page_title: Sweet Briar College
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Sweet Briar College / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Mary Helen Cochran Library, Sweet Briar College
context_page_description: Sweet Briar College is a private women's college in Sweet Briar, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in memory of her deceased daughter, Daisy. The college formally opened its doors in 1906 and granted the B.A. degree for the first time in 1910. It nearly closed in 2015 but was saved by donations and legal actions by alumnae.
  Sweet Briar is known for its campus with its historic Georgian Revival architecture by Ralph Adams Cram and its 3,250 acres of hills, forests, and fields.
  An early leader in international study, the college established its Junior Year in France program in 1948 and is affiliated with additional study abroad programs. Its chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the Theta of Virginia, was authorized in 1950. In 2005, it established its program in engineering, one of only two ABET-accredited engineering programs at a women’s college. The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts in Teaching.
context_section_description: The college's architecture is dominated by the work of Ralph Adams Cram, who also lent his architectural expertise to the campuses of Princeton University and West Point, among others. Although Cram's forte was Gothic Revival, he designed Sweet Briar in the Colonial Revival style, using red brick buildings with white balustrades and arcades.
  Twenty-one of the thirty campus buildings were designated as the "Sweet Briar College Historic District" by the National Register of Historic Places. Sweet Briar House, which traditionally houses the college president, is among these buildings.
  The campus property includes the Sweet Briar plantation burial ground (known as the slave cemetery), where upwards of 60 slaves are buried. Archaeologists have uncovered many slave artifacts on campus. A 170-year-old slave cabin, which also was used for early college employees, is currently installed behind Sweet Briar House.
  Many of the college's faculty and staff live on campus, in homes that they rent or privately own. The land these homes are on belongs to the college.
caption: Mary Helen Cochran Library
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