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Constructed: 1956
Architect: Frank C. Shattuck, Neenah
Contractor: Hoffmann Co., Appleton
Named for: Lucinda Darling Colman, a member of Lawrence College's first graduating class (1857)
Colman brochure with floor plans, c. late 1950s (PDF)
Colman House Rules, 1966 (PDF)
A construction fire in January 1956 did not prevent Colman Hall from opening in the fall of that year. Built as a women's residence hall, Colman housed six "sorority suites" and a dining hall seating 300, larger than any dining facility on campus at the time.
An article in the Appleton Post-Crescent from May 4, 1956, "New Dormitory Colors Chosen at Lawrence," reported that "Seven different decorating schemes have been drawn" and "draperies will be furnished by the college in patterns of vivid names like 'spring fever,' 'aqueduct,' 'pieces of eight,' and 'Nile'." The public living room was distiguished by "sleek contemporary furniture in tones of black-brown, blue and orange."
To accommodate the new hall, at the time the most expensive building on campus, Lawrence Street, which once continued across Drew Street all the way to Ormsby, was closed off at Durkee Street. The Drew Street bridge is now a pedestrian walkway.
A Milwaukee-Downer room, furnished with Milwaukee-Downer memorabilia was included in the building and was refurbished (through gifts from Milwaukee-Downer alumnae) in 1980-81.
The Colman dining hall, once described as, "the workhorse of the campus," was reinvented as "Lucinda's" in the fall of 1995 and is now a popular spot for continental breakfast and lunch.