The Town Hall (New York City, New York)

 theatre, clubhouse

4-story Neo-Federal social hall and clubhouse completed in 1920. Designed by Teunis J. van der Bent of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, The Town Hall was built by the League for Political Education, whose fight for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (women's suffrage) led them to commission the building of a meeting space where people of every rank and station could be educated on the important issues of the day. While lecture series and courses on political and non-political subjects sponsored by the League continued to be held there, The Town Hall quickly established a reputation as an arts center during the first fifteen years of its existence. The venue seats about 1,500 people.

In 1958, Town Hall Inc. merged with New York University to become the New York University Club. The university managed the hall and leased the auditorium for a variety of purposes for 20 years. In the summer of 1978 the university ceased its management and sought to transfer title to the property. Town Hall is now a 501c3 non-profit national historic landmark venue. Richard Strauss and Isaac Stern made their US debuts at Town Hall. Marian Anderson gave her first New York recital there. Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker debuted bebop to the world at Town Hall. Margaret Sanger was arrested for daring to speak to an audience of men and women about birth control. Bob Dylan performed his first major concert at Town Hall. America’s Town Meeting of the Air was one of the most celebrated and influential public discussion shows of the twentieth century, and featured guests as diverse as Eleanor Roosevelt, Langston Hughes, Richard Nixon, and Jackie Robinson. Town Hall continues to be a forum for the people—a welcome home of expression, education and exploration. In recent history, Town Hall welcomed Gilberto Gil, Joan Baez, Stephen Colbert, Jack White, Patti Smith, Larry David, Tig Notaro, Garrison Keillor, Ray LaMontagne, Ira Glass, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

The facade is clad in dark-red brick in Flemish bond with contrasting limestone trim. It is divided horizontally into three sections by limestone belt courses decorated with a Greek fret. The base is punctuated by a 7-bay blind arcade outlined in limestone. Double doors are set into the round-arches at the base while the tympana are lighted by lunettes. Theatrical canopies are suspended over the doorways and are anchored to the spandrels by tie rods. The middle section of the facade is distinguished by a large limestone plaque reading "THE TOWN HALL. FOUNDED BY THE LEAGUE FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION, 1894-1920. YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE" (This last part of this inscription is also carved on the University of Texas in Austin's main tower building). The plaque is flanked by two empty round-arched niches. A band of windows with stone sills is placed above the three main features of the central section. The attic level is characterized by windows of a larger dimension that are surmounted by limestone flat-arch lintels secured by a keystone. Recessed panels marked with a limestone lozenge separate the bays. Two oculi pierce the end panels. The building is crowned by an Adamsesque frieze and a roof balustrade, both rendered in limestone.

the-townhall-nyc.org/
hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101082993229?urlappend=%3Bseq...
dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/archives/townhall/bioghis...