Built in 1881 as Leonard Medical Center, Leonard Hall was the first four-year medical school in the United States. Built in 1881 and originally named Leonard Medical Center, it later became Leonard Medical School and then Leonard Hall. It was established at a moment when medical schools were professionalizing, and it holds the distinction of being the first medical school in the United States to offer a four‑year curriculum — and the first four‑year medical school that African Americans could attend.
The building was named for Judson Wade Leonard, the brother‑in‑law of Shaw's founder Henry Martin Tupper. Classes here began in 1882, with annual tuition set at $60, a substantial sum at the time. Leonard Hall is a contributing part of the East Raleigh‑South Park Historic District and is part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1990; it was designated a North Carolina Historic Landmark in 1994.
Shaw University itself is the oldest historically black college in the South, often called the "mother of African‑American colleges in North Carolina" because its alumni founded other colleges. The university is named after Elijah Shaw, an entrepreneur from Massachusetts who helped establish the school with financial support. The building and the Shaw campus spread out before you.