Title: Kemper Center Records
Inclusive Dates: 1976-1977, 1992-1999

Creator:

• Kemper Center (Kenosha, Wis.)

Call Number: UWP Manuscript Collection 37

Quantity: 0.4 cubic feet (1 archives box)
Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Parkside Libraries, Archives Department

Archival Locations:

UW-Parkside Library / Parkside Area Research Ctr. (Map)

UW-Parkside Library / Parkside Area Research Ctr. (Map)

See the catalog entry for information about possible additional materials and access to the collection.

Abstract:

This collection contains news clippings, correspondence, and material regarding a historical, cultural, and arts center in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-pks-uwpksmc037

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Kemper Center had its beginning in 1861, as the private home of United States Senator Charles Durkee. In 1865, Senator Durkee's home became a boarding school for young women. The Episcopal girls' school became Kemper Hall in 1871, in memory of Bishop Jackson Kemper, the First Missionary Bishop for the Northwest Territory of the American Episcopal Church. When the Episcopal Sisters of St. Mary assumed the leadership of the school in 1878, Kemper Hall also became the Mother House for the Western Province of the order, which at the time extended to the Pacific Ocean.

Kemper Center Inc., was established as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation in order to purchase the property on a land contract until additional funding could be secured. The preservers of Kemper raised $150,000, which was matched by a federal Land and Water Conservation (LAWCON) grant to purchase the property from the Sisters of St. Mary. Kemper Center was then given to Kenosha County, and it became Kenosha's seventh County Park.

When Kenosha County agreed to accept the gift of Kemper Center, Janet Lance Anderson, a 1910 Kemper Hall graduate, deeded her home, adjacent to the Kemper property, to Kenosha County. The Anderson residence functionally became part of Kemper Center after Mrs. Anderson's death in 1989, and in 1992 opened as the Anderson Arts Center.

Collection contains newspaper clippings and correspondence regarding Kemper Hall, and meeting minutes. It also includes copies of legal documents regarding the Kemper Center including the deed between Kemper Hall and Western Province of the Community of St. Mary's dated June of 1976 and the Kemper Hall Preservation Agreement between the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the County of Kenosha dated April 27th, 1992.

Files are organized alphabetically by record type, then chronologically.

See the UWP Libraries' Archives Department Citation Guide for Primary Sources

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

Donated to UW-Parkside Archives and Area Research Center by Ann Day in 2014.

Processing Information

Processed by Melissa Olson in 2016.

	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	1994
Box   1 Folder   2	1995
Box   1 Folder   3	1996
Box   1 Folder   4	1997
Box   1 Folder   5	Deed between Kemper Hall and Western Province of the Community of St. Mary's, 1976 June
Box   1 Folder   6	Kenosha County Board of Supervisors, Resolution No. 34 regarding Kemper Hall property, 1977
Box   1 Folder   7	Meeting minutes, 1994-1995
	News clippings
Box   1 Folder   8	1992
Box   1 Folder   9	1994
Box   1 Folder   10	1995
Box   1 Folder   11	1996
Box   1 Folder   12	1997
Box   1 Folder   13	1999
Box   1 Folder   14	Preservation agreement for Kemper Hall between the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the County of Kenosha, 1992 April 27