The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Dimmitt Residence Hall

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Dimmitt Residence Hall (front facade, ca. 1930), Morningside College

Dimmitt Residence Hall (detail, front facade, ca. 2006), Morningside College

Institution Name: Morningside College
Original/Historic Place Name: Women's Residence Hall
Location on Campus: 3318 Vine Ave.
Date(s) of Construction and Designer(s):

1926-1927	original construction Beuttler & Arnold
1961-1962	addition of 4-story wing Unknown
1965-1966	addition of 5-story wing Unknown

Type of Place: Individual building
Style(s): (Glossary)
Materials:

Foundation: poured concrete

Walls: brick

Roof: asphalt shingle (original); ballasted rubber (current)

Function:

1927	other (facilities for dramatic and social events)
1927	dining hall
1927- present (2007)	residence hall (for women)
ca. 1937-1940	residence hall (one wing housed Army Air cadets)
1966-present (2007)	residence hall (for married students)

Significance:
Landmark designation:

National Register

Morningside College Historic District (1997)

Narrative: see below
References: see below

Narrative:
Although the Women's Residence Hall had been in the planning stages for twenty years, it was only constructed in 1926, when there was no other option for housing the increasing number of female students attending Morningside College. The completed building boasted a gracious domestic environment, with a sun parlor and drawing room in each hall. The dining room and kitchen contained the most modern equipment of the time. On the exterior, the loggias, roof terrace, and decorative cast-iron balconies contributed to the charm of the structure.

Finished just before the economic downturn of the late 1920s, the building ended up serving as faculty housing when student enrollments dropped, and the college found it more difficult to pay faculty. The building continues to serve as a residence hall for the majority of the first year students. While the foodservice operation is no longer in the building, large, gracious lounge spaces still exist.

In 1946 the residence hall was renamed to honor Lillian E. Dimmitt, a classics professor at the college from 1893 to 1965.

References:

I. Bibliographic sources:

Orwig, Timothy T. Morningside College: A Centennial History. Sioux City, IA: Morningside College Press, 1994.

Orwig, Timothy T. Morningside College Historic District. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1997.

II. Location of other data:

University: Special Collections

SHPO

Government Offices

Other: Sioux City Public Museum Archives & Research Center