History of the University of California, Los Angeles facts for kids
The history of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) began in the 1800s. Back then, it was a special school for training teachers, called a normal school. Over almost 40 years, it grew bigger and moved to different campuses in Los Angeles. In 1919, the governor of California, William D. Stephens, signed a law to make it the Southern Branch of the University of California.
In 1927, the university started building its new campus in Westwood. People weren't happy with the name "Southern Branch." So, the UC Regents (the university's governing board) officially changed the name to "University of California at Los Angeles." They also started using the abbreviation "U.C.L.A." The "at" was removed in 1958, and "UCLA" without periods became the popular way to write it in the 1960s. In its first 100 years, UCLA became a top research university. It made a big impact around the world in arts, culture, education, health care, and technology.
Contents
Early Days of UCLA
Training Teachers in Los Angeles (1881-1919)
In March 1881, California decided to open a southern branch of the California State Normal School in downtown Los Angeles. This school, like San José State University today, was for training teachers. It helped teach new teachers for the growing population in Southern California. The Los Angeles branch opened on August 29, 1882. It even had a special demonstration school where future teachers could practice with real children. This elementary school is now the UCLA Lab School. In 1887, this branch became its own independent school and was renamed the Los Angeles State Normal School.
In October 1912, the Normal School sold its campus. The city of Los Angeles bought the land to build a public library. This library is now the Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library system.
By 1914, the teaching college moved to a new campus on Vermont Avenue. This site is now where Los Angeles City College is located. In 1917, people like UC Regent Edward Augustus Dickson and Normal School Director Ernest Carroll Moore started asking the state to make the school a second University of California campus. They wanted it to be like UC Berkeley. Some people, especially UC Berkeley alumni, didn't like this idea. But the new UC President in 1919, David Prescott Barrows, supported it.
Becoming a University Branch (1919-1927)
On May 23, 1919, their hard work paid off. Governor William D. Stephens signed a bill that turned the Los Angeles Normal School into the Southern Branch of the University of California. This law also added a general undergraduate program, called the Junior College. The Southern Branch opened on September 15, 1919. It offered two-year college programs to 250 Junior College students and 1,250 students in the Teachers College.
By 1923, the number of students grew to 4,723. People in Southern California were upset because their "branch" only offered a junior college program. Some even called it "the twig." In February 1923, the UC Regents approved adding third and fourth years of study. This changed the Junior College into the College of Letters and Science. The first Bachelor of Arts degrees were given to 98 women and 30 men on June 12, 1925.
The college's sports teams were called the "Cubs." In 1926, they joined the Pacific Coast Conference and tried to use the name "Grizzlies." But the University of Montana already used that name. So, the students chose "Bruins" instead, a name suggested by students at Berkeley. That same year, the Regents renamed the school the "University of California at Los Angeles." The word "at" was officially changed to a comma in 1958.
Moving to Westwood Campus
Under UC President William Wallace Campbell, the Southern Branch grew very quickly. By the mid-1920s, the 25-acre Vermont Avenue campus was too small. The Regents looked at many possible new locations. They chose an undeveloped 383-acre area just west of Beverly Hills. This area was known as the Letts' Estate.
The Regents said the new site had to be a gift or cost nothing. The owners, the Janss brothers, agreed to sell the land for about $1 million. This was much less than its actual value. Cities like Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Venice helped pay this amount. A state bond measure, Proposition 10, also passed that year. It provided $3 million for new campus buildings. University students actively campaigned for this measure.
A special ceremony for the new campus happened on October 25, 1926. Construction officially began on May 7, 1928. Four main buildings were planned: the University Library, Josiah Royce Hall, the Physics-Biology Building, and the Chemistry Building. Today, these are Powell Library, Royce Hall, Renee and David Kaplan Hall, and Haines Hall. They were built around a large courtyard.
George W. Kelham was the main architect, with help from David Allison. Allison designed the buildings in the Romanesque style. Nearby communities like Westwood Village and Bel Air grew at the same time as the university. The original Vermont campus became home to Los Angeles City College.
University Growth and Changes
The first college classes on the new Westwood campus started in 1929 with 5,500 students. In 1929, the Bruin and Trojan football teams played for the first time. The Bruins lost that game. The first student housing building, Hershey Hall, was built in the early 1930s. It was named after Almira Hershey, who gave $300,000 to UCLA for the dorm.
The Great Depression slowed UCLA's growth but didn't stop it. In 1933, after much effort from alumni and faculty, UCLA was allowed to offer master's degrees. In 1936, it could also offer doctorate degrees, even with resistance from Berkeley.
In 1934, UCLA received a very generous gift: the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. This library has a large collection of rare books and old writings. It includes important English literature, history, and fine printing.
With a better library and more graduate studies, UCLA added new colleges and professional schools. The College of Commerce started in 1935. In 1939, the School of Education replaced the Teachers College. The College of Applied Arts also began, which later became the College of Fine Arts.
UCLA During World War II
When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, UCLA quickly changed to a wartime focus. Teachers adjusted classes to help students joining the military. A student defense committee was formed to help with emergency services. Japanese-American students stated their loyalty to America.
President Sproul created a University War Council. UCLA started a program to train workers for defense industries. UCLA also helped with Project 36 of the Manhattan Project, which involved buying equipment for scientists. Because of these projects, the UCLA College of Engineering was created in 1943.
Enrollment in ROTC (military training) changed. Special units were developed instead. These included:
- An advanced training program in meteorology for military and airline staff.
- A Navy V-12 officer training program started in 1943. It included almost 600 midshipmen and WAVES (women in the Navy).
- Several Army Specialized Training Units began at UCLA in 1943. The largest was for language and geography specialists.
The number of male students at UCLA dropped significantly during the war. Fraternity houses became places for cadets. Sports programs continued but were reduced. Gasoline was rationed, so many students carpooled. Blood drives, scrap collections, War bond sales, and fruit harvesting became common activities. Students and faculty planted "Victory Gardens" to help with food shortages.
A service banner hung in Kerckhoff Hall for four years. By the end of the war on August 15, 1945, it had 5,702 stars, with 151 gold stars for Bruins who died.
Veterans Return to Campus
Before the war ended, veteran students began to come to UCLA using the G.I. Bill. President Sproul created an Office of Veteran's Affairs at UCLA in 1945. This office helped veterans adjust from military life to being students. By 1947, veterans made up 43% of all students.
Post-War Building Boom
After the war, many new buildings were constructed on campus. A deep arroyo (a dry creek bed) was filled with a lot of earth. This created 26 acres of new usable land. Schoenberg Hall, the Architecture building, Bunche Hall, and the Murphy Sculpture Garden were later built there.
The last building designed by Allison was the Business and Economics building. In 1948, Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket became the new main architects. Since the Italian Romanesque style was too expensive, new buildings looked more modern. However, they kept some of Allison's design elements, like brick walls, tile roofs, and stone trim.
Along with the building boom, the UCLA Medical and Law Schools were started in 1946 and 1947. The Department of Theater Arts also began in 1947. By 1950, the number of veterans decreased, but the total student enrollment reached a new high of 14,318 students.
UCLA in the McCarthy Era
In the late 1940s, during the "Red Scare" (a time of fear about communism), the UC system was suspected of having un-American activities. On March 25, 1949, the Regents made a rule that all faculty and staff had to sign a loyalty oath. This oath said they were not members of the Communist Party. Some faculty members, like Edward C. Tolman, argued that this rule went against academic freedom (the freedom to teach and learn without unfair restrictions). By August 1950, 36 faculty members and 62 other UC employees were fired for not signing the oath, including three from UCLA.
In 1950, a magazine article claimed that some UCLA students were involved in leftist activities. However, the California Un-American Activities Committee only identified one faculty member as a Communist Party member.
When Provost Dykstra died in 1950, the Regents looked for someone new to lead UCLA. They wanted someone who could remove the idea that UCLA was a "hotbed of Communism." After a long search, they chose Raymond B. Allen. He had been president of the University of Washington and was known for removing three Communists from jobs there. Allen believed that academic freedom meant not being controlled by political groups or strict ideas that stop the search for truth.
Allen was also chosen because he was a doctor and had helped organize medical and dental schools at the University of Washington. As the UCLA Medical Center was being built (the largest building project in UC history at that time), three related schools for Nursing, Dentistry, and Public Health were also started.
Until the mid-1950s, new buildings were paid for by extra tax money saved during World War II and the Korean War. After that, new construction was paid for by state bonds. However, the state would not pay for student housing. UCLA had 17,000 students, but only Hershey Hall (a women's dorm built in 1930) housed students on campus. So, the Regents got a loan from the federal government to build Dykstra Hall and Sproul Hall. These opened in 1959 and 1960. The UCLA Faculty Club also raised money to build the Faculty Center, completed in 1959. Ackerman Union was also built with a loan paid for by student fees.
Early Research at UCLA
For its first 20 years, UCLA focused on training teachers and liberal arts. With graduate studies and professional schools, it slowly became more focused on scientific research. The School of Medicine was mainly developed as a research institution. SWAC, one of the nation's first large computers using vacuum tubes, was built at UCLA in 1950. IBM also set up the Western Data Processing Center at UCLA in 1956. This center helped people learn to use computers for research. Other early computers were linked with SWAC to form a Campus Computing Network.
The library also grew to 1,500,000 books, making it the twelfth largest in the United States. Special branch libraries began to open in major buildings on campus.
UCLA's growth as a research institution happened at the same time it became equal in status to UC Berkeley. Before 1951, UCLA was seen as a branch of the main Berkeley campus. It was led by a provost who reported to Berkeley's president. But in 1951, the Regents gave day-to-day leadership to chancellors at both Berkeley and Los Angeles. Both chancellors reported equally to the UC president and had much more independence.
First "Golden Age" of UCLA Sports
Henry Russell Sanders, the football coach from 1949–57, led UCLA to 66 wins and a national championship in 1954. John Wooden's basketball teams also became famous. They won four Southern Division titles and were PCC champions three times. "Ducky" Drake's track teams won the PCC and NCAA championships in 1956. Bill Ackerman and J.D. Morgan's tennis teams won five national championships between 1950 and 1956. UCLA also won the first ever NCAA national championship in volleyball in 1956.
Sports Conference Challenges
In 1956, a big scandal about payments to student athletes at Pacific Coast Conference universities caused problems. UCLA was fined $93,000 and its football team was put on probation for three years. Chancellor Allen wanted UCLA to leave the conference, but President Sproul stopped him. Some alumni wanted UCLA to completely separate from the Northern California Regents and the UC president. The conflict continued until 1957. A proposal from the UCLA Alumni Association led to both UCLA and Berkeley leaving the PCC by 1959, which broke up the conference.
Relations between the universities involved remained difficult for about ten years. Chancellor Allen resigned in 1959. He had hoped to become the UC President but was passed over. This was partly due to the sports scandal and issues with campus planning. Clark Kerr, the chancellor of the Berkeley campus, was chosen as the new UC President. From 1957 to 1960, Kerr gave more power and responsibility to the campus chancellors.
To replace Allen, UCLA Vice Chancellor Vern Knudsen was appointed Chancellor for a year before he retired. Then, Franklin David Murphy, dean of the University of Kansas Medical School, became UCLA's next Chancellor.
The California Master Plan
Under the new California Master Plan for Higher Education, signed into law in 1959, Chancellor Murphy worked to make UCLA even better and more independent. He quickly increased the number of interdisciplinary institutes and special research centers. He also worked with the Regents to help UCLA's library grow faster than Berkeley's, so they would become equal. A School of Library Service started in 1960, followed by the School of Architecture and Urban Planning in 1966. The quarter system (a different academic calendar) was put in place in 1965.
Nobel Prizes Awarded
In 1960, Willard F. Libby, a Chemistry professor, won the first Nobel Prize for science given to a UCLA faculty member. He won for developing radiocarbon dating, a way to find the age of ancient objects. (Alumni Ralph Bunche won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, and Glenn Seaborg won in 1951 for discovering plutonium at Berkeley.)
More Building Booms
Construction paid for by bonds boomed in the 1960s. This was the biggest building period in UCLA's history. Many new buildings were added, including Boelter Hall, the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, Marion Davies Children's Clinic, Dickson Art Center, Pauley Pavilion, and several residence halls. Six parking structures were also built.
Chancellor Murphy suggested creating a sculpture garden in North Campus. Jacques Lipchitz's "Song of the Vowels" was the first sculpture bought in 1965.
Second "Golden Age" of UCLA Sports
In 1964, Coach John Wooden won the first of 10 NCAA basketball championships. His teams won almost every year until he retired in 1975. Tommy Prothro coached the Bruin football team to its first Rose Bowl victory in 1966. Quarterback Gary Beban became the first UCLA player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1967. UCLA also won more national championships in tennis (1965), track (1966), and volleyball (1965 & 1967). They won many conference titles in other sports too.
The Charles Young Era
Chancellor Murphy resigned in 1968 to lead the Times Mirror Company. During his time, student enrollment grew to 29,000. New buildings worth $150,000,000 were built, 1,000 new faculty members were hired, and UCLA's yearly budget increased greatly. The Regents chose Murphy's assistant, Charles E. Young, to be the next UCLA Chancellor. Young was a graduate of UC Riverside and earned his doctorate at UCLA. At 36, he was the youngest head of a UC campus and the first UCLA graduate to become its chancellor.
Student Protests
The year before Murphy resigned, student protests against the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began at UCLA. Over 500 students protested Dow Chemicals, which made napalm (a chemical used in the war). The protests grew as the war continued.
In 1969, two students, John Huggins and Bunchy Carter, were killed in Campbell Hall. This happened during a disagreement over leadership of a new African American Studies Center.
Later in 1969, the UC Regents fired Angela Davis, a lecturer in the Philosophy Department. She was fired for openly being a member of the Communist Party USA. Many faculty members were upset and threatened to not give grades if Davis was not rehired. Almost 2,000 students filled Royce Hall to hear Davis's first lecture, even though the Regents had removed credit for her class. The audience gave her a standing ovation. Chancellor Young followed a court order to restore course credit to Davis's class. However, eight months later, the Regents again dismissed Davis from UCLA.
Student protests at UCLA increased when President Richard Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia. Also, the National Guard fired on student protesters at Kent State. Hundreds of UCLA students marched through campus and damaged several buildings, including an ROTC building. Chancellor Young declared a State of Emergency and called the LAPD to campus. Many arrests were made, and some people were injured. These protests, and others at UC campuses, caused then-Governor Ronald Reagan to close the state's colleges and universities for the first time.
ARPANET Developed at UCLA
ARPANET, the world's first electronic computer network, was set up at UCLA on October 29, 1969. Student programmer Charley Kline, supervised by Professor Leonard Kleinrock, sent the first message. He transmitted from UCLA's computer to a lab at Stanford Research Institute. The message was "login." Only the "l" and "o" letters were sent before the system crashed. So, the very first message over ARPANET was "lo." About an hour later, the computer fully logged in. The first permanent ARPANET link was made on November 21, 1969, between UCLA and Stanford Research Institute. By December 5, 1969, the entire four-node network was working.
Turing Award winner Vinton Cerf was a student in the computer science department in the early 1970s and also worked on ARPANET. He later worked with Bob Kahn to write an important paper in 1974. This work was key to their later development of the Transmission Control Protocol - TCP/IP protocol, which is fundamental to how the internet works today.
The 1980s and 1990s
In 1981, the UCLA Medical Center made history. Assistant professor Michael S. Gottlieb was the first to diagnose an unknown illness that was later named AIDS.
In 1984, UCLA hosted gymnastics and tennis competitions for the Olympic Games. It also served as an "Olympic village" for athletes. Also in 1984, the Alumni Association celebrated its 50th anniversary. They donated the "Bruin Bear" statue, located at Bruin Plaza, and the "Mighty Bruins" fight song, composed by Academy Award winner Bill Conti, to the university.
In 1987, Professor Donald Cram received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in host–guest chemistry.
In 1988, Professor Kleinrock led a group that wrote a report called Toward a National Research Network. This report was given to Congress and greatly influenced then-Senator Al Gore. It became the basis for the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991. Funding for the development of Mosaic in 1993, an early World Wide Web browser, came from this program. On January 11, 1994, as Vice-President, Al Gore gave the opening speech for The Superhighway Summit held at UCLA's Royce Hall. In 2001, Gore joined UCLA's faculty as a visiting professor.
Student activism in the 1980s focused on issues like the South African government's apartheid policies (racial segregation) and the U.S.'s policy in Central America. In the 1990s, student activists focused on university and statewide concerns. These included union recognition for graduate teaching assistants and the expansion of the Chicano Studies Center.
The Northridge earthquake struck UCLA on January 17, 1994. The earthquake caused significant damage to Kerckhoff and Royce Halls. The Medical Center also had damage and chemical spills. The quake sped up efforts to make buildings more resistant to earthquakes.
Charles E. Young, the longest-serving university chancellor in U.S. history, retired in 1997. The year before he left, the number of ethnic minority students at UCLA was almost 60 percent. The university had 120 endowed faculty chairs and 6.7 million books in the UCLA Library. Its yearly operating expenses were almost $2 billion. Funding for research from outside sources increased greatly. Private fundraising also grew significantly.
A New Century for UCLA
Activism and Challenges (2000-2006)
In 1995, 2001, and 2004, Mother Jones magazine listed UCLA as one of the Top 10 Activist Campuses. This shows the strong spirit of its students over the years.
In 2003, the Bruin Republicans held the first "affirmative action bake sale." This was a protest against policies that consider race in admissions. This practice has been copied by other student groups across the country. In 2006, Andrew Jones, a former Bruin Republicans president, founded the Bruin Alumni Association. This group is not officially connected to the university. It aimed to highlight professors it considered very liberal. There was some debate when Jones offered money to students who recorded professors' lectures for his website.
Other recent activism includes a movement since 2004 to pressure the UC Regents to stop investing in Sudan. This was due to the mass killings in the Darfur region. In March 2006, the Regents voted to stop these investments, becoming the largest university system to do so.
On November 14, 2006, a student was stunned multiple times by campus police in Powell Library. This happened after he reportedly refused to show his student ID card.
Present Day (2007-Present)
On May 13, 2007, the Women's Water Polo team beat Stanford University 5–4. This victory gave UCLA its 100th NCAA championship title. UCLA was the first school to reach this milestone.
2014 Flooding Incident
On July 29, 2014, a nearly century-old water main burst on Sunset Boulevard, just above campus. About twenty million gallons of water flooded the area below. The water rushed for almost four hours. It damaged buildings and sports facilities, including Pauley Pavilion and the Wooden Center. Several parking structures were also partly flooded, trapping nearly 740 cars.
Images for kids
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The Normal School (1886)
