Julien Hall (Boston)

Julien Hall (built 1825) was a building in Boston, Massachusetts, on the corner of Congress Street and Milk Street. It flourished 1825-1843, housing a variety of public events such as lectures by Red Jacket, William Lloyd Garrison; temperance meetings; political meetings; auctions; exhibitions of live animals, portraits by William James Hubard, John H. I. Browere; performances of the "automaton chess player" and the "panharmonicon;" and so on. By 1842 boxer John Sheridan had converted space in the hall into an athletic gymnasium.

The building was known as "Julien Hall" because it had been "built on the land where formerly stood the much noted Julien's Restorator." It was also called "Congress Hall."^[1] In 1828 it was described as "a large and convenient edifice ... erected in 1825, by Dr. Edward H. Robbins. ... There are two halls in this building, 55 by 44 feet square; the principal one is 15 feet high, and receives light through the cupola in the centre. These are rented for various purposes, such as public exhibitions, the holding of meetings, &c."^[1]

Events at the Hall

1825 "Hubard Gallery" of William James Hubard, silhouette portrait artist (1825-1826). Also on display was John H.I. Browere's portrait bust of Gilbert Stuart[2] Panharmonicon Oct. - Auction of "Russia goods" by J.L. Cunningham[3] Dec. 12 - City election, ward 8[4] 1826 Automaton chess player, exhibited by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel[5][6][7] Nov. 28 - Meeting of supporters of mayor Josiah Quincy[8] 1827 March 31 - Temperance meeting[9] Dec. 5 - Meeting of the Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance[10] 1829 April - "Red Jacket. The Indian chief whom Washington in 1792 pronounced 'the flower of the forest' has arrived in this city. ... On Tuesday next he intends to deliver a speech at Julien Hall, in his native tongue."[11] 1830 April - Lectures by Robert L. Jennings, "a disciple of Owen, Wright & Co., of New York"[12] August - Exhibition of live snakes: "the anaconda, the boa constrictor, and the strangling serpents"[13] Oct. 15 - Lecture by William Lloyd Garrison[14] Abner Kneeland's "First Society of Free Enquirers" (ca.1830-1834)[15] "Robert Dale Owen, the platonic friend of Fanny Wright, is delivering a course of infidel lectures at the Julien Hall in Boston"[16]

1831 Newtonian institute: "Courses of lectures will be given in English history, natural history of the animal kingdom, astronomy"[17] 1833 July - "Wandering Piper"[18] 1835 Jan. 21 - New-England Anti-Slavery Society 3rd annual meeting. "At the close of the meeting, the 'Colored Juvenile Choir, under the direction of Miss Paul,' sang "[s]everal hymns suited to the occasion" in the auditorium, which was 'crowded to suffocation.'"[19][20] May 20 - Theophilus Fisk, "Capital against Labor: an address delivered at Julien Hall before the mechanics of Boston." "The history of the producers of wealth, of the industrious classes, is that of a continual warfare of honesty against fraud, weakness against power, justice against oppression...."[21] July - Discussion "between the Rev. Mr. Gurley, agent of the Colonization Society and the Rev. Mr. May, an advocate for immediate emancipation"[22][23] August - Anti-Catholic lecture by M'Calla[24] Oct. -- "Abolition address" by George Thompson[25] Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society meetings[26] 1842 John Sheridan's Gymnasium, 1842-1843[27][28]

Images

• 
  Advertisement for Hubard Gallery of Cuttings, and Panharmonicon, 1825
• 
  Browere's life mask portrait of artist Gilbert Stuart, ca.1825; displayed in the hall 1825
• 
  Portrait of Red Jacket, who spoke at Julien Hall, 1829
• 
  Portrait of George Thompson, who spoke at Julien Hall, 1835
• 
  John Sheridan, proprietor of Sheridan's Gymnasium, 1842-1843

References

1. Bowen's picture of Boston. 1828, 1838
2. Boston Commercial Gazette Dec.1, 1825
3. Columbian Centinel, Oct. 15, 1825
4. Boston Commercial Gazette, Dec.12, 1825
5. James W. Cook, Jr. (Winter 1995). "From the Age of Reason to the Age of Barnum: The Great Automaton Chess-Player and the Emergence of Victorian Cultural Illusionism". Winterthur Portfolio. 30.
6. Boston Commercial Gazette, Sept. 14, 1826
7. John F. Ohl; Joseph Earl Arrington (Jan 1960). "John Maelzel, Master Showman of Automata and Panoramas". Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 84.
8. Boston Commercial Gazette, Nov.30, 1826
9. Salem Gazette; Date: 04-03-1827
10. Intemperance: To the Sober and Discreet, the Benevolent, the Religious, the Friends of Decency. Hallowell Gazette (Maine); Date: 12-05-1827
11. Farmers' Cabinet (New Hampshire); Date: 04-04-1829
12. Essex Gazette (Haverhill, Massachusetts); Date: 04-10-1830
13. New-Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette; Date: 08-23-1830
14. William L. van Deburg (Jun 1975). "William Lloyd Garrison and the "Pro-Slavery Priesthood": The Changing Beliefs of An Evangelical Reformer, 1830-1840". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 43 (2).
15. Roderick S. French (Summer 1980). "Liberation from Man and God in Boston: Abner Kneeland's Free-Thought Campaign, 1830-1839". American Quarterly. 32 (2).
16. Rhode Island American, Statesman and Providence Gazette; Date: 01-08-1830
17. Hervey Wilbur (Jan 1, 1831). "Newtonian Institute". Retrieved 2010-09-06.
18. Pittsfield Sun (Massachusetts); Date: 07-18-1833
19. NEASS, Third Annual Report, p.3; cited in: Lois Brown. Out of the Mouths of Babes: The Abolitionist Campaign of Susan Paul and the Juvenile Choir of Boston. New England Quarterly, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Mar., 2002)
20. Susan Paul was the daughter of Boston preacher Thomas Paul
21. Theophilus Fisk (1835). Capital against labor: an address, delivered at Julien Hall, before the Mechanics of Boston, on Wednesday evening, May 20. Boston: For sale at the Daily Reformer Office.
22. Colonization Discussion. New Bedford Mercury (Massachusetts); Date: 07-24-1835
23. "Thompson, the wandering insurrectionist, came in, and tried to take part." cf. Eastern Argus (Maine); Date: 07-25-1835
24. Portsmouth Journal of Literature & Politics (New Hampshire); Date: 08-08-1835
25. The Notorious Thompson. Richmond Enquirer (Virginia); Date: 10-20-1835
26. Elaine Brooks (Jul 1945). "Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society". Journal of Negro History. 30 (3).
27. Daily Atlas (Boston); Date: 04-30-1842
28. Daily Atlas (Boston); Date: 10-04-1843

Coordinates: 42°21′23.5″N 71°3′22.35″W / 42.356528°N 71.0562083°W