National Hall

Southern Loyalists meeting, National Hall, Philadelphia, 1866. The wires are telegraph lines.
Southern Loyalists Meeting, National Hall, Philadelphia, 1866. For the text on the banners, click here.

National Hall is a former venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, located at 1222–24 Market Street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets. It was one of the most popular venues in the city, site of concerts, lectures, meetings, and political speeches. It opened on January 8, 1856, with a "grand operatic concert".[1] While it existed, from 1856 to 1873, it was the main venue in Philadelphia for speakers for abolitionism and other progressive causes.

Some meetings held in National Hall

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Poster announcing a lecture of Frederick Douglass in National Hall, 1863

Olympic Theater

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Olympic Theater, Philadelphia

In 1873 it was turned into a theatre by J. H. Johnson & Co., and opened October 21st, under the name of the Olympic Theater.[2]: 980 

The Theater was destroyed by fire on January 29, 1874. The cause is not known, but arson was suspected. Two firemen were killed when a wall of the burning building collapsed on them. It was valued at $60,000 (equivalent to $1,615,765 in 2023).[7][8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Musical Union. Grand Opening of the National Hall". Public Ledger (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). January 8, 1856. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2020-12-22 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Scharf, John T; Westcott, Thompson (1884). History of Philadelphia : 1609-1884. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts.
  3. ^ Venet, Wendy Hamand (1995). "'Cry Aloud and Spare Not': Northern Antislavery Women and John Brown's Raid". In Finkleman, Paul (ed.). His Soul Goes Marching On. Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. pp. 98–115, at pp. 100–101. ISBN 0813915368.
  4. ^ Christian Recorder, January 7, 1865.
  5. ^ "Frederick Douglass Havre de Grace and Philadelphia Sites". Ordinary Philosophy. April 3, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Hapgood, Norman; Harvey, George Brinton Mcclellan; Bangs, John Kendrick; Nelson, Henry Loomis; Schurz, Carl; Davis, Richard Harding; Foord, John; Schuyler, Montgomery; Conant, Samuel Stillman; Alden, Henry Mills; Curtis, George William; Bonner, John (September 22, 1866). "The Last Philadelphia Convention. The Loyalist Convention". Harper's Weekly: 594 and 598.
  7. ^ "Olympic Theater Destroyed". Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). January 30, 1874. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Disastrous fire in Philadelphia". Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania). January 29, 1874. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.

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