Oberlin College Archives

OBERLIN COLLEGE ARCHIVES

Browse Items (12 total)

Sperry Neuroscience Wing, Kettering Hall (Science Center)

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The 1990 wing for Kettering Hall, incorporated in the 2002 Science Center complex, was named in honor of Oberlin alumnus Roger W. Sperry, a professor at the California Institute of Technology for more than 30 years. He shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in…

Wright Laboratory of Physics

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The Physics Laboratory, renamed the Wilbur and Orville Wright Laboratory of Physics in 1948, was constructed during the Second World War of concrete with an exterior of Indiana Limestone. The reinforced concrete was a wartime building material in…

West Lodge

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From 1927 to 1937, West Lodge at 106 West Lorain Street had been used as an office annex, for the work of the photographic and photostat departments, for the faculty stenographic service, and for three departmental offices. From 1926 to 1929 it was…

Spear Library-Laboratory

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Spear Library was the gift of Charles C. Spear, of Pittsfield, Mass. The cornerstone was laid October 6, 1884; it was dedicated November 2, 1885. The building was made of stone and measured 70 by 70 feet. It was named in honor of the donor, who also…

Severance Hall

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Severance Chemical Laboratory, now Severance Hall, was the gift of Louis H. Severance, of Cleveland. The construction was begun in 1899, and the cornerstone was laid May 31, 1900. It was dedicated with appropriate exercises September 26, 1901. Mr.…

Wright Zoological Laboratory

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Wright Zoological Laboratory was named in honor of Albert A. Wright, for thirty-one years Professor of Geology and Natural History in Oberlin College. The building was erected by the Second Congregational Church during the years from 1867 to 1870,…

Kettering Hall of Science

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Designed and built by the Austin Company of Cleveland, Ohio, the Kettering Hall of Science was completed in 1961 to house the Oberlin College departments of Biology and Chemistry. It was named for the late Charles F. "Boss" Kettering, renowned…

Geology Laboratory (2nd)

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The house located at 120 North Professor Street, formerly a private residence belonging to Professor William B. Chamberlain, was remodelled in 1915 as a laboratory for the department of Geology. The Geology museum on the second floor contained…

Geology Laboratory (1st)

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During the years between 1907 and 1915 the Geology Laboratory and Museum occupied quarters in a house on North Main Street on the site of the Allen Memorial Art Building. The building occupied, known as the “Squire House,” had been moved…

Geography Building/East Lodge

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Beginning in 1929 the house on the property at 86 West Lorain Street was used for the department of Geology and Geography as headquarters for the work in Geography. The house was built in the early 1840s by Professor Henry Cowles and was located on…

Botany Laboratory (2nd & 3rd)

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From 1891 to 1904 the house built for the Finney family, on the present site of Finney Chapel, had been used for laboratory purposes for the Department of Botany. In 1904 the College remodelled the property at 64 North Professor Street to meet the…

Science Center

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An architectural showpiece, the Science Center--with a budget of $55 million for construction and associated costs, and $10 million for an operations-and-maintenance endowment--is a postmodern structure sheathed in sandstone and designed to blend in…