PALAIS UMASS
Forty years ago last February, a student body an eighth of its present size reveled in the dedication of its very own union. Nothing political though.
Really, it was retro even in 1956, when
theIndex announced with rightful pride the opening of "The
new Student Union, a $2,000,000 Palace Built with Student Funds."
Modish the Student Union certainly appeared, especially amidst the grassy
expanses of a central campus where, as professor emeritus Paul Norton has
written, "the tree-tops were still the limit" for building height.
But the image achieved by architect Louis Warren Ross was less modern than
Moderne-ish -- a sort of Neo-Georgian Airbrushed Style.
The streamlined corners, ship-rail balconies, and even the signage above
the entrance are reminiscent of 30s Art Moderne. The geometrically jazzy
wood paneling harks back to 20s Art Deco. The most notable reference to
mid-century style is the splendid glass curtain-wall behind the portico.
None of which is a criticism. This hard-working
little building -- "When I see it now I'm amazed at how tiny it is,"
says then-student government president George Cole `56, now a political
science professor at UConn -- is still pleasant to look at and must have
quite the little jewel when fresh and new.
Something of the original spit, polish, and posh is evident in early color
photos; also in early floor plans showing four main-floor lounges instead
of one and a lobby still graceful with an angular information counter rather
than a shake-roofed mini-mart.
Something of the tenor of the time is evident in the extension of the nomenclature
of "The Redmen" to a coffee shop called the Hatchet and Pipe,
a barber salon called the Scalp Shop, and restrooms designated "Braves"
and "Squaws."
"It was a different time," says Cole, who also recalls that he
and other student leaders had to make a special effort to reassure their
elders that a "student union" had no political connotations.
It had school-spiritual ones, though. In January of 1956, the Amherst Journal
Record quoted the young Cole as follows:
""'The important thing to remember is that this a student
building, run by and for them. Their very own. Student Unions, you know,
are new to the East Coast, they're a West Coast idea. Now, Connecticut
has one and we have profited a great deal from Connecticut's plans and
mistakes. New Hampshire will build one next year; Rhode Island built one
last year, but,' he concluded with understandable pride, 'they are relatively
small, compared with ours.'"
-Patricia Wright
