Julien Hall (built 1825) was a building in Boston, Massachusetts, on the corner of Congress Street and Milk Street. It flourished 1825-1843, housing a variety of public events such as lectures by Red Jacket, William Lloyd Garrison; temperance meetings; political meetings; auctions; exhibitions of live animals, portraits by William James Hubard, John H. I. Browere; performances of the "automaton chess player" and the "panharmonicon;" and so on. By 1842 boxer John Sheridan had converted space in the hall into an athletic gymnasium.
The building was known as "Julien Hall" because it had been "built on the land where formerly stood the much noted Julien's Restorator." It was also called "Congress Hall."Bowen's picture of Boston. 1828, 1838 In 1828 it was described as "a large and convenient edifice ... erected in 1825, by Dr. Edward H. Robbins. ... There are two halls in this building, 55 by 44 feet square; the principal one is 15 feet high, and receives light through the cupola in the centre. These are rented for various purposes, such as public exhibitions, the holding of meetings, &c."
Events at the Hall
1825 "Hubard Gallery" of William James Hubard, silhouette portrait artist (1825-1826). Also on display was John H.I. Browere's portrait bust of Gilbert StuartBoston Commercial Gazette Dec.1, 1825 Panharmonicon Oct. - Auction of "Russia goods" by J.L. CunninghamColumbian Centinel, Oct. 15, 1825 Dec. 12 - City election, ward 8Boston Commercial Gazette, Dec.12, 1825 1826 Automaton chess player, exhibited by Johann Nepomuk MaelzelBoston Commercial Gazette, Sept. 14, 1826 Nov. 28 - Meeting of supporters of mayor Josiah QuincyBoston Commercial Gazette, Nov.30, 1826 1827 March 31 - Temperance meetingSalem Gazette; Date: 04-03-1827 Dec. 5 - Meeting of the Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of IntemperanceIntemperance: To the Sober and Discreet, the Benevolent, the Religious, the Friends of Decency. Hallowell Gazette (Maine); Date: 12-05-1827 1829 April - "Red Jacket. The Indian chief whom Washington in 1792 pronounced 'the flower of the forest' has arrived in this city. ... On Tuesday next he intends to deliver a speech at Julien Hall, in his native tongue."Farmers' Cabinet (New Hampshire); Date: 04-04-1829 1830 April - Lectures by Robert L. Jennings, "a disciple of Owen, Wright & Co., of New York"Essex Gazette (Haverhill, Massachusetts); Date: 04-10-1830 August - Exhibition of live snakes: "the anaconda, the boa constrictor, and the strangling serpents"New-Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette; Date: 08-23-1830 Oct. 15 - Lecture by William Lloyd Garrison Abner Kneeland's "First Society of Free Enquirers" (ca.1830-1834) "Robert Dale Owen, the platonic friend of Fanny Wright, is delivering a course of infidel lectures at the Julien Hall in Boston"Rhode Island American, Statesman and Providence Gazette; Date: 01-08-1830
1831 Newtonian institute: "Courses of lectures will be given in English history, natural history of the animal kingdom, astronomy" 1833 July - "Wandering Piper"Pittsfield Sun (Massachusetts); Date: 07-18-1833 1835 Jan. 21 - New-England Anti-Slavery Society 3rd annual meeting. "At the close of the meeting, the 'Colored Juvenile Choir, under the direction of Miss Paul,' sang "[s]everal hymns suited to the occasion" in the auditorium, which was 'crowded to suffocation.'"NEASS, Third Annual Report, p.3; cited in: Lois Brown. Out of the Mouths of Babes: The Abolitionist Campaign of Susan Paul and the Juvenile Choir of Boston. New England Quarterly, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Mar., 2002)Susan Paul was the daughter of Boston preacher Thomas Paul May 20 - Theophilus Fisk, "Capital against Labor: an address delivered at Julien Hall before the mechanics of Boston." "The history of the producers of wealth, of the industrious classes, is that of a continual warfare of honesty against fraud, weakness against power, justice against oppression...." July - Discussion "between the Rev. Mr. Gurley, agent of the Colonization Society and the Rev. Mr. May, an advocate for immediate emancipation"Colonization Discussion. New Bedford Mercury (Massachusetts); Date: 07-24-1835"Thompson, the wandering insurrectionist, came in, and tried to take part." cf. Eastern Argus (Maine); Date: 07-25-1835 August - Anti-Catholic lecture by M'CallaPortsmouth Journal of Literature & Politics (New Hampshire); Date: 08-08-1835 Oct. -- "Abolition address" by George ThompsonThe Notorious Thompson. Richmond Enquirer (Virginia); Date: 10-20-1835 Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society meetings 1842 John Sheridan's Gymnasium, 1842-1843Daily Atlas (Boston); Date: 04-30-1842Daily Atlas (Boston); Date: 10-04-1843
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