Housing
A group outside Porter Hall, shortly after its construction
Until 1957, there had been no housing available for women at the Divinity School. That year, Porter Hall opened as a women’s residential hall. Until its destruction around 2000, Porter Hall was located behind the back parking lot of the Divinity School campus, on the hill leading down to St. Ronan Street.
A student typing in her room in Porter Hall
“There being no accommodations for women at YDS, Laura and I had agreed by correspondence to seek an off-campus rooming arrangement together… From the housing list Laura chose a suitable room with kitchen arrangements on nearby Sheldon Terrace. We thought this was quite luxurious and ate rather well pooling $5.00 per week in our grocery fund. We never considered invading the refectory— for, as I remember it now it seemed so overwhelming—so male, so privileged, and so expensive that it was not for the likes of us. Each morning, we packed our lunches, and raced the 7 minute walk to the school—to spend the day, to return for a hastily prepared supper, and then to run back to the library in the evening to study until it closed at 11 p.m.”
Jeanne Humphreys Hein, class of 1954