We’ve all been there: an early morning midterm on a higher story of Hamilton, and the last thing you want to do is run up seven flights of stairs before sitting down, panting, to take your test. As obnoxious and inefficient as the elevator may be, imagine what Hamilton classes were like without the elevator? Bwogger Vivian Klotz sends us on a #TBT journey to the pre-elevator times in Hamilton.

Most students will agree that class on the seventh floor of Hamilton (or sixth, or fifth if the times are really desperate) warrants a ride in the elevator. Though it is cramped, slow, and generally inefficient, the elevator is open to all students and staff, unlike it was in the past.

From ten minutes before the hour until ten minutes after, Hamilton elevator’s use was restricted to faculty and students with passes, which were obtained by students physically unable to climb the stairs. Students without passes attempted to slip onto the elevator once pass holders and faculty got on, but in 1951, the university decided to crack down, creating friction between elevator operators and students. “Some name calling has taken place,” reported the operators, and service was often disrupted while they argued with students.

Adults, of course, had their own opinions on the matters. One faculty member declared that students were “acting like children,” and Spectator quoted another individual as saying that, “‘In the old days’ … it was a luxury for students to ride the elevator.”

So to all the able-bodied students who ride the Hamilton Elevator, never forget those who paved the way for you to show up to your seventh floor class without being completely winded. Their past sacrifices make sure you don’t look like a hot mess in front of that cute individual who sits two seats over.

Hamilton Entrance via Bwog Archives