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Albright Memorial Hall: Home

Connecting the Past with the Present

 

 

Originally built in 1892 as a gymnasium for the Episcopal Diocesan school for boys. At first it only had one floor and was constructed of brick.  Schuykill Seminary purchased the property in 1902. Later, in 1908 and occupied by the fall of that year, a second floor was added for more space for a boys' dormitory; part of the second floor was known as the "The Lions Den," which was a  dorm for the athletes. (It also called the "Lions Club"; another term for the Athletes Club. Part of the space also had a social room.) There was a connecting hallway between the gymnasium and White Chapel which had a men's lavatory and shower room. The "Shower Bath Annex" was constructed in the fall of 1912.

In 1929 Albright College moved from Myerstown and took over the property of Schulykill College and the building remained as a gymnasium until 1936. During the Great Depression, President J. Warren Klein, helped many students with a "self-help program". The Trustees adopted "a plan of the alumni association to remodel the old gymnasium, and make a library building of it. The work was to be done gradually as funds came in from the alumni, and much student help was to be used." (A History of Albright College: 1856-1956, 488-89) Many young men helped to construct the Alumni Memorial Library and they were also able to obtain an education.

The new library was dedicated on Alumni Day, June 6, 1936. Twenty years later, at the time of the college's centennial,1956, the library was rededicated after an addition was added to the building. During 1963-1964 a new Library was constructed, and on April 8, 1964 students helped to carry books to the new Library.

Later that year the building was renamed the Alumni Memorial Hall and it was remodeled to accommodate a faculty lounge and several departments.