page_title: Harrison Hall
section_title: History of "old" Harrison Hall
hierarchical_section_title: Harrison Hall / History of "old" Harrison Hall
caption_attribution_description: English: Old Main
context_page_description: Harrison Hall is an academic building on the campus of Miami University housing the Department of Political Science and the Center for Public Management and Regional Affairs. It replaced an earlier building on the site built in 1818 and demolished in 1958. The original building was first named Franklin Hall, and became known as Old Main. It was officially renamed to Harrison Hall in 1931 after the 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison.
context_section_description: Construction for the original Harrison Hall (then known as Franklin Hall) began in 1816, shortly after the completion of the log schoolhouse in the University Square in 1811. The central part of the building was completed in 1818, and various additions were made to the building afterwards. The west wing of the building was added in 1868 following the Civil War, and the east wing was built in 1898. 
  Over the years, Franklin Hall, came to be known as Old Main by students. The first day of classes at Miami University began on November 1, 1824 in Old Main, which was the only classroom building on campus at that time. 
  The first two student organizations, the Erodelphian and the Union Literary Societies, began in 1825 and met on Friday evenings on the third floor of Old Main, debating issues involving social and economic progress, including slavery and feminism. Other organizations began forming as well, including fraternities. Beta Theta Pi was founded in 1839 at Miami University and was the first of the Miami Triad of fraternities to be founded there.
caption: A picture of Old Main, the first academic building on the campus of Miami University, that later housed the first two student organizations. This photograph was taken before the construction of the East Wing [13]
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