Divinity Hall, Harvard Divinity School

Divinity Hall (1826) is the oldest building in the Harvard Divinity School at Harvard University. It is located at 14 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Harvard Divinity School - Harvard University - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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The Hall was designed by Solomon Willard and Thomas Sumner, and dedicated on August 29, 1826, with William Ellery Channing giving the dedicatory speech, "The Christian Ministry." It was the first Harvard building constructed outside Harvard Yard. As George Huntston Williams wrote in his 1954 history of the Divinity School, theological students needed to be isolated from undergraduates lest they drink up "more of the spirit of the University than of the spirit of their profession."

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Solomon Willard - Thomas Sumner - William Ellery Channing

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A decade later, on July 15, 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered his famuous Divinity School Address, "Acquaint Thyself at First Hand with Deity," in the Hall.

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In its early days, Divinity Hall contained the entire Divinity School. It was later used as a dormitory, then classrooms. Notable residents have included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodore Parker, and philosopher George Santayana. Its chapel contains a fine organ by George S. Hutchings, recently restored.

Related Topics:
Ralph Waldo Emerson - Theodore Parker - George Santayana - George S. Hutchings

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