Cockefair Hall

Cockfair Hall is home to UMKC's Departments of History, English and Philosophy. The Building was home to the UKC/UMKC School of Law from 1950-1979. In 1980, the university renovated the building and named it for former professor Carolyn Benton Cockefair. Cockefair had been instrumental in teaching veteran students after the Second World War and established the university's Department of Continuing Education. UMKC's Cockefair Chair in Continuing Education, a speakers and education series, also honors her.

The Kansas City School of Law merged with the University of Kansas City in 1938. At the time, the Volker Campus consisted of only four buildings and space for the new UKC School of Law was minimal. The second floor of hte Administration Building, today called Scofield Hall, was converted to classrooms and faculty offices. The university placed the law library on the second floor of the campus library, today Newcomb Hall. The university had originally intended this space to be a small autitorium.

In 1940, William Volker gifted $250,000 to construct a new building for the UKC School of Law. However, construction of the eventual $400,000 building did not begin until after the Second World War. Materials shortages and labor disruptions at the end of the war delayed the completion of the building until 1950. The building, located across the street from the original quad, was likewise made of native stone. It was a huge improvement over the school's previous accommodations. Now there was room for all of the faculty and law classrooms in one facility. An ample law library held the school's collection with room to grow. The building included such modern amenities as a large student study lounge in the central tower portion of the building and a moot court space to provide students with a mock courtroom experience.

In 1952, Hungarian artist Elemer Polony was the university's artist in residence. He gifted to the UKC School of Law a large two panel mural called "Of Truth and Life." The mural depicts a figure representing life itself on trial. The 7'X9' panels of the mural hung in the student lounge, the only room with tall enough ceilings. These murals have subsequently been put into storage.

By the early 1970s, the UMKC School of Law had outgrown its building. It faced accreditation concerns from the American Bar Association because of a lack of study and library space. The school moved to its new facility across campus on Oak St. in 1979. The university then renovated that building to provide a home for UMKC's Departments of History, English and Philosophy. In 1980, it was renamed in honor of Carolyn Benton Cockefair, a legendary professor of English.

Carolyn Benton Cockefair was born in 1884, near Odessa, Missouri. She was a cousin to famous Kansas City artist Thomas Hart Benton. When Dean Norman Royall of the University of Kansas City College of Liberal Arts hired her in 1947, she had been teaching English and literature on the high school and collegiate level for over 30 years and was well regarded throughout Missouri. She was an expert in adult education, which the university sorely needed with the influx of non-traditional veteran students after the Second World War. Her unorthodox and old-fashioned teaching methods, including acting out characters in literature and using the Socratic method, struck a chord with her more mature and worldly students. She started a Great Books program with Dr. Royall that expanded from an initial 4 discussion groups to over 40. These and other courses led the university to create the Department of Continuing Education. People flocked from sometimes over a hundred miles away each week to take Mrs. Cockefair's extension courses. Many of her students in these courses were women aged 35-55, who dubbed themselves "Cockefair's Ladies." These women raised money for the Cockefair Chair speakers and extension education series in 1961. Mrs. Cockefair always tried to make the world's greatest minds accessible to the common person. The Cockefair Chair has sought to bring the world's greatest artists, authors and thinkers to campus.

Carolyn Benton Cockefair retired from teaching in 1964 at age 80 but was a frequent presence on campus as a professor emeritus and at Cockefair Chair engagements. She passed away in 1969. The Cockefair Ladies were instrumental in persuading the university to name Cockefair Hall in her honor. The Cockefair Chair continues her mission by hosting numerous speakers and extension education courses each year.

Wolff, Christopher. A Pearl of Great Value: The History of UMKC, Kansas City’s University. Kansas City, Missouri. UMKC Alumni Association, 2016.

History – Carolyn Benton Cockefair - The Life of Carolyn Benton Cockefair, UMKC - Cockefair Chair. Accessed September 23rd, 2022. https://info.umkc.edu/cockefair/about/history-carolyn-benton-cockefair/.

Campus History: Cockefair Hall, KC Roo News. November 15th, 2010. Accessed September 24th, 2022. https://kcroonews.com/campus-history-cockefair-hall/.

Decker, Mary Bell. Decker, Clarence Raymond. A Place of Light: The story of a university presidency. New York, NY. Hermitage Press, 1954.

Flynn, Jane Fifield. Kansas City women of Independent Minds. Kansas City, Mo. Field Publishing Co, 1992.