"Spring" is a sculpture by J. Seward Johnson that was installed at William & Mary in 1979. At some time prior to 1991, the letter held by the figure Tina in the sculpture was broken off.
A transcription of the letter from "Spring" is as follows:
"Tina,
Hi! You wouldn't believe how
much I miss you! I am having
a great time here but I do
wish you were here.
Next month we go on
vacation and I will be home
to see you and I hope you
still Love me. So what's new
in town? Last week Bill
met a girl and Broke up
with Sue. Even if I see
a good looking girl I think
of you and I will never
break up with you.
I hope you don't Break up
with me for Some one else.
Luv you,
XXXOOO
Johnny."
]]>The Sunken Garden, sometimes referred to as the Sunken Gardens, is an open area for the relaxation and recreation of our students. It is located to the rear of the Wren Building, running southwest.
Architect Charles M. Robinson first designed the Sunken Garden in the early 1920s, reportedly based on the gardens of the Chelsea Hospital in England, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The idea was delayed at this point due to budget concerns, but reconsidered in 1933 at the recommendation of President Julian A. C. Chandler. At this time, a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp had been assigned to William & Mary for the purpose of beautifying and improving the grounds. The renowned landscape architect, Charles F. Gillette was employed to supervise the work, which was executed in 1935 and 1936.
A number of events are held in the Sunken Garden, including dances, picnics, receptions, concerts, and the student body’s Last Day of Classes celebration.
]]>Dedicated on October 27, 1995, McGlothlin-Street Hall was first named Tercentenary Hall for William & Mary's 300th birthday celebration in 1993. Built at a cost of $9.5 million, the four-story structure occupies a site along the historic Sunken Garden and completed the 1925 master plan of buildings on "Old Campus". Situated across the Sunken Garden from Blair Hall, the building houses the Geology, Computer Science and Applied Sciences departments. It was the first new science building at William & Mary since William Barton Rogers Hall was completed in 1975.
In September 1997, Lady Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Chancellor of William & Mary, was the principal speaker at the rededication of the McGlothlin-Street Hall. The building was renamed to honor James McGlothlin (class of 1962, 1964), Chairman and CEO of The United Company of Bristol, Virginia, a former member of the Board of Visitors; and Nicholas Street, a member of the Board of Visitors.
]]>Washington Hall is an academic building located along the south side of the Sunken Garden between Ewell Hall and McGlothlin-Street Hall. It is named in honor of George Washington, who received his surveyor's license from the university in 1749 and served as William & Mary’s first American Chancellor from 1788-1799.
Washington Hall, which currently houses the Modern Languages Department, was constructed in 1928 as part of a larger developmental plan that involved greater overall expansion. As such it is a ‘companion’ to the then Rogers Hall (present-day Tyler Hall), which stands directly opposite across the Sunken Garden. Construction cost was $200,000, and Washington Hall originally included a biology lab on the first floor and liberal-arts classrooms on the second and third floors. In addition to large lecture halls (for 100-280 students) on each floor, the building also housed the offices of the deans and registrar. Charles M. Robinson designed the building and J. W. Davis of Newport News was awarded the contract. Construction was completed in time for spring classes in 1929.
Washington Hall is also home to the Institute of Historical Biology.
]]>Ewell Hall, originally called Phi Beta Kappa Hall, is located on Old Campus at 221 Jamestown Road, across the Sunken Garden from Tucker Hall. It served as a memorial to the Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) academic honor society founded by five students at William & Mary in 1776. (The Phi Beta Kappa Society grew into a prestigious national honor society which persists to this day.) The plans to construct the first Phi Beta Kappa Hall were proposed by President Julian A. C. Chandler in 1919, approved by the Board of Visitors in 1923, and executed beginning in December 1924. Opened in 1926, to mark the 250th anniversary of PBK’s founding, the building held assembly space, an auditorium, guest rooms for members of PBK, and two rooms important to the history of PBK: a recreation of the Apollo Room at the Raleigh Tavern where the organization held its first meetings, and the Francis Phelps Dodge Room, named for a benefactor of the society.
Phi Beta Kappa Hall was part of the expansion of campus after William & Mary admitted women in 1918 and began to plan a modern campus to meet the needs of a new model of co-education. The ensemble of buildings planned by architect Charles M. Robinson and landscape architect Charles F. Gillette situated a core of six academic buildings and six residential halls connected by unifying landscape features. This is one of only three buildings not designed by Robinson in executing his new campus plan. Instead, architects John Kevan Peebles and Finlay Forbes Ferguson designed the building. The cornerstone for the building was laid on June 3, 1925, and the building was dedicated on November 27, 1926.
Throughout the years the building has housed, among other things, a movie theater, a radio station, converted women’s dormitory rooms, and the National Office of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave $250,000 to William & Mary in 1954 for the reconstruction of PBK Hall after a fire on December 29, 1953. The Music Department moved into the north wing in 1955 from its former location in the Williamsburg Methodist Church, and an addition to the department was virtually completed by 1958. The building was renamed Ewell Hall in 1957, when the Phi Beta Kappa name and memorial moved to a new auditorium building further west on Jamestown Road. It has since housed the music department and main administrative offices for Arts & Sciences, with the addition of various wings to accommodate the university’s ever-growing need for space.
Since 1859, different buildings have been named on campus for Benjamin Ewell. The first Ewell Hall – the old College Hotel on the south side of Jamestown Road – was purchased by William & Mary in 1859 to serve as student housing. When Benjamin Ewell died in 1894, the hotel was renamed in his honor. When that building was torn down in 1927, the name Ewell Hall moved to a science building that stood on the north side of campus until 1932.
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