Honoring Prominent Figures in Campus History: The Legacy of Hodson Hall

Most campus buildings bear the names of prominent donors or institutional figures. Every day, students eat at Hodson Hall Commons, the more recent annex to Hodson Hall and the Hynson Lounge. The name Hodson has been heard more recently due to the settlement of the Hodson Trust and the scholarship opportunities it will afford students.

You may have attended a lecture in Hodson Hall, but you might not have noticed two portraits hanging high up along the back wall. They are of Colonial Clarence and Lillian Brown Hodson.

Colonial Clarence Hodson (1868-1928) was born in Laurel, Delaware, and spent his youth in Crisfield, where, at age twenty-five, he became the youngest bank president in U.S. History when he was elected president of the Bank of Crisfield. His business acumen only grew over the next forty years. His father, Thomas S. Hodson, another influential figure during his lifetime, passed on his strong advocation of higher education to his son, culminating with the settlement of The Hodson Trust in 1920. Colonial Hodson was also personally involved with Washington College, corresponding with its presidents and the board.

In 1936, the college erected Hodson Hall, a memorial to Clarence Hodson. The dining services were moved into the building from where they were previously located in Cain Gym. Clarence Hodson was a longtime friend of Washington College, showing support and dedication to its efforts in education even today through the Trust.