Ohio University’s sixth president, Solomon Howard (1852-1872), was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, November 11, 1811, the son of Cyrus and Lucy Howard.
Upon the presentation of President Ryors’ resignation at the meeting of the Ohio University Board of Trustees on August 5, 1852, the members of the governing body elected a Rev. Joseph Tomlinson, of the faculty of Augustana College, Augustana, Ky., as president, and the Rev. Solomon Howard, of Springfield, as professor of natural sciences. When, shortly after the meeting, Tomlinson declined the presidency, a three-man committee, authorized to fill vacancies in the faculty, appointed Howard to serve as president. This action was confirmed by the board at its next meeting. The new president began his duties early in the summer of 1852, although his formal inauguration was not held until August 3, 1853.
During the early years of his presidency, Dr. Howard succeeded in placing the University on a high plane as an institution of learning, and in increasing the number of students.
Toward the close of his administration, precedent was broken by the admission of women students. Margaret Boyd, who entered in 1868 and graduated in 1873, was the first co-ed.
Called at various times Women’s Hall and Ladies Hall, a dormitory for girls was erected in 1896 at the corner of Union and College streets on the site of the old Brown House, an early day hostelry. The building was extensively remodeled in 1909-1910, and, in 1916, was officially named Howard Hall in honor of the University’s former president. A new addition to the building, to the north, was erected in 1937.