At Haverford - Naming Lloyd Entries

Naming Lloyd Entries

by Mikael Haxby '01

Lloyd before the "L". An 1899 photo of the new dormitory. (Photo courtesy of the Quaker Collection)

The peculiarities of Haverford's campus can grow commonplace for those who attend the college. After a while, people stop talking about the distinct tilt in the floor on the second story of Gest, or that strange enclosed hedge by the Observatory. And although Lloyd remains the most popular dorm, no one seems to say much these days about those names over the entrances. Like many college buildings, many were conferred simply to honor the donor who funded its construction; however a few - particularly the earliest entries - have a more storied past.

Lloyd was built in sections, beginning with the completion of the first two in 1899. The corner entrance, now known as the fifth entry, was actually the third built, sitting about twenty yards away from the first two sections when it was completed in 1913. It was only at this point, when the college decided to name this new entrance in honor of Justus Strawbridge, that the idea of naming the sections arose. The two older sections now needed titles as well, and President Isaac Sharpless recommended two distinguished Friends from Pennsylvania's history: Isaac Norris and James Logan. When the third and fourth sections were built in 1916, the college maintained the tradition, which continued with the completion of entries five through nine in 1926.

1. Isaac Norris, born in 1701 in Philadelphia, was one of the early native-born colonists. He became a successful merchant and dignitary, serving as leader of the Quaker Party in the Pennsylvania Assembly. He was speaker of the Assembly from 1750 until his death in 1766, and played a key role in planning and ordering the bell for the statehouse in Philadelphia. We know that bell now as the Liberty Bell. Norris himself selected the text inscribed on the bell from Leviticus 25.10: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof."

2. James Logan was born in Lurgan, Ireland, in 1674, and after moving to England as a child took a job as William Penn's secretary in 1699. That same year he sailed to America, and quickly took on legislative duties, becoming secretary to the Pennsylvania Provincial Council. As an elder statesman and distinguished Friend, Logan served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1731-1738. Upon his death in 1751, the lifelong proponent of education left over 3000 volumes to the city of Philadelphia. That collection, known as the Loganian Library, is now housed at the Free Library of Philadelphia.

3. John Kinsey III was born in 1693 and came to Pennsylvania soon afterward. He became a member and later speaker of the Pennsylania Assembly, and for the final seven years of his life he served the colony as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. During this time, he was also active in Quaker circles, and a respected minister in the Society of Friends. Kinsey is perhaps more famous for the discoveries made about him after his death, when investigators determined that, as a trustee of the General Loan Office, he had embezzled over 3000 pounds from the colony. The college chose to honor Kinsey for his service to the colony and to the Quaker community, rather than his later disgrace.

4. Charles and Catherine Iungerich Smith were the parents of Horace E. Smith (1886), a successful banker who donated funds for the building of the new entrance.

5. Justus C. Strawbridge was a friend of the college for many years, and served on the Board of Managers from 1883-1911. Strawbridge may also be remembered for donating the stone wall and gate which run along Lancaster Avenue.

6. Henry W. Stokes (1887) and John Stogdell Stokes (1889) were among numerous donors from the Stokes family whose funds underwrote the sixth section of Lloyd.

7. The Morris family's donation earned their name a place on the seventh entrance. The Morris donors included Haverford graduates Elliston Perot Morris (1848), Marriott Canby Morris (1885), William Paul Morris (1886) and Samuel Wheeler Morris (1894).

8. Morris E. Leeds (1888) gave a very generous gift for the completion of Lloyd and was honored with his name on the eighth entrance. Leeds was involved with Haverford for most his adult life, taking a post on the Board of Managers which he held from 1909-1952. He was chairman of the Board and president of the Corporation of Haverford College from 1928-1945, and was honored in 1946 with an honorary doctorate.

9. Walter C. Janney (1898) was a successful banker in Philadelphia, echoing his success at Haverford, where, as a senior, he was chosen by his graduating class as "Spoon Man," an old Haverford distinction given to the most popular man in his class.