Chandler Hall is a dormitory located between Kate Waller Barrett Hall and Grace Warren Landrum Hall. The dormitory is currently co-ed but originally functioned as a women’s dorm. Upon construction, it completed the trio of women’s dorms which included Jefferson Hall and Kate Waller Barrett Hall; arcades were constructed to connect the three buildings. The dorm is named for J. A. C. Chandler, president of William & Mary from 1919-1934. Chandler oversaw the expansion of the university from a small, struggling liberal arts university for men to a modern coeducational institution of higher learning.
In 1930, plans were presented to the Board of Visitors for a third women's dormitory to accommodate approximately 150 women in double and single rooms with suites and kitchenettes. William & Mary architect Charles M. Robinson designed the dormitory, which opened for use in the summer of 1931 and housed summer school students. The second and third floors of the building were available for sororities to use as well. For the 2014-2015 academic year, Chandler Hall underwent a massive renovation project to update the dorm.
]]>Jefferson Hall, constructed between 1920 and 1921, was built as a women’s dormitory and today houses co-ed undergraduate upperclassman located on Old Campus. The dorm is named for Thomas Jefferson, class of 1762.
The dormitory opened in September 1921 and contained a gymnasium, pool, parlors and apartments for the director of women and for female teachers and rooms for 125 female students. The gymnasium was used for functions such as dances and basketball games and was available to both men and women from 1922 to 1925 while Blow Hall was being built. The iron gates from the Capitol Building in Richmond, erected in front of Jefferson Hall facing Jamestown Road, were given by the D.A.R. as a memorial to Kate Waller Barrett and dedicated on April 30, 1926.
The first African-American co-eds in residence at William & Mary lived in the basement of Jefferson Hall in 1965. Jefferson Hall underwent renovations in the late 1970s to add more dorm rooms and was destroyed by fire on January 20, 1983, but the outer walls remained standing. The residence hall officially reopened on January 27, 1985, and was fully occupied by undergraduate students.
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