Hedrick Hall UCLA: A Legacy of Education and Community
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has a rich history that dates back to the 19th century. Initially a teachers' college, the institution evolved and expanded over nearly four decades, operating on two Los Angeles campuses. In 1919, California Governor William D. Stephens signed a bill to establish the Southern Branch of the University of California. As the university prepared to move to its new Westwood campus in 1927, the UC Regents formally adopted the name "University of California at Los Angeles" and the abbreviation "U.C.L.A." That same year, dissatisfaction with the "Southern Branch" name grew. In 1958, the "at" was removed, and "UCLA" without periods became the preferred stylization under Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy in the 1960s.
The Early Years: From Normal School to Southern Branch
In March 1881, the California State Legislature, at the request of state senator Reginaldo Francisco del Valle, authorized the creation of a southern branch of the California State Normal School (now San Jose State University) in downtown Los Angeles. The aim was to train teachers for the growing population of Southern California. Governor George C. Perkins signed the bill into state law on March 14, 1881. On March 24, the trustees of the existing normal school in San Jose arrived in Los Angeles and were lodged in the Pico House. They received offers of twenty potential sites. After touring sites in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Aliso Grove, the trustees selected Bellevue Terrace, a small orange grove in what is now downtown Los Angeles, on March 25, 1881. The Los Angeles branch of the California State Normal School opened its doors on August 29, 1882, and a formal dedication ceremony was held on September 9, 1882, with Governor Perkins, Governor-elect George Stoneman, and State Superintendent Frederick M. Campbell in attendance.
In October 1911, the Normal School trustees sold the original campus. In 1912, the teaching college moved to a new campus on Vermont Avenue (now the site of Los Angeles City College) in East Hollywood. In 1917, UC Regent Edward Augustus Dickson and Ernest Carroll Moore, Director of the Normal School, began lobbying the State Legislature to enable the school to become the second University of California campus, after UC Berkeley. They faced resistance from UC Berkeley alumni, Northern California members of the state legislature, and then-UC President Benjamin Ide Wheeler. On May 30, 1933, the efforts of the Southern Californians were rewarded when Governor William D. Stephens signed Assembly Bill 626 into law, officially transforming the Los Angeles State Normal School into the Southern Branch of the University of California. The bill provided the school with a physical plant and an annual appropriation equal to that of the original campus in Berkeley.
Expansion and Growth on the Westwood Campus
Under UC President William Wallace Campbell, enrollment at the Southern Branch expanded rapidly. By the mid-1920s, the institution outgrew its 25-acre Vermont Avenue location. The Regents appointed a Committee of Seventeen to consider proposals for a new site, ranging from Ventura County to San Diego. The committee recommended the Letts' Estate (later called the Beverly-Westwood site) to the Regents. The Janss brothers, owners of the estate, agreed to sell the property for approximately $1 million, less than one-third of its value, as the Regents decreed the new site must be a gift or come without cost. Municipal bond measures passed by Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Venice provided for that amount. George W. Kelham of San Francisco was the supervising architect, assisted by David Allison of the Los Angeles firm Allison & Allison. Allison, who also designed the Vermont Avenue campus, envisioned the Romanesque style of the Westwood campus. The neighboring communities of Westwood Village and Bel Air were developed alongside the university.
The first undergraduate classes on the new campus were held in 1929 with 5,500 students. Also in 1929, the Bruin and Trojan football teams met for the first time. The first building dedicated to housing, Hershey Hall, was built in the early 1930s and named after Almira Hershey, who willed $300,000 to UCLA for its construction.
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Challenges and Transformations in the Mid-20th Century
The emergence of the Great Depression slowed down but did not halt UCLA's development. A Southern section of the UC faculty Academic Senate was voted on in 1931 and organized in 1932. The UCLA student body gained a radical reputation during those years. In 1934, Provost Ernest Moore declared UCLA "the worst hotbed of communism in the U.S" and suspended five members of the ASUCLA student government for allegedly assisting the revolutionary activities of the National Student League. Over 3,000 students protested in Royce Quad.
In 1934, UCLA received its first major bequest, the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. The enrichment of the library and development of graduate studies allowed for additional colleges and professional schools at UCLA. The College of Commerce (later the graduate School of Business Administration) was established in 1935.
The December 7, 1941 airstrike on Pearl Harbor immediately put the campus on a wartime basis. Faculty adjusted the curriculum and academic schedule to assist students entering military service. A student defense committee, later called the Student War Board, was organized to coordinate emergency services. UCLA became responsible for Project 36 of the Manhattan Project, that of purchasing and inspecting equipment for the scientists at Los Alamos. In conjunction with these projects, the UCLA College of Engineering was established in 1943.
When Provost Earl Hedrick, UCLA's chief executive officer at the time, resigned in 1942, no new provost was appointed to replace him, and UCLA was administered by an interim faculty committee until 1945. Fraternity houses became cadets quarters. Athletic programs continued but were curtailed. By the end of the war on Tuesday, August 15, 1945, a service banner in Kerckhoff Hall held 5,702 stars, of which 151 were gold for the Bruins who lost their lives.
Post-War Expansion and Academic Growth
The end of the war led to a building boom on campus. A deep arroyo was filled in with 400,000 cubic yards of earth to create 26 acres of additional usable land, upon which Schoenberg Hall, the Architecture building, Bunche Hall, and the Murphy Sculpture Garden were eventually built. In conjunction with the building boom, the UCLA Medical and Law Schools were established in 1946 and 1947, respectively. The department of Theater Arts was also established in 1947.
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With the rise of the anti-Communist Red Scare in the late 1940s, the UC system became suspected of harboring un-American activities. By August 1950, 36 faculty of Senate rank and 62 non-Senate UC employees were dismissed for refusing to sign a loyalty oath, including three from UCLA.
In response to these controversies, when Provost Dykstra died in 1950, the Regents selected Raymond B. Allen, head of the Psychological Strategy Board in Washington, D.C., to dispel the "hotbed of Communism" stigma at UCLA.
For the first two decades of its existence, UCLA was oriented towards training educators and toward the liberal arts. With the establishment of graduate studies and professional schools, the school gradually became more oriented toward scientific research.
The Rise of On-Campus Housing
Up until the mid-50s, postwar construction had been financed on tax surpluses accumulated during World War II and the Korean War. After those surpluses ran out, further construction was financed on state bond issues. However, the state at that time would not finance student housing, and UCLA comprised 17,000 students with only Hershey Hall accommodating any students on campus. So the Regents floated a loan from the federal government to build Dykstra Hall and Sproul Hall on the hill west of the athletic fields. They opened in 1959 and 1960, respectively.
UCLAâs 40-year-status as a commuter college changed significantly on Nov. 19, 1959, when Clarence A. Dykstra Residence Hall was dedicated. The construction of Dykstra Hall marked the beginning of an on-campus housing expansion, as three additional high-rises â Sproul (1960), Rieber (1963), and Hedrick (1964) â were built to accommodate the postwar baby boom generation.
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Hedrick Hall: Honoring a Legacy of Academic Excellence
The fourth of the residence halls on the west side of the campus was named Hedrick Hall in 1963 (completed in 1964) in honor of Earle Raymond Hedrick, Vice President and Provost of UCLA from 1937 until his retirement in 1942.
Dr. Hedrick was educated at the universities of Michigan, Harvard, and Gottingen, Germany. At age 20, he received his Ph.D. from Gottingen and was a guest lecturer at the Sorbonne while doing postdoctoral work there. Before coming to UCLA in 1924, he taught at the Sheffield Scientific School (Yale) and the University of Missouri, and built a reputation as one of Americaâs outstanding mathematicians.
A tall, courtly man with a delightful sense of humor, Dr. Hedrick jokingly referred to his appointment as Vice President and Provost as âThe Accident,â telling friends that âI no longer have any intellectual interests â I just sit and talk to people.â He was the father of ten children, four of whom â Dorothy, Amy, Clyde, and Frank â attended UCLA.
Creating a Supportive Community for First-Generation Students
UCLA Residential Life has also seen groundbreaking changes. The development continues to this day, with the opening of the Olympic and Centennial residence halls, the most recent additions to the campusâ student housing options, bringing the total number of students living on campus this quarter to approximately 14,500.
Violet Salazar, a senior in human biology and society, hopes to become a doctor. She proposed the idea for a dedicated floor during her junior year, when she became a resident assistant in the dorms, to help others avoid the pitfalls she initially encountered.
On move-in day, Salazar and other first-generation campus advocates were out in full force. They included Symone Morales, who last year helped launch UCLAâs âFirst to Goâ program, which held social events, âetiquette dinnersâ where students could learn formal table manners, and workshops on job interviews, internships and resume-writing. This yearâs events will include a tailgate party, study-abroad fair and personal finance workshop.
First-generation students and their families heading to the dedicated dorm floor were treated to a reception with sandwiches and âFirst to Goâ swag: pennants, bracelets and fans. Upstairs, the dorm floorâs bulletin boards were filled with affirmations. âI am first to go and I will not let my circumstances define me,â one said.
In his new dorm room, Mario Martinez, the son of Honduran immigrants, chose the company of others like him who had come to UCLA on little more than their own resources.
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