John L. Roper was president of the college's board.

[1] The school was founded to reduce the flow of young women leaving Norfolk for their education.

[3] In 1899, Mary Washington College took over the building for a few years.

[4][5] In 1905 the building reopened as the Algonquin Hotel,[3] one of several downtown hotels newly built or converted to accommodate the crowds of visitors expected for the Jamestown Exposition in 1907.

Over the years, the building operated as a hotel under various names.