in the hat seems to have been a popular decoration, as it shows up in
other rooms from the time. Photos above and below are courtesy WSU
University Libraries, Department of Special Collections.
A former Fairmount College women's dormitory gets a new lease on life, thanks to the vision and hard work of a most historically minded Shocker — Bob Bayer '57.
The 118-year-old Holyoke Cottage, at 16th and Holyoke, may have been intended by its builder, the Rev. Joseph Homer Parker of Plymouth Congregational Church, to serve as Fairmount College's eventual president's house — with himself as president.
Whatever his plans for the elegant Queen Anne-style residence, begun in late 1887, a nationwide economic crash in 1888 thwarted them.
Parker and his family moved to Oklahoma Territory, leaving the property in the hands of the Rock Island Lumber & Manufacturing Co., which sold it to Fairmount for $1,225, to be paid at the rate of $25 a month — which proved sometimes difficult for the young institution. The Fairmount "project" began as "Vassar of the West," a college for women, and the progressive views of the Congregational Church meant that the school was always coeducational.
According to an early bulletin, "women as students in Fairmount College enjoy precisely the same advantages as men; have like liberty of choice of studies; are subject to the same regulations and discipline; may attain to the same emoluments and honors." One of these advantages was Holyoke Cottage. Flora Clough, dean of women, and nine of her charges moved in in the fall of 1897; residents were charged 75 cents a week for room rent and $2.50
for board.
Parker and later sold to Fairmount College as a
women's dormitory. Fairmount Hall can be seen in
the background.
Even then, a dorm room was a vehicle for the inhabitant's self-expression; curtains became bulletin boards for photos, magazine clippings, cut-outs and school memorabilia, giving a typical Holyoke Cottage room a warm if cluttered appearance. The field between the cottage and the college provided not only a dramatic view of Fairmount Hall but, occasionally, a snowy — if flat — sledding range for students of both sexes.
By 1915, the college's female contingent had outgrown the structure, and the 45-student Holyoke Hall was constructed next door, with the cafeteria for the entire college in the basement.
Hall and cottage served the school until 1933, when their dormitory functions ceased; but the cottage was rented by Sorosis until 1940 and by Epsilon Kappa Rho from 1941-1951, when the Municipal University of Wichita sold it and the surrounding lots to Christ Lutheran Church. (Meanwhile, Holyoke Hall housed athletes in the 1930s and Army Air Force cadets during WWII before being razed in 1946.) While the cottage again served as student apartments in the 1960s and '70s, the building deteriorated and became vacant in the early 1980s.
This neglect ended in 1987, when Holyoke Cottage was given landmark status by members of the Wichita Historic Preservation Board and purchased by a couple who began renovating it into a single-family dwelling. The house received new wiring, heating and plumbing systems as well as a new roof and coat of paint. Most importantly, the crumbling stone foundation was replaced with one of solid concrete, ensuring that the structure remained standing.
This project has now been taken up by Bob Bayer '57, who bought Holyoke Cottage in May — even after a March fire caused considerable cosmetic damage. Bayer's enthusiasm for the hard-working old house is catching. "Why me?" he asked himself when considering the purchase. "One, I have some experience in restoring homes. This will be my fifth. And two, I love this house and this community."
He plans to renovate and live in the cottage — "Call me The Custodian!" — for as long as he can, perhaps creating a "mini-museum" of his Kansas and Wichita historical collections. Enrollment on the National Register of Historic Places is his ultimate goal, a goal that entails research and documentation of the cottage's history, along with building public support. On the former point, he's made great strides and is the source of background information for this article. How the Shocker community will champion one of the oldest vestiges of the school at its center remains to be seen.
