Memorial Hall (Dedham, Massachusetts)

[4] Town meetings were frequently crowded and confused in the townhouse, and it was difficult to hear speakers and determine votes.

[6] Coolidge had a book and newspaper store on the property and had buildings in the back that were "rented by a class of people... that made the whole locality an eyesore in the heart of the village.

[6][3][10][5] Waldo Colburn, Augustus B. Endicott, William Ames, 2nd, Addison Boyden, and Merrill D. Ellis were chosen at the same meeting to serve as the Building Committee.

[18] There was an appropriation for $200 in 1912 to purchase a proscenium curtain, but when the Massachusetts State Police inspected the auditorium they determined that the stage would need alterations.

[18] Facing Washington Street, in the most conspicuous place over the main entrance, was inserted a large tablet of Quincy granite, decorated with oak leaves and a crown of laurels, and bore the inscription:[5][12] To Commemorate The Patriotism and Fidelity Of Her Sons Who Fell In Defence of The Union In The War Of The Rebellion Dedham Erects This Hall

In the main vestibule, from which stairs to the right and left conducted to the hall above, in a broad niche facing the entrance, were five marble tablets in a Gothic frame work of black walnut.

EDWARD G Cox Co F 18th Regt Wounded at 2d battle of Bull Run Aug 30, '62 died Oct 22, '64 aged 25.

John Finn Jr. Sergt Co B 22d Regt Wounded at North Anna River May 23, '64 Died June 5, '64 aged 23.

GEORGE F WHITING Co I 35th Regt wounded at South Mountain Sept 14, '62 died Oct 5, '62 aged 27.

John W FISKE 1st Lieut Co B 58th Regt killed at Poplar Spring Church Sept 30, '64 aged 23.

[20] A committee appointed for that purpose reported the following list which was unanimously adopted Ezra W. Taft, Samuel E. Pond, J. Bradford Baker, Benjamin Weatherbee, and John Cox, Jr., constituting the Board of Selectmen, and the following citizens: Eliphalet Stone, William Bullard, Thomas Sherwin, Jr., Henry Onion, William J. Wallace, Ephraim Roberts, Charles E. Lewis, Samuel H. Cox, Augustus Bradford Endicott, Ellery C. Daniell, Henry O. Hildreth, Addison Boyden, and Sanford Carroll.

Stone declined the appointed owing to ill health and Thomas L. Wakefield was unanimously chosen to fill the vacancy.

[20] At a subsequent meeting of the Committee of Arrangements, Taft was chosen chairman and Samuel H. Cox Secretary.

[21] Fisher A Baker of New York, a native of Dedham and formerly Adjutant of the 18th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, and who served with that regiment during its term of service, was invited to deliver the address at the dedication of the hall but, owing to business engagements, he declined the invitation.

[21][5][22] Taft peremptorily declined the invitation of the committee to act as President of the day and Boyden was chosen to that position instead.

[21] The marble tablets in the vestibule were decorated with a border of lilies, salvias, and gladiolas, judiciously interspersed with oak and beech leaves, the tasteful and tender tribute of the ladies to the memory of the dead.

[24][22] Colburn provided a report of the Building Committee and then handed the keys to Taft in his role as chairmen of the selectmen.

[22][25] Taft then offered a few remarks[15] before a hymn, specially written for the occasion by Mrs. William J. Adams, was sung.

Jonathan Edwards of the Allin Congregational Church then offered the dedicatory prayer[27][22] and Erastus Worthington gave a speech.

[31][22] At a meeting of the Committee of Arrangements held after the dedication of the hall, a vote of thanks to Worthington for his patriotic and eloquent address was unanimously adopted and the chairman was instructed to ask a copy for publication.

[33] A patriotic mass meeting, organized by Henry B. Endicott, was held in the hall to prepare for World War I.

[35] On January 11, 1895, the citizens of the town gathered in Memorial Hall to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the first free, tax supported public school in the nation.

[5] In 1870, a horse owned by John Gardiner broke free from the carriage to which it was hitched and took off down River Place.

[37] Crowds tried to stop it when it reached Memorial Hall, but the horse turned instead and ran into Andrew Norris' grocery store on the first floor.

[37] The horse bolted through the store, past a rack of glassware and crockery, and then out the other door without causing any damage.

[37] By the mid-20th century, Town employees had long been asking for a more suitable building after years of being forced to wear coats inside during the winter and dodging leaks in the ceiling.