1970s
Halls of Fame
With air-conditioning, spacious closets and a private bath for each two-room suite, Curry and Frazer were considered luxurious when they first opened in 1969 and 1970, respectively.
Valentines and Social Issues
Nancy Stallard Harr ’74, one of the first residents of Frazer, remembers pilots from nearby Fort Pickett buzzing her and her friends as they were sunbathing on the roof (access to the roof was later discontinued) and the thrill of hearing their names called on the hall loud speaker when flowers for them had been delivered on Valentine’s Day. She also remembers watching a televised draft lottery that determined which young men would be called to serve in Vietnam. “I have very vivid memories of the social issues of the day,” said Harr. “I can remember all of the women gathering in one of the downstairs TV rooms because we didn’t have TVs in our own rooms. Most of the women were watching for a brother or a boyfriend. A birthdate would be chosen [meaning anyone born on that day was being drafted], and a woman would leave in tears.”
Be There or Be Square
After Longwood went fully coeducational in 1976, the two halls began to develop different personalities. Curry remained all-female and had some sorority floors, while Frazer became coed, with men initially living on the first two floors. With so few men on campus, the guys developed a tight-knit camaraderie. “I remember Doug Blevins ’82 giving haircuts in the social room at the end of the hall on the third floor,” said John Hudson ’80. Soon the two halls— especially the Curry commons area that connected them— became a lively social hub. Fraternities and sororities would sponsor mixers and perform step shows, and fraternity chapter rooms in Frazer became popular party venues.
Kathy Hansen Fox ’85 (left) and her freshman roommate, Stephenie Mann ’85, on move-in day. Courtesy of Kathy Hansen Fox
John Hudson’s desk in Frazer was typical of the era. Courtesy of John Hudson ’80.
1980s
Eat Your Heart Out
By the 1980s, restaurants were growing up around the high-rises to take advantage of the concentrated customer base. Two of the first popular hangouts across Main Street were Pino’s Italian restaurant and Par-bil’s, a convenience store that sold a little bit of everything, including sausage biscuits and fried chicken. Later a Little Caesars, McDonald’s and Subway arrived across the street. “Every night at 11:30 we’d call Little Caesars before it closed,” said Larry Robertson ’90, who lived in Curry for three years. “There would be crazy bread waiting for us because they knew our voices and our orders.”
Larry Robertson ’90 shows up on a Curry T-shirt (at No. 2).
Kersey and Friends
One perk for high-rise residents was their proximity to two of the prime sports venues on campus: Iler Field—home to intramurals and paint battles (now color Wars)—and Willett hall (then Lancer hall), which opened in fall 1980 in the heyday of basketball legend Jerome Kersey ’84.
Stuck on You
It’s difficult to find a former Curry or Frazer resident who doesn’t have a memorable story about the buildings’ elevators. “I got stuck in the elevator between floors, with only my swimsuit and a towel wrapped around me,” recalls Valerie File Farmer ’86. I ended up having to climb out when the maintenance men finally arrived.” When the elevators were working properly, they became a source of entertainment. Residents would move furniture into them and ride the floors, or unscrew the lightbulbs for “dark vator” rides.
Truly Alarming
Fire alarms—most of them pranks—were another source of funny stories and grumbling. Alarms were particularly hard on residents of the higher floors, who had to descend as many as 10 flights of stairs when one went off. Kathy Hansen Fox ’85 will never forget being awakened in the middle of the night when someone pulled a fire alarm off the wall— during a snow storm. “We weren’t allowed back into the building until they had it in working order, so they had to let us into Willett because we were all in our pajamas and freezing,” she said. Of course, some alarms were real—most often the result of a fire in the trash chute.
John Hudson ’80 (left) and Charles Mason ’80 dressed as sorority girls for a Halloween party. Courtesy of John Hudson
High Frequency
By the mid ’80s, many students had televisions in their rooms. but before cable was available, they had to rely on antennas to pull in TV signals. Residents remember that, mysteriously, one side of the high-rises got Richmond channels and the other side got Lynchburg.
Bathroom Humor
Another memorable quirk of the high-rises was the chest-high shower heads in the bathrooms. “It was a challenge just to take a shower. I’m 5’7’’ and they were low for me,” said Dr. Bennie Waller ’90, who lived in Frazer as a freshman. Dean of Students Larry Robertson ’90 has the scoop on the odd design, which can be traced to a popular hairdo of the 1960s. “It was so that women could shower and not get their hair wet—which would mess up the bouffant hairdos,” he said. Ironically, by the time Curry and Frazer opened, the bouffant had already gone out of style.
1990s
Change of Venue
Near the end of the 1991 spring semester, a fire broke out in Curry, recalls Marianne Moffat Radcliff ’92, who lived in the room below where the fire started. Though no one was injured, the damage was serious enough to necessitate that students be moved into hotels for the rest of the semester.
Rooms with a View
The best things about living in the high-rises were being in such close proximity to so many friends— and the view of campus, recalls Marianne Moffat Radcliff ’92. “They weren’t that pretty to look at, but they were beautiful to look out of,” she said. “If you were on the campus side, you could see everything that was going on.”
Secret Stash
If a certain percentage of residents agreed to live in the same rooms the next year, students could save the hall” and not have to change rooms. This made for long-term friendships—and an advantage in storing school items over the summer. “We would pop out the ceiling tiles and store things in the ceiling,” said Marianne Moffat Radcliff ’92. “We did that with our rug one year.” Students also decorated the ceiling tiles and were allowed to paint their rooms— as long as they painted them white again at the end of the year.
Comfort Zone
Like so many Longwood alumni, Tamara Bibby ’98 said the sense of community was what she loved most about the high-rises. “That building was a conduit for lifelong friendships for me,” said Bibby, who lived in Curry all four years. Residents fondly remember not having to lock their rooms because of the tight-knit feeling the suites and halls engendered.
2000s
Still Crazy After 40 Years
By the time Katherine McKinley Bulifant ’13 moved into Frazer in the fall of 2009, the twin residence halls were dated and worn—and housed only freshmen and sophomores. but many of the unique experiences that had defined high-rise residential living for four decades endured. The 10th floor was still considered the “penthouse suites.” Residents still delighted in pranking each other—like saran wrapping someone into his or her room. It was still an understood rule that those living on the lower floors were expected to use the stairs. And the elevators were still getting stuck. “I speak for a lot of alumni who are certainly glad they are not keeping those old elevators,” said Bulifant.
Saran wrapping a room. Courtesy of Katherine McKinley Bulifant ‘13
Leave a Comment