Isaac Morgan Atwood served as president of the Canton Theological School between 1897 and 1899, when St. Lawrence University and its Universalist seminary came under one administration. His son, John Murray Atwood, was dean of the Theological School from 1914 until his death in 1951. Atwood Hall opened in 1955 as a memorial to both men, who served a combined 67 years as head of Theology at St. Lawrence. In 1965, following the restructuring of the Unitarian and Universalist churches into a single denomination, the Theology Department closed. Inside Atwood Hall today are classrooms and lecture halls, as well as offices for the Department of Education and Religious Studies.