Mary Lyon Residence Hall
Mary Lyon Residence Hall was a three-story student dormitory on Western Campus at Miami University, demolished in 2016. It was a co-ed dormitory and only the first and second floors were used for living space. The third floor was vacant and only the employees of the Physical Facility Department had keys to enter that story. The building was made of limestone. It housed 81 students; three of the 81 were residence hall agents and there was only one hall adviser. Residence Hall information. Mary Lyon Residence Hall was well kept by the Miami University  Physical Facilities Department. The Office of Residence Life at the university keeps tracked of who lived in the building and who worked there. In spring and summer of 2011 some work was done to re-wire the electricity so that the building was safer and able to support new technology. Although the residence hall was built in 1925, it was not named until 1934. It was built on ground received from the Patterson Estate. Mary Lyon Residence Hall was demolished in 2016. History of Western College. Mary Lyon was a strong Christian woman who founded a women's seminary for  middle class women called Mount Holyoke in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Mount Holyoke was unique for its strong values, operation and administration, and its purpose. Mount Holyoke was highly regarded and was modeled by numerous schools. One of the earliest to adapt the women's seminary style school for higher education was Western College for Women, in Ohio. Western College was often referred to as the "Mount Holyoke of the West." It opened in 1855 by a woman named Helen Peabody. Mary Lyon’s Foundation. By 1923 over 300 attended the university and more space was needed. Plans for a new  residence hall were drawn in 1923. In 1925 the hall was finished and named for Mary Lyon. There was an honorary ceremony on the buildings opening. A Dedication Hymn that was sung in 1925 by Marison F. Villson and Edgar Stillman Kelley was:<poem> Life at Mary Lyon. The daily life of a Western Seminary Woman was focused intently around the Christian values instated by Mary Lyon. Therefore, the habits of the residents at Mary Lyon Residence Hall were suited for longevity and vitality in life. Rigorous courses required, including seven math and science classes. The women were made to  walk one mile after breakfast each day, and winters to just walk 45 minutes. They also did calisthenics in empty hallways until there was a gymnasium. Teachers were not paid well, and the students did domestic duties to keep costs low. This was an early sign of the idea of work/study, at school. Tenny said, physical exercise, was the strongest test of loyalty to the university. Mary Lyon's strength and affinity for physical exertion is noted in many biographies—all of which note her allusions to the importance of exercise in her many letters often referenced. Principles of  the Seminary, (derived from Mount Holyoke): 1. Accommodations for boarders 2. Teachers to be modest and receive modest salaries 3. Neat, plain, simple lifestyle promoted 4. Domestic work done by students 5. Board and tuition placed at cost...keep prices low 6. Whole plan to be conducted under the principles of the missionary; no surplus income to teachers It was common to find the women cleaning Mary Lyon, and having social time to play games in the basement rooms where they had tables and chairs and pianos available.