{"id":38917,"date":"2025-08-12T11:33:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T15:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=38917"},"modified":"2025-11-11T14:12:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:12:27","slug":"magazine-blackwell-halls-demolition-brings-back-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/magazine-blackwell-halls-demolition-brings-back-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackwell Hall\u2019s demolition brings back memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen to E-Dorm; after nearly 60 years, the walls of Furman University\u2019s Blackwell Hall are coming down.<\/p>\n

The residence hall opened in 1967, and demolishing it is part of the renovation of South Housing, where most first-year students live. Demolition work began July 14<\/a>, and in Blackwell\u2019s place landscapers will put lawns and seating for students to gather in, along with basketball and pickleball courts. The landscaping should be complete before students move in next week.<\/p>\n

The Furman community shared a mix of emotions when they saw the news on social media<\/a> that excavators had begun biting through the bricks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAwe! Kinda sad.\u201d
\n\u201cWell. Now I feel old.\u201d
\n\u201cHeading to grief counseling now!\u201d
\n\u201cGoodbye E.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Construction

Crews build Blackwell Hall on Furman University’s campus in 1967 in this archival photo. More than 10,000 students lived in Blackwell before its demolition in 2025 as part of a renovation of South Housing.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Furman\u2019s residence halls were referred to by letters, Blackwell was \u201cE-Dorm\u201d to many of the more than 10,000 students who called it home. Graduates from the late 1960s and on flocked to Facebook sharing memories of singing in the halls, finding messages carved in dresser drawers and getting into \u2013 or narrowly avoiding \u2013 trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, if you find a Go-Go\u2019s cassette while you\u2019re clearing away the rubble, please inbox me,\u201d said Tony Jones \u201988. Graduates like Don Spencer \u201973 said it was the only air-conditioned men\u2019s dorm during their time on campus; Randall David Cook \u201991 said the small size of his second-floor room \u201cwas worth dealing with for the AC alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Blackwell Hall originally housed only male students, it became home to men and women in the 1990s. Several graduates remembered sneaking in before then, as well as the shift in the culture once women moved in. Susan Yeo \u201992 was among the first women to live in E-Dorm, and fondly remembered tanning on \u201cE-Beach,\u201d the lawn behind the hall where people would lie in the spring to get an early start on their summer tans.<\/p>\n

With Blackwell Hall coming down, some alumni wondered about its namesake. Blackwell was named for Furman\u2019s eighth president, Gordon Williams Blackwell \u201932, who served from 1965 to 1976. His legacy as a champion of racial integration and women\u2019s rights will live on, as Lakeview Hall \u2013 opened in 2024 \u2013 will be renamed Blackwell Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch as I will miss (the old) Blackwell,\u201d said Mark Horner \u201900 on Facebook, \u201cI am pleased that the wonderful new dormitory will continue to honor the legacy of Dr. Blackwell, whose insistence on \u2018greatness by national standards\u2019 led Furman to its bright future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like father, like daughter<\/h2>\n

Andrew Burr \u201991<\/a> is now the university\u2019s head Women\u2019s Soccer coach, but in 1987 he was a first-year student from Atlanta. His father left the car running on move-in day as he and Burr trekked up Blackwell\u2019s stairs carrying two bags. A firm handshake and some parting words, and Burr went from being college-bound to a moved-in Paladin.<\/p>\n

Things were different when Burr\u2019s daughter, Sophie Burr \u201928, moved into Blackwell in 2024, more than three decades later, but not that different.<\/p>\n

\"A

Furman University Women’s Soccer Head Coach Andrew Burr ’91 poses with his daughter, Sophie Burr \u201928, who in 2024 moved into a dorm room in Blackwell Hall directly across from the room her father lived in 37 years earlier. Photo courtesy of Andrew Burr.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt had the same smell,\u201d Burr said with a laugh. \u201cIt didn\u2019t smell like fresh-baked bread. It wasn\u2019t a bad smell or a good smell. It was just a Blackwell smell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither he nor his daughter had to lift a bag on move-in day; a swarm of Paladin Football players buzzed about helping incoming students haul their belongings upstairs. It gave Burr and his daughter time to explore the hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I walked up those stairs 30 years later and turned to see her room was right across the hall from mine, I couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Burr said.<\/p>\n

He shared stories with her of the tight-knit community he experienced at Blackwell, how refreshing the air conditioning was when he grew up without it in his childhood home. She laughed as he talked about late-night, hair-brained schemes to go bowling with friends in the hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had time to talk and take pictures,\u201d he said. \u201cLiving there, people form a bond. I\u2019m still friends with my first-year roommate, and (Sophie) made quick friends with hers. That\u2019s what you get at Furman: You\u2019re part of the family, and people look out for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Furman community heard about the dorm\u2019s demolition as part of the South Housing renovations, they took to Facebook to share their thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":38899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,3494,3484,1963],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-class-notes-fall-2025","category-fall-2025","category-furman-magazine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38917"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40245,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38917\/revisions\/40245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}