Natchez — At the September meeting of the Natchez Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution the members enjoyed lunch at Pearl Street Pasta and then proceeded to the Federal Courthouse where they received a guided tour given by US. Marshals Robert Sullivan, Jennings McCurley and Keary Swofford.

The tour consisted of a short history of the building that is also known as Memorial Hall.

On May 18, 1852, during the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone of the building then known as Institute Hall, Judge Dubuisson, president of the Natchez Board of Education, proclaimed that the building would serve as a beacon in the future, calling for deeds to emulate the past.

The former Institute Hall has indeed become a large part of Natchez’s history, now as a federal courthouse.

Institute Hall has been used for the city’s first Fourth of July celebration, an auditorium, a school, an opera hall, a skating rink and as the American Legion building after World War I when it was renamed Memorial Hall.

In 1932 the first Historic Natchez Pageant during Pilgrimage was performed in Memorial Hall.

Also, in the 20th century the building has been used as a teen canteen, a library, a charity clothing drop-off, a museum, a location for boxing matches and a place to store city voting machines.

Now the beautifully restored building is the federal courthouse for the southern district of Mississippi with Judge David Bramlette III serving as senior judge.

After the courthouse tour, the Natchez chapter members then toured the physical facility and were told of the daily workings of the court.

Afterwards, the monthly meeting was in the courtroom.

October’s meeting will be Oct. 20 at Historic Jefferson College. Nan Erle Foster Schuchs will give a program on the early history of Washington as the Mississippi territorial capitol and the preservation of the school.