Currier Residence Hall, the University of Iowa’s oldest extant residence hall, was built to address the shortage of housing for female students. It was named after Amos Noyes Currier and his wife, Celia Moore Currier, both fixtures in the Classics Department where Amos held a professorship and Celia was a Latin instructor. During his time at the University, Amos Currier held an array of positions. As a volunteer librarian, he organized the University’s first card catalog; he also served as the first president of the Iowa chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, was dean of the Collegiate Department (now College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), and served as interim president (1898–1899) between Charles Schaeffer and George MacLean. Currier Hall, home to 168 women in 1914, is today a coeducational residence with renovations that address current student life needs.
This Georgian Revival dormitory is composed of simple brick work and contrasting limestone detailing. Quoins at its corners and insets above the first- and third-story windows add distinction, as do the brackets under the cornice. Currier was enlarged in 1940, which extended the Clinton Street wing to the north. While the original Parisian-style glass fan-canopy above Currier’s main door has been removed, the flanking Doric pilasters and the rooftop balustrade marking the entrance façade remain in place. Behind the balustrade and running along the roofline, pedimented dormers open from students’ rooms. Currier was enlarged several times before it achieved its current U-shaped configuration. The aura of tradition pervades Currier; legend has it that the building is haunted by the ghosts of three residents from the 1930s, adding further luster to this classic residence hall’s venerable character.