Records of Wheelock College Buildings and Grounds, 1914- | Wheelock College Archives

Lucy Wheelock founded Wheelock College in 1888 to provide education for teachers of young children. The first School was located at Chauncy-Hall in Boston's Copley Square. In 1896, the School moved to 284 Dartmouth Street. The Marenholz house, named for Baroness Marenholz-Bulow, a student of Froebel, opened as a dormitory in 1898 and continued until 1914. In 1904 the school relocated to 134 Newbury Street, and in 1914 it moved to a new building at 100 The Riverway, with dormitories, a dining hall, a library, offices, and classrooms.

By 1926, one building no longer sufficed, and Wheelock Hall was built at 49 Pilgrim Road to provide space for plays and entertainments. Later known as “Rec Hall,” it served this purpose for nearly forty years. Four dormitories (besides 100 the Riverway) were also required to house students. In 1941 Colchester House was purchased and opened as a dormitory, and the Classroom Building opened at 32 Pilgrim Road with classrooms, art studios, and science labs. Pilgrim House was purchased in 1943, and Pilgrim House East and West opened as dormitories in 1944 and 1946, respectively.

Post-World War II, Wheelock’s expansion was fueled by a surge in enrollment. A new library, art studios, and administrative offices were installed at 132 The Riverway in 1947. The dormitories were unified in 1949, when four buildings – Longwood House, Riverway House, Pilgrim House East and West – were connected by a new dining hall, and 100 The Riverway was sold. The 1950s and 1960s saw an increased need for faculty and administrative space. In 1957, the Administration Building at 200 The Riverway was purchased. It became the home for administrative offices in 1961, and underwent an award-winning renovation and addition in 1988.

Elizabeth Peabody Hall opened as a dormitory in 1961, and at the same time Pilgrim House was converted from a dormitory to faculty offices, an infirmary, the Alumnae Association, and special functions rooms. President James E. Conner was the first to occupy the President’s House at 295 Kent St. in 1964. A much-delayed auditorium, originally proposed in 1949, was finally built in 1965, when the Lucy Wheelock Memorial Auditorium and Multi-Purpose Building (now known as the Activities Building) was dedicated at 180 The Riverway.

The Resource Center was established in 1967 in the Classroom Building for the development of curriculum activities, and was fully renovated in 2000. Renovation, rather than expansion, was the theme of the 1980s as the College approached its centennial. Mezzanine levels were added to the renovated Library, which re-opened in 1982. The College Center, with a student lounge, snack bar, and mailboxes, occupies the former dining hall, renovated in 1986. The auditorium, home to the Wheelock Family Theatre, was renovated and made fully accessible in 1988-1989. No major changes occurred until 1999, when Wheelock purchased the Brookline Campus at 43 Hawes Street from Hebrew College.

The Brookline Campus opened in May 2003 after a thorough restoration, and houses conference rooms, classrooms, and faculty, staff, and administrative offices.