Jonathan Edwards Hall - 270 S West St

Construction is ongoing on this imposing brick building intended to house the new School of Language, Literature, & the Arts. Foundation, frame, and roof are completed, and work now concentrates on the interior. Furnishings are to be supplied in late Spring, and the facility intends to open the building to instruction for the Fall 1956 semester.
Members of the University faculty have voiced their dismay at the name for the new building, and disagreement about the issue grows into full-blown controversy by the Spring of 1956. The opponents point out that Missituk has been a strictly secular institution for 150 years, all ties with the Congregationalists having been cut with the Orne bequest of 1765. Furthermore, the Reverend Mister Edwards’ pessimistic spiritual beliefs (particularly as expounded in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God) are not in keeping with the progressive, enlightened vision of mankind that the University tries to uphold and cultivate in its students. President Wainscott and the trustees remain adamant, however, and the new LL&A building opens as Edwards Hall, despite all opposition.
Once finished, the four-story building serves as an admirable headquarters for the largest of the University’s colleges. The basement and first story contain various classrooms and lecture halls, including two large auditoriums. The School of Rhetoric and its attendant departments of classical languages, English, and modern languages occupy the second floor, along with the School of Arts (departments of fine arts and music), and the small School of Natural and Revealed Religion (departments of philosophy and religion). The School of Human Conduct (departments of anthropology, geography, modern history, psychology, and sociometrics) occupies the third floor, while the fourth floor is home to the School of Antiquities (departments of ancient history and archaeology). Space is ample, and most faculty members are quite pleased with their new, modern accommodations.

Type

University / Educational complex

Parent Location

Campus

Owning Organization

Missituk University