Upham Hall

Upham Hall is a building on the Miami University campus in Oxford, Ohio. It is located in the center of campus in the academic quad near the university’s seal and the hub. Miami University was founded in 1809 and the first class graduated in 1824.UsesUpham Hall is the home to many different departments at Miami University. They include anthropology, the Center for Environmental Education, the Scripps Gerontology Center, history, humanities center, Jewish studies, pre-law programs, sociology and gerontology, and statistics. In addition to being the home of these departments, this academic hall is the home to many professors offices and classrooms.ConstructionConstruction on Upham Hall began on February 16, 1946 with the laying of the cornerstone in honor of Dr. Alfred H. Upham. At the time, Upham Hall was to be the biggest building on campus. The first part constructed consisted of eighteen classrooms, two seminar rooms, 29 faculty offices, and other service rooms. In the cornerstone on this building was placed a box which contained information about Dr. Upham’s life and death. Some of the materials included in this box were a student directory, newspapers, a 1946 campus yearbook which was dedicated to Dr. Upham, and a photograph of the current president of Miami.Alfred H. UphamDr. Upham was born March 2, 1877 and is from Eaton, Ohio. He first came to Miami University as a freshman undergraduate in 1896. He received his Master's Degree from Harvard University in 1901 and his PhD from Columbia University in 1908. He married Mary Collins McClintock on June 28, 1905. With her he had one daughter, Margaret Louise. He was president of the University of Idaho from 1920 to 1928, when he then became the president of Miami University until his death on February 17, 1945. He led Miami during the difficult times of the Great Depression and World War II. Dr. Upham was known for many of his writings, including the “Old Miami” anthem, penned in 1909 for the Miami University Centennial. Upham also wrote Old Miami, the Yale of the Early West.