• The Harriet and Luther Hess Recreation Center: The center opened in 1970 in the Moore-Bartlett-Skarland residence hall complex, which was completed in 1969. It was originally designed as a dining hall and called the Harriet and Luther Hess Dining Commons. It currently serves as a meeting area for students.

• Hess Hall: In 1937 the Territorial Legislature approved funding for a new dormitory for women, a reinforced concrete structure with room for 84 students. Hess Hall was torn down in the mid-1960s to make room for the Gruening Building.

• Hess Village: The student housing complex opened in 1972 south of Kuskokwim Way to accommodate married couples and single-parent students with children. The village is made up of 16 one-bedroom, 48 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom furnished apartments with a separate recreation center for unit residents. Sometime around 1984, the complex was renamed Hess Village.

Harriet Belle was born in Winfield, Iowa, and received a bachelor's degree from the State University of Minnesota in 1902. She immediately moved to Juneau where she served for five years as supervising principal of the town's first four-year high school. She moved to Fairbanks in 1907, where she was principal of the high school from 1907 to 1910.

She married Luther Hess in 1911, and was active in civic affairs including the American Red Cross, Pioneer Women of Alaska and the American Association of University Women and was the Democratic National Committeewoman for Alaska in 1947.

In June of 1915, Harriet, with a small group of others, including Judge Wickersham, traveled toward the Experiment Station by automobile. The prominent hill just north of the Station captured their attention, so they climbed to the top. It was there that Harriet broke a small tree and tied a handkerchief to mark the spot. Harriet's handkerchief marked the future site of the cornerstone, which was constructed for the 1915 Fourth of July celebration.

She was elected secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines upon its founding in 1917, and she remained on the board when it became the University of Alaska Board of Regents in 1935. She was still a member of the board when she died in 1951.

Luther Hess was born on a farm near Milton, Ill., in 1865 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Illinois College. He was licensed to practice law in Alaska in 1901 and served as assistant U.S. District Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Division until 1905. He then helped organize the First National Bank of Fairbanks. He was its first cashier and served many years as director and vice president.

He served nine sessions of the Alaska Territorial Legislature as a Democrat and was speaker of the House in 1917 and president of the Senate in 1931 and 1935. Hess was the chairman of the divisional Selective Service Board in World War I and directed the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp. for six years. He died in 1954.

Sources: “The Cornerstone on College Hill” by Terrence Cole; "Farthest North College President" by William Cashen; Eric Jozwiak, Assoc. Director for Residence Life, UAF

"The People Behind Campus Names" On these pages, you will find the stories of the people behind the names. Who are they and what did they contribute to the University of Alaska?

This person is also mentioned in these other eInfo articles:
Three UAF Sites Named After Harriet and Luther Hess
In the Beginnings (4 part series)
From College to University
Wickersham Hall