East College, along with West College , had been used as a barracks for the Student Army Training Corps from 1918 until 1919. After the war, it continued as a dormitory for men with classrooms, the Electrical Laboratory, the Physical Laboratory, and offices of the Physics Department on the ground floor.
Improvements in the Dormitory Facilities
Improvements were made in the dormitory facilities during the 1920's and 1930's. In 1922, "more adequate toilet facilities" were installed in the building. In the spring of 1924, the University decided that all of the men's dormitory rooms would be furnished and bedsteads and other furniture were placed in the rooms in East College.In 1936, "...shower baths, new toilet rooms and drinking fountains..." had been installed on all four floors of East College. In 1944, the lighting facilities were improved by rewiring the building. This was requested by the Navy Department in conjunction with the V-12 Program.
The Electrical Engineering Department
The electrical engineering program continued to use space in the building during the 1920's an d 1930's. The Electrical Engineering Laboratory remained on the ground floor of the building until the Engineering Building was completed in 1940. In the mid-1920's, the electrical laboratory was rewired. In connection with the electrical engineering program, “[i]n 1929-1930, a special room was provided in East College for short wave radio equipment” which was “in daily use by students.” In the late 1930's, the top floor of the building housed “drawing rooms and blue-printing equipment.”
The Physics Department
The physics department continued to be housed in the building. By 1931, the physics laboratory “...[had] expanded to occupy the entire ground floor of East College, and two rooms on the floor above [had] recently been fitted out for research.” Presumably, both physics and electrical engineering shared the Electrical Engineering Laboratory. By 1931, physics classes were being held in the new Engineering Building. Physics continuted to be associated with East College until the mid-1950's and the construction of the the Olin Science Building.
East College in 1945
In 1945, East College remained the same as it had been in this 1927 photograph, but the East Wing of Main College ( visible to the left in the photograph ) had been remodeled after the fire of 1932, and the lantern light on the roof had been removed. The ground floor of East College contained the laboratory and recitation rooms of the Physics Department; the other floors contained dormitory rooms for one hundred and fifteen men. The electrical engineering laboratory had moved to the new Engineering Building. The building was on the east side of the Men's College Quadrangle.
"more adequate toilet..." MBU '19-'31, p. 102
"...shower baths..." BT '20-'50, 12/19/1936. p. 1
"[i]n 1929-30..." MBU, p. 69
"drawing rooms and..." CAT '37-'38, p. 25
"had expanded to occupy..." MBU, p. 79
The major source for the information on this page is the Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Bucknell University, 1920-1950 (BT '20-'50). Additional sources are Memorials of Bucknell University, 1919-1931 (MBU '19-'31); the Catalogue of Bucknell University, Ninety-Second Year, 1937-1938 (CAT '37-'38); the Bucknell University Bulletin, Catalogue Issue, Ninety-Ninth Year, 1944-1945 (CAT '44-'45); and the Bucknell University Bulletin, Catalogue Issue, One Hundredth Year, January, 1946 (CAT '45-'46).
This building in other years: 1915
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