School History, Records and Photographs

Preface...3

Introduction (from the original document)...4

General Information and Naming the College (from the original document)...5

Administration Building (Classroom Building/Centennial Hall)...6

Stevenson Cottage (first presidential family residence)...7

Speed Hall... 8

Stevenson Hall/Sharp Academic Center...9

The Soldier and Sailors Memorial Gymnasium...10

Baldwin Place...11

Maintenance Building...13

The Abigail E. Weeks-Milton H. Townsend Memorial Library...13

Pfeiffer Hall ... 15

Tye House ...16

Conway Boatman Chapel-Fine Arts Building ...17

“Snack Shack”...18

College Courts ...18

College Park ...18

Langford Apartments ... 19

Lakeside Bowling Alley ... 19

Lakeside Residence Hall...20

The Physical Education Building...20

The Student Center...21

The Mahlon Miller Science Center... 22

Religious Life Center (RLC)... 23

Stewart Apartments...24

The Edward H. Black Technology Center... 24

Union Courts...25

Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey Center for Health & Natural Sciences...25

Preface

This document is a reworking and updating of the original “Tour of the Union College Campus” compiled by Ms. Janet Tarry in May 2008 (see her “Introduction” below). While maintaining the “Tour” idea, I have changed the sequence of entries and utilized a primarily chronological presentation. Many of her original entries have been expanded, some have been edited, and information on newer buildings and areas have been added.

My work here should in no way be considered a “scholarly” document. The intention is to gather together under one cover as much pertinent information as can be found regarding the historical development of campus facilities and areas. My source materials have been the same as those used by Ms. Tarry: the Bradley/Marigold “History” of Union College, college catalogues, Stespean yearbooks, Orange & Black editions, the on-line “Historical Chronology”, and various articles, brochures and papers located in files in the Advancement Office.

I hope that this effort will prove to be a concise, informative, yet useful guide to the history of Union’s buildings and facilities.

Thomas McFarland, Ph.D.

18^th President of Union College

December 2014

Introduction

(from the original document)

While conducting research for the President during the fall of 2007, I discovered a plethora of information about the development of the campus in various sources but there was no one place where this information is maintained. This document is meant to serve as the initial step in collecting information concerning the development of the Union College campus.

Union College has been fortunate to have had several administrators and faculty members with long tenures collecting stories of the College’s development. Individuals such as Edward Black, Milton Townsend, Frances Patridge, Kathleen Moore, Virginia Saddler and many others have served as “oral historians” for the College, but with their passing their stories are not being told. The realization of this loss of oral history brought to my attention the need for a written summary—A Tour of the College.

In 1979, the College’s Centennial year, Dr. W. Gordon Marigold and Dr. Erwin S. Bradley published Union College 1879-1979 as an update of Dr. Bradley’s Union College 1879-1954. These two publications are invaluable to the history of the buildings on campus as well as the development of academic programs, student development and other areas of the college. For this current document the 1979 publication served as the primary source of information. Tara Cooper, Director of Library Services and Denise Wainscott, Vice President for Advancement as well as Dr. Edward Black’s files were also very useful in compiling this information.

Some information may have been inadvertently omitted. There is no deliberate sequencing in presentation. As I was working on this document, events continued on campus that could be added such as the purchase of the College Motel and Knox County Hospital building, use of the Turner property on 25E. Annual addendums could be added to this document after June 30 of each year.

Janet Tarry May 2008

General Information and Naming the College

(from the original document)

General Information

Union College is a descendant of Augusta College, the first college west of the Allegheny Mountains. The idea of Union College was conceived in 1879 by Mr. A. H. Harrit and a group of citizens in Barbourville, KY. A stock company was soon formed and classes began in January of 1880 on the second floor of the Gibson Building located at the corner of High Street and North Main Street. The first facility built on what is now the main campus was the Administration Building. In 1886 the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, upon the recommendation of Rev. S. F. Kelly, purchased the College. The first collegiate President was Dr. Daniel Stevenson who guided the institution’s evolution from an academy to a college.

Naming of Union College

There are three “versions” concerning the naming of the college:

1. Name adopted upon the suggestion of James D. Black because the movement was receiving the unanimous support of the citizens of the town and county regardless of church or political differences. He wanted the name to dispel any negative thought of sectarian or party division.
2. In December 1879 in the first announcement of the College in the London newspaper Echo used the term “Union College” to designate the combining of three departments: classical, business, and Normal (teacher education) education.
3. Union received its name because it was made possible by the united efforts of the people of Barbourville under the leadership of Mr. W. W. Sawyers.

Initially, the College had 2 private structures on what is now the main campus:

• A 4-room dwelling known as the Stickley House located near the present site of Speed Hall
• The small Dishman Cottage where Baldwin Place is now located.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

Construction began in an old apple orchard in 1880 on the first permanent campus facility called the Administration Building. When completed (in 1886 or slightly after) at a cost of approximately $3,400, the three-story structure capped by a bell-tower consisted of a central hall with classrooms and offices on each side on the first floor and a large meeting room used as a chapel together with a room for a Library on the second floor. A cafeteria was located on the ground floor. In 1905, the third floor, originally left unfinished, was completely rebuilt to accommodate the addition of three science laboratories as well as meeting space for literary societies.

On August 24, 1906, lightning struck the bell-tower and the building was completely destroyed by fire. Less than a year later, on June 29, 1907, the cornerstone was laid for the new Administration Building. Much like the first, this was a three-level brick structure trimmed with Tennessee marble with the cafeteria occupying the basement level; classroom and offices on the second level, and science labs and classrooms found on the third. The price-tag to rebuild was approximately $30,000.

Men and women were not allowed to enter the building through the same door. The steps on the Speed Hall (completed in 1905) side were for girls, and those on the Stevenson Hall (first occupied in fall 1907) side were for boys to enter. The central walk from the front steps to College Street served as the dividing line between the men and women. Students were allowed to have “dates” as long as they stayed on the appropriate side of the walk. It has been told that “boys” were permitted to cross the walk to bring their laundry over to the “girls” to wash and iron.

Over time as the administrative offices moved to other facilities (primarily Speed Hall), the building came to be referred to as the Classroom Building. During the 1960s it housed primarily classrooms, faculty offices, and science labs. In the 1970s it was also home to the Department of Business, the audio-visual center (later known as learning resources) and the copying (duplication) center where one or two people did the copying for most of the campus. For a time, some of the library holdings were housed on the second floor. Sciences labs were removed with the opening of the Mahlon Miller Science Center in May 1973. In 1975 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The name was changed officially from Classroom Building to Centennial Hall (following a $600,000 renovation) in 1979—the year of Union’s Centennial celebration. During the 1980’s the Office of Special Programs (career counseling, tutoring, advising, testing, and Upward Bound) were moved to Centennial Hall. All library and learning resource materials were removed from the building when those two areas merged at the completion of the Milton H. Townsend Memorial Annex addition to the Abigail Weeks Memorial Library in 1987. The cafeteria was relocated from the basement of Centennial Hall to the Student Center when that renovation was completed in 1991.

In 2006 the basement level was reconfigured to house the football lockers and dressing room area. During the summer of 2007 under the leadership of President Ed deRosset, central heat and air were installed through the campus geothermal project.

Plans for a complete renovation of the building (estimated at $4.46 million), both interior and exterior, were developed by EOP Architects of Lexington in February 2001. New design plans and estimates ($4.0 million) were again prepared in 2004. Such a project still awaits renewed discussion and a fully developed funding plan.

In the late 1990s a horseshoe-shaped “carriage” drive was created in front of Centennial Hall. It was named the Ramsey Circle after Kenneth L. Ramsey, a valued trustee and major contributor to the completion of the project.

The Legacy Walk is the brick repaving of the main sidewalk leading from the front of Centennial Hall, crossing over Ramsey Circle, and continuing to College Street. Students, alumni, friends, faculty, and staff had/have the opportunity to be a part of this campus landmark by purchasing a brick honoring or memorializing family, faculty member or anyone significant in their lives.

On December 13, 2000 the Kentucky Historical Society placed a Kentucky Historical Highway Marker to the Stevenson Hall side of the midpoint of the Legacy Walk during a ceremony unveiling the Historical Marker for UNION COLLEGE (Marker #2054) at 310 College Street, Barbourville, Knox County.

A tradition was initiated in 2001 of having the graduating class, faculty and dignitaries gather on Ramsey Circle (in front of Centennial Hall) and proceed down the Legacy Walk toward College Street then right and up College Street toward the Chapel, and then right past the front of the Chapel on the way to the commencement exercises in the Robsion Arena.

STEVENSON COTTAGE

The first campus residence for the president was called Stevenson Cottage. In 1892 President Daniel Stevenson purchased at a cost of $300 a small parcel of land northwest of the college plot and built a five-room home for his family. In 1896 the College purchased the property, the deed was transferred, and Dr. Stevenson was reimbursed in full.

The facility was referred to by various names over time. In the fall of 1905, President Easley moved his family into the newly opened Speed Hall and the cottage was renamed Music Hall. From this point on the college president and family would reside in a portion of Speed Hall until a new, separate campus residence was made available in 1925 (later to be called Baldwin Place).

With the destruction of the first Administration Building in August 1906 the cottage was needed for classrooms, but by 1908 it again became the Music Hall. In later years it was also known by the name Campus Cottage.

SPEED HALL

Prior to 1905 the only group housing available to students was for boys who had a small “dorm” located downtown in Dishman Flat. The College administration recognized the need for a place to house girls, and much discussion ensued from 1897-1904, including the role that Mrs. Fanny Speed might play in this facility.

Mrs. Speed was the former Fanny Henning of Shelbyville and Louisville who married Joshua Fry Speed, a close friend to Abraham Lincoln and great-grandson of Dr. Thomas Walker. It was the influence of her former Louisville Trinity Methodist Church pastor, Dr. Daniel Stevenson, which led to her interest in and support for Union College.

Some months after the death of President Stevenson in January 1897, positive steps were taken toward this major project. Mrs. Speed was approached for a contribution to enable the construction of the first student (girls) housing facility. In the spring of 1898 Mrs. Speed declined the request to contribute, but sometime later (after money was raised from other sources) gave $2,500 and verbally committed $2,500 more. The cost of the building was estimated to be $10,000. In December 1901 the college purchased property bordering College Street which included the Stickley House from the Stickley family. It was on this tract that Speed Hall was eventually built.

The August 1902 death of Mrs. Speed left a bequest totaling one half of her estimated $500,000 estate, approximately $266,000, to the College (worth about $3 million in 2014 currency). The Henning family contested the will which postponed the project for a period of time. Without waiting for the outcome of the litigation, sanction was given in February 1903 for moving forward. Progress was slow but by September 1904 the validity of the will was sustained and the dormitory known as Fanny Speed Hall was set to open January 1905.

The new facility was not occupied until the fall of 1905 and included rooms for domestic arts, the Fanny Speed Literary Society, “girls’ gymnastics as well as bedrooms. There was no plumbing system in the building so water was drawn with a bucket and rope from a well at the northwest corner of the hall. During the first year 10 “girls” and ten teachers, three of them men, in addition to President Easley and his family, lived in Speed Hall.

A description of the facility in a 1911 Catalogue read: “Fanny Speed Hall is a three-story building of unique design with spacious halls and parlors. The rooms were ‘elegantly furnished,’ and the hall was possessed of every advantage for the work of the student”.

Funds from the Fanny Speed estate not only helped complete Speed Hall, but were used to rebuild the Administration Building as well as fund a part of the Stevenson Hall construction.

Through the years the facility was used not only for female housing, but for various departmental space. By the mid-1920s, more than fifty girls were crammed into the once spacious facility. The first floor of the building housed the Fine Arts Department during the 1946-47 academic years. It housed the Home Economics Department until its move to Tye House, at the corner of North Main and Manchester streets, in the summer of 1962.

Speed Hall was converted to an administration building when the women’s new residence, Pfeiffer Hall, was opened in January 1943. Administrative offices included: the President, Academic Affairs, Advancement, Alumni, Registrar, Admissions, Financial Aid, and Business Offices. In 1982 Speed Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

During the time of the remodeling of Stevenson Hall into the Sharp Academic Center (2000), Speed Hall underwent a significant renovation. The President’s Office and the Office of Academic Affairs were moved from Speed Hall to the new academic facility.

STEVENSON HALL/SHARP ACADEMIC CENTER

With the opening of Speed Hall in the fall of 1905, one of the most pressing needs became a campus men’s residence hall. Plans were formulated and the intention to build such a facility were announced in January 1906. However, the loss of the Administration Building (due to fire) in the August of 1906 brought this project to a halt. The following year the Board voted not only to rebuild the Administration Building, but to build a residence hall for men—to be named Stevenson Hall in honor of Dr. Daniel Stevenson, the first collegiate president of Union. Construction began on a lot previously purchased in 1904.

In September 1907 boys were housed in the nearly completed structure. The three story hall had rooms accommodating two students each and included several apartments which were used for some administrative housing. Indoor plumbing allowed for bathrooms and hot and cold water! The original front entrance included a huge, twotiered porch with a single level porch at each of the side entrance ways. On at least one occasion the campus-side porch was used as the rostrum for Commencement ceremonies.

At the time of the 75^th anniversary of the institution in 1954, discussions began regarding the need for additional housing for men. The following year the Trustees and then president Conway Boatman engaged John F. Wilson of Lexington to develop plans for a new Stevenson Hall “B” wing to be constructed at a cost of $330,700. By January 1955 enrollment was increasing so rapidly the Board recommended that an additional new wing, “C” wing be added. Final plans called for not only the two new wings, but a renovation of the original building at a total cost of $546,860. It was during this renovation to the original building that all of the large porches were removed.

Students began occupying the first new wing in May, 1956. The finished residence facilities provided rooms for 208 men and included guest room, an infirmary and all standard dormitory accommodations.

By the fall of 1958 the female population had seriously outgrown their Pfeiffer Hall facility and in order to keep the women on campus, 55 were housed for the first time in “C” wing of Stevenson Hall. A number of male students had to be housed in town.

With the end of the Vietnam War and the opening of community colleges in the northeastern states in the 1970s, enrollment declined and “A” and “C” wings were converted to house faculty and programmatic offices.

At the end of the 1990s the need for additional and more modern academic facilities became a necessity. During 1999-2000 academic year, “B” wing was demolished, and “A” wing (the original building) was completely remodeled and wedded into a new academic facility, named the Phillip and Anne Sharp Academic Center. Total cost of the project amounted to $3.8 million. The Sharps are alums of Union, and in 1993 Dr. Phillip Sharp was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine! The original wing of Stevenson Hall remains the “Stevenson Wing” of the Sharp Academic Center. “C” wing continues to be called Stevenson Hall and serves as a student residence hall for either female or male students as the population fluctuates.

THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM

During Dr. Franklin’s tenure as president and in his first annual report (September 1916) he named a gymnasium as Union’s first need, estimating its cost to be $20,000. Three years passed with no action. Students descended upon the Board of Education (Trustees), sat in the President’s office and presented a petition signed by almost every member of the student body. This action produced immediate results. President Franklin was authorized to contact Groff architects of Knoxville to develop plans.

Ground breaking took place May 27, 1919 during commencement week. Downtown stores were closed from 2:00-3:00 for the event. It was decided at that time to have the new gymnasium serve as a memorial to the soldiers and sailors of Knox County and the service men of the Methodist Episcopal Church from the state of Kentucky.

To help pay for the construction local church circuits were asked to donate $5 for each enlisted man from that location. The final cost amounted to $45,000 including plumbing, wiring, and inside furnishings. The basement included a swimming pool (physically divided for men and women’s “bathing”), showers, toilets, lockers, and dressing rooms. The main playing floor of 90’ x 60’ gave ample room for indoor athletics and physical exercises, while the balcony encircling the perimeter incorporated a running track. The cornerstone was laid Thanksgiving Day 1919, but the building was not completely finished until late in the fall of 1920.

This building served as the gymnasium for the College until the present Physical Education Building was opened in 1964. The court in Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Gymnasium became known to many as the “cracker box” of the KIAC. In later years home games were scheduled at the Barbourville City School gymnasium to accommodate larger crowds of fans.

During the 1960’s the building was assigned to the Drama department. The main court area underwent minimal adjustments including the removal of the running track to produce a larger, more versatile facility, and the name was changed to the Dramatic Arts Center (DAC). In 1970, a new entertainment center called “The Maze” was established in the basement of the DAC. As a result, Union joined the Coffee House Circuit, an organization that made folksingers and other vocal performers available to colleges. Performances by campus and local talent continued on and off until 1973 when enthusiasm and support fizzled out and the center closed.

In 1984, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Gymnasium was named to the National Register of Historic Places. The building was refurbished at a cost of $83,000 and reopened October 5, 1990 at Homecoming, renamed the Soldiers and Sailors Intramural Center.

Under the direction of President Edward deRosset, a full restoration of the building was begun in 2006 by Green Construction of Middlesboro, KY. The original pool was filled in and the ground floor portion opened during the 2007-2008 academic year as a wellness center for students, faculty, staff, and the local community. The upper court floor received a new playing surface and is now utilized for intramural sports.

BALDWIN PLACE

As early as 1916 president Ezra Franklin spoke of the need for a new campus home for the chief executive. The president and family had been housed in Speed Hall since its opening in 1905. The college acquired the Dishman cottage and property of about ten acres at a cost of $7,775 in 1919. A portion of this acreage would be used later to build the new gymnasium. A gift of $4,750 in January 1922 from F. E. Baldwin greatly helped toward paying off this property debt. The trustees approved the construction of a new presidential residence in 1923 at a cost of $4,000 (labor) and an additional $11,000 for materials. The home was completed with the final bill totaling $20,000.

President Franklin and his family moved into the new home in early 1925 and held the first President’s reception for faculty members on February 9, 1925. The new home went without an official name for almost a decade. In 1934 Union received an annuity of $12,000, and the Board voted to show its gratitude by naming the president’s home Baldwin Place in honor of the two donors, Francis E. and Anna G. Baldwin of New York.

Dr. Mahlon Miller was appointed president in February 1959 and at the spring board meeting that followed in May, approval was given for the interior renovation of Baldwin Place to be undertaken by Union’s Maintenance Department. This long overdue project was carried out over the 1959-1960 academic year and was completed on March 1, 1960. During the next twelve months more than 1,000 people were entertained at the president’s newly refurbished residence.

The most recent renovations, initiated in May 1996 prior to arrival of the newly named President David Joyce and his wife Lynn in August, were thought to be primarily re-roofing and re-decorating. Once underway it soon became evident that this would be a full-blown remodeling and upgrade. The major discovery was that a structural support wall had been removed during the 1959 renovation which resulted in the gradual shifting of the entire structure. In order to return to level, the main floor had to be raised a full six inches. A six hundred pound steel beam was set in the basement to replace the former lost support, a procedure that took two weeks to complete!

What was originally expected to take two or three months took more than a year. The project included replacing original windows, plumbing and wiring; removing a back stairway and pantry to allow for a first-floor bathroom and additional closet space; and removal of a dumbwaiter found in one of the kitchen walls. The kitchen received the greatest amount of improvements including a top-to-bottom makeover with redesigned workspace to accommodate new cabinets, appliances, flooring, and countertops. In addition, the third floor was fully renovated into a mini-apartment with full bath, and washer and dryer.

The entire renovation was overseen by Mr. Paul Hale of Treadway Brothers of Barbourville. And while the final tally came to an approximate total of $321,000 (original estimate was $60,000), the result should provide a very comfortable and elegant presidential residence for many years to come.

Over these nearly ninety years, the president’s home has provided the setting for numerous gatherings including presidential dinners for dignitaries, visiting artists and lecturers, and trustees, as well as receptions for faculty, staff, students and townspeople. A notable first took place on November 27, 2004 when then President Edward deRosset married Education faculty member Lou Ann Hopper at the residence.

Baldwin Place has been the home of every president since President Franklin save one, Dr. McFarland. Accommodations and access were not provided during his executive year with the former president remaining for an additional six months before relocating. In late February 2012 President McFarland, affectionately referred to by then as “the homeless president” by local friends and colleagues, graciously asked that the home be “spruced up” and made ready for the incoming president. Dr. Marcia Hawkins moved into the freshly prepared residence in July 2012.

MAINTENANCE BUILDING

The original maintenance facility, called variously the power plant or power house, was a wood-frame structure located at a safe distance behind the other campus buildings. Inside was housed a forty horse-power Skinner automatic engine, directly connected to a James Clark, Jr., 25 kw direct current dynamo. In addition, there was a boiler, three steam pumps and two deep drilled wells. From this “plant” all the buildings were supplied with steam heat, electric lighting, and water. The shop included a screw-cutting lathe, a drill-press, and a full complement of metal and wood-working tools.

A new MAINTENANCE BUILDING was constructed in 1936-1937, close to the site of the old power plant. The incorporated woodworking shop was equipped by a gift from the estate of the late Robert Norton of New Albany, Indiana. During construction, the old campus water tower was taken down. This two-story, brick facility provided space on the first-floor for a central heating plant and college shops, and from its very opening, housed classrooms and offices for the department of business on the second floor. The college had sometime earlier connected to the local water and electric utilities.

When the newest maintenance facility, a large, warehouse-type of structure was built in 1990 at the rear of the campus on Allison Avenue, it housed the maintenance and grounds department, storage space for equipment and materials, and enclosed parking for some of the lawn-care vehicles. The old Maintenance Building continued to house the steam plant, but with the “shops” gone, the first floor was remodeled for use by the campus post office and boxes. The second floor, which had been vacated by the department of business in the mid-1970s, was used for data processing and later as the Computer Center headquarters.

During 2005-2006 academic year, the non-maintenance part of the building became The Center for Spirituality and Service, and housed Common Partners, the Bonners Program, and religious life, including the College Minister’s office.

When the campus geothermal energy conservation project was completed in 2007, all of the heating equipment was removed from the old maintenance facility and the structure was remodeled to become the Center for Teaching & Learning.

THE ABIGAIL E. WEEKS - MILTON H. TOWNSEND
MEMORIAL LIBRARY

The first hint of a “library” at Union came in 1888 when President Stevenson placed his small private collection of books on shelves in his outer office in the Administration Building. Students, however, did not generally have access to this collection. In 1898 President Faulkner established the “Speed-Stevenson Library,” in honor of Fanny Speed and Mrs. Daniel (Sarah) Stevenson, by placing tables, desks, chairs, and bookshelves in the “long room” on the second floor of the facility. Nearly 1,000 books were catalogued that year with another 150 added in the following year.

While most of the books were saved from the devastating fire of August 24, 1906, many were badly damaged in the process of being thrown out of a second story window. Abigail Weeks took it upon herself to care for the collection until the “library” was reopened in room #105 of the new building in 1907. In 1910 the Speed-Stevenson Library had increased to 1,500 volumes. Miss Weeks was placed in charge (part time) of the library and for the first time students were permitted to check books out.

The “library” received two significant contributions in 1917: one from Mrs. J. H. Good of Ashland; the other from Mrs. E. T. Langdon, donating the late Professor Lester E. Langdon’s private library. Within ten years the one-room “library” had grown to 7,000 volumes and in need of additional space. An adjoining room was appropriated to shelve volumes that were seldom used as well as the French collection. For this reason the new room was referred to as the “French Room.” President Franklin recommended the building of a combined Library and Science hall several months prior to his resignation in October 1928. By 1931 the now two-room collection had grown to 12,000 volumes and again an additional room, this time the Mathematics room, was pressed into service.

During the 1931-1932 academic year all catalogue cards, formerly hand-written, were now typed. In 1934 the first professionally trained Librarian, Euphemia K. Corwin, is hired and students are permitted access to the stacks. The following year a recataloguing project was begun and with the continued increases in the number of volumes, the walls of yet another classroom, this time the “English Room,” are taken over.

It was in 1939 that President Boatman first announced his three-part “Forward Program” listing the need for a library, a girl’s dormitory and a chapel. Actual construction on a new, self-contained, Georgian-style library building did not commence until 1940. On November 9, 1940 a combined Founders’ Day, Homecoming, and dedication service was held which included the laying of the cornerstone. Named in honor of the long-serving former librarian and head of the English Department, Abigail Weeks, the newly completed Abigail E. Weeks Memorial Library officially opened for service on January 13, 1941. Built to house 40,000 volumes, the collection numbered approximately 16,000 on that date.

Miss Weeks retired from Union College in 1937 following 32 years of service and passed away in early 1940. The majority of her estate of $900 was bequeathed to Union to purchase books for the library she truly loved!

Between 1938 and 1954 the collection of 13,000 volumes nearly doubled to over 25,000 volumes. In 1957 the library was named a federal depository, officially opening its doors to the broader general public.

By the 1960s, less than 25 years after its opening, the library had already outgrown its original space. Seldom used items were moved to storage in other campus buildings and plans began to be developed for a new building. A connector was built between the library and the Administration Building in the 1970s allowing the library to expand into the second floor back rooms of this adjoining building.

During the course of the 1986-1987 academic year the plans first developed in the 1960s are finally realized. At a cost of $1.5 million, the library is renovated and a new wing, named the Milton H. Townsend Memorial Annex is added. The dedication and cornerstone ceremony took place on March 28, 1987. The connector is closed and all materials being housed in Centennial Hall as well as elsewhere on campus are merged with the expanded facility. The Weeks-Townsend Memorial Library now boasts a capacity for more than 100,000 volumes! The first computer is purchased for use by the library staff, and from this point on technology becomes a major part of the library, both for the staff and the patrons. Academic computing is centralized on the campus and merged with library services. Computer technology staff are provided offices in the library.

In 1996 both the Internet and e-mail become a part of Union College. By the late 1990s Administrative Computing is brought into the mix and “Learning and Information Services” is created. A new integrated enterprise system is selected and implementation begins. In 2000, the “CenterNet” project brings public access computers into the library thereby significantly increasing local community use of the facility.

Upon the receipt of a generous contribution in 2001 from Union College trustee David Jones, the library underwent a major renovation, and plans for an integrated “Learning and Information Center” were announced. Ground was broken on October 20th of that year for the Edward H. Black Technology Center, a new facility that would connect on the second floor by a walkway to the Weeks-Townsend Memorial Library. With the opening of the “Black Tech Center” in January 2003, media services were expanded and all aspects of administrative and academic computing once associated with the library are moved in the new facility.

In April 2004, the dedication of the David and Donna Jones Learning Resource Center took place officially recognizing the combining of the Weeks-Townsend Memorial Library and the Black Technology Center into one collaborative unit. In the fall of 2005 technology oversight was removed as a function of the library and become a separate unit.

PFEIFFER HALL

For more than thirty five years the only on-campus housing for women was the second floor of Speed Hall which opened in 1905. With enrollment increasing and the original capacity of 40 ballooning to over 50, the facility was being stretched to its limits. In 1920 Dr. Franklin appointed a committee of five to plan a women’s residence hall and science hall. However, the need to increase the endowment for standard recognition and the depression years blocked any development of either of these two structures.

In February 1939 President Boatman announced plans for a small dormitory estimated to cost $62,000. At a Board meeting a few months later adjustments were made to include a dining hall at an additional cost of $6,000. A cash gift of $100,000 from the estate of the late Henry Pfeiffer, one of the founders of the former Warner Drug Company, allowed for the construction of a much finer building than was first planned. Mrs. (Henry) Annie Pfeiffer visited Union in April 1940 to view the campus and confirm her generous pledge. Bids were requested in September l941 and construction began the next month. The hall was officially opened on January 30, 1943 and in addition to accommodating 88 girls, included a large first-floor parlor, a faculty and senior parlor, a kitchen and serving room, two guest rooms, a four-bed infirmary, and an ironing room. The second floor also included a large lounge and game room. Mrs. Pfeiffer, for whom the building was named, participated in the dedication ceremonies on May 11, 1943.

Because of the increase in enrollment throughout the post-war period, the Trustees decided in 1958 to build a new wing with space for 80 additional women. Until the new facility was completed, fifty-five women residents were housed in the new Stevenson Hall “C” wing when it opened in September 1958—displaced male students had to be housed off campus. The addition to Pfeiffer Hall, providing rooms for ninety students, was completed in 1960.

Residence halls are designated men’s/women’s as the need for housing changes. In 2007 Pfeiffer Hall served as the freshmen residence hall for men.

TYE HOUSE

Located at the corner of Manchester Street and North Main, Tye House, was purchased at a cost of $10,000 in 1945. Initially known as “Senior House,” it was intended to be used as a residence for female students. However, with the increase in male population following the war it was soon needed to house male upperclassmen. At some point prior to the early 1960s it was a faculty residence.

During the summer of 1962 the facility received a complete remodeling and became home to the department of home economics which had previously been located on the first floor of Speed Hall. The upgrade included four demonstration kitchens, a sewing room, living and reception rooms, student rooms, and an apartment for the faculty instructor. Two of the kitchen units and all of the electronic appliances were the result of donations.

The major in home economics was discontinued in the early 1980s and Tye House was use as a storage facility until its sale and ultimate demolition in the 1990s.

CONWAY BOATMAN CHAPEL - FINE ARTS BUILDING

The third piece of President Boatman’s 1939 “Forward Program” was a new chapel facility. The initial plan called for a structure almost identical to that of the library to be built on the opposite side of the Administration Building with similar physical connection as to that of the library. Changes in need, particularly that of a more permanent home for the new fine arts department of 1946-1947, led to a significant revision in the plans. This revision, finalized early in 1947, called for a combined Chapel- Fine Arts Building to be situated on the northwest side of campus. Construction began in October 1947 on the two-part facility that would cost $381,000. Once again, Union was the recipient of the generosity of Mrs. Henry Pfeiffer who, before her death in 1946 at the age of 86, pledged an additional $100,000 toward the building of a campus chapel.

The chapel in its not fully finished state was first used for Commencement ceremonies on May 31, 1949. The new sanctuary-auditorium had a seating capacity of 700, and included a Kilgen pipe organ valued at $13,000, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. C.B. Cawood in memory of Hiram Cawood and A. B. Cornett, as well as a split choir loft in the chancel. Numbered metal plates along the back of each pew indicated designated seating. Students were assigned a specific seat in earlier times for the daily mandatory chapel programs.

The adjoining, two-story Fine Arts facility located behind the chancel area, housed faculty studios, practice rooms with pianos, a rehearsal room, music library, a practice pipe organ (gift of Dr. T. R. Davies, class of 1923), a classroom, and a small 200-seat recital hall with stage and a projection booth. This “Little Theatre” was furnished by the generosity of the family of Fred C. Rector, an early member of Union’s faculty.

In February 1949, a joint committee of faculty and trustees was selected to plan the dedication ceremony. The actual service took place on October 14, 1949, at which time, much to the surprise of Dr. Boatman, the trustees named the new facility in his honor—the Conway Boatman Chapel.

A 32-note set of chimes and a Westminster Clock were added to the steeple tower, a gift of the Oscar H. Viall family of Barbourville. A dedication ceremony was held on March 17, 1951.

With the exception of the Rector “Little Theatre” which received renovations in the 1990s to include a new raked floor and a donation of seats from the former Mitchell Theatre in Barbourville, and a more extensive upgrade in 2012-2013 to include new wiring, lighting, and new-style theatre seats which decreased the seating capacity to less than 100, the Fine Arts building has remained much like it was when it opened in 1949. The deterioration of the music facility over time led to the major in music being discontinued in the fall of 2004.

The chapel, however, has had several rounds of improvements over time. A renovation in 1981 was made possible by a gift from Margaret V. Haggin. A new 18-rank pipe organ was commissioned in 1990, designed and installed by Randall Dyer and Associates of Jefferson City, Tennessee. The organ Dedication Recital was presented on April 28, 1991 by Dr. W. Gordon Marigold.

SNACK SHACK

In 1951, the college’s Administrative Council met to discuss the long-standing need for a facility that the students could claim as their own. Approval was given and action was immediately taken to construct such a building in the area behind Speed Hall and Pfeiffer Hall. The single-story, well-equipped, wood frame structure was financed by friends of the college at a cost of $9,000. President Boatman felt that this was without a doubt the greatest improvement to student social life the college had ever provided.

The new student rendezvous first opened on February 16, 1952, and for a while went by a variety of names. In time, however, the student “hangout” came to be known as the “Snack Shack.” When the modern, new Student Center was opened in March 1965, this beloved facility was removed from its site.

COLLEGE COURTS

The need for married students housing was cited as early as May 1949. In late 1953 the contract for College Courts was awarded to the J. W. Wyan Company of London for an estimated cost of $135,570. The funds to build the new facility were donated by Arthur Vining Davis (of Aluminum Company of America—ALCOA) for which he received the honorary degree, Doctor of Commercial Science, in 1953. The twenty units were ready for occupancy in September, 1954, with the dedication taking place a month later in October. Total cost for construction and furnishings amounted to $175,000. It should be noted that from the very beginning, four units were reserved for use by faculty.

College Courts was expanded in 1964 with the addition of nine apartments and two guest rooms set parallel to the eastern wing of the original facility. Currently (2014) the units continue to house upperclassmen, married students, as well as a few faculty and staff.

COLLEGE PARK

The lack of available faculty housing had long been a factor contributing to the difficulty in recruiting faculty. It was Dr. Miller, during his days as special assistant to President Boatman, who took on this important project. Early in Miller’s presidency a site was chosen behind the existing campus off Johnson Lane and named College Park.

This low-lying, flood plain property already belonging to the college could now be used following the 1957 completion of the Barbourville flood wall.

In 1960, under the watchful eye of the superintendent of building and grounds, the swampy, over-grown area was cleared, drained, and divided into fifteen lots situated around a circular, College Park Drive. Soon twelve of the lots were sold for one dollar each to college employees planning to build. This concept of employee-owned homes built on college property was not new, but was for the first time being implemented at a Kentucky college! The first faculty member to build in College Park was biology professor, Dr. Frank Gilbert in 1961. The last home was completed in 1966.

The college retained three of the original fifteen lots. A home was built on one for the superintendent of building and grounds. A large duplex intended for rental purposes was built on the second, and a three-story apartment complex, called Langford Apartments, was built on the third.

In 1967, an attractive gateway was added at the entrance to College Park. Dedication of the gates, made possible by funds provided by Mrs. Laura Dickey in honor of her late husband, J. H. Dickey, was held on May 12, 1967.

LANGFORD APARTMENTS

This three-story facility was built in 1963 at a cost of approximately $150,000 on one of the fifteen lots in College Park. The structure includes eight apartments of varying size and has helped relieve the housing shortage for both faculty and staff over these many years. While individual units have received some upgrades as needed, particularly with appliances, the facility itself has not had any major renovation since its opening.

LAKESIDE BOWLING LANES

Lakeside Bowling Lanes was a collaborative effort between the college and a newly formed company, Knox County Bowling Lanes, Inc., for a site on campus to build a bowling center. The modern twelve-lane facility was built on Manchester Street at a cost of $350,000 and opened in September 1963. The college was a major shareholder in the company. The center was highly popular for a short period of time, with leagues being formed and faculty, staff and students making use of the activity. Bowling was even added to the curriculum as a physical education activity course.

By 1966 the bowling center faced financial trouble, and a year later in 1967 the college acquired all outstanding shares. In 1972, the trustees found an income producing entity, remodeled the building, and leased it to the General Services Administrations for use by the Bureau of Mines.

In the 1990s Union reclaimed the building and the Social Science Department took up residence in the newly named Lakeside Center. During the renovation of Speed Hall (1999-2000) Lakeside also housed administrative offices. Upon completion of that renovation, the Lakeside building was renovated at a cost of $105,165, for use by the athletic department and is now called the Union College Athletic Center, housing many if not all of the athletic coaching staff.

LAKESIDE RESIDENCE HALL

Originally named the Lakeside Residence Hall for Men, the facility has been put to various uses over the years. Although the building was not fully finished when it opened in the fall of 1964, the three-story dormitory housed eighty-two men very comfortably. Built beside the small lake off Manchester Street next to the previously opened Lakeside Bowling Lanes, this was to be the first of four units intended to form a residence complex. The remaining units were never built.

With the significant decline in enrollment during the seventies, this facility, like its neighbor next door, was also leased out. The new occupant was the Department of Human Services. When enrollment rebounded in the early 1990s, the building was reclaimed and once again housed Union students. In 2000, the facility received a $489,172 renovation.

It was used as a women’s residence hall for the first time in May 2005, and has served for either men or women as the enrollment needs change.

THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION BUILDING

As early as 1949, the idea of purchasing an aluminum hanger from the government to use as a gymnasium was being discussed. Fortunately, this was put on hold until support could be found to fund a more pleasing architectural plan.

By 1955, Union received funds from a capital campaign of the two conferences of the Methodist Church, but since the support was well below what would be needed for a full physical education facility, it was decided to start the project with a new swimming pool. In January, 1956, the trustees signed a contract for the construction of a twenty-five yard, six-lane, indoor-outdoor (garage-type doors on three sides) pool with attached locker and shower accommodations. The new, $271,598 facility was ready for use in September of 1956.

Work on the main portion of the facility had to be postponed until additional funding could be secured. Architectural plans got underway in the early 1960s and construction began in February, 1964. Adhering to earlier plans, the new gymnasium was built to connect with the existing new (now nine years old) swimming pool.

The new Physical Education Building, completed at a cost of $575,000 and dedicated on November 28, 1964, was a source of great regional pride as there was no comparable structure in the entire area. It included a full-sized gym floor with seating for 2,150; lower level chairs and upper level bleachers. The physical education department faculty have offices on the first floor with four classrooms on the second floor. Classes taught in the building included not only physical education, but English, ROTC, and more recently recreation management. A conference room, called the Bacon Room, located to the right of the main entrance, was included and dedicated to the memory of J. R. Bacon, Union’s head coach from 1929-1944.

During the construction process five hundred bleacher seats were added to the pool area. This facility remained the home of Union’s swim teams until December 2011 when an Olympic-size pool opened at the Stivers Aquatics and Wellness Center only a few blocks from campus.

The Physical Education Building itself has been used for college commencements, convocations, banquets, and theatrical performances as well as community activities. It is the official home of the Union College Bulldog men’s and women’s basketball teams and the women’s volleyball team.

The facility was renamed the John M. Robsion, Jr., Memorial Arena in 1999, honoring Mr. Robsion for his financial gift allowing for the installation of telescopic seating.

THE STUDENT CENTER

The only place that students had to “hang out” was the “Snack Shack” a miniature student-union built at a cost of $9,000 which opened on February 16, 1952, and Foley’s on College Street across from the Chapel. The student body was primarily residential and non-local students had difficulty adjusting to life in a small southern town, increasing the need for campus recreational facilities.

Planning began in January 1962 by a committee of 5 faculty members and 2 students (note: no administrators) making this the first time that students were actively involved in planning a building. The student body voted to pay $10 per semester toward this building until $300,000 (cost of construction) was reached. Construction began February, 1964 and was completed in March 1965. The former “Snack Shack” was removed as soon as the new Center was finished.

The new facility provided a snack bar (later called “The Hub”), post office, bookstore, and game room on the lower level, and a large lounge, as well as small meeting rooms, offices, and reception area which could be used as a fellowship room on the upper level. Air conditioning was not added to the original facility until 1974.

In 1991 a $1.9 million dining hall/cafeteria was added to the Student Center, along with renovations to the original structure. Several new conference rooms are now located in the Student Center providing space for both campus and community meetings. Upon completion of the renovation, the building was renamed the Frances Patridge Student Center, and the cafeteria was named Myrtle Cole Minton Cafeteria. The new dining facility eliminated the use of the old basement dining hall in Centennial Hall.

Miss Frances Patridge (“Miss Pat”) came to Union in 1947 as Instructor of Physical Education. She later became the first Director of the Student Center and Student Activities and held this position from 1964-1975. In 1983 she was named Vice President for Student Affairs. She was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters degree in recognition of her contributions and service to students, to faculty, and to the College. Miss Pat retired from the College in December 1987

Myrtle Cole Minton was born in Barbourville, on August 11, 1893 to Robert and Eliza Jane Ohler Cole. Mrs. Minton graduated from the Union Academy in 1912, attended Kentucky College for Women in Danville, Kentucky, now Centre College, and taught art at the Barbourville Baptist Institute. In 1916 she married Robert Bassett Minton, who with his sister, Nola E. Minton, and his father, T. W. Minton, owned the T. W. Minton & Company hickory mill and the Minton Hickory Stables. She was the mother of David Randolph Minton, deceased, and Jane Minton Blair, Union graduate and wife of Dr. Douglas L. Blair, Chairman Emeritus of the Union College Board of Trustees.

Because Mrs. Minton gave so much of her time to young people and because Union College was always a part of her life, the College was proud to honor her memory by naming the new dining facilities in her name.

During the 2005 school year another renovation was made to bring activity back to the Center. A snack bar was built upstairs; pool tables and other games were also moved upstairs. The Post Office was renovated, and a small conference room was built downstairs. Air conditioning in the building was first provided by the Parents Association (year unknown).

THE MAHLON MILLER SCIENCE CENTER

The earliest science classes and labs were held in the old (c. 1886) and new (1907) Administration Building. During the summer of 1947 Union acquired a surplus government structure, originally located at Bowman Field, in Louisville, and erected it on a site on the back campus. It provided space for some chemistry as well as physical science classes when it opened in the fall. It was officially named the Veteran’s Building at a combined Founders’ Day/Dedicatory Ceremony in November 1947, with Congressman John M. Robsion delivering the main speech.

By the 1970s, the college was in need of new and improved facilities to bring all of the sciences under a single roof. The biology department remained in the Classroom

Building (old Administration Building), with chemistry and physics occupying the Veterans’ Building. This facility was both crowded and in constant need of repair; not to mention being a fire hazard! For a time the physics department was housed in White Hall, a single-story frame house, located on College Street across from the campus, once home to the college dean, and in the late 1960s residence for eleven female students. Initial plans called for a succession of “wings” to be built, but it became evident that funding could be better secured if plans called for a single, complete unit.

The new Science Center was constructed in 1972-1973 at a cost of $1.7 million and dedicated at Commencement on May 27, 1973. Much to his surprise, the trustees named the facility, the Mahlon Miller Science Center, in honor of the fourteenth president. The two-story, Georgian-style building included well-equipped biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, general science classrooms and laboratories, a science library, a greenhouse, as well as numerous faculty offices.

From the beginning, the Education Department found a home at the Science Center, but moved to the new Sharp Academic Center when it opened in 2000. The Business Department was relocated from Centennial Hall to the Center in 2005 and remains there to this day (2014).

Union acquired the old Knox County Hospital in December 2011 and immediately began to renovate the facility to become the future Ramsey Center for Health and Natural Sciences. During this time, the Science Center received a completely new exterior renovation, and in the process, a time-capsule was discovered behind the cornerstone. While the capsule was not opened, it was determined that the contents included the current college catalogue from 1973, a list of project donors, the building dedication issue of the Barbourville Mountain Advocate, and a development brochure with the building plans and fund-raising strategy. With the sciences moving to a new facility, President McFarland in 2012 asked that this building be renamed, Miller Hall.

RELIGIOUS LIFE CENTER (RLC)

The first designation of a Religious Life Center took place during the 1975-1976 academic year. The familiar, single-story, white frame building located behind Pfeiffer Hall which had served several purposes over time including laundry room, book store and post office, and data processing center, was converted into a campus religious center, and called at that time (by student vote) the Lighthouse. The facility provided office for the chaplain/campus minister as well as a reading lounge for students.

When the structure was torn down to provide space for the Edward H. Black Technology Center in 2001-2002, the RLC was moved to the renovated first floor of the Maintenance Building, During the summer of 2014, the college acquired a property on Manchester Street a short walk from the Conway Boatman Chapel, which now houses a refurbished home for campus ministry.

STEWART APARTMENTS

Construction began on Union’s newest residence facilities, Stewart Apartments, in July 1998 as part of Phase One of a $7.5 million campus-wide improvement plan. The duel, two-story units each house twenty-four upperclassmen in modern, suite-style accommodations which include individual sleeping rooms, shared bathrooms, common living area, a well-equipped kitchen, and laundry facilities. The complex, located between College Courts and Lakeside Hall was completed in May, 1999, at a cost of $1.37 million, and named in honor of donors, William and Lou Lyttle Stewart.

THE EDWARD H. BLACK TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Begun in October 2001 and dedicated in April 2003, the Black Technology Center, funded by a grant from the Small Business Administration was named in memory of Dr. Edward H. Black. As Vice President for Planning, Dr. Black crafted and submitted the proposal for a technology center that would serve both the college and the surrounding community. The facility was designed with movable interior walls so as to have the ability to change the spacial configuration based on small or large group needs. It is connected on the second level to provide access to the library since technology and library services were initially in the same department—Learning and Information Resources.

The first floor includes 2 training rooms equipped with the latest technology for use by both campus and greater community. A television/recording studio as well as a repair center are also located on this level. The second floor includes server equipment for both the campus network and community organizations, as well as administrative offices for Union information services staff.

Following his graduation from Union College in 1964, Ed Black dedicated 40 years of his life in service to Union. He held numerous positions and filled many roles during his career prior to his untimely death in September 2000. Fascinated by the potential of technology, he was committed to harnessing that potential for Union’s future. As Vice President for Planning, he brought technology to the campus through a Title III grant in the late 1990s. Dr. Black was also a key person in collaboration between Union and the city of Barbourville that resulted in national recognition as a technologically advanced community. His last project was completing the grant application to the Small Business Administration that funded construction of this technology center.

In April 2004, with the dedication of the David and Donna Jones Learning Resource Center, the Black Technology Center was recognized together with the Weeks-Townsend Memorial Library as a collaborative unit.

UNION COURTS

In an effort to provide additional housing for students, Union acquired the old College Motel across from the Chapel on College Street and renovated it during the summer of 2008. The eleven single units house male upperclassmen.

KENNETH L. & SARAH K. RAMSEY CENTER
FOR HEALTH AND NATURAL SCIENCES

Union acquired the old, former Knox County Hospital building and grounds for the purpose of providing a home for the new nursing program as well as a modern, state- of-the-art facility for the department of natural sciences. President McFarland signed the final documents on December 22, 2011, and the major renovation project, which also included extensive exterior work on the Miller Science Center, began in the spring of 2012.

The Edna Jenkins Mann School of Nursing was formally established on October 19, 2012, and the opening of the Center for Health & Natural Science was held a year later on October 31, 2013. The official dedication of the facility named for Union trustee Kenneth L. Ramsey and his wife Sarah K. Ramsey, took place on April 22, 2014. The Center houses both the “School of Nursing” and the “Phillip and Ann Sharp Science Wing.”

With the anticipated move of science classrooms, laboratories and offices to the new facility, Dr. McFarland announced that out of respect for Dr. Miller, the Miller Science Center would be renamed Miller Hall.