Kean history buildings: Hutchinson and Hennings Hall

By Leanne Manna | Published March 1, 2018

Even the buildings of Kean and the names behind them have a rich history. Take for example Hutchinson Hall, also known as the “J” building after its namesake John C. Hutchinson. Joining the faculty in 1934, Hutchinson was the chair of the Department of History and Social Science, and later became the first chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Welfare. He worked at the college for a total of 37 years and won the college’s first Outstanding Teaching award.

He retired in June of 1974 to Santa Rosa California, less than a year before the building would be named for him. The building was originally known as the “O” building and was built at a projected cost of $4.5 million. Designed by J. Robert Hillier, the building was considered the capstone of a five year educational and capital program. In fact, the building was actually constructed with the idea to one day add an addition. That addition would come almost 30 years later in the form of Hennings Hall.

Hennings Hall is named after George and Dorothy Hennings, professors of the natural sciences and education respectively. The couple met while teaching at Newark State and combined, taught over 15,000 students for 63 years at the college. Planning for the building began in 1995, was completed around 1998 and then it was the New Academic Building as late as 2003. The idea in the construction was to build up instead of out. Hennings was to be four floors with a total of 40,000 square feet, or 10,000 square feet per floor. The original purpose of Hennings Hall was to provide much needed classroom space for the growing, soon to be university.

At the time the college was actually falling short on the amount of classroom space by the Commission of Higher Education. That lack of space is what was keeping Kean College from becoming Kean University. Really, thanks to Hennings Hall, Kean has its current university status. Today, Hennings Hall houses the department of education.

History does not only exist in faded documents or the textbooks that students pretend to read. History can be discovered anywhere if one knows how to look for it. Walking through Hutchinson, Hennings, or any of the buildings on campus, look for the markers of their past. There are plaques, pictures, or other elements often overlooked that can tell a lot about Kean’s past and the people who shaped it. Thank you to the Kean University Archives and Special Collections for the information and images.

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