UCLA: A History of Growth and Transformation
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has a rich history that dates back to the late 19th century. From its humble beginnings as a teachers' college to its current status as a world-renowned research university, UCLA has undergone significant transformations in size, scope, and reputation. This article explores the key milestones in UCLA's history, highlighting its evolution from a normal school to a leading institution of higher education.
The Early Years: A Teachers' College in Downtown Los Angeles
UCLA's origins can be traced to March 1881, when the California State Legislature authorized the creation of a southern branch of the California State Normal School (now San Jose State University) in downtown Los Angeles. This initiative was driven by the need to train teachers for the rapidly growing population of Southern California. State Senator Reginaldo Francisco del Valle spearheaded the effort, and Governor George C. Perkins signed the bill into law on March 14, 1881.
The trustees of the existing normal school in San Jose were tasked with selecting a site for the new branch. After considering various locations in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Aliso Grove, they chose a small orange grove called Bellevue Terrace, situated in what is now downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles branch of the California State Normal School officially opened its doors on August 29, 1882, marking the beginning of UCLA's long and storied history. A formal dedication ceremony followed on September 9, 1882, with dignitaries such as Governor Perkins, Governor-elect George Stoneman, and State Superintendent Frederick M. Campbell in attendance.
Transition to Vermont Avenue and the Birth of the "Southern Branch"
In October 1912, the Normal School trustees made the decision to sell the original campus in downtown Los Angeles. Two years later, in 1914, the teaching college relocated to a new campus on Vermont Avenue, which is now the site of Los Angeles City College in East Hollywood.
The pivotal moment in UCLA's history came in 1917 when UC Regent Edward Augustus Dickson and Ernest Carroll Moore, Director of the Normal School, began advocating for the school to become the second University of California campus, after UC Berkeley. Their efforts faced considerable opposition from UC Berkeley alumni, Northern California legislators, and then-UC President Benjamin Ide Wheeler, who were reluctant to establish a southern campus.
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Despite the resistance, Dickson and Moore persisted, and their efforts paid off on May 23, 1919, when Governor William D. Stephens signed a bill into law, officially establishing the Southern Branch of the University of California. This marked a significant milestone in the institution's journey toward becoming a comprehensive university.
The Move to Westwood and the Adoption of the UCLA Name
Under the leadership of UC President William Wallace Campbell, the Southern Branch experienced rapid enrollment growth in the 1920s, quickly outgrowing its 25-acre Vermont Avenue location. The UC Regents formed a Committee of Seventeen to explore potential sites for a new campus, considering proposals from areas ranging from Ventura County to San Diego.
Ultimately, the committee recommended the Letts' Estate, later known as the Beverly-Westwood site. To secure the land, the Janss brothers, the estate's owners, agreed to sell the property for approximately $1 million, significantly less than its actual value. This was made possible through municipal bond measures passed by Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Venice.
George W. Kelham of San Francisco served as the supervising architect for the new campus, with assistance from David Allison of the Los Angeles firm Allison & Allison. Allison, who had also designed the Vermont Avenue campus, envisioned the Romanesque style that would characterize the Westwood campus. The neighboring communities of Westwood Village and Bel Air were developed concurrently with the university.
In 1927, as the university prepared to break ground for its new Westwood campus and dissatisfaction grew with the "Southern Branch" name, the UC Regents formally adopted the name "University of California at Los Angeles" and the abbreviation "U.C.L.A." In 1958, the "at" was removed, and "UCLA" without periods became the preferred stylization under Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy in the 1960s.
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The first undergraduate classes were held on the new campus in 1929, with an enrollment of 5,500 students. In the same year, the UCLA and USC football teams met for the first time, a game that saw the Bruins suffer a crushing 76-0 defeat.
The Great Depression, World War II, and Postwar Expansion
The emergence of the Great Depression slowed down UCLA's development but did not bring it to a halt. In 1931, a Southern section of the UC faculty Academic Senate was established, followed by its formal organization in 1932.
During this period, the UCLA student body gained a reputation for radicalism. In 1934, Provost Ernest Moore labeled UCLA "the worst hotbed of communism in the U.S." and suspended five members of the ASUCLA student government for allegedly supporting the revolutionary activities of the National Student League. This incident sparked protests on campus, with over 3,000 students gathering in Royce Quad.
Also in 1934, UCLA received its first major bequest, the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, which significantly enriched the library's holdings and facilitated the development of graduate studies and additional colleges and professional schools. The College of Commerce (later the graduate School of Business Administration) was established in 1935.
The December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor had an immediate impact on the campus, transforming it into a wartime environment. Faculty members adjusted the curriculum and academic schedule to accommodate students entering military service. A student defense committee, later known as the Student War Board, was formed to coordinate emergency services. Japanese-American students issued a statement affirming their loyalty to America.
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President Sproul established a University War Council, and an "Engineering, Science and Management War Training" program was implemented at UCLA to train workers in defense industries. UCLA also played a crucial role in the Manhattan Project, responsible for purchasing and inspecting equipment for the scientists at Los Alamos. In conjunction with these projects, the UCLA College of Engineering was established in 1943.
Enrollment in ROTC, which had been established early in UCLA's history (1920), declined during the 1940s as special units were developed. In 1943, several Army Specialized Training Units were established at UCLA, with the largest focusing on language and geography area specialists. Male enrollment at UCLA decreased significantly during the war years, from 5,107 before the war to 2,407 the year after.
Fraternity houses were converted into cadets' quarters, and athletic programs were curtailed. Gasoline rationing led to the formation of car pools, and activities such as blood drives, scrap collections, War bond sales, and fruit harvesting became common. A service banner hung in Kerckhoff Hall for four years, displaying 5,702 stars, including 151 gold stars for the Bruins who lost their lives.
As the war drew to a close, veteran students began returning to UCLA under the G.I. Bill. President Sproul established an Office of Veteran's Affairs at UCLA in 1945 to facilitate their transition from military life to academic pursuits.
The end of the war ushered in a period of significant building expansion on campus. A deep arroyo was filled in with 400,000 cubic yards (310,000 m3) of earth to create 26 acres (110,000 m2) of additional usable land, upon which Schoenberg Hall, the Architecture building, Bunche Hall, and the Murphy Sculpture Garden were eventually built. The last Allison-designed building constructed was the Business and Economics building, which later became the Social Welfare building.
In conjunction with the building boom, the UCLA Medical and Law Schools were established in 1946 and 1947, respectively, further expanding the university's academic offerings. The department of Theater Arts was also established in 1947.
The Red Scare and Academic Freedom
The rise of the anti-Communist Red Scare in the late 1940s cast a shadow over the UC system, with suspicions of un-American activities emerging. In response, the Regents adopted a policy on March 25, 1949, requiring all faculty and staff to sign a loyalty oath disavowing membership in the Communist Party.
This policy sparked controversy and debate, with some faculty members arguing that it violated academic freedom. Edward C. Tolman argued that the policy violated academic freedom and should be rescinded. The Senate, however, voted to request that the controversial oath be "deleted or revised." By August 1950, 36 faculty of Senate rank and 62 non-Senate UC employees were dismissed for refusing to sign the loyalty oath, including three from UCLA: John Caughey, History; C. L. Mowat, History; and David S. Saxon, Physics.
In 1952, the state Supreme Court ruled that the Regents did not have the power to compel loyalty oaths but affirmed the Legislature's power to require loyalty oaths of all state employees. The faculty non-signers were reinstated on the condition that they sign the state's oath.
In October 1950, The Saturday Evening Post published an article titled "UCLA's Red Cell: Case History of College Communism," which alleged that leftist student activists had attempted to control meetings, disseminate propaganda, and incite riots. The article estimated that one out of every 400 UCLA students were involved in such practices.
In response to these controversies, the Regents sought to appoint a chancellor who would dispel the "hotbed of Communism" stigma at UCLA following the death of Provost Dykstra in 1950. After an 18-month search, they selected Raymond B. Allen, head of the Psychological Strategy Board in Washington, D.C., who had previously purged three Communists from employment at the University of Washington.
Allen's appointment was also motivated by his medical background and his experience in organizing the schools of medicine and dentistry at UW.
Postwar Construction, Research Growth, and Co-Equal Status
Up until the mid-1950s, postwar construction at UCLA was financed by tax surpluses accumulated during World War II and the Korean War. As those surpluses dwindled, further construction was funded through state bond issues. However, the state would not finance student housing, and UCLA had a significant shortage of on-campus housing, with only Hershey Hall accommodating students.
To address this issue, the Regents secured a loan from the federal government to construct Dykstra Hall and Sproul Hall on the hill west of the athletic fields, which opened in 1959 and 1960, respectively. The UCLA Faculty Club also contributed to the construction of the Faculty Center, completed in 1959. Ackerman Union was built using a Regents loan paid for by student fees.
During its first two decades, UCLA primarily focused on training educators and providing liberal arts education. However, with the establishment of graduate studies and professional schools, the university gradually shifted its focus toward scientific research. The School of Medicine was developed as a research institution, the first of its kind on the West Coast.
UCLA's growth as a research institution coincided with its elevation to co-equal status with UC Berkeley. Prior to 1951, UCLA was considered an off-site department of the Berkeley campus, headed by a provost who reported to Berkeley's president. In 1951, the Regents transferred day-to-day leadership responsibilities for the Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses to chancellors.
Athletics and Scandals
The 1950s also saw significant developments in UCLA's athletic programs. Red Sanders, football coach from 1949 to 1957, led UCLA to 66 victories and a national championship in 1954. John Wooden's basketball teams began to gain prominence, winning four Southern Division titles and three PCC championships. "Ducky" Drake's track teams won the PCC and NCAA championships in 1956.
However, this era was also marked by scandal. In the Winter and Spring of 1956, a major scandal involving the payment of student athletes by booster clubs at Pacific Coast Conference universities threatened to disrupt the UC system. UCLA was fined $93,000 and its football team was placed on a three-year probation.
Chancellor Allen advocated for UCLA to independently withdraw from the conference, but President Sproul reportedly prevented him from doing so. Some alumni even proposed that UCLA secede from the Northern California Regents and the UC president entirely. The conflict culminated in a 1957 UCLA Alumni Association proposal to the Regents, which ultimately led to UCLA and Berkeley leaving the PCC by 1959, effectively dissolving the conference.
Relations between the Pacific Coast universities involved remained strained for at least a decade. Allen resigned as Chancellor in 1959, after he was passed over for the position of President.
The California Master Plan for Higher Education and Continued Growth
Within the framework of the new California Master Plan for Higher Education, signed into state law in 1959, UCLA continued to expand its academic offerings and research capabilities.
Architectural Evolution
UCLA's architectural landscape has evolved significantly over time, reflecting changing styles and priorities. Its original master plan, supervised by architect George W. Kelham, established a Romanesque style for the campus.
In 1948, the Modernist architectural firm Wurdeman and Becket took over as supervising architects, with Welton Becket and Associates continuing after Wurdeman's death. This marked a shift toward Modernism, resulting in the incorporation of several notable Modern designs into the campus, carefully integrated into the landscape designed by Ralph D. Cornell.
The Schoenberg School of Music (1955), now known as Schoenberg Hall at the Herb Alpert School of Music, was the first major Modern building on campus. In 1959, the completion of the UCLA Faculty Center signaled the adoption of the Contemporary Ranch house style.
The construction of Bunche Hall in 1964 marked the arrival of UCLA's first major Modern high-rise. Designed by Maynard Lyndon, this twelve-story Social Sciences building features a distinctive grid of square protruding windows, earning it the nickname "The Waffle."
The Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, completed in 1966, was designed by Smith and Williams to provide a welcoming recreational space on a steep hillside site. In 1969, the Franklin Murphy Sculpture Garden was created by Cornell, Bridgers and Troller as a landscaped court showcasing free-standing sculptures. Frank Gehry's Student Placement and Career Planning Center was completed in 1977.
The School of Public Health
Public health education at UCLA began in 1946, 15 years before the establishment of an independent school. The UCLA Department of Public Health was initially housed in a wartime surplus barrack. Dr. A. Harry Bliss was recruited to develop a curriculum and served as chair of the department from 1947 to 1956.
In 1954, Dr. Wilton Halverson was named associate dean of the University of California's public health program at UCLA. He appointed Drs. John Chapman, Wilfrid Dixon, and Lenor S. (Steve) Goerke to develop programs in epidemiology, biostatistics, and health administration, respectively. Dr. Ruth Roemer, a labor lawyer turned public health advocate, joined the faculty in 1962 and made significant contributions to areas such as fluoridation, reproductive freedom, and tobacco control legislation.
The UCLA School of Public Health was established as an independent school by the University of California Regents on March 17, 1961, with Dr. Lenor S. (Steve) Goerke as its first dean. The school started with 57 faculty members in seven divisions. In 1968, the school moved into the UCLA Center for Health Sciences building.
Schoenberg Hall: A Modern Architectural Gem
Schoenberg Hall, designed by Welton Becket, is a Modern brick building that was constructed in 1954-1955 for the Music Department at UCLA. It was named in honor of Arnold Schoenberg, a renowned composer known for his Modern "twelve-tone technique," who served on the UCLA Faculty from 1936-1944.
The building features a music library, a hall seating 522 persons, 66 practice rooms, 12 classrooms, study-listening rooms, organ practice rooms, a recording studio, an opera practice room, and band and chorus rehearsal rooms.
The Anderson School of Management
In 1987, the UCLA business school was named the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, honoring benefactor John E. Anderson. The name reflected the school's expansion beyond business to include management of nonprofits and other organizations.
To accommodate the school's growth, a new complex was constructed along Stone Canyon Creek. Architect Charles E. Cobb designed four buildings around a courtyard, creating a "village" atmosphere. The complex includes Cornell Hall, Gold Hall, Entrepreneurs Hall, Mullin Management Commons, and the Rosenfeld Library. Cobb sought to create a unified design that resonated with the architectural traditions of Powell Library and Royce Hall.
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