Oberlin College - Hi-O-Hi Yearbook (Oberlin, OH)

Page 26 text:

iffifff' ' . - Mr- f ' 'ltsrlb fear? 5 3 '?EwE'i5 5- -- l -MQ-Y . Ewa-fikf : f' ill' ,Af ,, ll V53 if my is lj-if-Q, is .3 ln March 1955, a huge tarpaulin over the entrance of the Hall Auditorium hid the intricate process of interior decoration, as the date for the opening drew near. LEFT: Last spring the auditorium amounted to little more than a massive pit in the ground. BELOW: By September 18, 1952, the auditorium had grown into a skeleton of its future self. 20 it-A-. '. ' , . sg-N. 2

Page 25 text:

Sporadic Spurts of School Possibly the most unique aspect of Oberlin is its version of the wide-spread academic phenomenon school spiritf' For when spirit is highest at Oberlin it is not for a football championship or even a national band concert. It soars to its most exalted peak at quad- rennial political contests of very univory-towerish proportions. When the current year began, spirits were suffering from the de- pressing effects of a post-Convention lag. A new crop of cheer leaders were ushered into ofhce, filling the shoes of their yell-lead- ing predecessors, who had held this post for four years. Ranging greatly in size and appearance, they struggled heroically to make everyone from shy freshman girls to tonsil-conscious conservatory seniors join in a rendition of Your PEPP, A delegation from Wooster, attempting to scorch a gigantic W in the Oberlin field could only stir the local police, who fired sev- eral shots at the crafty Scots. At Homecoming every dorm co- operated except most of the senior men, who at Burton posted an eight-by-eleven piece of paper reading, XVe Wish all success and best wishes to Oberlin in its game with De Pauw this Saturday. At last, however, to minister to the ailing year the dynamic shot in the arm, came the unsquelchable Plaquers. Organized by a tight nucleus of six at a meeting at Kenny's, the Plaquers began with ninety but within four days had five hundred i'presidents, who doggedly tried to bolster spirit. Included in this list were one hun- dred per cent of the freshman girls and a vast number of Frosh men. To help organize, the group planned to transfer Peters Hall to the plaque on the crossroads of Tappan square. Spirit Founders and architects of the Plaquers plan a movement to place Peters on the plaque above. You've got it, now keep it, doggonit don't lose it, your pep! ,flh- Fw ' 'Vx

Page 27 text:

Alter 40 Breathless Years: Hall Auditorium When Charles M. Hall, benefactor of Oberlin College, provided in his will for an auditorium with a large pipe organ, he hardly conceived that the dynamism of modern architecture would make his plans obsolete. In 1951, years later, the trustees of the Hall estate acquiesced to a new designg and the following summer work began, based on the thin white lines of Wallace K. Harrison blueprints. Projected onto a background which changes little with the passing weeks, this symbol of modernity grew quietly in the lot next to the old Mummers studio' on Main Street. Earth and stone capitulated to the growling power of derricks and steamrollers, and the foundation was laid in the summer. Then came the frame, a structure recalling projects built from the Gilbert Hall of Science erector sets. To this frame fifty men attached white stones and a gigantic tarpaulin to enclose the front. By February activity shifted to the interior, where slabs of marble, bags of cement, pipe fittings, and lathes waited to be incorporated into the final product. A vast complex of boards, a study in geometrical design, supported the men high above the floor of the auditorium. To the ceiling these men attached catwalks and a system of indirect lighting and stage lights. In March a veneer of plaster was spread over the inner wall. Talk of, completion dates commenced behind the blank, concave walls, but some - rectangular stumps of the air-conditioning unit remained unconnected and uninstalled, and rows of slender pipes still poked indignantly from the walls. The installation of seats and the hanging of drapes was to be the last job. Wfhat Charles M. Hall envisioned forty years ago became in 1953 the modern house that Albert M. Higley Company built. RIGHT: An architect's sketch shows the auditorium ready to open for business next fall. BELOW: On October 11, 1952, the long-awaited laying of the cornerstone finally took place, with President William Stevenson reading the dedication. ,.-f sk'