Guild Hall was constructed in 1951 to house the students of Wagner College. Wagner College was founded in 1883 under the auspices of the Lutheran Proseminary of Rochester. The college was established to prepare young men for entry into Lutheran seminaries. Students were taught to be fluent in both German and English, which would allow them to minister in both languages. This was reflective of the community's demographics in the 1880s. The college moved to the Grymes Hill area of Staten Island in 1918. It occupied an Italianate villa, the Cunard mansion, and a former hotel. By 1928, the college's curriculum reflected that of an American liberal arts program, leaving behind the German gymnasium model it initially followed as it moved downstate. The college allowed for women's enrollment in 1933.