Arnold House turns 50
By Daniel J. Fitzgibbons
It was 50 years ago that construction began on Dorm 12, a new four-story, women’s residence hall on North Pleasant Street. Built at a cost of nearly $552,000 by the University of Massachusetts Building Association, the traditional brick structure was topped by a cupola that mirrored the tower on its counterpart across the quad: Lewis House.
The new building was named for Sarah Louise Arnold, the first dean at Simmons College in Boston and the first woman to serve as a trustee of Massachusetts Agricultural College. Appointed to the board in 1926, her six-year term spanned the school’s transition to Massachusetts State College in 1931.
During her career, Arnold also served as Arnold was president of the Girl Scouts of America and president of the American Home Economics Association. She also wrote several textbooks on language and literature. She died in 1943.
Arnold House was a residence until 1966, when the building was converted into offices. Today, the building is home to the School of Nursing and the School of Public Health and Health Sciences.
As it happens, Sarah Louise Arnold is remembered with another women's dorm. Simmons College also named a residence hall in her honor.
September 21, 2004.
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