Snell-Hitchcock
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Snell-Hitchcock Halls is a residence hall at the University of Chicago composed of two buildings, Snell Hall and Hitchock Hall. Built in 1892 (Snell) and 1901 (Hitchock), it is the oldest residence hall still in use on campus. It is built in a neo-Gothic style with a limestone exterior and fireplaces, hardwood molding, and trim inside.
Snell-Hitchcock is currently known for having a high level of community spirit and involvement, which are best displayed at the annual University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt. Also known as Scav Hunt, it marks the high point of the year for many of the inhabitants of the two dorms. The dorm is on the northwest corner of the University's Main Quadrangles at the corner of 57th St. and Ellis Avenue. It is connected via emergency exits to Searle Chemistry Laboratory.
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[edit] Hitchcock
| Charles Hitchcock Hall | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | 1009 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1901 |
| Architect: | Dwight Heald Perkins |
| Architectural style(s): | Prairie School |
| Added to NRHP: | December 30, 1974 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 74000751 [1] |
| Governing body: | Private |
Hitchock was built in 1901, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is built in a neo-Gothic style, like Snell and most of the University of Chicago's campus, but has many Prairie School elements, such as stone corn husks instead of gargoyles and flat-roofed instead of gabled dormers.
Hitchcock is built in the European "landing" style of dormitory with five stairwells linked only through the basement. The three interior "sections" (Sections II-IV) are each built around a single staircase which is linked to the others through the basement. Each Section consist of two floors of four double-rooms with a fourth floor that has two suites (doubles with a large living room and separate bedroom). Most of the rooms have non-working fireplaces. The first floor houses the apartment for the Resident Masters, a live-in faculty couple. Traditionally, each section has had a women-only and a men-only floor, with the suite floor being either single or mixed-sex depending on the desires of the residents.
The outermost sections of Hitchcock (Sections I & V) house primarily upper-class students. They have small hallways with six to eight residents per floor, many in single rooms. Section I is the furthest from the main entrance of Hitchcock and each floor is mixed-sex with a shared bathroom. It has some of the largest rooms in Hitchcock Hall, and includes several rooms known as "octagons" which are located in a turret-like structure and have many windows overlooking 57th and Ellis. The entrance to this section opens up into the common area that connects Snell and Hitchcock. Section I also contains "horseshoe doubles," (room #1x7) large doubles with separate niches and closets for each resident. The horseshoe doubles also have a (nonworking) fireplace and large hearth.
Section V is built above the Green Room and so it is the section closest to the entrance of the dormitory. Unlike Section I the first two floors are alternating single-sex (female, then male) with the top floor remaining mixed-sex. Section V has some of the more unusual rooms in Hitchcock, including several which have their own names.
On the second floor is the Fermi Room, where Enrico Fermi is said to have lived while working on the Manhattan Project in the 1940s. It is rumored that he chose that room because it had its own bathroom with tub, which is still there today. Linked to the Fermi Room is the Fermi Blackboard, which is usually granted to a physics or mathematics concentrator and is said to be the same blackboard Fermi used to do his calculations, although most likely it is just a rather old blackboard that has been in the dorm for some time. This possibility does not, nevertheless, detract from many students' desire to possess it.
On the fourth floor is The Ranch (room 541), a sprawling single which extends across the north side of the section. It gives a wonderful view of the Regenstein Library and Ratner Athletic Center and on a clear day the Sears Tower can be seen in the distance. It is usually one of the most sought-after rooms in the House's annual housing lottery.
The main lounge in Hitchcock, the Green Room, is a large reading room with tiled floor, a grand piano, a working fireplace, and portraits of namesake Charles Hitchcock, benefactor Annie Hitchcock, and University of Chicago patron Daniel Shorey. Hitchcock also has a kitchen, a bike storage room, and a laundry room. Each section has its own door onto Hitchcock's cloister (known as the Arcade), but the doors are used for exiting only and all entry must be through the main entrance. The Snell-Hitchcock front desk and mail room are located in Hitchcock's main entrance. Hitchcock has two assistant resident heads (RAs) and one set of Resident Heads, a live-in graduate student couple.
[edit] Snell
Built in 1892, Snell is half the size of Hitchcock, housing approximately 50 residents on four floors. All the rooms are singles, except for a two-room suite on the second floor. Three of the four floors are of mixed genders, while the third floor is women-only. A co-oped kitchen, laundry room, and a small recreational room are located in the basement, which connects with Hitchcock Hall. Though the buildings are connected, Snell also has a separate entrance for residents to use. Snell's main lounge is the Tea Room, an oak-paneled room with a non-working fireplace and copious selection of current periodicals. Snell has one assistant resident head (RA) and one set of Resident Heads, a live-in graduate student couple.
[edit] Scav Hunt
The University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt was established in 1987 by Chris Straus, a resident of Hitchcock 424, who organized the list and judged items with Cassie Scharff, Diane Kelly, Nolan McCarty, and Rick Jeffries. This group also formed the core of the judging committee after Straus's graduation in 1988.
Recent Chronological Scav Hunt placements (team names in parentheses):
- 2008: 1st place (Armydillo)
- 2007: 1st place (Psycho Refraction Party)
- 2006: 2nd place (Snells Like Hitchcock Spirit)
- 2005: 1st place (tie) (Armadillo of Darkness)
- 2004: 1st place (Hitchcapocalyptic Death Snell)
- 2003: 3rd place (Snell My Hitchcock: Fuckin' Yeah)
- 2002: 2nd place (Institutionalized Failures)
- 2001: 1st place (Snell My Hitchcock)
- 2000: 1st place (tie)
- 1995: 1st place
- 1994: 1st place
- 1993: 1st place
[edit] Notes
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
[edit] External links
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- Snell-Hitchcock is at coordinates Coordinates:
