Hamilton Hall (Columbia University)


Hamilton Hall is an academic building on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University on College Walk at 1130 Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, serving as the home of Columbia College. It was built in 1905–1907 and was designed by McKim, Mead & White in the Neoclassical style; the building was part of the firm's original master plan for the campus. The building was the gift of the John Stewart Kennedy, a former trustee of Columbia College, and is named after Alexander Hamilton, who attended King's College, Columbia's original name. A statue of Hamilton by William Ordway Partridge stands outside the building entrance. Hamilton Hall is the location of the Columbia College administrative offices.
Hamilton Hall has been occupied at several times by student protest movements at Columbia: it was occupied and renamed Malcolm X Liberation College in honor of Malcolm X in 1968; Mandela Hall for Nelson Mandela in 1985; and Hind's Hall for Hind Rajab in 2024.

History

The original Hamilton Hall was built in 1878 in the Gothic Revival style and located on Madison Avenue between 49th and 50th streets on the college's former Midtown campus, directly across 50th Street from the Villard Houses. It was five stories tall and had an elaborate turret at its northwest corner. The property of Columbia's former Midtown campus was sold in 1898. The Berkeley School relocated from West 44th Street to occupy the southern half of Hamilton Hall, where it remained until 1902 when the property was sold and the school relocated to a new site on the Upper West Side.
When Columbia became a university and relocated to Morningside Heights in the 1890s, there were originally no plans for the area south of 116th Street, where Hamilton Hall now sits, or for any facilities dedicated to the undergraduate college. Nevertheless, college advocates persevered and the cornerstone for the new Hamilton Hall was laid in 1905. The building was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White in the neoclassical style, in conformity with the rest of the university campus. It was completed in 1907.
Hamilton Hall has undergone extensive renovations in order to restore many of its historic details. Two stained glass windows depicting Sophocles and Virgil, gifts from the class of 1885 and 1891, respectively, were installed in the Hamilton Hall lobby in 2003, having sat in storage for nearly 60 years. The building houses many of the classes of Columbia College's Core Curriculum.

Protests

Malcolm X Liberation College: 1968 protest during the Vietnam War and Black freedom movement

Starting in the latter half of the 20th century, Hamilton Hall was taken over several times in the course of student activism at Columbia University, first during the protests of April 1968. In the course of this protest, a multiracial group first barricaded themselves inside the building, imprisoning acting dean Henry S. Coleman in his office. The black students renamed the building "Malcolm X Liberation College" and eventually asked the white students to leave, prompting the latter's takeover of several other university buildings. After the violent end to the April activities, Hamilton was the most peacefully cleared hall but was briefly reoccupied in May 1968.

Mandela Hall: 1985 protest to divest from Apartheid South Africa

The building was then the site of a major 1985 student strike and barricade to demand university divestment from South Africa, which was under the apartheid system at the time, as well as ethnic studies classes at the university. During the 1985 strike, the building was renamed "Mandela Hall" by the occupying students.

Hind's Hall: 2024 protest to divest from Israel

In April 2024, a group of students, staff, alumni, who had been participating in a tent encampment protesting the Gaza war and genocide occupied the hall. During the occupation of Hamilton, protesters unfurled a large banner and renamed the building "Hind's Hall" in reference to Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israel Defense Forces. The hall was forcibly cleared by the New York Police Department on the evening of April 30, 2024. American musician Macklemore released an anti-war protest song, "Hind's Hall," in reference to the slain child and the occupation of the hall.