Freeman Hall
Site: On the north side of campus, encircled by Whitehurst, Moore Hall, Dennis Hall and Wood Hall
Dedication: October 30, 1965
Architect: Carneal & Johnston
Size: 25,965 square feet
Cost: $475,000
Renovation: 1989
Freeman Hall opened in 1965 as a residence hall for men, housing 107 students. It is named in honor Douglas Southall Freeman, an important figure in the history of the University. Freeman was a 1904 graduate of Richmond College, a trustee from 1925 to 1950, and served as Rector from 1934 to 1950.
Freeman was born on May 16, 1886. He entered Richmond College in 1901 at the age of 15. While attending he served as editor of The Messenger the student run literary magazine. He was encouraged to study history by Professor Samuel Mitchell and decided to pursue it. He received a Ph.D. in history from Johns Hopkins University in 1908. A noted historian, he authored five books during his lifetime. He completed a biography of Robert E. Lee in 1934, 19 years after he began writing it. George Washington’s biography was published d in 1953. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1934 for the Lee biography and posthumously in 1954 for the Washington biography.
Groundbreaking for the three-story Collegiate Gothic-style building took place on September 30, 1964 during a time of campus expansion. It was the fourth residence hall built in a period of nine years, a response to the steady increase in enrollment and in residential students. At the time, commuting students accounted for 30% of enrollment. President Modlin predicted that by the end of the 1960s only about 20% would not live on campus.
The building was unnamed when construction began, but it was dedicated to Freeman on opening. The dedication ceremony took place at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 30, 1965. James J. Kilpatrick, editor of the Richmond News Leader spoke.
In recent years, Freeman Hall has become the residence for men who participate in Spinning Your Web, a program for first-year Richmond College students with strong leadership potential. Not all Freeman residents are members of the program.
Sources:
UR website
VBHS building file
Alley, Reuben E. History of the University of Richmond, 1830-1971
Collegian 1965, 1978