Henry Hall Memorial

Henry Hall was born in Mobile, Alabama, on August 3, 1882, and entered Washington and Lee in 1899. During his years at the University, he became particularly prominent in student athletics and played quarterback for Washington and Lee. His memorial later summarized his college life in unusually personal terms: “Proficient athlete; successful student / genial friend; natural gentleman / sincere, happy Christian.”

Hall contracted typhoid fever during what would have been his senior year and died in Lexington on December 12, 1902, at only twenty years old. News of his death prompted unusually warm tributes from the University community. The Richmond Dispatch described him shortly afterward as “perhaps the most popular student in the university,” while the Ring-tum Phi remembered the affection he inspired among his classmates: “All who knew him were his friends.” The student newspaper concluded its remembrance with the prediction, “His memory will last as long as the memory of our college days.”

Hall’s fraternity brothers in Phi Gamma Delta subsequently memorialized him with a carved tablet in Lee Chapel, dedicated at the close of Commencement exercises on June 24, 1903. Decades later, the plaque and its epitaph, “Death loves a shining mark,” inspired Washington and Lee professor and longtime Shenandoah editor R. T. “Rod” Smith to write his 2003 short story “Docent.” Smith recalled that the inscription had remained with him for nearly twenty-five years.

University officials removed the plaque alongside other memorials from the Chapel sanctuary in 2021.

HENRY HALL
MOBILE, ALABAMA
AUGUST 3, 1882 — DECEMBER 12, 1902
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY 1899 — 1902
PROFICIENT ATHLETE; SUCCESSFUL STUDENT
GENIAL FRIEND; NATURAL GENTLEMAN
SINCERE, HAPPY CHRISTIAN
ΦΓΔ
“DEATH LOVES A SHINING MARK”

On June 4, 2021, the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees announced plans to rename Lee Chapel and restore its auditorium to an “unadorned design,” physically separating it from the Lee family crypt and memorial sculpture. As part of these changes, university officials removed twenty historical plaques and memorials from the chapel sanctuary.

In a July 21, 2022, update, the university explained that the removed plaques and artifacts had been relocated to other exhibits or placed in temporary storage pending renovations. It further announced that “most of the other plaques will be moved to the galleries in the building or to the new institutional history museum, where they can be displayed with more historical context.” The university has not publicly announced plans for the reinstallation or exhibition of this particular memorial.

The university has not responded to recent TGR inquiries concerning the whereabouts and future exhibition of removed plaques. However, in September 2026 correspondence with The W&L Spectator, Museum Director Matt Davis stated: “Our storage facility is not open to the public, nor do we make a list of our collections inventory available to the public.” He further explained that “the size and weight of some of these artifacts are not conducive to public viewing.” Regarding their future exhibition, Davis wrote: “It is possible that some or all of these artifacts will eventually be incorporated into temporary or permanent exhibits once the new museum is open, and we hope to have online databases and viewing rooms in the future.”

1. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=RD19021216.1.9&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------

2. https://digitalarchive.wlu.edu/islandora/ring-tum-phi-january-10-1903?search_api_fulltext=henry%20hall

3. https://digitalarchive.wlu.edu/islandora/ring-tum-phi-march-7-1903

4. https://digitalarchive.wlu.edu/islandora/ring-tum-phi-june-27-1903

5. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ojs/ejournals/VALib/v50_n4/smith.html

6. https://columns.wlu.edu/in-memoriam-rod-smith-editor-of-shenandoah-and-adjunct-professor-of-english/

7. https://www.wlu.edu/about-w-l/leadership/board-of-trustees/messages-from-the-board-of-trustees/message-archive-2020-2023/the-future-of-washington-and-lee-university

8. https://columns.wlu.edu/update-on-university-chapel-renovations/