Unknown Photographer (19th Century)

University Hall, Brown University c.1880s

Medium	Photography
Medium Detail	Albumen Print
Dimensions	5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches
Date Created	c. 1880s
Comments	University Hall was built in 1770. The first building of the College, it was originally called the “College Edifice.” The first mention of a college building is found in Hezekiah Smith’s diary in which he reports on September 5, 1765, on the second annual meeting of the Corporation, “I was with the Corporation at Newport which sat upon the College business, and was elected one of the Fellows of the College. Although but part of the Corporation, we subscribed nineteen hundred and ninety-two dollars for the BUILDING, and for endowing the College.” At subsequent meetings committees were appointed to determine the location for the college and to draft instructions and prepare a model of the proposed building. The latter committee, composed of Stephen Hopkins, Joseph Brown, and John Davis, in a report on September 8, 1769, recommended that “the building do not exceed sixty-six feet long, and thirty-six feet wide, and three stories high; – that it be a plain building, the walls of best bricks and lime, the door and window frames of red cedar; – that there be a cupola for a bell; – that the first building be so situated as to be one wing of the whole College edifice, when completed.” That was the first plan. More committees were appointed and instructed to “ascertain the model and bigness of the College edifice” and also the house for the president.