Hartley Hall was the first official residence hall (or

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

) constructed on the campus of Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus, and currently houses undergraduate students from Columbia College as well as the

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (popularly known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering; previously known as Columbia School of Mines) is the engineering and applied science school of Columbia University. It was founded as th ...

. The building is named for Columbia alumnus Marcellus Hartley Dodge, who donated $300,000 for its construction shortly after his graduation. The building was meant as a memorial to his grandfather,

Marcellus Hartley Marcellus Hartley (1827 – January 8, 1902) was an American arms dealer and merchant. He was appointed as an agent by the Union Army to purchase guns from Europe during the American Civil War. He later manufactured cartridges for breech-loading ...

, the owner of

Remington Arms Remington Arms Company, LLC was an American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition, now broken into two companies, each bearing the Remington name. The firearms manufacturer is ''Remington Arms''. The ammunition business is called ''Remington ...

, who died during Dodge's sophomore year and who bequeathed him the family fortune. Dodge hoped to create “the commencement of a true dormitory system" at Columbia. Construction began on Hartley Hall in 1904 and it opened in tandem with Livingston Hall in 1905, welcoming students with its lobby of marble and oak. 200 students were housed in corridor-style rooms of various sizes. Lounges provided opportunities for social events such as teas with professors, although there was not yet an undergraduate dining hall on campus. Rooms of the period cost $3.30 per week, or $129 for the academic year, which, although more expensive than a roominghouse, ultimately allowed even poor students to afford berth there. University President

Nicholas Murray Butler Nicholas Murray Butler () was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the deceased Jam ...

, who presided over the hall's opening, noted that "in the interest of true democracy," rooms were arranged to allow "the poorer student to live in the same building and the same entry with him who is better off, and so avoids the chasm between rich and poor living in separate buildings, of which there is so much complaint at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...

." Subsequently, the building became home, among others, to authors

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Generat ...

and

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian an ...

, who noted its cockroach problem. Overhauled during a 1980s renovation, the dorm is now organized into mostly two-story suites, where up to 15 students live in single and double rooms. The suites' common space includes kitchens, bathrooms and living/dining areas. Along with neighboring

Wallach Hall Wallach Hall is the second oldest residence hall (or dormitory) on the campus of Columbia University, and currently houses undergraduate students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. It open ...

, it is currently part of the Living and Learning Center (LLC), home to suite-style housing that intermingles all class levels and features interactive events designed to draw them together. An application process is required to obtain housing in either of the LLC dormitories. Hartley also houses Columbia's undergraduate housing office. A small

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), from ...

deli used to be housed on the main floor. It was moved in 2007 to

John Jay Hall John Jay Hall is a 15-story building located on the southeastern extremity of the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City, on the northwestern corner of 114th St. and Amsterdam Avenue. Named for Founding Father, ''The ...

Famous Residents

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

, writer, key figure of the

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, writer, key figure of the

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, poet, key figure of the

* Herbert Gold, novelist, member of the

Timothée Chalamet Timothée Hal Chalamet (; ; born December 27, 1995) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and three BAFTA Film Awards. Chalamet began his career as a t ...

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-nominated actor * Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, former President of

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," ...

, American playwright *

Robert Alter Robert Bernard Alter (born 1935) is an American professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He published his translation of the Hebrew Bible in 2018. Biography Robe ...

, professor at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, bible translator * Christopher Dell, former American ambassador to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Phil Kline Phil Kline (born 1953) is an American composer, sound artist, and performer most recognized for his '' Unsilent Night'' (1992) and ''Zippo Songs'' (2004). Beginning as a guitarist and singer in the New York City art punk scene, Kline has since ...

, American composer

References

External links

Hartley Hall at Columbia Housing
*

', lecture by Professor Andrew S. Dolkart on October 5, 1999 *
Home on the Heights: 100 Years of Housing at Columbia
' by Michael Foss, ''Columbia College Today'', September 2005 {{Columbia University Columbia University dormitories University and college dormitories in the United States