The Pearsons Hall of Science was built in 1892 on the campus of

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and has ...

Beloit, Wisconsin Beloit is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. History Twelve men in Colebrook, New Hampshire, created the "New England Emigrating Company" in October 1836 and sent ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980 because it was designed by the firm of

Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the '' Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been, "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ...

and because it marks an expansion of the science curriculum at the college.

History

The hall was built using funds donated by and named after Dr. D. K. Pearsons, With . a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

man from

Pawnee, Illinois Pawnee is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 2,739 at the 2010 census, and 2,651 at a 2018 estimate. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The community is named after ...

. Pearsons had once passed through Beloit on the way to

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jane ...

and saw the college being built. He was so affected by the sight that it inspired him to donate $100,000 to the school nearly forty years later. The hall was used as the school's science center until 1963. Currently, the hall houses meeting rooms, dining facilities, student lounges, student service offices, a mailroom, a radio station, student government and publication offices. It was officially renamed the Jeffris-Wood Campus Center, named after attorney and business man Pierpont J. E. Wood and his wife, Helen Jeffris Wood. On campus, it is still generally referred to as Pearsons Hall.

Renovations

Renovations to wiring, plumbing, flooring, ventilation, and equipment occurred in 1931. This renovation also saw the addition of a skylight. A second renovation in 1985 by architect Edward Ware was completed and the building was rededicated as the Jeffris-Wood Campus Center. The bookstore was moved from Smith building to Jeffris-Wood Campus Center after this renovation.{{Cite news, url=https://www.beloit.edu/campus/news/fwf/?story_id=363088, title=Fridays with Fred: Student entrepreneurs found original bookstore, newspaper=the Terrarium, access-date=2017-02-15, language=en

References

Beloit College Buildings and structures in Beloit, Wisconsin Schools in Rock County, Wisconsin University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Burnham and Root buildings Romanesque Revival architecture in Wisconsin School buildings completed in 1893 National Register of Historic Places in Rock County, Wisconsin 1893 establishments in Wisconsin