Courtyard of Alice Lloyd Residence Hall, 1952
The process of naming Alice Crocker Lloyd Hall was anomalous when compared to its counterparts. This is true in terms of both the time it took to name the hall and the way in which the name was finally decided. The ordeal began around early 1947 and was finalized three years later, in 1950. The building was planned to be an all women’s dormitory and, accordingly, was to be named after a woman. To this end, a committee was appointed to select a name for the new hall. Interestingly enough, on this committee were Joseph Bursley, F.C. Shiel, and Alice Crocker Lloyd.[1]
The committee’s first recommendations in January of 1947 consisted of Alice Hamilton and Alice Freeman Palmer. The recommendations were made on the basis of candidates’ contributions as educators in the University and nation, as well as the respect accorded by students and faculty to the candidates. These were then presented to the Board of Governors of Residence Halls to be discussed for consideration. Months later, this same board called a meeting with the purpose of choosing and voting for names to recommend to the Board of Regents. Seemingly ignoring the committee’s recommendations, the Board of Governors of Residence Halls settled upon the names of Sarah Caswell Angell as their first choice, and Louisa Reed Stowell as their second to propose to the Board of Regents.[2] Curiously, the Regents decided not to take action based on the recommendations, so the Board of Governors of Residence Halls were forced to make further considerations. This time, the Board of Governors decided to include the original committee’s first recommendations. They submitted the names of Alice Hamilton, Alice Freeman Palmer, with the addition of Lucinda Hinsdale Stone on motion of Miss Alice Lloyd in 1948.[3]
The following year, after no action was taken once again, Miss Lloyd proposed that the hall be given an impersonal name such as “North Residence Hall” or “North Quadrangle,” while still naming the houses after important women. The Board of Governors agreed upon this recommendation and began the process of finding names for the houses inside the hall. By way of a letter, Miss Lloyd herself recommended names for the particular houses, including: Florice Holmes, Mary Louise Hinsdale, Alice Freeman Palmer, Lucinda Hinsdale Stone, Charlotte Alice Blagdon, Alice Hamilton, and Carolyn Hubbard Kleinstuck. In the same letter, the current Dean of Women at the time remarked, “it is particularly important that the names carry significance for the women who will live in the houses in years to come… Attaching individual names… will give the residents tradition and a sense of belonging to the best that the University has created.” The board then went on to pass these recommendations to the Board of Regents.4 The name of Sarah Caswell Angell was later added to these recommendations.5
Once again, the Board of Regents rejected the proposals for the hall and house names. They instead suggested the names D’oge, Winkler, Patterson, Effinger, Cooler, Goddard, Lombard, Waite and Campbell for house names. This time, the Regents provided an explanation through a communication from Mr. Briggs: “the Regents felt in the selection of names for the houses, that more consideration should be given to honoring ladies who had been active in contributing to the social life and welfare of women students before the advent of the residence halls, rather than to base the recommendations entirely on academic or scholarly accomplishments.” The communication also pointed out that confusion could arise from using the names of: “Alice Freeman Palmer, because the name Palmer is attached to the Women’s Athletic Field, and Mary Louisa Hinsdale, because there is a Hinsdale House in existence in the men’s residence halls.” In another perplexing turn of events, the board of governors then decided to submit suggestions for house names including Angell, Palmer, Hinsdale, and Kleinstadt. It was decided that efforts to establish the overall hall name would be “held in abeyance for later consideration.”6 Nonetheless, the aforementioned house names were finally approved on September 24, 1949.
At last, in 1950, the University received after very unfortunate news. On March 3, 1950, Alice Crocker Lloyd died in her home in Ann Arbor. Directly following this event, the board of governors sent a recommendation to the Board of Regents, which read, “Her own [Alice Lloyd’s] personal contribution to the development of University housing for women has been so great that we are recommending separately the naming of the newest women’s residence in her honor.” This finally ended the process of finding a name for the new women’s residence hall, which had lasted over three years. It is peculiar, but rather fitting, that the person who started and was evidently committed to naming the hall, ended up having the hall named after her.
Click on the images below to learn more about the names chosen for Alice Lloyd Hall:
Alice Crocker Lloyd |
Sarah Caswell Angell |
Mary Hinsdale |
Caroline Hubbard Kleinstuck |
Alice Freeman Palmer |
Notes:
- Letter from Alice C. Lloyd, Joseph A. Bursley, and F. C. Shiel to Board of Governors of Residence Halls regarding proposals for name of new women’s residence hall, January 20, 1947, Box 32, University Housing University of Michigan Records.
- Minutes of the special meetings of the Board of Governors of Residence Halls, May 22, 1947, Box 32, ibid.
- Minutes of the Board of Governors of Residence Halls, September 29, 1948, ibid.
- Minutes of the Board of Governors of Residence Halls, March 23 and May 11, 1949, ibid.
- Minutes of the Board of Governors of Residence Halls, June 14, 1949, ibid.
- Minutes of the Board of Governors of Residence Halls, September 21, 1949, ibid.
Image Credits:
“Two girls sitting, one walking in courtyard of Alice Lloyd Residence Hall,” 1952, Alumni Association Records.
