Stebbins Hall is a
student housing cooperative
A student housing cooperative, also known as co-operative housing, is a housing cooperative for student members. Members live in alternative cooperative housing that they personally own and maintain. These houses are designed to lower housing cos ...
owned by
Berkeley Student Cooperative
The Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) (formerly known as University Students' Cooperative Association or the USCA) is a student housing cooperative serving primarily UC Berkeley students, but open to any full-time post-secondary student. The BS ...
(BSC) and located at 2527 Ridge Road in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, on the
Northside
Northside or North Side may refer to:
Music
* Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England
* NorthSide, an American record label
* NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark
* "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vinc ...
of the
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 u ...
campus. The house has a total occupancy of 64 residents during the school year, from late August to mid-May, and can accommodate upwards of 54 residents over the summer.
Namesake
Stebbins Hall is named after
Lucy Ward Stebbins
Lucy Ward Stebbins (1880January 31, 1955) was the Dean of Women at University of California, Berkeley.
Biography
Lucy Ward Stebbins was born in San Francisco in 1880. She was the daughter of Horatio Stebbins, pastor of the First Unitarian Chur ...
, former Dean of Women 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 u ...
, who was born in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
in 1880.
She was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and later transferred to
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...
to receive her
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree. She graduated from
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...
in 1902, and worked in Massachusetts as a social worker until 1910 when she took the position as Assistant Dean of Women at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1912 the former dean retired and Stebbins was appointed Dean of Women.
Stebbins served the university for thirty years. During her time in office, she increased the enrollment of women from 1,200 to 6,400 by raising money for scholarships, expanding curriculum, encouraging women to participate in student government, and creating housing opportunities. In her position, the schools of Nursing and Social Welfare were established, as well as the departments of Decorative Arts and Home Economics. She also founded the Women's Faculty Club, one of the earliest female faculty organizations to exist at a co-ed university.
Upon conferring an honorary
Doctorate of Laws
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
degree to her in 1953, President Sproul described Stebbins as “A teacher and dean...who saw clearly into the hearts and minds of students, and stimulated them by precept and example to achieve their highest potential. No single individual has contributed more than you to the personal and general welfare of the University's women, and few have touched helpfully so many phases of our University life."
Stebbins was the honored guest and speaker at the Stebbins Institute in 1942, which took place at the house.
History
Stebbins Hall is located at 2527 Ridge Road, the lot of the Pierce family's original
Victorian home
In Great Britain and former British colonies, a Victorian house generally means any house built during the reign of Queen Victoria. During the Industrial Revolution, successive housing booms resulted in the building of many millions of Victorian ...
. The Pierces were a wealthy family, responsible for many architectural landmarks in the city of Berkeley. They built the
Cloyne Court Hotel, a “high-class modern apartment house” in 1904, which they later transformed into their own residence. Additionally, in 1909, the Pierces built the Treehaven apartment complex which still stands on the lot next to Stebbins Hall.
The Pierce's original house was a turreted Victorian, which they lived in as soon as they moved to the city of Berkeley in 1894. The Pierces sold the property in 1903 to move to a house up the street, and eventually to Cloyne Court. In 1927 the Pierce house was torn down to make way for Hotel Slocum. In 1936,
University Student Cooperative Association (now known as Berkeley Student Cooperative) leased the building to establish Stebbins Hall, a women's cooperative boarding house.
This was done with the help of the alumni of
Mortar Board
Mortar Board is an American national honor society for college seniors. Mortar Board has 233 chartered collegiate chapters nationwide and 15 alumni chapters.
History
Mortar Board was the first national honor society for college senior women ...
, the first national honor society for college senior women.
Beverly Cleary
Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of chapter books, children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide sin ...
was one of the first residents of Stebbins Hall and referred to her time there as "two of the most interesting years of my life." The Berkeley Student Cooperative purchased the property in 1950.
One night in 1967, a group from Cloyne then an all-male co-op, played a prank by painting footprints of a Green Giant through the campus and up to Stebbins, leaving two handprints on the front of the building. Pranksters were caught by the university and made to remove all the ones on campus, however the handprints on Stebbins remained. They were preserved and are now central part of the house's identity. The co-op became coed in 1971.
Structural layout
![Stebbins 1975a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Stebbins_1975a.jpg)
Originally built to be a hotel, the building consists of three floors and a basement. On the basement level is the kitchen, dining room, laundry room, TV room, free pile, and maintenance area. By the entrance on the first floor are the lizard lounge (a small recreational area created by combining two adjacent rooms), the study room, and the Mystery Room.
On the first through third floors are the individual rooms. All of these floors are L-shaped, with a long South wing and a shorter North wing. There is one staircase near the front of the South wing and one at the back of it. The east half of the South wing of the building houses most of the single rooms, which have eastward facing windows. There is also one single on each floor on the east side of the North wing, near the back stairs. These rooms have northward facing windows.
The remaining rooms in the west half of the South wing, the corner of the South wing, and in the North wing are doubles. Usually every two doubles share a private bathroom, and there are also two restrooms in the hall (one with a shower) on each floor. These are used mostly by guests and residents living in single rooms. Some of the rooms have hardwood floors, while others are carpeted. All of the hallways and staircases are carpeted.
Notable residents
*
Beverly Cleary
Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of chapter books, children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide sin ...
(1938), author of the ''
Ramona
''Ramona'' is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination and ...
'' series of children's books. Cleary stayed in Room 228 during her two years at Berkeley.
*
Marion Nestle
Marion Nestle (born 1936) is an American molecular biologist, nutritionist, and public health advocate. She is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health Emerita at New York University. Her research examines s ...
, author of ''Food Politics.''
Events
Like in other co-op houses, there are several events that occur every fall and spring semester. One such event is Special Dinner and another is the Room-to-Room, where residents decorate their rooms and serve refreshments. Stebbins is also known for its '80s parties.{{Citation needed, date=February 2010
References
External links
Berkeley Student Cooperative−BSC: Stebbins Hall websiteUC Berkeley campus — Interactive map
Berkeley Student Cooperative
Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California
Residential buildings in Alameda County, California
Student housing cooperatives in the United States
Hotel buildings completed in 1927
Hotels established in 1927
Defunct hotels in California
Residential buildings completed in 1927
1936 establishments in California