UT has officially renamed the Battle Hall library after John Chase, the University’s first Black architecture student, according to a Jan. 23 news release published on his 100th birthday.
The library is now named the John S. Chase Architecture and Planning Library because of a $5 million gift and pledge from Chase’s son and daughter-in-law, Tony Chase and Dina Al-Sowayel. Lorraine Haricombe, vice provost and director of UT Libraries, said the donation is the largest in the history of the school’s libraries. She said the gift will allow the University to acquire new material and organize exhibits so students can learn more about John Chase’s legacy.
“A library is a place that can impact many people,” Haricombe said. “We are particularly proud to name the Architecture and Planning Library for John Chase because we want that impact to be felt and continued for generations of students who come here, who study at the School of Architecture, and who will use that library and be reminded of John Chase’s pioneering work, both as a student but also as an architect in Texas.”
Chase said after his father passed away in 2012, it seemed appropriate for the University to honor him.
“(My dad) was extremely influential in my life as a mentor, as a dad, as a role model and as the grandfather of my kids,” Chase said. “It just seemed like the right thing to do (to make this pledge).”
Chase said his father grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, and attended Hampton University for his undergraduate degree. He said no universities in Texas accepted Black students at the time, and his dad enrolled in UT’s School of Architecture only two days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1950 Sweatt v. Painter decision that integrated American higher education.
After graduating with his master’s in architecture, his dad became the first Black architect in Texas, Chase said. He said his father designed many important buildings in Houston, including the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Harris County Astrodome Renovation and the Toyota Center. John Chase also designed the University’s San Antonio Parking Garage and Mike A. Myers Soccer Stadium and Track Stadium, along with several houses and churches in East Austin.
John Chase’s daughter, Saundria Chase Gray, said she and her dad were very close. She said he had a “zest for life” that she still tries to emulate today. Gray said she wants students to be inspired by his story, not just because he was the first but because of his significant accomplishments.
“Putting my dad’s name on a space that is part of a learning institution, a part of a university, is symbolic because it evidences the transformative power of education,” Gray said. “My dad became an architect at UT, and now UT is honoring him for his life of great work and contribution — that’s transformative.”
