Amory Hall (Boston)
Encyclopedia
Amory Hall was located on the corner of Washington Street
and West Street in Boston
, Massachusetts
in the 19th-century. Myriad activities took place in the rental hall, including sermons; lectures by Henry David Thoreau
, Ralph Waldo Emerson
, William Lloyd Garrison
; political meetings; exhibitions by Rembrandt Peale
, George Catlin
, John Banvard
; moving panoramas; magic shows; concerts; and curiosities such as the "Nova Scotia Giant Boy."
Through the years, tenants included: First Free Congregational Church (ca.1836); Grace Church
(1836); artists J.E. Johnson, J.C. King, N. Southworth, T.T. Spear, William S. Tiffany (ca.1847); Oliver Stearns, retailer of artists' supplies (1849–1850); artists J.A. Codman
and A. Ransom (ca.1852).
Washington Street (Boston)
Washington Street is a street originating in downtown Boston, Massachusetts that extends southwestward to the Massachusetts-Rhode Island state line. The majority of it was built as the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike in the early nineteenth century...
and West Street in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in the 19th-century. Myriad activities took place in the rental hall, including sermons; lectures by Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
, William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
; political meetings; exhibitions by Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson...
, George Catlin
George Catlin
George Catlin was an American painter, author and traveler who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.-Early years:...
, John Banvard
John Banvard
John Banvard was a U.S. panorama and portrait painter known for his panoramic views of the Mississippi River Valley.John Banvard was born in New York and was educated in high school...
; moving panoramas; magic shows; concerts; and curiosities such as the "Nova Scotia Giant Boy."
Through the years, tenants included: First Free Congregational Church (ca.1836); Grace Church
Grace Church (Boston, Massachusetts)
Grace Church was an episcopal church in Boston, Massachusetts, located in Beacon Hill, on Temple Street. The church operated for 30 years. Ministers included Thomas M. Clark ; Clement Moore Butler ; and Charles Mason .Architect William Washburn designed the church building in 1835. "The interior...
(1836); artists J.E. Johnson, J.C. King, N. Southworth, T.T. Spear, William S. Tiffany (ca.1847); Oliver Stearns, retailer of artists' supplies (1849–1850); artists J.A. Codman
John Amory Codman
John Amory Codman was an artist in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 19th-century. He was affiliated with the New England Art Union, and kept a studio in Amory Hall in the 1850s.-Further reading:...
and A. Ransom (ca.1852).
Events at Amory Hall
- 1836 - Herr Schmidt "electrical, mechanical and physical experiments"
- 1837, March - Dr. Graham delivered lectures "on marriage and courtship to audiences of women" "Great excitement at Amory Hall in consequence of an intended lecture to ladies, exclusively, on physical education. Many women were present, but so great was the tumult made by persons adverse to Graham and his lecture, that his object was defeated."
- 1838 - Physiological Society weekly lectures "on various subjects connected with the human constitution, health, the structure of the body, &c. ... Object, improvement in physiological knowledge."
- 1838, Aug. - George CatlinGeorge CatlinGeorge Catlin was an American painter, author and traveler who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.-Early years:...
's Indian gallery "...will endeavour to entertain and instruct the citizens of Boston and its vicinity, for a short time with an exhibition of his paintings, costumes, &c." - 1838, Oct. 10 - Whig PartyWhig Party (United States)The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
meeting - 1839 - Lewis, Bartholomew & Co.'s "splendid dioramas ... the grand historical moving diorama of the Battle of Bunker Hill!! and conflagration of Charlestown
- 1842, Oct. 9 - James Freeman ClarkeJames Freeman ClarkeJames Freeman Clarke , an American theologian and author.-Biography:Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, James Freeman Clarke attended the Boston Latin School, graduated from Harvard College in 1829, and Harvard Divinity School in 1833...
sermon on "the Sunday succeeding the death of William Ellery ChanningWilliam Ellery ChanningDr. William Ellery Channing was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton, one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. He was known for his articulate and impassioned sermons and public speeches, and as a prominent thinker...
" - 1842, Nov. 24 - James Freeman Clarke lecture "Slavery in the United States"
- 1844, Feb. 4, 11 - William Lloyd Garrison lectures
- 1844, Feb. 18 - Charles LaneCharles Lane (transcendentalist)Charles Lane was an English-American transcendentalist, abolitionist, and early voluntaryist. Along with Amos Bronson Alcott, he was one of the main founders of Fruitlands.-Fruitlands:...
lectures - 1844, Feb.25 - Adin BallouAdin BallouAdin Ballou was an American prominent proponent of pacifism, socialism and abolitionism, and the founder of the Hopedale Community...
lectures - 1844, March 3 - Ralph Waldo Emerson's lecture "New England Reformers"
- 1844, March 10 - Henry David Thoreau lectures, "The Conservative and the Reformer"
- 1844, March 17 - Charles DanaCharles Anderson DanaCharles Anderson Dana was an American journalist, author, and government official, best known for his association with Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War and his aggressive political advocacy after the war....
lecture - 1844, March 17 - Joseph Rhodes Buchanan lecture
- 1844, March 24 - Ernestine RoseErnestine RoseErnestine Louise Rose was an atheist feminist, Individualist Feminist, and abolitionist. She was one of the major intellectual forces behind the women's rights movement in nineteenth-century America....
lecture - 1844, March 31 - Wendell PhillipsWendell PhillipsWendell Phillips was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, and orator. He was an exceptional orator and agitator, advocate and lawyer, writer and debater.-Education:...
lecture - 1844, March 31 - John PierpontJohn PierpontJohn Pierpont was an American poet, who was also successively a teacher, lawyer, merchant, and Unitarian minister. His most famous poem is The Airs of Palestine.-Overview:...
lecture - 1844, April 21 - W.L. Garrison
- 1844, December - Eleventh Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Fair.
- 1846 - Rembrandt PealeRembrandt PealeRembrandt Peale was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson...
's Court of Death - 1846 - Herr Alexander "experiments in natural philosophy and magic"
- 1847 - John BanvardJohn BanvardJohn Banvard was a U.S. panorama and portrait painter known for his panoramic views of the Mississippi River Valley.John Banvard was born in New York and was educated in high school...
- 1847 - George Brewer's panorama of the wonders and natural curiosities of the American continent. Fairmout Water works, & adjacent scenery ... Mammoth Cave of Kentucky."
- 1847 - Walter McPherson Bayne's "gigantic panoramic picture of a voyage to Europe! Comprises views of Boston, its harbor, the Atlantic, the River Mersey, Liverpool, London from the Thames, and both sides of the Rhine, painted from original sketches taken by the artist himself, constituting by far the largest panorama ever presented to the public, and which has been in preparation upwards of three years."
- 1848 - Hine's "journey from Paris to Rome! over the Alps."
- 1849, April - Caleb Purrington and Benjamin RussellBenjamin Russell (artist)Benjamin Russell was an American artist best-known for his accurate watercolors of whaling ships working in New England...
's "Panorama of a Whaling Voyage" - 1849 - William Burr's "seven mile mirror! the mammoth moving painting of the Great Lakes and rivers"
- 1849 - Stockwell's colossal panorama of the upper and lower Mississippi rivers
- 1850 - Brunetti's model of ancient Jerusalem, and Mr. Malone Raymond "with a descriptive lecture"
- 1851, January - Nova Scotia giant boy
- 1851, April - Miss Reynaldson. "Scotch melodies by this distinguished vocalist."
- 1852 - Exhibition of Walter M. Brackett's "marble group of the shipwrecked mother and child"
- 1852, May - "Immense attraction at Amory Hall. This fashionable place of resort is thronged every afternoon and evening, with crowds of those who wish to see the great panorama of California. Mr. Edward Wilson, the learned author of 'Sketches in the Mines' delivers an explanatory lecture."
- 1852 - "The hall is now leased to the Handel and Haydn SocietyHandel and Haydn SocietyThe Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815, it remains one of the oldest performing arts organizations in the United States.-Early history:...
for every Sunday evening for 5 years; to the Musical Fund Society and to the Germanians for their concerts; also to the Mercantile Library AssociationMercantile Library Association (Boston, Massachusetts)The Mercantile Library Association of Boston was an organization dedicated to operating a subscription library, reading room and lecture series. Members included James T. Fields and Edwin Percy Whipple...
for 30 evenings, and to the religious society of the Rev. Theodore ParkerTheodore ParkerTheodore Parker was an American Transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church...
for the Sunday forenoons." - 1853 - Antonio "Signor" Blitz "scenes in ventriloquism and great magical illusions."
Further reading
- Linck C. Johnson, "Reforming the Reformers: Emerson, Thoreau, and the Sunday Lectures at Amory Hall, Boston," ESQ: A Journal of the American Renaissance, 37 (4th Quarter 1991): 235-89.