Bishop Hall

Bishop Hall was named for Robert Hamilton Bishop, the first president of Miami University. He is remembered as a founding figure for Miami and someone who encouraged debates over controversial topics on campus. However, it is scarcely mentioned that prior to moving to Ohio to serve as president, Bishop enslaved two people while living in Lexington, Kentucky. While we do not know the names of these people, we know through census records from 1820 that one was a woman aged 14-25, while the other was a woman aged 26-44. In the first year of his presidency, 1824, Bishop kept a household book to record financial details. In this book he documents the labor of a “Negro Girl.” 

Bishop Hall was constructed and named in 1911. Today, Bishop Hall is a dormitory building in the central quad of Miami University Oxford campus.

Robert Hamilton Bishop's household book, 1820-1827

This page from Robert Hamilton Bishop’s household book shows that in 1824, he had a “Negro girl” working in his home, the same year he became president of Miami University and professor of logic, moral philosophy, and history. The book does not record her name, but Walter Havighurst’s The Miami Years suggests she was called Nellie. Her legal status is unclear; however, she may have been an indentured servant. Other sources indicate she was working under a contract, and the entry includes the phrase “years service,” suggesting a term of obligated labor rather than clearly defined freedom.

Miami Recensio 1868-69, Ku Klux Klan

This document is the Miami Recensio from 1868–1869. On page 45, it includes a list associated with a Ku Klux Klan club. While this page may offer insight into the presence of such a group at Miami University, one set of initials in particular stands out: “R.H.B.” These initials correspond to either Robert Hamilton Bishop, the university’s first president, or his son, Robert Hamilton Bishop Jr. The appearance of these initials suggests the possibility that the Bishops may have been associated with this organization. However, because the document provides only initials rather than full names, this identification remains uncertain and should be interpreted with caution.

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