Loockerman Hall on the campus of Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The property is significant as an example of pre-Revolutionary architecture in Delaware, and later as the first main building for Delaware State University, a land-grant HBCU.
The Loockerman family was a wealthy Dutch-American family that originally settled in America in the early 17th century. Nicholas Loockerman and his wife built what is now known as Loockerman Hall around 1723, as the centerpiece to their plantation where they enslaved Black laborers to support their genteel lifestyle.
In 1891, the property was purchased by the Delaware General Assembly to establish what was then named the Delaware College for Colored Students. The year prior, the Morrill Act of 1890 required states to establish separate land-grant universities for Black students if Black students were barred from admission to the state's existing land-grant universities. This law spurred the creation of many Black land-grant colleges and universities, including what would later become known as Delaware State University. In fitting with the original purpose of land-grant institutions, the college initially offered agricultural, chemical, classical, engineering and scientific courses of study. At various other times in the institution's history, it has offered grade school and junior college courses.
Loockerman Hall, which is the center of campus, has served various academic, housing, and administrative purposes on campus. It is currently used as an event space for the university.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service