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Photo, Print, Drawing Storer College, Anthony Hall, Camp Hill, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, WV Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Wirth Hall

[ Photos from Survey HABS WV-277-A  ]

More Resources

[ Drawings from Survey HABS WV-277-A  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS WV-277-A  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS WV-277-A  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Storer College, Anthony Hall, Camp Hill, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, WV

Other Title

  • Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Wirth Hall

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Storer College
  • Niagara Movement
  • Lauritzen, Peter J.
  • Anthony, Lewis Williams
  • Freewill Baptist Church
  • Wirth, Conrad L.
  • Peterson, Charles E., photographer
  • Boucher, Jack E., photographer
  • Bieretz, Renee, photographer
  • Barron, Mark, historian
  • U.S. National Park Service (NPS), Stephen T. Mather Training Center, sponsor
  • Davidson, Paul, field team
  • Pierce, Ryan, field team
  • Kidd, Anne E., field team
  • Jacobs, James A., project manager
  • Schara, Mark, project manager
  • Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, sponsor
  • U.S. National Park Service (NPS), Harpers Ferry Center (HFC), sponsor

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  African Americans
  • -  colleges
  • -  "Mission 66" program
  • -  Romanesque Revival architectural elements
  • -  brick walls
  • -  pilasters
  • -  gable roofs
  • -  round-topped windows
  • -  double-hung windows
  • -  2 stories
  • -  porches
  • -  stone foundations
  • -  stone lintels
  • -  cupolas
  • -  education
  • -  West Virginia--Jefferson County--Harpers Ferry

Latitude / Longitude

  • 39.324006,-77.741175

Notes

  • -  Significance: From 1881 to 1955, Anthony Hall served as the main building for Harpers Ferry's Storer College, a historically black school founded in 1867 by missionaries of the Freewill Baptist Church. In addition to administrative offices and basic classrooms, the building, at various times, also housed the school’s dining hall, chapel, recitation rooms, music room, science laboratories, and the library. Because the building housed Storer College’s administration offices from the time of its erection in 1881 through the school’s closing in 1955, Anthony Hall lends itself particularly to investigating the overall academic history of the school: its opening as an institution of higher learning for African Americans following the Civil War; the difficulties faced in locating adequate funding for its continued operation; the effects of three damaging fires to the building and how it impacted the school and student body; and the eventual decline and closure of the school. Anthony Hall was also the site of several significant events in African American history including a dedication address by Frederick Douglass in 1882 and as a host venue for the second meeting of the Niagara Movement, a forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1906. After Storer College closed in 1955, the building remained vacant until the school’s former campus was acquired in 1962 by the National Park Service (NPS). Following an extensive rehabilitation in 1963, the building was renamed Wirth Hall in honor of Conrad L. Wirth, the Director of the National Park Service who was instrumental in creating a training center at Harpers Ferry. Opened in 1964 to facilitate the training and continuing education of NPS employees on the east coast, the Stephen T. Mather Training Center and the dedication of Wirth Hall were part of Mission 66, a decade-long, $1 billion program to enhance the country’s national parks.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1823
  • -  Survey number: HABS WV-277-A
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1847 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1881 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1928-1929 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1962-1964 Subsequent Work

Medium

  • Photo(s): 10
  • Color Transparencies: 1
  • Measured Drawing(s): 11
  • Data Page(s): 28
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 2

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS WVA,19-HARF,32-A-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • wv0368

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS WVA,19-HARF,32-A-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Storer College, Niagara Movement, Peter J Lauritzen, Lewis Williams Anthony, Freewill Baptist Church, Conrad L Wirth, et al., Peterson, Charles E, Jack E Boucher, and Renee Bieretz, photographer. Storer College, Anthony Hall, Camp Hill, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, WV. Harpers Ferry West Virginia Jefferson County, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/wv0368/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Storer College, Niagara Movement, Lauritzen, P. J., Anthony, L. W., Freewill Baptist Church [...] U.S. National Park Service, S., Peterson, C. E., Boucher, J. E. & Bieretz, R., photographer. (1933) Storer College, Anthony Hall, Camp Hill, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, WV. Harpers Ferry West Virginia Jefferson County, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/wv0368/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Peterson, Charles E, Jack E Boucher, and Renee Bieretz. Storer College, Anthony Hall, Camp Hill, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, WV. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/wv0368/>.