The United States’ involvement in World War II elevated science to a national priority, and this was reflected in the curricula of higher education institutions across the country in the postwar years.
The University of Chattanooga was no exception, and Brock Hall, dedicated in November 1949 as a science building housing the Biology, Chemistry, Engineering Drawing, Geography, and Geology Departments, is a physical reminder of that era.
University enrollment surpassed 1,000 students by the mid-1940s, leaving existing science facilities insufficiently sized—not to mention outdated—for the growing student body. In fact, campus space was so tight that classrooms in Brock Hall were used at the start of the 1949-1950 academic year, even as construction was ongoing.
The dedication of the building marked the completion of the first phase of the institution’s postwar expansion program, which also included the Industrial Research Institute (1946), Chamberlain Field north stadium-dormitory (1948) and Annie Merner Pfeiffer Hall (1949)…