University of Michigan Alice Lloyd Crocker Hall, 1946-1949, Clair W. Ditchy. Image courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
The Alice Crocker Lloyd Hall at University of Michigan was designed by Detroit architect Clair W. Ditchy. The hall, constructed from 1946 to 1949, was named for Alice Crocker Lloyd who was Dean of Women from 1930 until her death in 1950.
Alice Crocker Lloyd. Image courtesy of UM History.
There were several delays in construction because of labor and material shortages. Materials were going toward the war effort, such as housing for returning veterans, as well as the massive expansion of the university at the time. Each hall is a six-storied, flat-roofed building with a red brick façade and limestone trim. The interconnected residence halls are named after a woman important to the university’s history. The hall can hold up to five hundred residents, with each room containing a study hall, typing cubicles, music room, dining room, lounge and laundry facilities. The interior of the hall was designed by Knoll & Associates. Today it houses the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program.
The Alice Crocker Lloyd Hall was one of Ditchy’s most notable structures. He graduated from the University of Michigan College of Literature and Fine Arts in 1911 and from the College of Architecture in 1915. Following his graduation he worked at Albert Kahn & Associates and taught at the University of Michigan until he started his own firm in 1942. He was named president of the AIA in 1953 and served the profession in that position until 1955. In 1955, Clair Ditchy was awarded the AIA Gold Medal Award, the highest award given by the organization.
