Bracken House: A gift from friends and supporters

For more information about this tour: umc@bsu.edu.


	At a ceremony on June 5, 1999, at Bracken House, Thomas L. DeWeese (left), president of Ball State University's Board of Trustees, accepts the keys to the house from Frank A. Bracken and his sister and brothers, Alexander E. Bracken, Elizabeth Bracken Wiese, and William M. Bracken. The fourth brother, Thomas B. Bracken, was unable to attend the ceremony. (Ball State Photographic Services)		A new purpose After their own children were grown with homes of their own, Alec and Rosemary Bracken decided in their will to donate their home to Ball State University, an institution that had been an important part of their lives for many years. Alec spent his freshman year at Ball State and later they both received honorary degrees from the university. Alec was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1954-80 and was president of the board from 1958-80. The Brackens stipulated the house should be used as a home for the university's president. Alec died in 1991 and Rosemary in 1997. Ball State accepted the gift in 1998 and asked Scholer Corporation, whose founder was the original architect, to provide architectural services.