Chapman Hall is an academic building located on the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

campus. It was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence and was built in the late 1930s. Originally the location of the

Home Economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

department, today, it houses the Robert D. Clark Honors College.

Design and construction

Design for the building commenced in 1937 by the architectural firm Lawrence, Holford and Allyn. The chief designer was Ellis F. Lawrence, the chief architect for the University from 1914 to 1946, who reused his own design for the University's Condon Hall, completed in 1925. Construction of Chapman Hall began in December 1938 and was completed less than a year later in October 1939. The building was named after Charles H. Chapman, the second president of the University. The building was financed by both the

Student Union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...

and the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

Description

Chapman Hall is located on the northeast corner of the Memorial Quad and was the sixth and last building to be built on that quad. The building initially housed the Home Economics department and the first UO Bookstore, a student cooperative. The bookstore was housed there from 1939 until 1966. The building is rectangular in plan, constructed of concrete with a façade of

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

and brick. The style of the building is Mediterranean and is in keeping with many of the Lawrence buildings on the campus. The building has undergone some structural changes over time. In 1966, the façade was altered to change the north door into a window. In 1981, partitions were added to the third floor to make room for offices. Chapman Hall was the first fireproof building to be constructed at the University of Oregon. It would become the standard for the rest of the campus construction. Most of the original interior of the building is still intact, including woodwork and a fireplace with ceramic tiles. In 1942, a Works Progress Administration mural in the New Deal

Social Realist Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

style was added to room 223 by E. R. Scott as his thesis work. It depicts famous American figures such as

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

, and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. The building has decorative elements of red and white terra cotta tiles, Roman arches, basket weave brick pattern below the windows. Chapman Hall would be the last use of terra cotta at the University of Oregon. In 2019, a $10.5 million renovation brought the building to modern accessibility standards, improved energy efficiency, made seismic improvements, and restored historical architectural details that had been altered over time.

Current use

Since 1961, Chapman Hall has been the home of the Clark Honors College.

References

{{coord, 44, 2, 43.3, N, 123, 4, 37.3, W, type:edu_region:US-OR_dim:46, display=title University of Oregon buildings 1939 establishments in Oregon