Georgina Dieson Hegland, St. Olaf class of 1904, remembered life in Ladies' Hall as both spartan and convivial. Room furnishings were sparse. The first task of the fall for residents was a ride on a hayrack to a nearby farm to fill mattresses with fresh straw. The college provided roughly sawed wood for the stoves in each room, but women were expected to carry the wood to their own rooms or to find a male student to help them. Lack of insulation made winter tending of the stoves a necessity, especially in the middle of the night. Water was drawn from a nearby cistern each morning, and the "powder room" was located in the woods at a discreet distance from the building.