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Building Name
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Pray-Harrold Building
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Description
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When it opened in 1969, Pray-Harrold was one of the largest classroom buildings in the United States. It had been built with an appropriation from the State Legislature for $5.6 million. The exterior was designed to match the architecture of the University Library and other buildings around the center of campus. The seven-story building accommodated 4,500 students each hour in its 75 classrooms and four lecture halls. Fully air-conditioned, the structure provided office space for 407 faculty members. Functionally, the building was designed with the most heavily used areas, the classrooms and lecture halls, on the first four floors while the offices were located on the top three floors. Today, the building remains devoted to classroom and office space, housing the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of African American Studies, Department of Computer Science, Department of Economics, Department of English Language and Literature, Department of History and Philosophy, Institute for Diversity and Business Services, Department of Mathematics, Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology.
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Namesake Biography
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Professor Carl E. Pray was born on the Pray homestead near Dimondale, Michigan, March 30, 1870, he was the son of Esek and Malvina Torrey Pray. He attended country school on the Pray farm, then transferred to the school in nearby Charlotte. As soon as he finished the eighth grade, he began teaching in the district school, and decided that teaching would be his life's work, not farming. He graduated from Olivet College, and after graduation he accepted the position of principal in the high school. When Pray's cousin, Charles McKenny became president of Mount Pleasant Normal School, Prof. Pray was offered a position in the History Department. While in Mount Pleasant, Carl Prey met Ruth Ellen Crim of Bowling Green, Ohio, whom he married on June 15, 1904. Carl Prey and his family came to Ypsilanti in 1913 after brief period at the Milwaukee Teachers College. Prey was to head the history department at Michigan State Normal College. He was a formative force in the department and established the study of American history. Prof. Prey was in great demand as a story teller and as a speaker on patriotic occasions. As the head of the History Department, Carl Pray was the extremely popular. One senior class was so fond of "Daddy Pray" that they commissioned a bust. Twice the school yearbook, the Aurora, was dedicated to him. Pray always cared about foreign students, and formed classes, called "Immigration Classes, to help international students get comfortable in the United States. Carl Esek Pray retired from M.S.N.C.'s history department in 1937, and remained a prominent figure in the Ypsilanti community. In 1944, citizens of Ypsilanti voted him as an Outstanding Citizen. After a brief illness, Prof. Carl E. Pray died on August 10, 1949.
Charles Frederick "Fred" Harrold, was born in Barnesville, Ohio, September 22, 1897. Prof. Harrold earned his A.B. and MA degrees from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He was married to Elizabeth Hebblewhite Harrold and had one son, John. After completing his degrees, he then taught at the Ohio State University before earning a PhD from Yale in 1925. From 1925-1943 Prof. Harrold taught English at the Michigan State Normal School. A biographer described Harrold as "A lecturer of great clarity and charm, often holding his students spellbound." After his tenure at M.S.N.C., Harrold returned to his Alma mater to teach graduate courses in English, until his untimely death in July of 1948. He authored several books throughout his lifetime, and was the international authority on the life and works of John Cardinal Newman. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Carlyle Society of Edinburgh, the Modern Language Association, the Modern Humanities Research Association and the National Council of Teachers of English.
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Building Namesake
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Carl Esek Pray, Head of the Logical Science and History Department, 1914-1938; Charles F. Harrold, E
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Year Constructed
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1969
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Date Dedicated
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24 October 1969
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Building Functions
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Classroom and Officespace
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Architect
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Swamson & Associates, Bloomfield Hills, MI
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Original Cost
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$5,600,000
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Architectural Style
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International
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Square Footage
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237,108
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Rights
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This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for educational uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the owner, Eastern Michigan University Archives (lib_archives@emich.edu).
