Syracuse University students walk in and out of buildings on campus everyday, and most never give a second thought to the name or history of the dozens of buildings SU houses. However, thanks to the Syracuse University Archives in Bird Library, below is a short synopsis of just a few of the historical buildings on this large campus.

Crouse College

Originally called the John Crouse Memorial College for Women, the John Crouse College of Fine Arts was dedicated to the university on Sept. 18, 1889. The building cost $500,000 to construct and was named after a local grocer and banker from Syracuse, John Crouse. Crouse College was the first college in the country to award a degree in fine arts.

Crouse, born in Midenville, N.Y. in 1802, was one of the first directors of the First National Bank of Syracuse and a trustee of the university since its founding in 1870. Crouse died before the building’s completion in 1889, but the construction pushed forward and was completed under his son, D. Edgar.

The famed organ and chimes in the building were a gift of John Crouse. The organ cost $15,000 and the chimes cost $6,000. The chimes rang for the first time in May 1889 by Charles W. Douglass, a member of the SU football team and a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

The chimes have become the oldest tradition at SU. They have traditionally been rung by members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, except for a three-year stint during WWII where the women of Alpha Phi took over the responsibility.

Steele Hall

Built as a home for the science department, which had previously been housed in the Hall of Languages, Steele Hall opened its doors in 1898. It is named after Esther Baker Steele, an SU trustee elected in 1895.

The building is one of SU’s oldest. It was built specifically as a physics building, whose name can still be seen on the front of it. It was valued at $60,000, according to a November 1911 issue of the Syracusian, a former Syracuse newspaper.

Steele, an Elmira native, was granted an honorary degree as a doctor of literature by SU in honor of her intellectual achievements. She gave a series of lectures at the university in 1897 and became known as one of the most generous benefactors of her time. She died on Nov. 23, 1911 at the age of 76.

Shaffer Art Building

Dedicated publicly to the university on Oct. 21, 1990, this $11 million building was named after SU alumnae Dorothea Ilgen Shaffer, who donated $3.25 million to its construction. The rest of the money came from a three-year campaign for the building.

Shaffer graduated from SU in 1933 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and went on to receive her master’s in art history at Penn State University in 1948, followed by a Ph.D. in education.

Shaffer and her husband reside between two locations, Boca Raton, Fla., and Lewisberry, Pa. She was elected to the SU board of trustees in 1968 and received the Outstanding Alumni Award in 1977.

Tolley Administration Building

Although it is now under renovation, the building was erected in 1889 as the Von Ranke Library, named after the German historian Leopold Von Ranke. It was renamed the administration building in 1907.

It formally became the office of the chancellor, vice chancellor and the immediate support staff (registrar, treasurer, etc.). It also housed the first campus cafeteria in the basement.

In September of 1985, the building was rededicated to former Chancellor William Pearson Tolley, the seventh chancellor of the university, between 1942 and 1969.

Tolley graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in 1922, and his master’s in 1924 from SU. He received 30 honorary degrees from other institutions. He became chancellor at age 42 and remained in his position for 27 years. The university saw tremendous growth during Tolley’s reign as chancellor, including 35 new buildings, such as the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

After he left the university, Tolley’s legacy continued. According to the Sept. 13, 1990 issue of the Post Standard, Tolley donated his collection of Rudyard Kipling’s works, 25 manuscripts and more than 400 letters. Tolley died on Jan. 26, 1996 at the age of 95.

Goldstein Student Center

Goldstein is one of the most recognizable names on campus-not only is it the name of the South Campus student center, but also the Alumni and Faculty Center and the auditorium in Schine Student Center, all named for Alfred and Ann Goldstein.

The Goldstein Student Center on South Campus opened on Aug. 28, 1990 and was officially dedicated on Nov. 9, 1990. It was built with the intent to serve the more than 3,000 students that reside on South. The Goldsteins made a naming donation of $2 million to the $7 million project.

Ann was a 1948 SU graduate, and Alfred graduated from Cornell University, but has served as a trustee for the College of Visual and Performing Arts since 1996. All three of their children, Wendy, Richard and Steven, attended Syracuse.

The Goldsteins also made a naming donation to the Alumni and Faculty Center, which was rededicated in 1997.

The Alumni and Faculty Center was originally constructed as the Delta Kappa Epsilon house in 1903, until the university bought it in 1974 and transformed into a faculty center. It remained as such until 1997.

The Goldsteins also donated $1.5 million to the construction of the Goldstein Auditorium in 1984 and have established the Joseph I. Lubin scholarship in honor of Ann’s father, who was a former SU trustee and philanthropist.

Published on December 2, 2006 at 12:00 pm