Inventory of the Bassett Residence Hall records, 1950-1979

Abstract

Completed and occupied in the spring of 1927, Bassett Hall was first known as Dormitory No. 4. Bassett Residence Hall was home to female undergraduate students from the 1930s through the early 1990s.

Types of material included in this collection are: correspondence, constitutions, financial summaries, minutes, notes, newsletters, clippings, a biography, rules, and scrapbooks. Major subjects include: Duke University, Trinity College, Bassett Hall, living groups, and female students. Materials date from 1950-1979.

Descriptive Summary

Repository: University Archives, Duke University
Creator: Duke University. Bassett Residence Hall.
Title: Bassett Residence Hall records, 1950-1979
Language of Material: English
Extent: 1.5 Linear Feet, 1500 Items
Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Series Quick Links

Bassett Residence Hall governance and activities, 1950-1979, undated, 1950-1979, undated
Advisory and governance groups, 1954-1979
Scrapbooks, 1962-1967

Collection Overview

Contains minutes of house meetings, financial summaries, house notebooks, a questionnaire, materials for new students, newsletters, general rules, and scrapbooks pertaining to the undergraduate female residents of Bassett Residence Hall at Duke University from 1950-1979.

Administrative Information

Collections are on the move for the renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Contact Rubenstein Library staff before visiting. Read More »

Access Restrictions

Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.

Collection is open for research.

In off-site storage; 24 hours advance notice is required for use.

Use Restrictions

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Contents of the Collection

Browse List of Series

Collapse All expand

Expand All

Bassett Residence Hall governance and activities, 1950-1979, undated, 1950-1979, undated

Contains correspondence with new and returning students (also includes some photographs), house officer duties and lists, constitutions and some revisions, general house rules, minutes of monthly House Council meetings, notebooks kept by the house president, clippings, and a brief biography of John Spencer Bassett.

Correspondence, 1968

Box 1

Correspondence, 1969, 1979

Box 1

Council officers, duties and lists, 1954-1970

Box 1

Constitutions, 1965-1969

Box 1

Financial, 1972-1979

Box 1

Minutes, 1948-1979

Box 1

President's Notebooks, 1953-1962

Box 2

General house rules, 1964-1969

Box 2

Resident questionnaire, 1968

Box 2

The Houndstooth newsletter, circa 1969

Box 2

Freshman Week and Freshman Advisory Council, 1966-1968

Box 2

Fliers and announcements, circa 1968-1969

Box 2

Clippings, 1950-1962

Box 2

Biography of John Spencer Bassett, undated

Box 2

Advisory and governance groups, 1954-1979

Contains general correspondence, recommendations, and rules pertaining to the governance and organization of residence halls for women. The Baldwin Federation file pertains to residence hall governance and planning as part of a group of East Campus dormitories.

Baldwin Federation, circa 1977-1979

Box 2

Freshman Advisory Council, 1954-1955

Box 2

Women's Student Government Association, circa 1967-1969

Box 2

Women's Residence Council, 1969

Box 2

General Woman's College, Trinity College, and Duke University rules for female residents, 1968-1979

Box 2

Scrapbooks, 1962-1967

Contains scrapbooks created by residents of Bassett Hall. The scrapbooks contain photographs, clippings, short writings, and some correspondence. Ordered by date.

Scrapbook 1, 1962-1963

Box 3

Scrapbook 2, 1965-1966

Box 3

Scrapbook 3, circa 1966-1967

Box 3

Historical Note

Completed and occupied in the spring of 1927, Bassett Hall was first known as Dormitory No. 4. Like the other dormitories in the East Campus Georgian quadrangle, Dormitory No. 4 was designed to accommodate approximately 110 people and originally contained fifty single rooms, thirty double rooms, three parlors, a suite for the head of the house, kitchenette, pressing room, reception room, and offices. In 1930, it was renamed in honor of John Spencer Bassett, a professor of history at Trinity College (now Duke University).

Bassett Residence Hall was home to female undergraduate students from the 1930s through the early 1990s. The Omicron chapter of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority lived in Bassett Residence Hall from 1930-1935. Over the years, general direction for residential living groups came from Duke University, Trinity College and the Woman's College.

The women of Bassett Residence Hall also relied on the guidance and rules of the Women's Student Government Association, the Women's Residence Council, the Freshman Advisory Council, and the Baldwin Federation. The Baldwin Federation was established in 1974 to represent interests of undergraduate residents of Alspaugh, Basset, Brown, and Pegram Houses. As of 2006, Bassett Residence Hall remains co-ed and non-selective.