Gallows Hill Bookstore
The Gallows Hill Bookstore was an academic bookstore that opened in Hallden Hall in September 1991. It was operated by Barnes and Noble's College Division. The bookstore's name was chosen in a contest. The winning entry was entered by both Matthew Burfeind '92 and Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy John Gillroyboth.
A large group of Trinity faculty, students, and administrators worked to create the bookstore as part of the Bookstore Committee: Associate Academic Dean J. Ronald Spencer '64, Dean of Students David Winer, Professor of Economics Diane Zannoni, Director of Mather Hall Anne Gushee, Business Manager and Budget Director Alan Sauer, Director of Facilities Planning and Management John Woolley, Assistant Professor of Theater Arthur Feinsod, Julienne Coe '92, and Jonathan Trevisan '93.
The esoteric bookstore featured academic, classic literature, university press, and trade books in various disciplines, including Classical Studies, Theater and Plays, Poetry, Gender Studies, LGBTQ+, Education, Health, Psychology, Nature, Architecture, Mathematics and Engineering, Computers, Religion, Native American Studies, Latin American Studies, Literary Biography, Music, Dance, Business, and Anthropology.
Despite its academic focus, the bookstore was open daily and on weekends and was intended for the public, carrying over 15,000 titles, and even boasted a children's room. The exposed brick 400-square-foot space was once used as the campus' computer center, but was renovated during the summer of 1991 for the purposes of opening the bookstore. The space, once filled with computers and desks, was re-filled with cozy and antique furniture, toys, and bookcases.
Gallows Hill soon developed a varied program of outreach, including receptions and book-signings for Trinity authors and others, as well as readings for children from the Trinity College Community Child Center.
Gallows Hill Bookstore operated until at least 2009.
Sources
Trinity College in the Twentieth Century (2000) by Peter and Anne Knapp, p. 494.
The Hartford Courant, 09/20/1991.
The Trinity Reporter, Fall 1991.
The Trinity Tripod, 09/17/1991.