Leavell Hall
Description
Leavell Hall, was initially built as a men’s dormitory housing 68 students. It is one of six dormitories constructed on campus with PWA funds during 1938. All six buildings remain and are in current use, or slated for renovation and resumption of use. Leavell was named for Dr. Richard Leavell, professor of philosophy and political economy from 1890-1909.
“…conditions in Mississippi were worse than at any time since the Civil War (quoted in Harry Hopkins, 1936, Spending to Save: The Complete Story of Relief). With a state government in bankruptcy, Mississippi welcomed the federal funds that finally began to trickle down in 1932” (Roger Tate, Jr., 1978, Easing the Burden: The Era of Depression and the New Deal in Mississippi).
Over the next five years, the University of Mississippi would see the trickle turn into a steady stream, using Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works funds to build a new football stadium, improve the baseball field and grandstand, enlarge the golf course, and build an Olympic-sized swimming pool. In addition to sports facilities, UM added six new dormitories, eight faculty apartments, twenty-two faculty houses, a fraternity house, Student Union Building, Kennon Observatory, and the Physics building.
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Leavell Hall door detail
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Leavell Hall Erection Plaques
Source notes
Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Historic Resources Inventory database.
Sansing, D. S. (1999). The University of Mississippi: A Sesquicentennial History. Jackson, MS: University Press.
Swain, M. H. (1995). Ellen S. Woodward: New Deal Advocate for Women. Jackson, MS: University Press.
Walton, G. W. (2008). The University of Mississippi: A Pictorial History. Nashville, TN: Booksmith Group.
Project originally submitted by Susan Allen on June 12, 2013.
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