Building Momentum

The GI Bill helped accelerate the growth of American colleges and universities and drew greater federal and state investment into higher education. The well-publicized crisis of housing veterans in trailers and holding classes in Quonset huts convinced state lawmakers to appropriate funds for the expansion and improvement of NC State. Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, NC State launched dozens of construction projects, recruited new faculty, overhauled the curriculum, and added new programs. The college sought closer ties to North Carolina industry and agriculture through extension and research, and it established four new schools: Design in 1946, Education in 1948, Forestry in 1950, and General Studies (now Humanities and Social Sciences) in 1952.

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Credit: Office of Information Services, NC State.

Construction lots on the west side of campus.

"Under construction"–that was the status of much of the campus in early 1952. The foundations of Kilgore Hall can be seen in the far-right foreground. Williams Hall, Gardner Hall, and Scott Hall (center) were nearing completion. The area had previously been covered by orchards. More than a dozen campus buildings were constructed or expanded during an intense five-year period of growth from 1949 to 1954.

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Credit: Agromeck, 1950.

Three sketches from an expanding campus, ca. 1950.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Nelson Hall.

In 1949 two new wings were added to Nelson Hall, then housing the School of Textiles. Five years later, the Burlington Mills textile company donated a library in honor of four NC State alumni who had died in WWII.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Reynolds Coliseum, 1949.

Reynolds Coliseum became home to NC State's ROTC programs and the legendary Wolfpack basketball teams led by Coach Everett Case.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Riddick Engineering Laboratories.

The Riddick Engineering Laboratories and Broughton Hall boosted the engineering school's capacity in 1951.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Broughton Hall.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Burlington Nuclear Laboratories.

Completed in 1953, the Burlington Nuclear Laboratories housed the world's first nuclear reactor used for peacetime training and research. Note the barracks in the background, which were still being used as classrooms.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

D. H. Hill Library.

The D. H. Hill Library outgrew its quarters in Brooks Hall and moved to a new building in 1953.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Erdahl-Cloyd Student Union.

In 1954 the Erdahl-Cloyd Student Union replaced the YMCA as the center of student activities on campus. It was converted into the West wing of the D. H. Hill Library in 1972.

 

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