Norfolk State University began simply as a means to further education in the Tidewater Region; however, it grew due to the emotional connection to its community and was transformed into a college with a great history. The college was opened by interested citizens who believed int the hopes and aspirations of the youth of Tidewater, Virginia should not be subject to the economic limitations of the time.1 Norfolk State University formally known as the Norfolk Division of Virginia Union University started by renting rooms at the local Y.M.C.A Brambleton Avenue. In 1938, the college bought three buildings on Bank street to sustain the growth of the division. Within seven years of the school being opened in 1942, the Norfolk Division was charted to become their own independent college named Norfolk Polytechnic College.2 In the same year the City of Norfolk presented the college with a gift of a new building formally know as the Saint Vincent De Paul Hospital.3 Just a couple years after that on the 25th of April 1951 the City of Norfolk granted the college fifty-five acres of Memorial Park Golf course as a permanent location. Tidewater Hall was the first building that was built on the new land, it housed both classrooms and administration offices, The name Tidewater Hall was suggested by Harvey N. Johnson who served on the advisory board. In addition, former President Dr. Robert O. Daniel said that "Tidewater Hall is the first major structure in the necessary physical plant to meet the needs of an expanding program for a growing community".4 Unfortunately, on 12 May 1975 the name was changed to G.W.C Brown Memorial Hall after the late George William Clements Brown who was a Significant part of the growth of the college. G.W.W Brown was born in 1989 in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Virginia Union University in 1917. Dr. Brown had many roles in the progression on the 1952, Head of the audio-visual education, Director of the evening college and adult services until 1967, fund raising, recruitment and public relation. 5 The Norfolk Polytechnic College gained its University status in 1979 and was authorized to grant graduate degrees. Nonetheless, as the year's progressed Brown Memorial Hall needed to be renovated which surprisingly was ranked as a top priority above the rest of the colleges and Universities. The reason that Brown Hall was Ranked as a top priority was because it was part of the state's college desegregation initiative which was agreed upon with the federal government.6 Brown Memorial Hall serves as the oldest building on campus with an upcoming expiration date. The whole building except the clock will get torn down in December 2014. Within the next couple years Norfolk State University will have all new Buildings and will look nearly Unrecognizable. To my surprise there are no historic photos of G.W.C Brown Memorial Hall, only very recent pictures.
1. Lyman Beecher Brooks, Upward: A History of Norfolk State University 1935 to 1975 (Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1983), 31
3. Building Dedication Ceremonies At Norfolk Division of Virginia State College (12, May 1957)
5. Lyman Beecher Brooks, Upward: A History of Norfolk State University 1935 to 1975 (Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1983), 58
6.Amy Goldstein, "State Funding Urged for Norfolk State University Renovation" The Ledger Star July 6, 1983
