Capen House, located at 8 Professors Row, was built and is named for Tufts president Elmer Hewitt Capen. When Capen became president in 1875, the Trustees felt that it would be desirable to have the incoming president live on the campus. The ground floor was especially designed for receptions and social assemblies. One of its first uses was to house a meeting of the New England Association of College Presidents, which met on the Tufts campus for the first time. President Capen resided in the house he built until his death in 1905. Increasing enrollments in Jackson College led the house to be converted into a ormitory for women. In 1970 the house became a coeducational undergraduate residence, and in 1977 it was made the home of the African- American Center.