When a natural gas explosion shook Kerr Hall last Wednesday, it caused damage to more than just a freshman residence hall. Kerr Hall, one of Northeastern’s oldest buildings, has a rich history that dates back to the early 1900s, said Lauren Mandel, library assistant at the Boston Historical Society.
Built at 96 The Fenway in 1914 and named Students House, the building was originally intended as a rooming house for young female college students. In the early 1900s “many Boston schools did not provide dormitory facilities, and female students were often forced to live in cheap, unregulated rooming houses,” according to the National Park Service’s (NPS) Web site (www.cr.nps.gov). The building was constructed by educated and affluent women in the area to make it easier for young women to gain an education.
The building originally housed 85 women, most of whom attended the New England Conservatory of Music. Later, when the conservatory began providing its own dormitories, women from the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Forsyth Dental School and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy began using the building, according to NPS.
From 1936 to 1947 the building, still used as a women’s dorm, was called the Boston Students’ Union, Mandel said. Then, from 1948 to 1972, the building was known as Students House, Inc.
In 1972, Northeastern purchased the building, Mandel said, and on Oct. 28, 1975, named it after Harry Hamilton Kerr, a former member of the NU Corporation and Northeastern Board of Trustees. Since then, it has housed over 100 freshmen per year.
Kerr Hall has been named to the NPS National Register of Historic Places and holds one of the Boston Historical Society’s “historic markers” – a plaque on the front of the building that details the building’s history, Mandel said.
The building was also featured on a United States Postal Service postcard in 1998 as part of its historic preservation series and in commemoration of Northeastern’s 100th anniversary, according to the United States Postal Service.
Damage estimates due to the explosion last Wednesday are still being determined, said Fred McGrail, Northeastern spokesman. Although students have been moved out of the historic building for the rest of the semester, the building is expected to reopen in the fall, he said.
