The Board of Trustee Minutes name Charles Sim as responsible for digging the foundations of the Annex, despite its having never been built. Sim, a landscaper, and William Armitage, the mail carrier, are named in Bryn Mawr records, which is unusual for service providers. Census documents reveal them to be immigrants from Scotland and England, respectively. Although early dorm service staff are recorded in photographs, we rarely know their names. They were directly managed by the Dorm Matron, who supervised them with little input from the administration. Although essential to the life of the College, their names and experiences are rarely recorded in the institutional archive.
“It was decided to refer to the Building Committee (with power to act) a claim of Charles Sim for extra compensation in digging the cellar of the annex to the cottage.”
Bryn Mawr College Board of Trustees Minutes, September 27, 1881, Bryn Mawr College, Special Collections.