The hall houses the J. William & Mary Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University.

[1] It was designed by Milwaukee architect Charles D. Crane, completed in 1907 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

[2][3] Marquette College was established in 1881, with one four-story building on 10th and State streets accommodating 450 students.

[4] The new building opened to the Jesuit community at Marquette in 1907, only a few weeks prior to Robert Johnston's death.

[citation needed] On May 15, 2018 a Milwaukee County Transit System bus crashed into the west entrance of the north side of the building, nobody inside the building was hurt but the driver and passengers were rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.