The University of Notre Dame Magazine published an article last week (April 15) highlighting the final semester of the century-old Howard Hall, a dormitory on the north edge of the campus's southern quadrangle.
"Students were told in November that Howard would be permanently retired as a residence hall at the end of this academic year. The University has not announced plans regarding Howard's future."
With its brick walls and double-barreled central archway, Howard was Notre Dame’s first use of Gothic architecture. The building’s exterior features limestone carvings, including a statue of Saint Timothy, a football player, a squirrel, an owl and a weeping schoolboy. Howard was soon joined by neighboring Morrissey and Lyons halls, the trio facing a courtyard with a view toward St. Mary’s Lake. The three buildings were designed by Notre Dame architecture professors Francis W. Kervick and Vincent F. Fagan (Class of 1920).
The article notes some former residents, including sophomore John Bellairs, who lived alone in room 116 during the 1956-57 school year.
Bellairs first mocked Howard Hall and its residents in his Oct. 31, 1958, "Escape" article (“a scholarly attempt”). This prompted 18 residents of the dormitory to write a letter to the Scholastic - published in the Repercussion section of the Nov. 14 edition - to demand "our existence to be recognized." Fellow student and friend Charles Bowen explained the dorm residents were currently "in the throes of a 'hall spirit' campaign designed to establish that Howard was no mere holding pen" and such humor may have touched a nerve. The editors provided Bellairs with an advance copy of the letter so that his response could appear in the same issue. In that week's column (“short shrifts and sliced shirts”), Bellairs revealed "the awful truth which I have tried to keep from these deluded souls: THERE IS NO HOWARD HALL!"
Good one, John. It only took 68 years.
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