Johnson Hall, A History

Johnson Hall, photo by Amie Detar

For the past three years, I have become very familiar with Johnson Hall. Its light lavender walls are comforting and its lobby couches are just comfy enough to nap on in between classes.


At first, the combination of theater, dance and mass communication departments into one building seemed a strange concept to me. Do I really have to share a building with weirdos?

Johnson Lobby, photo by Amie Detar

But I now enjoy their company. I love hearing the theater students loudly running lines in the lobby as lean, legging-clad dancers rush past. This melting pot of majors gives a building that already has character even more life.

In researching Johnson Hall, I discovered that without generous help from the famous philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, my favorite building on campus might not have been built. The original building that was completed in 1921 is still intact, even after a few renovations to its interior and additions that doubled the square footage of the building.

Front porch of Johnson,

Photo by Amie Detar

I also had no idea that Johnson was originally built as a student activities center. Only when Dinkins Student Center was built in 1968 did it transition to faculty offices and classrooms. 

Even though I have been in Johnson every school day for the past three years, I had never really explored past the editing lab. I knew that there was at least one dance studio (there are actually two), and I knew of Johnson Theater, the main auditorium (Johnson also has a studio theater).

Finding out more about this very familiar building has left me with a feeling of bittersweet nostalgia. Because, come May 4, 2013, I may never step foot in Johnson again.