Draper is one of the largest academic structures on Berea College's campus, occupying 56,000 square feet of space and rising to three stories tall, not including the tower in the center. It houses many departments and programs such as General Studies, Peace and Social Justice, Asian Studies, Communications, and the bell hooks center.

Philanthropist Mrs. Helen Draper Ayer of Massachusetts and later of California, created a trust fund, the Draper Foundation, in honor of her Kentucky-born mother, Mrs. Jessie Preston Draper. Through this fund, she gave Berea $200,000 with the single stipulation that the funds were to be used to educate Appalachian students. Other gifts included $50,000 given in memory of Henry C. Munger by his sister. The donated funds collectively totaled $340,000, and were used to build the Draper Building in 1938.

The construction of Draper replaced three single- and two-room schoolhouses, the old music building, classrooms on Richmond Pike, the old post office and a tin shop. The labor and materials used were largely cheaper as the building was built during the late Depression. The middle portion of the tower is a model after the tower found at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA. Mirrored on each side of the tower are the east and west wings, within which were twelve classrooms each. The architect, Charles Cellarius, said in its building he imagined it “growing naturally out of its woodland setting.”

Over the years, there have been several renovations, with offices in 1991 and classrooms in 1993. The tower received a major renovation in the summer of 2000, with the carillon installation. The entire building renovation took place from 2001 to 2002 while preserving the outside of the building, maintaining its classical colonial appearance and gutting the inside to replace it with a resourceful and state-of-the-art learning environment. The old materials used in the building’s original construction were saved and reused in the renovation and the student-made Woodcraft furnishings were later refinished. The building dedication was October 25, 2002.

Berea College is home to a 56-bell carillon and one of only 166 carillons in the United States. Berea’s carillon bells range in size from the 2,750 lb. “bourdon,” or largest bell, with a diameter of 50″ to the smallest, which is 5 1/2″ in diameter and weighs 18 1/2 lbs. For a campus the size our ours, this amazing instrument is quite a gift. The bourdon was the first bell to be raised and installed in the tower with the others following in descending size order. The bells were cast and tuned in the Netherlands by Petit and Fritsen Bellfoundry, makers of bells since 1660, and are made of “bell bronze,” an alloy of 80% copper and 20% tin.

With 56 bells, the carillon has a range of 4 1/2, making it possible to play virtually any piece of music in full melody and harmony. Carillon bells are specially tuned at five different points inside the bell, which ensures that each bell is in tune not only within itself, but with all the others in the series. Once a well-tuned bell leaves the foundry, it never needs tuning again.