Interior of Alumni Hall room in the Administration Building

The Administration Building was originally constructed as the college’s first dormitory and also housed classrooms, offices, and the school’s first dining facility. Construction began on the dormitory the last week in April of 1895 and the corner stone of the building was laid on Friday, May 10th, 1895 with President Charles H. Barrows officiating. The dedication took place on June 17th, 1896, at which, President Barrows introduced the college’s fourth President, Laurence L. Doggett. Consummating the transfer to the new campus, the completion of the new dormitory in January 1896 was a milestone in Springfield College history. With the erection of the first building, the East gymnasium (1894), and the new dormitory, Springfield College began to lay permanent roots on the land along Lake Massasoit. During World War II, when the campus became a center of Army Training and the Naval Convalescent Hospital, the old dormitory was deemed a fire hazard and its top floors were removed. The resulting two-story building eventually became the Administration Building.

A caption on the back says Interior of Alumni Hall, Dec. 1896

The photograph probably depicts a room which was used as an alumni social hall in the old dormitory or Administration Building on the Springfield College Campus. The photograph shows the chairs and the blackboards of the empty room. Notice the triangle in the back, the triangle, developed by Luther Gulick and adopted as the school's seal and symbol in 1890 reads: "Spirit Body Mind EPH. 4:13 [palm tree symbol]" Ephesians 4:13, as taken from the King James Bible, reads, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."