Austin Hall
Address1515, Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number575
Building Root Number
02510
Architect (Original)
Henry Hobson Richardson
Land Acquired
1850-1881
Building Acquired 1883
Constructed 1883
Building Acquired 1883
Constructed 1883
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Samuel Austin, at the request of his brother Edward Austin, the major benefactor for the building. They were both successful merchants in Boston.Historical NotesAustin Hall was designed by influential American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (A.B. 1859) and completed in 1883 as the first purpose-built home of the Harvard Law School. It was a gift of Edward Austin. Austin Hall was also originally home to the Law School's library. Around 1900, an addition was proposed to house the library due to its growing size, however, it was never completed due to lack of funds. In 1907, Langdell Hall was built to house to the Law School library. During World War I the building housed activities related to the United States Naval Radio School, which occupied a portion of Harvard's campus from 1917 to 1919. The inscription along the top of the building facade reads: “And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk and the work that they must do.”Austin Hall was built in Romanesque Revival style. The center is two-story that extends back, flanked by one-story wings creating a T shape. A Romanesque triple arch frames the deep set central entryway, with an asymmetric stairway tower to its right. The building is faced with Longmeadow sandstone in polychrome checkerboard patterns. The arches are Ohio sandstone as well as the cornice band with inscription.
Interior has three large classrooms. The second floor contains Ames Courtroom (where students argue moot cases before panels of judges) is noted for its ornamented fireplace and tie beams carved with the heads of dragons and boars.
In 1954, the reading room became the Ames Courtroom; also underground pedestrian connections were made from Austin Hall to the other Law School buildings.
In 1964 there was a renovation by Shepley Bulfinch architects.
In 1985, there was an exterior restoration and partial interior renovation designed by Goody Clancy Associates and Ann Beha Architects, both of Boston.
Austin Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Also part of the Old Cambridge Historic District and sits east of the Cambridge Common National Register District.
Additional Information
Ames Courtroom
Weber, Paul J. Photographs of Harvard University Buildings and Grounds Taken by Paul J. Weber, Ca. 1929-1931 and 1939. Harvard University Archives call number HUV 2329
“Renovation of Ames Courtroom, Harvard Law School.” Architectural Record, 1982, pp. 108–09, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1982-02-RI.pdf.
Heskel, Julia. Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott: Past to Present. Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, 1999.
Austin Hall. General Information by and about Austin Hall. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1177.
Richardson, Henry Hobson. Drawings, Houghton Library call number MS Typ 1096 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou00434.
Richardson, Henry Hobson. Additional Drawings and Papers, 1858-1886. Houghton Library call number MS Typ 1097 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou01671.
Loss, Bernice. Austin Hall After a Century, 1983. Print. HOLLIS number 000210850;
The Harvard Law School and Goody, Clancy & Associates, Inc. Austin Hall Feasibility Study the Second Century, 1984. HOLLIS number 001772328.
Maycock, Susan E., and Charles Sullivan. Building old Cambridge: architecture and development. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2016. Print. Lamont Library call number NA735.C28 M39 2016; Loeb Design Library call number NA735.C28 M39 2016.
“Addition to Austin Hall.” Cambridge Tribune [Cambridge, Mass.], Vol. XXVIII No. 41, 9 Dec. 1905, p. 2.
Douglas Shand-Tucci, Harvard University: The Campus Guide, pp. 240-243
An Historic Guide to Cambridge, compiled by members of the Hannah Winthrop Chapter National Scoiety, Daughters of the American Revolution (Cambridge, Mass., 1907) pp. 154-160.
Susan Maycock and Charles Sullivan, Building Old Cambridge, p. 776.
“College Gives Up the Use of Austin Hall.” Cambridge Tribune, Vol. XL, No. 39, 24 Nov. 1917, p. 8.
“Engravings of English and American Jurists in Austin Hall.” The Harvard Crimson, 3 June 1898, p. 1.
Prakash, Snigdha. “Ames Courtroom Renovations.” The Harvard Crimson, 7 Nov. 1981, p. 1.
Henry Hobson Richardson Drawings (MS Typ 1096). Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Henry Hobson Richardson Additional drawings and papers (MS Typ 1097). Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
Harvard Law School Fund. Austin Hall: Fund for Restoration and Preservation. [198-] HOLLIS number 001245482.
Hurlbut, Byron Satterlee. A Guide Book to the Grounds and Buildings of Harvard University. Cambridge: U, 1898. Print.
“Austin Hall Regains Its Character.” Design Solutions, vol. 6, no. 1, Jan. 1986, pp. 34–36.
“Austin Hall, Harvard Law School.” Building Stone Magazine, May 1986, pp. 24–24.
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places April 19, 1972. National Register Information System ID: 72000128
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.