The 1892 home of Juanita Strait, bequeathed to KU Endowment at her death in 2002, was refurbished as a community center for the scholarship halls that surround it and an office and apartment for the scholarship-halls complex director. Mrs. Strait, a longtime piano teacher, was the widow of Reginald Strait, a physical education professor, and she had befriended many scholarship-hall students.
Daniel Chester French, 1924
James Woods Green (1842-1919) was the first head of the KU Department of Law and the first dean when it became the School of Law in 1889; he served from 1878 until his death Nov. 4, 1919. A group of alumni and friends quickly formed an association to create a statue in memory of the beloved teacher and mentor.
Major renovations and additions to the Allen Fieldhouse complex in 2009 enhanced this service center for student athletes, coaches and staff, and KU Athletics. The name honors donors Ken Wagnon and W.G. Parrott Jr.
Craig Dan Goseyun, 1994
This bronze sculpture, 8 feet tall and weighing 3,000 pounds, signifies the importance of water to all living things. It is the gift of Clarence J. and Hazel M. Beck of Rye, N.H., to commemorate the 1994 centennial of Spooner Hall. He is a 1943 metallurgical engineering graduate and a pioneer in nuclear and atomic research; in 1992 he received the Distinguished Engineering Service Award.
In 1937 Elizabeth M. Watkins donated funds for a residence hall for nurses working at Watkins Memorial Hospital, immediately north; it served that purpose until 1974. The stone building was designed by State Architect Raymond Coolidge. It housed the Hall Center for the Humanities from 1984 to 2005. The School of Social Welfare now uses the facility for several programs.
By the 1960s, the university had outgrown Watkins Memorial Hospital, opened in January 1932. The hospital, the gift of Elizabeth Miller Watkins and named for her late husband, could not be expanded because of its hillside site, so a larger, more modern hospital was planned for the playing fields southeast of Robinson Center. George Hampton & Associates of Wichita and State Architect Kenneth R. McCain designed the dark brick building with medical director Raymond A. Schwegler. It cost $3.65 million, paid largely by student fees, and retained the original name.
In 1925, Elizabeth Miller Watkins gave $75,000 to fully fund the first KU women’s scholarship hall, to be named for her late husband, Lawrence banker Jabez B. Watkins. She also donated the land for it, on Lilac Lane adjacent to her home, “The Outlook.” The residents had to demonstrate financial need and academic ability and agree to share all domestic duties. Thomas Williamson designed the yellow-brick, colonial-style hall. The seven kitchen/dining areas in the basement were shared by seven women each; the hall also has a living room, sleeping porches and study rooms.
Opened Sept. 11, 1924, this Collegiate Gothic-style limestone building was named for Carrie M. Watson, an 1877 and 1880 alumna who was university librarian 1887-1921. It was designed by George L. Chandler and State Architect Ray L. Gamble. Five structural additions were done between 1938 and 1963; chronic crowding and disorganization began to be alleviated by the completion of Spencer Research Library in 1968 and Anschutz Library in 1989.
The Arthur D. Weaver Memorial Fountain Court on the south side of Spooner Hall was dedicated June 20, 1960, in memory of the longtime Lawrence department-store owner. It was the gift of son Arthur B. Weaver and daughter Amarette W. Veatch and their families.
A fountain near the center held a sculpture, and several others were mounted in the courtyard. One piece, "Portrait of August Renoir" by Aristide Malliol, was stolen in 1967; the others were removed to storage.
In the 1960s Chancellor W. Clarke Wescoe (1960-69) began lobbying for a central humanities classroom/office building that would unite departments scattered all over campus. By 1969, Haworth Hall and its neighbor Robinson Gymnasium, both opened before 1910 in the heart of campus, were razed in preparation for the new building.
In September 1954 the Wesley Foundation Student Center opened in a brick and concrete building funded by the United Methodist Church and private donors. Like Myers Hall immediately to the west, it was organized to provide religious, educational and cultural support to university students. It had an auditorium and stage; a chapel; meeting and recreation rooms; lounges; a kitchen; offices; and a three-bedroom apartment for a resident director. In the late 1960s it was also used for design studios, art classes, and faculty and staff offices.
