The Bowdoin Orient

April 6, 2001
Volume CXXXII, Number 20

Columns: A Tale of Two Unions

by JAMES L. BROWN, COLUMNIST

   The touted architectural connection between Bowdoin and Harvard is frequently limited to the nascent years of our institution.
   Massachusetts Hall and the Quad bear a striking resemblance to similar features of the Yard upon which our campus was modeled. The extent of our connection is often limited to this Georgian period in our history, but at the turn of the century, a similarity with our sister institution resurfaced.
   For many years, the predominant social structure of the campus was oriented toward the fraternal houses. A place where students of different backgrounds and affiliations could socialize was desperately needed, both at Bowdoin and at Harvard.
   This need resulted in the construction of some of the first collegiate "union" buildings in America. As with Massachusetts Hall and the Yard, Harvard provided the example.
   In 1901, the beaux-arts architect Charles McKim was commissioned to design a "great house…a meeting-house of all Harvard men-alumni, students, teachers."
   It was indeed a great house, inspiring the words of such figures as Henry James and George Santayana.
   Twenty-seven years later, Bowdoin commissioned the same firm to design a union building. Although on the exterior the buildings bear little resemblance, their internal resemblance is noteworthy.
   For the great hall in both the Harvard and Moulton (Bowdoin) Unions, McKim's firm designed a tall stone chamber, the bottom story of which is finished in ornamental wood. The classical organization is punctuated by clerestory windows in each and constructed with similar proportions.
   Differences are apparent, however; Bowdoin's building features a second-story balcony and Harvard's a prominent over-door finished with wrought-iron gates.
   The most striking similarity of the two buildings is not part of the interior detailing; it is the original functioning of the two buildings. Both served as places of quiet repose and conversation apart from academic or fraternal structures on the campuses. One might characterize them as gentleman's clubs for students.
   Today, the original unions of both campuses do not function as they once did. The Harvard Union has been transformed in a controversial renovation which divided the great hall into two smaller humanities halls.
   Moulton, although not used for academic purposes, functions as an administrative center of campus.
   Both buildings are remnants of a different time and no longer suit the needs of the institutions which built them as unions. The time when students socialized in armchairs by fireside is gone, but the value of the spaces as gathering rooms has not been diminished.
   Moulton Union is the best example of neo-classic and modern synthesis on the campus. The integrity of the exterior facade and historic interior spaces is intact. The modern additions to the building are sympathetic and engage in meaningful discussion with the classical elements.
   Such architectural dialogue has been woefully absent in more recent stylistic syntheses on campus, such as the renovations of Searles and Memorial Halls.
   Moulton Union embodies the best of both styles, yet manages to make them work together to achieve the comfortable domestic/academic feeling particular to Bowdoin.
   Today, Moulton Union has been severed from its original function, yet serves our campus nobly for other purposes. It would nonetheless be wonderful to capitalize on the kind of spaces it offers to students. One way to re-integrate the old union into a new student body would be to use the Maine Lounge for formal dining on a regular basis.
   Universities in England have long benefited from more formal dining settings where academic discussions penetrate into mealtime. This would be a welcomed addition to the already renowned dining services Bowdoin has to offer and would help students and faculty alike to refamiliarize themselves with our history and a wonderful building.

Moulton Union is one of several buildings on the Bowdoin campus that have been compared to buildings on the Harvard campus.
(Jane Hummer/Bowdoin Orient)