Locke Hall (College of Arts & Sciences)

Alain Locke Hall houses faclities for Howard University's College of Arts and Sciences. It includes offices, classrooms, meeting spaces, and Locke Hall Auditorium. 

About the Building Name

Locke Hall is named for Alain Leroy Locke, Ph.D. Dr. Locke served as chair of the Department of Philosophy at Howard University. He spent 32 years teaching at the university. He was the first African American to become a Rhodes Scholar, considered one of the most prestigous honors in academia,  was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. His book, "The New Negro," an anthology of poetry, prose, and art, framed the power of African Americans in creating an artistic movement and heralded the dawn of the Harlem Renaissance, a seminal period in American history in the 1920s and 1930s when Blacks asserted themselves as mavens of literature, art, music, dance, theater, fashion, and philosophy. He is interchangeably called the "father," "godfather," or "dean" of the Harlem Renaissance. A prolific writer, he spent much of his career promoting the creative work of Black writers and artists. His official papers are housed in Howard's Moorland–Spingarn Research Center. Among the iconic artists he mentored were Ossie Davis, Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Countee Cullen. Locke founded the Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Howard University in 1953.

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