Angell Hall
Academic building at the University of Michigan
Angell Hall is an academic building at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, United States. It was previously connected to the University Hall building, which was replaced by Mason Hall and Haven Hall. Angell Hall is named in honor of James Burrill Angell, who was the University's president from 1871 to 1909. Mason Hall is named after Stevens T. Mason, the first governor of Michigan, while Haven Hall was named for the university's second president, Erastus O. Haven. Tisch Hall, named for donors Preston and Joan Tisch, is also connected to Angell Hall.
The Angell Hall Observatory is located on the fifth floor roof of Angell Hall. The main telescope is a 0.4-m (16-inch) Ritchey-Chretien reflector, which has a spectrograph and camera. The observatory also has a small radio telescope and 20-cm (8-inch) Schmidt-Cassegrains.
History
Construction began in 1920, and finished in 1924 at a cost of about $1 million. An addition opened in 1952 adding auditoriums, a classroom wing, and an office wing.
“Angell Hall” enters the record as academic building at the University of Michigan. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Angell, Hall and Academic can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Angell Hall” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Angell, Hall and Academic provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4762805. Authority coordinates are 42.277, -83.740. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1871, 1909, 1920 and 1924.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Angell Hall”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Angell Hall primary sources, Angell Hall archive and Angell research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Angell Hall”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Angell Hall” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.