- City:
- Columbus, MS
- Site Type:
- Colleges and Universities, Education and Health
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works
- Started:
- 1937
- Completed:
- 1938
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
Old Main Dormitory for the Columbus Female Institute was partially constructed for use as a dormitory by enslaved labor in 1860. It was transferred to the state in 1884 for the establishment of the Mississippi State College for Women. The dormitory was no longer in use in the 1930s due to dilapidation and need for repairs. PWA grant W1231 of $49,833 and loan of $61,000 was approved 8/12/1937 for improvements and renovation . Construction began 2/8/1938 and was completed 11/8/1938. It was renamed in honor of Mary J. S. Callaway, Mathematics faculty and twice acting President of the college. Improvements and renovations were also completed in 1960, 1968-1969, and most recently in 2014. The Victorian Gothic Revival style building remains in use as a dormitory for females.
Source notes
Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Historic Resources Inventory. Callaway Hall. Retrieved September 21, 2019 from https://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov/Public/rpt.aspx?rpt=publicPropSearch&Name=&StreetNo=&StreetName=&City=Columbus&County=Any
Report No. 5. Status of Completed Non-Federal Allotted Projects. Region No. 3 Mississippi. (January 3, 1940). Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works Projects Division, p. 105.
Callaway Hall. Retrieved September 21, 2019 from muw.edu/housing/halls/callaway
"Old Main" gets new trimmings. Clarion-Ledger, September 18, 1938, p. 4.
Slave-built MSCW Hall blossoms in new beauty. Clarion-Ledger, September 18, 1938, p. 4.
3 state colleges get dormitories: Cost is $738,000. The Weekly Democrat-Times, Dec. 2, 1937, p. 4
Miss. schools get WPA allocations. The Delta Democrat-Times, August 19, 1937, p. 1.
Site originally submitted by Susan Allen on September 21, 2019.
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