Visitors entering the Faculty Room of Nassau Hall are instantly struck by the richness of its paneling and the arrangement of the benches facing each other modeled after seating in the British House of Commons. The room was used as both a library and a prayer hall by the college. The Continental Congress having fled Philadelphia in 1783 out of fear that soldiers demanding back pay might riot, met in Nassau Hall, thus making it temporarily the capitol of the United States. Consequently, Nassau Hall was the setting for the first formal visit by a foreign minister, Peter John Van Berkel of the Netherlands, extending recognition to the new United States of America.
