St. Elizabeths Hospital, Hitchcock Hall, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast, 588-604 Redwood Street, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

For an overview of the Culture and Recreation Buildings, see HABS DC-349-CA
Significance: Hitchcock Hall is significant for its association with the daily life of patients and staff on the St. Elizabeths campus. As a major public gathering space, Hitchcock Hall was the scene of social gatherings for the entire campus. Starting in the 1940s, Hitchcock Hall was also used for therapeutic purposes. The basement was retrofitted as a theater space for a treatment program referred to as psychodrama. As a major recreational and theater building, Hitchcock Hall is unique on the St. Elizabeths West Campus.
Hitchcock Hall is an important component of the development of the campus after 1903 under the guidance of Superintendent William White.
Hitchcock Hall is also significant for its architectural design. Although it post-dates most of the "lettered" group of buildings constructed in a quadrangle arrangement at the south end of the campus beginning in 1903, Hitchcock Hall was designed by Sunderland Brothers Architects to complement the Italian Renaissance Revival-style of the lettered building group designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge. Similar to the buildings of the lettered group, Hitchcock Hall incorporates brick masonry detailing, a clay tile hip roof, and exterior terra cotta ornamentation. Along with the lettered building group, Hitchcock Hall defines the perimeter of the west campus quadrangle. On the interior, the building includes a public lobby and main theater space with high quality materials and ornamentation. Later alterations to finishes and features of the interior slightly diminish the historic character of some of the interior spaces.
Survey number: HABS DC-349-S
Building/structure dates: 1910 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79003101