Selwyn Hall-South was originally built in 1836 as a private residence known as Linden Hall. In 1875 the Central Pennsylvania Diocese of the Episcopal Protestant Church purchased the property and opened a military school known as Selwyn Hall Academy. The name Selwyn has remained with the building ever since.

The building was purchased in 1902 by Schuylkill Seminary, a predecessor to Albright College.

Selwyn Hall-North was constructed in 1928 as a dining hall and women's dormitory in preparation for the merger of Schuylkill College and Albright College in Meyerstown.

The Admission Office, Career Development Center, Financial Aid Office, Accelerated Degree Programs, the Sociology Department, the Dean of Students and the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs all call Selwyn Hall home.

George Augustus Selwyn

George Augustus Selwyn (1809-1878) was the first Bishop of New Zealand of the Protestant Episcopal Church. A graduate of Eton and a scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, Selwyn was consecrated as a Bishop in October 1841. While in New Zealand, he was instrumental in spreading Christianity among the native Maori people.

Selwyn returned to England as the Bishop of Lichfield in 1868. Selwyn College, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, and Selwyn College of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, are both named in his honor.