At top right: Inside of Childress Hall (then Watson Memorial Library) circa 1940s Above: The Mezzanine level currently exhibits a visual overview of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Commencement Speech at UAPB in 2010 At left: A partial view of the University Museum and Cultural Center from the Mezzanine level. An impressive pictorial history of the institution dons the walls on two sides of the space.
Future Museum upgrades include an installation of interactive audio and video systems, a projector system with a television monitor to show videos of historical events, and a forthcoming new exhibit for Chancellor Laurence B. Alexander. A new LED track lighting system was recently installed.
Childress Hall’s Background Had it not been for the vision to create and house a museum there, the building now called Childress Hall would have been demolished in 1991. “This building was slated to be torn down after Dawson-Hicks Hall opened and this building was vacated,” Linton said.
“I convinced Dr. Davis (former Chancellor Lawrence A. Davis, Jr.) to keep the building for a museum and give Title III and the Development Office more space. Together we all worked hand in hand to see this project through.” Childress Hall has changed locations and purposes twice in the history of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. When UAPB was AM&N, Childress Hall was not only located on the south end of the campus, but also it was a men’s dormitory. According to Museum documents, Childress Hall is named after the late Rufus C. Childress. Today, Caine-Gilleland Hall stands where the original Childress Hall once stood. The current location of Childress Hall is on Watson Boulevard adjacent to Lewis Hall and Douglas Hall, and across the street from the Adair-Greenhouse Human Sciences Building. This structure was built in 1939 and formerly housed the John Brown Watson Memorial Library and the Department of Art. In 1968, both the Library and the Department of Art moved into new locations, and the building took on new activity as a Student Services Building – a student center with a Reading lab, the Student Testing Center, Basic Academic Services, Career Services Center and staff offices. Because of its unique design, the building was named on the list of National Historic Places. Information for this article was contributed by the University Museum and Cultural Center FALL 2015
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