When Alfred Jenkins Shriver, a Hopkins alumnus from the class of 1891 and later a prominent legal expert, died in 1939, he left the bulk of his estate to The Johns Hopkins University to be used for the purpose of erecting a lecture hall on the Homewood campus. Shriver made the bequest contingent upon Hopkins having several murals painted and hung in conspicuous areas of the new building. The subjects of these murals were to be as follows: the original Boards of Trustees for both the University and the Hospital; the early Faculty of Philosophy and the original faculty of the Medical School; the Class of 1891; the ten leading Philanthropists of Baltimore; the Clipper Ships which once frequented the port of Baltimore; and the "Famous Beauties of Baltimore."

This last mural, to consist of the portraits of the ten most beautiful women of Shriver's era (in his estimation), caused quite a storm of controversy. These women were to be painted when each was at the "height of her beauty." All the murals were to be painted by the best available artists. Another stipulation was that statues of Daniel Coit Gilman and William H. Welch, and a bust of Isaiah Bowman, should be placed at or just inside the entrance to the building. The Board of Trustees was to have six months to accept or reject the bequest and its conditions. If they rejected it, the bequest was to be offered to Loyola College and then to Goucher College, subject to the same conditions. While the Hopkins Board of Trustees accepted the bequest within the set time limit, planning for the building did not begin until nearly ten years later.

Shriver Hall was completed in 1954 and only then did work begin on the murals which were to adorn its walls. Leon Kroll, a New York artist, was commissioned to paint the "Famous Beauties," the original faculties, the Class of 1891, and the Philanthropists murals. Deane Keller, of Yale University, was commissioned to execute the two Trustees murals, while James Owen Mahoney, of Ithaca, New York, was secured to paint the Clipper Ships. The statues of Gilman and Welch were to be done by Sidney Waugh of Maryland, and the bust of Bowman was assigned to Laura Gardin Fraser, of Westport, Connecticut. All eight paintings were completed by 1956 and the statues were in place by the following year.

When planning for the murals and statues began in the early 1950s, Miss Irene Davis, Registrar of the University, was asked by the Building Committee of the Board of Trustees to oversee and coordinate the research for the project. She was assisted by Trustee Albert Hutzler and Charles Quandt, the latter performing the legal research necessary to ensure complete compliance with the terms of Shriver's Will. Miss Davis, in her capacity as research coordinator, corresponded frequently with the artists regarding their progress and supplied them with physical descriptions and characteristics of the subjects being painted, and any other details which they required.

This correspondence forms a major segment of the record group. The remainder of the records consists primarily of information on the individual subjects, such as survey sheets sent to relatives and associates to gather physical data, and biographical and technical information necessary for the project. There was also a large number of photographs originally with the record group. These photographs show the individuals to be depicted in the murals and were used by the artists as guides in the painting of their subjects. The photographs have been removed from the record group, cataloged, and are now housed with the rest of the Archives' extensive photograph collection, under the heading "Shriver Hall Murals."

Bibliography:
"Death Claims A. J. Shriver, Noted Lawyer." The (Baltimore) Sun. September 4, 1939.
"Famous Beauties Completed at Hopkins." The (Baltimore) Evening Sun. November 9, 1956.
"Hopkins Installing Statues Detailed in Shriver Will." The (Baltimore) Evening Sun. January 25, 1957.
"Painters and Sculptors To Execute Decorations At Shriver Hall Named." The Johns Hopkins University News-Letter. October 22, 1954.
"Shriver Hall Nearly Ready For Mural of 10 Beauties." The (Baltimore) News-Post. September 14, 1954.
"Shriver Will Decrees Mural of Ten Baltimore Beauties." The (Baltimore) Sun. September 15, 1939.

NOTE: All the above-listed sources may be found in the Ferdinand Hamburger Archives, under the headings "Shriver Hall," and "Shriver, Alfred Jenkins," in the Vertical File.