Marshall University Architectural Guide
by Carlos Bozzoli, Architect
The John Deaver Drinko Academy

Jenkins Hall

  
 
South view
  
Current use:
It houses the College of Education and Hu man Services, the Learning Resource Cen ter,and the June Harless Center for Rural Educational Research and Development, and others laboratories and offices.
Location: 
East side of inner campus.
Designers:
Meanor & Handloser, Architects
Completed: 
1937
Name: 
In honor of a distinguished Confederatecavalry officer, General Albert Gallatin Jen- kins, who was a native of Cabell County.

The building is a clear example of a somehow consistent trend in American architecture that tried to conserve the classical tradition but stripping it from ornamental and decorative details, perhaps pursuing economy at the Depression and WWII years, frequent between 1930 and 1950. A dignified economical concern is present in the design of classical pedimented sections, covering the doorways, where smaller differences in the brick bond, using slightly protruding rows appearing between 4 rows of normal bond, creates the illusion of a decorated pilaster. All the masonry work is exemplar and carefully arranged. Windows lintels are performed with flat arches, and in some cases a figured keystone appears in the opening axis. The roof has a low pitch, and covered with grey slate tiles. The whole building expresses firmness, self-restriction, tidiness and technical skill.