Writing Prompt 1: Coburn Hall

Writing Prompt 1: Coburn Hall

There is no better way I could begin my first semester at UMass Lowell than learning about it’s history. To learn about something or someone’s history can reveal a lot about what they are today. Lowell is rich in history, most famously for it’s crucial role in the American Industrial Revolution. As Lowell is an important piece of history in the Industrial Revoultion, UMass Lowell is an important piece of history in the city itself. In the University’s mission statement it reads,

“The University continues to build on its founding tradition of innovation, entrepreneurship and partnerships with industry and the community to address challenges facing the region and the world.”

In that case, what a better place to start than Coburn Hall, not only the hall where our FYSH seminar is located each Tuesday, but also the first building to go down in the UMass Lowell history books. Constructed in 1892, Coburn Hall is literally the foundation of the University we attend today. 

Coburn Hall is over 120 years old. It hasn’t always been Coburn Hall either. During construction, the city of Lowell provided $25,000 (M. Frank, 10) to begin construction on what would become the Lowell Normal School. The building offered over twelve thousand square feet of space for students, located conveniently along the public trolley line that passed just in front of the school. The Normal School was a teaching school, headed by Francis Coburn, who would later have the building named after him. Coburn, formerly the head of Lowell High School suffered a traumatic back injury but continued to head the school in the right direction. Because of this, the building was named after him in 1975. 

As mentioned earlier, Coburn Hall was originally the Lowell Normal School. Students studied everything from English, science, mathematics, and drawing. Art classes and physical education were also offered, all right inside Coburn. Coburn Hall’s open gymnasium/assembly room on the third floor was also home to concerts and even formal dances.  Over one hundred years later, the building itself still stands, only the insides look much different. Coburn Hall is just one of roughly a dozen academic buildings on South Campus of UMass Lowell. In Coburn you will find a variety of students coming from a wide range of backgrounds from all over the world, studying any one of Lowell’s 120 undergraduate majors. Therefor, Coburn Hall is just as important to the education of hundreds now as it has been since the day it opened.

Coburn is the most storied building on campus. The building itself was here before the establishment of the University. Figuratively this building has seen two World Wars, it saw an insane Civil Rights Movement as well as the first Black President. This building stood through decades of the most important history, which is why it is easily the most historically important building on campus.