A-Z: O

In 1912, Lawrence banker Jabez B. Watkins (1845-1921) built the three-story, 26-room house designed by W.J. Mitchell for himself and his wife, Elizabeth Miller Watkins. She lived in the home until her death in 1939, willing it to the university as a chancellor’s residence. It replaced the original brick chancellor’s residence at 1345 Louisiana St. 

Chancellor Deane W. Malott and his family were the first to live in the home. The first floor is used for receptions and other public functions; the upper stories are family living quarters. 

The 11,200-square-foot, brick building houses the offices of the Department of Film and Media Studies, a soundstage, sound- and film-editing suites, screening rooms and classrooms.

The building, opened in 1955, was commissioned by KU alumni Russell Mosser and Art Wolf, founders in 1947 of Centron Corp., a leading industrial and educational film studio in Lawrence. It was designed by KU architect Verner Smith. Mosser and Wolf sold the studio in 1981, and Centron had dissolved by 1990.

Opened in 1966 as a freshman women’s hall, it is named for the first chancellor, R.W. Oliver, in honor of the university’s centennial. It now houses 660 men and women, coed by wing, in two-person rooms. It has a dining center commons.

(Naismith Hall, across the street east of Oliver, is a private residence hall for men and women.)