About the Building

Mrs. Helen Draper Ayer of Massachusetts and later of California created a trust fund, The Draper Foundation, in memory of her Kentucky-born mother, Mrs. Jessie Preston Draper. She gave Berea $200,000 from this fund with the stipulation the money should be used to aid in educating students from Appalachia. Other gifts, including $50,000 given in memory of Henry C. Munger by his sister, brought the total to $340,000, with which this colonial-style structure was built in 1938 (modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia).

It contains 24 classrooms and offices for teachers, reading rooms, campus ministry and the audio-visual aids department. A large projection room and a complete, electronically equipped language laboratory also are located at Draper. In June 2000, renovation began on the Draper Building tower for the installation of a 56-bell Carillon. The carillon is an instrument consisting of bells that can be played like a piano or organ. The musical instrument weighs 11 tons. The Berea College Carillon is the largest in Kentucky.