175 Moments
175 Moments
Hollins’ rich and fascinating history is brimming with events both big and small that have left an indelible impact on the campus community and beyond. From 1842 to the present day, here are some of the moments that show how Hollins has evolved over the years, and today continues to flourish, remain strong, and prepare students for an ever-changing world.
1842
Rev. Joshua Bradley, a minister who had established schools in his home state of New York, purchases...Read more
1843
Valley Union Seminary’ s first session opens on October 2....Read more
1845
After encountering a variety of difficulties managing the school, Joshua Bradley leaves Valley Union...Read more
1846
Bradley’ s successor, Charles Lewis Cocke, leaves Richmond on June 18 and arrives at Valley Union ...Read more
1851
On November 10, Cocke recommends, and the board of trustees agrees, that the male department of Vall...Read more
1855
John and Ann Hollins make an initial gift of $5,000, leading to another new name for the school: Hol...Read more
1855
On October 9, Martha Louise Cocke, “Miss Matty,” is born. She is the seventh of Charles Lewis Co...Read more
1856
The first full graduate diploma is awarded to Susan V. Williams of Farmville, Virginia. To be a full...Read more
1856
Construction begins on East Building. It is ready for use in the 1858-1859 academic session....Read more
1857
Charles Lewis Cocke first makes his frequently quoted statement that “the plan and policy of this ...Read more
1861
Construction for Main Building begins on April 17, the day Virginia secedes from the Union. Because ...Read more
1864
A “Normal Department” (“Normal” refers to the training of high school graduates to become te...Read more
1864
The earliest description of Tinker Day is found in an essay written by Louisa Harvey, who attends Ho...Read more
1873
Hollins begins drawing students from outside the South. As Hollins College: An Illustrated History s...Read more
1874
The Euzelian Literary Society publishes the first known issue of The Album in January. The magazine ...Read more
1874
Miss Matty Cocke receives a Full Graduate diploma from Hollins Institute....Read more
1881
During the 1881-1882 academic year, 115 students are enrolled at Hollins, including 54 from Virginia...Read more
1883
What would later be called Bradley Chapel is built. In the 1880s, Hollins has four regular chaplains...Read more
1888
A YWCA is established and remains active until 1955, when it is replaced by a campus organization, t...Read more
1890
The new dining hall, Botetourt Hall, is completed in time for Thanksgiving dinner. The octagonal shap...Read more
1891
A young German musician named Erich Rath arrives to teach music. Except for a few years spent in Was...Read more
1895
Tinker Day becomes an official school holiday, set for a designated day in October. Four years later...Read more
1896
The first team sport, basketball, is introduced. Rival basketball teams – the Red and the Blue –...Read more
1898
The Spinster, the Hollins yearbook, is published for the first time....Read more
1901
On May 4, Charles Lewis Cocke dies. He devotes 55 of his 81 years to Hollins Institute. The followin...Read more
1901
A four-year program leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts is introduced....Read more
1901
A new seal for Hollins Institute is designed. Within a circular frame is a shield bearing in the upp...Read more
1902
A group of students get together to revive May Day festivities. As charter members of the Fairies of...Read more
1907
The “Hollins herd,” featuring Holstein-Friesian cows, is begun. Traditionally all cows bear name...Read more
1907
Rath Haus, the first of the houses for faculty, is built. After serving as a faculty residence and t...Read more
1907
The celebrated Shakespearean actor Sir Philip Ben Greet comes to Hollins on tour to present As You L...Read more
1908
On June 2, the cornerstone is laid for the Cocke Memorial Library, which formally opens on December ...Read more
1909
The college song, “The Green and the Gold,” with words by Phoebe Hunter, class of 1909, and musi...Read more
1910
Hollins Institute changes its name to Hollins College....Read more
1910
Susanna Infirmary, named in honor of Mrs. Charles Lewis Cocke, is built. It marks the first step tow...Read more
1913
The wearing of bloomers is permitted for the first time, allowing more freedom of action both in gym...Read more
1914
Hollins College: An Illustrated History notes that a student government is officially established th...Read more
1914
Ground is broken for the construction of Pleasants Science Hall, which will house the chemistry, bio...Read more
1916
In commemoration of the 300th anniversary of his death, Hollins honors William Shakespeare with a pa...Read more
1917
Because of World War I, Hollins’ celebration of its 75th anniversary is canceled. Students knit sw...Read more
1919
The first Tea House is built across the road from campus. It provides snacks for students and lodgin...Read more
1921
Students adopt the White Gift Service initiated by the YWCA. Gifts are symbolic ones such as truth o...Read more
1924
The Little Theatre, part of a national movement in support of such structures, opens in the spring. S...Read more
1924
Tayloe Gymnasium formally opens on November 17. It is a welcome replacement for the makeshift gymnas...Read more
1925
On Founder’s Day, former music faculty member and founder of the Presser Publishing Company, Theod...Read more
1927
On April 15, Hollins alumnae embark on the first major endowment campaign with a pageant of Hollins ...Read more
1929
Eastnor, which originally serves as the president’s house, is constructed. It is named after the ...Read more
1930
The practice of singing to Miss Matty on her birthday, October 9, begins this year and continues in ...Read more
1931
The first Hollins horse show takes place on May 9. Three classes in walk, trot, and canter are inclu...Read more
1932
A cabin is built by the Athletic Association on a couple of acres purchased from the Walrond farm, a...Read more
1932
In December, Hollins is admitted to the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, one ...Read more
1933
Bessie Carter Randolph, who graduated from Hollins in 1912 and then taught history at the school unt...Read more
1933
Hollins is the only college in Virginia selected to receive the superb reference collections for art...Read more
1935
The Botetourt Hall dining room is redecorated with new mahogany tables and an inlaid seal under the ...Read more
1937
The poet Robert Frost spends three days at Hollins during April....Read more
1938
Eleanor Roosevelt visits Hollins in October. She reports in her column, My Day, that Hollins reminds...Read more
1939
On August 17, ground is broken for the Tinker Tea House (now Cromer Bergman Alumnae House). On the g...Read more
1940
Incoming first-year students begin receiving a pamphlet written by two seniors titled inside hollins...Read more
1942
Hollins holds its centennial celebration in May, highlighted by a surprise appearance by General Geo...Read more
1942
To aid the U.S. government in its transportation problem following the onset of World War II, Hollin...Read more
1943
Students and faculty embark on two weeks of apple picking for the Garland orchards during the fall. ...Read more
1943
The first interdivisional major, in American studies, is launched “to provide a better understandi...Read more
1945
Preliminary plans for Turner Hall, which is to be built in stages, are authorized. However, building...Read more
1947
Junior year abroad programs in France and Switzerland that were made available by other colleges and...Read more
1948
An Art Annex of cinder block and brick, designed in consultation with Professor John Ballator, is jo...Read more
1948
A gift of $50,000 by Mrs. Malcolm Perkins (class of 1908) in memory of her mother establishes the Sa...Read more
1950
Thirty-one-year-old John Rutherford “Jack” Everett becomes president of Hollins in July after th...Read more
1950
Hollins Professor “Dr. Pat” Patterson is named one of America’s 40 eminent men of science....Read more
1950
For the first time, students are granted a Thanksgiving vacation....Read more
1950
Legendary dancer Martha Graham performs at Hollins, reflecting the growing interest in modern dance ...Read more
1951
President Everett inaugurates a program that brings visiting scholars to the campus for a semester o...Read more
1952
Hollins establishes its New Curriculum, considered distinctly progressive for both Hollins and educa...Read more
1953
Hollins women are forbidden to enter hotel or motel rooms with dates under the so-called “hotel-mo...Read more
1955
Hollins Abroad, one of the most exciting new programs of the decade, begins. It differs from other f...Read more
1955
George Gordh joins the Hollins faculty as professor of religion and becomes Hollins’ first residen...Read more
1955
Cotillion, for a while dormant, is revived to sponsor the first of annual gala dance weekends in Nov...Read more
1955
The first Parents’ Day is held on April 23. Three years later, it expands to an entire weekend and...Read more
1955
Randolph Hall is ready for occupancy in the fall. Housing 82 students and featuring a sun deck as we...Read more
1956
Following the pattern of industry, Hollins shifts to a five-day week for classes....Read more
1956
An indoor riding ring with tack room and a barn with stalls for 28 horses are ready in the fall....Read more
1956
Fishburn Library is dedicated on Founder’s Day in memory of Junius Parker Fishburn, Roanoke publi...Read more
1956
NBC’s The Today Show is televised from Hollins on May 16. The VMI Glee Club and the Roanoke Sympho...Read more
1957
Work commences in June on the new Jessie Ball duPont Chapel. The interior emphasizes the natural qua...Read more
1957
The first outdoor commencement is held on June 2 and sets the pattern for all succeeding ceremonies:...Read more
1958
In September, three male students become the pioneer candidates for the new Master of Arts degree of...Read more
1958
On March 20, an editorial in the Hollins Columns addresses the issue of compulsory attendance at cha...Read more
1960
The English department begins offering a Master of Arts program encompassing creative writing, liter...Read more
1961
John A. Logan Jr. takes office as president on July 1. When he visits campus as president-elect that...Read more
1961
A new undergraduate research program in sciences is begun....Read more
1961
British novelist William Golding serves as writer-in-residence (1961-62). Succeeding years bring Wil...Read more
1962
Attendance at Sunday chapel service is no longer required, but students still have to be present at ...Read more
1962
On February 20, the Hollins chapter of Phi Beta Kappa is installed....Read more
1963
American area studies are reinstated, the separate disciplines of philosophy and religion merge to f...Read more
1964
A major capital fund campaign to raise $10 million is launched by the board of trustees to support c...Read more
1964
The Hollins Critic, a national literary journal, is started by professors Louis Rubin and John Moore...Read more
1965
Construction of Tinker House, a new dormitory begins. It opens the following year and is dedicated o...Read more
1965
Ground is broken for the new Dana Science Building, which is dedicated on October 27, 1967. Even bef...Read more
1966
Cecelia Long, Hollins’s first African-American student, begins her first year....Read more
1966
Over the course of 10 days in June, an adventurous group of 16 Hollins women set off on a raft with ...Read more
1967
Hollins is one of 25 women’s colleges given $10,000 grants by Time Inc., “for academic excellen...Read more
1967
Hollins embarks on its 125th anniversary year. The year is celebrated in stages, from Founder’s D...Read more
1968
Short Term is introduced in January. “There will be hundreds of approaches to learning – virtuall...Read more
1968
The Hollins Village Apartments, built the previous year, are purchased by Hollins College....Read more
1969
The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, a new and relatively novel graduate program, is introduced. T...Read more
1970
The Hollins community is deeply affected by the despair, frustration, and bitterness that sweeps thr...Read more
1970
Some 50 poets and novelists, directors and producers, literary agents and editors, critics and profe...Read more
1971
The 25 African-American students who are enrolled at Hollins form the organization Concerned Black S...Read more
1972
The Board of Trustees reverses its decision to raze Botetourt Hall to make room for a new student ce...Read more
1972
Working out of a closet in the Parsonage, Professor of Psychology Ron Webster helps develop a therap...Read more
1973
In the fall, a New Curriculum goes into effect with a 4-1-4 calendar and including interdisciplinary...Read more
1973
Assistant Professor of Social Work Judith P. Hunter becomes Hollins’ first full-time black faculty...Read more
1974
The London Abroad program is established with the first group taking part that fall. The program is ...Read more
1974
Hollins welcomes its first female chaplain, Sister Bridget Puzon....Read more
1974
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard ’67, M.A. ’68 receives an enthusiastic reception upon p...Read more
1974
Recognizing that women over 21 are already attending Hollins as day students, Elizabeth Minnich, the...Read more
1975
Carroll W. Brewster becomes the sixth president of Hollins. An article in the Hollins alumnae magazi...Read more
1976
The Writing Center is established....Read more
1977
Dean of Students Baylies Hearon Willey Brewster ’57 is inspired by a white-water canoeing trip on ...Read more
1978
The first Honors Convocation is held on April 25. Students who have received awards, attained member...Read more
1980
Just before midnight on July 31, a Hollins security officer spots flames shooting out of the Hollins...Read more
1981
Paula Brownlee becomes Hollins’ seventh president in July and is officially inaugurated in April o...Read more
1983
During two weeks in July, 62 juniors and seniors from high schools throughout the East Coast take pa...Read more
1983
Hollins’s first Minority Alumnae Weekend is held April 15-17 with the theme “Building Bridges fr...Read more
1984
IBM gives Hollins 18 “personal computer systems” to establish a microcomputer lab. President Bro...Read more
1984
Pamela Meade receives her degree in sociology in May. She is the great-grandchild of Caesar Morton, ...Read more
1985
On November 4, southwestern Virginia suffers the worst flooding in its recorded history. Floodwaters...Read more
1987
Professor of English R.H.W. Dillard is selected from over 400 nominees as Virginia Professor of the ...Read more
1989
A new gymnasium opens, signifying a new era for Hollins athletics. The facility includes exhibition ...Read more
1991
On July 1, Jane Margaret (Maggie) O’Brien becomes Hollins’ eighth president. Under her leadershi...Read more
1992
The nation’s first complete graduate program devoted exclusively to the study and writing of child...Read more
1992
In celebration of Hollins’ sesquicentennial, fireworks light up the sky behind the Cocke Memorial ...Read more
1992
Hollins’ new state-of-the-art computer network allows students to have computers in their dorm roo...Read more
1994
A Master of Arts in Teaching is offered for the first time....Read more
1994
The Hollins Athletic Hall of Fame is established to honor the achievement of Hollins women who have ...Read more
1995
In mid-September, Hollins makes its debut on the World Wide Web with its own homepage....Read more
1995
The 40th anniversary of the Hollins Abroad program is celebrated on two continents: At Hollins on Ma...Read more
1996
Janet Rasmussen is named Hollins’ ninth president. Among her achievements during five years as pre...Read more
1998
On April 17, Hollins holds a celebration in anticipation of the July 1 transition to Hollins Univers...Read more
1998
For the second time in five years, Hollins is named the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA...Read more
1999
Hollins’ new master’s program in screenwriting and film studies begins. Like the university’s ...Read more
1999
On April 9-10, Hollins dedicates the new Wyndham Robertson Library. One of the highlights of the cer...Read more
2001
Hollins receives an anonymous $500,000 gift to endow a Distinguished Speakers Fund. It supports Holl...Read more
2001
“Education through Skills and Perspectives” (ESP), the university’s new learning curriculum, i...Read more
2001
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11...Read more
2002
To mark the beginning of construction of the Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center, Hollins foregoes ...Read more
2002
Nora Kizer Bell takes office in July as Hollins’ 10th president, and she is officially inaugurated...Read more
2003
On December 11, Hollins is one of approximately 50 colleges and universities around the country sele...Read more
2003
This fall, Hollins launches a new certificate in arts management program, giving students who have a...Read more
2004
On June 16, Hollins announces that the Garden Club of Virginia will restore the historic Beale Memor...Read more
2004
The new edition of the Kaplan/Newsweek “How to Get into College” Guide names Hollins the country...Read more
2005
On September 1, Hollins celebrates becoming Roanoke County’s first recycling drop-off site with it... In January, Nancy Oliver Gray takes office as Hollins’ 11th president. She is officially inaugurat...Read more
2005
Hollins introduces a new major in environmental studies, designed to provide students with a holisti...Read more
2005
During the week of June 12, Hollins hosts the first-ever Tinker Mountain Writers’ Workshop. It rep...Read more
2005
In January, Nancy Oliver Gray takes office as Hollins’ 11th president. She is officially inaugurated .....Read more
2006
A local consortium led by Hollins purchases property on Tinker Mountain to help protect one of the R...Read more
2007
In May, President Gray joins hundreds of other college presidents from across the country in signing...Read more
2007
The Playwright’s Lab at Hollins University is established. The new discipline is designed to be co...Read more
2007
Natasha Trethewey M.A. ’91 wins the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her collection Native Guard. She ...Read more
2008
In order to give all new students the opportunity to share a common academic experience in their fir...Read more
2008
Susan Gager Jackson ’68 and her husband, John Jackson, pledge $5 million to create the Jackson Cen...Read more
2008
Hollins is honored as one of the “Top 20 Wired Colleges” in the nation by PC Magazine and The Pr...Read more
2009
A team of faculty and student researchers at Hollins discovers that beverages from soda fountain mac...Read more
2010
Jessica, Mackenzie, Meredith, and Stephanie Jackson make Hollins history in the fall when they becom...Read more
2010
Hollins celebrates the successful conclusion of the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in it...Read more
2011
Hollins and Emory & Henry College receive $200,000 over the next three years from the Jessie Bal...Read more
2011
The Center for College Affordability and Productivity ranks Hollins among the “25 Colleges with th...Read more
2012
More than 50 alumnae return to campus to share tips, tools, and tricks of the trade with current stu...Read more
2013
Hollins is named an “All-Steinway School,” a designation given by the company regarded as the wo...Read more
2013
A signature alumnae engagement program is established in which alumnae will be enlisted to strengthe...Read more
2014
Hollins introduces a graduate degree in children’s book writing and illustrating, the first such p...Read more
2014
A student team wins the 15th annual statewide collegiate Wells Fargo Ethics Bowl. The team competes ...Read more
2014
Hollins’ Master of Fine Arts program in dance begins collaboration with renowned choreographer Wil...Read more
2015
The Princeton Review ranks Hollins Theatre among the 20 best college theatre programs in the country...Read more
2015
Hollins receives a financial commitment of $6.5 million from Elizabeth “Libby” Hall McDonnell ...Read more
2015
Hollins pays tribute to one of its best-known alumnae and one of America’s most beloved children...Read more
2016
After 175 years, Hollins students are still going places. This summer, Lan Nguyen ’18 is participa...Read more