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surpassed 1,000 students by the mid-1940s, leaving existing science facilities insufficiently sized—not to mention outdated—for the growing student body.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).
Architects W. H. Sears, P. B. Shepherd and Earl C. Smith designed the structure, and the L. A. Warlick Contracting Company supervised the construction. The exterior of brick and reinforced concrete with stone trim was chosen to match the collegiate Gothic style of older campus buildings like Founders Hall and Hooper Race.
Brock Hall’s interior totaled over 30,000 square feet of floor space for academic use, including a herbarium, a scientific publications library, office spaces and a biology lecture hall described at the time as the “most valuable lecture room in the entire university.” Laboratories, stock and preparation rooms, equipment storage and offices occupied the top two floors.
The building also included a laboratory named in memory of alumnus John B. Haskins Jr., who attended the University from 1940 to 1942 and died of rheumatic fever in 1944. His father, John B. Haskins, was a Chattanooga physician and surgeon who gave a generous $50,000 gift to the Science Department in his son’s memory.
The building’s namesake, former U.S. Sen. William E. Brock (1869-1950), was a prominent local businessman, civic leader and longtime University trustee. For several decades, he was the president of the Brock Candy Company.
During his brief time in the Senate from 1929-1931, Brock worked to include provisions for navigation and flood control of the Tennessee River through dams in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930, laying the foundation for TVA—which was established three years later. Brock also served as chairman of the University’s postwar expansion fundraising committee; the development campaign quickly raised $375,000, and Brock received a special citation for this success from the Board of Trustees in 1944.
For all of these reasons, the Executive Committee voted unanimously in favor of naming the building in his honor, noting that “in designating and dedicating this building as a permanent monument to one who has served the university as few men have, our action will meet with the universal approval of our community.”
With the completion of Grote Hall in 1970, many departments formerly housed in Brock Hall relocated to the new building. Extensive work on Brock Hall in the mid-1970s remodeled and modernized the space for new occupants, including the Departments of Sociology, Anthropology and Nursing. Additional renovations are currently underway, and Brock Hall is scheduled to reopen in 2026.
In his role as University archivist, UC Foundation Associate Professor Noah Lasley works to acquire, arrange and describe official University of Tennessee at Chattanooga records and other valuable materials that document the University’s history and functions. His research interests include digital humanities, digital curation and archival instruction.