The Bells of Iowa State

Long before Marquette and Joliet came up the Mississippi... Long before Lewis and Clark explored the Missouri... the Sac and the Fox kept perfect partnership with this land between the rivers. They called it Iowa- "beautiful land". [music] The pioneers who came felt a spirit, too. For only 12 years after statehood, a tradition of working together brought a new kind of education to Iowa. Founded in 1858, Iowa State University would change the face of the Prairie... reach out to shape the future of the state, the nation, and the world. [music] [music] That partnership of trust and support for Iowa State is today evident everywhere. [music] Alumni Hall, built with gifts from those who graduated in the first three decades of the people's college, has today been beautifully restored, and serves as the centerpiece for University Admissions. [music] Lake Laverne, the gift of La Verne Noyes, a graduate of Iowa State's first class in 1872, continues today as both a jewel of quiet reflection and a place of enthusiastic student activity. [cheering] The Memorial Union, built in loving memory of those Iowa Staters who gave their lives in World War One, has evolved over the past 60 plus years, and eight additions, to become a true center of university life. [music] And standing proudly in the center of these green hills, the Campanile and the bells of Iowa State, the gift of Dean Edgar Stanton, Iowa State's first Dean of the junior college, and also a member of the first class. [bells of the Campanile tolling] this elegant structure stands today as it has for almost a century as the symbol of the university's excellence in its first 120 years the Prairie College has grown and evolved to become one of the nation's foremost land-grant universities teaching and leadership have personified the mission the faculty and the graduates of Iowa State Carrie Chapman Catt Iowa State's most respected alumna led the nation's passage of women's right to vote and founded the League of Women Voters Iowa State takes special pride in the invention of the electronic digital computer by John add an ass off and Clifford berry at ISU in 1939 launching the world on a new way of life George Washington Carver personified the land-grant mission and he carried the Iowa State Extension concept in his life's work Carver was enrolled as Iowa State's first African American student 100 years ago he went on to become one of the nation's greatest educators and agricultural researchers at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and is credited with creating movable schools which brought practical agricultural knowledge to the rural South Iowa State can become the premier land-grant University in the nation come be a partner join us in the tradition that ensures this perfect partnership for prominence it's a good thing that the Campanile clock is now working again because i would like to turn it back 99 years in 1895 the new women's building at Iowa State was given the name Margaret Hall in honor of Margaret McDonald Stanton a longtime staff member and wife of then professor and later to be president of Iowa State Edgar W Stanton two years later professor Stanton told the school's Board of Trustees that he wanted to make a special gift to this to the College for this great honor to his wife that gift was to be a chime of bells but as a professor some things do not change he could only afford so much and in a letter to the trustees he wrote there is however the question of a tower in which to place the bells and the purchase of a clock with which generally goes with them I desire that my offering shall be confined to the chimes themselves in order that they may be of superior quality so plans were made to build a separate bell tower to house the gift from the Stantons it wasn't the first and I'm quite certain the last time that Iowa State has received a gift with strings attached but thank goodness it did for Margaret Hall burned in 1938 and had the bells been placed in it it's quite possible that the bells of Iowa State would have died with that fire Iowa State's most famous campus landmark and most nostalgic symbol of campus life is the Campanile built in 1897 it housed the 10 original bells given by Professor Edgar Stanton in memory of his wife and in 1929 Dean Stanton's estate provided for the purchase of twenty six additional bells helping form the Edgar and Margaret Stanton Memorial Caroline today the carillon consists of fifty bells and the Campanile stands as proudly as it did nearly a century ago in that time the Campanile has seen ten university presidents the construction of over a hundred and twenty-five new buildings and watched the enrollment grow from a modest eight hundred students to over twenty five thousand but the bells of Iowa State have not always chimed happily in recent years somber tones rang out to symbolize the long months of captivity for hostages and ISU graduates Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson and more recently the Campanile itself had fallen on hard times exposure to the elements gradually took its toll difficult economic times forced budget cutbacks resulting in dwindling resources for repair and maintenance and retaining the highly skilled talents of a caralho newer proved costly but the alumni and Friends of Iowa State have shown resolve and support for this symbol of excellence it started with local disc jockey Ken MacLeod who locked himself inside the camp anneals gates until $10,000 was raised and continued with the generous gifts of thousands of supporters dismayed by the possibility that the bells would fall silent forever the spirit of ISU swelled with pride and Thanksgiving and at Visha 92 the university held a ceremony to mark the beginning of the long renovation process two years later on September 25th 1994 another ceremony was held on the lawn at the base of the Campanile a celebration of the completion of the project and a long-awaited opportunity to once again hear the bells of Iowa State ring out across the campus brought the bells of ios8 in 1931 just before I left the English department to launch a career as a travel writer in lecturer the Alumni Association had announced a contest for a new college alma mater one day the Alumni Association Association sent over a manuscript to the English department saying that they liked the music that they didn't like the words and with someone in the department please try a hand at revising the lyrics well I took the manuscript home plated over on the piano and I said to Alice gee whiz the music is even worse than the lyrics I could write a bitter song than this well wise guy she said why don't you do it we there's $100 praise and we could sure use the money we lived in the old Cranford apartments right across the street from the campus and every afternoon the lovely sounds of the carillon drifted through the woods the cross Lake Laverne and into our living room window well that gave me an idea so I wrote the song sent the manuscript back to the Alumni Office and we bundled our two babies into our rickety old ship and set out for the Chicago area well about 40 miles east of Chicago in the Lake Michigan dunes we found the quite a lovely but tiny little green shingle summer cottage in an acre of beautiful oak woods it was owned by us retired Chicago schoolteacher who had also been not fled by the depression and she had to sell but she wanted a hundred dollars down a small fortune in those days the next afternoon there was a big manila envelope from Iowa State College in the mail for me in the little village of Porter oh well I said my manuscripts come back I've lost so we'll get along somehow but there was a letter in the in the envelope my song had tied for first place with the song of a professional Chicago composer and they were sending the manuscripts back to us in case we wanted to make any changes before the final judging well I can't write or arrange music without a piano I don't have any technical background in musical composition any more than I have in English I don't even have a minor in English don't tell anybody so we picked out the most imposing looking residents in the little town I still remembered a big middle western respectable brick with dahlias and counters in the front yard and I marched up to the door not in a sweet-faced gray-haired old lady that came to the door then madam I said do you have a piano oh yes we already have one I don't want to sell you what I said but I need one for a little while in the worst way and I explained when we face lighter depth it's like a Christmas tree for goodness sakes she said come right in my daughter Florence Bessie Smith used to be head of Home Economics at Ames is it is it your wife and baby out in the car tell him to come in I'll make lunch for them so well won't miss it Bessie and Alice discussed child raising I said at the piano made a few changes and a couple of changes in the harmony and sent the manuscript back to the Alumni Office 10 days later we got a check for $100 in the mail I marched around to the schoolteacher and dose the chick to her saying the contract and that night we were unrolling our bed rolls on the floor of our new home in 1984 I was named an honorary alumnus of the University and at that time Carl Hamilton is used grand old man said to me Jim I want you to know what a powerful impact your song has had on the atmosphere and character of this institution and on the lives of its students it will outlive you by a thousand years if is you and the human race are still around that long well you you will be remembered with gratitude to you who helped to save the Campanile and the carillon thanks to you it's inspiring message will continue to echo in the hearts of Iowa Staters and influence their lives for me years to come green hills for thy throne and for crown the golden melody ringing in the hearts of all who bring me love and loyalty dear alma mater make our spirits great true and valiant like the bells of Iowa State thank you