Wilder Hall

Date

1911-present

Location

135 West Lorain Street

Architects/Collaborators

Joseph Lyman Silsbee (1848–1913), Chicago (architect)

Style

Richardsonian Romanesque

History

From the College's founding men had lived in boarding houses scattered throughout the town. The College had built dormitories for women, including Talcott and Baldwin, but not for men. This building, constructed from a design by architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee, designer of the Memorial Arch, was intended to correct a perceived imbalance by providing men with campus housing, and thereby to build male loyalty and camaraderie at the College. The Men's Building was completed in 1911 with funding from an anonymous donor, who was later identified as Herbert Wilder, a Boston paper manufacturer. As is true with so many donors to the College, Mr. Wilder admired President Henry Churchill King's aim to combine excellence with religious principles; it was named for Wilder in 1956. The Men's Building provided housing for 65 undergraduate leaders (class officers, athletic captains, publication editors, etc.), a dining room, billiard room, bowling alley, library, a reception room for women students, a barbershop and other spaces for meetings and assembly. The broad terrace flanking the main entry was designed for rallies and songfests. Today Wilder Hall serves as the student union and provides space for student organization offices, dining options, mailroom, and meeting and performance space along with places for social gatherings, relaxation and conviviality.

Wilder Hall was listed on the National Register as part of the Oberlin College thematic nomination in 1978. It was listed by the City of Oberlin as an Oberlin City Landmark in November of 1997.

Sources

Geoffrey Blodgett, Oberlin Architecture, College and Town: A Guide to Its Social History (Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College, 1985), 20-21.

Ohio Historic Inventory for Wilder Hall Student Union, Ohio Historic Preservation Office, September 30, 2000, accessed May 22, 2015.

Oberlin College Archives, Office of the Secretary Records.