The Ups and Downs of Life

Let us now consider the elevator. The elevator at Fifth Street was off limits to the students unless they had a medical need. While that’s the rule here on Hilton Dr. today, it’s a bit easier, to say the least, for students to “bend the rule” since today’s “lift” does not necessitate a call/operate key as the Fifth St. one did. By the way, the old building didn’t get an elevator until the late 1940s. One of the installers asked what was done with the old elevator. We didn’t have one was the reply. Amazement! “You had to climb five floors?” Affirmative. This really applied only to the Sisters, some of whom slept in one of the two large but separate rooms on the roof. Yes, on the roof. Yes, separate. There was a walkway (referred to as “the bridge”) between them. Actually, you can see the walkway on the photo—it’s between the two skylights. One room was a dormitory and had about nine beds. The other was used for storage but visited regularly. Was the dorm cold in winter? Was the walk to the storage room a chilling experience? Does water freeze at 32 degrees F.? The Sherpas of Nepal had nothing on these Sisters.