Owen House
Robert Owen Cooperative, located on 1017 Oakland, was purchased in 1947. Before the property was officially purchased, Owen House was located in a rented house on State Street and began operating early in the 1940’s. In 1945, Owen House changed to a women’s house because of the scarcity of male students during World War II. It changed back into a men’s house a year later as soldiers returned from the war, and went co-ed in the 1960s. Owen House also housed the ICC office until it moved into the Student Activities Building in 1957.
Owen house is named for the British reformer and socialist, Robert Owen, who is known as the ‘Father of Co-operation’ and of British socialism.