Kemper Hall | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Kemper Hall

Kemper Hall | Wisconsin Historical Society

6501 3rd Ave., Kenosha, Kenosha County

Kemper Hall, a boarding school for girls, dates to 1855 when St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and some dedicated Kenosha citizens signed a charter launching the Kenosha Female Seminary. In 1865, under the name of St. Claire's Hall, the school moved to this site, the home and property of U.S. Senator Charles Durkee. The name was changed to Kemper Hall in 1870 to honor Wisconsin's first Episcopal bishop, Jackson Kemper. During its 105 years of educational service, Kemper Hall achieved prominence as a young women's preparatory school.

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[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]