Sayles Memorial Hall | |
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| Location | Brown University Providence, Rhode Island |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°49′35″N71°24′09″W / 41.82625°N 71.40258°W |
| Built | 1879–1881 |
| Architect | Alpheus C. Morse |
| Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque |
| Part of | College Hill Historic District |
Sayles Memorial Hall is a Richardsonian Romanesque hall on the central campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The granite structure was designed by Alpheus C. Morse and constructed from 1879 to 1881. [1]
Sayles Hall was built in memoriam of William Clark Sayles, who entered Brown in 1874 and died in 1876. [2] In 1878 Sayles' father gifted the school $50,000 for the construction of a building in his sons' honor “which shall be exclusively and forever devoted to lectures and recitations, and to meetings on academic occasions.” [1]
The building is constructed of rock-faced Westerly granite with Longmeadow brownstone trim.
The structure follows a T-shaped plan. The front section measures 35 by 75 feet and is topped by a hipped roof; the rear of the building has a gabled roof. [1] The main auditorium of the building is characterized by pine roof trusses. [3]
The building is home to a 1903 Hutchings-Votey organ gifted to the university by Lucian Sharpe. Today, the organ is the largest remaining Hutchings-Votey organ of its type. [1] The organ is used for an annual Halloween concert which begins at midnight. [4]
The main auditorium of the structure is adorned with 35 historical and contemporary portraits of leaders and benefactors of the university. [5] In 1997, a portrait of Sarah Elizabeth Doyle was stolen from the building. [6] In 2016, the university installed a portrait of President Emerita Ruth Simmons, making her the first and only Black woman represented in the collection. [7]
Raymond Mathewson Hood was an American architect who worked in the Neo-Gothic and Art Deco styles. He is best known for his designs of the Tribune Tower, American Radiator Building, and Rockefeller Center. Through a short yet highly successful career, Hood exerted an outsized influence on twentieth century architecture.
The Rhode Island School of Design is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the accessibility of design education to women. Today, RISD offers bachelor's and master's degree programs across 19 majors and enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate and 500 graduate students. The Rhode Island School of Design Museum—which houses the school's art and design collections—is one of the largest college art museums in the United States.
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The Brown University Orchestra (BUO) was founded in 1918 and is composed of approximately 100 members of the Brown University community. It was led by conductor Martin J. Fischer at its inception, until his faculty retirement. Paul Phillips lead the orchestra from 1989 until 2017, with Mark Seto currently serving as conductor.
The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Cathedral Square neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Providence. The Neo-Romanesque church was designed in 1873 by Patrick Keely and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
College Hill is a historic neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, and one of six neighborhoods comprising the city's East Side. It is roughly bounded by South and North Main Street to the west, Power Street to the south, Governor Street and Arlington Avenue to the east and Olney Street to the north. The neighborhood's primary commercial area extends along Thayer Street, a strip frequented by students in the Providence area.
The East Side is a collection of neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. It officially comprises the neighborhoods of Blackstone, Hope, Mount Hope, College Hill, Wayland, and Fox Point.
The Jewelry District is a neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island located just southeast of Downtown. The historical path of Interstate 195 delineates the neighborhood's northern border while Interstate 95 and the Providence River define its western, southern and eastern edges.
University Hall is the first and oldest building on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Built in 1770, the building is one of only seven extant college buildings built prior to the American Revolution. According to architectural historian Bryant F. Tolles Jr., the structure is "one of the genuine icons of early American collegiate architecture."
The John Brown House is the first mansion built in Providence, Rhode Island, located at 52 Power Street on College Hill where it borders the campus of Brown University. The house is named after the original owner, one of the early benefactors of the university, merchant, statesman, and slave trader John Brown. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968. John Quincy Adams considered it "the most magnificent and elegant private mansion that I have ever seen on this continent."
The Woonsocket City Hall, is located in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
The South Street Station is an historic electrical power generation station at 360 Eddy Street in Providence, Rhode Island. The structure has since been redeveloped and is now used as an administrative office and academic facility by a number of local universities.
The Pawtucket Public Library, formerly known as the Deborah Cook Sayles Public Library, is located at 13 Summer Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Its main building, designed by Ralph Adams Cram and built in 1899-1902, and was a gift to the city from Pawtucket's first mayor, Frederic Clark Sayles, in memory of his recently deceased wife. In the late 1970s, an addition was built to connect the library to the neighboring Pawtucket Post Office, which had been built in 1896, had served as the post office until 1941, and which now forms part of the library's infrastructure as the renamed Gerald S. Burns Building.
The history of Brown University spans 259 years. Founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the third-oldest institution of higher education in New England. At its foundation, the university was the first in the U.S. to accept students regardless of their religious affiliation. Brown's medical program is the third-oldest in New England while its engineering program is the oldest in the Ivy League.
Alpheus C. Morse (1818-1893) was an American architect with offices in Providence, Rhode Island.
Central Congregational Church is a United Church of Christ congregation established in 1852 in Providence, Rhode Island. The current church building at 296 Angell Street was built in 1893, designed by New York architectural firm Carrère and Hastings. It is part of the Stimson Avenue Historic District. The church has a long tradition of social and community work in the Providence area, the United States and around the world.
Sarah Elizabeth Doyle was an American educator and educational reformer, noted for her roles in founding the Rhode Island School of Design and establishing women's education at Brown University.
The Slavery Memorial is a sculptural memorial on the campus of Brown University that recognizes the institution's 18th century connections to chattel slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. Designed by sculptor Martin Puryear and dedicated in 2014, the memorial stands on the university's Front Green, adjacent to University Hall.
