University Preservation: Mills College

First named the Young Ladies Seminary, Mills College was founded in 1852 by Cyrus and Susan Mills as the first women's college west of the Rockies. In 1871 it moved to its current 135-acre campus set in a valley of streams and small hills planted with over 50,000 trees reflecting the picturesque sensibilities of the nineteenth-century landscape design. Grant funds will be used to create a preservation master plan that documents the campus from its nineteenth-century origins to the present day, including its cultural landscape, nationally significant architecture, and continued commitment to innovative women's education.

Background
Mills College was initially founded as the Young Ladies Seminary at Benicia in 1852. It was under the leadership of Mary Atkins, a graduate of Oberlin College. In 1865, Susan Tolman Mills, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College (then Mount Holyoke Female Seminary), and her husband Cyrus Mills bought the Young Ladies Seminary renaming it Mills Seminary. In 1871, the school was moved to Oakland, California and the school was incorporated in 1877. The school became Mills College in 1885. In 1890, after serving for decades as principal (under two presidents as well), Susan Mills became the president of the college and held the position for 19 years. Beginning in 1906 the seminary classes were progressively eliminated. In 1921, Mills granted its first master's degrees. On May 3, 1990, the Trustees announced that they had voted to admit male students. This decision led to a two-week student and staff strike, accompanied by numerous displays of non-violent protests by the students. At one point, nearly 300 students blockaded the administrative offices and boycotted classes. On May 18, the Trustees met again to reconsider the decision, leading finally to a reversal of the vote.

Issue
Since 1868, Mills College founders, and those who followed, shaped the campus with Picturesque-era exotic and native plantings and distinguished architecture. In 2006, Mills College sought guidance on how to best preserve, enhance, and further develop this unique campus setting. Funded by the Getty Foundation and Mills College, this landscape heritage study distills the values of the college founders and how these were expressed by nationally recognized landscape architects and architects over 140 years. The project singles out iconic resources and recommends how to balance future development with historic preservation. The project included historical research, analysis, and planning, and it culminated in design solutions for two key campus precincts to address current and future needs. The study demonstrates that the use of historic resources is integral to sustainable planning and design. The public lecture series, integration of the study into college courses, and publication of a book increased awareness and excitement about this study’s findings and recommendations. The result is a campus environment that expresses the unique identity of the institution.

Implementation



 * Mills College is taking its first step in implementing this study, demonstrating that the past can inspire the future. Mills recognized that support for historic resources is often tested when action needs to be taken. Therefore, the college chose a study area that had immediate needs and presented conflicting values. The college used this study to resolve the issues and will replant the double row of Eucalyptus trees in Fall 2009.
 * The study demonstrates that high-quality campus design can be achieved through restraint. The simple, yet bold, replacement of the double row of Eucalyptus, the extension of native plantings to create an aesthetic campus context to the buildings, and the use of finer textured materials in areas of high pedestrian use all contribute to success of the guidelines. Exemplary architectural achievements from campus history inspired the study’s simple materials palette, ranging from scored, poured-in-place concrete for pedestrian areas to the shuttle stop’s metal work, which is inspired by the shape of the blue gum Eucalyptus leaf.

Post Treatment and Maintenance Plan


Funded by the Getty Foundation and Mills College, this landscape heritage plan addresses the entire 135-acre campus while focusing on two areas to test and develop guidelines for the incorporation of historic resources in current planning and design