| Nrhp Type: | cp |
| Location: | Brown University Providence, Rhode Island |
| Partof: | College Hill Historic District |
| Built: | 1879–1881 |
| Architect: | Alpheus C. Morse |
| Architecture: | Richardsonian Romanesque |
| Coordinates: | 41.8263°N -71.4026°W |
Sayles Memorial Hall is a Richardsonian Romanesque hall on the central campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The granite structure was designed by Alpheus C. Morse and constructed from 1879 to 1881.[1]
Sayles Hall was built in memoriam of William Clark Sayles, who entered Brown in 1874 and died in 1876.[2] In 1878 Sayles' father gifted the school $50,000 for the construction of a building in his sons' honor “which shall be exclusively and forever devoted to lectures and recitations, and to meetings on academic occasions.”
The building is constructed of rock-faced Westerly granite with Longmeadow brownstone trim.
The structure follows a T-shaped plan. The front section measures 35 by 75 feet and is topped by a hipped roof; the rear of the building has a gabled roof. The main auditorium of the building is characterized by pine roof trusses.[3]
The building is home to a 1903 Hutchings-Votey organ gifted to the university by Lucian Sharpe. Today, the organ is the largest remaining Hutchings-Votey organ of its type. The organ is used for an annual Halloween concert which begins at midnight.[4]
The main auditorium of the structure is adorned with 35 historical and contemporary portraits of leaders and benefactors of the university.[5] In 1997, a portrait of Sarah Elizabeth Doyle was stolen from the building.[6] In 2016, the university installed a portrait of President Emerita Ruth Simmons, making her the first and only Black woman represented in the collection.[7]