Kate “Ma” Estabrooke, the wife of English professor Horace M. Estabrooke, served for many years as house mother of Mount Vernon Hall, a women’s dormitory that was built in 1898. She was awarded an honorary degree in 1926. In 1911, a dining hall was named for Horace M. Estabrooke, who served as head of the English Department from 1891 until his death in 1908, but the wooden building didn’t last long. When federal funds made building a new women’s dormitory possible in 1940, the name Estabrooke Hall was chosen again, this time honoring Kate Estabrooke and her service to the university.