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Alumni House (College of William & Mary)

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Alumni house
Alumni House at the College of William and Mary, 2020.jpg
Alumni House, 2020.
General information
LocationWilliamsburg, Virginia
CountryUnited States of America
Construction started1850s (original)
2018 (reconstruction)
Completed2020
OwnerCollege of William and Mary in Virginia

The Alumni House, formerly known as the Bright House, is a 19th-century building located on the College of William & Mary's campus in the middle of historic Williamsburg, Virginia.[1] The home was originally situated on a farm called "New Hope" owned by Samuel Bright and his family and at that time on the outskirts of the town.

History

The Alumni House prior to 2018-2020 renovations.
The Alumni House prior to 2018-2020 renovations.

At one time original portions of the house were thought to date back to 1871, but recent research has pushed the date back some years.[1] A watercolor of the campus was discovered, however, which revealed that the Alumni House is probably an antebellum structure. "A long-lost panoramic watercolor of Williamsburg painted by a Union mapmaker, Robert Knox Sneden," was found and dates from August 1862 after the Battle of Williamsburg during the American Civil War.[2] Some of Sneden’s watercolors have proven to be inaccurate, as may be the case of this watercolor, which was drawn several years later from a sketch Sneden had prepared when on campus in 1862. The Italianate towers in his sketch of the college building are accurate, but Sneden misnamed The Brafferton and the President's House, also on the front campus, apparently confusing them with the front buildings at the Governor's Palace. At the far right of the Sneden watercolor is possibly the Bright House. On the two-story building Sneden drew a cupola in the Italianate style then in vogue (as in the 1859 version of William & Mary's main college building), but the cupola might indeed have been an embellishment.[2] If the home depicted is the Bright House then the building was probably built sometime in the 1850s. The Alumni House would be one of only several buildings on the College's campus to have witnessed, first-hand, a Civil War battle in Williamsburg.[2]

During the house’s existence, it has been home to the William & Mary Kappa Alpha Order fraternity from 1925-1943. The College purchased the home in 1946 and until the late 1960s was the home to some faculty members. By that time the building's interior was converted into apartments.[1] The Bright House became the Alumni House in 1972 after the Society of the Alumni, (now the W&M Alumni Association) embarked on a campaign to raise funds for renovations. Despite the modifications, the house's exterior still retains a mid-19th century identity.[1] The Alumni House was expanded and renovated with celebrations marking the new facility held on Homecoming on Oct. 25, 1997.

Construction began in 2018 and concluded in 2020 on a major addition to Alumni House that added 35,000 square feet to the building's nearly 20,000 square feet. The new facility, however, retains and preserved the character of the 19th-century home. There is a new entrance and reception area, event space to accommodate up to 800 people, a lounge and business center and outdoor modifications such as a new terrace, enclosing garden area and plaza. The new construction left the original structure in place, treating the original house as the northern wing of the completed building.[3]

The House is sometimes used to host meetings pertaining to public interest.[4] James City County, York County and the City of Williamsburg have utilized the building.

Currently directly outside, facing Zable Stadium, is the Elizabeth and T.C. Clarke Memorial Plaza, which is paved with hundreds of engraved bricks that commemorate special people, times and places in William & Mary history.[1] The Plaza can seat 250 people for catered events.

Discover more about History related topics

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture is the neoclassical architectural style characteristic of the 19th-century Southern United States, especially the Deep South, from after the birth of the United States with the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War. Antebellum architecture is especially characterized by Georgian, Neo-classical, and Greek Revival style homes and mansions. These plantation houses were built in the southern American states during roughly the thirty years before the American Civil War; approximately between the 1830s to 1860s.

Robert Knox Sneden

Robert Knox Sneden

Robert Knox Sneden (1832–1918) was an American landscape painter and a map-maker for the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a prolific illustrator and memoirist documenting the war and other events.

Battle of Williamsburg

Battle of Williamsburg

The Battle of Williamsburg, also known as the Battle of Fort Magruder, took place on May 5, 1862, in York County, James City County, and Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the first pitched battle of the Peninsula Campaign, in which nearly 41,000 Federals and 32,000 Confederates were engaged, fighting an inconclusive battle that ended with the Confederates continuing their withdrawal.

American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union and the Confederacy, the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction.

Brafferton (building)

Brafferton (building)

The Brafferton, built in 1723, is located southeast of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, facing the President's House on the campus of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Governor's Palace (Williamsburg, Virginia)

Governor's Palace (Williamsburg, Virginia)

The Governor's Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia, was the official residence of the royal governors of the Colony of Virginia. It was also a home for two of Virginia's post-colonial governors, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, until the capital was moved to Richmond in 1780, and with it the governor's residence. The main house burned down in 1781, though the outbuildings survived for some time after.

Kappa Alpha Order

Kappa Alpha Order

Kappa Alpha Order (ΚΑ), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. As of December 2015, the Kappa Alpha Order lists 133 active chapters, five provisional chapters, and 52 suspended chapters. Along with Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Nu, the order constitutes the Lexington Triad. Since its establishment in 1865, the Order has initiated more than 150,000 members.

James City County, Virginia

James City County, Virginia

James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg.

York County, Virginia

York County, Virginia

York County is a county in the eastern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in the Tidewater. As of the 2020 census, the population was 70,045. The county seat is the unincorporated town of Yorktown.

Zable Stadium

Zable Stadium

Walter J. Zable Stadium at Cary Field, named for Walter J. Zable, former member of the College of William & Mary Board of Visitors, is located in Williamsburg, Virginia and is the home of the William and Mary Tribe football team. It is located centrally in the William & Mary campus, adjoining the Sadler Center building and situated on Richmond Road. The stadium is used for football and track & field. It has an official capacity of 12,672 fans. The attendance figures for William and Mary football games are usually inexact, however, since students are not counted among the official results in an accurate fashion. The area of Cary Field behind the stadium was the baseball field for William and Mary until the opening of Plumeri Park in 1999.

Source: "Alumni House (College of William & Mary)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2021, September 24th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alumni_House_(College_of_William_&_Mary).

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References
  1. ^ a b c d e Alumni House history – wm.edu Archived 2008-09-15 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed April 22, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c Meyer, Terry (Winter 2007–2008). "This Old House: A Civil War Watercolor Casts Light on the True Age of the Alumni House". William and Mary Alumni Magazine. 73 (2). Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  3. ^ De Lisle, Claire (June 9, 2020). "Construction on Alumni House Nears Completion". Williamsburg, VA: The College of William & Mary in Virginia. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  4. ^ The Daily Press: Public can discuss hospital's vacant land Archived 2008-09-07 at the Wayback Machine. "The meetings will be at the college's Alumni House on Richmond Road starting at 7 p.m. on April 21 and April 23. The April 22 session, closed to the public, will only be for certain officials to hear specific suggestions." Accessed April 23, 2008.
External links

Coordinates: 37°16′27″N 76°42′51″W / 37.27427°N 76.71428°W / 37.27427; -76.71428

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