Halls of ivy

[Fred Shapiro]

On Sat, 11 Mar 2000 AAllan at AOL.COM wrote:

> Does anyone have a good etymological answer to this question? - Allan Metcalf
>
> >>  I am asking for your help.  The phrase _halls of ivy_ has few references
> in encyclopedias or dictionaries.  Somewhere I remember hearing that it
> referred to the Roman numeral _IV_ for the four original universities in
> this country.  Surely it is not simply from the tradition of planting
> university buildings with ivy?  <<

The earliest citation I can readily find for this phrase is the following:

1950 _Dramatics_ Dec. 12  (heading) Radio program of the month: "Halls of
Ivy."

I don't know when the radio program referred to here began its run.

I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that the phrase derives from the tradition
of planting university buildings with ivy, and has nothing to do with the
Roman numeral IV.


Fred R. Shapiro                             Coeditor (with Jane Garry)
Associate Librarian for Public Services     TRIAL AND ERROR: AN OXFORD
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            ANTHOLOGY OF LEGAL STORIES
Yale Law School                             Oxford University Press, 1998
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               ISBN 0-19-509547-2