Black Cultural Center

Several buildings along Ninth St. were acquired by Rensselaer in the 1960s. The building at 41 9th St. was purchased in 1968 and used by the psychology department as a laboratory until 1971. When the psychology lab was moved to Carnegie, the building became the Black Cultural Center or "Black House". The Black Student Alliance was given an $18,000 loan by the Rensselaer Union to renovate the space. The Center, an annex to the Union , would have lecture and study rooms, a permanent display of Afro-American artifacts, a library of black culture and residence space. Several black students would live on the second floor of the Center to help maintain the building and, through room fees, pay back the Union loan.