The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Kenarden Lodge

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Institution Name: College of Wooster
Original/Historic Place Name: Kenarden Lodge
Location on Campus: 1209 N. Bever
Date(s) of Construction and Designer(s):

1911	original construction Holden, Lansing C.
1991-1992	remodeled Unknown

Type of Place: Individual building
Style(s): (Glossary)
Materials:

Foundation: brick; concrete block

Walls: brick

Roof: asphalt shingle

Function:

ca. 1911-present (2007)

residence hall

Significance: architecture, culture
Landmark designation:

none

Narrative: see below
References: see below

Narrative:
Kenarden Lodge (built in 1911) is a residence hall built and named by Mrs. John S. Kennedy. It accommodates 141 students. Emma Baker Kennedy, wife of New York banker John Stewart Kennedy, named the dormitory after their summer home at Bar Harbor, Maine. Completely remodeled in 1991-1992, Kenarden Lodge continues to serve as a residence hall.

The College's traditions relating to men's social clubs date to Kenarden Lodge's early years. When national fraternities were banned, men's social clubs were housed in Kenarden at a time when the building's seven vertical sections each had their own entrance. These groups thus became known as "sections" (e.g. 1st section, 2nd section, etc.) in accordance with their location in Kenarden, and these designations hold to the present day despite the fact that the groups also have Greek names. They are no longer housed in Kenarden.

References:

I. Bibliographic sources:

Notestein, Lucy Lilian. Wooster of the Middle West. New Haven: Published for the College of Wooster by Yale University Press, 1937. Reprint, Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1971.

II. Location of other data:

University: Library, Special Collections