Pennsylvania Hall (Philadelphia)

Pennsylvania Hall was a 19th-century abolitionist meeting place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, designed by architect Thomas Somerville Stewart. The original structure stood for a mere three days before being burned to the ground by anti-black rioters on the night of May 17, 1838. Despite the brevity of its existence, the Hall was frequently cited by various racial, ethnic and religious groups throughout the city as an argument for their claimed right to defend their properties through armed force.

In the years prior to the building of the Hall, the city's African American population had grown substantially as freed and fugitive slaves began to unite with the city's substantial Quaker population in the struggle to end slavery.

Periodic outbreaks of racial, ethnic and religious violence were common for nearly 15 years, culminating in 1842s Lombard Street Riot. It was in the midst of this turmoil that the Hall was to be built.

The Hall was originally built by the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society in 1838, emblazoned with the motto "Virtue, Liberty and Independence", and hailed as "one of the most commodious and splendid buildings in the city." To finance construction a joint-stock company was created. Two thousand people bought $20 shares, raising over $40,000. Others donated material and labor.

At the dedication ceremony on May 14, 1838, letters from Gerrit Smith, Theodore Weld, and John Quincy Adams were read. Former president Adams' letter read, in part

I learnt with great satisfaction. . . that the Pennsylvania Hall Association have erected a large building in your city, wherein liberty and equality of civil rights can be freely discussed, and the evils of slavery fearlessly portrayed. . . . I rejoice that , in the city of Philadelphia, the friends of free discussion have erected a Hall for its unrestrained exercise.

By the following day, though, detractors had blanketed the city with notices addressed to "citizens who entertain a proper respect for the right of property," asking them to "interfere, forcibly if they must, and prevent the violation of these pledges (the preservation of the Constitution of the United States), heretofore held sacred."

...
Wikipedia