Hamilton Hall

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• Hamilton  Hall  dons  Alexander  Hamilton’s  legacy,  one  of  America’s  founding  fathers,  the  first  U.S.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the  father  of  the  Coast  Guard.  Needing  to  generate  funds  to  support  the  young  nation,  to  stop  smuggling  and  to  collect  import  duties,  Hamilton  proposed  the  establishment  of  a  Revenue  Cutter  Service  in  April  of  1790.  On  August  4,  1790,  Congress  passed  Hamilton’s  Revenue  Cutter  Bill,  which  called  for  the  construction  of  ten  boats.  This  Revenue  Cutter  Service  grew  and  acquired  a  multi-mission  role  in  our  nation’s  military  until  merging  with  the  U.S.  Life-Saving  Service  in  1915  to  form  the  U.S.  Coast  Guard.  Hamilton  Hall,  built  in  1932,  houses  the  offices  of  the  Superintendent,  Dean  of  Academics,  Director  of  Diversity,  Public  Affairs,  and  other  administrative  offices.  Through  the  front  entrance,  the  corridor  leading  to  the  Henriques  Room  (pron.  Hen-ricks),  the  Hall  of  Graduates  has  the  names  of  every  Academy  graduate.  The  Henriques  Room  was  named  after  Captain  John  A.  Henriques,  the  first  superintendent  of  the  academy.  Captain  Henriques  joined  the  Merchant  Marine  in  1841  and  enlisted  in  the  Revenue  Marine  in  1854.  Henriques  was  selected  to  run  the  first  cadet  training  ships,  the  Dobbin  and  the  Chase.  He  also  served  as  superintendent  of  the  Revenue  Cutter
  School  of  Instruction,  the  forerunner  of  today’s  Academy,  until  1883.  During  the  Spanish-  America  War  of  1898,  he  served  on  the  Woodbury.  Captain  Henriques  died  in  1906  and  is  buried  in  New  London  in  Cedar  Grove  Cemetery.  Designed  originally  as  the  Academy’s  library,  the  Henriques  Room  is  now  used  for  special  gatherings  and  awards  ceremonies.  Aldis  Brown,  graduate  of  Yale  School  of  Fine  Arts,  working  for  the  U.S.  Treasury  Art  Relief  Program  during  the  Great  Depression,  painted  the  murals  representing  Coast  Guard  history.  The  cases  display  museum  artifacts.
  

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