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History of the Gaston Prentice House

The Gaston Prentice House, originally located at 128 S. Willow Street, was the home of May H. Prentice, among the first faculty members of Kent State Normal School. Prentice began teaching extension courses in fall 1912 and retired in 1930 after the summer session. When the Memorial Gateway at the corner of East Main and South Lincoln streets was dedicated in her honor, Prentice called the gate “a fitting symbol of the college ... as an entrance into the larger life” (Shriver, Phillip R., The Years of Youth). She passed away at home three weeks later on Feb. 6, 1935. Her sisters, Georgiana and Eugenia, continued to live in the house, and Georgianna Prentice rented rooms to students until the early 1950s.

The new location for the Wick Poetry Center is in the restored historic Gaston Prentice House, the 113-year old building named for Kent State University’s first faculty member.

As the new home of the Wick Poetry Center, the Gaston Prentice House has been restored and renovated to provide a larger and more flexible space for Wick programs and community use.

In addition to housing the Wick staff and intern offices, the house offers a state-of-the-art digital classroom, the Stan and Tom Wick Library, the Jo Woodward Reading Room, and a third-floor Poet’s Loft for quiet reflection and student conferences.

Photos of the Gaston Prentice House