The Hut

While Womack Hall, Foster Hall, the President's House, and the Central Heating Plant were financed by the Public Works Administration and in the process of construction in 1936, the College also had a privately financed project in progress. As the College grew, the students needed a place where all could meet for informal recreation. To rectify this situation, President Womack and his wife Lottie Belle (Lee) Womack donated a log cabin for a student social center. Unlike the brick buildings on the campus, "The Hut" was constructed of pine logs, with a local contractor, U. G. Kaufman, the supervisor.

The College dedicated The Hut and the four other buildings in a special ceremony in the College Auditorium at 1:00 p.m. as part of the Homecoming events on Saturday, October 31, 1936. Several dignitaries were present at the ceremony. United States Senator Hattie Caraway of Arkansas, a special guest, spoke briefly.

Located on level ground across the east-west campus drive and to the north of Huie Library and to the west of Womack Hall, the building faced Highway 67 to the east. Approximately 20 feet by 40 feet, the cabin included a fireplace of native stone at one end of the main room, which was also equipped with a lunch counter for serving sandwiches and cold drinks. When completed, the cabin was furnished with chairs, tables, lamps, radio, and a jukebox. A west wing provided ample living quarters for the student manager.

To aid students in maturing as adults, President Womack believed in their assuming responsibility for the care and operation of The Hut. When The Hut was dedicated, President and Mrs. Womack handed the keys to representatives of the Student Senate. The students of Henderson now had charge of The Hut. In a short time, The Hut became "an ideal place to rest, recreate, soliloquize, and 'loaf'". To honor Mrs. Womack, who had the idea for such a recreation facility, students collected a fund for a bronze plaque 10 inches by 12 inches to be placed above the mantle over the rock fireplace. The plaque bore this inscription: "The Hut. The gift of Lottie Lee Womack for the enjoyment of the Henderson student body". The Student Senate also raised funds for extra furniture and other equipment needed. Students accepted the fact that The Hut was their responsibility. Joseph William Carraway, sophomore from Fordyce, was the first student manager of The Hut.

In November, 1939, the Student Senate adopted an amendment to the constitution to govern the operation of The Hut. The Senate would continue to supervise the management of The Hut. All applicants for the position of student manager must be a senior-college student of good standing and with a grade average of at least "C"; they must be approved by the President of the College and by the Student Senate. The names of all qualified applicants then were voted on by the student body to select the student manager. Should no applicant receive a majority, the Senate then conducted a runoff election.

The student manager would have "complete charge and ... assume all the responsibilities and obligations so incurred." The student manager would "receive all profits up to and including $25 a month; he will receive 35 per cent of any additional profits; the balance of the same to go to the Student Senate to be spent for improvements on the Hut and for the good of the student body." The manager may also occupy the living quarters of The Hut.

As part of the financial arrangement, the manager would keep a complete and accurate set of books, which the Senate or their agent would audit. The manager must also report to the Senate at the first meeting of each month on the net results of the preceding month's business. The manager was further obligated to keep The Hut clean and sanitary at all times; to tolerate no drinking, gambling, swearing, or petting; and to see that all personnel of The Hut met all State health requirements for cafe workers. The Senate had the power to "remove the student manager by three-fourths vote if he is found to be unqualified, inefficient, dishonest, or unable to abide by the above rules" set forth in the amendment.

Under these regulations, on November 28, 1939, the Senate elected Altus Goodgame, unopposed candidate, as manager of The Hut. Curtis Rowe, senior from Amity, had resigned as Hut manager to become manager of the Colonial Tavern, a new restaurant built by Cecil Cupp across from the campus on Highway 67.

After accepting the position, Goodgame, a junior from Bearden, tendered his resignation as senator of the Junior Class because "he did not believe the Senate could act freely in carrying out its duties of supervising The Hut if he retained his membership in that body while managing The Hut." In accepting Altus Goodgame's resignation, Senate President J. W. Simmons urged the Senate members to give full support to The Hut as a campus organization. "The Hut was presented to the students by Mr and Mrs. Womack for a recreation center meant only for the benefit of the students. It has been a valuable asset to the life of the campus in the past and will be the same in the future," Simmons concluded. However, before Goodgame assumed the management, The Hut remained closed about two weeks for repairs and installation of new equipment. Improvements included five new booths, a new griddle, an ice box, dishes, and curtains for all windows. The floors had been waxed; the walls "re-chinked and painted; the ceiling and fixtures cleaned." Redecorated in red and gray to brighten the main room, The Hut was ready for its formal opening on Saturday night, December 16, 1939, "when a large crowd of students attended for the initial dancing".

By 1945, The Hut was "in such a bad state of repair" that President McBrien "feared for the safety" of students "on those poor rickety floors." The need for a new gathering place led to the renovation of the bookstore as a student center, and eventually to the creation of the Lookadoo Student Union in 1958.