With World War II raging in February of 1943, Adelphi opened its nursing school with an enrollment of just under 30 women. By October of that year, 187 women were enrolled.
Today, Alumnae and Harvey halls are the bustling academic homes of the and the. Just over 60 years ago, though, they were built for a very different purpose: as dormitories for the women enrolled in the Central Collegiate School of Nursing鈥攁 unit of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps and the predecessor to Adelphi鈥檚 College of Nursing and Public Health.
U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps marching at Adelphi.
With World War II raging, the country faced a dearth of nurses to treat wounded soldiers at home and abroad. Hence, through the Bolton Act, Congress funded training for nurses who joined the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps at schools such as Adelphi. In February of 1943, Adelphi opened its nursing school with an enrollment of just under 30 women. By October of that year, 187 women were enrolled.
The need for proper housing was immediately apparent. First-year nursing cadets鈥攁s they were known鈥攅ither commuted to campus or lived in the Adelphi gym鈥攖he building that is now Woodruff Hall. Former dean Ruth S. Harley 鈥�24, 鈥�50 (Hon.) recalled in a 1979 interview that the 34 first-year cadets living in the gym referred to their quarters variously as Hopper-Haven, Bed-Side Manor and Grand Central.
Following the Depression, Adelphi was in debt, and paying for new student housing required creative financing. In her book, A History of 天美传媒 (Boston: Pearson, 2014), Adelphi Professor of English Jennifer Fleischner, Ph.D., explains the scheme: Adelphi sold a plot of its mortgaged land to the Alumnae Association who then deeded it to the federal government for construction. Through the Lanham Act, administered by the Federal Works Administration, Adelphi secured two successive grants of $170,000 and $155,000 to build two residence halls to house 200 women. McKim, Mead & White鈥攖he renowned architectural firm that had designed Adelphi鈥檚 first three Garden City buildings (today鈥檚 Levermore, Blodgett and Woodruff halls)鈥攄esigned the L-shaped dormitories with 50 rooms apiece as well as some administrative offices, recreation rooms and service rooms. East Hall, which was later renamed Alumnae Hall in honor of the Alumni Association, was completed first. West Hall, later dubbed Harvey Hall in honor of Anna E. Harvey, dean of Adelphi from 1922 to 1935, followed soon after.
Eleanor Roosevelt speaks at Adelphi on May 6, 1944.
On May 6, 1944, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt joined College leaders and other dignitaries, including the U.S. Surgeon General, to dedicate the buildings. She said prophetically, 鈥淚 am very glad that in a time of war we can dedicate a building which, while it is dedicated to war service now, will continue to be of service to this college and this community after the war is over.鈥�
Dr. Betty L. Forest 鈥�47, 鈥�10 (Hon.), who was among the 4,000 audience members that day, recalled 聽that 鈥淲e wore our cadet nurse uniforms, and we learned to march!鈥� She and her friends, who had been living in the gym, were 鈥渏ust tickled鈥� to have the new quarters. Once the dorms were open, groups of young women could be seen carrying entire dresser drawers full of clothing across campus to their new rooms.
In a 2004 interview for A History of the 天美传媒 School of Nursing鈥�by Ellen (Krawiecki) Florentine 鈥�86, M.S. 鈥�04鈥擜nn (Callahan) Dick 鈥�47 recalled, 鈥淚 missed Eleanor Roosevelt鈥檚 visit, but I heard so much about it, that I felt like I was there.鈥� Dick moved into the dorms in September 1944 and said, 鈥淎 week later, on the twelfth, we had a hurricane and the new roof leaked like a sieve.鈥�
Dick vividly remembered the housemother, Mrs. Davis, a survivor of the battles of Bataan and Corregidor, who strictly enforced the evening curfew. 鈥淪he was a tough old, chain-smoking nurse, but we loved her anyway.鈥�
The 1956 Oracle yearbook is the last one in which students are listed as living in either Alumnae or Harvey Hall. The 1958 Oracle reported that Adelphi鈥檚 Institute of Health, Education and Welfare had been established in Alumnae Hall. (As its name implies, the institute offered graduate programs in a range of health-related areas, including nursing, social work and psychology.)
In 2015, with the opening of the 鈥攖he new home of the College of Nursing and Public Health鈥擜lumnae Hall will take on a new life as a faculty office building.
Nexus Building and Welcome Center is scheduled to open Fall 2015.
This piece appeared in聽,聽Fall 2014 issue.