Life on Campus
1876 was a momentous time of change and development on the Back-Bay campus of what was then called “Boston Tech.” Built in 1875, MIT's third building, the combination gymnasium and drill hall also contained MIT's first on campus dining establishment, Jones' Lunch. The photo below is one of the only records of Mr. Jones’ restaurant, as well as the first photograph of Black members of the MIT community. As there were no dorms on campus at the time, this restaurant functioned as one of the first available social spaces for MIT students to come together outside of their designated class drawing rooms, and helped to keep students together in their down time instead of dispersing into the restaurants, bars, and taverns of Boston.
1876 also saw the construction of MIT’s fourth building, the Annex, which contained a number of laboratories and workshops and most notably the Woman’s Advanced Chemical Laboratory. The opening of this designated laboratory in 1876, which allowed women students to conduct hands-on scientific research, led to a significant increase in the number of women at the Institute. Funded by the Women’s Education Association of Boston and other donors, the Woman’s Lab helped make the presence of women students on campus a permanent reality. You can find more materials related to the Woman’s Lab here.
