Pattie Cobb & Mark Hamilton Berry

I think Ingrid is so lucky to be able to reside at Pattie Cobb.  It is the oldest dorm at Harding University!  I read an acticle about the Dorm written by a former resident.  I will copy it below my photos.  So if you aren't interested it is at the bottom...but I so agree with blogger Liz Harrell.

Ingrid's roomie is from Hot Springs!

About Pattie Cobb--by Liz Harrell

I recently overheard a group of college students chatting about their newly built dormitories. They were proud of their shiny new kitchens and individual bedrooms. Their excitement was palpable and it made me smile. It also made me reminisce about my own college dorm. Perhaps at their age I'd read entirely too much Edgar Allen Poe, but a shiny new dormitory was not on the top of my college wish list. I dreamed of something beautiful, old, and slightly haunted.

My college dormitory, Pattie Cobb, was constructed in 1919. Originally Holmes Hall, she’s one of the last two structures from the original Galloway Women’s College. Harding University, my alma mater, purchased Galloway’s property in 1943, and now Pattie Cobb sits at the center of campus, surrounded by tall trees and steeped in traditional college charm. She makes a grand and distinguished picture, bookmarked by pillared verandas that bring to mind tall glasses of lemonade and old money. She is, without a doubt, the queen of campus.

As you enter through the main doors and walk down dual staircases, chandelier overhead, its polished appearance makes it easy to forget the building has had many faces over the years. It was first a residence hall for the women’s college, then a spliced dormitory- office-cafeteria, and now she’s back to a full time women’s residence hall. Hundreds of thousands of meals were served in her cafeteria basement for over 40 years until it closed, and my own mother, who was a student in the 1970’s, would often visit me, sniff the air and say, “I can still smell the green beans.”

It decidedly did not smell like green beans (my mother’s olfactory nostalgia aside), and the basement cafeteria is gone, replaced by additional dorm rooms. The interior walls were covered in what was referred to as Pattie Cobb Purple, a shade somewhere between lavender and gray (although currently they’re a decidedly less quirky shade of beige).The day I moved in and began my job as resident assistant, the dorm mother, Joetta Martin, welcomed me, winked and said, “Watch out for Gertie.”

Gertie, as it turned out, was the legendary ghost of Harding’s campus. And because I believed at the time (and still do) that all respectable old buildings need a good ghost story, the prospect thrilled my heart.

The legend originated in Godden Hall, a massive Gothic structure originating with Galloway Women’s College. Gertrude’s tale was a tragic one. She was a student, and after returning home one night to Godden Hall, plunged to her death down an abandoned three story elevator shaft. It was ruled an accident. Rumors flew, complete with tales of foul play.  Following her death, the rumored ghostly occurrences began. Students began reporting a woman in white walking the halls, and sometimes through walls.

And below is Mark Hamilton Berry--Adjutant General of Arkansas

Ingrid's city is Berry City after General Berry.  I found an interview with him from the Demo-Gazette.  Must say I did not know who he was.

And there, outside his office, is a doormat announcing his rank -- two stars. If you're comfortable, go ahead and wipe your feet on the TAG's stars.

"If he gets a third star, does the doormat get replaced?" I asked jokingly.

Lt. Col. Keith Moore, the guard's public information officer, and Sgt. Stephanie Eddington, Berry's office aide, assured me it would indeed. Their affirmations had a kindly condescension common to uniformed staff confronted by civilian liberal arts majors.

Anyway, it's moot. The 59-year-old won't get that third star. In fact, this is his last duty. Like Arkansas state judges, the military forces retirement. Approaching 60 now, he's got about four years. So unlike his predecessor, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) William Wofford, Berry won't serve in Hutchinson's cabinet should the governor get re-elected.
And lastly--Hannah King is at Girls' State from Green Forest, AR.  She is Ingrid's cousin!

Hannah King