Barnard Campus and Buildings on Morningside

Barnard Buildings and Campus

1889 — 343 Madison Ave.
Lease of 4-story brownstone on east side of Madison, two buildings up from 44th St.
$3,200 per year; occupied by Barnard Coll until summer of 1897; subsequent use unknown.

1892 — Brinckerhoff Hall
1892  — $130,000 gift from “Friend of the College” – memorial to her father and husband
Mrs. Van Wyck (Mary E. ) Brinckerhoff – donor’s name made public in 1896.
Gift conditioned on Barnard acquiring Morningside site.
Gift handled by lawyers Silas Brownell and Frederick Wait, the former an original Barnard
trustee, the latter later joined the board.
Cornerstone set October 1896
4-story building opened in Fall 1897 as east side of Milbank complex grouping; backing on Broadway

1895 — Land between Claremont and Broadway, 119th-120th Street of 16 lots – purchased for $160,000 1+ acre city block
Funding from “site fund” headed by Treasurer George A. Plimpton from 50+ contributors
( including Fayerweather bequest??)

1895 — Milbank Hall
January 1895 — $170,000 from Mrs. Archibald (Elizabeth Milbank) Anderson, newly named trustee; named for her father, Jerimiah Milbank,
Cornerstone set October 1896
4-story building opened in Fall 1897; front facing south

1897 — Fiske Hall
May 1, 1897 — $140,00 for building from Mrs. Josiah M. Fiske
Cornerstone set October 1897
Opened in Fall 1898; formed west side of Milbank complex; bordered on Claremont Avenue
4th floor served as temporary dormitory, 1898-1900.

1903 – March — Mrs. Anderson purchase of three blocks between 116th and 119th Streets, Broadway and Claremont; one of the last undeveloped sites in the Columbia neighborhood.
3 acres — $1,000,000

1906 — Brooks Hall
Gift of $300,000 from Mrs. Anderson
Dormitory for 100 residents; elegantly designed
Opened 9/23/1907

1915 — Students Hall
1915 – Gift of $500,000 from Jacob Schiff, German-born banker and one-time Barnard trustee (1889-1896); in recognition of his 50 years in America; contained swimming pool and gymnasium; housed Barnard library
Opened November 1917; faced Broadway
Renamed “Barnard Hall” May 1925, not Schiff Hall as some argued for.

1924  — Brooks wing cornerstone set  — to cost $1,000,000 from  College revenues
Named “Hewitt” Hall after Abram Hewitt, Barnard’s second board chairman (1897-1902)
Opened 1925 – Dean Gildersleeve took up residence in the Deanery at its northern end.
To accommodate 250 residents

1936 –Rockefeller-funded General Education Board gift of  $255,000 of the $510,000 for purchase of  underdeveloped “Riverside Quadrangle” on Claremont Avenue to Riverside Drive  between 119th St. and 120th St. [Current site of Interchurch Center]

1949 – Barnard Annex (attached to north end of Barnard Hall)
Opened in 1949 — designed for commuting students
Gift of Eugene and Trustee  Agnes Ernst Meyer, BC ’07,  publishers of the Washington Post

1953 – Claremont lot sold back to Rockefellers for construction of Interchurch Center

1959 – Lehman Hall/Wollman Library open — Trustee Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger (BC ’14) a major donor

1961 – Reid Hall opens – Helen Rogers Reid and Ogden Reid family as major donors; daughter-in-law Trustee Mary Louise [Stewart] Reid, BC ’46 actively involved in project

1962 – 10-story building at 616 West 116th Street purchased for student dormitory

1966 – 10-story building at 620 West 116th St. purchased

1968 – McIntosh Student Center opens
Construction underway for six years
Named for Millicent McIntosh (Dean 1947-52; president 1952-61)

1968 – Plimpton Hall opens on Amsterdam and 121st Street; previously the Bryn Mawr Hotel site. Named for George A. Plimpton, board treasurer 1893-1936

1969 – Altschul Science Tower – named for Helen Goodhart Altschul  (BC 1907)

1971 –Corner Buildng at Broadway and  600 West 116th St. bought for use of upper stories as student residences.

1988 – 18-story Centennial Hall opens; renamed Sulzberger Tower in 1991 to honor  Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger (BC ’14) following a family gift of $7 million

1988 – Elliott Hall opens on Claremont Avenue;
Named for Eleanor Thomas Elliott (BC 1949; board chair,  1974-77)

2002  New student center, originally called ” Nexus,”  on site of demolished McIntosh Student Center under construction

2005 — Nexus  opened and renamed Diana Center after gift from Roy and Diana Vagelos, BC ’55.)

2005 – 15-story Cathedral Gardens bought for $24.5 million from Columbia University – 110th St and Morningside Drive; used for joint faculty and student residence.

2018 – 11-story  Milstein Teaching & Learning Center opens September 2018.
Named for donors Cheryl (BC ’82) and Philip Milstein; other major donors in included Roy and Diana Vagelos, and the Tow family.

Bob McCaughey
Last updated: August 2019