The facade of the McElhaney Hall reflects the longevity and strength of the departments housed inside. What you´ll find in this building is Anthropology, Criminology, Sociology, Economics, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Located on the south east corner of the Oak Grove, you´ll find this building full of conveniences, including a computer lab.

See History of McElhaney Hall


Related sites:

• College of Humanities and Social Services
• Department of Anthropology
• Department of Criminology
• Department of Economics
• Department of Sociology

History of McElhaney Hall

Construction was completed and it was dedicated in March of 1931. Originally it housed the Departments of Commerce, Home Economics, and Fine Arts. It is named for Jean McElhaney who taught art at Indiana from 1906 to 1928. She was hired as the sole art instructor at what was then the Indiana Normal School in 1906. But she did much more than teach art, she established the Art Department. She was very highly regarded for her passion for teaching and her devotion to her students. By 1931, when the building was dedicated, there were seven art faculty members and 46 art majors.

Jean Repine McElhaney was born May 17, 1862, in Indiana, Pa. She attended local schools, graduating from Indiana High School in 1883 and from the Indiana Normal School in 1885. She received a certificate in Art and Manual Training from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1904. An article about her, written in 1963, states that she lived her entire life in Indiana; and, amazingly, in the same house. The article goes on "Miss McElhaney was born and lived her entire life at Fern Cottage, 243 Railroad Avenue, Indiana, Pennsylvania.  This picturesque place was on the old Armstrong Indian Trail, and she invited her classes to come to get a drink from the spot where the Indians stopped to drink as they traveled over the trail before the white men encroached upon it."

The drinking spot was a natural spring, which is where the current student
union now stands on campus. All of the houses along Railroad Avenue have been replaced with university buildings. McElhaney died at Fern Cottage in 1940.

An extensive renovaton of McElhaney Hall was completed in February, 1997.