The following information is an introductory portion of a talk given by Claude Weil to the Hyde Park Historical Society, on March 6, 2002. Claude was the former Resident and Associate Director ofBusiness Affairs ofInternational Home. International Homed celebrate its 75th year in 2007.

It sounds like an apocryphal story but Harry Edmonds relates in his memoirs how he got the idea for International Houses. One day in 1909, when he was walking up the steps to the Columbia University library, he said hello to a young Chinese who stopped and said to him, "I've been in New York for three weeks and this is the first time anyone has said hello to me." This struck Mr. Edmonds forcefully and suggested to him that there were probably many foreign students who had come to a strange land and felt very isolated.

At the time of the above encounter, Edmonds was an official at the YMCA. After talking to his wife, he started inviting foreign students to tea at his home and not too long thereafter started the tradition of Sunday Candlelight Suppers which are now held from time to time at many International Houses. However, these suppers soon outgrew his house and over the next several years more and more space was needed for them and for other functions organized for foreign students. Eventually the Intercollegiate Cosmopolitan Club was formed, funded in part by the Dodge family, one of the leaders in the copper industry. In 1920, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was invited to be a Sunday Supper speaker. As a result of this event, he and his wife became interested in Edmonds' work with foreign students and agreed to fund the building of the first International House on the upper West Side of New York. At a Sunday Supper in November, 1922, Rockefeller expressed the thought that has become the mission of International Houses: That Brotherhood May Prevail. The words "throughout the world" were added later. He said that peace was the thing most craved for in the world, but that it depended on certain factors such as even-handed justice, universal good will implying kindness, tolerance, generosity, and many other qualities, not the least, brotherhood. The New York International House opened in 1924.

Even then, thought was being given to other places where International Houses. Berkeley, California, and Chicago were among these potential sites. The Berkeley House came first and was opened, in 1930.

After the Chicago House was built, other Rockefeller­ funded houses were built later in Paris and, after World War II, in Tokyo.

By 1927, a feasibility study was underway for an International House in Chicago. In May of that year, in a letter to John D. Rockefeller, Edmonds suggested that a building with some five-hundred rooms should be built. He provided an estimate of $1,650,000 as the cost of the structure. He also offered some thoughts on what kind of staffing the House should have, and what their salary leve-ls might be. By 1929, the prospective costs had risen to $1,800,000 and possibly as high as $1,975,000, still less than the cost to build the New York House. In addition, a figure of $240,000 was given for furnishings.

Given the go-ahead, a site was picked on 59th Street between Dorchester and Blackstone Avenues. At the time, this site was occupied by the Del Prado Hotel, built for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. A recently published book about Hyde Park (1) shows the hotel as a five-story brick building occupying the entire block with a one-story fore-building (or sun porch) extending to the sidewalk. At the end of the 1920s, it was the home for some university faculty members, including Nobel Prize winner Albert Michelson. University guests also stayed there. But, according to Max Grinnell, the author of the book, the hotel was meant to be somewhat "temporary," and had "only one refectory and a small entertainment room." The University acquired the site, and by May, 1930, it had been cleared. In the process of tearing down the building, it was found that an artesian well (sic) was located under it and some thought was given to whether it could be made use of but eventually it was capped.

The reasons cited for choosing the site were that the University's social and intellectual life were found north of the Midway. Also, since most foreign students were graduate students, it was thought that they would be cut off from participation in those activities if the building was south of the Midway. At the time, it also appeared that the University was going to use that area for the development of its College.

In Edmonds' view, the Chicago International House should not be a skyscraper. He suggested that the rooms should be 9 feet by 12 feet, a foot wider than New York's. In August, 1929, the architectural firm, Holabird and Root was approached to draw up plans. Tentative sketches were ready by February, 1930, and quickly had Rockefeller's approval. Edmonds, who continuously provided suggestions for the House, made a particular point that the building should have separate entrances for men and women to reassure foreign students that their cultural and social concerns were being taken into account. Building contracts were finalized in December, 1930, and work was begun on January 12, 1931. The cornerstone was laid June 24, 1931. As part of the construction, steel trusses were erected. Various kinds of materials were used for the building: Indiana limestone, Minnesota granite for the steps, Tennessee marble, and terrazzo flooring. Roofing was slate, which was also used in the courtyard.

Retractable bronze gates were installed at various corridor intersections on the main floor. Cork lined the ice room and root cellar. The day-by-day progress and problems were recorded by daily reports indicating how many workers were·on the sit and what had been accomplished. They also gave a daily weather report.

While the building was being erected, Holabird and Root made a furniture proposal, and the University's Purchasing Agent made up lists of prospective suppliers. It was thought that the University, because of its considerable purchasing power, could obtain the furniture more cheaply by buying directly. Bids for furniture were put out in December, 1931. le was estimated that each room would cost $230 to furnish.

Inspectors were sent out to each prospective supplier to inspect their premises and the quality of their goods.

In February, 1931, suggestions had been made for a fountain to be installed in the courtyard and for decorating the buildings entryways. J. M. Jonson, a prominent Midwestern sculptor, was selected and suggested the motifs for the various sides. The first sketch for the fountain was submitted in February,1932, and it was finalized by July. At first, a basin made entirely of marble was considered, but that was changed to marble and tile. The fountain was cast by the Coleman Bronze Company. A gentleman named Ernst von Amman, with offices at 8 East Huron Street, was hired in January, 1932, to advise about furnishing the common rooms. It was suggested that the Carnegie Foundation be approached to fund a library in the amount of $10,000, which was done and a grant was received. Also, in January, 1932, Ruth Bush offered to loan to the House a dozen antique maps which, until recently, could still be seen in the main corridor. They are now in a room adjacent to the front entryway. A Board of Governors was selected. Its president was Charles Dewey; the Chairman of the House Committee was the father of our present Supreme Court Justice Stevens. The appointment of a Director was discussed and centered on Bruce Dickson. Dickson had come to the University campus as the YMCA advisor, a parallel to Edmonds, and in 1919 had been appointed Advisor to Foreign Students. He started having Sunday Suppers, as in New York, in his home. In 1927 they were moved to Ida Noyes Hall when Julius Rosenwald began providing financial support. There is some suggestion that Mrs. Dickson was to be considered a co-director. Mr. Dickson was given an 18-month appointment. One of the amusing di cussions in the Board minmes related to the existence of a Live Fish and Bait Shop at 6352 South Stony Island Avenue, where all day and all night drinking was in evidence and it was thought to be a menace to women.

It is amazing to think that the massive structure was completed by April 1, 1932, only a little more than fourteen months after construction started. In September, 1932, operation of the building was turned over to its newly appointed staff. As an aside, in 1933, the year of the Century of Progress Exposition, the existence of International House seems to have raised some concern among area hotels that it was competing unfairly with them. Except for its first year of operation, during the next several years the House apparently generated sufficient funds to start a building maintenance fund. But in some of the minutes of the Board of Governors meetings, concern was expressed that, in the effort to provide the maintenance funds, the House was shortchanging its social and intellectual activities.

The intellectual life of the House during its early years seems to have been quite rich. The House had a director for cultural programs and another for social activities. Speakers included Clarence Darrow, Lorado Taft, Mortimer Adler, Arthur H. Compton, Kenneth Boulding, Clifton Utley, T. V. Smith, Fay Cooper-Cole, and Melchior Palyi. Gerald Nye talked about war profits; Gertrude Stein gave a lecture. Lin Yutang and Hu Shi were guest speakers. Under the sponsorship of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, a chamber music series was organiz d in 1937. Foreign movies were shown. There were poetry recitals, plays, language classes, bridge classes, student talks, ethnic carnivals, and trips to performances and other places of interest. Teas, Sunday ers, and dances offered opportunities for socializing.