Couzens Hall
In 1923 The Honorable James Couzens of Detroit, a United States Senator from Michigan gave a sum of $600,000 for a building to house student and graduate nurses. The Residence was felt to be an indispensable part of the new Hospital and was to be ready by the time the Hospital opened. Designed by Albert Kahn and completed in August of 1925, the dark red brick, white trimmed building consisted of a center section and two wings in the form of an “H”. The 250 rooms were mostly singles accommodating about 260 women. The basement contained facilities for instruction-an amphitheater, faculty offices, laboratories, classrooms, and assembly hall, and also a game room. The first floor housed a lobby, a reception room, living room and a library, paneled in walnut. The rear of the building, overlooked a beautiful garden and the women’s athletic field. Sun porches on each floor overlooked the garden.
In 1955 an addition was made to the building and the original building was remodeled providing accommodations for 530 women.
Ruth Gjelsness (The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey, p. 1610)
James Couzens
James Couzens 1871-1936, U.S. Senator, industrialist, and philanthropist. Couzens was born in Ontario, Canada and moved to Detroit in 1887. He entered into partnership with Henry Ford in 1903 and served as vice president and general manager of the Ford Motor Company. In 1919 he sold his interest to the Fords for $35 million. As mayor of Detroit from 1919-1922, he installed municipal street railways. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1922-1936. He acted with the Progressive Republicans, advocating high, graduated income taxes and public ownership of utilities. He established the Children’s Fund of Michigan with $10 million, gave $1 million for relief in Detroit, and began a loan fund for the physically handicapped. His support of the New Deal cost him the senatorial renomination in 1936.
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1955 Couzens Hall addition (left) |
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