Cadek Hall photo by Angela Foster
In his role as University archivist, UC Foundation Associate Professor Noah Lasley works to acquire, arrange and describe official University of Tennessee at Chattanooga records and other valuable materials that document the University’s history and functions. His research interests include digital humanities, digital curation and archival instruction.
Lasley received a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in information science from UT Knoxville. Before joining UTC Special Collections in July 2016, he worked for several library units at UT Knoxville, including Modern Political Archives, Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project and Digital Production Area.
Cadek Hall exterior high eye-level view, 1959. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus photographs, UA-00-03-01-27-003. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.
Cadek (pronounced “CHAH-dek”) Hall was dedicated on March 26, 1961.
As it was the first intentionally constructed University building devoted to the fine arts, the occasion was a milestone in UTC history. Until then, art and music classes were held in spaces in Founders Hall and the Patten House.
With the opening of Cadek Hall, the University created over 20,000 square feet of space expressly for music, art, speech and dance instruction. As a local newspaper reported, the building offered “evidence of the university’s coming of age as one of the stronger schools in the South and of Chattanooga’s advance in educational and cultural affairs.”Accounts of the interior at the time of the dedication described it as “ultra-modern,” while the exterior, collegiate Gothic style was intended to harmonize with nearby Hunter Hall and the Guerry Center (both completed in 1958). Architects Percy B. Shepherd and Earl C. Smith designed the building, which is unique on campus for decorative elements such as the classical figures with musical instruments and the blackletter relief carving of “Cadek Hall.”
The completion of Cadek Hall also deepened town and gown relationships. The building’s namesake, Joseph Ottokar Cadek (1868-1927), was a prominent violinist born and classically trained in Prague, a major European musical center. Cadek and his family settled in Chattanooga in the 1890s, and he opened the Cadek Conservatory of Music in 1904.
Operating out of a building on Walnut Street, the conservatory grew alongside the University of Chattanooga for years, with an arrangement that University students could take conservatory classes for academic credit. In 1935, this relationship was formalized, and the conservatory became the Cadek Conservatory of the University of Chattanooga under the direction of Joseph Cadek’s son, Harold Cadek (1901-1973). The conservatory was fully merged into the University in 1948, but continued to offer non-college and preparatory level education for the community in Cadek Call until 2015, when it relocated to the campus of the Girls Preparatory School.
With the opening of the Fine Arts Building in the 1980s, the WUTC radio station moved into studios in Cadek Hall, where they broadcast until 2022. The 325-seat recital hall was renovated in the mid-2000s, and the building presently houses offices and classrooms for the Music and Theatre departments.
Learn more
“A Greater University of Chattanooga for a Greater Chattanooga Area” advertisement, Chattanooga Daily Times, January 12, 1961, page 33.
Cadek Hall exterior view, circa 1960. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus photographs, UA-00-03-01-27-001. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.
Joseph Ottokar Cadek portrait, circa 1920s. Chattanooga Times collection, 1870-1991. Identifier ACC 295-01-025. Courtesy of the Chattanooga Public Library.
Cadek Conservatory students, 1961, University Echo, January 13, 1961, page 4. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.
Harold Cadek portrait, 1948. Moccasin yearbook, 1948, page 26. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.
Bibliography
Benser, Caroline Cepin. “Ottokar Cadek,” The Encyclopedia of Alabama, https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/ottokar-cadek/.
Cadek Conservatory records, MS-006. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections. https://findingaids.utc.edu/repositories/2/resources/6.
“Dean Speaks at Dedication,” University Echo, March 31, 1961, page 1. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll9/id/4869/rec/8.
Eubanks, Carmen. “Cadek Recital Hall to be Renovated,” University Echo, February 17, 2005. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll9/id/22822/rec/3.
Hill, Pat. “Cadek’s To Be Ready For Use by Christmas,” University Echo, September 30, 1960, page 1. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll9/id/4845/rec/1.
Joseph Ottokar Cadek biography file, 1951-2015. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga biography files. Box UA-00-02-03 001, Folder 35. https://findingaids.utc.edu/repositories/4/archival_objects/19141.
Joseph Ottokar Cadek Hall file, 1959-1984. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus building and construction files. Box UA-00-02-06 001, Folder 8. https://findingaids.utc.edu/repositories/4/archival_objects/19460.
“Building Program Plans New Additions,” University Echo, September 9, 1959. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll9/id/4679/rec/44.
McCarty, Bill. “Music Conservatory Opens New Building,” University Echo, January 13, 1961, page 1. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll9/id/4838/rec/12.
Mynders, Alfred, “Looking Back,” Chattanooga Daily Times, April 19, 1960, page 10.
Phillips, Rickie, “New Cadek Music Hall Scheduled to be Built,” University Echo, June 9, 1959, page 1. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll9/id/4668/rec/1.
President’s Report to the Board of Trustees, University of Chattanooga Board of Trustees annual meeting minutes, June 6, 1960, UA-02-01-01-097-008, page 12. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll25/id/1437/rec/5.
Schneider, Fred “UC Will Build New Cadek Music Hall Near Main Campus in the Near Future.” Chattanooga Daily Times, May 23, 1959, pages 1-2.
University of Chattanooga Board of Trustees annual meeting minutes, June 9, 1959, pages 6-7 and 12. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll25/id/2599/rec/13.
Wiens, Jessica, “Cadek undergoes renovations,” University Echo, September 15, 2005, page 5. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll9/id/22929/rec/1
