Kerr

Kerr Hall (KH)

You can get to Kerr Hall from Jorgenson Hall via a number of underground or elevated walkways. And as you’re probably now lost and late to your class in KHE, KHW, KHS or KHN, this is as good a time as any to ponder the building's historical lineage. 

Kerr Hall is more than just a labyrinth of yellow-ish lockers surrounded by asbestos and lead, and supposedly haunted (human remains were found in sealed underground tunnels in 2007). The land on which Kerr Hall stands – bordered by Gould, Victoria, Gerrard and Church streets – was initially a swampy plot, which was stolen, and later bought by none other than Egerton Ryerson for 4,500 pounds in 1849. As intended by Ryerson, the land was used to build a teachers college – the Upper Canada Normal School. Completed in three years, the two storey structure had a Classical Revival style exterior and Gothic interior. In addition to classrooms, the Normal School housed the Council of Public Instruction chamber and various branches of the Education Department. There was also a theater, an art gallery, two rooms for a museum (open to the public free of charge), and a book depository. The property also contained fruit, vegetable, and botanical gardens, a small arboretum, and two acres for agricultural experiments.

When the reality of the Second World War hit Gould Street, the government of Ontario offered the buildings for a federal-provincial war training center. In 1941, the Normal School was converted to dormitories, barracks and drill halls for the Dominion-Provincial War Emergency Training Program and the Royal Canadian Air Force, becoming No. 6 Initial Training Centre. After the war, the institution was renamed yet again - - as the Toronto Training and Re-establishment Institute, it provided services for veterans until 1948. 

In that same year, Howard Hillen Kerr took office at the ever-changing school, becoming the first Principal, and founder, of Ryerson Institute of Technology. Kerr had lofty plans to make Ryerson the “MIT of Canada'' through the establishment of technical schools, and was pre-approved by the province to achieve this goal, making the institution the only multi-purpose school in Canada at the time. With Kerr at the helm, the building once known as the Normal School became Ryerson Hall in memory of Egerton Ryerson. Ryerson Hall would serve as the main building for the Ryerson Institute of Technology until the late 1950s. Demolished section by section between 1958-63 to make room for an increasing student body and course offerings, Ryerson Hall was replaced by the Kerr Hall quadrangle structure. Kerr Hall’s numerous (at least 13!) entrance/exit points and confusing corridors which link together four buildings (KHN, KHS, KHE and KHW) are a result of the construction process which occurred in stages so that students could continue to use sections of Ryerson Hall. All that remains today of Ryerson Hall, and the Normal School, is its front door and surrounding façade which can be found on the south side of the quad. 

Howard Kerr’s term as Principal of Ryerson Institute of Technology lasted for about 20 years, from 1948 to 1966. Deeply concerned with the quality of education, he believed it necessary to preserve and evolve technology and democracy. Under his direction, the Ryerson Institute of Technology sought to be a highly progressive institution, offering more learning opportunities in newly emerging fields. Kerr’s aim was to provide a unique opportunity for students to simultaneously learn specific vocational competence and a core of cultural wisdom in any field offered at the school. The new curriculum introduced by Kerr included early childhood education, journalism, nursing and engineering. Widely regarded as a prideful man, Kerr ran an incredibly strict school, having the final say on all academic and financial matters. Faculty and students were held to high standards and were expected to uphold a professional environment. For Kerr, students were representatives of the institution and were to conduct themselves accordingly. It was his steadfast commitment to the elevation of the institution that earned Kerr the title of “the lion”. This is in contrast to his successor, Fred Jorgenson, who was affectionately labelled “the lamb”. 

Resource List

McTeague, M. (2010). A Janus in the Cold War: The Founding of the Ryerson Institute of Technology. The Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, 35(2): 41-52.

Stagg, R. (1998). Serving Society’s Needs: A History of Ryerson Polytechnical University [Pamphlet]. Ryerson University. 

Virang, S. (2013, February 19). Feature from the Collections: Looking Back at the History of the Normal School Building – Part One. Toronto Metropolitan University, Archives & Special Collections. https://library.torontomu.ca/asc/2013/02/feature-from-the-collections-looking-back-at-the-history-of-the-normal-school-building-part-one/

Virang, S. (2013, April 25). Feature from the Collections: Looking Back at the History of the Normal School Building – Part Two. Toronto Metropolitan University, Archives & Special Collections. https://library.torontomu.ca/asc/2013/04/feature-from-the-collections-looking-back-at-the-history-of-the-normal-school-building-part-two/