Who is...? Part III - Sayles Hall
In September 1941, Sayles Hall was opened as a men's dormitory with accomodations for 134 students. The dormitory also contained a billiard room, gymnasium, and dining hall. Sayles Hall had been dedicated and formally named on Alumni Weekend, June 14, 1941. Purchase of the land and the construction of the building was funded by donations to the Alumni Association, which voted to name the building for then Acting President John M. Sayles, in recognition of his many years of service to the Association.
John M. Sayles
As the long time chairman of the Alumni Association's funding arm, the Dormitory Committee of the Benevolent Association, Sayles, with Anna E. Pierce, is widely credited with successfully guiding the fund-raising campaign that purchased the land comprising Alumni Quadrangle and built the first two dormitories on the site, Pierce and Sayles Halls.
Comments
Any connection here to Schenectadian filmmaker John Sayles?
Geof
Posted by: Geof Huth | September 12, 2006 08:52 PM
Other than the name and residing in the Capital Region, there does not appear to be any connection between John M. Sayles of the New York State College for Teachers and Schenectady-born filmmaker John Sayles.
According to an interview at Talking Pictures of John Sayles by Carol Allen, Sayles' great-grandparents arrived in the U.S. around 1900.
John Manville Sayles on the other hand, future President of the New York State College for Teachers, was said to born June 17, 1877, the son of Manville F. Sayles, a “gentleman.” His mother, whose identity is not known, was born in Wisconsin, and died by the time Sayles was two years old. Sayles lived with his father and a woman named Adeline Sayles, who was likely either his grandmother or aunt. He was raised in the village of his birth, Mexico, Oswego County, New York and married Grace Inglehart, with whom he had one child, Charles Inglehart Sayles, born by 1904. Charles Sayles became an accountant and was a professor at Cornell University. John M. Sayles and his son co-owned Star Lake Inn Cottages on Star Lake in St. Lawrence County, New York. Sayles died in 1956.
Thank you for the question, Geof!
Posted by: Amy Schindler | September 13, 2006 09:44 AM