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Charles Thompson Memorial Hall, St. Paul

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Charles Thompson Memorial Hall

Charles Thompson Memorial Hall in St. Paul, November 11, 1916.

In the early twentieth century, few meeting and event spaces in Minnesota were designed to be accessible to the state’s deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing community. In 1916, Margaret Brooks Thompson hired deaf architect Olof Hanson to design the Charles Thompson Memorial Hall in St. Paul in memory of her husband. It was the first social club designed exclusively for the deaf in the United States.

The Charles Thompson Memorial Hall’s origins can be traced back to the Fourth Convention of the Minnesota Association of the Deaf at the Minnesota Institute for Defectives (Deaf, Blind and Feeble-minded) in Faribault, Minnesota, in 1896. It was there that Charles Thompson, the son of a wealthy St. Paul banker, met and fell in love with Margaret Brooks, the daughter of Scottish immigrants to rural Minnesota. Soon after, they married and set up permanent residence in St. Paul, with a lake home in Alexandria.

Sharing a passion for fostering more social interaction for deaf people, the Thompsons transformed their numerous properties in and around the Twin Cities into bustling hubs for deaf and hard-of-hearing Minnesotans to meet, camp, or eat together. Their home in Alexandria on Lake Darling attracted so many deaf campers that they had permanent cabins built on the property.

Charles passed away in 1915. Margaret decided to honor his legacy by using her inherited wealth to hire a well-known deaf architect named Olof Hanson to specially design a clubhouse for Minnesota’s deaf community. At the dedication ceremony in 1916, Margaret laid the cornerstone before a crowd of 500 people. She also announced that she would be placing the building and a $45,000 trust fund in the hands of a board of trustees. By doing so, she ensured that the club would always remain free to use for all of the deaf people of Minnesota, regardless of religious or political affiliation.

Along with a large assembly hall, the building featured a bowling alley, a social hall, a maplewood dance floor, and a children’s play area. It was outfitted with large windows and ceilings to maximize lighting so that American Sign Language (ASL) signs could be seen clearly and easily. On some nights, new films with closed-captioning would be projected onto a curtain on a stage. (The Minnesota Association of the Deaf has frequently taken advantage of the space since 1917 to hold their biennial conventions.)

In 1957, the Memorial Hall began circulating its official newsletter, The Thompson Hall Newsletter, which became the Minnesota Deaf Newsletter in 2002. Along with event listings and other news about the social space, the newsletter offered updates on the Minnesota School for the Deaf in Faribault, the local deaf sports teams, the Minnesota Association of the Deaf, and other news or updates of importance for the deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing community.

The clubhouse has reached several historical milestones in the twenty-first century. The Charles Thompson Memorial Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011, and members celebrated the 100th anniversary of their prized social club in 2016. Members have struggled at times to maintain their space, to keep it accessible to all, and to attract younger members. Despite these difficulties, the Charles Thompson Memorial Hall still stands as a testament to over a century of the collective labors of deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing Minnesotans.

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75th Anniversary, 1916–1991: Charles Thompson Memorial Hall, St. Paul, Minnesota, November 1 & 2, 1991. St. Paul: Charles Thompson Memorial Hall, 1991. Available at the Minnesota Historical Society library as HV2561.M63 S434 1991.

Allen, Gordon L. Oral history interview with the Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans (MNCDHH), 1997. MNCDHH Oral-Visual History Project.
https://mn.gov/deaf-commission/heritage/minnesota-deaf-heritage/gordon-allen-transcript.jsp

Bahl, Doug. Oral history interview with the Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans (MNCDHH), 1997. MNCDHH Oral-Visual History Project.
https://mn.gov/deaf-commission/heritage/minnesota-deaf-heritage/doug-bahl-on-thompson-halls-history-transcript.jsp

Lauritsen, Wesley. “Charles Thompson Memorial Hall Serves Deaf for 50 Years.” Thompson Hall Newsletter (December 1966).

Smith, James L. "Charles Thompson Memorial Hall.” Companion, November 15, 1915.

Related Images

Charles Thompson Memorial Hall
Charles Thompson Memorial Hall
Charles Thompson Memorial Hall
Charles Thompson Memorial Hall
Members of the Minnesota Association of the Deaf
Members of the Minnesota Association of the Deaf
Charles Thompson
Charles Thompson
Margaret Brooks Thompson
Margaret Brooks Thompson

Turning Point

Margaret Brooks Thompson opens the doors to the United States’ first social club exclusively for the deaf on November 5, 1916.

Chronology

1863

Minnesota School for the Deaf in Faribault is established by the Minnesota legislature.

1885

The Minnesota Association of the Deaf is founded at the first reunion of the Minnesota School for the Deaf.

1896

Margaret Brooks and Charles Thompson meet in Faribault at the Fourth Convention of the Minnesota Association of the Deaf, held at the Minnesota Institute for Defectives (Deaf, Blind and Feeble-minded).

1916

The dedication ceremony of the Charles Thompson Memorial Hall is held on June 3. It officially opens on November 5.

1917

Between September 5 and 8, the Biennial Convention of the Minnesota Association of the Deaf is held at the Memorial Hall for the first time.

1922

The Memorial Hall begins showing major motion pictures in the assembly hall.

1924

Renowned deaf dry-point etching artist Cadwallader Washburn gives a talk at the hall following his visit to the South Sea Islands on August 19.

1929

In June, Margaret Thompson passes away and is buried beside her husband in Oakland Cemetery in St. Paul. A week later, Percival Hall, the president of Gallaudet University, gives a talk at the Memorial Hall.

1954

The National Association of the Deaf hosts a rally and a market at the Memorial Hall with the Minnesota Association of the Deaf.

1957

Production and circulation of the Charles Thompson Memorial Hall Newsletter begins.

1966

The Memorial Hall celebrates its fiftieth anniversary between November 4 and 6.

2011

The Memorial Hall is recognized as a historic building on the National Register of Historic Places.

2016

The Memorial Hall celebrates its one hundredth anniversary.