Kean University

• Normal School, 1855-1913
• New Jersey State Normal School at Newark, 1913-1936
• New Jersey State Teachers College at Newark, 1937-1958
• Newark State College, 1958-72
• Kean College of New Jersey, 1973-97

• Educational

Kean University was founded in the city of Newark in 1855. In January of that same year, the Newark Board of Education voted to establish a Normal School to prepare educators to teach in the rapidly expanding Newark Public Schools. Classes commenced in April 1855 at Newark High School. Courses also took place at the Market Street School.

A golden age at the Normal School began in 1913 with the construction of the state-of-the-art building on 4th and Belleville (now Broadway) Avenue. The school’s stewardship transferred from the City of Newark to the State and changed its name to the New Jersey State Normal School at Newark. In the beginning, students attended classes for two years and earned a certificate in either General Education or Kindergarten-Primary. Later, Industrial Arts and Fine arts were added.

By 1934, a program of study could be completed in three to four years, and teaching certificates were replaced with college degrees. Extension courses were offered to active teachers in the evenings and Saturday mornings. In 1937, the institution and the other State Normal Schools were renamed to replace “Normal School” with the word college. We became the New Jersey State Teachers College at Newark; however, most people simply referred to the school as Newark State Teachers College. In 1947, the college introduced a curriculum for the Teaching of Handicapped Children. In 1948, the graduate division of the college was added.

In 1953, a tract of Kean family land in Union, New Jersey was purchased for the new campus location. Formerly known as Green Lane Farm, the unique library and farm building were built by Hamilton Fish Kean after World War I. It was known for prize-winning cattle and fowl.

In October 1957, the State Board of Education adopted a resolution to change the names of all the teachers’ colleges to reflect their postal locations. Union Township in Union County already had a Union Junior College, so the New Jersey State Teachers College at “Union” was short-lived. On July 1, 1958, the name was changed again to Newark State College, following the guidelines issued to all the State Teachers’ Colleges, removing the term “teacher” to reflect an expanding curriculum that included a degree in Liberal Arts.

By the early 1970s, the campus began to expand with more buildings and majors. It was, yet again, time to select a new name. A special Name Change Committee was created to offer suggestions to the Board of Trustees. In 1973, Newark State College was renamed Kean College of New Jersey, which was appropriate as the campus was located on Kean family land and honored the philanthropy and political contributions of many Kean family members.

On September 26, 1997, the Commission on Higher Education granted university status to our institution. In the ensuing years, the campus continued to expand to include East Campus, the historic Liberty Hall Museum and Arboretum, Kean Ocean, Kean Skylands, Wenzhou-Kean, located in the Zhejiang Province of the People’s Republic of China, and the Liberty Hall Academic Center & Exhibition Hall. In 2021, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill designating Kean University as the state’s first urban research university to recognize Kean’s growing role in conducting research and generating solutions to issues in urban communities statewide.

Kean University offers over fifty undergraduate major programs organized within six schools that cover a range of disciplines in the liberal arts, natural and social sciences, health professions, teacher education, and applied disciplines. The Nathan Weiss College of Graduate Studies administers graduate programs ranging from education, public administration, and nursing. Kean University continues to embrace its mission of creating a world-class, innovative, and inclusive society through equity and excellence in teaching, learning, global research, and public engagement.

Founded in 1855, Kean University has become one of the largest metropolitan institutions of higher education in the region. From its modest beginnings in Newark to its current home on the bustling 150-acre campus situated on the Kean family’s ancestral land adjacent to the historic Liberty Hall Museum in Union, Kean offers an incredibly rich history and access to internships and research opportunities through its close proximity to New York City.

The Special Collections Research Library and Archive at Kean University is available by appointment. Please contact Head Archivist Erin Alghandoor for more information.

• English