Perspectives in Architecture: Spelman College builds a legacy of excellence  

Spelman College is recognized as a global leader for education with women of African descent for its highly regarded academic programs, distinguished alumni, and vibrant student body life. 

Abolitionists Sophia B. Packard and Harriet F. Giles founded the college in 1881 as the  Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church. This first class of students included 11 African American women.  

Rising student enrollment at the seminary prompted the 1883 move to a former U.S. Army Civil War Barracks property in west Atlanta. Years of financial support for their school from businessman John Rockefeller, his wife Laura Spelman Rockefeller, and her family motivated Packard and Giles in 1884 to rename the school as Spelman Seminary. In 1924, the institution officially became Spelman College.  

The original nine-acre seminary campus has expanded to the current 39-acre site in the Atlanta  University Center, a consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Wood-framed Civil War-era structures have been replaced with a magnificent mix of historical and modern buildings. Rockefeller Hall, Sisters Chapel, and Mary Schmidt Campbell Center stand out among these buildings for their history and design excellence.  

Rockefeller Hall (c. 1886), the oldest permanent building at the college, features intricate brick detailing and arched windows on the exterior and a stained-glass entry and walnut-stained wood trim in the interior. Once a multi-purpose facility with educational and residential uses,  this four-story building now houses administrative spaces. Rockefeller Hall sits in the historical quadrangle of the campus that includes Sisters Chapel.  

Atlanta architects Hentz, Reid and Adler designed the classical-influenced Sister Chapel. Upon its 1928 completion, Sister Chapel was noted as the only facility in Atlanta where seating for whites and blacks wasn’t segregated. The body of Martin Luther King, Jr. lay in state at the chapel on April 6, 1968. Sisters Chapel continues to serve the Spelman College community for concerts, convocations, lectures, and special events.

Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation & the Arts (c. 2025) greets visitors along the  Westside entrance of the campus. Chicago-based architecture firm Studio Gang, in association with the Atlanta-based architecture firm GVSA, designed this 82,500 square foot building with dramatic patterned sunshades and screens that shade interior spaces and pay homage to the African diaspora. This building received the 2026 Architecture Honor Award from the Georgia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Georgia).  

Spelman College Director of Facilities Management and Services Art Frazier and his staff are dedicated to restoring and modernizing historical buildings on campus, such as Rockefeller Hall and Sisters Chapel, and adding high-performance, yet contextual new ones. Frazier notes, “We  want Spelman College students, faculty, and visitors to see that excellence is reflected in our  buildings as well as our academics.”  

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