Langdon Hall
Encyclopedia
Langdon Hall is a building on the campus of Auburn University
in Auburn
, Alabama
of the Greek revival style. Built in 1846 as the chapel for the Auburn Female College (today Auburn High School) and moved to the Auburn University campus in 1883, Langdon Hall is the oldest building in the city of Auburn, and today houses an auditorium and office space for Auburn University staff. Before the Civil War, Langdon Hall served as the location for a series of debates on the question of Southern secession, involving William Lowndes Yancey
, Alexander Stephens
, Benjamin Harvey Hill
, and Robert Toombs
. Langdon Hall is named for Charles Carter Langdon, a former mayor of Mobile, Alabama
, Alabama Secretary of State, and a trustee of Auburn University from 1872–1889.
to produce the patent
disinfectant Darby's Prophylactic Fluid. When the East Alabama Male College (today Auburn University) opened in 1859, Darby taught joint chemistry classes in the chapel jointly with the Female College students.
for the 3rd Congressional District of Alabama, nominating David Clopton
, a States' Rights Democrat, for Congress. In 1860, a major debate was held in the chapel involving Clopton, Seaborn Jones
, Benjamin Harvey Hill
, Alexander Stephens
, Robert Toombs
, William G. Brownlow
, and William Lowndes Yancey
. In that day-long debate, Clopton, Jones, and Hill debated in the morning session, with Stephens arguing against secession to open the afternoon. Toombs followed, supporting the states' rights position, but the anti-secession arguments of Brownlow seemed to win the debate for the pro-Union side. Yancey—ill in Montgomery
—was not in attendance for most of the day, but as the anti-secessionists gained the upper hand as the day wore on, a special train was sent to bring him to Auburn. As the debate prepared to wrap up in the early evening, Yancey finally arrived, extemporaneously speaking for an hour and a half on the arguments for secession. Yancey's oratory proved sufficient to carry the day for the secessionists, and the country moved one step closer to Civil War.
During the Civil War, the chapel acted as a hospital for Confederate troops In 1883, the state legislature appropriated $30,000 to the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College—the East Alabama Male College's new name—for improvements to the college's main building and construction of a new building. The "new building" built was the old chapel, disassembled on site and reassembled on the A&M college campus. The building was reassembled by the plans of W. D. Wood, an 1881 graduate of the A&M college. In 1889, the old chapel was renamed Langdon Hall, after Charles Carter Langdon, who was a former mayor and editor in Mobile, Alabama
, Alabama secretary of state, and an A&M college trustee.
The reconstructed Langdon Hall now had woodworking and mechanical engineering laboratories in the old chemistry lab; a dynamo
built there allowed the auditorium above to be lit with electric lights in 1888. When the A&M college's main building burned in 1887, the Langdon auditorium was temporarily divided into four classrooms and an assembly room, and in 1892 the half-century-old tower was removed and the building was bricked.
, and in 1933, the student center. The auditorium was remodeled in 1950, and later, the lower floor was converted to offices.
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
in Auburn
Auburn, Alabama
Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama with a 2010 population of 53,380. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
of the Greek revival style. Built in 1846 as the chapel for the Auburn Female College (today Auburn High School) and moved to the Auburn University campus in 1883, Langdon Hall is the oldest building in the city of Auburn, and today houses an auditorium and office space for Auburn University staff. Before the Civil War, Langdon Hall served as the location for a series of debates on the question of Southern secession, involving William Lowndes Yancey
William Lowndes Yancey
William Lowndes Yancey was a journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and an American leader of the Southern secession movement. A member of the group known as the Fire-Eaters, Yancey was one of the most effective agitators for secession and rhetorical defenders of slavery. An early critic of...
, Alexander Stephens
Alexander Stephens
Alexander Hamilton Stephens was an American politician from Georgia. He was Vice President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He also served as a U.S...
, Benjamin Harvey Hill
Benjamin Harvey Hill
Benjamin Harvey Hill was a U.S. Representative, U.S. senator and a Confederate senator from the state of Georgia.-Biography:Hill was born September 14, 1823 in Hillsboro, Georgia in Jasper County...
, and Robert Toombs
Robert Toombs
Robert Augustus Toombs was an American political leader, United States Senator from Georgia, 1st Secretary of State of the Confederacy, and a Confederate general in the Civil War.-Early life:...
. Langdon Hall is named for Charles Carter Langdon, a former mayor of Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, Alabama Secretary of State, and a trustee of Auburn University from 1872–1889.
Early history
Langdon Hall was built as the chapel for the Auburn Female College (later the Auburn Masonic Female College and today Auburn High School) in 1846. Prior to the chapel's construction, public lectures were held in the Methodist church, then town's only public hall. Public feeling was that such lectures were inappropriate for a church, and members of the congregation contributed funds for the building's construction. The chapel was sited across from the Methodist church, on the current northeast corner of Gay Street and Magnolia Avenue (32.60700°N 85.47962°W). Upon construction, the chapel held the largest auditorium in east Alabama, and as such served as the regional center for lectures and political debates. The lower level of the chapel held the Female College's chemistry laboratory, which was expanded in the 1850s by professor John M. DarbyJohn M. Darby
John M. Darby was an American botanist, chemist, and academic. He created the first systematic catalogue of flora in the southeastern United States.-Biography:...
to produce the patent
Patent medicine
Patent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The term "patent medicine" is somewhat of a misnomer because, in most cases, although many of the products were trademarked, they were never patented...
disinfectant Darby's Prophylactic Fluid. When the East Alabama Male College (today Auburn University) opened in 1859, Darby taught joint chemistry classes in the chapel jointly with the Female College students.
Secession debates
By the latter part of the 1850s, the chapel became commonly used for political debates over the question of whether the Southern states should secede from the United States. In May 1859, the chapel held the nominating convention of the Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
for the 3rd Congressional District of Alabama, nominating David Clopton
David Clopton
David Clopton was a prominent Alabama politician.-Biography:Clopton was born in Putnam County, Georgia, and moved to Alabama in 1844. He graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 1840 and was admitted to the bar in 1841.Clopton represented Alabama's 3rd district in the United States House of...
, a States' Rights Democrat, for Congress. In 1860, a major debate was held in the chapel involving Clopton, Seaborn Jones
Seaborn Jones
Seaborn Jones was a United States Representative from Georgia. Born in Augusta, Georgia, he attended Princeton College and studied law. By a special act of the legislature, he was admitted to the bar in 1808...
, Benjamin Harvey Hill
Benjamin Harvey Hill
Benjamin Harvey Hill was a U.S. Representative, U.S. senator and a Confederate senator from the state of Georgia.-Biography:Hill was born September 14, 1823 in Hillsboro, Georgia in Jasper County...
, Alexander Stephens
Alexander Stephens
Alexander Hamilton Stephens was an American politician from Georgia. He was Vice President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He also served as a U.S...
, Robert Toombs
Robert Toombs
Robert Augustus Toombs was an American political leader, United States Senator from Georgia, 1st Secretary of State of the Confederacy, and a Confederate general in the Civil War.-Early life:...
, William G. Brownlow
William Gannaway Brownlow
William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow was an American newspaper editor, minister, and politician who served as Governor of the state of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875...
, and William Lowndes Yancey
William Lowndes Yancey
William Lowndes Yancey was a journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and an American leader of the Southern secession movement. A member of the group known as the Fire-Eaters, Yancey was one of the most effective agitators for secession and rhetorical defenders of slavery. An early critic of...
. In that day-long debate, Clopton, Jones, and Hill debated in the morning session, with Stephens arguing against secession to open the afternoon. Toombs followed, supporting the states' rights position, but the anti-secession arguments of Brownlow seemed to win the debate for the pro-Union side. Yancey—ill in Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
—was not in attendance for most of the day, but as the anti-secessionists gained the upper hand as the day wore on, a special train was sent to bring him to Auburn. As the debate prepared to wrap up in the early evening, Yancey finally arrived, extemporaneously speaking for an hour and a half on the arguments for secession. Yancey's oratory proved sufficient to carry the day for the secessionists, and the country moved one step closer to Civil War.
Move and reconstruction
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, Alabama secretary of state, and an A&M college trustee.
The reconstructed Langdon Hall now had woodworking and mechanical engineering laboratories in the old chemistry lab; a dynamo
Dynamo
- Engineering :* Dynamo, a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator* Dynamo theory, a theory relating to magnetic fields of celestial bodies* Solar dynamo, the physical process that generates the Sun's magnetic field- Software :...
built there allowed the auditorium above to be lit with electric lights in 1888. When the A&M college's main building burned in 1887, the Langdon auditorium was temporarily divided into four classrooms and an assembly room, and in 1892 the half-century-old tower was removed and the building was bricked.
20th century to today
By the early twentieth century, Langdon Hall had become the social center of the campus. Langdon hosted classes, motion pictures, commencement exercises, music performances, and pep rallies. When the engineering department completely moved out of Langdon in 1921, the lower floor housed the Home Economics Department; in 1924, that same floor became a YMCAYMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, and in 1933, the student center. The auditorium was remodeled in 1950, and later, the lower floor was converted to offices.