• Fraternity and Sorority Houses (former) - University MS
    The University of Mississippi made application to the Public Works Administration September 7, 1935 for grants to help construct five fraternity houses and two sorority houses. Funds in the amount of $2,000 for each structure were requested from PWA, and the university would fund the remaining $3,000 per building.The university requested $45,454 for fraternity and sorority houses according to a separate Clarion-Ledger article.Architects began drawing up plans for the first of ten sorority and fraternity houses, and the establishment of “fraternity row” after being notified funds had been obtained reported architect E. L. Malvaney. Work was ordered to begin on...
  • University Avenue Overhead Bridge - University-Oxford MS
    T. M. Strider and Company was in charge of construction for the four-lane steel-reinforced concrete bridge replacement for the old two-lane wooden bridge across the Hilgard Cut, connecting the University with Oxford. The original cut was hand dug by enslaved Africans in 1857 in order to enable the Illinois Central Railroad to provide service to Oxford-University, and was the deepest cut in the ICRR system. The rails were laid along the cut, which is now the Gertrude Ford Boulevard. University Avenue was scheduled for closure for six months in order to construct the new bridge with an estimated cost of...
  • University of Mississippi Improvements - University MS
    The CWA and ERA completed repairs and improvements in state institutions across Mississippi in 1934 and 1935. At the University of Mississippi, the interior and exterior of two women's dorms were painted, music hall and campus residence were repaired and repainted, and six other buildings improved. In addition, a new warehouse was constructed, fence, walks and press booths for the athletic field added, drainage structures installed across campus, 525 feet of sidewalk laid, and a dorm destroyed by fire was razed and material salvaged. The total expenditure for the work was $24,043.23.
  • University of Mississippi: Athletic Facilities Improvement - University MS
    At the University of Mississippi, "...funds from New Deal agencies were also used for improvements in the university's athletic facilities. The baseball field was graded and enhanced and a new grandstand was added. The golf course was also enlarged and reconstructed, with new grass greens replacing the sand greens" (Sansing, 1999, p. 254).
  • University of Mississippi: Barnard Hall - University MS
    Barnard was built in 1938 as a women's dormitory, and attached to existing dormitory Isom Hall, built in 1929. It is currently used to house ROTC at the University of Mississippi. It is defined as a "contributing building" in the historic center of the campus (Master Plan 2009, University of Mississippi).
  • University of Mississippi: Dormitories - University MS
    These three dormitories were constructed in Georgian Revival style as Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works Mississippi project 1216-DS. The buildings were dedicated October 21-22, 1938, along with three other new dorms built on the campus of the University of Mississippi with New Deal funds. They are currently unoccupied, but are slated for renovation and restoration in the coming year. They will be used as office and classroom space following renovation. They are considered "contributing buildings" due to the "considerable legacy of architecturally significant buildings" in the historic center of the campus (Master Plan 2009, University of Mississippi, p. 35).
  • University of Mississippi: Eastbridge Apartments (demolished) - University MS
    The Eastbridge Faculty and Staff apartments at the University of Mississippi were constructed by the PWA and consisted of eight, 2-bedroom apartments. The building has since been demolished.
  • University of Mississippi: Faculty Housing - University MS
    Constructed primarily with Works Progress Administration funding, the University of Mississippi built 22 vernacular cottage-style houses on a new street named Faculty Row in 1939 (Walton, 2008). The three-bedroom houses ranged from 1200 to 1600 square feet, and were sided with clapboard. Each had a garage or carport (Mississippi Department of Archives and History). Only one of the houses remains on campus at this time. Others were demolished in 2007 according to MDAH. Twenty-one faculty houses were relocated to establish a development for affordable housing, however, according to the Lafayette County appraisal records, dates on those houses indicate construction in 1955...
  • University of Mississippi: Kennon Observatory - University MS
    Kennon Observatory, one of 39 buildings constructed by the PWA on the campus during the years 1936-1941, was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2011. "Kennon Observatory was constructed in 1939, and once again, R. W. Naef was the architect.  Naef apparently held the reins to all of the New Deal construction on campus during those years."   (https://misspreservation.com/) Dr. William Lee Kennon was "instrumental in securing the funding for Lewis Hall and Kennon Observatory, and conceived the building design (University of Mississippi, Department of Physics and Astronomy history). An adaptation of classicism (J. Baughn, Mississippi Department of Archives and History), the observatory faces due...
  • University of Mississippi: Leavell Hall - University MS
    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...
  • University of Mississippi: Old Swimming Pool - University MS
    A project grant of $20,000 supported the construction of an Olympic-sized swimming pool west of the gymnasium in July 1936.
  • University of Mississippi: Physics Building - University MS
    The Physics Building of the University of Mississippi campus, was built in 1939 as one of the last construction projects during the Public Works Administration. It was renamed Lewis Hall in 1977 for Dr. Arthur Lewis, a physics professor from 1939-1969. A research wing was added to the rear of the southwest corner in 1995.
  • University of Mississippi: Sigma Alpha Epsilon House (demolished) - University MS
    "Congress granted permission for universities to use Works Progress Administration funds for fraternal housing. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon House, occupied in the fall of 1935, was the first built on Fraternity Row after the ban on fraternities and sororities was lifted. It burned in 1953" (Walton, 2008, p. 160).
  • University of Mississippi: Somerville Hall - University MS
    Somerville was built in 1938 as a women's dormitory under Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (which later became the PWA) Mississippi Project 1216-DS. It currently houses the English faculty and the Center for Writing and Rhetoric on the University of Mississippi campus. It is identified as a "contributing building" in the historic core of the campus.
  • University of Mississippi: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium - University MS
    The concrete structure football stadium was begun in 1937 with a capacity for 18,000 (Sansing) or 24,000 (Oxford Campus and University Buildings). The new stadium was proposed as a WPA project in 1936, and completed in 1941. The west side was completed in 1938 (Walton).
  • University of Mississippi: Weir Memorial Hall - University MS
    The Student Union Building was completed in 1939 on the campus of the University of Mississippi. It housed the bookstore, university post office, a grill, game room, barbershop, clothing store, and several meeting rooms (Sansing, 1999, p. 254). The Greek Revival style building was used as the student union building until 1973. It was renovated in 2004 and is currently used by the Computer Science Department and houses a student computer lab.