Construction of Southeast Hall was completed in 1952 and in 1961 it was named in honor of Irene Putnam who endowed the Putnam Scholarship program at K-State as a memorial to her late husband, Harry J. Putnam. The building was the third residence hall added to the dormitory complex in the northeast section of campus. Van Zile Hall (1926) and Boyd Hall (1951) are the other two halls.