1904, 1912 by Scott Meacham, 1998 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
79.
View of Wentworth Street before 1895 and perspective view of proposed Quadrangle (Leavens and Lord, following 187, from Dartmouth College Library; Dartmouth College Library).
80.
Map of Webster Avenue and Occom Ridge in 1927 (adapted from Sanborn Map Co., 1927 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
81.
Ridge House (1898-9), now Delta Delta Delta, by Lamb & Rich (Scott Meacham, 1998).
82.
Dartmouth College master plan (1908) (Architecture 18, no. 5).
83.
Court of Honor, World's Columbian Exposition (1893), Chicago, by Daniel Burnham et al. (Gems of the World's Fair and Midway Plaisance, [unpaginated]).
84.
James Gibbs's proposal for Cambridge buildings (1728) (Gibbs, pl. 36).
85
Boston Public Library (1888) by McKim, Mead & White (Chamberlain).
86.
Public Library in Newark, New Jersey (postcard).
87.
Alumni Memorial Hall (1895) by Lamb & Rich, proposed west facade (American Architect and Building News 49, no. 1024).
88.
Alumni Memorial Hall, proposed second floor plan (American Architect and Building News 49, no. 1024).
89.
Alumni Memorial Hall, proposed south facade (American Architect and Building News 49, no. 1024).
90.
Webster Hall (1901; 1906-7) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
91.
Gould Library, New York University, New York, New York (1896-1903) by McKim, Mead & White (McKim, Mead and White, plate 76).
92.
New York University (1894) by McKim, Mead & White, site plan (after Roth, 189 by Scott Meacham, 1998).
93.
Alumni Memorial Hall, sketch of south facade by C.A. Rich (Dartmouth College Library).
94.
Alumni Memorial Hall, sketch of west facade by C.A. Rich (Dartmouth College Library).
95.
Alumni Memorial Hall, sketch of longitudonal section by C.A. Rich (Dartmouth College Library).
96.
Webster Hall, 1901 drawing of south facade (Dartmouth College Library).
97.
Webster Hall (1901; 1906-7) by C.A. Rich (postcard).
98.
Webster Hall, second floor plan from 1970s (Dartmouth College Library).
99.
Webster Hall, interior (Barrett, 60).
100.
Butterfield Museum demolition with Baker Library in rear (1928) (Dartmouth College Library).
101.
Aerial view of the College, taken 1919 for Sesquicentennial (Dartmouth College Library).

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