for John W. Hall, the fifth president of Miami University. Hall was born in Orange County, North Carolina on January 19, 1802. Hall was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of West Tennessee at age 32. He was an evangelist and Pastor in Tennessee. In 1837, he organized and became president of a Female Seminary in Gallatin. He was a pastor in Dayton, Ohio and Huntsville, Alabama, and came to Miami to become president in 1854. He was president during the Civil War and had trouble as a southern in the north. He was accused of being disloyal to the Union. Dr. Alfred H. Upham wrote the following about Hall: "Doctor Hall, a fine Southern gentleman of the old school, who with rare tact and splendid self-control had directed the affairs of this patriotic northern college, found at last, when the struggle was over, that hostility had arisen and his usefulness was ended." After his presidency at Miami, Hall went to Covington, Kentucky, where he served as Superintendent of Public schools from 1866 to 1876. He died in Covington on January 6, 1886. Notable events Actors: Harry Connick Jr. (filming a scene for Little Man Tate), Richard Le Gallienne, George Clooney and Ryan Gosling Performers: John Philip Sousa's band, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, The Fisk Jubilee Singers, Fritz Kreisler, Andrés Segovia, Percy Grainger, Alexander Kipnis, the Don Coassack Chorus, Jesús María Sanromá, the London String Quartet, Richard Dyer-Bennet, Janos Starker, Robert Goldsand, Eleanor Steber, Lucille Browning, Blanche Thebom, the King's Singers, the Budapest String Quartet, Zino Franciscatti and Dizzy Gillespie. Dancers: Martha Graham and Paul Draper Speakers: Robert Frost, Frank Lloyd Wright, P. J. O'Rourke, Norman Thomas, Basil Rathbone, Major Alexander De Severesky, Percy MacKaye, Adolphe Menjou, Ogden Nash, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and Emlyn Williams. Touring companies: Coburn Players, the Robertson Players, Stuart Walker's Portmanteau Theater, the Oxford University Players, the Young Ireland Player and New York company of "Green Pastures", starring Richard B. Harrison. Others: Sesquicentennial Symposium on the Arts in America brought Clifton Fadima, John Ciardi, Norris Houghton, Phillip R. Adams, Richard Neutra, Millard Sheets, and Halsey Stevens. During World War II, Miami helped train 10,000 people for military service. Many would watch training films or relax in what was then considered Benton Hall. References Buildings and structures of Miami University Music venues in Ohio