New Alexander House name honors Stevens family pioneer

The Alexander House on the Stevens campus, which served as the old Student Center as well as a variety of other uses in earlier years, will be renamed Martha Bayard Stevens Hall, President Nariman Farvardin announced. The change brings to greater prominence the name of a woman influential in Hoboken history and instrumental in founding Stevens. The building was rededicated by President Farvardin and a new sign outside of the building bearing Martha Bayard Stevens’ name was installed on Tuesday.

Edwin A. Stevens passed away when his wife, Martha Bayard Stevens, was just 37, providing in his will for the creation of an institution of higher learning in Hoboken. As an executor of his will, Martha saw that the university would open as a school focused on science and engineering—it was the first college dedicated to mechanical engineering in the U.S.—just two years later in 1870.

However, Martha Bayard Stevens is perhaps best known as a civic leader and philanthropist who worked to improve the quality of life in Hoboken, being particularly dedicated to education and the expansion of public knowledge. She established the Industrial Education Association, which trained young women in financial literacy (“home economics neatness and the principles of saving”), as well as the Martha Institute, which taught industrial skills to young men.

Much of her work impacts the citizens of Hoboken today. For instance, she funded the Hoboken Public Library, which opened in 1896. She was also a patron of Hoboken’s ecclesiastic life, funding a number of area churches of multiple denominations, including endowing the Episcopal Church of the Holy Innocents. Her concern for the general welfare of the city was reflected in her funding of parks, hospitals, homes, a recreational pier for the poor known as the River Walk, and the construction of the Willow Terrace workers’ housing project.

The building formerly known as Alexander House served a number of purposes since it opened with the university in 1870. Originally the residence of Samuel Bayard Dod, the brother of Martha Bayard Stevens and former president of the Board of Trustees, the building became the home of Martha’s son-in-law Archibald Alexander and his wife Caroline Bayard Stevens after they married. It began to be referred to informally as the “Alexander House.” The original house was destroyed by fire in 1909, but it was rebuilt the following year.

The house was the official presidential residence, housing President Humphreys and his wife Eva, from 1916 to 1929. After the newly restored Hoxie House took over that role, the building served first as faculty housing and then the student center until the opening of the University Center Complex earlier this year.

For her lifelong service and charitable patronage of the University and Hoboken, this week’s dedication honors a deserving figure of Stevens’ heritage.