{"id":503,"date":"2014-05-20T13:56:27","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T17:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.bcreativegroup.com\/jhuwse\/?p=503"},"modified":"2014-06-02T16:46:53","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T20:46:53","slug":"rewind-pretty-plush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2014\/05\/rewind-pretty-plush\/","title":{"rendered":"Rewind: Pretty Plush"},"content":{"rendered":"\"alumni_prettyplush_thumb\"\n

With fireplaces and maid service, the ARMs made for luxurious dorm living.<\/em><\/p>\n

Phillips Bradford \u201962 remembered being completely bowled over when he got his first introduction to the Hopkins dorm where he\u2019d spend the next four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a suite with a fireplace in it, and there was a man who would bring firewood up for us to use. We had maid service. And food was never far away; there was a dining hall in the central entrance to our dorms,\u201d said Bradford. \u201cI just thought the facilities were magnificent!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradford lived in Wilson Hall (named for the country\u2019s 28th president), one of the 14 \u201chouses\u201d that made up the Alumni Memorial Residences (AMRs). He and his buddies referred to their hall as the \u201cold\u201d dorms (established in 1923); while their classmates lived nearby in the \u201cnew\u201d dorms, AMR II, which had just opened in 1953.<\/p>\n

This was the era when Hopkins men were expected to don jacket and tie before heading down the hall to dinner. (\u201cThere was a huge portrait of Johns Hopkins looking down on us while we ate, making sure we were well-behaved,\u201d recalled Bradford.) Most everyone had a phonograph in their room (Rock \u2019n\u2019 roll\u2019s arrival made Elvis Presley a particular favorite), but Bradford was the only one with a TV set. He recalled one particular World Series that drew everyone into his room to huddle around his grainy, 8-inch black-and-white model.<\/p>\n

While many upperclassmen looked for off-campus housing, Bradford stayed put in Wilson Hall and assumed the role of dorm president. \u201cOne of the advantages of being president was that I got to make the phone call to the Goucher dorms to invite the girls to come have a party with us on Friday nights,\u201d he recalled with a chuckle. \u201cI met some nice young ladies that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was also Bradford\u2019s job to make sure the 40 or so young men under his watch stayed on the straight and narrow. They did, mostly. \u201cSome students broke the rules,\u201d he conceded. \u201cThere were girls who overstayed the official visiting periods. And there were plans to organize a panty raid among the young nurses at Union Memorial. But that never came off because the hospital was too secure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradford and his fellow dorm presidents met monthly with G. Wilson Shaffer, the popular dean of students, at his office in the historic Homewood House. \u201cWe discussed any problems, students who were acting up. But I didn\u2019t have a lot to report,\u201d said Bradford. \u201cEverybody was studying too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps Bradford\u2019s fondest memories of dorm living were the regular visits made by Hopkins University President Milton S. Eisenhower. \u201cHe would come and sit and chat with us and have bull sessions for two hours at a time. That was a very important touch for us, particularly since his brother was the president of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n