floor of Alumni Hall, had it transformed in 1899 by putting in a hard wood floor, an oak-beamed ceiling, oak stalls on the platform, oak casing around the old iron pillars and hanging portraits of Colgate worthies on the walls; the next year a fine organ was installed. The large assembly room on the third floor was converted into classrooms, the last being finishing in 1903. Whitnall Field, named for the donor Thaddeus O. Whitnall of Syracuse, was completed in 1900; it encompassed a quarter-mile running and a 220-yard straight track, a football gridiron, baseball diamond, tennis courts and a grandstand. The President’s House, a gift of James B. Colgate, was another building project of the first years of the Merrill administration which is of interest. Planned by the Merrills in conjunction with Mr. Colgate’s Yonkers architect friend, Edwin A. Quick, it was finished in 1900 and proved
