The Vassar Chapel, built in 1904, is the main religious building at Vassar College, and is the largest religious edifice in Poughkeepsie, New York. Although it has been altered, repaired, and acoustically improved, it is one of the few buildings at Vassar that has not undergone considerable renovation. Each semester, the College community gathers in the Chapel for fall and spring convocations, in which the President and a notable member of the faculty deliver addresses.
Architecturally, the style of the building is Norman, and is constructed from 'seamed' Cape Ann granite with sandstone trimmings. [1]
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small, and is distinguished from a church. The term has several senses. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type of these. Secondly, a chapel is a place of worship, sometimes non-denominational, that is part of a building or complex with some other main purpose, such as a school, college, hospital, palace or large aristocratic house, castle, barracks, prison, funeral home, cemetery, airport, or a military or commercial ship. Thirdly, chapels are small places of worship, built as satellite sites by a church or monastery, for example in remote areas; these are often called a chapel of ease. A feature of all these types is that often no clergy were permanently resident or specifically attached to the chapel.
Vassar College is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely following Elmira College. It became coeducational in 1969 and now has a gender ratio at the national average. The college is one of the historic Seven Sisters, the first elite women's colleges in the U.S., and has a historic relationship with Yale University, which suggested a merger before they both became coeducational institutions. About 2,450 students attend the college.
LIU Post is a private university in Brookville, New York. It is the largest campus of the private Long Island University system.
Saint Xavier University is a private Catholic higher education institution in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1846 by the Sisters of Mercy, the university enrolls 3,896 students.
Strong House is a dormitory at Vassar College named after Bessie Rockefeller Strong, the oldest daughter of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, who was largely responsible for funding the building's construction. It used to be the only all female dormitory remaining after Vassar went coeducational in 1969. However, Strong House currently identifies as a gender inclusive dorm. The building was designed by Francis R. Allen and was completed in 1893.
The Memorial Church of Harvard University is a building on the campus of Harvard University.
The Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library is the main library building at Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The Casperkill is a creek in both the town and city of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. It flows 11.6 miles (18.7 km) from Peach Hill Park to the Hudson River. Combined with its only major tributary, the Fonteyn Kill, it forms a 12 sq mi (31 km2) subwatershed. It lies entirely within the British royal grant of 1685 known as the Rombout Patent.
The Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film is the home to Vassar College's drama and film departments. Before its 2003 renovation, the building was known as Avery Hall, and before that, the Calisthenium and Riding Academy. It was originally designed by J.A. Wood. It has been adapted to many uses since its construction. A design by Cesar Pelli turned it into the Center for Drama and Film in 2003.
Cushing House is a four-story co-ed dormitory on Vassar College's campus in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. A response to freshmen overcrowding, the college's Board of Trustees hurried the Allen & Collens-designed building, named for college librarian and alumna trustee Florence M. Cushing, to construction and completion in 1927. Cushing was originally designed as eight smaller houses with euthenic principles in mind, but ended up as a single U-shaped dormitory in the Old English manor house style with Jacobean interior furnishings. Students of all grades may live in the house, which houses up to 202 in single, double, and triple rooms and are referred to as "Cushlings". Throughout Cushing's history, various proposals and plans have incited controversy among the building's residents, including designating one of its wings as all-black housing and converting one of its common areas into eight single rooms. Contemporary reviewers have looked favorably upon Cushing's aesthetic qualities, declaring it to be one of Vassar's most beautiful buildings.
The Seeley G. Mudd Chemistry Building was a chemistry laboratory and classroom building on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. The 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m2) postmodern building stood on the north end of a cluster of other science buildings on the site of the school's first chemistry laboratory. It was completed in 1984 at a cost of $7.2 million after the college received money from a fund bequeathed to it in the will of California cardiologist and professor Seeley G. Mudd. The structure replaced Sanders Hall of Chemistry and included elements designed to be energy efficient, notably a large wall of glass blocks that designers hoped would passively heat the building. Reviews of the structure were positive when it opened with critics praising the way its form complemented nearby older buildings. By 2015, many aspects of the building had been evaluated as being in Fair or Poor condition and the building was demolished in April 2016 as part of the Science Center project, later replaced with an open green space.
Raymond House is one of five quadrangle residence halls at Vassar College, located in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. Raymond House was erected in 1897 in response to the popularity of Strong House, and was promptly designed by Francis R. Allen. Named after the second president of Vassar College, John Howard Raymond, this dormitory has five floors and is one of the residence halls that was paid for by the college in entirety.
Lathrop House was the third quadrangle dormitory built on Vassar College's campus in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. Constructed in 1901 and designed by Boston-based Allen & Vance, the brick dorm stands five stories tall. Lathrop houses 180 students who may be any year or gender.
Davison House is a five-story dormitory on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. Designed by Boston architecture firm Allen & Vance and built 1902, it was the fourth dorm built on Vassar's residential quadrangle. It houses 191 students of any grade or gender and it became Vassar's first disabled-accessible dorm following a 2008–2009 renovation.
The Students' Building on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S., houses the school's All Campus Dining Center as well as additional multifunctional student space on its second floor. Designed by Joseph Herenden Clark of McKim, Mead & White and built in 1913, the structure originally housed a variety of different student organizations and school functions. In 1973, it was converted into a campuswide dining hall; it underwent a second renovation in 2003 that returned multipurpose student functionalities to its upper floors.
Jewett House is a nine-story Tudor-style dormitory on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. Built in 1907 to accommodate increasing demand for residential space, the dorm was designed by Vassar art professor Lewis Pilcher of the architectural firm Pilcher and Tachau. Early reviews looked unfavorably upon Jewett, even dubbing it "Pilcher's Crime" and by 2002, a host of issues plagued the dorm, leading to a $21 million renovation. Up to 195 students of any gender or class year may live in Jewett, which has been purported to be haunted by several different ghosts during its existence.
The Fonteyn Kill is a 1.5-kilometer-long (0.93 mi) urban stream flowing through Dutchess County, New York, onto the campus of Vassar College, and into the Casperkill. The stream was first on land inhabited by the native Wappinger band before being transferred to the Dutch and then the British. A mill was built along the kill by 1714 and the stream's presence influenced Matthew Vassar's decision to locate his college in the area. The artificial Vassar Lake lies midway down the Fonteyn Kill and was once used for ice skating and boating.
Ely Hall is a two-story Richardsonian Romanesque classroom and laboratory building on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, US. The structure houses Vassar's Department of Earth Science and Geography, the A. Scott Warthin, Jr. Museum of Geology and Natural History, and the Aula, a spacious and frequently used gathering space.
The Powerhouse Theater is a theater building on the campus of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, US. Originally built as a power station in 1912, it was renovated and repurposed as a theater in 1973. Each summer it hosts student productions as well as professional workshops and readings as part of the Vassar–New York Stage and Film Powerhouse Theater program.
Vassar Brothers Medical Center, now part of Nuvance Health is a medical facility located in the city of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is one of two major medical centers located in Dutchess County, New York, the other being MidHudson Regional Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, or WMCHealth. Vassar Hospital has been a part of the Nuvance Health system since its previous parent, Health Quest, merged with the Western Connecticut Health Network in 2019.
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