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Gleason Archer founded Suffolk Law School in 1906 in his Roxbury home. Enrollment grew rapidly, and in 1919 construction began on Suffolk’s new home at 20 Derne Street, immediately behind the Massachusetts State House. Located at the edge of Boston’s West End and within walking distance of public transportation, the school was readily accessible to immigrant communities. Here, in a location well suited to its mission, he built a permanent home for Suffolk Law School.
Then-Governor Calvin Coolidge laid the cornerstone in 1920, and work on the structure was completed a year later. In 1924 Archer had a giant neon sign—which proclaimed “Suffolk Law School”—placed atop his new building as a gesture of defiance against those who looked down on the fledgling school and its striver students. The sign remained until 1937, when it was replaced with one reading “Suffolk University,” which stood tall until 1946. Over time, as the University expanded and student enrollment increased, Suffolk outgrew the building and in 1999 the Law School moved into brand-new Sargent Hall on Tremont Street. —Michael Dello Iacono
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spring 2026
Marisa J. Kelly, President
Photograph courtesy University Archives