Baker House
Ella Baker Graduate Cooperative, located at 917-923 S. Forest Avenue, has had several names throughout its colorful history, including Mark VIII, Pinkerell, Joint House, Tri-House, and the James R. Jones House. Baker originally operated as two separate houses; Mark VIII a women's co-op, purchased in 1961, and Pickerell, a men's co-op purchased in 1965. The two houses were connected via the addition of a large central room and functioned as a single co-op. After being remodeled in 2007, the co-op adopted its current name and shifted focus to attracting graduate students, making it the first ICC coop to not primarily target undergraduate students.
Ella Baker was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist, known for her oratory skills and strong belief in organizing. Distrustful of authority and hierarchical structures, Baker was a strident adocate for using direct action to create self-sustaining people's movements.
