PREFACE

        The purpose of this guide is to provide the viewer as well as the researcher a collective history of  Tennessee State University's building programs since 1912. And because the campus will soon undergo its third major uplift that will forever change the way the campus has looked over 75 years, the compiler felt such a guide was needed.

        The first major campus change occurred in 1931 and 1932 under the Hale Administration when two buildings -- INDUSTRIAL ARTS and the ADMINISTRATION AND HEALTH BUILDING -- were erected on the South campus, thus extending the campus for the first time on the other side of a main thoroughfare. The second major campus changed occurred under the Davis Administration from 1943 to 1968 when the building program extended the campus eastward to 30th Avenue and Centennial Blvd., (John A. Merritt Blvd.) and southward pass Alameda Street.

        The guide includes the history and an illustration of all buildings -existing and demolished -- encompassing seven categories: Administration, Classroom, Agriculture, Student Housing, Faculty Housing, Auxiliaries, and Physical Facilities. Also included are pictures and biographies of individuals for whom some campus buildings have been named. For quick access to each TSU President's building program, a building summary is provided in the front of the guide, along with a chronology of each building.

 

Vallie Pursley, Compiler