Nov. 19 2025 | Abbi Duhart | News Editor
Todd Hall was built in 1912 and was originally 10,800 square feet, costing about $50,000 — equivalent to $1.65 million today — to build. With its steep roof, small glass windows, red brick detailing and chimney, the building was constructed in a Tudor style, common for the time period. The original purpose of Todd Hall was to house students on campus, with students starting to move in in 1913.
In 1921, additional dorm rooms were added to the building along with a second dining room, and later in the same year renovations took place to add the West Wing, the Music Room and the Arcade. The kitchen and dining room were moved to the new Student Center in 1960 and the space was transformed to only encompass dorm rooms, a living room and two study rooms. This remodel cost about $31,000. The building started housing the Teaching Research Division in the 1970s, until it eventually became the Todd Hall we know with classrooms, offices and PsychPAC.
Todd Hall received its namesake from Jessica Todd, the first dean of women and the first director of dormitories at Western. She was born in 1869 in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and moved to Monmouth in 1912 when she became the supervisor of critic teachers for Monmouth Training School. When Todd moved to Monmouth and started working at Western, she recognized a need for a dormitory on campus and helped petition to the state for funds to build a women’s dorm, ultimately leading to the construction of Todd Hall.
In 1926, she received an honorary baccalaureate in recognition for her exceptional work on campus. When she eventually retired in 1931, the Oregon State Board of Education unanimously agreed to name the dormitory she directed after her, thus creating Todd Hall.
Jessica Todd was a strong advocate for women living on campus, but was known for her very strict nature. Her dormitory was strictly an all-girls dorm, and she was often reported to push her teachings of how to be a “proper woman” onto the girls living in her dormitory. She would promptly lock the dormitory doors right at curfew and make her residents say goodbye to their dates right before she did so. For these reasons, the girls in her residence would often be known to sneak boys in through the basement — which was then the laundry room.
Jessica Todd eventually died in 1944, but it is speculated that her spirit may live on. Rumors have spread around campus that her ghost still lives in Todd Hall to this day, and students often report strange occurrences like hearing footsteps or seeing lights flicker. Most of her ghost sightings originate from the bathroom because it was the room that used to be her living space. It’s also theorized that her ghost targets men specifically because her building was an all-girls dormitory and she doesn’t like men inside.
Whether these speculations are true or not, Jessica Todd was one of the big reasons women were able to have a place to live on campus, and paved the way for the historic and unique Todd Hall known today.
Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu
