Do you ever wonder about the people for whom buildings on TWU campuses are named?
The Lowry Woods Community marked TWU’s first newly constructed residence hall in more than 35 years when it opened on the Denton campus in 2005. Its seven apartment buildings, with units for single students and students with families, bear the names of people from Texas and TWU history, as does the area from which it gets its name.
Apartment buildings for single students include Austin Hall, Capps Hall, Fitzgerald Hall and Reagan Houston Hall. Austin Hall is named for Stephen F. Austin, “The founding father of Texas.” The original Austin Hall was built in 1936-37 on the site of the former Dormitory Row, which was razed in the early 1980s to make room for TWU’s Blagg-Huey Library and parking areas.
Capps Hall is named for Sarah Angel “Sallie” Capps, a trailblazer in education who was named a regent of the College of Industrial Arts (now TWU) in 1911. During her 18 years of service as a regent, Capps assisted the administration in a curriculum overhaul, provided voting information to the students in wake of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and worked to promote and enlarge the number of academic opportunities at the college. A residence hall bearing her name opened on the campus in 1918.
Fitzgerald Hall is named for Hugh Nugent Fitzgerald, a Texas newspaperman and one-time chairman of the university’s board of regents. The original Fitzgerald Hall completed Dormitory Row.
The original Reagan Houston Hall first bore the name of John A. Guinn, who served as president of TWU from 1950 to 1976. When a new dormitory constructed in 1970 was named in Guinn’s honor, the old dormitory was renamed Reagan Houston Hall.
The apartment buildings for families are named Sayers Hall, Smith-Carroll Hall and Mary Hufford Hall.
Sayers Hall is named in honor of Gov. Joseph D. Sayers, who signed into law the legislation that created what is known today as Texas Woman’s University. The original Sayers Hall opened in 1928.
The original Smith-Carroll Hall, also known as the Methodist Dormitory, stood on the site of the present-day Multipurpose Classroom and Laboratory (MCL) building. The name Smith-Carroll honors a Mrs. Smith, a leader in establishing the dormitory, and Mrs. F.B. Carroll, manager of the dormitory.
It’s only fitting that one of the family apartment buildings be named Mary Hufford Hall. The original residence hall was named in honor of a former member of the English faculty who served as dean of women from 1949 until her death in 1959. The university recognized the need for a strong family housing program in 1982 and transformed the traditional residence hall into a family housing unit complete with an after-school and summer recreation program. The original Mary Hufford Hall, cited as an example of nontraditional housing, garnered attention from national media including The Washington Post.
And what of Lowry Woods, the area just north of the Lowry Woods Community?
According to “Marking a Trail, A History of the Texas Woman’s University,” the area sometimes was referred to as “Hiker’s Haven.” It was named in honor of James H. Lowry, a College of Industrial Arts (now TWU) regent from Honey Grove. According to his obituary, “probably no newspaperman in Texas was as widely known or more loved, …” He also was highly regarded at CIA, where he served as a regent for 20 years, including some time as the board president. The obituary states that the college named one of its newest dormitories in Lowry’s honor, and a room in Lowry Hall was always available for him when he visited the city of Denton.
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This is the 13th story in an occasional series on the history behind TWU buildings.
Previous stories:
Part I — Stoddard Hall
Part II — Student Union
Part III — Blagg-Huey Library
Part IV — Stark and Guinn residence halls
Part V – TWU T. Boone Pickens Institute of Health Sciences – Dallas Center
Part VI — Ann Stuart Science Complex
Part VII — Support Annex
Part VIII — Margo Jones Performance Hall
Part IX — Woodcock Hall
Part X — Kitty Magee Arena
Part XI — Hubbard Hall
Part XII — Mary Gibbs Jones Hall