In the mid-1900s, George W. French, Class of 1908, was the official photographer for the tourism-focused Maine Development Commission, which placed him foremost among those who the visually interpreted the Maine slogan “Vacationland.”

Both as a student and later as a professional photographer, he did his part to interpret the �ֲ���ý campus through imagery.

This edition of Then and Now presents historical �ֲ���ý images by George French and images taken this week during the waning days of a gorgeous fall foliage season.

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Circa 1920

Hedge Hall (1890) was first a chemistry building, then a residence hall, and is now an academic building for environmental studies, religious studies, and philosophy. It was added onto twice, first in 1926 and then in 1950.

Circa 1920

Hathorn Hall opened in September 1857. The laying of its cornerstone the year before drew a crowd of 5,000, many of whom marched from downtown Lewiston to the grounds of the new Maine State Seminary for the occasion. At right, Muey Li ‘28 of Bazhong, China, walks a campus path that generations of �ֲ���ý students before her have walked.

Circa 1938

The terrace and steps of Coram Library (1902), a fine spot for lounging throughout the decades, often draws skateboarders.

Circa 1942

At left, two students holding tennis rackets talk as they leave the Gray Athletic Building. At right, Krishna Kakani ’25 of Monroe, N.J. and Evan Migdole ’26 of Westbrook, Conn., leave the building after shooting hoops.

Circa 1920

At the opening of Maine State Seminary in 1857, Parker Hall was not quite finished, so the seminary leaders asked Lewiston citizens to open their homes to students as boarders. A shed behind Parker held firewood for the students’ use. Each student’s wood supply was placed in separate, labeled stalls.

Circa 1938

At left, two students walk from the Historic Quad through the Class of 1929 Gate. In the current photo, that’s Natalia Jacobs ’26 (left) of Shutesbury Mass., and Miriam Almzainy ’26 of Madaba, Jordan.

Almzainy is holding a box of ribbons that she was inviting students to write reflections upon, to be part of the next day’s Remembrance Service to commemorate one year since the October 2023 mass shootings in Lewiston.

Circa 1950

The stone of Gomes Chapel (1914) is known as seam-faced granite. Quarried near Hingham, Mass., it carries a distinctive and natural tone and texture, especially apparent when illuminated by the sun on a fall afternoon.

Circa 1941

Rand Hall (1905) was named for John Holmes Rand, a �ֲ���ý mathematics professor who oversaw its construction.

Circa 1938

At left, in 1938, a trio of students pose by the Class of 1932 sundial. At right, Andrew and Harrison, local high school students, pause for a portrait after skateboarding on the Coram Terrace.

Circa 1938

The walkway from the corner of Campus and College streets toward Hathorn Hall is traditionally one of the busiest on campus. Arguably, it also might provide the best foliage viewing.

Circa 1942

Like many �ֲ���ý buildings, Roger Williams Hall (1985) has had a few identities, first as a divinity school, then a residence hall and administrative offices, and now is home to the college’s languages departments and programs.

Circa 1942

The two men talking at left in front of Coram were likely part of the Navy V-12 program, which stationed 120,000 student sailors at 131 U.S. colleges, including �ֲ���ý, for officer training and accelerated college instruction during World War II.

The Historic Quad. In the right, a more modern version includes a swing, unauthorized, but in the fall of 2024, much appreciated by students.

Circa 1920

The less austere contemporary view (right) of Hedge Hall, still swathed in October’s brightness, with Hathorn Hall’s tower in the distance was taken from Professor of French and Francophone Studies Alex Dauge-Roth’s third-floor office in Roger Williams Hall.

Once around the Quad, shall we? Here’s an interactive look at historical images of �ֲ���ý buildings and places around the Historic Quad paired with images taken this week.

Use your mouse to grab the slider (or swipe your finger if on a phone or tablet) to reveal more or less of each image.

Hathorn Hall 

Comparing the historic photograph of Hathorn Hall, taken in the 1920s, with the current photograph, we see an expanded set of steps into the building today, and lots of ivy back then. (The construction fence surrounds Dana Chemistry Hall, which is undergoing renovations.)

Look closely: that chain-link fence next to Hathorn in the historic photograph surrounds one of the many tennis courts that dotted the campus by the 1920s.

ThenNow

In Front of Hathorn

Miles Greenwood, Class of 1891, took this photo of the paths extending from the steps of Hathorn Hall around 1894, when he was a “specialist in photography” in Melrose, Mass.

“I handle all kinds of tourist Kodak work and give expert advice in the matter of apparatus and supplies to be used,” he said in a 1912 advertisement.

ThenNow

The Mouthpiece

The Mouthpiece bulletin board, a gift of the Class of 1927,  was a major information hub in the pre-photocopier, pre-Internet world.

Students in a �ֲ���ý course on material culture note a poignancy to the age of the Mouthpiece: a bygone time when, if we wanted information, we often had to walk to get it.

ThenNow

Dana Chemistry Hall 

Opening in 1965 to replace the chemistry lab in Hedge, Dana is now undergoing a full interior renovation, hence the construction fence and the vendor’s truck out front.

When done, the building — to become simply Dana Hall — will have teaching-focused lab space, classrooms on the second floor for all academic departments, and study space throughout.

ThenNow

Hedge Hall

The historic photo shows Hedge in 1897, seven years after it opened as a chemical laboratory. Hedge added a one-story wing in 1926 and, in 1950, two more stories. In 1965, Hedge was converted to a residence hall with the opening of Dana Chemistry Building.

In 2010, Hedge was again refurbished for academic use, and today houses academic programs in environmental studies, philosophy, and religious studies, plus classrooms and lounges.

ThenNow

Coram Library

Completed in 1902, Coram Library was designed by Henry B. Herts and Hugh Tallant, best known for their Manhattan theater architecture, including the New Amsterdam Theatre and the Lyceum Theatre.

Perhaps fittingly, Coram has been a perfect stage for all sorts of �ֲ���ý events, activities, and ceremonies. In the early 1900s, students regularly staged plays on the Coram porch. The other day, we saw a few skateboarders practicing their tricks; here, one does his trick while his friend captures video.

ThenNow

Carnegie Science Hall

This historic image of Carnegie Science Hall, built in 1913, is undated, but we know it was taken before the first of two major additions, one in 1962 and the second in 1990, the latter of which doubled the size of the building.

The single dormer atop the building in the contemporary image was added to accommodate a new elevator installed during the early 1960s addition.

ThenNow

Gomes Chapel 

The college chapel was built in 1914 and named for the late Rev. Peter J. Gomes ’65 in 2012.

This undated image shows a bygone hallmark of many college buildings around the country: ivy-covered walls. By the later 1900s, �ֲ���ý and other colleges began removing ivy due to the belief that it harms masonry. 

ThenNow

Gomes Chapel II

This second historic image of Gomes Chapel is also undated, but it’s probably after 1926 because we can see, in the distance at right, the porch on Parker Hall, which was added that year.

ThenNow

View of the Quad

This photograph, showing a view of the Quad through the windows of the chapel’s portico, is undated, and timeless. The traceries of the portico were renewed as part of the substantial and award-winning restoration of the chapel that concluded in 2020. 

ThenNow

Parker Hall

Comparing the circa 1899 photograph of Parker Hall and the current photograph, you can see a few differences. The porch was created in 1926. Improvements completed in 1969 included the full dormer atop the building and stair towers on either end.

ThenNow

Historical photos courtesy Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library. Contemporary photographs by Jay Burns.

Here’s an interactive look at historical images of �ֲ���ý places paired with images taken more recently.

The more things change, the more…. Well, you can finish that thought!

This edition of Then and Now was prepared as part of last week’s virtual Reunion programming. Use your mouse to grab the slider (or swipe your finger if on a phone or tablet) to reveal more or less of each image.

Garcelon Field

The 1899 image, taken when Garcelon was being cleared, shows Hedge Hall (left) and and Hathorn Hall (center). They’re joined by Pettengill Hall in the contemporary image.

18992021

Rand Hall

Built in 1905 as a women’s residence hall, Rand Hall also contained the Fiske dining room, which served all the women on campus during the era of separate men’s and women’s dining.

c. 1905 Rand Hall Construction2021

Chase Hall

About the only changes in these views of Chase Hall are the disappearance of trolley tracks and the paving of Campus Avenue.

c. 19202017

Lake Andrews and Page Hall

Lake Andrews got its name in the early 1900s when Delbert Andrews, Class of 1910, helped students create a skating rink by damming a swampy area behind Hathorn Hall and Parker Hall.

In 1958, as �ֲ���ý embarked on a building program, including building Page Hall (once an all-women’s dorm nicknamed “Smurd”), seen in the 1960 photo, the college enlarged what Andrews had begun by excavating a true retention pond to handle stormwater runoff. As with elsewhere around Lake Andrews today, extensive vegetation helps filter runoff.

19602017

Figure Eight

Campus Avenue once had trolley tracks. This section was part of the Figure Eight, named for the shape of its route around Lewiston and Auburn. The President’s House is in the background, then and now.

c. 1935 Trolley Tracks2021

Maintenance Center

Built on Andrews Road in 1909 and expanded in 1962, the Maintenance Center and its imposing smokestack was demolished to make way for Pettengill Hall, which opened in 1999.

c. 1962 Maintenance Center2021

Schaeffer Theatre

Opened in 1960 as the Little Theatre, the �ֲ���ý theater was renamed in 1973 to mark the retirement of Lavinia Schaeffer, director of theater from 1938 to 1968.

1959 Schaeffer Theatre Construction2021

Garcelon grandstand

In a sweeping renovation, �ֲ���ý upgraded the Garcelon Field grandstand and installed lights and a FieldTurf surface in 2010. In November 2019, the field hosted its first-ever night football game.

c. 1975 Grandstand2019

Elms

The path next to Gray Athletic Building and Alumni Gym once was lined with elms. Their ranks were ravaged by Dutch Elm disease, which swept through New England in the 1950s to 1970s.

c. 19352021

Muskie Archives

This former gymnasium and locker space for women was turned into the Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library in 1985, including the addition of an outdoor, walled garden.

c. 19272021

Lake Andrews shoreline

The shoreline of Lake Andrews features more vegetation than ever before, part of efforts to support the pond’s health, even if it does obscure a view of Adams Hall.

c. 1970 Adams Hall2021

Rand Field

�ֲ���ý built a new residence hall, 280 College, on the former Rand Field in 2007.

c. 1955 Rand Hall and Field2021 Residence Hall

Dana Chemistry Hall

Opened in 1965, Dana Chemistry is now undergoing a gut renovation to focus more on general science teaching, with a goal of more effectively welcoming new students to STEM fields.

Chemistry will move to the new Bonney Science Center on Campus Avenue, a campus hub for faculty and programs in biology, chemistry, and neuroscience with overlapping research interests and technical needs.

1964 Dana Chemistry Construction2021

Pettigrew Hall

Pettigrew Hall, originally called the “Fine Arts Building,” opened in 1953.

c. 1960 Pettigrew Construction2021

Schaeffer Theatre

Originally named “Little Theatre” to continue the name of its predecessor in Hathorn Hall, the theater was named in honor of Professor of Speech and Theater Lavinia Schaeffer at her retirement in 1973. Schaeffer had directed dramatics at �ֲ���ý from 1938 to 1968.

19592021

Garcelon Field

These two images of Garcelon Field, one pre-World War II and one from October 2017, were both taken from the top floor of Roger Williams Hall.

Both show the football team practicing. In the older photo, the team uses a practice field to avoid tearing up game-field sod. Today, since the addition of FieldTurf during 2010 renovations, the �ֲ���ý varsity teams that use the field (football and lacrosse) play and practice on their game field.

c. 1930s Garcelon2017

Alumni Walk

In one fell swoop between mid-2006 and early 2008, �ֲ���ý created Alumni Walk along with a new dining Commons and a residence hall at 280 College Street.

Alumni Walk passes in front of Lane Hall and behind Parker, Hathorn, Dana, and Hedge halls. Besides replacing the former campus road and parking area once there, it brings architectural coherence to a maturing area of campus.

Hedge and Roger Williams

In 2010, former residence halls Roger Williams (1895) and Hedge (1890) were revamped and returned to their original use as academic buildings.

Hedge was a chemistry building until 1965, when it became a residence and turned its science role over to Dana Chemistry Hall. The “Bill” was originally a divinity school before it became a raucous residence.

One moment, it can feel like we’re locked into endless winter. Then, shazam!, we’re enveloped in a campus cocoon of color and light.

In this installment of Then and Now, take an interactive look at images of familiar �ֲ���ý places in winters recent and historic, paired with images taken in recent weeks.

Use your mouse to grab the slider (or swipe your finger if on a phone or tablet) to reveal more or less of each image.

Steady Gate

The Class of 1929 Gate is a welcoming entrance to the Historic Quad, whether on the snowy afternoon of Nov. 26, 2014, or on the colorful afternoon of Oct. 22, 2019.

Arch Look

Beneath an arch, Alumni Gym’s twin doors offer a splash of garnet on the first day of 2017. By Oct. 30, 2019, the walkway has become a cathedral of color.

No Leaf Left Behind

Following a light snowfall on the Monday of Thanksgiving week 2014, a swamp white oak (left) still clung to its leaves. Five years later, on Oct. 21, 2019, the oak is taller, and its leaves were keeping their green.

Welcome to the Walk

Many paths lead to Alumni Walk, such as this one between Hedge Hall (left) and Dana Chemistry Hall, whether on Feb. 24, 2019, or on Oct. 21, 2019.

Blizzard Then Benign

�ֲ���ý photographer Phyllis Graber Jensen braved the East Coast blizzard of Jan. 4, 2018, to capture a scene of high wind and blowing snow behind Hedge Hall on Alumni Walk. The scene was much quieter on Oct. 21, 2019.

Snow Fall

Clinging to trees and the Gomes Chapel roof and towers, snow arrived during the fall last year, as the wintry photograph from Nov. 21 shows. The scene on Oct. 30 was more colorful.

Around and Around

Whether you’re strolling (April 10, 2019, after a light snowfall) or on a run (on Oct. 22, 2019), Lake Andrews’ Burgoyne Walk is the place to be.

Pillars of Campus

Feb. 8, 2013, was just the start of the historic “Nemo” snowstorm that dumped 25.5 inches of snow on campus. On Oct. 16, 2019, the familiar Hathorn Hall pillars frame a different campus scene.

Les Neiges D’Antan

The wintry view of Hathorn Hall was likely taken between 1926 and 1950. During that span, Hedge Hall, seen in the far distance at right, had a one-story addition that’s visible in the photograph. In 1950, �ֲ���ý added another two stories to the addition, giving Hedge its present-day look.

Many years later, on a warm Oct. 21, the path to Hathorn is a busy student thoroughfare between the Historic Quad and residences on College and Frye streets.

Coram Contrast

This snowy scene in front of Coram Library on Dec. 30, 2016, shows another swamp white oak, notorious (depending on your lawn-cleanup perspective) for holding its leaves late into the fall, and again on Oct. 21, 2019.

Roger That

Since its dedication as a home for bygone Cobb Divinity School on Sept. 10, 1895, Roger Williams Hall has seen 45,341 days go by, including a chilly Jan. 4, 2017, and a mild Oct. 16, 2019.

When the divinity school closed in 1908, it became a student residence and administrative offices. Now renovated and expanded, it was rededicated as a home for language study in October 2011.

As ginkgo trees do, the one outside Carnegie Science Hall, across from Chase Hall, shed all its leaves within a few hours on Nov. 9. “It is beautiful,” said Assistant Professor of Biology Brett Huggett, who alerted us.

The �ֲ���ý ginkgo was planted in 2003, and it’s the only one on campus. Bill Bergevin, the college’s landscape architect, chose the species with the faculty of Carnegie Science Hall in mind.

Video of the �ֲ���ý ginkgo shedding its leaves on the morning of Nov. 9.

“By my limited knowledge and research, Ginkgo biloba is one of the few species living today of which fossilized records exist,” Bergevin says. In other words, the ginkgo is a “living fossil,” a phrase coined by Charles Darwin, with fossilized examples of the plant dating back some 270 million years.

Thanks to a recent story in The Atlantic, we can say that due to climate change, the �ֲ���ý ginkgo is probably shedding its leaves later and later each year.

that a favorite ginkgo tree at the University of New Hampshire is dropping its leaves around two weeks later than it did in the 1970s. The UNH ginkgo also dropped its leaves on Nov. 9, the morning after a hard freeze in New England (it got down to 19 degrees on the �ֲ���ý campus), and it’s believed that temperature has something to do with the ginkgo’s leaf drop.

Here are then-and-now photos of the �ֲ���ý ginkgo, on Nov. 9 and again the next morning:

These two images of Garcelon Field, one pre-World War II and one from October, were both taken from the top floor of Roger Williams Hall.

Both show the football team practicing. In the older photo, the team uses a practice field to avoid tearing up game-field sod. Today, since the addition of FieldTurf during 2010 renovations, the �ֲ���ý varsity teams that use the field (football and lacrosse) play and practice on their game field.

You can tell the historical image is from the 1930s because Garcelon Field still had its covered wooden grandstand, much like the grandstand at a county fair race track, complete with lockers below and seating for 600.

The outmoded and unbeloved structure burned in 1939. It was no big deal, reported The �ֲ���ý Student, since new bleachers were already planned. “Students turned out en masse to cheer while the structure gradually crumbled to the ground. The grandstands that replaced it were taken down in 2010 to make way for the current stands.

The football team practices near Bardwell Street in this photo circa 1930s. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

Back then, a cinder track encircled the football field, and Garcelon was the site of track meets through the mid-1970s, when �ֲ���ý stopped hosting outdoor meets until the creation of the Russell Street track and field in 2002.

In the old photo, the baseball field (left) hadn’t yet moved across Central Avenue, which it did in 1986, its place taken by the Residential Village (center of 2017 photo) in 1992. At right in the new photo, you see the fireplace lounge of Commons.

Garcelon Field and environs in October 2017. (Jay Burns/�ֲ���ý College)

The tennis courts, seen in the foreground of the old photo, began disappearing in 1978 when new courts opened along Bardwell Street. The last courts, outside Alumni Gym, were made redundant in the mid-2000s after the opening of the Wallach Tennis Center in 2000.

In the old photo, you can see the white farmhouse across Russell Street (right) and just the gable of the barn  in the current photo. It used to house the art department; it’s now part of the Information and Library Services operation.

As winter becomes spring, and as snowbanks melt, grass grows, and flowers bloom, �ֲ���ý buildings  are our constant companions.

Here’s an interactive look comparing the look of 10 �ֲ���ý places in the depths of winter and again this week. (The images may take a moment to load.)

Ladd Library

The unmistakable lines of Ladd Library, opened in 1973, are said to evoke the steeply pitched roof of a New England saltbox.

Hedge Hall

Hedge Hall has seen more 500 winters, springs, summers, and falls since it was constructed in 1890. It’s now an academic building for environmental studies, religious studies, and philosophy, plus classroom space.

Roger Williams Hall

Dedicated in 1895, Roger Williams Hall initially housed the Cobb Divinity School. Later a longtime residence hall, “the Bill” was renovated in 2010 for the college’s language programs and Off-Campus Study Office.

Hathorn Hall

Placed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 1970, Hathorn Hall is �ֲ���ý’ first building, opening for use on Sept. 1, 1857, for the brand-new Maine State Seminary, forerunner of �ֲ���ý College.

Alumni Gymnasium

Roger Williams Hall (left) and Ladd Library (right) frame the path that ends at the red door of Alumni Gym, completed 100 years ago.

Pettengill Hall

Falling snow gives Pettengill Hall, dedicated in 1999, a bold, almost stern look. At left is Hedge Hall.

Hathorn Hall, redux

This wider view of Hathorn Hall shows the tree canopy on the Historic Quad closing in.

Class of 1906 Gate

The oft-photographed Class of 1906 Gate handles both a mantle of snow and leafy vines with equal grace.

Coram Library

Did you know that some paths on the Historic Quad, like the one from Coram Library (1902) to Hathorn, go unplowed in the winter?

The Gomes Chapel

Built in 1914, the chapel is made of distinctive seam-faced granite, quarried near Hingham, Mass., which has a different tone and hue depending on the light…and season.

Here’s an interactive look at six �ֲ���ý places now and when they were under construction between 1998 and 2010.

Lake Andrews

The beloved Puddle’s massive makeover in 1998 began with its complete draining. The restoration included creation of the Keigwin Amphitheater and Burgoyne Lakeside Walk.

Alumni Walk

In one fell swoop between mid-2006 and early 2008, �ֲ���ý created Alumni Walk, a new dining Commons, and a residence hall at 280 College Street.

Alumni Walk passes in front of Lane Hall and behind Parker, Hathorn, Dana, and Hedge halls. Besides replacing the former campus road and parking area once there, it brings architectural coherence to a maturing area of campus.

Commons

By September 2007, construction on Commons and Alumni Walk were heading into the home stretch.

280 College Street

Located on the field between Rand Hall and Mountain Avenue, the residence at 280 College St. includes a lofty signature space, Frank’s Lounge.

Roger Williams Hall and Hedge Hall

In 2010, former residence halls Roger Williams (1895) and Hedge (1890) were revamped and turned into academic buildings.

Hedge was a chemistry building until 1965, when it turned over its science role to Dana Chemistry Hall.