Susan Seigle, Class of 1967:
Dorm life was a big part of my college experience, especially freshman year. There was a big divide in those days between the college experience of the commuters who were about half of our class and those of us who lived in the dorms. All the freshmen were in Reid (a few sophomores were sprinkled in) and we were all in doubles. We spent a lot of time hanging out in the hall just talking - you were identified by your floor - I was 2 Reid - Annette was 3 Reid. We arrived on campus without all the accoutrements that students bring today and one of the first things roommates did was to shop for bedspreads and curtains for their room. You were given one clean sheet and pillowcase a week - the top sheet from the previous week became the bottom sheet (the sheets did not have elasticized corners).
We were locked in at night - I don't recall the exact curfew but it was something like 10:30 pm during the week and midnight on weekends. You could entertain men in the beau parlors in Brooks living room - I think men were allowed on the floor for a few hours on Sunday afternoon - had to have a book holding the door open (a lot of comments about matchbooks used for this purpose). At other times I think a father might come on the floor for some reason - whenever there was a man on the floor you would shout "Man on the floor." This was rare and most of the time we were able to walk around dressed as we wished. We could come down to breakfast in bathrobes with our hair in curlers but had to wear skirts to dinner every night. The guards were very elderly Irish men who periodically had to walk down the hall and turn a key in some device at the end of the hall which indicated that they had checked in. There were no elevator operators in my day. There was one ironing board and iron and phone to receive calls on each floor.
Seared in my memory is the shock of the JFK assassination in November 1963 and everyone crowding into the dorm living rooms to look at one TV. I believe we were sent home early for the Thanksgiving break because of this tragedy and some students traveled to WDC for the funeral.
I vividly remember the evening of November 9, 1965 - we had just gotten off the elevator to go to dinner and all went dark. It was the first blackout and nobody had any idea what was happening. We were immediately locked in and each of us were given a candle. I remember going up on the roof and seeing all was dark except a few areas that were not affected. I don't remember too much else - there certainly was no emergency lighting - I think we went to sleep early and in the morning the electricity was back. I do not recall any panic.
We all smoked in our rooms and everywhere. You were not allowed to use a typewriter in your room after11 pm because of the noise, but there was a room you could go to for that purpose. There was also a very small TV room, and my friend Paula Farley and I would go at night to watch The Les Crane Show which was the first late night show to appear opposite Johnny Carson. We were usually the only ones in the room.
When we had fire drills it was in the middle of the night and we proceeded outside. The gates were locked but somehow the Columbia Marching band would have been alerted and they were on the street playing "Who Owns New York." There was one real fire while I was in the dorms started by an electrical coil which was used to heat a mug of water.
We were allowed to leave one box of books that would be stored over the summer.
Dorm life was a big part of my college experience, especially freshman year. There was a big divide in those days between the college experience of the commuters who were about half of our class and those of us who lived in the dorms. All the freshmen were in Reid (a few sophomores were sprinkled in) and we were all in doubles. We spent a lot of time hanging out in the hall just talking - you were identified by your floor - I was 2 Reid - Annette was 3 Reid. We arrived on campus without all the accoutrements that students bring today and one of the first things roommates did was to shop for bedspreads and curtains for their room. You were given one clean sheet and pillowcase a week - the top sheet from the previous week became the bottom sheet (the sheets did not have elasticized corners).
We were locked in at night - I don't recall the exact curfew but it was something like 10:30 pm during the week and midnight on weekends. You could entertain men in the beau parlors in Brooks living room - I think men were allowed on the floor for a few hours on Sunday afternoon - had to have a book holding the door open (a lot of comments about matchbooks used for this purpose). At other times I think a father might come on the floor for some reason - whenever there was a man on the floor you would shout "Man on the floor." This was rare and most of the time we were able to walk around dressed as we wished. We could come down to breakfast in bathrobes with our hair in curlers but had to wear skirts to dinner every night. The guards were very elderly Irish men who periodically had to walk down the hall and turn a key in some device at the end of the hall which indicated that they had checked in. There were no elevator operators in my day. There was one ironing board and iron and phone to receive calls on each floor.
Seared in my memory is the shock of the JFK assassination in November 1963 and everyone crowding into the dorm living rooms to look at one TV. I believe we were sent home early for the Thanksgiving break because of this tragedy and some students traveled to WDC for the funeral.
I vividly remember the evening of November 9, 1965 - we had just gotten off the elevator to go to dinner and all went dark. It was the first blackout and nobody had any idea what was happening. We were immediately locked in and each of us were given a candle. I remember going up on the roof and seeing all was dark except a few areas that were not affected. I don't remember too much else - there certainly was no emergency lighting - I think we went to sleep early and in the morning the electricity was back. I do not recall any panic.
We all smoked in our rooms and everywhere. You were not allowed to use a typewriter in your room after11 pm because of the noise, but there was a room you could go to for that purpose. There was also a very small TV room, and my friend Paula Farley and I would go at night to watch The Les Crane Show which was the first late night show to appear opposite Johnny Carson. We were usually the only ones in the room.
When we had fire drills it was in the middle of the night and we proceeded outside. The gates were locked but somehow the Columbia Marching band would have been alerted and they were on the street playing "Who Owns New York." There was one real fire while I was in the dorms started by an electrical coil which was used to heat a mug of water.
We were allowed to leave one box of books that would be stored over the summer.