{{short description|Student dormitory at Vassar College}} {{about|the Vassar College dormitory|the National Historic Landmark in Newburyport, Massachusetts|Cushing House Museum and Garden}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox building | name = Cushing House | image = Cushing House, Vassar College, February 2015.jpg | image_alt = A winged brick building on a clear day, with snow on the ground | image_size = | caption = Cushing's west wing, with its central hall visible to the right | former_names = Cushing Hall | building_type = Dormitory | architectural_style = Old English manor house | architecture_firm = Allen & Collens | completion_date = 1927 | floor_count = 4 | cost = $400,000 (1927) | location = Poughkeepsie, New York | owner = Vassar College | current_tenants = Vassar College | location_country = United States | coordinates = {{Coord|41.689428|-73.893118|display=inline,title}}<ref name=GMaps>{{Google maps|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?q=41.689428,-73.893118&num=1&t=m&z=19 |title= Cushing House, Arlington, NY 12603|access-date= October 29, 2013}}</ref> }}
'''Cushing House''' (formerly called '''Cushing Hall''') is a four-story dormitory on Vassar College's campus in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. A response to freshmen overcrowding, the college's Board of Trustees hurried the Allen & Collens-designed building, named for college librarian and alumna trustee Florence M. Cushing, to construction and completion in 1927. Cushing was originally designed as eight smaller houses with euthenic principles in mind, but ended up as a single ''U''-shaped dormitory in the Old English manor house style with Jacobean interior furnishings.
Students of all grades may live in the house, which houses up to 202 in single, double, and triple rooms. Throughout Cushing's history, various proposals and plans have incited controversy among the building's residents, including designating one of its wings as all-black housing and converting one of its common areas into eight single rooms. Contemporary reviewers have looked favorably upon Cushing's aesthetic qualities, declaring it to be one of Vassar's most beautiful buildings.
==History== thumb|left|Florence Cushing, the dormitory's namesake, in 1874|alt=A woman with tight hair and a dark shawl top sits with her arms crossed, facing to the viewer's right with her body turned to the viewer's left Before Cushing House's construction, Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, faced a housing deficit relative to the number of students it enrolled, a situation deemed an emergency by the college's Board of Trustees.{{sfn|Borton|1984|p=64}} For the first quarter of the twentieth century, one third of the college's freshmen were housed off campus due to rising enrollment over that period.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} The Board voted in 1925 to move all students to on-campus housing, acknowledging the lack of adequate space for the move but pledging that they would swiftly build more.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} The following year, the Board voted to begin construction on the new hall without first securing funding for the building, trusting that the "friends of the College" would meet the financial demands of the project.{{sfn|Borton|1984|p=64}} In the meantime, the house was built using loaned funds,{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} with the total project cost coming to $400,000.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=Vassar dedicates Cushing dormitory|date=October 30, 1927|newspaper=The New York Times|page=17|id={{ProQuest|104069626}}}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
Original plans for Cushing House, then called Cushing Hall, saw the building as a model of Vassar's euthenics program.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=94}} The term ''euthenics'' was first defined by Ellen Swallow Richards of Vassar's class of 1870 as "the betterment of living conditions, though conspicuous endeavor for the purpose of securing more efficient human beings".{{sfn|Borton|1984|p=67}} In accordance with these principles, initial schematics saw the dormitory divided into eight separate houses all surrounded by a brick wall.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=94}} Cushing was ultimately designed by architectural firm Allen & Collens{{sfn|Daniels|1996|p=89}} which was also responsible for several other buildings on Vassar's campus including the Thompson Memorial Library and its wings before Cushing's completion, Wimpfheimer Nursery School concurrently,{{sfn|Daniels|1996|p=92}} and Skinner Hall of Music afterwards in 1932.{{sfn|Daniels|1996|p=91}} The Cushing project was completed in 1927{{sfn|Daniels|1996|p=89}} and the dormitory was named for the college's first alumnae trustee, Florence M. Cushing, who was a member of the Vassar class of 1874{{sfn|Borton|1984|p=64}} and the college's librarian from the year of her graduation until 1876.{{sfn|Bruno & Daniels|2001|p=27}} On account of her death in September 1927, Cushing Hall was not dedicated in time for the incoming class of freshman for the 1927–28 school year; instead, the dedication which was marked by an informal reception was put off until October 29 of the same year.<ref name=NYT />
In 1954, Cushing residents were "perturbed" by the possibility of a new language hall being built within the dormitory's sightlines, citing the concern that any artificial construction would ruin their views.<ref>{{cite news|last=Spatt|first=Sondra|title=Site of new building unknown; Lack of money major problem|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19540512-01.2.8&srpos=12&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 19, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=May 12, 1954}}</ref> Another controversy arose in April 1970 after students from Cushing objected to a plan put forth by a contingent of black students and approved by the Board of Trustees that would designate one wing of Cushing as a co-ed housing space for black students of all grades.<ref name="housing at cushing">{{cite news|title=Housing at Cushing enrages campus|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19700410-01.2.3&srpos=21&e=-------en-20--21-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 22, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=April 10, 1970}}</ref> Prior to the plan's formulation, upperclassmen black students could opt to live in a student community in Kendrick House while underclassmen could live in an analogous community in Main Building.<ref name="housing at cushing" /> Cushing residents were not notified of the plan until after its approval and a public meeting was held at which objections were raised by both Cushing residents and black students that one wing of the dorm might not be enough space to foster a black community and that Kendrick House should instead be repurposed as elective all-black housing.<ref name="housing at cushing" /> After the college's administration expressed the possibility that this plan might be in violation of U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare standards on segregation, all but four black students walked out of the meeting and the assembly decided that the Board of Trustees needed to be better informed of the racial climate on campus.<ref name="housing at cushing" /> In 1974, Vassar's Master Planning Committee voted to convert one of Cushing's common areas, then a dining room, to eight single dorms.<ref name=8dorms>{{cite news|title=Students protest Cushing action|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19740426-01.2.6&srpos=24&e=-------en-20--21-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 22, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=April 26, 1974}}</ref> An emergency meeting was held and students organized a Save Cushing Dining Room movement which collected 800 signatures against the plan in 24 hours.<ref name=8dorms /> Other instances have seen one of Cushing's parlors converted to a quad dorm used to house students temporarily when no other housing could be found for them, first in 1989<ref>{{cite news|last=Pearlstein|first=Joanna R.|title=Overcrowding, housing shortage continues|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19890908-01.2.2&srpos=56&e=-------en-20--41-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 22, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=September 8, 1989}}</ref> then again during the first semester of the 1998–99 school year.<ref>{{cite news|last=Litos|first=Stephanie|title=Students crowd residence halls|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19980904-01.2.3&srpos=96&e=-------en-20--81-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 22, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=September 4, 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Knox|first=Julian|title=Room openings increase after first-semester crunch|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19990122-01.2.20&srpos=104&e=-------en-20--101-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 22, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=January 22, 1999}}</ref>
==Architecture and features== thumb|right|Cushing's three-story west wing (left), with its four-story central tower and transverse halls visible center|alt=A panorama of the courtyard and winged sides of a three- and four-story brick dormitory Cushing House was built on the north side of campus and sits apart from most of the school's other dorms, with the exception of Noyes House to its west.<ref>{{cite map |publisher=Vassar College |title=Vassar College Standard Map |url=http://info.vassar.edu/docs/map.pdf |location=Poughkeepsie, NY |format=PDF |access-date=December 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905214715/http://info.vassar.edu/docs/map.pdf |archive-date=September 5, 2015 }}</ref>{{sfn|Yale Daily News Staff|2010|p=610}} Cushing stands four stories tall{{sfn|Murray, Goldsmith, & Falcone|2011|loc=Campus Housing}} and is configured in a ''U'' shape with two wings of student rooms connected by center common areas{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} on the ground floor and more halls of student housing on the upper transverse (inter-wing) levels.<ref name="misc benard">{{cite news|last=Benard|first=Vee|title=In Cushing, Vassar prioritized comfort|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany20101028-01.2.21#|access-date=January 9, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=October 28, 2010}}</ref> Between the wings is a courtyard covered by a lawn and trees.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} Two articles published in Vassar's weekly ''Miscellany News'' in 1975 identified some of the species present at the time: ''Cryptomeria japonica'', ''Ilex opaca'' (American holly),<ref>{{cite news|last=Hollander|first=Ed|title=Vassar arboretum: Cushing conifers|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19751031-01.2.63&srpos=26&e=-------en-20--21-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 19, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=October 31, 1975}}</ref> several crab apple trees, and a ''Fagus sylvatica'' (European beech).<ref>{{cite news|last=Hollander|first=Ed|title=Deciduous trees of Cushing House|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19751107-01.2.52&srpos=27&e=-------en-20--21-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 19, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=November 7, 1975}}</ref> The exterior of the house is built in an Old English manor house style designed to mimic the nearby Pratt House{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} which was designed by architects York and Sawyer and completed in 1916.{{sfn|Daniels|1996|p=91}} The roof of the hall is made of slate, with walls of patterned brickwork covered with half-timbered decorations as well as leaded windows and towers.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} A smaller wing, sometimes referred to as the SQs ("servants' quarters") or "maid's wing",<ref name="misc benard" /><ref name=moderntrends>{{cite news|last=Schwartz|first=Sue|title=Modern trends arrived with Cushing|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=vcchro19550423-01.2.20&srpos=9&e=-------en-20--1--txt-IN-Cushing+Hall------#|access-date=November 27, 2013|newspaper=The Vassar Chronicle|date=April 23, 1955}}</ref> abuts the center common area and includes a pantry and kitchen on its ground floor and smaller dorm rooms that originally housed servants on the floors above.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}}
{{multiple image | align = left | direction = horizontal | image1 = Cushing House wood paneling.JPG | width1 = {{#expr: (200 * 1216 / 3944) round 0}} | alt1 = A two-by-four grid of wood paneling above a brick floor | image2 = Cushing House traceried window.JPG | width2 = {{#expr: (200 * 1960 / 3960) round 0}} | alt2 = A triptychal window overlaid with diagonal grid paneling and stone tracery | image3 = Cushing House plaster ceiling detail.JPG | width3 = {{#expr: (200 * 1992 / 4320) round 0}} | alt3 = A white plaster ceiling beam with a floral pattern in relief | footer = The dorm's interior features, including wood paneling, traceried windows, and decorated plaster ceilings | footer_align = left }} Inside the dorm, common area furnishings are Jacobean in style and architectural features include plaster ceilings, windows with tracery, and wood paneling.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} Within rooms, closets and windows are also notably large and soft light is present throughout the hall.<ref name=moderntrends /> The building was designed to house 130 students split between two double rooms and 126 singles,{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=94}} but now fits up to 202 students,<ref name=reslife>{{cite web|title=Cushing House|url=http://residentiallife.vassar.edu/residence-halls/halls/cushing.html|publisher=Vassar College Office of Residential Life|access-date=November 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402101818/http://residentiallife.vassar.edu/residence-halls/halls/cushing.html|archive-date=April 2, 2013}}</ref> demonymously referred to as "Cushlings".<ref name="misc benard" /> The house presently includes single dorms, one-room doubles, and two-room doubles and triples.{{sfn|Murray, Goldsmith, & Falcone|2011|loc=Campus Housing}} Upon opening in 1927 (prior to Vassar's 1969 transition from being an all-female to co-ed college),<ref>{{cite news|last=Honan|first=William H.|author-link=William H. Honan|title=Three decades of men at Vassar|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/nyregion/education-three-decades-of-men-at-vassar.html|access-date=January 22, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 14, 2000}}</ref> the dormitory was limited to housing freshmen.<ref name=reslife /> It is now co-ed<ref name=reshalls>{{cite web|title=Residential Halls|url=http://residentiallife.vassar.edu/residence-halls/halls/index.html|publisher=Vassar College Office of Residential Life|access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref> and acts as home to students from all grades<ref name=reslife /> including, as of 1999, the highest proportion of upperclassmen of any dorm at the school.<ref>{{cite news|last=Silkiss-Hero|first=Sasheem|title=Cushing: a freshman dorm?|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19991112-01.2.27&srpos=120&e=-------en-20--101-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 22, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=November 12, 1999}}</ref> Bathrooms are shared by all members of a hall.{{sfn|Murray, Goldsmith, & Falcone|2011|loc=Campus Housing}} A minor renovation in summer 1995 and funded by the Estée Lauder Companies included more efficient lighting, rewiring, and new furniture for the house.<ref>{{cite news|last=Travis|first=Brennan|title=College completes Cushing House renovations|url=http://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/vassar?a=d&d=miscellany19950915-01.2.6&srpos=79&e=-------en-20--61-byDA-txt-IN-%22cushing+house%22------#|access-date=January 22, 2014|newspaper=The Miscellany News|date=September 15, 1995}}</ref> Like all other Vassar dorms, Cushing houses a game room, a laundry room, and a Steinway grand piano.{{sfn|Yale Daily News Staff|2003|p=656}}
In 1928, a year after Cushing opened, Keene Richards, Vassar College's general manager, wrote to college president Henry Noble MacCracken that Cushing was "neither luxurious nor extravagant."{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=93}} Authors Karen Van Lengen and Lisa Reilly countered this sentiment in their 2004 architectural guide to the campus, noting that "Cushing's cozy domesticity is a far cry from the institutional nature of collegiate residential architecture found on other college campuses"{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=94}} and concluding that the dorm was one of the most beautiful buildings on campus.{{sfn|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004|p=17}} Another guide, compiled in 2003 by the staff of the ''Yale Daily News'', identified the dorm as one of the two most popular at the college, along with Jewett House.{{sfn|Yale Daily News Staff|2003|p=656}} Cushing has drawn comparisons to the fictitious Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry according to ''The Miscellany News''.<ref name="misc benard" /> The building's parlor was singled out in College Prowler's 2012 guide to the college as the most beautiful at Vassar.{{sfn|Murray, Goldsmith, & Falcone|2011|loc=Campus Housing}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography=== * {{cite book|last=Borton|first=Mark C.|title=Vassar: A Photographic Celebration|year=1984|publisher=Embassy Imprint, Inc.|location=Haddam, CT|isbn=0-930527-01-1}} * {{cite book|last1=Bruno|first1=Maryann|title=Vassar College|year=2001|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-0454-4|first2=Elizabeth A.|last2=Daniels|location=Charleston, SC|ref={{harvid|Bruno & Daniels|2001}}}} * {{cite book|last=Daniels|first=Elizabeth A.|title=Main to Mudd, and More: An Informal History of Vassar College Buildings|year=1996|publisher=Vassar College|location=Poughkeepsie, NY|isbn=0-916663-04-3}} * {{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Sam|title=Vassar College 2012|year=2011|publisher=College Prowler|location=Pittsburgh|isbn=978-1-4274-0684-2|first2=Emily|last2=Goldsmith|first3=Rachel|last3=Falcone|ref={{harvid|Murray, Goldsmith, & Falcone|2011}}}} * {{cite book|last1=Van Lengen|first1=Karen|title=The Campus Guide: Vassar College|year=2004|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|location=New York City|isbn=1-56898-349-2|first2=Lisa|last2=Reilly|ref={{harvid|Van Lengen & Reilly|2004}}}} * {{cite book|title=The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2004|year=2003|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-312-31618-1|edition=30th|editor=Yale Daily News Staff}} * {{cite book|title=The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2011|year=2010|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-312-59558-6|edition=37th|editor=Yale Daily News Staff|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312595586}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Cushing House}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130402101818/http://residentiallife.vassar.edu/residence-halls/halls/cushing.html Vassar Residential Life — Cushing House] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140201150220/http://vsa.vassar.edu/orgs/cushinghouse/ Cushing House Team website] * [http://360tour.vassar.edu/ Vassar College panoramic tour] — Select ''Residential'' from the righthand column, then ''Cushing House''. {{Vassar College|No Collapse}}
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Category:Houses completed in 1927 Category:University and college residential buildings in New York (state) Category:Vassar College buildings and structures Category:1927 establishments in New York (state)