The early years of Stevens’ history are one of growth, development, and achievement. Producing generations of innovators and engineers that would change the world, Stevens quickly grew into a respected institution. However, the school’s rapid growth would not have been possible without its first president, Dr. Henry Morton. Sadly, Dr. Morton passed away in 1902 at the age of 65. To honor his life, Stevens renamed the planned Alumni Building to the Morton Memorial Laboratory of Chemistry.
When the school first began, it consisted only of Edwin A. Stevens Hall. However, as seen with the Carnegie Lab, the school needed more space. Dr. Morton established the Alumni Fund to build the then-named Alumni Hall, for which he was a leading benefactor. Dr. Morton was much involved in architecture and the design of what was then called the Alumni Chemical Hall. In fact, Dr. Morton came up with the idea to have unique chimney designs to offer the appearance of a chemical lab and to provide good circulation from fume hoods within — a design facet included in the still-standing building today.
Shortly before Dr. Morton was struck fatally ill, the building was ready for construction. Blueprints for the building were designed in part by Stevens Alum, Ackerman (1891), and Ross. The site was chosen on the northeast side of the block as the Edwin A. Stevens building near where the Burchard Building is today. As Dr. Morton’s health declined, he pushed for the building to be constructed. Professor Jacobus remembers Dr. Morton regarded the building as his “final effort.”
After Dr. Morton’s death, the building was renamed to honor him and redesigned to be longer, three-story, and basementless with a new site chosen—its current location—to, as Professor Jacobus described, make it “look more imposing.”
Dr. Morton’s successor, Dr. Humphreys, advocated for a building as grand as the man it commemorated with an exterior design of hard-burnt bricks, oak furniture on the interior, and quarter-oak trim. The interior design was by then-chemical professors Dr. Pond and Professor Pryor, with lecture halls with preparation rooms, blackboards, and a state-of-the-art down-draught ventilation system to allow many students to conduct chemical experiments simultaneously.
The dedication ceremony was on the afternoon of June 13, 1906. The proceedings included remarks by President Humphreys, a prayer by Rev. J Clayton Mitchell, and a tablet affixed to the building’s exterior by the president of the Alumni Association, Professor William H. Bristol. Since then, Morton Laboratory of Chemistry has stood as a focal point on campus.
Today, the Morton Laboratory is part of the MPK complex (Morton-Peirce-Kiddie) and is home to the College of Arts of Letters. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 25, 2022, for significant contributions to architectural history. So if you happen to find yourself playing piano on the first floor or visiting the Writing and Communications Center on the second floor, remember the legacy of the remarkable man the building is dedicated to — Dr. Henry Morton.
