Houston Hall (University of Pennsylvania)

Houston Hall is the student union at the University of Pennsylvania, established in 1896. The idea of a student union was first established at Oxford University in 1823.Rath, Jay. (September 3, 2003) Wisconsin State Journal. "Mad for the union. Madison has been in love with the memorial union for decades. Now the party place is celebrating its history." Section: Daybreak. Page D1.] Seventy-three years later, Houston Hall became America's first (and now oldest) student union and student union building, both being based on the models of the Cambridge University and Oxford University Unions. [American Universities and Colleges By the American Council on Education (1928) p. 33]

In 1893, the University of Pennsylvania Trustees decided to provide a facility for the social and recreational use of students. Trustee (later Provost) Charles C. Harrison announced a contest for its design, open to students and recent graduates of the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture. Two students, William C. Hays and M. B. Medary, Jr., won the competition. ["Building America's First University: An Historical and Architectural Guide to the University of Pennsylvania" George E. Thomas, David Bruce Brownlee, p. 3.] The final design for the building was a combination of the two entries, and was executed by architect and faculty member Frank Miles Day with Hays and Medary listed as associate architects. ["University of Pennsylvania: Its History, Traditions, Buildings and Memorials" By George Erazmus Nitzsche. International Printing Co., (1918) p. 46-49. Full text at [http://books.google.com/books?id=CWYgAAAAMAAJ Google Book search] ] To finance the project, Harrison secured a donation of $100,000 from the Trustee Henry Howard Houston and his wife Sallie S. Houston. The Hall was named as a memorial for the son of its principal benefactors, Henry Howard Houston, Jr., (University of Pennsylvania class of 1878) who died in Rome within a year of his graduation. The cornerstone of the building was laid on January 22 1894, and Houston Hall was dedicated January 2 1896.

The original Houston Hall contained a bowling alley, swimming pool, music room, gymnasium, theater, and a billiards room as well as lounge and reception areas. [ [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/primdocs/upf/upf8_5/upf8_5i_houstonclub1896.pdf Original 1896 brochure commemorating Houston Hall.] ] Before the opening of the building itself, a "Houston Club" was formed, allowing membership to any male student and charging yearly dues of two dollars. These dues were then applied to the operation of the facilities. Bennett Hall, a version of Houston Hall exclusively for women, was built in 1926. [ [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/studtorg/stugovt/housclub.html History of Penn Student Government, from the University of Pennsylvania Archives] ]

Houston Hall has undergone several renovations throughout its history, first in 1936 by Robert Rhodes McGoodwim, and again by Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates (an architectural firm led by Penn graduates Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown) in 2000. [ [http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/mapsBldgs/view_bldg.php3?id=50 About Houston Hall Facilities] ]

Houston Hall now contains a cafeteria and other eating establishments, a video rental shop, study rooms, auditoriums, and numerous meeting rooms and offices.

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