Todd Union

Title

Todd Union

Contributor

Schiff, Josef, photographer

Description

Opened in 1930 with the other original River Campus buildings, the Student Union was dedicated in honor of George W. Todd, 1860-1936, who first envisioned the possibilities of the original Oak Hill golf course as a new campus location, and the Greater University movement (serving as general chairman of the campaign organization).

In its early years the Union included dining services (main and private dining halls, a cafeteria and a grill), a general store (selling such things as athletic equipment, stationery, supplies, miscellaneous necessities and novelties), student organization offices and other campus luxuries (a barber shop, a tailor shop, a coat room, a post office and lounges/community rooms).

Alterations in 1946 resulted in the former general store being converted into a bakeshop. The building was greatly remodeled in 1955 to serve more fully as a student activities center with the merger of the mens and womens campuses. These renovations included the grill room becoming a snack bar, the first floor kitchen converted into a music library and lounge, as well as the creation of a new WRUR studio.

Additionally dining facilities moved from Todd to the Mens Dining Center (currently Douglass Commons). Following the 1976 opening of Wilson Commons the nature of Todd changed yet again: the snack bar was converted into a bank and former co-curricular areas became purely academic and administrative. In 1983 the former main dining hall was converted into a theater. The building currently hosts the International Theater Program and the Linda E. Sloan Studio for the Dance and Movement Program.

Format

image/jpeg

Location

Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Form

electronic

Use

Union

Tags

Encyclopedia Rocestriensis

Collection

University Archives (UR-RBSCP)

Citation

“Todd Union,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 21, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/4581.

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