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After Stephen F. Austin State University moved to the northern edge of Nacogdoches in the spring of 1924, it became evident to President Alton W. Birdwell that housing options for students in the surrounding area were inadequate. However, before plans for dormitories could materialize, the Great Depression immobilized the expansion of Texas educational institutions. President Birdwell and business manager J.H. Wisely saw the Public Works Administration (PWA) of the National Recovery Act of 1933 as a solution to the dearth of campus housing. By the end of 1933, Birdwell and wisely presented plans for a men’s dormitory that would accommodate 70 students in 35 rooms. There were also plans for a kitchen, dining room, apartment for the manager and social and club rooms for student use. In 1934, the State Board of Regents agreed to the plans and issued bonds for $93,000, with the PWA providing funding. W.E. Ketchum was the architect for the project and the A.M. Campbell Company was chosen as general contractor. The “boy’s dorm” was the first PWA project in Nacogdoches. Its construction began in July 1935 and was completed in 1936 at a final cost of $106,000, including furnishings. The boy’s dorm quickly became a favorite place for all students, but especially commuters, to congregate. Many of the residents were also employed as waiters and servers in the cafeteria. In 1943, President Paul Lewis Boynton recruited the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) Branch Number 1 to use the dorm as barracks. Male students moved back into the dorm in January 1944. In 1948, President Boynton and the Board of Regents changed the name to Wisely Hall in honor of J.H. Wisely, who died in 1945.

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