HISTORY

 

President Pendleton

In 1934, twenty years after the great fire that destroyed College Hall, the cornerstone was laid on the North slope of Norumbega Hill for Wellesley's new science building. Initially called the Physics and Chemistry Building, the College Trustees renamed the building Pendleton Hall shortly after it opened, in honor of Ellen Fitz Pendleton, Class of 1886, and Wellesley College President from 1911-1936. President Pendleton was honored for the energy and resources she put forth to erect a beautiful and unified campus.

 

Pendleton Hall was designed by architect Charles Zeller Klauder in the style of Collegiate Gothic Revival. The building cost $800,000 in 1934-35 dollars, an amount equal to $10 million in today's dollars.	Pendleton Hall, 1936
Cost considerations resulted in a simple design without the elaborate pinnacles and tracery found on Green Hall. Pendleton Hall opened in September 1935 with the Chemistry Department moving into the West Wing, and Physics and Psychology occupying the East Wing.
Phyllis Fleming teaching a Physics lecture in Pendleton East 112, 1968

The building of the Science Center in the 1970s brought further changes to Pendleton. Physics and Psychology moved to the newly finished Science Center in 1977. Anthropology, Chinese, Economics, Political Science and Sociology would occupy Pendleton East. To accommodate these departments, renovations were made to the building. Physics laboratories were removed and new office space constructed. The original 400 seat auditorium located between the two wings of the building, PNE 112, remained intact. The renovation in 1977 was not without its own drama -- an intense blaze at 5:00 am on a Friday morning gutted a room on the second floor. If the fire had not been caught early, the damage would have been extensive. Plans for renovating Pendleton East were discussed throughout the 1990s. The most recent planning committee was assembled in 1999, consisting of Pendleton East Faculty and Staff, and chaired by Lee Cuba, Dean of the College. The architectural firm of Childs Bertman Tseckares (CBT) was selected to design the renovation. The results of the collaboration between the PNE Planning Committee and CBT were presented to the Trustees who approved a $15.5 million transformation of Pendleton East. Demolition of the interior began in May 2000.

View is approximately from the old auditorium 112, with Pendleton West at your back. The lowest level in the photo was the bookstore area. July 27, 2000

The former PNE classroom 105 (now PNE 239). September 14, 2000

Dean Lee Cuba touring the work site. September 14, 2000

The closure of Pendleton East for Fall semester 2000 required the relocation of over 40 faculty offices and creative solutions to replace the temporary loss of one of the College's main classroom buildings. Faculty in Anthropology, Economics, Political Science and Sociology were relocated to faculty studies in Clapp Library. Department Offices were gathered together in a large room on the second floor of the Library. The College Bookstore, a former Pendleton resident, also relocated to Clapp Library. During the week of January 15, 2001, while the paint was still drying in the new Pendleton East, academic departments moved into their new spaces. The Education Department replaced the Chinese Department as the newest residents of Pendleton East.

 

Information Services staff and students helped to install over 200 new computers. Pendleton East was ready for students, faculty, and staff to enjoy in time for the Spring semester of 2001.

IS students set up a computer lab on the third floor. January 17, 2001

On January 25, 2001, Wellesley College dedicated the Knapp Social Science Center in Pendleton Hall. The new Knapp Social Science Center is named in honor of its donors, Betsy Wood Knapp '64 and her husband, Cleon "Bud" Knapp. Strong supporters of educational innovation, they also established the Knapp Media and Technology Center at Wellesley College in 1997. Both centers afford students new opportunities to explore the impact of technology on scholarly work through such varied activities as creating presentations, editing sound and video, designing web pages, solving problem sets, and conducting internet research.