Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History

Sauer, Anne

Branco, Jessica

Bennett, John

Crowley, Zachary

2000

Miner Hall, 1891

 

Miner Hall was constructed in 1891 to serve as headquarters for the School of Theology. It was named for Alonzo A. Miner, second president of Tufts College and the major donor to the project.

The groundbreaking ceremony for Miner Hall took place on October 25, 1891. Miner had donated $40,000 to Tufts in order to build an adequate home for the School of Theology, which had previously been squeezed into Ballou Hall. Architect George F. Loring was hired to design the building. Loring had worked on a number of buildings in the area, including the Somerville Public Library and the Odd Fellows Hall. Loring designed Miner to include classrooms and office space, along with a chapel on the second floor and heating facilities in the basement. Anticipating the possibility of running electricity to the new building, combination gas and electric lighting was installed. The sole stipulation of the grant to build Miner was that funds be raised for an accompanying dormitory, and the subsequent drive resulted in the construction of Paige Hall, immediately next door.

The School of Theology remained in Miner Hall until 1910, when space at Tufts became extremely limited. The low enrollment numbers in the School of Theology, coupled with the need for a headquarters for newly founded Jackson College, resulted in a redesignation of space. Under a five-year agreement, Miner was converted to house all of Jackson's facilities, and Theology was moved out of the building.

With the outbreak of World War I, Miner again changed hands. Along with many other buildings on the Tufts campus, Miner was given over to the United States military for use in the war effort, and was not returned to Tufts until the end of the war, at which point the theology department again reclaimed Miner, remaining there through renovations that converted the upstairs chapel into more classroom space, and added a lounge to the basement level. Between 1927 and 1929, Miner was again renovated, and the newly remodeled first floor was designated as the home of the Crane School of Religion.

Miner remained home to Crane until 1955, when the building was split to include space for the Department of Modern Languages, which later was moved to . After the Department of Modern Languages vacated Miner, the building briefly served as home to part of the History Department, which vacated its offices in Miner when the opening of the Olin Center freed up additional space in .

Surviving a slew of renovations and even a small fire in 1991, Miner remains in use today. It currently houses the Departments of Philosophy and Comparative Religion, and also serves as headquarters of the Experimental College.

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  • The encyclopedia seeks to capture more than 150 years of Tufts' achievements, societal contributions and outstanding alumni and faculty in concise entries. As a source of accurate factual information, the Encyclopedia can be used by anyone interested in the history of Tufts and of the people who have made it the unique institution it is.
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 Introduction
 Content
Numeric Entries
A
B
C
D
Dame, Lorin Low, 1838-1903
Dana, Charles A., 1881-1975
Dana Laboratory, 1963
Daniel Ounjian Prize in Economics,
Davies, Caroline Stodder, 1864-1939
Davies House, 1894
De Florez Prize in Human Engineering, 1964
de Pacheco, Kaye MacKinnon, ca. 1910-ca. 1985
Dean Hall, 1887-1963
Dean, Oliver, 1783-1871
Dearborn, Heman Allen, 1831-1897
Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, 1893
Department of Anesthesia, 1970
Department of Art and Art History, 1930
Department of Biochemistry, 1893
Department of Chemistry, 1882
Department of Community Health, 1930
Department of Dermatology, 1897
The Department of Economics, 1946
Department of Medicine, 1893
Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology
Department of Neurology, 1893
Department of Neuroscience, 1983
Department of Neurosurgery, 1951
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1893
Department of Ophthamology, 1893
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, 1906
Department of Otolaryngology, 1895
Department of Pathology, 1893
Department of Pediatrics, 1930
Department of Pharmacology, 1915
Department of Physics and Astronomy, 1854
Department of Physiology, 1893
Department of Psychiatry, 1928
Department of Radiation Oncology, 1968
Department of Radiology, 1915
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, 1955
Department of Surgery, 1893
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, 1973
Department of Urology, 1910
Dental Health Sciences Building, 1969
Dewick, Cora Alma (Polk), 1875-1977
Dewick/MacPhie Dining Hall, 1959
Dickson Professorship of English and American History, 1913
Dirlam, Arland A., 1905-1979
Dog Cart, 1900
Dolbear, Amos Emerson, 1837-1910
Donald A. Cowdery Memorial Scholarship, 1946
Dr. Benjamin Andrews Professorship of Surgery, 1987
Dr. Philip E. A. Sheridan Prize, 1977
The Drug Bust, 1970
Dudley, Henry Watson, 1831-1906
Dugger, Edward Jr., 1919-75
Durkee, Frank W., 1861-1939
Durkee, Henrietta Noble Brown, 1871-1946
E
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G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
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Z
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